2024 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 3 September 2024 at St. Peter's Church, Louth Road, South Somercotes

Present:                            Chair                                Cllr Antony Baker

                                            Vice-Chair                      Cllr Brian Lewis

                                                                                      Cllr Julie Stretton

Also Present:                    Clerk                               Mrs Binal Sawjani                     

                                            Members of Public      5 members of the Public

                                             District/County             Cllr Daniel McNally

Apologises:                                                                Cllr Paul Ricketts

Item 0924/35 Welcome to the meeting: Chair opened meeting at 18.59 and welcomed the councillors, public and district councillors.

• A parishioner asked about grass cutting around the churchyard in the future. Whilst thanks were due for mowing the grass enabling access to the family vault the Council was asked to be aware of the graves themselves. Another parishioner had provided a list of graves available by the Church entrance and the Council made assurances that the graves would be respected. Council will communicate future plans via minutes of meeting, Facebook, website on news page and village Communications magazine.
• Council was informed that there were some villagers that were disappointed that the Summer Fête was cancelled. Council explained that this was due to poor support for other events that the parish Council has laid on leading to financial losses. The fête was an enormous task for current councillors to organise and would also require the marquee. The Council would need assistance to help erect this as none of the current Council members had done this on their own. If the Council had more support or we recruited more Councillor then we can review the events for the village. This was the first meeting that parishioner had attended and the Council welcomes feedback otherwise the Council can only make decisions that they think are suitable for the local community.
• Another parishioner suggested a picnic style event with people bringing their own food and having a meal together. Perhaps opinion could be canvassed via Facebook and this his may attract new villagers.

Chair invited Cllr McNally to speak: 19.13

• A charter has be setup to report scams funded by Easy Lindsey Council to report doorstep crime, credit card scams and or cold callers. This website has lots of useful information please circulate especially among the elderly in our communities. Doorstep Crime and Scam Prevention | Operation Repeat (oprepeat.co.uk)
• Reuse centre to be opened in Tattershall. Open for donations for all sorts of items that can be used others in the community. This is a trial project and if successful we could see a depot in Louth. Parishioners can go pick things up for free or small donation.
• The edges of South Road will be fixed later this year.

Item 0924/36 Apologies for absence received and approve: Apologies received and accepted from Cllr Ricketts

Item 0924/37 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and to consider any requests for dispensations: None

Item 0924/38 To approve as correct records the notes of the meeting of the Council held on 9 July 2024 and to authorise the Chairman to sign the official minutes.

Item 0924/39 Training – Staff and elected Members To receive the latest training availability via the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (LALC) and consider and book relevant places for staff and elected Members. Cllr found Canva training to be useful for social media and events for the parish. LALC conference attended by Clerk and Cllr was very useful from a networking and establish our reputation as a parish to the association as the parish has not been seen previously in a good light. The workshops were useful, meeting with IT advisor and Unity bank.

Item 0924/40 Future Events Update – review of the current and future events for the parish:

As per the discussions from the public forum we will remain on decision that all future events are on hold and we will review this resolution once we recruit new councillors. 10 November - Remembrance Day Event – wreath laying and refreshments and 15 December – Christmas event – more details to follow

Item 0924/41 Parish Matters:

1. Defibrillator Training – held on 16 July, disappointing turnout and not supported from the villagers. Proposed that we have a bleed kt in the two defib units at a cost of £85.00 plus VAT seconded and RESOLVED. District Council are offering grant application to be sent to East Lindsey.
2. Street furniture and dog waste bin at end of East Row – chase via district councillor
3. Risk assessment – The LALC conference informed that the church is responsible for the risk assessment for the actual church and any events or meetings that we would like to hold at the venue. It was proposed, seconded and RESOLVED that chairs messages the church trust and receive a copy of the assessment.
4. Rails of church entrance/ graveyard – Church rails are made of oak and we cannot afford to replace. The current railing are to made good with replacing the rotten post and staining. The groundwork/ grass on the path to the road has been lifted and will be used around the graveyard where there are dips. The pathway has cinder  base which is quite solid robust especially in the inclement weather. A parishioner as also asked about the weed killer around a grave and requested if we could ask families to tend to their own family graves. Proposed, seconded and RESOLVED to note in village magazine and noticeboard. Chair has asked the church for advise on weedkiller and none has been forthcoming. Chair will chase again. The parishioner also asked about the gates to the church and if could put them back in place at the entrance of the church. As we had parishioners in the meeting the chair asked of their opinion and all agreed it would be good to see them back in situ. Proposed, seconded and RESOLVED to reinstate the gates and see if there are any costs attached to this.
5. Jubilee Field – as we have no events planned could we apply for trees via the Kings Community fund for these to go around the outside for a community orchard. Cllr McNally to provide highway liability map. Propose a smaller event than the fete need to create a working party with the parishioners that have attended the meeting. Use Facebook to recruit help. Proposed one more cut before the end of the year seconded and RESOLVED.
6. VAT return - ongoing

Item 0924/42 Correspondence: To receive and dispose of correspondence received since the last meeting.

Email form National Grid stating that landowners and occupiers will consulted in this next phase.

Letter from parishioner regarding the churchyard already noted in parish matters section d.

Item 0924/43 Future meeting dates: Next meeting Tuesday 5 November and 7 January 2025 both at 6pm.

Item 0724/34 Financial matters

1. To note bank balances on bank statements as on 19 September 2024: £13,079.41
2. To note income £60.00 (Book sales)
3. To authorise the signing of orders for payment for July/ August 2024

Meeting ended 19.59