2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF POINTON & SEMPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 at 7.30pm in St Gilbert Primary School

Councillors Present: Cllrs Christie, Clarke, Green, Greenwood, Keeley, Wesley (Chair).

In attendance: C. Cllr Hill, Parish Clerk Boden, a representative (Chair) of the football club and 3 members of the public.

To be noted that the meeting may be recorded for the purpose of transparency.

23021.PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

To receive reports from outside bodies.

Report from C.Cllr Hill. More money has been given to the Highways budget, along with an extra £8M from Government, meaning that there is £93M to be spent on roads.

More locally the blocked drain that has been ongoing for a while has been confirmed as blocked and the road will be dug up shortly to allow repair.

The footpath between Pointon and Billingborough is due for an upgrade and revamp at a cost of £75,000 and will take around 2 years to complete.

There is some money available for the rights of ways that go across fields. The solar farm that is to be built between Folkingham and Billingborough is underway, and Queensway is being looked into.

A resident asked about the types of pothole repairs that were being made as it was felt that some of them are not lasting. It was explained that it depended if the repair was a temporary or permanent.
 
Report from D. Cllr Dixon-Warren. D. Cllr Dixon-Warren had sent his apologies. There is no updated on the report issued on the 9th May.

Questions or Points raised by residents and members of the public. A member of public raised their concern on the length of the grass on the Playing Field. It was confirmed that the grass is now contracted out and is cut once a month, but extra cuts can be requested, through out the season. It was confirmed that the PCPF didn’t put in a tender for the grass cutting.

A resident stated that they had tried to report a problem on fix my street but had been unable to finish the procedure as she couldn’t find the confirmation email, to click through on.

The raffle was drawn, and the winners will be notified. The money raised was handed over to the clerk for banking.

COUNCIL SESSION.

23022.   To receive and accept apologies for absence. There were no apologies.

23023.   Declarations of interest. Cllr Greenwood declared an interest in item 11 on the agenda.

23024.   To approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 9th May 2023 and for the chair to sign. It was resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 9th May 2023 and for the chair to sign.

23025.   To consider and approve the Standing Orders. It was resolved to approve the Standing Orders and for the Council to abide by them.

23026.   To consider and approve the Financial Regulations. It was resolved to approve the Financial Regulations and for the Council to abide by them.

23027.   To consider and approve the Financial Risk Assessment. It was resolved to approve the Financial Risk Assessment.

23028.   Finances:

a)    To receive the clerk’s report on payments between meetings

It was resolved to accept the clerk’s report on the payments between meetings.

b)   To approve payments as list below.

It was resolved to approve the payments on the list above.

c)   To approve payments received as below.

It was resolved to accept the payments received above. The money from the Community Litter grant will be received shortly.

23029  Insurance -  To consider and discuss the insurance cover. It was resolved for the clerk to seek quotes for the insurance of the Pavilion, tractor shed, playground equipment and other street furniture.

23030.  Speeding - To consider and discuss the instalment of White Speed Gates to help reduce the speeding in the village. The installation of white speed gates was discussed, and it was felt that these would be beneficial but before applying for planning permission an inspection of the area was needed to make sure there is enough room for the gates on the verges.

It was also suggested that the road from Pointon to Sempringham and onto Billingborough be reduced as it is a very straight road and at the present time the speed coming into Pointon is 60mph. 

The road from Millthorpe crossroads to Pointon is also 60mph with only a reduce speed sign and The Drove being 30mph. The 30mph sign on entry into Pointon (left hand side) is covered by the adjacent hedge and considering the police carry out speed checks at the village hall they would not hold up in court.

It was resolved for the clerk to contact Highways regarding the trimming of the hedge and to look into ways to reduce the speed limits.

23031  Football Club 

a)   To consider and discuss the fees for the forthcoming season, 2023-2024. It was resolved to defer the item until the next meeting, but it must be remembered that the FC needs notice.

The Chair of the FC outlined their costs for line marking paint (£700) and the grass cutting costs (£500) for the football pitches. The PC asked regarding the set up at Billingborough and how much was paid to the PC there (£1000), but it is a different set up as though it is about the same size there is the football pitch, bowling green and the Pavilion. 

It was asked again if the 2 pitches were needed but with 3 teams and development plans it was felt that the FC could not go down to 1 pitch. 

Going forward the friendlies will start being paid the 2nd week of July and the league in August/ September.

The Chair of the FC asked if the grant application form could be forwarded to him.

b)   To discuss the removal of the grass waste on the playing field. It was discussed with the FC Chair and resolved to put it in writing for the grass waste to be removed by the 1st July and the area underneath it be reseeded and put right.

23032. PCPF 

a)    To consider and discuss the continued use of the Tractor Shed. If the FC are to carry on doing extra cuts of the pitches, then they will require to use the shed for storage. Presently the PC only own the pressure washer and broken tractor. Everything else belongs to Cllr Greenwood.

It was resolved that the equipment be stored in the tractor shed and insured by the football club.

b)   To discuss and approve the request for keys to the Tractor Shed. At the present time Cllr Greenwood and 2 members of the PCPF hold keys. It was resolved that Cllr Wesley, rather than the clerk, collect the keys and get 2 sets cut, along with the keys for the gate. This is due to the time frame.

23033.  Pavilion – To receive an update on the pavilion. A letter from the tenant has been received and they will be giving up the tenancy on the 30th June. The meeting arranged for the 3rd June at 1pm will still be going ahead. Another end of tenancy meeting will be arranged for the 30th June.

23034.  Asset Register -  To approve the removal of the shed and benches due to the condition. It was resolved to remove the shed and benches from the asset register due to their condition.

23035.  Playground – To consider and discuss the improvement of the playground. The exhibition of the plans of the playground had been very well received and Cllr Clarke explained which equipment would be on the list for purchasing as the Council moved forward with grants.

The ‘rocket’ that had been removed has been located but no work had been carried out to it. Arrangement of collection needs to be sorted.

23036.   Date and time of next Parish Council Meeting Tuesday 20th June at 7.30pm. The next meeting will be held on the 20th June at 7.30pm.

The meeting closed at 9.00pm