May 2024 Minutes Annual Parish Council Meeting
May 2024 Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting
Grasby Parish Council
C/o Ash Grove Farm, North Willingham, Market Rasen, LN8 3RJ
Telephone 07890 238463 Email: grasbyparishcouncil@gmail.com
Minutes of the Council Meeting held Wednesday May 15th 2024, at the Village Hall
Present: Cllr. R Bennett, Cllr. J Harris, Cllr. J Brown, Cllr. C Mead and Cllr. S Riley.
District Councillor Cllr. P Morris and County Councillor Cllr. T Smith
0 members of the public.
Public forum: no members of the public attended
33.24 Election of Chair: Cllr. J Brown proposed Cllr. R Bennett. Proposal seconded by Cllr. J Harris. Cllr. R Bennett was unanimously voted as Chair for the coming year.
34.24 Election of Vice Chair: Cllr. R Bennett proposed Cllr. J Harris. Proposal seconded by Cllr. J Brown. Cllr. J Harris was unanimously voted as Vice Chair for the coming year.
35.24 Apologies for absence: apologies were accepted from Charlotte Wright (Clerk) and Cllr. P Grimes.
36.24 Declarations of Interest: None.
37.24 The minutes of the meeting held 19th March 2024: were approved and signed as a true record.
38.24 Lincolnshire County Council Matters: Cllr. T Smith informed the council that a number of pot holes in the parish were reported on fixmystreet.com after a walk about with residents; some, but not all, of which have already been repaired.
Cllr. T Smith sent a letter to Sir Edward Leigh MP requesting support to address water leak and drainage problems in the parish. Subsequently, Sir Edward contacted Anglian Water for a response to the issues raised. Cllr. T Smith will send the reply received from Anglia Water to the clerk for distribution to council members.
The state of recent repairs to the surface of Front Street were discussed. Cllr. T Smith will contact Richard Fenwick to consider making more permanent repairs.
39.24 West Lindsey District Council Matters: Cllr. P Morris reported that the District Council recently held its annual general meeting resulting in no significant change to business.
Cllr. P Morris invited all members of the parish council to attend the WLDC stand at the Lincolnshire Show to be held on 19/20th June. This is a good opportunity for members to meet with other people involved in running the district’s affairs.
It was noted that the local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is now known as the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape AONB.
Large bins can now be rented from WLDC, £50 per week for a 600L and £60 for a 1,100L bin respectively.
40.24 Clerk’s report: None (due to absence).
41.24 Highways matters: Cllr. J Harris will email Jack Parker (Road Safety AIP Manger) in relation to siting a new SID on the A1084 westbound. Note: Steven Batchelor is a senior manager in this department.
Cllr. J Harris will attempt to collect the data from the existing A1084 eastbound SID, it was noted that a Bluetooth connection to a mobile may be a possible method to gather the information.
It was reported that the proposed waiting restrictions at the bus stop on Vicarage Lane were approved as printed and await implementation. Cllr. T Smith is to enquire on when the work will commence, currently thought to be during the school summer holidays.
The A1084 near the Canada Lane junction in Caistor is scheduled to close for 6 weeks from 22nd July to allow repairs to drains and pavements. Although the proposed diversion of traffic is around the parish to the north, it is expected vehicles with satellite navigation systems will be directed through Grasby which could result in a large increase of heavy traffic during the period of the works. Cllr. T Smith will enquire about signage to redirect vehicles over a certain size/tonnage away from the village and report on what arrangements are being made for local traffic access.
The schedule of other road works related to the parish was reviewed with no issues arising.
It was noted that the road closed signs at Grasby bottom deployed during the recent fire at the Cross Keys public house are still in place and need to be removed. Cllr. T Smith will check on progress.
A resident requested an additional cut of grass, above that already undertaken by the council, on the public footpath between Clixby and Bentley Lanes. It was agreed to monitor the footpath to ensure the grass is kept at a reasonable height throughout the year.
42.24 Finance: the following schedule of payments and receipts were approved:
(i) C Wright, salary April- £142
(ii) C Wright, salary May- £142
(iii) C Wright, expenses April & May £30
(iv) M Williams- Grass Cutting- £396
(v) Zurich, insurance- £207.92
(vi) LALC website maintenance- £90
(vii) H Metcalfe, NP- £1500
(viii) Groundwork UK, NP grant underspend- £2088.68
(ix) Grasby Village Hall- £600
The annual audit and accounts for the parish were approved. Accordingly, the annual governance and accounting statements were signed off by the Chair on behalf of all members. Due to absence, the clerk’s signature will be requested in due course.
43.24 Correspondence: A number of surveys are currently being conducted by the county council. Lincolnshire Moves, a survey on traffic management, concludes on 20th May. County Views on bus services in the region, concludes on the 27th May. The results of these surveys will be published by the associated working groups later in the year.
44.24 Neighbourhood Plan Update: Cllr. C Mead reported the following –
Full drafts of the Design Guide and Housing Needs Assessment documents for the parishes of Grasby and Searby cum Owmby have now been received from the consultants, AECOM.
A contents list and draft first section of the Neighbourhood Plan has also been received from Helen Metcalf; the consultant appointed by the steering group. A partial draft of the Neighbourhood Plan is expected from Helen in mid-June. It is anticipated that some work, approximately 4 days, will need to be done after the draft is received in order to complete the document. A decision on how best to complete the work, either by the consultant or steering group members, will be made after receipt. It should be noted that if Helen is retained, an additional cost of £2,200 is estimated, however no further funding arrangements have been announced by the government for this financial year.
It is intended to hold a public meeting to present and discuss the Design Guide, Housing Needs Assessment and Neighbourhood Plan on 26th June, 7 to 9 pm at the Village Hall. A flyer to publicise this meeting is to be produced and distributed to all residents later this month. Note: it was agreed that the parish council will cover the printing costs.
A call for sites has been made which concludes today. Proposal for three sites have been received, two in Grasby and one in Searby. These will be evaluated by the steering group over the coming weeks. Cllr. C Mead will send details of the Searby playing field donation proposal to Cllr. P Morris for consideration from a district council perspective.
The prospect of forming a joint parish council with Searby cum Owmby, who currently only have a parish meeting, was discussed. Cllr. P Morris agreed to look into the feasibility of such an arrangement.
45.24 Planning matters: No applications made. However, some concerns were raised over PA146226 and whether Clause 2 of the planning conditions are being observed. Cllr. R Bennett will contact the case officer in regards to this matter. It was also noted that filling of the old quarry, PA138477, has now ceased.
Further to the recent fire at the Cross Keys public house on Brigg Road, the council expressed their full support to ensure the building is fully repaired and brought back into operation as soon as possible. The pub is considered an asset of community value and as such, it was proposed to arrange a meeting with the owners, Punch Taverns, to discuss their intentions for the rebuild of the premises. Cllr. S Riley will contact Tom, the landlord, to discuss the best way forward. In the meantime, the Village Hall committee are considering a schedule of pop-up pubs and open mic events to cover for the loss of the venue.
46.24 D Day 80 celebrations: None are planned.
47.24 Superfast Broadband: Cllr. J Harris will investigate the approach taken by Searby cum Owmby in acquiring superfast internet connectivity.
48.24 Items for next agenda: as previous list plus a discussion on the parish council website.
A concern was raised over possible delays in contacting emergency services in the area due to being on the boundary of Lincolnshire and Humberside. Cllr. J Harris will raise the issue via email with Micheal Head of the Lincolnshire police. Cllr. P Morris will forward the West Lindsey Policing Plan to the clerk for distribution to council members.
49.24 Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday 17th July 2024, 19:15 at the Village Hall.
Meeting Closed: 21.06 pm. These minutes are draft until approved at the above meeting.