DRAFT Annual Parish Meeting Minutes 21st May 2024
MINUTES OF THE SALFTLEETBY ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
21st May 2024 at 7pm at St Peters Church
Present: Cllr Lusby (Chairing the meeting), 10 residents, 6 Councillors
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Rickett
Prior to the meeting the chairman distributed a document featuring the councils actions during the past year – this can be found at the end of the minutes.
2. The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
3. The Chair spoke about how much had been achieved this year. He mentioned the speed awareness signs that have gone up, the extra dog bins, repairs to the footpaths and the new defibrillators which have been bought and are soon to be installed.
The newsletters are running again – Councillor Stone is kindly dealing with them on a quarterly basis. Also the Chair wanted to remind anyone who is struggling financially that they can speak to the Parish Council confidentially to get help – he then asked the members of public who have received grants in the year to speak.
A lady from the Saltfleetby Community Association told the meeting that the SCA events are well attended and that the community is really getting behind the association. They are getting more volunteers and hope to join with SOSH with some events in order to bring the village together. On D-Day they will be lighting a beacon and giving out burgers etc. On the Saturday there will be an afternoon tea.
From the Church a member thanked the Parish Council for their support in regard to room hire costs. He mentioned the craft lamps that had been funded via a grant but unfortunately
failed after a couple of months and needed to go back for a refund however by that time the lighting in the Church had improved considerably so they weren’t required.
The Salfteetby Walking Football Club stated that the ground needs aerating according to the groundsman before the fencing can be put up for which they had a grant from the Windfarm for. The ground has been too boggy so far.
A gentleman from the snooker hall spoke about the grant they had gratefully received for the electrical works. They had all been repaired now –a few new members have joined and they actually managed a win in Louth League in the Jubilee Cup knockout which was very pleasing.
On the bursaries – the archery coaching went well with two coaches having their 2nd assessments this weekend and progressing well and two another coming up. Also coaching is ongoing for one blind person (who is 9th in the world rankings) and another visually challenged person.
The young lady who received a grant to help with purchasing better quality golf clubs spoke of her improved scores in the last 12 months and her work in attempting to get her handicap below 34. With the new clubs she was county training at Woodhall Spa.
4. The Chairman Invited Cllr McNally to give the District and County Councilors Report
He spoke on the good work with the footpaths and the recycling system up North End Lane.
Also he mentioned that ‘doorstep crime’ is on the increase within East Lindsey. Cllr McNally encouraged member of public not to buy on the doorstep as this leads to bigger crimes – he is putting more information about this in the Newsletter than Cllr Stone will be producing. Chair mentioned that dashcam or CCTV coverage is always useful.
A member of the public asked Cllr McNally about the pot holes especially down North End Lane. He had been in dialogue with Highways regarding the criteria for roads being ‘safe & fit for purpose’ but had not had a great response from them. Cllr McNally said to email him and he would take this matter up.
Also brought up was the fact that the footpath needs extending on Main Road near the double bends and the grass was taken up but needs grass seed put ting back. Cllr McNally is going to check this also Chair and Cllr Stone are going to walk around to see if there’s any other areas that need dealing with.
5. Implementation of the speed awareness signs
The Chair explained that there has been some meaningful data has been received from the speed awareness equipment. Traffic speeds are reducing especially approaching the equipment but not so much leaving it so circular ‘40’ signs on the road going out would help this.
6. The Chairman requested any questions from the public.
There was a question regarding differing costs of the speed awareness signs – the clerk gave a figure of £10,500 approx for the equipment and £1,200 for the installation. This was including VAT – clerk to double check and email gentleman.
A member of the public stated that she would like the defamatory language at council meetings to decease and another member would like to see the Windfarm Applications approved by a separate committee. The Chair will do his best to cut the bad language out and would welcome a separate committee for the Windfarm Applications. However the agreement that’s been signed states that the Parish Council should administer the grants. The Chair is in conversation with EK so he will see if this can be amended.
The meeting closed at 8.09 pm.
Signed------------------------------------------- Date-------------------------
Cllr JM Lusby Chairman
SALTFLEETBY PARISH MEETING 2024
Parish Council Report 2024
The regular business of our Council involves attempts to get roads and footpaths repaired, reduce speeding through the village, the maintenance of St Clement’s churchyard and the Jubilee boxes and verges. We are invited to review planning applications and we liaise with our County and District Councillors on issues that concern our parishioners. A part of your Council tax (the precept) pays for these services but the Councillors are all volunteers. We also administer the Gayton Wind Farm Fund. This can’t be used for anything that we have a statutory duty to provide, for example St Clement’s Churchyard, but we can use it for things like Newsletters, Village signs, Radar speed signs and Dog bins etc.
We are open to Parishioners suggesting new projects that the Parish Council can undertake or help with. One of these projects proposed by our newest Parish Councillor Kate Marshall is the organising of a Village Community Park with help from parishioners and interested groups. Facebook group: Saltfleetby Community Park.
Highway repairs and resurfacing are ongoing projects in the Village and the Footpath from St Peters cross roads to the Double bends at the west end of the village has now been completely replaced. Representatives of Lincolnshire County Council Highways will be liaising with Councillor McNally to assess the condition of the footpath at the East end of the village with a view to repairing the sections in most need in the near future.
I am sure that many of you will be aware of the worrying length of waiting times for Ambulances and this problem is showing very little signs of improvement. We have three defibrillators in the village already, one at the Prussian Queen, the second at Marshlands and the third at the Snooker Club Hall. We are in the process of fitting a fourth defibrillator at the St Peters cross roads area.
We have a mannequin to practice CPR and defibrillator trainer, if any Parishioners would like to organize any training sessions please contact the Parish Council Clerk. In the case of a cardiac arrest minutes are critical and we would like all residents to feel confident that they could use the defibrillators or administer CPR in an emergency. If you dial 999 you may not be told to go and fetch a defibrillator if you live more than 500 metres from the nearest machine, but if you have a neighbour or a member of your household who can go and fetch one, please tell the ambulance service and you should be given the code.
The Radar Speed Signs are now all installed and starting to provide useful data, some of which will be shared in the next Parish Magazine which goes to every household in the village. The footpath replacement at the west end meant that the signs were set at speeds lower that the 40 mph limit for much of the time until the middle of April. These have now been set to 40mph again. We have some issues from trees that will require some trimming back, close to the speed sign up the east end of the village near the old gatehouse.
The Community Speed Gun is still in operation and has already caught several motorists exceeding the speed limit. However, we do need volunteers to do the training and then go out as part of a team to monitor traffic through the village. The Road Safety Partnership vans that monitor speeding are making regular visits to the village but they are often visible from a long way back so we are not sure how effective they are, however at the last appearance of the van outside Louth Town Football Club no speeding was recorded in the two hours it was there. This may be due partly to the speed sign in place there.
Extra Dog Waste Bins are being placed in areas of need in the village and are being regularly emptied by ELDC.
We have Councillors who have put themselves out to support our village and move projects forward but in truth all the Councillors who give their time up so willingly deserve thanks. We still require more Councillors so we have a full compliment.
The Parish Council is now publishing the Newsletter four times a year and will be happy if Villagers feel they have contributions for articles in future issues. Chris Stone is the Magazine Editor and contributions for inclusion should be emailed to: christopher.stone@saltfleetbyparishcouncil.gov.uk
Many people in this village keep an eye out for neighbours who may be struggling or isolated, the cost-of-living crisis is still a problem and there could well be people who will face real difficulties over the coming year, so please don’t hesitate to let the Parish Council know in confidence if you have any concerns.
We would also like to thank Councillor Danny McNally and Councillor Paul Rickett for their unwavering support as both District and County Councilors.
We all lead busy lives and there are many demands on our time, but all organisations in this village desperately need more villagers to step up and help out. If more people come forward the burden is lighter, currently the same folk are being asked to do a great deal year on year. Please consider offering an hour or two to the Parish Council and other organisations that are run by volunteers in the village that aim to make our village a happier and healthy place.
On Behalf of Saltfleetby Parish Council
John Lusby (Parish Council Chair)