2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

CAYTHORPE AND FRIESTON PARISH COUNCIL

MEETING NUMBER 2

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD WEDNESDAY 12th July 2023

Present:

Councillors: Crawley (Chairman), Dudfield, Manderfield, Macpherson, Powell, Topley, Roberts & Farr

There were 3 members of the public

Clerk:  Mrs D Manderfield

Item 1 – Apologies for absence

Councillors: Macer, Fells, Maughan, Sandy & Milnes. All councillors had notified the clerk and the council Resolved to accept the reasons for absence.

Item 2 – Declaration of Interests under the Local Government Act

Cllr Crawley expressed a declaration of interest as a committee member of the Playing Field Committee  

Item 3 –  Approval of Minutes of meeting number 1 held on 17th May 2023

It was Resolved to accept the minutes as  a true record of events. They were signed by the chairman, Cllr Crawley

Cllr Farr commented that the bus stop signs had been removed from the telegraph poles on both sides of the High Street at the Red Lion. The Clerk agreed to contact LCC Highways

Action: Clerk

Item 4 – Parish Clerk’s Update on Matters Arising Since Last Meeting  

Firstly, I would like to welcome all the new councillors to the Caythorpe & Frieston Parish Council and wish you well in your new role. I would also like to add congratulations to Cllr Crawley on his Chairmanship and Cllr Sandy on Vice-Chair.

• Online banking has been accepted for Cllr Dudfield and Cllr Sandy. The two councillors will receive logon details in the post. Neil Fritzsche will then be removed as an authoriser. At this point it might be worth giving more councillors access to authorise and/or be a signatory

• Parish Online has been updated to give all Cllrs access. If any councillor wishes to use this software to set up their own map layer then I will have to upgrade their access.

• Noticeboards have been updated with all new councillor contact details

• Website has been updated with all councillor contact details

• DPI and Acceptance of Office forms, which are required by law have been sent to SKDC. There are a couple of councillors who have not yet let me have the completed forms, I have requested them separately

• Meeting dates for this year have all been posted on the website and sent to all councillors

• There has been an enquiry into Exclusive Rights of Burial for a burial plot and an ashes plot

• I have liaised with SKDC with respect to the removal of the beacon from the playing field. It had been condemned previously. The playing field committee have been informed

• I am in the process of gathering quotes for the levelling of the ground at the Burial Ground

• I have forwarded an email from Cllr Maughan to Cllr Fells regarding  funding for improving public rights of way

• I do try and keep the website updated but if any councillors spot anything I have missed or that needs taking down please let me know

• There have been a couple of requests for memorial stones at the Burial Ground that have both been accepted

• The grant from SKDC has finally come through for the electrification of the church clock. The churchwarden has been informed. Time Assured, the company that was selected can now be instructed

• There have been a few planning applications for which Cllr Dudfield has now taken on responsibility. It is imperative that all councillors vote or comment on these unless there is a reason not to

• A final balance sheet of the coronation accounts have been forwarded to the News & Views Caythorpe and Frieston Community Group

• I have managed to speak to Lee Ballaam who would like to quote for levelling the burial ground. There has also been an interest from a third parishioner

• I received a very nice phone call from the Fulbeck PC Chair. She was very complementary about our minutes and would like to attend the next meeting

• I received a phone call from SKDC doing a survey on CCTV and whether we have any on our public buildings. I don’t believe there are any?

• We received a nasty email from a parishioner holding the PC completely accountable for a tree on the school field not being felled. The application for felling was withdrawn. I have tried to contact the case officer involved to see if she can shed any light. I forwarded the email to Cllr Crawley for comment

• I have received email confirmation that PKF Littlejohn (external auditors) have received and logged our AGAR forms

• I have contacted David Spackman on behalf of Cllr Dudfield referencing the voluntary registration of the village hall following valuations done for insurance purposes

• LALC Management Committee nominee statements have been forwarded to all councillors

• I forwarded an email from SKDC to Cllr Farr for registering locations of defibrillators on ‘The Circuit’, an initiative run by the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, Will Quince MP

4.1 Clerks Appraisal

Cllr Crawley suggested that the appraisal be arranged after this years pay scales are published

4.2 Good Councillor Guide

LALC had offered this book at £3.99 for new councillors. All were happy with the PDF copy they had been sent previously

Item 5 - Financial Matters

5.1 Authorisation of BACS/Cheque payments. 

Councillors considered the list, previously circulated, and Resolved to accept the payments

Please see Appendix A below

5.2 Review and Approval of CFPC accounts 

Councillors considered the bank reconciliations and the management accounts, previously circulated, and Resolved to approve both reports

Please see Appendix B below for management accounts 

5.3 Update from Cllr Farr – Finance Committee Chair

Cllr Farr informed the councillors that he had not yet managed a meeting with the clerk to fully review the accounts. This will be done asap and the clerk will organise Cllr Farr to become an ‘authoriser’ for the bank payments. Edit: Cllr Crawley also requested that he be able to ‘view’ the accounts. The clerk will instigate this at the same time

Action: Clerk

5.4 Passwords for Chairman

Under Financial Regulation 6.11 the clerk handed the Chairman a sealed envelope

Item 6 Registers 

6.1 Risk Register – this was distributed previously.

It was Resolved to approve this document

6.2 Maintenance Register – this was distributed previously and reviewed.

It was Resolved to approve this document

Item 7 -  Project Register Update 

7.1 EV Charging Points

It was agreed that this project be suspended for the time being. Cllr Macpherson pointed out that there were charging leads over the footpath from the Old Post Office to their cars and that this was obviously a hazard for pedestrians. Cllr Manderfield agreed to contact the resident

Action: DEM

7.2 Ownership of the Village Hall

Cllr Dudfield confirmed that Chattertons were to register the hall under Voluntary Registration and that the fees had been received by them. He confirmed that the process could take up to 2 years

7.3 Electrification of the Church Clock

A 40% deposit has been paid to Time Assured. Work is expected to start in September. 

7.5 Fireworks

In summary; a £750 deposit was paid to Galaxy leaving a  £2850 balance £4k total budget. It was agreed that a sub-committee may be a possibility. Cllr Farr agreed to contact the organiser on the Playing Field Committee

7.6 Levelling of the Burial Ground

It was Resolved to accept the quote from Lee Ballaam for £350.

Action: Clerk

Item 8 - New Proposals. 

8.1 Armada Beacon

Cllr Crawley summarised the history of the beacon and that it had been condemned by SKDC. Cllr Manderfield added that after speaking with the contact at SKDC it was confirmed that in fact the post was too short and therefore hazardous. After discussion it was felt that the beacon was of historical interest and the current PC agreed with the sentiment of the meeting number 1/2022 minutes where it was Resolved to replace the beacon and keep it in the same location where it is accessible to everyone and central to the village. Cllrs Manderfield and Macpherson have agreed to investigate further, and later submit a paper to the council with clear costings. The clerk will add this to the project register

Action: Clerk, DEM,DDM

8.2 DEC Certificates for Village Hall & Hammond Pavillion

Cllr Crawley summarised the necessity of the certificate and the points that have to be considered to determine whether one is required. It was Resolved not to pursue this as it would be costly and neither the Village Hall nor the Hammond Pavillion fitted the criteria necessitating the need for a certificate be obtained. 

8.3 Village Hall Roof

Cllr Crawley summarised the state of the roof and explained that massive repairs were necessary. A grant has been submitted for £15k but there is concern that the works need to begin asap to ensure completion before the winter. Grants cannot be awarded retrospectively.

It was Resolved that the Village Hall committee would instruct K Humphreys to install a Bauder Roofing System at a cost of £30060 + VAT, invoices to come directly to PC for payment.

There is a lot of fundraising happening within the village for the Village Hall roof and it is hoped that donations will be forthcoming to help recover some, if not all, of the cost

The clerk will add this to the project register and enter the figures into the accounts

Action: Clerk

8.4 Caythorpe Hall Footpath Re-Route

Cllr Crawley summarised the re-route requested by the homeowner. This has been agreed in essence by LCC subject to village approval. Cllr Crawley itemised pros and cons for the re-route and there was a lengthy discussion. Cllr Farr suggested that if the footpath were to be re-routed and the path made accessible to pushchairs and wheelchairs then there could be a condition attached to complete the stone wall that runs alongside the A607, thus enhancing the look of the village. Councillors agreed that the homeowner had enhanced greatly the look of Caythorpe Hall and its surroundings since taking ownership

It was Resolved that this issue should be put to a public meeting and all residents invited to vote.

Cllr Crawley agreed to speak with the homeowner and Cllr Maughan

Action: AC

Item 9 – The Parish Environment

9.1 Other Planning Issues

Cllr Crawley summarised the meeting with MID UK that had taken part in the Village Hall on 11/July. It was attended by over 60 residents.

9.2 Report from Cllr Dudfield – Planning Committee Chair

S23/1085 

Parkhouse Hough Road Frieston

Pruning tree with TPO

No Objection from 5 councillors

CFPC support application

S23/1007

Parkhouse Hough Road Frieston

Pruning tree with TPO

No Objection from 5 councillors

CFPC support application

S23/0949

Land adjacent to 27 Old Lincoln Road Caythorpe

Remove requirement for obscure glazing on east elevation first floor windows.

Five councillors objected to this change and none were in favour, however when I read application and looked at the drawings it became apparent, they have removed the first-floor windows in the east elevation and added a second window in the west elevation, both these windows are for en-suit bathrooms and will be obscured.

Therefore, it would be illogical to object to not having obscure glazing in windows which are no longer on the plans.

To remove any doubt CFPC have advised the planners that we do not object to this change but any first-floor windows must have obscure glazing and this should be an ongoing condition to the approval.

S23/0964

58 High Street Caythorpe

Listed Building Consent repairs to roof and stone work around windows and doors.

No objection from six councillors

We have to advise SKDC before the 12th July, unless there are any last minute objections, I will recommend we support the application.

S23/1077

Coach House Church Lane Caythorpe

Section 73 application to vary condition 5 (archaeological investigations) of S20/1018, 

The application is asking for variation of when the archaeological investigations that are part of the approved application, are carried out.

There appears to be no change to the original approved building plans. 

No comments have been received to date.

Item 10 - Neighbourhood Plan – Report by Cllr Crawley

Cllr Crawley stated that this has been approved by SKDC. The PC need to be mindful of the plan when determining planning applications

Item 11 -  Community Safety. 

Between January and March there have been 5 crimes reported to the police. Nothing in April or May

Item 12 – Community Activities by Portfolio Councillor – the following are reports written by the individual councillors.

12.1  Report by Cllr Crawley

12.1.1Litter Picking and the Big Clean

The litter picker employed by the Council continues to assist in keeping the villages clean.

I have applied for and collected an additional 8 litter picking kits from LCC to supplement those we already own.

I have reported the fly tipped bag of rubbish on Gorse Hill to SKDC for collection.

The Big Clean team schedule does not appear to be published at present. If there are any areas of concern then please let me know and I will try and get the team to address these when they next visit the villages.

12.1.2 Environmental Sustainability

Sites for new tree planting are sought as I have a number of trees that have been raised by myself and volunteers that currently have no destination.

A number of trees are under cultivation to replace trees previously planted that have died back. These will be planted by myself and volunteers during the autumn/winter.

Quotes have been obtained for solar panels and battery storage for the Hammond pavilion and Village Hall and grant applications have been submitted to SKDC.. The Village Hall committee have indicated they do not want this work carried out.

Quotes are being sought for increasing the insulation levels to the Hammond Pavilion.

Following a LALC newsletter article, investigations have been carried out to ascertain if the Playing Field Pavilion and the Village Hall need a DEC (Display Energy Certificate). Although both buildings exceed the minimum size (that would make the obtaining and display of such as certificate necessary), it is felt that neither building fulfills the criteria of being used for public access by a Parish Council. Therefore a certificate is not needed.

Public meeting being held with Mid UK on 11th July.

The project for EV charging points in the village has stalled. LCC were looking at this due to the cost, but have prioritized larger sites  under their LEVI project. There is currently little hope of this coming to fruiition in the village. I note however that public charging points are available at Gonerby services and Balderton Services on the A1.

12.1.3 Playing Fields

The new trees are being maintained and watered as necessary. 

Quotes are being obtained for replacing the bark on the play area with a more suitable rubberised material that will not be scattered under the play equipment and require less maintenance. A grant will be applied for, to contribute to the cost of this work.

An extension to the patio area outside the Sports and Social club is wanted and contractors have been approached, and once quotes are obtained.  A grant will be applied for.

The notice board for outside the pavilion arrived and will be erected by volunteers from the Playing Field Committee.

The last DASH was well supported and I have emailed the organizers for details of the amount raised and sent to the Playing Field and Parish Council.

Arrangements are proceeding wel for the annual Gala on 2nd September. I await hearing from parties invited to the Regimental dinner on that evening.

12.2  Report by Cllr Manderfield

12.2.1 Highways

I emailed Cllr Maughan to ask the best way to bring up the issue of the A607 carriageway between Frieston and Fulbeck with LCC.

Cllr Maughan advised me that he had already raised the issue with Highways and understands that they are looking into when a Principal Road Network scheme can be programmed for the area but in the meantime they should be keeping the road safe and repairing defects.

Cllr Maughan has also offered to meet with me to walk through issues in the Parish and get them on the radar.

Since the AGM I have reported 35 potholes via Fix My Street.

26 pot holes have been fixed, including a section of the A607 between Hough Rd Frieston and Lincoln Rd Fulbeck.

9 pot holes have been inspected by LCC with no action planned, 8 of these are on Caythorpe Heath Lane between the junction with the A607 and the railway bridge near Mid UK.

1 is an area of loose gravel and deteriorating road surface at the junction with Old Lincoln Rd and Arnhem Drive.    

See POL or PC website for more detailed information.

I contacted Highways regarding the yellow marks which have recently appeared on the High Street.

The Highways officer informed me that they are in the process of assessing the road for a major resurfacing scheme. There is no timeline for this work at present but it is certainly being considered and testing is under way.

12.2.2 Village Hall

I attended the village hall AGM on the 27th June.

All officers and committee members (except one who stood down) were re elected.

The committee have selected a contractor for the repair of the flat roof and work is due to start on the 3rd July 2023.

Current bank balance for the end of the year is £47,674.86

Date of next meeting is 18th July at 7.00pm.

12.3  Report by Cllr Macpherson

12.3.1 Allotments

Nothing to report. Contact has been made and I have asked to be invited to their meetings.

12.3.2 Facebook

I now have full access to the Parish council Facebook, 2 posts made so far – one looking for a contractor to do some levelling work at the burial ground and one asking for residents to ensure their trees/shrubs/bushes do not obstruct footpaths.

12.4 Report by Cllr Farr

Nothing to report

12.5  Report by Cllr Dudfield

Nothing  to report 

12.6  Report by Cllr Fells

Nothing  to report

12.7  Report by Cllr Topley

Nothing to report

12.8  Report by Cllr Powell

12.8.1 Children and childcare.

I emailed Helen Hunt, the head teacher of Caythorpe Primary, to introduce myself and my new role. I received a very positive response and was invited to meet her and see the school in action, which I did on July 3rd.                         

She is very keen for the school to be more involved in village life and we discussed the gala. Due to the gala being at the beginning of September, just before the children return to school, she thought this probably wouldn’t be feasible. She did not have any ideas of how the school would be represented at this point. I have emailed Laura Leeds to let her know and to bear them in mind for any further village activities.

Helen also told me that she would like a big new housing estate built to raise numbers in school as the numbers on role seem to be falling! I pointed out that the village plan allows for infill building rather than  large Barratt/Wimpey style estates. The school has a PAN (pupil admission number) of 15 and there are increasing numbers of the Traveller Community making up this number.                                                                                        A new teacher has recently been appointed to start in September and the school seemed to be very calm and well organised. The school’s PTA numbers are dwindling due to lots of mums going back to work and this is something she is going to address in the new term.

12.9  Report by Cllr Sandy 

Nothing to Report

12.10 Report by Cllr Roberts

Nothing to Report

Item 13 -  Items of Urgent Business

There were no items of urgent business

Item 14 - Arrangements for Next Meeting 

The next Parish Council Meeting Number 3 of 2023 has had to be postponed and will now be on Wednesday 20th September. The clerk will inform all absent councillors, the Village Hall booking representative and amend the website

Action: Clerk

Open Forum

There was 1 member of the public who brought to the attention of the council the possibility of 1 gigabit broadband being introduced to the village. He explained the benefits and that the Government were offering vouchers which, if taken up, would go someway towards financing the project. Each household would need to apply for a voucher, and he suggested drop in sessions to help with this. After much discussion it was Resolved to take this further. This could mean setting up  an action group involving local residents. The member of the public expressed that he would be happy to be involved. Cllr Macpherson agreed to investigate further. The Clerk will add this to the Project Register

Report from Penny Milne - SKDC

Caythorpe Recycling Centre Smells

Thank you for inviting me to this well attended meeting. It is obvious that smells are emitted from the site contrary to the EA permit. I understand that the operators will do a detailed investigation and I encourage any affected residents to keep a diary as evidence – where, what times, how it changed how you use your home and garden - and report the occurrences to the company via Andy. (Crawley)

SK Environmental Protection have received complaints and has, today, referred one, with the resident’s permission, to the EA under reference permit EA/WML/73021.

6 Wheatgrass Lane

Housing was made aware of the complaints at the beginning of the month and will be investigating.

Community in Bloom

There is still time to enter this competition and details are on the SK website.

UKSK Shared Prosperity Fund

I would like to remind you to take advantage of this money which is available for this year and next year. Details are on the SK website.

Purple Lidded Bins

These bins will be used for clean paper and card in an attempt to diminish contamination and improve recycling rates. Successful trials have been held in other Districts of Lincolnshire.

Report from Alexander Maughan - LCC

County Council budget for 2023/24 

The Council will spend £595million on delivering public services across Lincolnshire next year. Of this £177million will be spent on Adult Care and Wellbeing, £97million on Children’s Services, £47million on Highways maintenance and £22million Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Service. Inflationary cost pressures of £9million in Highways have been funded through the county precept in addition to an extra £7million budgeted for additional highway maintenance activity in areas such as traffic regulation orders, pedestrian crossings and rural road schemes in 2023/24. 

Lincolnshire children ‘services retain ‘outstanding’ rating 

Ofsted inspectors visited the county in April to review the help, protection and care afforded to children and young people from our Children’s Services. They found that families across Lincolnshire continue to have access to localised services that help to keep them safe and support young people to make good progress. Inspectors particularly noted how council staff, schools, and other adults involved in children’s lives, worked together to ensure that help was provided quickly when needed, before any potential issues had a chance to escalate. It is wonderful to see the hard work of our staff recognised, and this ‘outstanding’ review will no doubt inspire staff to build upon this success and find ways to improve the support we provide to families even further, so that Lincolnshire remains a great place for children to flourish. 

Supporting independent living 

Lincolnshire’s Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) is providing an important lifeline for people who need support with aids and adaptations around their home. The service helps provide a range of items, from something as simple as a walking frame to mobile hoists. This can be provided for people of all ages so that they can get about their own home independently. Our recently agreed ICES contract with NRS Healthcare now also includes additional support services such as new stairlift and hoist services, and from April 2024 a wheelchair service. We are already making a life-changing difference to people’s lives with these services, so it is great to see our support expanding so we can help even more people across Lincolnshire live their lives to the full. 

Highways maintenance performance data for Q4 2022/23 

Highway programme of works for 2023/24 

The programme for 2023/24 has now been agreed, and we have over 700 schemes that are planned throughout the year that include:

• 240 Footway micro surfacing sites that commence in April

• 87 Carriageway micro surfacing sites that commence in August

• 26 Footway reconstruction sites planned across 2023/24

• 53 Carriageway lining replacement sites that commence in June

• 25 Carriageway patching schemes planned across 2023/24

• 80 Carriageway resurfacing sites planned across 2023/24

• 170 Surface dressing sites that commence in June

• 20 Drainage improvement scheme planned across 2023/24

 Details of all the schemes can be found on the interactive programme map within the LCC website.

Devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire 

Following release of the Government’s levelling up white paper the three upper tier councils of Greater Lincolnshire (North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire County) have been in talks with Government Ministers on a devolution deal for our region. This would see a number of powers, and additional funding, handed to a combined mayoral authority for Great Lincolnshire, with a directly elected mayor. We believe now is the right time for Lincolnshire to embrace devolution, albeit accepting this comes with a Mayor which few are enthusiastic about. It has been clear that successive governments prefer to talk to mayoral authorities covering lager regions when it comes to investment and infrastructure, rather than individual district, borough and county councils. This was evidenced in the recent 25% cut to our highways budget, where combined mayoral authority areas had their budgets protected. There is a further risk that if Greater Lincolnshire does not become its own recognised region we are in future forced into a much larger East Midlands arrangement, which would be against the interests of Lincolnshire. Subject to successful negotiations and a public consultation, it is anticipated that we would be holding elections for the directly elected mayor in 2025 alongside the next County Council elections. Negotiations are underway with a public consultation expected soon, followed by a formal bid to Government sometime in the Autumn. However, any such bid would need to be debated and approved by each of the upper tier Councils prior to this.

I welcome your views on this topic ahead of the next steps in the processes, please email me at cllra.maughan@lincolnshire.gov.uk

Vapes – a new battleground for Lincolnshire Trading Standards 

Between April and December last year, Lincolnshire Trading Standards seized over 5,000 illegal vapes from shops in the county. These were oversized vapes, containing too much nicotine - sometimes as much as 16 times the limit. The service has also seen a rise in the number of complaints of vapes being sold to children in our area, and has done a lot of work informing local businesses of their legal duty to make sure these products aren’t sold to under-18s. Many of the shops where we find illegal cigarettes, we’re now also finding these illegal vapes. But, while dodgy cigarettes are hidden away behind the counter, in a back room, or in some elaborate hide, illegal vapes are often brazenly displayed at the counter, making them seem legitimate to the average customer. We’re working hard to remove these illegal products from the market, and keep vapes out of the hands of children and young people, in what has become a new battleground for Trading Standards. 

{Electronically signed}

D Manderfield 

Parish Clerk 

Appendix A

Appendix B

CFPC Management Accounts as at 30.6.23

News & Views Management Accounts as at 30.6.23