June 2023 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 12th June 2023 at 7:00 pm.
Participating: Chair: Cllr Mr T R Batten
Councillors: Vice Chair Cllr Mr D Graves, Cllr Mrs M Cassidy, Cllr Mr M A Cassidy, Cllr Mr M Collier, Cllr Mr M Pears ( Acting Parish Clerk), Cllr Mr D Wilson
Also in attendance: Cty Cllr R Wright, D/Cllr J Clark, D/Cllr Andrew Hagues and RAF Community Liaison Officer Ian Whitehead
Mrs B Pears, Assistant Clerk to the Parish Council One member of the public was in attendance.
Also present: County Cllr Wright and Ian Whitehead (R.A.F.)
Public speaking: There were no questions or comments from the public.
Cllr Wright addressed the meeting, speaking about extra funds to be allocated to the Rights of Way team. He is aware that Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council are waiting for decisions from this group, long delayed due to lack of staff. There are some regularly used local roads that will now receive urgent attention for repair. Lincs C.C. will approach the government regarding road funding as reserves have been diverted and consumed doing this essential work over the past 3 years. Cllr Wright also confirmed that some of the current work on the A17 has been delayed and referred to other work on the A17 needing to be re-visited. Cllr D Graves asked whether there will be more road policing. Cllr Wright explained that consultations with the police are ongoing and L.C.C. understands that extra resources are needed, not just signage, to tackle speeding. He said that questions can always be emailed to him to receive his attention. Cllr Batten thanked Cllr Wright for coming to the meeting.
RAF Community Liaison Officer Ian Whitehead followed with a note about road safety in RAF Cranwell receiving closer attention from him personally. Also, he is still trying to resolve the problem of holes in the road at a location where ownership is disputed. He ‘won’t let it go’ he said and he was thanked for his continued efforts.
The Chair declared the ordinary meeting open at 7:10 pm.
121 To receive apologies for absence and reasons given i.a.w. Local Government Act 1972, Sch 12, para 40.
There were no apologies except to confirm that Cllrs Clark and Hagues would be arriving later.
122 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.
The Acting Clerk advised that transparency regarding Declarations of Interest of all types must be strictly observed. All DPIs (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests), ( NRIs (Non-registerable Interests) and ORIs (Other Registerable Interests) should be disclosed in the meeting itself and those declaring such interests cannot vote or discuss the topic, or remain in the meeting for those discussions, without dispensation to do so.
Action: The Council RESOLVED that for all meetings those declaring DPIs, NRIs or ORIs would not be asked to leave the meetings but should be given dispensation to stay and speak for the purpose of clarification if invited to speak by the Chair, but not to vote or give recommendations.
Proposed by Cllr M Pears, seconded by Cllr Michael Cassidy and approved unanimously.
Cllrs Mr M Cassidy (NRI), Mrs M Cassidy (NRI), Mr M Pears (NRI), and Mr.M. Collier (NRI) declared an interest in minute ref: 124b. page 39-2023 as they are payment recipients. Cllr D.Wilson declared an interest (ORI) in items 124(g), 130 and 132.
123 Notes of the ordinary meeting held on Monday 15th May 2023 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 15th May 2023 of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council, as Minutes.
Proposed by Cllr D Graves, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
Notes of the closed session meeting held on Monday 15th May 2023 of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council to be approved as Minutes.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the notes of the closed session meeting held on Monday 15th May 2023 of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap Parish Council, as Minutes.
Proposed by Cllr D Graves, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
124 Financial Matters
a. Approve the payments made since the last meeting.
X
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments made since the last meeting. Proposed by Cllr D Wilson, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
b. Approve the payment of invoices etc. as listed on the Payments to be Authorised sheet.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments of invoices etc. as listed on the Payments to be Authorised sheet.
Proposed by Cllr D Graves, seconded by Cllr T Batten and approved by a vote of 3 for with 4 abstentions.
c. Approve the bank reconciliation from the previous month. Balance in Current account - £82,355.87
Balance in HSBC account - £20,298.13
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation from the previous month. Proposed by Cllr M Collier, seconded by Cllr D Graves and approved unanimously.
d. To present, consider, approve and sign all documentation to submit as the AGAR for the Council Finances for 2022-2023.
The AGAR is the Financial Statement for the Year. It is internally audited and will be externally audited, usually signed off by September. It must be submitted by 30th June or there will be a fine. It is publicised on the Noticeboards and website. Anyone wishing to have a copy can have one on payment of the charge of £10.
If there are big differences from last year in the figures, an explanation is provided.
The Chair read out the questions on page 4 of the AGAR to obtain affirmations from Councillors for answers to be recorded.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the AGAR in full for signing and submitting as presented and read.
Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr Michael Cassidy and approved unanimously.
e. To confirm the publication dates of the period for the “Exercise of Public Rights” as 3rd July 2023 to 11th August 2023 (30 working days).
Action: The Council RESOLVED to confirm the publication dates of the period for the “Exercise of Public Rights” as 3rd July 2023 to 11th August 2023
Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr Michael Cassidy and approved unanimously.
f. To consider approving the addition of £183 + v.a.t to the existing MK Electrics quote for conversion of old sockets in the Old School.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve additional payment for work on the Old School electrics. Proposed by Cllr Michael Cassidy, seconded by Cllr T Batten and approved unanimously.
g. To consider the request from the Bowls Club to pay for their Fire Extinguisher Maintenance invoice - £119.05.
The Clerk advised that the Parish Council has no legal power to pay someone else’s bill, but they can consider an application for a grant from the Bowls Club.
h. To consider the repayment of £200 to the Junior Football Club following the cleaning of the garage.
The football club was asked to clean the garage where they had stored equipment and they have done a really good job of that.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve repayment of £200 to the football club. Proposed by Cllr M Pears, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
i. To consider approving a new contractor for Groundsman Contract to replace John Scotney who has terminated his contract with effect from 31st July 2023.
The current contractor has given the required 2 months’ notice to terminate the contract. The other company that quoted at the time of tendering the job is now too busy. The job will be advertised on the parish website, through Facebook and notices in the Social Club and the village noticeboards as well as research being done.
j. To approve reappointing LALC as the Council’s internal auditor for the 2023-2024 financial year.
Rather than being audited in March, close to the deadline, the auditor suggested that a meeting with the Clerk in September be arranged.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the reappointing of the LALC auditor. Proposed by Cllr M Pears, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously.
125 Planning Applications.
None received.
126 To review and approve the terms of reference for all existing committees and working parties. Action: The council resolved to approve the issued terms of reference for the “Personnel and H.R. Committee” and the “Community Pavilion Working Party”.
Proposed by Cllr D Graves, seconded by Cllr Michael Cassidy and approved unanimously.
127 To appoint more members of the Personnel and H.R. Committee to comply with Terms of Reference (minimum one or maximum two more needed).
Cllr D Graves joined the Personnel and H.R. Committee to bring the numbers to the required level.
128 To provide an update on the application for a grant to obtain a free Monkey Wall for the Children’s Playground.
The application was made to the National Lotteries Communities fund 3weeks ago. It takes about 12 weeks for a decision to be made.
129 Receive a report from the Clerk on matters pertaining to the Parish Council.
i. For the Summer Fayre, the Community Events Committee have asked to park the Veteran Vehicles on the playing field together with some of the stallholders’ vans/cars. The Acting Clerk will ask them for their Public Liability Insurance cover information and for a Risk Assessment Form.
Action: The council resolved to approve the use of the field this way, with the proviso that the organisers have insurance and they adopt a sensible approach if there is inclement weather and soft ground conditions.
Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr D Wilson and approved unanimously.
ii. The Social Club have an August booking for an 18th birthday party and the family wants to have a Chip Van at their event. They would like permission to park this on the car park.
Action: The council resolved to approve the use of the car park, with the proviso that the area is kept clean, litter picked up and no oil/grease is spilled.
Proposed by Cllr Michael Cassidy, seconded by Cllr Maureen Cassidy and approved unanimously.
iii. The Old School door needs an emergency repair.
Action: The council resolved to approve the repair costs.
Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr Michael Cassidy and approved unanimously.
130 To receive any recommendations from the Working Party, and to further discuss proposals for the plan for the Community Pavilion and make any decisions if necessary.
The Chair reported that a meeting of the Cranwell Pavilion Working Group had not been held, The Chair explained that he had been unavailable all month. The Chair then went on to say that he had heard rumblings of discontent from Councillors about borrowing money to fund any Pavilion build. The Chair stated that he would ask each Councillor in turn for their opinion on the matter but he asked that Councillors should bear in mind the following points when answering:
1. The Public had given the Council a mandate to borrow up to £94,000.
2. The Council had already collected £17,000 to service such a loan.
3. That the Council had voted to borrow the money less than 6 months ago. (point of information – this was actually resolved in June 2022.)
4. That borrowing the money would not increase the precept at all, as the loan repayments are already built into the current precept.
Each Councillor then replied with their opinion as follows:
One Councillor agreed that the money should be borrowed but the majority did not want to borrow any money towards the build stating rising interest rates and the current economic climate were incompatible with doing so. One Councillor suggested that by upgrading the Old School, and providing new wooden buildings to provide similar facilities to those already present, the whole project could be done using existing funds without having to borrow anything from the P.W.L.B.
Cllr Pears pointed out that the fact that the public had given approval for borrowing money two and a half years ago did not mean that the Council had to do it – it was their decision to make now.
Cllr Collier stated that he was very keen to make sure the community use aspect was maintained and that it was not just a bowls and football facility.
It was agreed that the Working Party would report back to the main Council before the next meeting to allow further discussion and possible decision-making to follow.
131 To receive an update, and make any decisions, on any developments with the future use of the Old School building. Discuss requirements for setting up office.
Quotes continue to be collected to revamp this building, making part of it an office, improving the toilets and upgrading security. It was agreed that the quotes would be put into a report before we meet and a proposal should be presented for approval at the next meeting with a view to getting the work started as soon as possible.
132 To consider a request from the Bowls Club for permission to remove four metres of Leylandii hedge to the east of the existing equipment shed and buy a new shed.
It was not clear why the removal of hedge was required and the meeting asked that a plan be presented – decision deferred to the next meeting.
At 8.10pm a vote was taken to close the meeting for the District Councillors to speak. Proposed by Cllr T Batten, seconded by Cllr D Graves and approved unanimously.
Newly appointed District Cllr Andrew Hagues introduced himself and explained their late arrival was due to going to other Parish Council meetings on the same evening.
Cllr J Clark remarked on the complaints about heavy lorries being diverted through Cranwell and explained that he had personal experience of seeing some of them being turned around. There was a system in place for a designated road repair worker to tackle this, but as the road is not designated ‘unsuitable’ there is little else that can be done.
Cllr Batten thanked the District Cllrs for their attendance and re-opened the meeting at 8.15pm.
133 To receive a report on the current situation with regard to the operation of the “Speedwatch Group”
Cllr D Graves has conducted 4 Speedwatch sessions recently, each for about an hour. At the moment the group is seeing about 300 vehicles in that time. There are 2 new members and the RAF want to be involved too.
134 To receive an update on the operation of the SIDs in the village.
The new SID is now in place and working well. It was noted that due to their size it is impractical to consider moving it around between different positions. Cllr Graves and Cllr Wilson both remarked that the signs make drivers take more notice, but there are always those who ignore them. The Acting Clerk reported that he has written to the company that provided the previous SIDs that failed, prior to taking further action.
135 To further discuss the creation of the “Coronation Garden”.
The school is waiting now for information to go ahead with a design competition. It was agreed that the area is decided and the amount to be spent is decided. Cllr M Collier will liaise with the school, Cllr D Graves will liaise with Ian Whitehead of the RAF who could provide manpower to carry out the actual gardening. Cllr Michael Cassidy stated that he knew that some plant nurseries would supply a suggested range of plants for a customer’s own design, e.g. Beth Chatto nursery. He said that he would contact nurseries if required when a suitable plan/design was approved by the P C.
136 To receive a further update on the installation of the new CCTV equipment, the deployment of suitable warning signs and the adoption of a “Surveillance Camera Policy” document.
Cllr T Batten has not been able to commit time to finalising this project up to now, but he will endeavour to finish the work in evenings when he can. The light in the carpark still needs adjusting and it was suggested that the builders on the Willow Lane site might be able to help with their “cherry picker” – Acting Clerk to find out.
137 To reconfirm all the existing Areas of Responsibility for Councillors and re-allocate where necessary.
The Acting Parish Clerk will draw up a full list of current responsibilities. Amendments and alterations deferred to the next meeting.
138 To receive reports from Councillors on their various past Areas of Responsibility.
Cllr T Batten remarked on an overgrown path on Thorold, next to the garages, which is an NKDC responsibility. Clerk to report.
Cllr Michael Cassidy:
In Byards Leap there have been some road repairs completed and the damaged bollard on the A17 has at last been fixed.
The bench near the convenience store needs replacing. The Coronation Tree and Jubilee tree have been watered. The electricity box at the rear of the portacabin has a badly fitting front, but mastic applied to reduce chances of water ingress has worked. Will need to be replaced.
He also asked for suggestions about repairs or replacements to be put on the agenda each time they are mentioned.
Cllr M Collier:
Overall the roads are in good order, some repairs have been done but more potholes have been reported to ‘FixMyStreet’. Poor pavements have also been reported – on Cranwelll Avenue, Delhi Square and Bagdad Road.
Cllr Collier advised that his suggestion that a Parish Councillor attends a Church Coffee Morning has been well received. Their preference is for a “roving brief”. The first one suggested is in July and Cllr Wilson volunteered to go along too. Clerk to provide badges for the Cllrs.
Cllr D Wilson:
He reported that lots of work had been done on the Sleaford Road in the village that day. He donated a portable projector screen to the Council.
139 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. To consider further actions to be taken about the Clerk’s contract of employment.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to go into closed session.
Proposed by Cllr Michael Cassidy, seconded by Cllr M Collier and approved unanimously. This part of the meeting closed at 8.45pm.
Members of the pubic left the meeting. The meeting continued in the absence of press and public. The meeting re-opened at 9.05pm
140 At 9.05pm - To resolve to go into return to public session, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended by Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972, Proposed by Cllr M Collier, seconded by Cllr Maureen Cassidy and approved unanimously.
The Council agreed to implement the decisions made in the Closed Session.
141 Meeting dates.
The next ordinary meeting was confirmed as Monday 10th July 2023 in Cranwell Village Hall, starting at 7:00 pm.
The Chair closed the meeting at 9.10pm