2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF POINTON & SEMPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday 18th July 2023 at 7.30pm in St Gilbert Primary School

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

Present: C Cllr Hill, Parish Clerk Boden, a representative (Chair) of the football club and 8 members of the public.

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

23047. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

To receive reports from outside bodies.

Report from C.Cllr Hill.  The footpath between Pointon and Billingborough is due to be upgraded. Queensway is under consideration for improvement but due to the concrete specialists are having to be employed.

More monies will be made available for roads that have suffered draught damage along the fen roads.

There is a holiday activity fund being made available. This can be found on the LCC website.

Report from D. Cllr Dixon-Warren. Report attached below.

Questions or Points raised by residents and members of the public. A member of public expressed their disappointment in the works being carried out on West Road. Two gentleman had been sent to try and find the on going problem of the collapsed drain but had been only given hand tools. This meant due to H&S they ere only allowed to dig as deep as 1.2m. They were neither allowed to rod the drains as this was not on the work order. Due to the handtools they could not find the damaged pipe despite digging in a couple of places. This has been ongoing for 7 yrs.

It was asked on an update of the playing field. This will be covered on the agenda later.

A member of public raised the subject of the access from the public house to the playing field, as they had watched it on the previous recording. They asked if the PC would reconsider the closing of the field. It is a very good amenity for the village and it was asked if it could be done properly with a gate that could be used.

COUNCIL SESSION

23048. To receive and accept apologies for absence. There were no apologies.

23049. Declarations of interest. Cllr Greenwood declared an interest in item 11.

23050. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 20th June 2023 and for the chair to sign. It was resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 20th June 2023 and for the chair to sign.

23051.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 the meetings.

b). To approve payments as list below.

It was resolved to accept the payments above.

c). To approve payments received as below.

d). To consider and approve the first quarter spend against the budget. It was resolved to approve the first quarter spend against the budget.

e). To consider and approve the bank reconciliation. It was resolved to approve the bank reconciliation.

23052. Clerk’s report. To receive an update of outstanding matters from the previous meetings. 

Ownership of goal posts. The FC have produced the invoice for the goal posts purchased in 2010 and at the last meeting the minutes were produced showing the purchase by the PC. It is not minuted if the money from the PC was to cover the costs initially made by the FC.

The Responsible Officer advised the Parish Council that the goal posts are 13 years old and have always been in situ in all weathers and advised not to add them to the register. It was resolved not to place the goal posts on the asset register and for them to remain the property of the FC.

Agreement between PC and FC has not been received yet but as the Pavilion is closed at present it is not urgent.

23053. Policies. To review the following policies:

a). Data Breach Policy. It was resolved to accept the Data Breach Policy.

b). Data Protection Policy. It was resolved to accept the Data Protection Policy.

c). Equality & Diversity Policy. It was resolved to accept the Equality & Diversity Policy.

d). Health & Safety Policy. It was resolved to accept the Health & Safety Policy.

e). FOI Policy. It was resolved to accept the Freedom of Information  Policy.

f). FOI publication scheme. It was resolved to accept the Freedom of Information publication scheme.

23054. Pavilion. To receive an update on the Pavilion.

The SKDC building control team attended the Pavilion on the 30th June 2023 and advised that the extension is dangerous and that it should be cordoned off until the walls are made safe. This has led to the footpath being closed. The main building comes under the heading of degradation, but it is visible where the problem of the bowing wooden roof comes from. The clerk is waiting for the report from SKDC.

There is ventilation in place but instead of exiting through the wall it comes out of the roof where somebody has then covered it with a metal corrugated roof. This has caused the moisture to become trapped.

The old decking and rubbish were cleared the day after the tenant handover. The old tenant had thanked the Cllrs that they were willing to do this for them.

Cllrs Green and Keeley had been in since to start cleaning inside. They noted that the mould is getting worse in the changing rooms due to lack of ventilation. 

Both the electricity and water have been turned off and the clerk has contacted the various companies over change of names.

Cllr Green has spoken to the Lincolnshire Football Association for advice and the changing rooms need to be updated if the are to be used going forward. The breeze blocks being used in the benches are too high, the window needs frosting, and the showers now need to be in cubicles and lowered.

It was resolved to have a roofer look at the roof and main structure of the building. The Pavilion is to remain closed for safety reasons.

At the moment the PC do not have a copy of any plans or extensions. The FC were helpful in commenting that the original plans can be found on the SKDC website and Cllr Greenwood explained that the extension had needed to be started due to time limits.

23055. Football Club 

a). To receive an update on information received from Lincolnshire Football Association regarding grass roots football. The Lincolnshire Football Association had given the information already stated above. They had also given suggestions on the grants that were available including those for upgrading the club house and changing the showers and changing rooms. These need to be applied for in the Parish Council name, as the owner of the building.

The footprint of the building is not big enough and this is why the extension plans were put in place. It would be useful to install a potable unit to the main building for toilets. This would allow users of both the bar area and those from outside to use the toilets.

There is up to £250,000 for the refurbishment and a grant on a sliding scale for the grass maintenance.

b). To consider and discuss the request for siting Welfare Units. This item had been asked for by the Football Club. 

To carry on playing at Pointon they would like toilets at a minimum but would prefer to have changing rooms if possible but could use their unit for the changing room.

It was pointed out that at ground roots level football changing rooms were not needed.

It was resolved that the FC can site a small portacabin (around 20’x 8’) to hold 2/3 toilets for the 23/24 season only. As the Parish Council have only taken back the lease, they do not know the outcome of the Pavilion at the present time and will continue to be transparent and update all users as they go forward.

The FC would research costs on the portacabin (self-sustaining etc) and may come to the PC for a grant, but it is to be noted that all costs for siting the portacabin/ water connection will not be covered by the Parish Council.

23056. Playing Field. 

a). To consider the Safety Inspection of the play equipment, due in August. It was resolved to change the safety inspection team this year to the Play Inspection Company to have a fresh set of eyes on the equipment.

It was also noted that a child had been injured on a piece of equipment and this was recorded in the accident book.

Cllr Greenwood commented that no tidy up in preparation for the inspection had been carried out this year.

Moving forward on the play equipment it is to be noted that the school are fundraising for us through ice cream sales. Grants for equipment are being filled in and it is hoped that a car boot can be held later this year.

23057. Facebook Account. 

a). To discuss the need for a Parish Council Facebook account, following recent events. It was resolved that following recent events the Parish Council should have a Facebook Page,

23058. Annual Car Meet.

a). To discuss and agree the holding of the Annual Car Meet in August. Cllr Greenwood answered questions from the other Cllrs to establish facts.

The event will be run by Cllr Greenwood on the Bank Holiday weekend 24th- 27th August. It is not a public event and is only open to friends with around 30 people attending. There will be no charge for the event.

Cllr Greenwood left the room at 8.44pm.

The Cllrs received the information that the event has been advertised on a National website since April and attendees are being charged £20 a head for the field rent and entertainment.

The Proper Officer explained that risk assessments would be needed as in the previous year. As it was not being organised by the PC the insurance would not cover the event and separate Public Liability insurance would be needed.

There was concern that this year with the Pavilion being closed there would be no facilities of toilets or running water.

Tents are ok on the field but with mobile homes or caravans it had to be 3 or less. If more than this then a caravan license would be needed.

It was resolved that that the Annual Car Meet could not go ahead this year.

Cllr Greenwood entered the room at 8.52pm.

It was explained to him the outcome of his request.

23059. Date and time of next Parish Council Meeting Tuesday 22nd August at 7.30pm.

CLOSED COUNCIL SESSION

Items of a confidential nature to be debated in the absence of the press and public. Under the Public Bodies (Admission to the Meetings) Act 1960 (due to the confidential nature of the business).

23060. Staffing Appraisal. 

a).To consider the outcome of the recent appraisal of the clerk, conducted by the staffing committee. It was noted that the Staffing Committee conducted the appraisal of the clerk on the 20th June 2023. It was resolved that the clerk have her hours increased to 25 hrs a month, due to the extra workload, and be moved up to point 17.

The meeting closed at 9.12pm.

Cllr Richard Dixon-Warren's Report

July 2023

Armed Forces Day – 167 Catering Support Regiment RLC
I attended the Armed Forces Day Flag Raising ceremony in Grantham on 19 June. It was good to see it so well organised and attended.
I spent Armed Forces Day on 24 June visiting Exercise Army Sustainer at 167 Catering Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, Grantham. This is an annual field catering and culinary art competition which tests and showcases the skill and professional expertise of Army chefs of all ranks, both Regular and Reserve.
Teams from across the Army, NATO, Oman and industry partners competed using the Operational Field Catering System. There was a wide variety of classes ranging from field catering and improvised categories focused on nutritional composition to static classes designed to promote and demonstrate higher culinary skills. I sampled the food – delicious!
167 Catering Support Regiment RLC is a unique regiment of nationally recruited Army Reserve Chefs with the primary role of providing catering support to the British Army, anywhere and in any environment. It is one of our local Regiments and is recruiting. Interested? Check out https://www.army.mod.uk/.../rlc-reserve.../167-regiment-rlc/
Army Cadet Force
I was pleased to support an advertisement for Army Cadet Force groups in Stamford, Bourne, Market Deeping and throughout South Kesteven who are keen to take on new recruits, and for adult volunteers to help run detachments.
The ACF is a great youth organisation that can develop character and improve life and career chances for young people. Interested? See the Stamford Mercury feature on ACF groups keen to take on new recruits (https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/army-cadet-groups-keen-to-take-on-new-recuits-9318528/?fbclid=IwAR2LAALO07Ces-ZVuJmVDH3v0t9ynBgzHqnXc5wFB6XvGSKoVg0YQUBBK_k)
Out and About
In between a busy programme of induction briefings and presentations for newly elected District Councillors, I continue to get out and about the Ward as much as I can. Parish Council meetings, church services and coffee mornings all provide me with opportunities to drop in for a chat. I enjoyed attending part of the Rippingale Village Feast on 1 July, hearing the Bourne Tuneless Choir, the Folkingham Ukulele Band and The Sonics, watching the display by Bourne Judo Club, and investing in two separate tombolas to win a small bottle of water!