June 2024 Minutes
Allington Parish Council
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held at Allington Village Hall
12 June 2024
PRESENT
Cllr Reynolds
Cllr Marvin
Cllr Baron
Cllr Plummer
Cllr Leadenham
Cllr Storer arrived at 7.45pm
Rebecca Hilton (Clerk & RFO)
District Councillor Rob Leadenham
4 village residents
1. WELCOME AND PUBLIC FORUM
Cllr Reynolds welcomed everyone to the meeting and started the 15 minutes Public Forum.
One villager asked the Parish Council to support the issue of the hedgerows on Peach Lane which are currently over grown and not being maintained. Neither the landowner nor SKDC are cutting the hedges. The issue has been raised on previous occasions. There is a ban from March to April on hedge cutting due to nesting but the PC agreed to start the process of letter writing to SKDC highways.
A villager re-raised concerns regarding the state of the Village Hall drainage.
2. APOLOGIES
Apologies received from Cllr Whittingdon.
3. To RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011
No declarations of pecuniary interest were received.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The draft minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on 08 May 2024 were agreed to be a true representation. This was proposed by Cllr Plummer and seconded by Cllr Lowes.
5. ANNUAL PROCEDURES
Cllr Reynolds asked if anyone had any thoughts on the reviewing Policies and Standing Orders.
Cllr Reynolds suggested;
1. The creation of an Events Procedure for fundraising to cover insurance, cash handling, notifications, licensing and any other items required for organising an event. Cllr Storer is currently looking into creating the procedure. Cllr Plummer said that cash handling should also fall separately within the Financial Regulations policy.
2. Within Standing Orders, a change should be made for advisory groups to become advisory committees and fall within the regulations for LALC and CALC and final decision making would need to be approved by the Parish Council.
In addition, a change was suggested to the Standing Order for recruitment so that a member of the Parish Council be able to respond directly with a new candidate for professionalism.
Annual reviews of Standing Orders to be conducted as follows;
Complaints Cllr Reynolds
Code of conduct Cllr Storer
Environment and Sustainability Cllr Baron
Equality and Diversity Cllr Plummer
Publication Scheme Cllr Lowes
Social Media Cllr Marvin
Financial Cllr Storer
Meeting dates for the year ahead confirmed as;
10th July 2024
11th September 2024
13th November 2024
8th January 2025
12th March 2025
14th May 2025
Should additional meetings be required the dates proposed are;
9th October 2024
11th December 2024
9th April 2025
Discussion took place regarding a logo for Allington Parish Council. A logo may help draw interest to documents / the website and the noticeboard. It was suggested that the village sign could be a possibility or the emblem currently on the website.
6. CLERKS REPORT
Correspondence
Email received regarding overflow parking of approx. 20 cars for a wedding at the Manor on 15.6.24 – paid use of the playing field car park requested
Email received regarding use of the sports pitches at the playing field
Email with letter received from Councillor Marsh on 5.6.24 resigning from position with immediate effect
Email received regarding lapse in Allington Parish Council insurance policy – date queried
Email with letter attached received from Allington Gardens Residents Association regarding overgrown hedges on Peach Lane
Email with letter attached received from Allington Gardens Residents Association regarding defibrillators
Finance
Invoice received for £68.00 from the Village Hall Committee
Accounts to be circulated separately once new clerk familiarised
7. ST JAMES’ CHURCH FOOTPATH
The path from The Green to St James Churchyard had not been passable during the winter. It was suggested that limestones would resolve the problem. Two large bags would be needed but delivery would need to be arranged carefully. It was agreed that the solution be put on hold until October. Discussion of the footpath will be added to the September Agenda.
8. BENCHES FOR ST JAMES’ CHURCHYARD
Three benches in memory of Mary Thompson are to be purchased. Discussion took place on the need to secure each bench and the composition to ensure they last and look good. Three on-line suggestions had been emailed to the councillors prior to the meeting. In addition, a fourth bench had been seen locally. The council were in favour of supporting local business if possible and this option was to be followed up by Cllr Plummer.
9. VILLAGE HALL
The Village Hall committee are waiting for reports on the condition of the drains and necessary repairs / replacement. Once the reports are received, quotes for the work can be obtained.
Discussion of the subsidy previously paid to the Village Hall took place. The subsidy had been paid as a grant until 2018 but nothing documented as to why it had stopped. The Village Hall Committee would like assurances that the subsidy could be reinstated to provide necessary financial support.
It was agreed that a separate meeting should be arranged to discuss the village hall accounts and events / fundraising in further detail. Suggested dates to be emailed to the clerk and forwarded to councillors so that a mutually convenient date could be arranged for a meeting prior to the next Parish Council meeting.
10. PLAYING FIELD
The MUGA fencing has been repaired and the invoice paid. Stones for the bonfire area have been delivered and the car park has been completed. Two bags of stones are leftover for filling another area when required.
Inspection of the bench in the play area is required to confirm as to whether it can be repaired.
‘Closed’ signs are to be put up on the MUGA and the car park during the Allington Big Weekend. Cllr Plummer to organise the signs.
11. HIGHWAYS
Cllr Baron has been looking into the replacement of the current speed indicator with a solar powered unit. Cllr Baron had contacted Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership for information but needed more detailed contact information as no reply received at the time of the meeting. Cllr Plummer has a contact name and email to pass on. The approximate costs to converting the speed indicator to solar is £400.00 which is cheaper than replacement with new at a cost of £700-£1000.00.
Discussion of a dog waste bin for Marston Lane took place. The cost of a bin is £138.32. The question was raised as to whether the bin comes on a post or would it have to be fitted to one and as to whether or not it would be emptied. SKDC currently empty the Peach Lane dog waste bin. Cllr Reynolds to contact SKDC to find out the costs of emptying a new bin.
12. WEBSITE
It was agreed that LALC’s approved website maintenance and the purchase of 10 hours for 2024/25 for approximately £180.00 should be purchased. This was proposed by Cllr Storer and Seconded by Cllr Marvin.
13. BUS SHELTER MAINTENANCE
The village caretaker has reported that the wood in the bus shelter is rotten. A carpenter / joiner is required. Cllr Lowes to make arrangements with a contact to take a look and provide a quote.
14. EMERGENCY PLANNING
SKDC hosted an emergency planning meeting on 20th May at the council offices. Cllrs Storer, Baron and Marvin reported that the meeting had been informative and good. That it was an excellent idea but in practice a lot of work would be needed with other groups to find out their thoughts on emergency planning. Village groups would need to work together and ensure their principles are the same.
15. DISTRICT /COUNTY COUNCILLOR REPORT
The question was raised as to whether there was an update on the traffic order on Sewstern Lane. Cllr Leadenham reported that a meeting had taken place but more details with whom were not available.
Reference was made to the emergency planning meeting having been a success and well attended. Cllr Leadenham reported that the aim is to put on 2 meetings per year to encourage parish councils to participate and work together.
Cllr Leadenham asked if the Village Hall had made an application for funding for drainage problems. VH confirmed that they would be getting at least one quote in soon to enable the application to be made. Cllr Leadenham confirmed that the funding application needs to be made within 2/3 weeks to allow processing time as the after the end of August the funding will not be available.
Cllr Leadenham enquired after the community speed watch. It was reported that sessions had been difficult due to low numbers of volunteers and bad weather but that volunteers had been out on 3 occasions and captured 26 speeders but no response to the forms submitted to SKDC had been received.
16. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING
- Village Hall Drainage
- Policies update
- Bus Shelter
- Speed indicators
- Logo for the Parish Council
- Dog Waste Bins
- Action on the key codes and locks for MUGA and toilet block
- Rospa Report (play area)
17. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
Wednesday 10th July – Cllr Lowes gave apologies
18. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Cllr Storer informed the Parish Council that Easy Fundraising had raised £18.48 within the last 30 days.
The closed meeting finished at 21.17 hrs.