April 2021 DRAFT Minutes
WITHERN WITH STAIN & TOTHILL PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes – Parish Council meeting 6th April 2021, 7pm, via Zoom (online)
www.withernstain.uk
Present: Cllr Acklam (Chairman), Cllr Harvey, Cllr Donner, Cllr Jenkinson, Cllr O’Pray, Cllr Blomley; the clerk A Claydon. No members of the public were present, thus no public session was held.
51. Apologies – Cllr Osbourne, due to ongoing IT issues; District Councillor Sandra Harrison due to a clash of meetings.
52. Declarations of interest not previously disclosed – none.
53. Minutes of the meeting of 23rd February 2021. it was RESOLVED to adopt the draft notes as minutes. (pAJ sJH)
54. Updates from LCC or ELDC. None
55. Planning:
a. current applications - None.
b. Local Plan Review- Issues and Options / Call for land consultation – the view was reiterated that, while some of the options that ELDC have put forward have more merits than others (e.g. those that envisage development being concentrated around existing centres), the specific points relating to infrastructure and facilities made at the last meeting should be submitted rather than the Parish Council indicating a favoured option.
56. Future meetings of the Parish Council. The clerk had circulated a letter from the Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government dated 25th March 2021 that had the effect of bringing virtual council meetings to an end on 7th May 2021, the date on which the relevant parts of the Coronavirus regulations expire. This would mean that, unless the scheduled Annual Meeting of the Council was brought forward from 18th May to 6th May or earlier, it would have to be held “in person” to be valid. Nationally, Local Government representative bodies were organising a High Court challenge to the decision. Parish Councillors were disappointed with this news and indicated a strong preference to continue to discuss matters on 18th May via Zoom even if there had to be a subsequent, formal “ratification” meeting.
57. Local issues:
a. Parking outside the school at drop off / pick-up times had caused some concerns, with incidents of vehicles parked on the zig-zag areas. It was understood that the headteacher had sent a letter to parents that included advice from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership just before Easter. It was felt sensible to keep the matter under observation
b. Restricted visibility of oncoming traffic due to a hedge was reported when turning right from the A157 onto the B1373 towards Woodthorpe. Members recognized that the junction was potentially difficult anyway and asked the clerk to enquire whether there was anything else that LCC could do to improve safety.
c. The Litter Pick on 13th March was very successful with more than 20 attendees. Councillors expressed their thanks to everyone who took part and also to the Village Hall Committee for storing free of charge the litter picking equipment that East Lindsey District Council have gifted to the Parish Council. It was mooted that it might be possible for the equipment to be made available to families or small groups for litter collection outside of the main annual event, subject to a booking in / out process
58. Correspondence / Clerks Update. Since the last meeting ELDC had been asked to confirm the arrangements for collecting dog waste but without response, although based upon the experience of other nearby parishes, it was normally possible to add extra bins on the same route and second collections may also be arranged.
Using photographs supplied by Cllr O’Pray, damaged and overgrown footpaths and verges in the village had been added to the Fix My Street reporting system.
59. Financial:
a) It was RESOLVED to approve / pay the following and produce cheques for signature:
A Claydon (Clerks salary / expenses February / March 2021) £122.36 (pSA sFD)
HMRC £ 29.80 (pSA sAJ)
LALC – councillor training February 2021 £ 27.00 (pSA sFD)
b) The external audit and annual return processes for 2020/21 were noted
c) Internal Audit – it was RESOLVED to appoint Mrs J Cooper as internal auditor for this year’s accounts (pSA sAJ)
60. Any other Matters for general discussion and/or inclusion in next agenda: Annual meeting (confirmation of chairman / vice chairman / Standing Orders and Financial Regulations); financial statements 2020/21
61. Next meeting – online meeting to go ahead on 18th May with separate ratification meeting if required.
The meeting ended at 8.09pm