2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

8th December 2021, 19:30, Harlaxton Village Hall, 3 Church Street, Harlaxton, Grantham, NG32 1HB

Minutes

1. Meeting open:

Simon Wicks opened meeting at 19.35

2. In Attendance:

Simon Wicks (SW)- Chair

Andrew Cartlidge (AC)

Emma Conn (EC)

Jane Brown (JB)

Jane Mann (JM)

Samantha Key (SK)- Clerk

3. Apologies:

Sue Findall (SF)

4. Resolution to approve minutes of Parish Council Meeting:

Minutes from meeting dated 13.10.21- agreed and signed by SW

Minutes from EGM dated 16.11.21- agreed and signed by SW

5. Parish Councillors Declarations of Pecuniary Interest:

None

6. Public Forum:

Mr N. Bason (NB) - thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak around the concerns on the High Street Flooding

                       - aware of the limitation of Harlaxton Parish Council’s powers and is respectfully asking to draw attention to the issues

                       - could a councillor be appointed for overseeing the flooding issue, would enable people to talk in detail about a complicated issue

                       - drains in the village have limits and they get clogged and get out of hand quickly

                       - asked Harlaxton Parish Council (HPC) to understand flooding incidents build up quickly and this is in part to villagers hard surfacing their driveway (this point was stressed)

                       - asked if it was possible for HPC to compose a standard paragraph re flooding that could be added to all planning requests

                       - would HPC consider the possibility of independent survey (this was envisaged and budgeted for approx. 15 years ago)- would give strength to any arguments that needed to be raised

                       - could HPC remind some villagers of how inconsiderate they are driving at speed through a flooded area causing a bow wave which in turn causes more problems going onto peoples drives

                       - the new drains that were installed have a flap at the end of the drain which goes into the Mowbeck, in theory the flap should open and allow the drain water to flow away. At points the water is flowing too heavily and so the flap will not open, therefore the water in the drain backs up.

                       - there is a significant reduction in pipe size as it moves through various gardens.

Discussion: all valid points made, aware of issues within the village (water flowing off the A607 down Rectory Lane, drains at the bottom of The Drift being blocked) and the need to report all issues on fix my street. Communication to LCC has been made re the bi-annual drain clearage not being done correctly/at all. Should road signs warning of flooding be investigated?

NB- Also trotters lane drain is broken.

Mr C. Ansell (CA)- moved into the drift recently, has an interest in speeding on the drift, noticed it on the agenda and wanted to come along.

7. Updates from County Councillor, District Councillor and Police and Crime Representative:

SK- County Council- Bob Adams has passed away, Councillor Hill will be a point of contact until an election is called.

 District councillor- Councillor Westropp said would try and make it.

Police- Representative had already been invited and accepted the invitation to another Parish Council meeting and felt that took precedence.  

JM- would like to express gratitude to Bob Adams for being a fantastic attendee at meetings. He was a tremendous support to the village especially with the quarry. He was very dedicated and committed and will be missed.

SW- his funeral is tomorrow at the Catholic Church, followed by a private cremation and then a wake at the council offices. Have asked about a book of condolences.

8. Updates and Discussions:

A) Harlaxton Village Hall.

Discussion: A revised quote from Avanti has been received and increased substantially (now £4600), this is a quote only to install new plastic fascia and guttering (the wiring for all outside lights needs removing and reinstalling, the wood also needs repairing/replacing). There has been a second quote received from DG a while ago so they would need to revisit and requote, despite chasing other firms only two quotes have managed to be secured. Concerns raised around the time already taken and the fact that more rain could cause more damage and make the job bigger. Originally the wiring and the wood issues were going to be a volunteer effort but changes in the Parish Council would make this a longer and harder job. When getting the re-quotes in look at the cost of installing an additional downpipe. Also get an electrician in to quote for the removing and re-installing the wiring (making sure it goes back in a conduit) 

JM- financially for anything over £1000 we need three quotes. However, there is an       option to overrule this in exceptional/unusual circumstances. As this has been going on since summer this could be cited as being a reasonable exception.

    Vote- Quotes to be obtained for wiring and additional downpipe:

    SW- proposed

    JB- seconded

B) Harlaxton Sports and Social Club

    Discussion: Payments to be made for container space at HSSC and roof tile repair.         Regarding the roof tile payment there should be a review of the licence (when it is due for renewal), currently very wordy, reads like HPC is responsible for all outside and HSSC responsible for all inside. The licences for HVH and HSSC should be the same so all repairs are dealt with in the same manner. AC and JM raised concerns in the potential differences in the licences and in turn the responsibilities of payments. 

    Vote- payment of £400 to HSSC for share of container space:

    SW- proposed

    JM- seconded

    AC/JB/EC- all agreed

    Vote- payment of roof tile repair invoice:

    EC- proposed

    JB- seconded

    JM- agreed

    SW/ AC- abstained (both on HSSC committee)

    C) Flooding

Discussion: Is it beneficial to get quotes to clear the blockage on HPC land (stone culvert beneath the car park), would give an idea of what the cost would be and could balance this with the potential cost of increased insurance premiums and excess. Responses from Inland Drainage Board, SKDC and LCC indicate that it is riparian responsibility so if the blockage was cleared and the problems continued then could look to recover the costs from relevant parties. The insurers are currently refusing to deal with this area until the defects upstream have been resolved. Speak to solicitors with specialist riparian responsibility knowledge and gain a generic letter that could be sent to highlight responsibilities. Harlaxton Manor are going to look at clearing their lake. 

Briefing document prepared by AC covered.

Point 1- write to loss adjuster, broker and insurer including recent remarks.

Point 2- gain quote from solicitor independent of AXA for writing a simple letter to remind landowners of the responsibility they have for pipes below their land.

Point 3- linked with the above point, get solicitor to write to adjoining landowners reminding them of their riparian responsibilities.

Point 4- proceed with complaint to Ombudsman.  

Vote- on points 1-4 of briefing document:

SW- propose

JM- second

AW- to deal with point 1

SK- to deal with points 2,3 and 4

D) Football Club

Discussion: The football club is providing income and the cricket club are concerned that pre-season the ground will need rolling. Groundsman happy to roll if equipment can be provided. Need to look at charging the football club for using HSSC electricity to charge their lights as this was not included in any agreements.

E) Monthly Meetings

Discussion: Move to monthly Parish Council meetings.

Vote:

All in favour starting officially from April 2022

F) Notice Board Policy

Discussion: HSSC have donated a notice board to Parish Council which The Gregory have agreed to site on one of their walls. HSSC have asked to be able to use the notice board to advertise their events (as part of the agreement of donation). The notice board policy would put into place guidance for what they can be used for.

Vote- on adopting the notice board policy:

SW- proposed

All in favour

G) Precept for 2022

Discussion: at the informal zoom discussion JM (acting RFO) suggested 0% increase on precept for 2022. Covered the projected income for the coming year (£19325, which would be £175 less than this year)- this was calculated using the tools provided. There are lots of projects that have not happened and the reserve level would make it hard to warrant any increase for the coming year. JM will prepare a detailed budget to be formally agreed in January 2022.

Vote- for 0% increase:

SW- propose

AC- second

EC/JB/JM-  all agree

H) Employment Sub-Committee

Discussion: This is on hold until SF back, at the informal meeting SF had expressed an interest in joining the employment sub-committee. There are documents that still need to be formalised, ideally in January meeting (Employee T&C’s, H&S guidance etc).

    Vote to provisionally approve SF joining employment sub-committee:

    AC- propose

    SW- second

9. RFO Financial Report

    Financial update given by JM- the YTD will be published as an appendix to minutes

10. Planning Applications

Actions: SK write to LCC re S21/2014 and the rubbish/verges and the landowner re the rubbish. Discuss fly-tipping/gas canisters with local police.

11. Correspondence Received:

CA- in relation to communication re speeding on the drift- interested to know what      has been tried to counteract it?

- his observation is most of the trouble is coming from the top down, 30mph signs       are too close to the top and easily get covered where hedges are overgrown.

          - there are no other signs going down the road

          - he has used bin stickers in the past but that is a once-a-week thing

          - any chance of presence of a mobile camera?

Discussion: HPC aware there is an issue and are currently looking at purchasing a SID  (Speed Indicator Device) which could move around the village.

JM- Letter from Mr Chinn links in with what NB said earlier, could consider setting up a working group for flooding- revisit this in January.

12. AOB:

Has anyone seen the surveys taking place on the Manor Grounds?

Parish councillor vacancy mentioned to NB and CA

13. Closed Session:

Not required

14. Next meeting

Scheduled 18th January 2022

15. Meeting Close

     Closed at 21.15

     Chair – Simon Wicks

   E-mail: harlaxtonpc@gmail.c