2019 Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held at Cranwell Village Hall, Old School Lane, Cranwell Village, Lincolnshire, NG34 8DF, on Tuesday 2 April 2019.

Attendance: With Cllr H J Morris in the Chair there were present, Cllrs – Mr M A Cassidy, Mrs Z Cox, Mrs C Harper, Mr N McGill and the Clerk, Mr E Findlay.

18 members of the public were in attendance.

At 7:00 pm, the Chairman welcomed everybody to the Annual Parish Meeting for Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard’s Leap.

1.Notes of the Annual Parish Meeting held at Cranwell Village Hall on Tuesday 17 April 2018 to be approved as Minutes.

The notes of the previous meeting were proposed by Mr Morris, seconded by Mr Frazer and approved as a true record of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 17 April 2018.

2.Receive the Chairman’s report for 2018/19 from, Cllr Helen Morris.

 i. This year we have had eight councillors serving a Parish Ward of just over 2,000 parishioners this includes Cranwell Village, RAF College Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard’s Leap. We now have a vacancy for two Parish Councillors. Mr Gavin Hutchinson and Mr Frank Walters recently resigned from the Parish Council, both due to a change of employment. Mrs Zoe Cox joined the Parish Council in November 2018.

ii. There are still outstanding issues with country footpaths around our parish due to confusion with LCC Mapping systems. This is ongoing until update on maps can be resolved.

iii. Your Parish Councillors are all volunteers and work tirelessly throughout the year to ensure their areas of responsibilities are checked and reported back to the Council. Parish Councillors also work, or are volunteers for many other organisations, and also serve on other committees. I am sure Councillors will be happy to discuss relevant matters over refreshments should you have any questions or queries.

iv. I wish to express my gratitude to Parish Councillors, Members of the Public, the Village Hall Management Committee the Social Club, the HIVE and not forgetting Mr Jim Starbuck the Village Hall Caretaker who sets up the Hall for meetings throughout the year - thank you all for this continued support.

v. We thank Mr Eddie Findlay our Parish Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer who is in no doubt the stalwart and linchpin of our organisation. Eddie works extremely hard when it comes to his responsibilities. He is an excellent negotiator for the Parish dealing with difficult and varied issues from councillors, organisations and parishioners daily. Eddie has an exceptional knowledge of Local Government and Council Regulations. Thank You Eddie.

3. Receive the Financial report for 2018/19 from the Responsible Finance Officer, Mr Eddie Findlay.

Income Starting with a carried forward figure of £79,553, the Parish Council received £36,465 from NKDC, broken down as £36,358 precept and £106 Council Tax Support Grant. Miscellaneous receipts include grants and other small funding streams, mainly from NKDC and LCC. The litter picking grant is currently at £579, for which the Parish Council thank NKDC for their support in this area. The Parish Council are determined to maintain their litter picking frequency to ensure the village is kept in the condition residents expect. Other income streams include a grant of £298 from LCC towards maintaining the grass verges with the 30mph. This only covers two cuts per year and the parish now funds the other 14 cuts, to maintain the verges in a reasonable condition. Rents received by hiring out the Old School was £5,455 and Fixed Term Deposit interest £327.

Expenditure

New items of play equipment were purchased costing £3,900 Insurance is obviously another large annual of expenditure at £2,780. Funds continue to be set aside Ring-fenced monies for the re-surfacing of the car park in front of the Social Club continue to grow (£16,500), Social Club roof (£4,000) and when sufficient funds are available the Council will ensure a quality product is obtained. Ring-Fenced monies = £28,810.

Other outgoings included ongoing maintenance for the Garden of Remembrance, the Village Hall, the Village Green, the Old School, litter picking and miscellaneous repairs. Grounds maintenance has always been a significant area of expenditure at over £8,625, this was usually offset by receiving grants from LCC for grass cutting undertaken on behalf of the County. As reported earlier, LCC only provide funding for two cuts of the grass verges within the 30mph zones. This was added onto the Grounds Maintenance contracts and will be reviewed toward the end of Summer 2019. The Parish Council also maintain various other verges, the playing fields, the children’s play area and the Village Green, whilst also making a contribution towards the upkeep of the churchyard during this financial year. As with both District and County Councils, the Parish Council have considered future budgets and have reviewed a number of the services it funds and considered whether savings could be made. As reported a couple of years ago, the bank account for the Sports Pavilion Fund now falls under Parish Council control. This is for financial administrative purposes only and money raised for the Pavilion will only ever be used for this project. That fund currently stands at £12,669, giving the Parish Council a carried forward amount of £80,252. The Parish Council strive to use funds carefully to ensure the parish is maintained in a condition you, as residents expect. The Parish Council will be planning their budget for Financial Year 2020/2021 in November 2019, so if you have any ideas for projects, please does pass them to us (costings etc. included) prior to this date to allow time for all projects to be considered.

4.Receive brief reports from visiting representatives;

a. Sleaford Rural North Policing Team – Not present and future attendance at Parish Meetings was being withdrawn by their Chief Inspector.

b. Head Teacher for Cranwell Primary School – Mr Chris Wilson. Despite rumours, the school currently has a significant number of spaces available. Capacity at present is set at 420, with 330 pupils currently attending. This number fluctuates quite considerably through the year due to the nomadic nature of Service Families. Despite this, Cranwell Primary School is in the top 10% of schools in the area, and for this, Mr Wilson praised the pupils and staff for all their hard work. Their credible performance is despite being in the lower half for funding. After his presentation a member of the public thanked Mr Wilson and the staff at Cranwell Primary School for their excellent performance and the standards they achieved with their two children.

c. RAFC Cranwell Representative – Wing Commander Philip Mann. Using PowerPoint, Wg Cdr Mann gave a brief history of RAF College Cranwell, its present, including current aircraft and Units and its future with the relocation of the Basic Recruit Training School and Airman Command School, moving from RAF Halton to RAFC Cranwell. This change will present new challenges, especially with the increased safeguarding concerns of how the RAF manage the welfare of recruits aged under 18. Additional fencing and the possibility of closing the B1429 (Cranwell Avenue) West Road near the A17 (Byard’s Leap) and the current Guardroom. This would require major consultation with Lincolnshire County Council and local residents. Wg Cdr Mann was asked for an update on the matter of tree safety on the area between RAFC Cranwell and Cherry Tree Crescent following the recent high winds which resulted in a very large tree being uprooted and falling in amongst the other trees. He was asked to confirm what if any tree management

d. LIVES/First Responders – Emma Tancred. When a “999" call is made within the responder’s local area, the Ambulance Service despatch an Emergency Ambulance and a first responder. Because the responder is local, they can usually reach a patient within a matter of minutes, providing potentially lifesaving care before an ambulance arrives. They currently have 30 people who have applied to be a responder which will help accommodate the growing number of call outs received. For the previous 12 months, for the 762 emergency callouts, LIVES have been first on the scene at over 80% of them. Fund raising is paramount to their continued existence as they are required to purchase their own equipment, training and drugs.

e. Evergreen – Anna Maltby. Evergreen Sleaford is a befriending service for elderly residents aged 70+, who live alone and are mainly housebound. Evergreen endeavours to respond to these needs within a 10 mile radius of Sleaford. It is a free and confidential service aimed at starting committed friendships which may reduce and prevent the isolation experienced by those who may not have family or friends close by. The aim of the 72 volunteer befrienders is to step in and become that friend and that as the relationship develops, it will prove to be mutually enriching and rewarding. If you could offer one or two hours of your time every week, please contact Evergreen Sleaford via telephone: 07707 260822, email: info@evergreensleaford.org.uk or visit their website www.evergreensleaford.org.uk

f. Beeswax Dyson Farming Ltd – Mr Ben Wills This is the third harvest since taking over and the land is constantly being improved. There are over 75 miles of hedgerow and they have ‘laid’ over 3 miles around Cranwell and planted an additional 5 miles. More trees and woodland is being introduced along with other bird conservation measures. There was ongoing work on a number of larger properties and the Manor Farm application was still ongoing and they were currently waiting guidance on some recommend, tree sympathy work.

g.Neighbourhood Watch – Cllr Carole Harper A brief was delivered on the possible introduction of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme and Cllr Harper was looking for support from the community. It didn’t have to be village wide, it could just be for a street of a group of houses, just neighbours looking out for each other. Those present were asked to contact Cllr Harper if they were interested.

h. Cranwell Sports Pavilion Fund update – Secretary Report This Committee were trying very hard to raise more funds and over the last 12 months had undertaken a number of activities, included auctions and table top sales, as a way of increasing the bank balance. The Committee needed a new Treasurer and 2 or 3 Committee members. If interested, please contact the Cllr Harper.

i. Lincolnshire County Council Report – County Councillor Mark Storer Not present and no Annual Report submitted. A number of residents expressed their disappointment that he had again not bothered to attend. One MOP asked how many meetings Cty Cllr Storer had actually attended since the last Annual Parish Meeting? The Clerk confirmed that, including that night’s meeting, he had attended only 2 meetings out of 13, 15.4% attendance.

j. North Kesteven District Council report – District Councillor Dan Gray and District Councillor Steve Clegg. D/Cllr Gray was present, and no Annual Report submitted. As with the Cty Cllr attendance, a MOP asked how many meetings D/Cllr Gray had attended since the last Annual Parish Meeting? The Clerk confirmed that including that night’s meeting, he had attended only 1 meeting out of 13, 7.7% attendance.

D/Cllr Clegg was hindered by the impending election and Purdah. He reinforced the election trail being carried out within NKDC, requiring resident to bring ID to be eligible to vote. There were many forms of acceptable ID, with 12 April 2019, being the last day to register to vote. NK was again, for the 5th consecutive year, the safest place (crime) to live. NKDC had emptied over 3.4 million wheeled bins over the previous year. The Central Lincs Local Plan indicated an additional 2,700 homes and more GP’s were required to service the growing population. In the interest of parity, the MOP asked what D/Cllr Clegg’s attendance was. The Clerk confirmed that including that night’s meeting, he had attended 12 meeting out of 13, 92.3% attendance. The one meeting he missed he had sent a written report.

5. Future Projects. Members of the public are invited to suggest any projects/improvements that the Parish Council might take up in the future. MOP asked the Council to investigate the purchase of the street light mounted Speed Indicator Device (SID), to be used in conjunction with the large SID. The Clerk would contact the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership for the latest prices.

6. Public Discussion and Questioning. Members of the public may comment on any Parish issues and direct their comments to the Parish Council or any of the visiting representatives.

There were no further questions or comments.

7.Close of the Meeting. All relevant issues would be taken forward to a future Parish Council Meeting. The Chairman closed the meeting and invited everybody to stay for tea and light refreshments.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 9:15 pm