July 2022 - Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
HEMSWELL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Hemswell Parish Council on Monday 16th July 2022 at 7.15 pm at Hemswell & Harpswell Village Hall, Maypole Street, Hemswell.
Members Present:
Cllr. B. Mander (Chair and acting Clerk); Cllr. J. Roberts (Vice-Chair); Cllr. C. Black; Cllr. M. Foster; Cllr. M. Sheppard; Cllr. P. Watkinson.
Absences:
None - all councillors present.
In Attendance:
District Councillor P. Howitt-Cowan and four members of the public.
Public Forum.
Members of the public raised the following items
- Could the council look at preserving the Hemswell Village "Memory Books" collated by Mrs Steadman
Action: Clerk to look in the options for digitising information considering aspects of copyright. - The issues of double parking on Maypole Street / Brook Street by persons apparently dropping off or collecting children from the childminders.
- Does the County Councillor ever attend the Parish Council meetings. Members of the public voiced the opinion that the lack of attendance was disrespectful, and some had lost confidence in the County Councillor
Action: Clerk to write to the County Councillor requesting their attendance. - Request for information regarding the data from the Speed Indicator Device (see agenda item 039-22/23)
- Why had the 'cats eye's' been removed from the A631 Gainsborough Road and not re installed.
AGENDA
032-22/23. To receive apologies and accept valid reasons for absence, these having been submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting
None - all councillors present.
PCSO Julie McFaul sent her apologies and provide a report (see item 042-22/23 c)
033-22/23. To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and to consider any requests for dispensations
No interests were declared.
034-22/23. To approve the notes of the annual meeting held on 16th May 2022, and the chairman to sign them as the agreed minutes
It was unanimously resolved to approve the presented draft minutes as an accurate account of the annual council meeting held on the 16th May 2022. The chair signed the presented minutes.
035-22/23. To co-opt replacement members to the council and witness their acceptance of office.
Mrs Michelle Sheppard stepped forward for co-option as a member of the council.
The resolution to co-opt Mrs Sheppard as a member of the council was proposed by Cllr Mander and seconded Cllr Black. The resolution was carried unanimously. Mrs Sheppard was invited to join the council and completed the acceptance of office declaration.
Action: Cllr Sheppard to complete the Declaration of Interest and Clerk to inform WLDC and forward relevant documentation.
036-22/23. To review actions necessary to ensure the safety of persons utilising the Beck footpath.
A risk assessment was carried out on the potential danger of the damaged trees on the Beck. Utilising information provided (without prejudice) by the arborists providing quotations for the removal of the damaged boughs, the council unanimously determined that there was a low risk of danger to the public and the footpath could remain open to members of the public. The decision is to be reviewed at each subsequent meeting until remedial action is carried out.
037-22/23. To agree additional grounds maintenance requirements for the verges and open green spaces.
Two quotations from the grass cutting contractor for additional grounds maintenance, that had been requested by the Clerk, were reviewed.
i. Tidying of Cemetery hedges - Cllr Mander offered to carry out this work
ii. Tidying of the weeds in the Beck. This option was unanimously accepted.
Action: Clerk to instruct the grounds maintenance contractor to proceed with tidying the Beck as per the scope provided in the quotation.
038-22/23. To inform the council that the defibrillator is out of service until replacement consumables which have time expired and for which there is a global shortage, can be sourced.
Cllr Mander informed the council that her had received an update on the defibrillator consumables which have been on order for some time. There is a global shortage of these items in part due to the conflict in the Ukraine, and the manufacturer is currently quoting a 20 week lead time. Until the consumables have been delivered, the defibrillator has been taken out of service and a notice to this effect placed on the unit. The manufacture advises that the defibrillator may be used in an emergency but cannot guarantee the functionality of the unit.
039-22/23. To review the speed indicator device preliminary data and determine any necessary actions.
Cllr Mander provided the reports from the Speed Indicator Device for Bunkers Hill, Church Street and Maypole Street. The data showed that between 20 and 30% of detected traffic were exceeding the speed limit. The worst location for speeding (by percentage) was Maypole Street. No pattern could be determined from the data. The data is collected and shared with the council. Members of the public are encouraged to monitor traffic and if they see repeated offenders, they should report his to the council with loaction and time which can be verified against the SID data and further action taken.
Action: Cllr Mander to share the data with the Hemswell Village Facebook page administrator for publishing.
040-22/23. To review the risks, benefits, and control measures in place in moving to online banking payments and resolve whether to adopt the on-line payment system.
The acting Responsible Financial Officer (Cllr. Mander) presented the process and controls measures in place for the council to utilise online banking. The council reviewed the information and determined that effective control measures were in place and the authorisation process was the same as for the paper (cheque) process. Cllr Mander proposed that the council adopt on-line banking and Cllr Black seconded the motion. The council unanimously resolved to adopt on-line banking.
Action: existing banking signatories to register for on-line banking.
041-22/23. Financial matters:
a. Financial Report
Cllr Mander provided a status report of the council's finances. No remedial actions were identified.
b. Cheques to Authorise
No cheques were presented for authorisation.
c. To ratify the operational payments made since the last meeting.
i. Grass cutting 06/06/22 £84.50
ii. Grass cutting 20/06/22 £84.50
iii. Grass cutting 04/07/22 £84.50
Items i, ii, and iii were acknowledged and unanimously ratified by the council.
d. To acknowledge receipt of the following payments
i. Savings account interest £ 0.35
The receipt of the above payment was acknowledged.
042-22/23. To receive reports from the following outside bodies
a. County Councillor
The county councillor was not present. No report had been provided.
b. District Councillor
The district councillor's report had been distributed to the council prior to the meeting. District Councillor Howitt-Cowan provided a brief summary of the report for the council. The report can be found on this website at
https://hemswell.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/council-business/district-councillor-reports-22
c. Police
7/7/22 2 x dogs running up Bunkers Hill - police attended and no trace of dogs
1 x isolated incident not for the public's interest.
d. Village Hall Committee
The Village Hall Committee secretary provided the following written report which was read out to the council by the chair.
Bookings: Unfortunately we have recently lost some of our regular bookings for a number of reasons. We know longer have the hall hired for Psychic evenings and the toddler group Tots on tour has also recently decided to finish.
The hall is now only hired weekly by Boogie Bounce (Trampolining & circuits) on a Wednesday 6-7 and then Craft club is held once a month on a Thurs evening from 7pm.
We are trying to do what we can to promote the village hall for hire and part of this involves organising for work to be completed on the hall to support the maintenance of the hall and also to make it more desirable to hire for future events. I have included the Agenda for our next meeting as an attachment so you are able to see the specific work we are discussing in our next meeting to hopefully secure some quotes for the work to be completed in the near future.
As a Committee we are committed to supporting the Village Hall as a building and space for our community but sadly we have found that previous events haven’t been very well attended (Apart from our special May Day of course!) The income for our Hall is therefore limited and we do rely on the support of the village to keep the hall in good condition and also we’d like to see the community accessing the focal point of our village including the maintenance of our village park.
We are looking into available funding so this is something the committee will be working towards trying to secure and we will continue to promote the village hall events. We currently advertise monthly in the Trent Gazette and also provide flyers and posters of organised activities.
After another very successful May Day we chose to do a more relaxed Jubilee celebration as knew there would be a lot of competition and conscious of the committee members time which goes into all the events so we hosted a picnic in the park and also arranged for our very special Hemswell Edition Jubilee mugs to be bought by the village hall funds to be distributed to all the children who live in our villages.
We also hosted another Coffee morning we had in July was a success and raised funds which was split between the Guide dogs for the Blind and the village hall. An equal share meant both received £93.
At our upcoming meeting we will discuss future fundraising events for the Autumn/Winter but as I explained previously it depends on the support from our community as we have asked people to comment and share their thoughts but had limited responses so questions whether we should host events or look to other ways to fund the maintenance of the hall. We hope when the hall is fresh after decorating we will see an increase in our bookings!
Finally we thank you for your support and we would welcome any new committee members.
e. Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
The Steering Group attended a virtual meeting with WLDC to select an examiner for the subitted plan. WLDC's purchasing selection process was followed and a examiner selected. The examiner will be appointed and the examination process started. It is anticipated the examination process will be completed by the end of September 2022.
043-22/23. Burial Authority Activities.
a. To review a grave placement, the effect to the cemetery plan and agree any necessary actions.
The council was informed that an existing grave and headstone was impacting on another unused plot. Due to the circumstances no further action would be taken and the affect plot would not be available for allocation.
044-22/23. Date of next meeting – 19th September 2022.
045-22/23. To resolve on whether the Council will move into closed session to consider the recruitment committee’s recommendations for the position of Council Clerk in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960.
Should this resolution be passed the public and press will be required to leave the meeting at this stage.
Cllr Mander proposed that the meeting move into closed session. Cllr Roberts seconded the motion. The council unanimously resolved to move into closed session.
The chair closed the public meeting at 20:48 and members of the public vacated the chamber.
A closed session of the council convened at 20:55.
046-22/23. To receive recommendations from the recruitment panel regarding recruitment for the position of Clerk to the council and agree any resulting actions.
The recruitment panel provided their candidate recommendation and salary recommendation and contract conditions for the position of Clerk based on the applications and subsequent interview process.
Cllr Mander proposed and Cllr Roberts seconded the motion that Dr Elizabeth Raymond be appointed to the position of Clerk / Responsible Financial Officer / Burial Authority Officer for the council and the motion was unanimously resolved.
Action: Cllr Mander to inform the candidate of the appointment and start enrolment process.
Meeting closed 21:10
Signed: B C Mander Date: 18th July 2022.
Acting clerk to the council