October 2020 Minutes EGM (16th)
Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Pointon & Sempringham Parish Council held on 16th October 2020 via zoom.
Present: Cllrs C.South (Chairman), D.Griffiths, R.Greenwood, W.Moore, C.Ramm and H.Wells. Parish Clerk.
15 members of public (that had been able to be counted due to zoom screen).
1. Welcome. Cllr South welcomed everyone and explained that this EGM had been rescheduled for that evening.
2. Apologies. None had been received although Cllr Burt was due to attend.
3. Declarations of interest. A declaration of interest had been received regarding item 4 from Cllr Greenwood.
4. To discuss the social club building and playing field in it’s entirety. (this will include any reports obtained, the previous lease holder, the offer made to resurrect the building, the future of the building and the whole playing field).
Cllr Burt entered the meeting at 7.10pm.
Due to the lack of ongoing maintenance of the social club, the Parish Council deemed it necessary to obtain a full Health and Safety report which included the electrics and the ground that the building stands on. This report is quite damming. Quotes had been received from 3 electrical contractors and they range from £4,000 to £10,000 for works to bring the building up to the standards required. The report showed that structurally the building has issues but not immense but the roof will need major works which can cost from £8000 upwards. The Parish Council does not have the funds to get these works done.
A proposal had been received from the Old Ship Inn to take over the clubhouse building, their proposal states that they will do all the works required according to the H&S report at their cost, but they state that they want a 3 year lease and all profits are theirs. They will of course allow the Parish Council to do annual inspections and their paperwork reviewed annually, but they ask for a 6 month rent free period as they are paying for these works to be done.
Councillors had the opportunity to discuss this together and they thought that it was a good idea but needs to be looked at in greater detail, as the Parish Council do not have any funds to either renovate the building or indeed demolish it. They agreed that a 3 year lease was possible but insurances must also be in place. A vote was taken at which time Cllr Burt declared an interest as he has an interest himself in the Old Ship Inn. It was a unanimous vote, but will be discussed in greater detail at the next Parish Council meeting. Cllr Burt offered to write up the lease as he was experienced in writing them, but Cllr South and the Clerk stated that it would need to be looked at professionally by a solicitor. It was proposed by Cllr Greenwood and seconded by Cllr Griffiths and resolved by all that the lease must indeed be checked over by a solicitor. The non rental period should not start until the lease has been agreed and signed.
Chairman Cllr South asked if Pointon Football Club will continue to use the pitches on the playing field, as rumours were going round that they were going to leave and go elsewhere. The manager of the football club was able to put his point across and state that they had no intention of leaving Pointon and would happily stay and use the clubhouse should The Old Ship Inn take over the running of it.
The rental of the clubhouse was discussed by Cllrs and a figure of £50 pcm was mentioned. It was proposed by Cllr Moore and seconded by Cllr Wells that the Parish Council accept that offer. All agreed on that proposed figure.
The clubhouse lease agreement will be discussed in greater depth at the next Parish Council meeting and a final decision will be made then.
Parish Council had received a second letter from The Old Ship Inn regarding the boundary trees and car park, Chairman Cllr South read out the letter so the attending public was aware of the content.
Item 1 relates to the trees and the letter asks if the leylandii trees could be removed as they will be blocking the light of the soon to be built pub extension. Cllrs stated that the planning permission was applied for knowing that the trees were already there and quite tall. This will be added to the agenda for the next meeting for further discussion.
Item 2 of the letter. The Old Ship Inn asks if the Parish Council would sell them some land for a new car park as they had approved planning permission to build on their existing car park. The Clerk read out from the Conveyance document when the Parish Council had purchased the land back in 1973 and it states ‘That by a Deed of Covenant dated 23rd May 1975 and made between the National Playing Fields Association of the one part and the Parish Council of Pointon and Sempringham (Covernator)of the other part for the consideration therein mentioned the Covernator covernated with the Association and its successors in title or assigns that it will use ALL THAT piece or parcel of land situate in Pointon in the County of Lincoln and being part of enclosures 32, 82 and 83 on the Ordanance Survey Sheet and containing 29156 square yards or thereabouts as a playing field only and that it will not appropriate or use the same for any other purpose whatever without consent previously obtained of the Secretary of State for the Environment. Which basically means that the Parish Council are unable to sell off any land to form this car park.
Parish Clerk explained that no tree maintenance finances had been factored into the budget for at least 10 years and that the precept had been kept at £5000 all that time with no proper budget worked out, as normally tree and ground maintenance would be included and this is the reason why the Parish Council has very little money. The Clerk discussed that the Social Club had received the Covid government grant of £10,000 and would it be possible for the Social Club Committee to offer up funding towards the tree work costs. Cllr Greenwood said no, and when questioned why, stated that the Club Committee will be discussing their finances at the end of the financial year as to who their finances gets distributed to. Cllr South asked if Cllr Greenwood could provide the Parish Council with a list of who is actually on the Social Club Committee as the minutes received by the Parish Council stating they are closing down the Social Club, didn’t state who attended their EGM. Cllr Greenwood said he would send these to the Clerk.
Cllr Burt then added that the car park wouldn’t be needed straight away as the new development of 4 dwellings isn’t a priority but the pub extension is needed.
Playing Field. The Parish Council had rented a large skip to dispose of the remaining trees cut down/trimed previously. The adjacent farmer said he would do the removal as long as the Parish Council paid for the skip hire. The farmer also asked if the Parish Council would remove all the young trees currently growing on the boundary, but was informed that the young trees are actually on his land.
The Parish Council has been in contact with SKDC regarding the emptying of the green bins on the playing field. These would cost £11 per bin per lift which equates to £1500 per year. Cllr South looked into having a large 1100ltr bin at a cost of £17 per lift, this equates to less than £250 per year which the Parish Council would pay for. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting but the bin has been delivered. It will also be discussed who will actually be emptying the green bins into the large bin.
Dog poo on the playing field had been discussed, this is totally unacceptable and dog owners need to take responsibility of picking up their dog’s poo. The Clerk said that most Parish Council owned playing fields have signs stating various facts about the playing field and also states if dogs are allowed etc. Another item to add to the agenda for the next meeting.
Cllr Ramm suggested the possibility of having a poo bag dispenser. Clerk explained that dispensers are available at a cost of £100 but the Parish Council would need to pay for the bags at a cost of £30 per 200. Cllr Ramm suggested that the local brownies may make some dispensers out of plastic bottles.
Cllr Griffiths said that lots of tree debris had been dumped around the playing field and general rubbish accumulated. It was suggested that a ‘big clean up’ and a working party be organized, also as the skip was currently on site this could be utilized for the waste. Perhaps a ‘call to arms’ be put out on social media for help.
At this point Chairman, Cllr South stated that in between Parish Council meetings, works and associated spending is circulated around all Councillors and then gets ratified at the following meeting. This stops any delay in getting works done.
All Cllrs were asked if they had anything to add to the next agenda: Rocking Rocket play equipment, Storage containers on the playing field, The Pointon Playing Field Committee lease needs reviewing as this agreement had run out last March so currently has no agreement is in place.
The Chairman, Cllr South thanked everyone for their attendance.
The meeting closed at 9.10pm.