April 2022 Minutes
GREETWELL PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF GREETWELL PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 4 APRIL 2022 IN THE SUDBROOKE VILLAGE HALL
PRESENT:- Councillors John Taylor (Chairman), Mrs Sarah Bates (Vice Chair), Keith Johnson, Ms Sue Pullen, Mike Taylor, Chris Thatcher, Vernon Stuffins
County Councillor Ian Fleetwood, District Councillors Chris Darcel, Mrs Anne Welburn
1 - 22/23 PARISHIONERS ITEMS – None raised.
2 - 22/23 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES AND REASONS GIVEN
District Councillor Cherie Hill.
3 – 22/23 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ANY ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
None declared.
4 – 22/23 COUNTY/DISTRICT COUNCILLORS REPORTS
Cc Ian Fleetwood had submitted a brief, attached to these minutes.
District Councillor had submitted a report attached to these minutes.
District Councillor Chris Darcel offered to the Parish Council funds from his Community Fund for a project other than the Jubilee. This to be an agenda item for the next meeting.
5 – 22/23 NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 14 MARCH 2022 FOR APPROVAL AND TO BE SIGNED BY THE CHAIRMAN AS MINUTES
That the notes be signed as minutes proposed by Councillor Mike Taylor, seconded by Councillor Keith Johnson and Resolved.
6 – 22/23 CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS
A Correspondence received since last meeting as per list below:-
*Sent to resident’s email list
8.3.2022 – LALC Weekly E News
10.3.2022 – Central Lincolnshire Plan – notification of forthcoming consultation
10.3.2022 – Anglian Water – Reminder of event re new water mains in the area
10.3.2022 – WYPF - Notice of investment
10.3.2022 – Latest news from the ICO
16.3.2022 – LALC Weekly news
22.3.2022 – LALC Weekly E News
B Pedestrian Crossing – Nothing further to report.
C Community Speedwatch – The speed Indicator device had now been put in situ on the A158. Thanks were extended to County Councillor Ian Fleetwood and Andrew Burge from Cherry Willingham PC for programming and fitting the device. It was noted that the data was recorded from both directions.
D Land near to bypass for tree planting – update and acquisition of trees – The application form and required plans had been submitted to LCC Highways for permission to plant and a reply was awaited.
If permission is granted it is hoped to obtain trees from the Woodland Trust and make the planting a parish event.
That the cost of the plans £47.99 be paid from the Events Budget unanimously Resolved.
7 – 22/23 FINANCE
A External Audit for year ending 2021/22 – To consider and approve by Resolution the Certificate of Exemption from a Limited Assurance Review – That Greetwell Parish Council be exempt from a Limited Assurance Review unanimously Resolved.
B Bank Reconciliation to 31.3.2022 – This had been circulated to members and was signed by the Chairman.
C Review of Budget against spent for financial year 2021/22 – This had been circulated to Councillors. It was noted that Council had spent within Budget for this financial year.
D Accounts for payment:-
Mrs C Myers – Reimbursement for purchase of location plan for Wragby Road East (where permission is sought for trees to be planted) - £47.99
LALC – Annual subscription - £253.93
Sudbrooke Village Hall – room hire 4.4.2022 - £15.00
Mrs C Myers – expenses March = £16.99
Mr A Burge – padlock for speed indicator device - £10.00
Mr I Fleetwood – Stainless steel hose clips for speed indicator device - £14.99
*Staffing costs – salary/pension payments/tax - £520.51
*To be paid 30.4.2022
E Income
HMRC Vat Refund - £541.56
1.4.2022 – Precept - £11,330.00
8 – 22/23 PLANNING
To consider areas of land in Greetwell for development under the Central Lincolnshire Proposed Submission Local Plan consultation - It was noted that areas with the parish were the same as 2017 and therefore no issue for discussion.
9 – 22/23 TO CONSIDER THE NEW CODE OF CONDUCT AS CIRCULATED BY THE MONITORING OFFICER, WLDC AND ITS ADOPTION BY GREETWELL PARISH COUNCIL
This had been circulated to a members in advance of the meeting. That Greetwell Parish Council adopt the new Code of Conduct unanimously Resolved. All members signed for receipt of the code which would be forwarded to the Monitoring Officer, WLDC.
10 – 22/23 CLERKS REPORT
The Clerk reported that the final Accounts for 2021/22 would shortly be with the Internal Auditor.
Completion of the Audit forms would take place at the next meeting of the Parish Council.
11 – 22/23 CHAIRMANS COMMENTS
Nothing further to report.
12 – 22/23 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Annual Meeting of Parish Council - Monday 9 May 2022, 7.30pm in the Bramham Lounge of Sudbrooke Village Hall.
District Councillor Anne Welbourn’s Report
Budget
West Lindsey District Council has approved its budget for 2022/23 as it continues to plan to be become non-reliant on government funding in future. At the last full Council meeting on 07/03/22, Councillors approved a balanced budget of £14.979 million for the 2022/23 fiscal year. They also approved a Council Tax rise of £5 - or 10p a week, for the 2022/23 fiscal year. The average West Lindsey District Council Tax will be £227.74.
The financial gain from the 2022/23 settlement has enabled the Council to build up its reserves to support delivery of its corporate strategies. It now has available:
£250,000 for Culture
£500,000 for Environmental and Climate Change
£250,000 for Communities at Risk
£6,000,000 for Investment for Growth
£250,000 for cost of change.
£250,000 has been allocated for investment in technology.
Audit
West Lindsey District Council has “no significant weaknesses” with regards to its use of financial resources, according to an annual report produced by an independent Auditor and presented to Governance and Audit Committee on 8 March 2022.
The Auditor’s Annual Report, which summarises the work undertaken for the year ending 31 March 2021, finalised its report by concluding that the Council’s arrangements to secure economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in its use of resources had no significant weaknesses and there were no recommendations arising from the Auditors work.
Council Tax Energy Rebate
The Government is providing a £150 one-off Energy Bills Rebate for most households in council tax bands A-D this has been arranged but it is a large piece of work involving software suppliers and requiring external verification to ensure we mitigate against fraudulent claims. Just to be clear that this is an Energy bills rebate and not a Council Tax rebate, this is only using the Council Tax database for processing purposes. We will also consider a discretionary scheme for those not eligible for the mandatory scheme above. This will be presented at CP&R committee for approval.
Central Lincolnshire Local Plan
A final consultation of the plan, known as the Reg.19 consultation stage, went live on Wednesday on 16 March 2022 and will run until 11.59 PM on 9 May 2022. This is necessary prior to submission of the Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination.
Whilst the new Local Plan has been based on the 2017 Local Plan, with many policies and the overall ambitions of the plan remaining the same, there have been some updates to key evidence documents as well as policy changes/updates together with structural changes to the document to aid navigation of the policies, which will mean it looks quite different.
Key policy changes include:
Climate change: The plan is ambition in trying to address climate change in a number of policies, including a requirement for net-zero-carbon homes and a framework for considering renewable energy infrastructure.
Retail: In recognition of some of the challenges facing retail the Draft Local Plan seeks to protect more local retail centres in rural areas; in the face of uncertainty in both the industry and from national policy changes allowing shops to change use without the need for planning permission.
Housing: Reflecting the Government’s new housing needs methodology and the Central Lincolnshire’s housing and economic needs assessment evidence, the housing requirement of the plan has been reduced from 1,540 homes each year under the 2017 Local Plan to between 1,060 and 1,325 homes each year in the new plan, meeting the overall requirement of 29,150 dwellings across the plan period from 2018 to 2040.
RAF Scampton: A new draft policy, designed to safeguard the future of RAF Scampton once the site has been decommissioned, has been included. It highlights RAF Scampton as an ‘opportunity area’ and requiring a masterplan prior to any major development. The policy aims to provide a framework which will enhance and protect the area whilst remaining adaptive and responsive to future decisions on the decommission and disposal of the base.
Settlement Hierarchy and Site Allocations: Following a change in National Policy, sites for 10 or more homes within small and medium villages are specifically allocated which remove the need to apply growth percentages and gives greater certainty to communities.
The Proposed Submission Local Plan and its supporting documents will be available to view throughout the consultation at www.central-lincs.org.uk/local-plan-review. The website also provides details of where hard copies of documents can be viewed.
Over 90 historic churches, located across West Lindsey, Lincolnshire, are waiting to welcome visitors over two weekends: 7/8th and 14/15th May.
The message is clear: welcome back to this year’s Churches Festival, and what a glorious celebration is on offer as the people who care for these churches come together after two years of absence due to the pandemic.
The year 2022 sees the Queen’s platinum anniversary and in celebration, four churches in week one are holding exhibitions in honour of this wonderful achievement. Holy Trinity, Swallow will include personal reminiscences and souvenirs of the Queen's seventy years reign and at St John's, Southrey, which was built by the villagers during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year, a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee with a red, white, and blue themed flower display. At Middle Rasen, the theme of St Peter & St Paul’s is 'The Queen - Service before Self' and Nettleton St John the Baptist have chosen ‘Anniversaries' as the theme with flowers and exhibits on view.
Other exhibitions to take note of during both weekends are St Andrew’s, Apley, which is celebrating 25 years of this West Lindsey Open Churches Festival with a special flower display. Stainfield, St Andrew have a theme of 'Consider the works of our hands', celebrating local craftspeople and their skills and St Peter & St Paul, Owmby by Spital have a similar display. Reepham St Peter & St Paul focus on 'Past, present and future' with an archive of the village as will All Saints, Upton cum Kexby.
A new stained-glass window commemorating all who have served at RAF Scampton over the last 100 years takes pride of place in the church’s 'Allies in the Air' exhibition.
The history of these Lincolnshire churches spans back to those first Christian saints. Visitors can follow in the footsteps of St Oswald from Rand, via Stainfield with its connections with the Benedictine nunnery, to St Lawrence church, Bardney. Here they can also explore the connection between Venerable Bede, St Oswald and Bardney Abbey. There really is 1400 years of English history in this one building!
Every one of these churches is waiting to share its story with you. And the organisers promise there really is a different story in each, and challenge visitors to find out the importance of Henry Dudding of St Edmunds at Riby, or Anne Ayscough of St Mary & St Nicholas at South Kelsey!
Whichever churches you visit, you will be guaranteed a warm welcome.
The festival’s website can be found at https://www.churchesfestival.info/ - Opens in a new window where every church has its own page. Details include where lunches are being served and where organ recitals can be heard, along with the facility to download a 50-page PDF of the event brochure.
West Lindsey District Council pilots its first ever chatbot.
The Council has worked with Inform Comms to develop a chatbot which will answer questions and signpost visitors to our website. Initially it will focus on signposting people to the latest information they need relating specifically to the roll out of the separate paper and card collection. If it is successful, the chatbot could be used to manage a number of popular Council related requests for example missed bins collections and garden waste.
Residents will be able to ask the bot questions such as:
‘Do I have to have another bin?’
‘Can I opt for a smaller bin?’
‘What happens if I put the wrong materials in my bin?’
All these questions and more will receive an automated reply, to help provide them with the answer immediately.
The chatbot is also designed to collect and pass on customer’s information to the customer services team if issues do not get resolved and this will be followed up personally by the Customer Services Team.
Cllr. Ian Fleetwood's – April's brief:
The latest on, what’s happening in the public sector in Lincolnshire.
Active April:
With the onset of spring, why not think about doing more activity? Useful hints and ideas about how to get on the move and help yourself to feel healthier are available in a calendar covering the whole month at Active April | Action for Happiness.
https://actionforhapiness.org/calendar
Invitation to open Lincolnshire’s first doors to Ukrainian refugees:
Everyone seeking to offer help and assistance is asked to be patient as more detail on the Ukrainian resettlement process emerges.
While it is not clear how many Lincolnshire residents have answered the call to freely offer up accommodation to house those fleeing from their war-torn country, it is known that there has been a generous expression of support and goodwill.
Nationally more than 120,000 people registered within the first 24 hours of the Homes of Ukraine appeal going live – and more registrations can still be made at: Homes for Ukraine.
https://www.gov.uk/register-interest-homes-ukraine
Queen's Platinum Jubilee:
Preparations are now underway in Lincolnshire to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the summer. To make the most of the occasion, the late May Bank Holiday has been moved to 2 June and there will be an additional one-off bank holiday on 3 June.
The grounds of Lincoln Castle will be decorated and open over the whole bank holiday weekend for you to bring a picnic and enjoy time with family and friends.
For those organising street parties, the Council will be making it quicker and easier to apply for a road closure. Please check www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/jubilee for information. This section of our website will be updated as further details about the range of commemorations taking place locally are made available.
Collection amnesty launched for unwanted medical equipment:
A pilot drop-off facility for unwanted equipment has been launched at Lincoln Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) to help patients in the area to support a greener, more economic health and care service. Lincolnshire residents are being urged to return medical equipment that is no longer needed as part of a new initiative to reuse and recycle items such as crutches and commodes.
People can drop off any unwanted equipment at the Lincoln HWRC, Great Northern Terrace, Lincoln LN58LG – open Friday to Tuesday, 8am-4pm.
Larger items such as beds, shower chairs and hoists can continue to be collected by community equipment service free of charge.
To arrange a collection please contact:
• Telephone: 0345 121 2032
• email: enquiries@lincoln.nrs-uk.net
https://lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/967/collection-amnesty-launched-for-unwanted-medical-equipment
Lincoln’s Usher Gallery – Wedding venue:
The 95-year-old Gallery in the heart of the City is the perfect venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies.
Couples considering the Gallery for their big day are invited to the Usher Gallery wedding open day on Thursday 14 April. Drop in any time between 11am and 3pm to explore venue and grounds, talk to staff and gather ideas for your ceremony. Alternatively, reserve a time slot with a member of our dedicated ceremonies team by contacting ceremonies@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Couples invited to say ‘I do’ at Lincoln’s Usher Gallery
Extra Care Housing roll out:
Lincoln’s new De Wint Court Extra Care facility has been officially opened. The £12 million, 50 one-bed and 20 two-bed apartment extra care facility is the first such scheme to open its doors. Jointly funded between Lincolnshire County Council, City of Lincoln Council and Homes England. Residents can enjoy the benefits of renting a home, free from the worries of maintenance or gardening, along with like-minded over 55s. With access to care and support on-site 24 hours a day, together with additional communal facilities.
New Extra Care Housing scheme opens in Lincoln
https://lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/983/new-extra-care-housing-scheme-opens-in-lincoln
Bringing children and young people some Easter excitement!
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, funded by the Department for Education, will provide children and young people receiving benefits-related free school meals a wide-range of exciting activities and a meal plus snacks for free this Easter.
Each venue will offer healthy food and its own fun and unique activities such as cooking, visits, arts and crafts, sports, drama, beatboxing, animal encounters, an Easter treasure hunt and kite flying. Hundreds of children have taken part in our previous programmes, and the feedback from families has been fantastic. Places fill up quickly so eligible families should book as soon as possible.
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/school-pupil-support/holiday-activites-food-programme
Save Lincolnshire’s Pollinators - our insects need your help!
Welcome to all who are interested in ideas and best practice on how to take action to reverse the decline, including providing habitat and food sources, such as wildflowers, for the pollinators, e.g. Ecologists, local authorities and parish councils, agriculturalists, horticulturalists, educational establishments and all those with a personal interest in biodiversity.
The conference will take place at the Epic Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, LN2 2NA from 9.30 a.m. to 3.00 pm on Friday 20th May 2022 (World Bee Day) and the keynote speaker is Professor Dave Goulson FRSE, Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex.
Find out more and register here.
https://coloniarotary.co.uk/the-poliinator-awareness-conference/
Celebrating the County’s Beauty:
The theme of English Tourism Week 2022, which has recently taken place is “You’re Welcome” to send the message that the tourism industry is truly open for business. To mark the occasion Visit Lincolnshire have launched a Visit Green Lincolnshire video. This highlights our open green spaces and welcomes visitors to explore the countryside by walking, cycling, and enjoying local wildlife.
https://www.visitbritain.org/english-tourism-week