2023 Parish Council Minutes

Minutes of the Saltfleetby Parish Council Meeting held on 5th September 2023 at 7pm at

Marshlands Community Centre.

Present:

            Cllr Lusby      JL       Chair

            Cllr Hatton      PH       Vice Chair and note taker.

            Cllr Stone        CS

            Cllr Harrison   SH

            Cllr Aldhouse NA      

            Cllr Hall          Pam

            Cllr Clark        SC

Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were 9 members of the public present, three of who left the meeting early, plus

Cllr McNally, County & District Councillor.

Cllr Rickett, District Councillor (part time - left at 7.25pm)

10 minutes Open Forum for Residents

A resident had asked why it had taken the council a long time to answer his request for clarification of some of the details of the Gayton Wind Farm terms of reference.

The Chair explained that the query was to be answered at the next meeting of the Gayton Wind Farm sub-committee. The sub-committee has not met since the query was received. The Chair passed over to the resident answers to his queries, this is annexed at the end of these minutes.

Discussions took place regarding payment of the grant to St Peter’s Church. A resident stated that the Gayton Wind Farm Fund cannot be used to pay for anything connected with the church.

The Chair explained that although promotion of religious beliefs was not permitted works to buildings etc was.  The Chair stated examples of other Energiekontor wind farm agreements in Yorkshire which specifically include the repair of buildings associated with religious worship. Details of the rules governing promotion of religious beliefs is annexed to these minutes. The Chair invited the resident to contact Energiekontor to confirm this.

It was apparent that two or three members of the public attended the meeting with the intention of disrupting the proceedings. The Chair had to firmly suggest to the members of the public in question that if this carried on they would be asked to leave and if they refused the meeting would be stopped.

Statutory proceedings commenced at 7.15pm

02048 Apologies for Absence

The Clerk sent her apologies due to Covid.

02049 Declaration of Interest

Cllr Clark declared an interest in venues for parish council meetings and signs in front of Football Club.

Cllr’s Lusby & Hatton declared an interest in venues for parish council meetings.

02050 Minutes of Previous Meetings

The minutes of the meeting held on 4th July were accepted as a true record. p CS  s NA

The minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 13th July were accepted as a true record. p Pam s CS.

02051 District/County Councillors Reports

A charter has been signed by the utility suppliers to liaise with each other in an attempt to stop unnecessary excavations of the highway.

A shared prosperity fund is now available for parish councils to apply for funding.

Schools in the area have been tested for Reinforced Autoclave Aerated Concrete (RAAC), with the exception of academy schools and found to be unaffected. Academy schools will be tested by the Department of Education in due course.

Work will commence on the footpath and B1200 between December 2023 and April 2024. Updates can be obtained from the LCC website on the Highways Section.

ELDC have agreed, in principle, to empty the dog bin that will be provided by the parish council on Ings Lane. Cllr McNally didn’t think this would be a problem.

There is no legal requirement to show dimensions on drawings for planning permission, however a request can be made to show them as part of the application process. The Validation Team at ELDC will investigate the problem when the staff return from the holiday break.

02051 Venue for Parish Council Meeting

Requests for quotations to host the parish council meetings were sent to five establishments in the village. The following list of establishments and their replies are:-

Prussian Queen – No Quotation.

Old School – No Quotation.

St Peter’s Church – Free to use.

Louth Town Football Club – No Quotation.

The Fisheries – No Quotation.

It was proposed to take two votes regarding venues.

Three councillors were not permitted to vote due to an interest in the venues.

The result were:-

Go to St Peters Church for 2 against 2.

Stay at Louth Town Football Club for 2 against 2.

The chairman decided to favour staying at Louth Town Football Club.

02052 Councilor Vacancies

There were no applicants for the vacant posts.

02053 Gayton Wind Farm Fund

Two applications were received:-

1. Craft and Chat request for table lights - £129.80. Awarded. p CS  s Pam voted unanimous.
2. Request for Golf Clubs - £999.00. Awarded £999.00. p SH  s PH voted 6 for 1 abstained.

02053 Planning Application

Action 23/23 – Completed. Cllrs Stone and Lusby visited Sea Lane and were satisfied that the building works met planning permissions.

02054 Financial Matters

Action 24/23 – Completed. Cllr Lusby has obtained access to the insurance company’s website. Company has rebranded and now trades as “Clear”

Action 15/23 – Transferred. Clerk to determine if insurance cover is adequate.

Action 25/23 – Completed. Village Assets Register updated and annexed to these minutes.

The parish council accounts were presented to the council for ratification.

p CS  s NA  vote Unanimous.

02055 Gayton Wind Farm Financial Matters  

Action 26/23- Completed. Cllr Hatton arranged for £10,000 of the “ring-fenced” money to be placed in an investment account for twelve months.

Gayton Wind Farm accounts were presented to the parish council for ratification.

p SH  s Pam vote Unanimous.

Due to the parish council meetings being held every other month it was proposed that spending may take place by balloting the whole council via e-mail.

p SH s NA vote Unanimous.

02056 Banking

Clerk still not able to view Parish Council or GaytonWind Farm bank accounts on-line. Application in progress.

02057 Sign in front of Louth Town Football Club

Action 33/23 Cllr Lusby to determine if order for sign can be cancelled if order was placed more than six months previous.

02058 Bulb Planting in Verges

Action 17/23 – Continuing. Cllr Hall to determine price for bulb planting.

02059 St Clements Graveyards

A copy of the Order in Council for the closure of St Clements Graveyard was obtained from the Department of Justice. No written request for the parish council to take on the care and maintenance of the graveyard can be found in the parish council archives, St Peter’s Church archives or Lincoln Diocesan archives. It was therefore proposed that there is no statutory duty to maintain this graveyard and it was proposed that care and maintenance be funded from the Gayton Wind Farm Fund. p CS s Pam vote Unanimous.

02060 Reports from Outside Bodies.

There were no reports from outside bodies.

02061 Correspondence

There was no correspondence received.

02062 Website Update/Communications with the Public

Action 27/23 – Completed. Councillors e-mail addresses were placed on website.

Action 28/23 – Completed. Cllr Lusby wrote to a village resident thanking her for her interest in the village newsletter.

Action 29/23 – Transferred and ongoing. Cllr’s Lusby & Stone will produce and deliver a letter requesting help with a village newsletter.

02063 Storage of Archived Material

Action 30/23 – Ongoing. Archived material still being sorted to permit useful material to be lodged with ELDC records. Cllrs Lusby & Hatton.

02063 Traffic Calming Measures

Action 31/23 – Completed. Cllr Hatton liaised with Road Safety Partnership (RSP). Four sites were chosen for active sites. RSP will supply and erect poles at the four sites. The poles cost £600 each but RSP will only charge us £300. The Active signs cost £2,250 each. Total cost for the four signs to be “up and running” is £10,200.

It was proposed to purchase the four systems. p Pam s CS vote 5 for 2 against.

02064 Litter Picking

Bags and tongs are now available in the village.

Action 34/23 Cllr Aldhouse to start lobbying residents to volunteer to take part in a litter picking event.

02065 Parish Clerks Report

Nothing to Report.

02066 Code of Conduct

Action 32/23 – Transferred. Cllr Harrison to review Saltfleetby Parish Council Code of Conduct and suggest amendments if appropriate. Suggested amendments to be circulated to all councilors before the next meeting.

02067 Web Site Amendment

It was proposed to remove the councillors e-mail addresses from the parish council website for the time being. It is suspected that the e-mails are being targeted for malicious purposes. All electronic communications should be directed via the clerk.

p Pam s NA vote Unanimous.

02068 Invoices

Two invoices totaling £31.82 from Cllr Lusby re memory sticks requiring payment.

p CS s Pam vote Unanimous.

02069 Items for Next Agenda

Subjects with active actions plus the following:-

1 Purchase of Good Councillor Guide.

2 Date for Litter Picking Event.

3 Extension of public speaking time.

4 LALC Training in Saltfleetby.

Date of Next Meeting Tuesday 7th November 2023.

If Annexed forms are unreadable on your device please get in touch with clerk for PDF copies.

Answers to Residents Questions

Details Pertaining to “Promoting Religious Beliefs”

The agreement signed by both Energikontor and the Parish Council in 2011 does not include any reference to promoting political or religious beliefs. The agreement is the “top level” document utilised for the determination of releasing funding for a particular project.

The rule of not promoting political and religious beliefs was introduced in the first issue of the Terms of Reference and was included in further updates.

The promotion of political or religious beliefs relates to propagation of ideological thoughts. The fabric of a building does not fall under this category.

Fixed Assets Register 2023