March 2023 Minutes Annual Parish Meeting
Harlaxton Parish Council Lincolnshire
Chairman: Andrew Cartlidge
Email: harlaxtonpc@gmail.com
Address: 3 Church Street, Harlaxton, Lincs, NG32 1HB
Website: http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Harlaxton/
Annual Parish Meeting, Monday 20 March 2023 at 7pm at Harlaxton Village Hall
Minutes
1. Chair’s Welcome
The Chair welcomed everyone to the Annual Meeting of the Parish, reminded all present that this was the opportunity for parishioners to find out about current matters of interest in the community, and meet representative of local groups and organisations.
2. Organisations Present
Councillor Charlotte Vernon [LCC], Harlaxton History Society, Harlaxton Bowls Club, Light Bites, Luncheon Club, Harlaxton Village Hall, Harlaxton Sport & Social Club, Harlaxton School CofE Primary School, Harlaxton Gardening Club, Harlaxton WI, Harlaxton Wharf Community Space
3. Approval and signature of minutes of APM 30 May 2022
Motion accepted to approve
4. Chairman’s report
The Chair asked all those present to give thanks to a number of villagers for all of their hard work and dedication in volunteering around the village over the last year.
Jane Brown was thanks for looking after the village voice, managing the Speed Indicator Device, the village traffic report, and writing the various agenda’s and minutes in recent times.
Simon and Irvin Metcalf were thanked for their work on the Grade II listed telephone box.
Kate, Kathy and Siobhan were thanked for their work on the upcoming Gala to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles.
Kathy was thanked for her dedication to bringing events to the village, most recently the Halloween Party and now regular quiz at the Sports & Social Club.
Siobhan was thanked for looking after the 2022 Christmas Tree
Irvin and Pam Metcalf were thanked for yet along year of litter picking along the A607 towards Grantham, and also Irvin’s ongoing dedication to cutting the LCC verge along the A607.
The committees of both the Village Hall and Sports and Social Club were thanked for their ongoing efforts in looking after the buildings and managing the various events.
Thanks were given to Keith Young, Simon Wicks, Martyn Carr, Brian Bothwell and Jeroen Jensen for all of their hard work on the refurbishment of the Sports & Social Club bar.
Carlos was thanked for his efforts in developing children’s football on the Sports Field
5. Reports from the County Councillor, District Councillor and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
County Councillor Cllr Vernon expressed relief that 2022/2023 has increasing been felt like a normal year after the pandemic and that she had enjoyed several of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events across the region.
She advised that work is still ongoing to have highways funding reinstated to make improvements to Lincolnshire roads. We were urged to report all concerns and issues to Fixmystreet.
Cllr Vernon stated that, while the LCC council tax has increased by 4.99% [which includes 2% for adult care], Lincolnshire still has one of the lowest council tax rates in the country. She said that no Councillor wants to increase council tax, but the County Council is facing rising costs.
We were reminded to ensure that voters on 4 May must have photo ID.
6. Matters raised by electors
• Lighting in the village – can the street lights be turned off after midnight, or can they be installed with movement sensors.
• Concern was raised by some unpleasant Facebook comments – The Chair advised that the two groups were privately owned and not in any way part of the Parish Council, nonetheless the villager was thanked for bringing these concerns to the fore which will hopefully encourage more of us to be empowered to deal with unpleasant social medial comments.
7. Refreshments / informal chat with Parish Councillors & representatives of Village Groups