January 2022 Minutes
Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard’s Leap Parish Council
Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council held at Cranwell Village Hall, Old School Lane, Cranwell Village, NG34 8DF on Monday 10 January 2022 at 7:00 pm.
Participating: Chairman: Cllr Mr T Batten
Councillors: Cllr Mr M Pears, Cllr Mrs M Cassidy, Cllr Mr M Cassidy, Cllr Mrs C Batten, Cllr Mr M Collier.
Also in attendance: District Councillor Steve Clegg.
Mrs Kirsty Elson, Clerk to the Parish Council
11 members of the public were present.
A member of the public from the footpath working group asked if the Parish Council would consider putting a gate at the end of footpath 754 to the playing field, as the county council will not currently consider giving access as it is a dead end. However if a gate is installed at the end of the footpath the county council will make this a priority 2 case. The Chair stated that this was an item on the agenda for the council to consider.
The Chairman then invited District Councillor Steve Clegg to address the council.
Cllr Clegg reported about waste and that 99% of purple bins are now being collected. In the first week of the new four bin scheme 80% of green bins were collected due to incorrect items being put in the bins, this is now up to 96% of bins being collected.
A member of the public then asked the Parish Council what was the PC’s view on the 9 houses planning application near Willow Lane, and is it within the village curtilage? The Chair thought that is was a brownfield site and was not aware that it was outside the curtilage. Cllr Clegg responded, noting that there is no strictly defined curtilage for a village.
The Chairman declared the ordinary January meeting open at 7:17 pm.
1. To receive apologies for absence and reasons given i.a.w. Local Government Act 1972, Sch 12, para 40.
Councillor Chapmans absence was noted.
2. To receive declarations of interest and to consider applications in relation to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
Disclosure of pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests is to be in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. The need for disclosure is to be based upon agenda items, or at any suitable time during a meeting when it becomes apparent to a Member.
Cllr M Pears declared an interest in item 4.b as he had claimed expenses.
Cllr M Cassidy declared an interest in item 4.b as he had also claimed expenses.
Cllr Maureen Cassidy declared an interest in item 4.b as her spouse had claimed expenses.
3. Notes of the ordinary meeting held on Monday 13 December 2021, of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council to be approved as Minutes.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the notes of the ordinary meeting held on Monday 13 December 2021, of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council, as Minutes.
Proposed by Cllr Mike Pears, seconded by Cllr Maureen Cassidy and approved unanimously.
It was proposed by Cllr M Pears that the Parish Council discuss item 12 next, as the public in attendance had a particular interest in the item. Proposed by Cllr M Pears, seconded by Cllr M Cassidy and approved unanimously.
12. To consider placing a gate to the playing field to gain access to footpath 754.
The Chairman reiterated what was stated in the public session; that the County Council will not consider footpath 754 as it is a dead end, but if a gate is put at the end of the footpath then the County Council will make it a priority 2 case and consider making it a public footpath.
Action: It was proposed by Cllr T Batten that the Parish Council will put a gate at the end of footpath 754 to the playing field. Seconded by Cllr M Cassidy and approved unanimously and therefore RESOLVED.
4. Financial Matters
a. Approve the payments made since the last meeting.
Payments approved at previous meeting £ 3,118.38
Wonderwall CD 2812 (noticeboard) Online £ 296.40
Southern Electric (170335941) DD £ 456.06
Mrs K A Elson (Clerks expenses mth 9) EB-0743 £ 46.97
Mrs K A Elson (Clerks salary mth 9) EB-0743 £ 674.96
Total £ 4,592.77
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments made since the last meeting.
Proposed by Cllr M Collier, seconded by Cllr M Cassidy and approved unanimously.
b. Approve the payment of invoices etc. as listed on the Payments to be Authorised sheet.
Streetwise Environmental Trading Ltd (Inv 51939) EB-0744 £ 479.88
John Scotney Turf Management (Inv 3795) EB-0745 £ 123.00
Warden and Security Services (Inv 068) EB-0746 £ 142.00
Cranwell Vilage Hall Management Committee EB-0747 £ 48.00
Cllr Michael Cassidy Expenses (Dec) + (Oct £1.33 dif) Chq 1901 £ 25.83
Cllr Mike Pears Expenses (Dec) EB-0748 £ 87.60
Anglian Water (Act*****5216 – Old School) DD £ 20.00
BT Business Payment Services Ltd (service end charge) DD £ 95.88
Total £ 1022.19
The clerk highlighted the correction of errors on the form.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments of invoices etc. Proposed by Cllr M Cassidy, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
c. Approve the bank reconciliation from the previous month (December).
The clerk highlighted the correction of one error on the form.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation from the previous month.
Proposed by Cllr M Pears, seconded by Cllr M Cassidy and approved unanimously.
d. To consider the quotes for the repair work for the Old School kitchen and toilets.
The clerk stated that one contractor had offered to give a quote for the work, this was still being arranged.
Action: None
e. To consider the quote for repairing the Old School Classroom light.
The clerk stated that two contractors had offered to give quotes for the work, both had not yet been received.
Action: None.
f. Consider and review the draft budget figures in preparation of setting the budget/precept demand in January 2022 for FY 2022/2023.
The parish council had been sent a final draft budget to review. The Chair stated that he would like to change the Netball marking equipment line with a value of £900 to the Jubilee fund. The Chair also stated that the precept of £52,569 includes £7,000 to pay a loan for the pavilion project.
The budget/precept for 2022/2023 was therefore drafted as a total of £52,569
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the budget/precept for 2022/2023 at £52,569.
Proposed by Cllr M Collier, seconded by Cllr C Batten and approved unanimously.
5. Receive a report from the Clerk on matters pertaining to the Parish Council.
i. 21/12/21 - Noticeboard has been ordered, waiting for delivery.
ii. Emailed James Sampson to re-issue the parish council with an invoice for £300 as quoted, no response as yet.
iii. 31/12/21 – Begun the VAT reclaim for the past three years, hope to finish by the end of January.
iv. 4/1/22 – Defib check – Brauncewell - The light in the defib cabinet is still not fixed to the top of the cabinet.
v. 5/1/22 – Emailed broken old light pictures to electrician as requested, waiting for his quote.
vi. Contacted NKDC about broken sign on De Gaunt Drive. Jenny Bailey is looking into this. The sign will either be repaired or replaced.
vii. Contacted second electrician for second quote of the old school kitchen broken light. Arranging a site visit. Waiting for response.
viii. Received an email from JAS Property Maintenance offering to do a quote on the Old School building works, arranging a site visit.
6. Planning Applications Received:
a. 21/1888/HOUS – Erection of two storey side extension. Location: 15 Cranwell Avenue, Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8HG. No objections/Comments by the council.
b. 21/1876/FUL – Residential development of 9 dwellings including garages and private drive. Location: Land to rear of 20 Willow Lane, Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8DQ. Comments by 16th January 2022. (This has been extended to the 31st January 2022)
The Chairman believes that NKDC needs to make sure that The Willows Road is in good condition during and after construction. Cllr M Pears had read some of the comments already made for this application and that facilities (the bus stops, schools and medical practice) had been exaggerated. It was proposed that the clerk write to NKDC to query the road congestion that would be caused by the building site and what will be done to mitigate the issues?
Action: It was RESOLVED that the clerk would write to NKDC planning/place comments on behalf of the parish council as stated above. Proposed by Cllr M Collier, seconded by Cllr C Batten and approved unanimously.
Planning applications determined:
21/1636/OUT – Outline application for the erection of detached dwelling. Location: Land adjacent to 30 Willow Lane, Cranwell Sleaford. Planning application approved.
7. Meeting Dates:
a. Consider the following dates for the ordinary meetings of the Parish Council for 2022.
January 10th , February 14th , March 14th , April 11th – Annual Parish Meeting followed by Ordinary meeting, May 9th – Annual Meeting of the Parish Council, June 13th, July 11th, August 8th, September 12th, October 10th, November 14th, December 12th.
b. To consider the dates for the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council and the Annual Parish eeting (given in the list above).
Action: After a little discussion it was proposed to not have an August meeting as it has been found in the past that councillors are often on holiday in August and it can be difficult to make a quorum. It was therefore RESOLVED that the Parish Council agreed to the meeting dates listed, but would not have a meeting in August. Proposed by Cllr M Cassidy, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
8. To discuss clearing the waste from footpath 375.
The Chair stated that the footpath working group have suggested that they will get volunteers to clear the footpath. It was also suggested that it would be better to put the new gate in before clearing footpath 375.
9. Receive reports from Councillors on their areas of responsibility.
Cllr C Batten – reported there is a grate on a footpath on Bristow Road that is sinking. This will be reported on fix my street.
Cllr M Collier – No change in issues since the December meeting.
Cllr M Cassidy – Byards Leap
A17 potholes/corrugated surface just prior to B6403 reported.
Caythorpe Road, fly tipped bag of builders clothes – reported.
A17/B6403 at the junction Newark direction, outstanding pothole report – re-reported.
B1429 Cranwell Avenue
Bus Shelter has significant algae over much of the plexi glass panels. Suggest reviewing the ‘cleaning contract’.
Lights 39 41 42 62 reported to RAF REF 38572413
General Area of Lighter than Air Road – edges of the footpath are degrading/breaking up.
OASC building near comms tower are not working and are not numbered, these are in addition to the two unmarked lights in the layby. Previously asked if the Parish Council can contact planning to find out the known owner, needs to be actioned now.
Play Area
Hedge alongside play area/bowling Green previously reported, cut to top was uneven and needed to be re-cut to comply with the contract.
Cllr M Pears
The road sign on De Gaunt Avenue at the junction with Sleaford Road remains broken – the sign being detached from its mounting.
The bus shelter opposite the church (south side of Sleaford Road) is in need of cleaning – the inside of the screen to the road is particularly filthy. I thought we had a contract for this to be done?
Website
We continue to get approx. 1,000 “visits” to the site each month. I’m pleased to report that we were top of the charts for viewings in December – finally beating Bracebridge Heath.
SIDs
Two mounting poles were installed on Sleaford Road on December 21st.
The SIDs were finally delivered just before Christmas. Unfortunately one of the units cannot be currently used as it has two faults. I am trying to get this resolved.
Thanks to Cllr Michael Cassidy we have managed to get the four mounting brackets installed in our agreed positions. We also erected one of the SIDs at the Sleaford Road / De Gaunt Avenue pole on December 23rd with the solar panels.
First download from a SID one week after installation: the data revealed that 18% of the traffic went through at over 30 mph although most of the transgressors were doing between 30 and 35 mph. Only 4.5% were doing over 35 mph. 6 vehicles were doing over 45 mph, the total number of vehicles recorded in just one week – 9,563 and one-way only.
10. To review the dog wardens contract of employment.
Cllr M Pears has looked into what other Parishes do and found that Ruskington Parish Council stopped using their dog warden and have taken on another company who are charging £15 per hour and have marked vans, dogs and GPS tracking (of the wardens) so you can see when and what areas they are patrolling. Our current dog warden charges £16 per hour and does not provide these extra services.
Action: It was concluded that Cllr Pears and the clerk would seek a quote and present this at the next meeting.
11. To consider the quotes for repairing the Parish Council Church noticeboard and decide whether to have the noticeboard repaired or replaced.
Cllr M Cassidy reported that he can’t find anyone who will refurbish the current wooden noticeboard. He has concluded that the Parish Council will have to go with a new aluminium framed noticeboard.
Action: The parish council RESOLVED to replace the parish council church noticeboard with a wood effect aluminium noticeboard. Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr M Pears and approved unanimously.
13. To consider clearing the ivy/cutting left by the contractor from footpath 754.
This item has already been covered in item 8.
14.Confirm the date of the next meeting.
The clerk confirmed that the date of the next ordinary meeting of the Parish Council is Monday 14th February 2022.
15. To resolve to go into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended by Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972, to discuss the following matters;
a. Consider the co-option application (if received) to fill the current Council vacancy.
The Chairman stated that there have been no interested candidates to co-opt, this item did not therefore need actioning.
16. The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.20pm.