2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF POINTON & SEMPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday 22nd August 2023 at 7.30pm in St Gilbert Primary School

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

In attendance: Parish Clerk Boden, a representative (Chair) of the football club and 14 members of the public.

It was noted that apologies had been received from C. Cllr Hill and D. Cllr Dixon-Warren.

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

23061. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

To receive reports from outside bodies.

Report from C. Cllr Hill. No report had been received. 

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

Questions or Points raised by residents and members of the public. 

Cllr Greenwood moved from the Council seats to the public seats. He asked why members of the PC had reported him to the monitoring officer. The clerk explained that she had received a number of queries from both members of the public and Cllrs. As she was unsure of the answer she asked advice from the MO, as the Council’s standing orders state. The MO could not give advice unless a formal complaint was raised. This is the route that was taken and the MO questioned Cllr Greenwood and closed the complaint. All Cllrs were informed.

A member of the public was worried that any temp welfare units would become permanent fixtures and asked about the siting. He was worried that the FC assumed that it all belonged to them and was not for the community. Cllr Keeley explained that the last thing the PC wants is for the FC to leave Pointon but the FC must accept that the field does not belong to them and the Pavilion is not just for their clubhouse. Children have been turned away from playing on the playing field.

The PC has been made aware that there are in excess of £250,000 of grants available. The Council wants to encourage and build community facilities that promote grassroots sports for all the community moving forward. At the moment the facilities that were there were not fit for purpose and people needed to work together moving forward. The gentleman reminded the Council that there would be plenty of hard work moving forward and that such projects had been tried before and had not been received well with the committee being given abuse.

The chair of the football club wanted it to be made aware that the FC has not made a claim to the field or the playing field and wants to work with the Council.

A member of the public asked why Cllr Greenwood was not allowed to run the car meet this year. It was explained that due to the Pavilion being closed and there being no facilities it was not feasible, especially as it was to be run over three days.

A resident informed the Council that there were a number of boy racers using Fen Road. They had taken videos and reported this to the police. She was concerned as to why the gate onto the field was not being locked anymore and was continually open. Cllr Greenwood confirmed this. The gentleman from the end house explained that previously offered the use of his electricity for a keypad or fob and this still stood.

It was also stated that the gate to the High Street had been broken as people had been swinging on it.

COUNCIL SESSION

AGENDA

23062. To receive and accept apologies for absence. Apologies were accepted from Cllrs Christie and Wesley due to work commitments.

23063. Declarations of interest. No declarations of interest were declared.

23064. To approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 18th July 2023 and for the chair to sign. It was resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on the 18th July 2023 and for the chair to sign,

23065. Finances:

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

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

b) To approve payments as list below.

It was resolved to approve the above payment.

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

23066. Clerk’s report. To receive an update on outstanding matters from the previous meetings. The VAT reclaim amount has hit the bank to a sum of £1070.38. This has happened between the agenda being produced and the meeting hence why it is not under finances.

23067. Policies. To review the following policies:

a) Social Media Policy. It was resolved to review and accept the social media policy.

b) Dignity at Work Policy. It was resolved to review and accept the dignity at work policy.

c) Document Retention Policy. It was resolved to review and accept the document retention policy.

d) Accessibility Statement. It was resolved to accept the accessibility statement.

23068. Pavilion. To receive an update on the Pavilion and consider the formation of a working group for the rebuilding of the Pavilion. Due to various work commitments, the roof has not been checked as of yet but a fully qualified roofer will be carrying out the inspection.

The fencing that was put in place to close the footpath and make safe the dangerous extension has been removed and the bolts on the gate from the car park have been removed. Cllr Greenwood said that the Council had used his fencing without asking his permission and had taken it to make safe the grass-cutting equipment outside the shed. When he did take it was propped up against the hedging and he knew nothing about the bolts.

It was resolved that Cllrs Green and Keeley would form the working group. Two members of the public agreed to join the working group.

23069. Football Club 

a)To consider the siting of a Memorial Bench on the Playing Field. The football club has approached the Parish Council asking if a memorial bench could be placed on the field. It was resolved for a memorial bench to be sited on the far side of the playing field. It will not be placed on the PC asset register and will be the responsibility of the football club to maintain and insure. 

Whilst the bench has been asked to be put on the agenda by the football club the installation of the two dugouts that have appeared have not. The last conversations were emails around a year ago. Whilst the PC does not have an issue, they would like the FC to just drop a note to the PC.

b) To note the friendly game on the 10th August. It was noted a friendly game was played on the 10th August.

c)To ratify the siting of the skip (for 2 weeks) and old goal posts in the car park whilst the football container is cleared out. It was ratified the clerk had given permission for the football club to site a skip on the playing field along with the old goalposts. This has already been done and collected.

d)To consider the request of a contribution by the PC towards the skip. It was resolved to defer this item as no grant application had been received.

e)To ratify the number of pitches for the use of the Football Club. After discussion, it was resolved that the FC would play and use the far side pitch as their permanent pitch and if they needed to use the second pitch it would be on a ‘as and when’ basis with the FC asking the PC first.

23070. Playing Field. 

a)To consider the request by the neighbouring tenant for the trimming of the conifer trees and the replacement of the fence/ removal of the gate along the driveway. Footpath number 10 originally went through the gate in the fence and across the field but has been rerouted down the drive so there is no need for a gate and any replacement of the fence would not have a gate in it. 

It was resolved for Cllrs to walk around the field and take note of the condition of the fences around the field. The clerk will arrange for tree inspections, as these are needed for risk assessment and insurance purposes. This will then be brought back to the Council.

b)To note the removal of the trailer belonging to Cllr Greenwood. Cllr Greenwood had asked for this to be placed on the agenda. It had been removed as it was a danger with the trailer being rotten and it being on Council land. It had been brought up at various Council meetings over the years, especially as a child had been injured in 2019. 

c)To consider the removal of the machinery outside the tractor shed for risk assessment purposes. The PC had received communication from SKDC stating that a child had been injured on the cutting machinery. As it is on PC land the Council needs to make safe such equipment.

Cllr Greenwood has fenced off the machinery, but the fencing still allows a child access to the equipment. 

The Council still does not have any keys for the tractor shed and they have no list of what is stored in the shed or who it belongs to.

It was resolved that the clerk write to Cllr Greenwood asking him that any property that is his and not regularly used to cut the pitch be removed from inside and outside the shed and the entire parish playing field. If it is not removed within 14 day, it will be treated as abandoned property and removed by the Parish Council.

The clerk also needs to find out who owns the referee container as the PC lock has been removed and a new padlock placed on it. The PC originally placed a lock on the container due to the door being open and the floor and roof being in poor condition.

23071. Flower Tubs - To consider the removal of the flower tubs and place them into storage. It was resolved for the flower tubs to be removed and placed into storage.

23072. Website Maintenance- To consider the continuation of using LALC for the website maintenance. It was resolved to continue to use LALC for website maintenance, allowing the clerk to free up her time.

23073. White Gates. To confirm the placing of the white gates to enable the LCC paperwork to be filled in. It was resolved for the clerk to fill in the LCC paperwork and request that the white gates can be placed at the 30mph signs at both ends of Pointon village. Another application for gates at Sempringham and Millthorpe can be applied for if they prove useful at Pointon.

23074. Lincolnshire Alert. To consider adding Lincolnshire Alert to the website. It was resolved to add Lincolnshire Alert to the website.

23075. Meeting Dates. To consider adding extra dates to the calendar of meetings. It was resolved to add the following dates to the calendar of meetings.

7th October 23                       13th February24

21st November 23                  19th March 24

12th December 23                  16th April 24

16th January 24                     21st May 24

23076. Date and time of next Parish Council Meeting Tuesday 19th September at 7.30pm. 

The meeting closed at 20.53.

Aveland Update

Councillor Richard Dixon-Warren

Email: Richard.Dixon-Warren@southkesteven.gov.uk

Mobile Telephone: 07785 353951

August 2023

Council in the Community

SKDC has been out and about. I attended the ‘Council in the Community’ Event held in at the Bourne Corn Exchange on 17 August to provide an opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues directly with SKDC officers from Community Engagement, Housing, Environmental Health, and Neighbourhoods Teams. Lessons to be identified but potentially, a valuable event in future.

Meet the Cabinet

The ‘Meet the Cabinet’ tour continued on 21 August at Billingborough Village Hall. These ‘drop in’ sessions are where people can find out more about what the Council does and how it works, what the Cabinet's role is and what its plans are for the future of South Kesteven. I invite feedback from anyone who attended.

Armed Forces’ Engagement

As SKDC’s Armed Forces’ Champion, I attended the unveiling of a memorial board commemorating the role of RAF Barkston Heath in the Second World War. I also attended a rainswept Grantham Station’s Families Day where multinational catering stands, band and African dancers were undaunted by the weather. It is a pleasure to keep in touch with our Armed Forces and their heritage in the District.

A Salute to Farmers

Over the past month or so, Aveland villages have heard and felt the rumble of heavy agricultural vehicles and equipment – combine harvesters, tractors and trailers – bringing in the harvest by day and by night. This is an important time of year for farmers, the finale to a season’s work. The Harvest Festivals and Suppers to come in our villages are important, too, to give thanks for the food that the land provides. I salute our farmers and the vital work they do.