Minutes of Stow Parish Council Meeting Monday 21st February 2022 7pm held in Stow Minster Chancel
Present: Cllr Duncan, Cllr Justham, Cllr Martinson, Cllr Turner, Cllr Taylor,
Cllr Read
In attendance: Mrs L Gibbs, Clerk
Public Question Time
There were two members of the public present.
204. Apologies for Absence
Cllr Hewitt sent his apologies due to illness.
205. Declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and any dispensations that may arise
There were no declarations of interest on the items on the agenda.
206. Minutes of previous meeting of Monday 22 November 2021
Item 188 Amended to read the Council received a recommendation from the Clerk not to increase the precept for 2022/2023.
Item 197. Cllr Read’s name was spelt incorrectly three times.
It was proposed by Cllr Martinson and seconded by Cllr Justham to accept the minutes of Parish Council Meeting as a true copy of the meeting, subject to an amendment to Item 188, and 197 above.
207. Matter arising from the previous minutes
187 A reminder re fly typing has been included in the Bugle.
198 A special edition of the Bugle was issued regarding Cottam 1.
208. To agree Accounts from last meeting
22 November 2021 – 21st February 2022
|
L Gibbs Salary |
£142.08 |
|
|
15/12/21 |
|
HMRC Tax |
£4.08 |
|
|
15/12/21 |
|
L Gibbs Salary |
£142.08 |
|
|
12/01/22 |
|
HMRC Tax |
£4.08 |
|
|
12/01/22 |
|
WLDC Green Bins |
£78.00 |
|
|
14/01/22 |
|
L Gibbs Salary |
£142.08 |
|
|
09/02/22 |
|
HMRC Tax |
£4.08 |
|
|
09/02/22 |
Receipts
Northern Power Grid £26.82
VAT reclaim £3200.49
Bank Balance as of 21/02/22 £10039.19
Of which £1729.04 is ring fenced from Stow Recreation Fund for an inclusive piece of play equipment.
The accounts were accepted and proposed by Cllr Turner and seconded by Cllr Taylor. It was Resolved all in favour to accept the accounts.
209. To discuss and approve grant application from West Lindsey Citizens Advice.
It was proposed by Cllr Read and seconded by Cllr Taylor to grant £50 and Resolved all in favour
210. To ratify the grass cutting contract for 2022/2023.
It was proposed by Cllr Martinson and seconded by Cllr Taylor to ratify the acceptance by email of the Councillors for the 3-year contract with the current contractor. It was Resolved with the majority of the Council in favour.
211. To discuss and agree the dissolution of Stow Recreation Fund and the proposals put forward for the ring fencing of any monies.
The projects the trustees of SRF have undertaken are soon to be completed with the erection of the new village signs, the trust are looking to wind up the committee, transferring the remaining funds to the Parish Council to ring fence for any ongoing maintenance of the projects.
The Council expressed concerns that the ongoing maintenance of the clock winding system may be expensive in the future and asked the Clerk to seek agreement in principle from the Parochial Church Council (PCC) that any future maintenance costs would be shared by the PCC and the ring fenced budget held by SPC.
212. Update on play park
The clerk has obtained ideas for an all-inclusive piece of equipment for the play park.
The Council deferred the item until the May meeting.
213. To review the Council’s objectives for 2022-2023
Cllr Duncan confirmed that Council had made progress on most of the objectives set out.
The roles and responsibilities of the Councillors need to be re-allocated and this was deferred to the May meeting.
214. Update on the Cottam and West Burton Solar Power Stations
Councillors have had a positive meeting with the landscape consultants for the project.
Suggestions were made to move the panels away from residents houses and footpaths. To link the footpaths and make a walk along the Till on the dyke to enable views of the Cathedral and vistas that will be lost by the installation of the panels.
Restoration of marshlands to encourage wildlife and flora and help with flood relief was also mentioned.
215. Update on the removal of the power transformer on Ingham Road
It was suggested that a letter of complaint should be sent to the Planning Officer at West Lindsey. The Clerk was asked to collate the e mails that have been sent to Cllr Coulson to bring the item back to the next meeting.
216. Update on removal of Northern Power Grid high voltage supports in the play area.
Northern Power Grid have responded to the Council, and have offered to put a covered conductor on the overhead line which will provide safety against accidental contact to the line.
The Council agreed to wait until they had seen the design before making a decision on accepting this proposal or continuing to push for the unit to be moved out of the playpark.
If the new proposal is accepted by the Council, the Clerk has been asked to request an increase in the wayleave provided by Northern Power Grid.
217. Update on Sturton and Stow Neighbourhood Plan (NP).
The independent examiner has sent out clarification notes.
These views were clarified at the NP meeting and circulated to the Parish Councils for acceptance and returned to the examiner.
218. Update on meetings with Highways and Acis.
Cllr Read gave an update on the Highways issues in the village, report circulated to the Council before the meeting.
11 items have been completed, 5 in progress and 4 not yet started.
It was reported at the meeting that the School Lane issues have also been completed.
219. Update on the next issue of Stow Bugle
Council agreed that private advertisements would not be included in the Bugle and that requests should be pointed towards the village Facebook page, although Charity events could be advertised.
The next issue will be the end of March.
220. Update on Cemetery
The cemetery is neat and tidy.
Cllr Justham reported that the gate is not shutting properly and Cllr Martinson will look to see what the problem is.
221. To discuss the planting of trees and the ceremony for the Jubilee tree and plaque.
The tree supplied by West Lindsey is too small for planting out for a few years.
Cllr Coulson has offered to purchase a larger tree for the village, the Council thanked Cllr Coulson for the offer but agreed that the tree would be purchased with Council funds should West Lindsey funding not be available.
Cllr Turner was tasked with purchasing a tree for the Jubilee.
It was proposed by Cllr Duncan and seconded by Cllr Turner that the Parish Council would purchase the tree and Resolved all in favour.
Details of the ceremony were deferred to the meeting in March.
222. To discuss the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Various ideas have been suggested including: -
BBQ
Bike Ride
Street Party
Ringing the Church bells.
Stow Fun Raisers are having a meeting on the 24th February to discuss the options.
The Council are to purchase a bench to be placed in the area of Jubilee tree.
The Council will apply for the West Lindsey Community Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Grant to purchase the bench and to cover some of the other costs of the Jubilee Event.
223. Update on Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership speed watch warden volunteers
This item has been deferred until further information regarding the setting up process and managing of the information collated has been looked into in more detail.
224.Update on Planning Applications
143876 – Notification of wood pole overhead line rebuild, Foxby Lane, Stow Park Road Gainsborough. Granted 8.11.2021
144010 – Planning application for change of house types to previously approved scheme 136472 18 South Drive Stow.
Cllr Justham has received a letter from a concerned resident concerning the bird scarers.
Clerk to check the code of conduct for farmers.
225. Meeting ended 8.43 Next Meeting Monday 14 March 2022
Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as the official minutes of Council proceedings until they are approved and signed at the next meeting.