Minutes of parish council meetings

Notes from 25th August 2020

001

Holland Fen with Brothertoft Parish Council meeting held at

Brothertoft Village Hall on Tuesday 25th August 2020 at 7:30pm.

 

In Attendance: with Councillor Nigel Early in the Chair, there were present Councillors: David Ball, Angela Cannon, Richard Leggott and Mark Leggott.

Clerk – Miss Sarah Kulwicki

County Councillor – Michael Brookes

 

The chairman declared the meeting open at 7:30 pm

 

  1. Election of Chairman - signing of declaration of acceptance of office.

Councillor Mark Leggott  Proposed councillor Nigel Early Seconded by councillor David Ball and Resolved by all that Councillor Early be elected as Chairman for 2020-2021. There were no other nominations.

(Signed declaration of acceptance of office)

The Chairman thanked Councillor Robinson for his service as chairman he is an asset to the council and community.

 

  1. Election of Vice Chairman - signing of declaration of acceptance of office.

Councillor Richard Leggott Proposed councillor Seconded by councillor Angela Cannon and Resolved by all that Councillor M. Leggott be elected as Vice- Chairman for 2020-2021.

There were no other nominations.

(Signed declaration of acceptance of office)

 

  1. Apologies for absence – Apologies received and accepted from Councillors: Holden, Dring, Anderson and Robinson. Apologies were also received from PSCO Neil William and District councillor Chelcei Sharman.

 

  1. Declarations of interest in accordance with the 2000 Local Government Act – There were none.

 

  1. The notes from the annual meeting of the Council held on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 (attached) to be approved as Minutes and signed by the Chairman

Proposed by Councillor Ball and Seconded by Councillor Cannon and Resolved by all that the notes from 3rd March 2020 are approved as minutes and can be signed by the Chairman.

 

  1. Matters arising
    1. Councillor M. Leggott reported that the hedge on Dovecoat lane is still an issues with overhanging branches. Councillor Brookes is going to chase this.
    2. Councillor M. Leggott reported that the bumpy road signs are still knocked down and have not been put back up.

 

  1. Resolutions approve via email but need to be approved at this council meeting:

Resoltion 1 . Safety Statement - Meetings

That the Parish Council recognises and agrees that no business, meeting, service provision or service delivery of the Authority is of any importance above that of public and personal safety. As such all scheduled public meetings will be cancelled for an initial 4 month period (or as circumstances dictate).

002

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor M. Leggott and Seconded by D. Ball and RESOLVED by all that Resolution 1 be approved. 

 

resolution 2.  Suspension of Standing Orders / Financial Regulations

That the Parish Council gives delegated authority to the Clerk to: suspend any relevant Standing Order or Financial Regulation as necessary to ensure the smooth running and operation (wherever possible) of the parish Council for a period of no longer than 4 months (or as circumstances dictate), with the Clerk to compile and maintain a list of such suspensions and reasons which will be to be presented to a future meeting of the Administration Committee

 

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor R. Leggott and Seconded by D. Ball and RESOLVED by all that Resolution 2 be approved. 

 

RESOLUTION 3. Annual Council Meeting / Annual Parish Meeting

That as the cancellation of meetings has a direct impact on the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council (scheduled for 05th May 2020), the roles of Chairman and Vice
Chairman will remain the same until a suitable and safe public meeting is called and held.

 

Where any cancellation of meetings has a direct impact on the holding of the Annual Parish Meeting, the Town Council will hold such meeting at a future date.

 

It is noted that whilst the above decisions are contrary to existing legislation (as of 22nd March 2020) the Parish Council has made these decision in order to place public safety at the forefront.

 

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor M. Leggott and Seconded by N. Early and RESOLVED by all that Resolution 3 be approved. 

 

RESOLUTION 4. Orders for Payment

 

That the Clerk emails information regarding all orders for payment to Councillors.  Councillors are to confirm by email that they agree to the payments.  The cheques will be signed by those elected Members with delegated responsibility for the authorising and signing of payments.

 

These measures are put in place with robust transparency processes to ensure effective business continuation and to minimise impact on local service delivery and local business with ratification by the Parish Council to be made at the earliest and safest opportunity.

 

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor M. Leggott and Seconded by N. Early and RESOLVED by all that Resolution 4 be approved. 

 

  1. Audit of accounts – presentation of accounts – Internal auditor has done checks all cleared for approval of this Council
    1. To confirm and approve the Accounting statements contained in the Annual Return
      1.  

The figures from the financial records have been transcribed into section 1 of the annual return.

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor D. Ball and Seconded by Councillor M. Leggott and RESOLVED that the accounting statements for the year ending 31st March 2020 be approved.

 

  1. To approve the annual governance statement in the annual return

Members considered the detail within the governance statement and understood what they are, as a corporate body, approving.

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor N. Early and Seconded by Councillor M. Leggott and RESOLVED by all that the council answer ‘yes’ to all boxes contained in the annual return.

 

  1. To approve the accounts for the year ending 31st March 2020 and sign the certificate of exemption

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor M. Leggott and Seconded by Councillor A. Cannon and RESOLVED by all that the account be approved and signed by the Chairman.

 

  1. To approve payment of accounts: - 
    1. Zurich (PAID) - £144.59
    2. C J Book-keeping/ internal audit (PAID) - £25.00
    3. S- Kulwicki 1st salary payment from April to sept - £475.00
    4. Brothertoft village hall for (Sept 2020) - £20.00

It was:-

Proposed by Councillor M. Leggott and Seconded by Councillor A. Cannon and RESOLVED by all that the above payment be approved and duly signed.

 

  1. To note general correspondence – The clerk told the council that nothing new had come to her attention, all correspondence is emailed to the council between meetings.

 

  1. To note all planning applications
    1. Ref: B/20/0260 – Brothertoft Hall, Main road. Listed building consent for internal and external structural repairs. The council has no objections to this application.
    2. Ref: B/20/0230 – Bambers Yard, Langrick road. Conservation of existing agricultural buildings. The council has no objections to this application.
    3. Ref: B/20/0290 – Holland House Barn, Kirton Drove – Notification for a pony stable and hay storage. The council has no objections to this application.
    4. Ref: B/20/0287 – Hospital Farm Cottage, North Forty Foot Bank. Two storey side extension. The council has no objections to this planning application.

 

  1. Highways matters – Any problems to report
    1.  Councillor Early reported that the deer sign has been put up on Kirton Drove.
    2. Councillor R. Leggot reported that the road condition on Kirton Drove are still very poor.
    3. Councillor M. Leggott reported the hedge on Dovecote Lane is still an issue with overhanging branches.
    4. Councillor Cannon reported that the speeding on punchbowl lane has gotten worse.
    5.  Councillor Leggott told the council that the bumpy road signs had still not been picked up on NFFB.
      1.  
  2. Councillor Ball told the council that he had made a report on fix my street in regards to the chevrons outside brothertoft village hall, they had been moved in the wrong direction which could have caused an accident the highways department had attended and remove the chevrons but have not put anything back in its place. Councillor Brookes asked councillor Ball to send him the report number for this so he could chase it and find out what is happening.

 

  1. To receive reports from representatives of outside bodies or local organisations
    1. County Councillor – Michael Brookes told the council that Highways are going to keep monitoring kirton drove and NFFB for repairs. Councillor Brookes told the council that he regularly brings up the poor road condition on both of these roads. Councillor R. Leggott reported the stretch of road on NFFB from Ferry Lane heading towards to holland fen to councillor Brookes as this particular part of the road needs repair.

 

Councillor Brookes told the council that he had a virtual meeting with highways manger on the 14th August and the highways officer is getting a quote for thinning out the trees on NFFB. If the quote is reasonable and there are funds left over they will look to do some thinning out of the trees on Kirton drove too, this will hopefully help with the subsidence. He also told the council that 14 areas of potholes and poor edging had been identified on fen side road, Brothertoft and repairs had been put in place to get done by the 21st November.

 

There is going to be a LCC community maintenance gang coming into Boston rural division from the 7th December to the 22nd January to deal with issues like overgrown vegetation and sign cleaning. Councillor Brookes told the council if they have an issues like this then please report on fix my street.  

 

  1. Borough Councillor – Chelcei Sharman emailed the council her apologies and asked if the council had anything they would like to bring to her attention then please do so.

George Cornah was not present and no report was given.

 

  1. Police – report as follows:

Please find a list of reported crimes within the parish since March 2020:

 

  1. 23/03/20 Burglary to holiday cottage, Hedgehog Bridge – undetected
  2. 23/04/20 Theft of pedal cycle, Kirton Fen – undetected
  3. 11/07/20 Shed burglary, Parsons Drove – undetected
  4. 31/07/20 Attempt burglary, Hedgehog Bridge – under investigation.

       

  1. Date of next meeting –Tuesday 3rd November 2020, at 7:30 p.m. at Holland Fen village Hall.

 

  1. Any other matters for inclusion on the next agenda – There were none.

 

The meeting closed at 8:23pm