Minutes - 7 April 2022
Minutes of Sedgebrook Parish Council’s Meeting
held in Sedgebrook Social Club at 7.00 pm on Thursday 7 April 2022
Present: The Chair C Wood, The Vice Chair G Mahoney, Cllr J Denton, Cllr C Warby, Mrs J Bratton (Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer) with the County Councillor Mark Whittington.
1 Chairman’s Remarks – the Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2 Apologies for absence and reasons given – no apologies were received.
3 To receive declarations of interest on any item on the Agenda under The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 of the Localism Act 2011.
The Chairman declared an interest in item 10.2, planning application No S22/0656 – 5 Whattons Close.
4 Notes of the last meeting held on 24 February 2022
The notes of the last meeting, held on 24 February 2022, were approved as being a true record, and signed by the Chairman.
5 Correspondence
5.1 SKDC had sent monthly updates for the Electoral Register.
5.2 An invitation from the County Councillor for one of the Parish Councillors to join him to attend the Lincolnshire Civic Service on Sunday 13 March.
5.3 SKDC Planning had sent a Notification of Planning Application No S22/0287 – The creation of a balcony to existing ground floor flat roof to the rear with the replacement of existing window with French Doors at Cambria Cottage. The Parish Council had no objections to the application and informed SKDC accordingly.
5.4 Planning Application No: S22/0238 – Operational development (demolition of part; replacement roof; replacement/new walls etc) and change of use of land (for use as car park) in connection with a permitted change of use (agricultural to a mixed business use – subject to prior approval application): ref S22/430 – Manor Farm, Allington Road – deadline 11 April 2022 – see item 10.1.
5.5 Planning Application No: S22/0656 – Two storey front and side extensions, single storey rear extension and material changes – 5 Whattons Close – deadline 22 April 2022 – see item 10.2.
5.6 PK Littlejohn (external Auditors) had sent information relating to the 2021/22 completion of the Annual Governance and Accountability Returns.
5.7 An application had been sent and acknowledged for a grant for The Queen’s Platinum Memorial project for The Green.
5.8 Parishioners had sent comments relating to the proposed Jubilee funding for the village green.
5.9 Details of a wooden climbing wall were sent with prices starting from £2950 plus VAT.
The Parish Councillors noted all the correspondence which had been circulated by email and post since the 7 April 2022.
6 Public Forum
No items.
7 Highways
7.1 Ward Walk with Area Highways Manager and County Councillor – held on the 22 March 2022
The Chair and Vice Chair had attended the Ward Walk. Additional funding from both the government and from Lincolnshire County Council’s reserves would enable Highways to deal with the majority of the large potholes in the county’s villages. The majority of the issues currently facing LCC is that they have lost 19 key members of staff who work on the road repairs. Cllr Denton brought up the issue of one pothole being filled when there is another pothole needing a repair close by; this cannot be completed because Highways are dictated by the contract. Rowan Smith, the Highways Manager will also be looking at the concrete blocks issue on the corner of Village Street and Allington Road. The collapsed fence on the footpath No 7 off School Lane and over the brook is a landowner’s issue – LCC will ask an inspector to look at the problem. All of the points raised on the list were discussed and Rowan Smith will be giving some feedback to the Parish Council in due course.
The Chair mentioned there had been some fly-tipping in the village. This had been reported and within a week the rubbish had been cleared away.
Clerk Action: to write an email to the County Councillor to pass on the thanks of the Parish Council to the Waste Disposal Team for the service we receive - in particular the team for Sedgebrook who are always very courteous and friendly.
The County Councillor recommended anyone who sees any fly-tipping being done to take a photograph (but not to make it obvious) and, if safe, to take down the vehicle registration number so that the matter can be reported.
8 Recreation Field
8.1 Play Equipment – update following inspection – the Vice Chair was looking at which items needed monitoring and there were minimal “wear and tear” issues.
9 The Green
9.1 Village Green – project on the phone kiosk, tree and flagpole – update on consultation with the parishioners – some good points/suggestions had been received and after further discussion it was agreed that a further letter be sent to the parishioners via the Village Email with the suggested George V carving of the trunk of the sweet chestnut tree; if this is not to the taste of the villagers, alternative ideas would be welcomed which can then be discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting. The horse chestnut wood carving would be unsuitable for keeping outside so we would be looking to display it indoors in the church/museum.
9.2 National Lottery Awards for All Programmes – Jubilee funding update for The Green – the Vice Chair was thanked for her sterling work in sourcing quotations etc and for completing and submitting the application for the Jubilee Funding. £10000 has been applied for and we will have to wait a further 11 weeks to know if we are successful.
10 Planning
10.1 Planning Application No S22/0238 – Manor Farm, Allington Road – Operational development (demolition of part; replacement roof; replacement/new walls etc) and change of use of land (for use as car park) in connection with a permitted change of use (agricultural to a mixed business use – subject to prior approval application): ref S22/030 – following a short discussion it was unanimously agreed there was no reason not to agree to the planning application.
Clerk Action: to complete and send the form to SKDC Planning.
10.2 Planning Application No S22/0656 – 5 Whattons Close, Sedgebrook – two storey front and side extensions, single storey rear extension and material changes.
The Vice Chair had looked through the planning application and it was pointed out that the extensions would be very close to the boundaries. It was resolved there was no reason to oppose the planning application.
Clerk Action: to complete and send the form to SKDC Planning.
11 Proposals to deliver green energy within the grounds of Belvoir Estate – update on Zoom Meeting held with the developers
It was agreed it was a very interesting and informative meeting – straight answers were given to the questions raised. Attending the meeting meant we have some answers for the parishioners should there be any queries raised when the planning application is submitted to Melton Mowbray District Council.
12 Review of Policies etc
12.1 Financial Regulations 2019 – to review and adopt
Following a review of the document, it was agreed regarding item 2.2 of the Regulations, the Vice Chair take over the verification of the bank statements and bank reconciliations as Cllr Denton is a signatory of the bank account.
This to take effect from the next Parish Council Meeting.
Clerk Action: the Clerk to email the documentation to the Vice Chair prior to the meeting with copies sent to the rest of the Parish Councillors. The Vice Chair to sign the documents at the meeting.
In future the Clerk would circulate a payments list with copies of invoices for the Parish Councillors to approve and sign. A regular payments list to be organised for approval.
Following the further review, the Parish Councillors unanimously agreed to adopt the Financial Regulations 2019.
Clerk Action: to upload the amended document to the website.
12.2 Asset Register – to review – Asset Register for Year End 31 March 2022 – further information on the flagpole – the Clerk had found out from the Sedgebrook Parish Council Minutes of 30 June 1977 that the flagpole had in fact been donated by Councillor H Copley (who was Chairman at that time) and the original flag was donated by Councillor I Burgin (who was the Vice Chairman at that time) for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
At this point Cllr Warby left the meeting.
13 Annual Parish Meeting – 12 May 2022 – update on arrangements – letters of invitation had been sent. Cllr Kelham Cooke was unable to attend but the Parish Council were pleased to learn that Dr Caroline Johnson MP and the County Councillor had accepted our invitations. The County Councillor would give a talk about the new waste streaming being introduced. The MP to be asked to talk about the support for medical provision in rural areas and any other matters which would affect Sedgebrook.
Clerk Action: to print and deliver leaflets for circulation and email the MP.
Councillor Action: The budget for refreshments was £58 - Cllr Denton would liaise with Cllr Warby to arrange suitable refreshments for the evening.
14 Finance (The Clerk)
14.1 Verification of Bank Statements/Reconciliations
The details of income and outgoings since the last meeting’s report as per the bank statements dated the 5 March 2022 were as follows:-
The verification of the Bank Statements and Bank Reconciliations were completed by Cllr Jane Denton at the meeting up to the 5 March 2022.
14.2 Discuss 3-year Budget – it was agreed not to organise a 3-year budget as the Parish Council already budget for and give consideration to the future expenditure required for the play equipment which is the Parish Council’s main asset.
14.3 Internal Audit for Year Ending 31 March 2022 – the Clerk had still not heard from Terry Brown who completed the Internal Audit for the last Year End. She had also contacted the Clerk from Allington Parish Council to see if she was aware Terry was still completing audits. As the Internal Audit is due to be completed, it was unanimously agreed to use LALC’s audit provision which would cost £125 should the Clerk not hear from Allington Parish Council by Monday 11 April.
Clerk Action: to organise an auditor via LALC if the Clerk has not heard anything about Terry Brown.
14.4 The payments list was circulated, and the payments were unanimously approved and cheques signed by the Parish Councillors:-
15 To resolve whether to exclude the public and press for consideration of the following confidential staff matter.
16 Clerk’s salary to be discussed – details to be minuted separately.
17 Items for the next meeting?
There were no items.
18 Date of the next meeting:
Thursday 12 May 2022 (Annual Parish Meeting)
Thursday 19 May 2022 (Annual Parish Council Meeting)
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9 pm.