2023 minutes

Draft Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Tues 4th April 2023 at 6pm

Present Cllr C Ashton (Chair), Cllr C Hodgkin, Cllr M Kinning, Cllr S Lansdowne, Cllr F Parish, Cllr C van Straubenzee, Mrs H Sandon (parish clerk), LCCllr C Vernon, SKDCllr B Green SKDCllr D Bellamy,

3 residents in attendance

Apologies for Absence Cllr P Golding, Cllr L Hughes, Cllr J Oldfield (Vice Chair), Cllr A White

To approve the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Tuesday 31st May 2022

   The notes of the meeting were approved by the Council and signed by the chair in acceptance of minutes.

Chairman’s Report of the past year, Cllr Ashton

Cllr Ashton read out his report on the Yr 2022/23, to forward to the clerk for her records and to publish on SWPC’s website.

Year end Accounts 2022/23 summary position, clerk

No summary position given, as it is too early in the year for completed accounts for yr end 2022/23 to be available. Clerk to prepare the information over the next two months, ready for sign off by the Parish Council at its June PC meeting (submission deadline 3rd July 2023).

Questions from the floor

None

Meeting closed at 6.20pm

Chairman’s Annual report 2022/23

Delivered 4th April, 2023

May I take this opportunity of welcoming you all to this our Annual Parish Meeting.  At this meeting the Chairman presents to members of our Village Community present a report of the work undertaken by your Parish Council over the past twelve months. It is nowhere near as comprehensive as you might think as much has been undertaken and it would be impossible to cover it all here this evening and therefore I have tried to pick out the salient parts for you.

Here then is my report of the past year. This is presented in no order of preference. All our Parish Council Meetings take place on the first Tuesday of each month commencing at 1830hrs.

During May our Annual Audit or accounts for the previous year takes place. By law accounts must be audited (AGAR forms) before submitting them to PKF, the external Auditors, for final signing off.

The South Witham Council return for 2022/23 was internally audited once again by My Gordon Andrew and signed off by him. Mr Andrew never charges but in lieu he does ask that the Parish donate £30.00 to the Memorial Reserve Fund. This was done by The Clerk.

The Clerk displayed the relevant notice of intended external audit before submitting the accounts and later in the year we received notice that everything was in order. Here I should say, on your behalf a huge thank you for the onerous and thankless task our Clerk does in preparing these on your behalf. Thank you again Helen.

I am sure many of you will have noticed that the flooding we have experienced over the years on Thistleton Lane under the bridge seems to at last been cured. It has taken many letters and telephone calls to eventually get the Highways to come out and dare I say fix the problem.

The flooding experienced on Great Close is no nearer to being solved but you can rest assured we will carry on badgering all parties concerned until we get a successful outcome (which we will) as we did on Thistleton Lane.

The Barriers on Church Lane have been replaced but we are doubtful as to how efficient the new ones will prove to be or how long they will last. Watch this space or should I say look for the spaces!

The general upkeep of the Village Hall (owned by the Parish Council) is a constant drain on our limited resources. Work is ongoing from leaking roofs to dripping taps and everything in between. A full list of what has been carried out can be seen recorded in the minutes of each Parish Council monthly meeting. We are now faced with the added expenditure of replacing the Two Double Fire Doors and the three main external doors. Quotes have been gathered and a decision to proceed has been passed by the Parish Council.  A grant has been applied for and we should have a decision in June. We will be replacing them but a grant would be very welcome. We cannot allow this to drag on indefinitely.

 As you are all aware the cost of Gas and Electricity is rocketing, and we need to do everything we can to keep the Hall running costs down to the minimum. We have two Councillors, Parish and Van Straubenzee, constantly reviewing the situation but unfortunately it is becoming a thankless task for them due to the negligence of others who use the Village Hall. Constantly the thermostats are altered by users who then leave without turning the setting back to where it was before they started changing it.  This means that the temperature is high all night and during the day until someone goes in to check. We do not have a caretaker/premises officer and it is unfair to expect the two councillors who look after the fabric to constantly be checking the situation. Please can I ask in these belt tightening times that each and all of you that use these excellent facilities to check before you leave. You will all be pleased to know that we have a ramp for the use of disabled people. In order to help the VHMC to find its feet again as it we have fixed this year’s rent at a peppercorn rent. This is for one year only.

This last year saw the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee being celebrated in June.  The Commemorative coins purchased by the Parish Council were distributed by The Chairman who visited all the schools that our children attend to ensure this happened.  The extra went on general sale at the Summer Fair at a charge of £3.00 each. This was only 1p more than they cost us to buy.

The Commemorative Tree was also planted on the island between Water Lane and Church Street and we must thank Councillor White for removing the Crab Apple tree that had stood  there for many years. Children from the Village School planted the surrounding area with bulbs which we hope will provide a lovely display later in the year.

A commemorative plaque was purchased from The Royal British Legion and can be seen at the base of the tree. This will only happen however if people refrain from driving or parking over the piece of land in question. In order to stop this the Parish Council put stakes around the edges but even these have been ignored and several of them have been knocked over by vehicles This I am sure is not done intentionally but could I ask you all if you are dropping children off or picking them up  please use the Village Hall Carpark and then the footpath and gate to the school field which the Parish Council provided some years ago.

At this point I should also like to mention another a very important Commemorative occasion which occurred in November of last year. The new Head Teacher of the Village school wanted the children to take place in the Armistice Day service in the church. A couple of Councillors, The Head Teacher and members of the Village Church Parish Council plus a local ordained Minster met and on Friday, 15th November held a lovely service attended by the School Children and local Councillors and Villagers. It proved to be very successful in every way.  We are all hoping that this will happen every year and will also prove to reignite the close links the Village had with the school in years past and making it a centre of Village life once more.

The Cemetery and allotments continued to be monitored by Councillors Van Straubenzee and Oldfield.   Following the number of thefts that were made from sheds on plots we had last year the Parish Council has undertaken various safety measures to alleviate this.  To date this seems to have worked as we have had no further thefts reported.

Councillor Oldfield has erected a new fence in this area to improve the appearance.  May I say that he has done a wonderful job. If you are passing and have a spare moment pop in and see the work, he has done and the difference it has made.

Councillor Oldfield has also continued to monitor the junior play area and the skateboard equipment.  These were installed in 2005 and are beginning to show wear and tear.  Repairs are becoming more necessary and he continues to keep on top of the work.  Yet again another thankless task I am afraid.

Along side this work he is now collecting drinks cans, crushing them and selling them for their scrap value. The monies received may not seem worthwhile but constantly doing this means the monies available for repairs to these two areas is constantly being added to. If you would like to help him please make contact with him. His telephone number can be found on the South Witham PC web page.

The Play Project fund now has £5,086.10p including £1,290 donation from The VE Day Committee now disbanded.

Councillor Oldfield I feel should be complimented on the sterling work he does for the Village.  I know he will not thank me for saying this but people like him are few and far between and yet if it was not for them the Village would be a sorry state.

This past year saw the Lincolnshire County Council published their outline plans for the development of quarries and mineral sites within the County.  Your Parish Council have discussed these in full with our SKDC Councillors and have duly made notes an our feelings on this matter. A letter has been forwarded outlining our concerns and we are now awaiting their response.

Last November saw the Annual Bonfire taking place.  In the past this has been organised by the VHMC however Councillor Kinning offered to research the feasibility of reintroducing this and thanks to the work of Councillor Kinning, her husband, family and friends this went ahead. Congratulations to all the helpers as this turned out to be a rip-roaring success.  It is hoped that this will once again become a feature of our Village life.On night the event, through donations on the evening, raised £1953. 96 pence. The money raised was donated to the Play Park Project account. Once again thank you to all concerned.

May I take this opportunity to thank the VHMC for organising once more the Christmas Dinner for our senior citizens. I know many of them really look forward to this yearly event.  We as a Parish Council really do appreciate this gesture.

Lastly may I take this opportunity of thanking our LCC representative Councillor Charlotte Vernon and our two SKDC Councillors Council Ben Green and Councillor David Bellamy for the sterling work they have done on our behalf and wish them luck in the forthcoming elections. We as a Village have benefitted greatly from their hard work. We wish them all the best for forth coming elections and hopefully look forward to working with them in the future.

This concludes my report for this year. May I thank you all for attending and remind you that if you are concerned about anything we do have a Public Forum to discuss such concerns and problems allocated on our agenda each month. The next one will follow this meeting in the small room at the rear of the Hall.

Cliff Ashton (Chair of the Parish Council)