February 2022 Minutes
Harlaxton Parish Council
3 Church St
Harlaxton
NG32 1HB
Email: harlaxtonpc@gmail.com
23rd February 2022, 19:30
Harlaxton Village Hall, 3 Church Street, Harlaxton, NG32 1HB
Minutes
1. Meeting open:
Simon Wicks opened meeting at 19:30
2. In Attendance:
Simon Wicks (SW)-Chair
Andrew Cartlidge (AC)
Emma Connelly (EC)
Jane Brown (JB)
Jane Mann (JM)
Samantha Key (SK)- Clerk
3. Apologies:
Sue Flindall (SF)
4. Resolution to approve minutes of Parish Council meeting:
Minutes from meeting dated 18.01.22- agreed and signed by SW
5. Parish Councillors Declarations of Pecuniary Interest:
None
6. Public Forum:
Kate Darcey (KD)- Peter Hawkins planted an oak seed before he died, this has grown into a potted oak tree and now needs respacing. The family are happy for the oak tree to be donated for the Jubilee. If the parish council can use this then they are more than welcome to have it. It needs to be in the ground before June 2022. Looking for suggestions as to where it could be planted.
JM- The parish councillors have recently planted LCC donated trees (for the Queens Jubilee) in the Pearson Gregory field, there is room for another one there.
KD- There was talk about it being near the beacon at the Social Club to replace a previous tree that had died, however do not feel this is appropriate.
JM- Provisionally say to plant it in the Pearson Gregory field?
SW- Would the family want a plaque to memorialise it, also need to consider three stakes to protect it.
KD- Think a plaque would be nice, the tree is well established.
JB- Might still need protecting?
KD- Will mention to the family that the Pearson Gregory is the place as can not think of anywhere else in the village that is suitable.
JB- If we ever did anything with the Pearson Gregory field then people would get to see it.
KD- It has been mentioned at Jubilee meetings that the other side of the A607 does tend to get ignored.
7. Updates from County Councillor, District Councillor and Police and Crime Representative:
SK- County Councillor: the election for this position takes place tomorrow (24.02.22)
- District Councillor: there has been no response from Councillor Westropp
- Police Representative: has declined this invitation but has accepted to attend the next meeting.
8. Updates and discussions:
A) Telephone Box
Discussion:
SK- this was added at the request of SF.
There is a document that SF has shared with the councillors around the telephone box. It was brought up at the Jubilee committee meeting that it would be nice to have it restored, there was a suggestion about running stalls to raise money for the phone box, however people would like something doing with it before the Jubilee celebrations. Harlaxton engineering have previously been spoken to about this but suggested we speak with Western Power around sponsorship for the project as they have no authority over the supply. They were going to provide a contact but have not passed it on. The rotary club have been previously approached about the possibility of shot blasting and repainting, however they need to be approached again. Does the phone box need to be moved to be restored? Yes, whilst it is removed the base could be levelled off and when it returns look at rotating it so the blank side is not facing the road. What would it be used for as there is a concern about spending money on that project when it has not got a purpose? Suggestions have been made to relocate the defibrillator or to install an electric vehicle charge point so the Parish could benefit from a small income. Although there is an amount in the projects section of the finance documents, an updated idea of costs is needed. When it was first considered the disconnection and reconnection costs alone were about £3000.
B) Grass Cutting Tenders:
Discussion:
Three quotes received, out of the four sent out for tender. The quotes received were from ATP, EnviroSK and RJ gardening. EnviroSK came in lower than the other quotes for both the planned cuts and the additional ad-hoc cuts (if required). There have been less complaints last year than in previous years (EnviroSK won the tender last year). Need to look at the padlock costs, although it appears that it is not the contractors that are damaging the padlocks.
Vote to award the contract to EnviroSK:
Proposed- SW
Seconded- JM
Agreed- AC,EC,JB
C)Football Club and HSSC.
Discussion: The HSSC have contacted the Parish Council about the cost of the electricity that the football club have used. At the HSSC committee meeting there were concerns around the condition of the changing rooms. The football club have been using electricity to charge their lights and to boil a kettle, the HSSC noticed their electricity bill had increased and contacted the Parish Council (as we have rented the field out) with a suggested figure for the football club to pay. This figure seemed extremely high for the limited time that it has been in use for. AC has recalculated based on charging time and rate- this figure comes in significantly lower. The HSSC should be engaging with the football club to arrange payments the clerk to write to the HSSC committee to confirm this and all payments for electricity should be made directly to the HSSC.
With regards the changing rooms the football club agreement with the Parish Council is only for rental of the field, the question was raised as to whether the football club may have believed changing facilities were included? Changing facilities were not mentioned in the agreement also the Parish Council never gave the football club any way of accessing them. How have the football club gained access to the changing rooms- they must have been given a key? If this is the case then it would have been logical for the key giver to have a discussion over recompense for the access. Approximately 4 years ago the field was hired out and the HSSC charged that club. The hope is that it can be resolved amicably as would be a shame to lose the football club. There may be an overlap between the football club season ending and the cricket season starting- this needs checking on the agreement and adjustments made (if necessary).
Separate to this having spoken to the cricket groundsman the cricket field will need to be cut and rolled before the season starts. The football club have been manually cutting it; however, it needs doing properly. The cost of hiring a tractor and roller needs to be gained.
Questions raised by the HSSC and communicated through a committee member who is also a Parish Councillor.
1) Radiators are cold and not working who is responsible?- all agreed that is HSSC responsibility.
2) Would the PC allow the inaugural celebrations of the new vicar to spill out of the HSSC onto the playing field for the afternoon of Saturday 20 April? Is this when the football club play, no they play in the morning. All agreed that it is acceptable but need to put a start time on to preserve the football club agreement.
3) The changing rooms are a mess of dirt, debris, and stored items (the football club are using them currently). Will the PC ensure that the changing rooms are cleaned before they are handed back to the committee for the use of the Cricket Club? And who is responsible for the changing rooms? As previously discussed the responsibility for the changing rooms is the HSSC. The football club hoovered and mopped them when they started using them. The HSSC chair did say that the damage to the paint was already there.
4) Debris adjacent to the Cricket Club storage containers, and storage area around the containers. SK has already sent an email to the groundskeeper and had no response, has forwarded this same email to the chair and a second contact- awaiting response. This area is unacceptable, there are (amongst other objects) rusty pieces of metal there- if someone were to get hurt then whose responsibility is it? The cricket club are waiting for the ground to dry and then they can get a skip lorry on it. The Parish Council would be happy for a skip to be sited on the car park, alternatively the Parish Council could pay for a company to clear it and then recharge this cost to the Cricket Club. It was agreed that an email with a timescale (end of March 2022) to clear the area and if it is not completed then the Parish Council will hire a company and recharge them.
Was anything mentioned about CCTV?- yes HSSC happy to provide the electricity, if a 4-camera system was purchased then 2 or 3 cameras could cover the car park and the remaining cover the rear of building. Costs need to be gained for various systems and compared formally.
9. RFO Financial report:
Discussion: MMBS have processed the banking mandate, the letter confirming was received today (23.02.22). HSBC do not inform when the mandate has been updated. An amended access form needs to be submitted now along with I.D to change the primary user. Documents previously sent out show an income to date of £28691, an expenditure to date of £18115. This leaves a surplus of approximately £10500. There are some invoices for work done that are waiting to be received (hedge cutting and HVH guttering). These need to be chased to ensure payment is made in this financial year, there will be an element of VAT on these so this can be reclaimed. As the income is in excess of £25000 the accounts will be subject to both internal and external audits.
Documents initialled by SW.
10. Planning Applications:
Discussion: nothing to discuss.
11. Communications:
Email received from C. Waite with compliments on the village voice and the mention of having a councillor profile included. Discussion: updating councillor profile on the website and linking this with the village voice.
Email received from Z. Bower asking for a dog bin/waste bin on West End. Discussion: SKDC have previously been approached and have refused to provide either type of bin, they have also said they would be unable to empty any additional bins. The Parish Council could look at supplying a bin but would need to speak to residents to see if there are happy with having it located there- something to be put in the village voice. Clerk to write to SKDC to see if they are happy with us providing and emptying our own bin.
12. AOB:
Speed Indicator Device.
Discussion: LCC have now indicated that there is a weight constraint as well as a size constraint, as SF is not present this will move into the next meeting. As repeaters are not allowed along the Drift we should look at the possibility of buying additional signage from the suppliers such as bin stickers. Could be included in the next village voice.
Environmental projects.
Discussion: Do we look at some environmental projects? It was agreed to get some projects completed first as currently have a lot outstanding.
13. Closed Session:
Not required.
14. Next meeting:
Wednesday 30th March 2022
15. Meeting Close:
Meeting closed at 20.57.
Chair – Simon Wicks
E-mail: harlaxtonpc@gmail.com