2024 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Parish Council Meeting

7:30pm on Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Harlaxton Village Hall, 3 Church Street, Harlaxton, NG32 1HU

Minutes

1. Meeting Opened at 7:30pm
2. In Attendance: Cllrs Wicks, Smith, Clawson, Phillips, Gabriel & Cartlidge.
3. Apologies (Non-Attendance): None
4. Declarations of Pecuniary Interests: Cllr Phillips advised that they have a planning application pending, and Cllr Cartlidge advised that the company he works for sponsors Harlaxton Cricket Club.
5. Resolution to approve minutes of Parish Council Meetings: PCM of 28 August 2024. Agreed and signed.
6. Public Forum (15 Minute Presentation/Discussion). Presentation by Cllrs Wicks to 6 Harlaxton Manor Students on the role of a Parish Council.
7. Updates - County Councillor, District Councillor, Police & Crime
   1. Cllr Vernon advised (1) Following withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance, there remains the option to apply for Pension Credit. Many are not claiming this and they need to be encouraged to do so. (2) LCC and SKDC are keen to see villages support the Warm Rooms Initiative, whereby a village facility is opened up for villagers to have a warm space at least once a week.
   2. Cllr Leadenham advised (1) There are flyers around the village to promote the Dementia Awareness Wrist Bands. (2) There will be a ward meeting on 22 November at 7pm, which will include several MP’s, executives from SKDC, LCC and the Police. An ideal opportunity to raise awareness of local issues. Details to follow in due course.
8. Updates and Discussions
   1. Finance Update: Finances are healthy.
      1. Invoices received: The following invoices were approved for payment: HCC for grass cutting the Manor Road Sports Field and adjacent grassed areas, £274. Harlaxton Village Hall for the Community Speed Watch meeting, £7.00. BTAC for the hedge cutting, £449.80 + VAT, subject to the completion of the missed Gregory Close [post meeting completed on Friday, 27 Sept]. BDG Mowing Contractors for cutting the other parish grass, £380 + VAT.
   2. Proposed Development off Swine Hill (Cllr Gabriel): There is no further update at the moment.
   3. HPC Bins around the Village: The Community Cleaner has been messaging when the bins are empty. The bin nearest the Manor Drive Sports Field seems to be filling up more frequently. It was agreed to replace this bin with the Derwent Large 120 L bin for £240 + VAT and delivery, and allocate circa £100 for the concrete base.
   4. Traffic
      1. A607 Consultation: Currently Lincolnshire County Council [LCC] have rejected the Parish suggestion to extend the 40mph to include the future Manor Entrance to the east, and the footway across the A607 to the west. Cllr Vernon has received the emails from Harlaxton Parish Council to LCC and will follow up with LCC and report back. Next steps may include asking the local MP to raise this in Parliament.
      2. SID (Speed Indicator Device): Recently it has been facing north [downhill] on The Drift. It is increasingly reported that fewer people are keeping to the speed and are ignoring SID. Agreed to move SID to the High Street facing north [up hill]. It was suggested that the first exercise for the CSW should be to focus on The Drift.
      3. CSW (Community Speed Watch): The current CSW coordinator reported that the group of selected a number of days in which they would be attending The Drift and Swinehill, and would be pushing for the LCC/Police coordinator to agree a location on the High Street. The next CSW exercise will be The Drift on Friday, 27 September. Councillors unanimously motioned to reimburse the cost of purchasing the equipment, with an indicative cost of around £600.
9. LCC Highway Gulley Cleansing: Cllr Wicks expressed concern to Cllr Vernon that the LCC traffic management had caused chaos around the village, with some areas shut off all day and overnight, despite the only apparent work being carried out between 10am and 2pm. Cllrs also expressed concern that the work in the village is incomplete with some kerb drains still blocked, and no work yet at all on the A607 through the village or towards Harlaxton. Cllr Vernon to raise the matter with LCC.
10. Anglian Water work on the High Street: With permission from No 59, Councillors have been able to take pictures upstream in the culvert below the road. This revealed a build up of debris [presumably from the damage to the masonry arch], a loose section of uPVC pipe and a blue mains water pipe hanging down and running through. Councillors expressed concern that a blockage would cause backing up upstream which may lead to flooding to houses along Pond Streed and the High Street. It was agreed to send a further letter to Anglian Water and The Inland Drainage Board to request that they attend to the defect promptly.
11. LCC’s Emergency Plan: A list is being pooled of representatives from the Village Hall, Sports and Social Club, the Village Shop and Councillors. Cllr Vernon can provide a example of a completed plan to help.
12. Harlaxton Design Statement: Two villagers have volunteered to work on updating the 2004 document. Thanks were given to the them for offering to work on the document. HPC to send an email asking them to write in so that a working party can be formed.
9. HSSC
   1. Car Park and Manor Drive Flooding: A further complaint to AXA dealing with the poor handling of the Claim has been upheld, a cheque for £25 has been offered by AXA. Following the three independent experts supporting HPC’s claim, the matter still seems locked with Crawford Loss Adjusters.
   2. Channel Drain to the rear/south of HSSC: The contractor hasn’t yet returned to correct the defects. £500 is still being held in retention.
10. Sports Field
    1. Play Area Equipment. Latest inspection report (Cllr Wicks): Some minor issues to be resolved.
    2. Drainage/Maintenance: The contractor didn’t start on 23 September, and with the recent rains, the grass will be a lot more sensitive to damage by machinery. HPC to request an update from the contractor.
11. Grass Cutting, Hedges, etc
    1. Village Tree Survey: Cllr Phillips has read through the detailed MapleBeck Tree survey report and advises that the following work will be required within the next year: (1) Coopers where a branch overhangs the unused school hut, (2) two [long-standing] dead trees in Coopers Plantation, (3) the dead tree in Gregory Close, and (4) the fallen tree in the Pearson Greogry Field. The report also notes that there is strimmer damage to trees in Gregory Close. Cllr Gabriel volunteered to help remove the dead trees and will report back on the overhanging branch in Coopers, which may require a contractor to quote for the work.

Three quotes have now been received for the fallen branch in the corner of Coopers Plantation. One quote needs to be reworded to align with the requested work. Cllr Wicks to review and report back. Budget for work agreed at 28 September meeting remains current.

1. Gregory Close Trees: Cllr Clawson & Cartlidge have installed two packs of tree protectors to the most vulnerable trees, however a further three packs of protectors are required. A budget of £17 was agree for each protector pack, currently a total of five packs.
2. Hedge Cutting: Per item 8.1.1. the works are nearly complete.
3. HPC Grass Cutting, Coffin Walk & LCC Verge on A607: For the main village grass cutting, it was agreed to continue with the current yearly contract. Following the request from one of the contractors for the Manor Drive Sports Field, it was agree to seek quotes for both one year and three years. Recognising one contractors machinery difficulties in 2024, the quotations will need to cover contigency plans to help mitigate similar issues in 2025.

12. Village Voice: Cllr Wicks has this in hand.
13. Any other business: None.
14. Next scheduled Meeting: Annual Meeting of the Council: Wednesday, 30 October 2024 at 7:30pm
15. Meeting close.