2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Billingborough Parish Council  

Minutes of the annual meeting of Billingborough Parish Council held on 5 June 2023 in the Sports Pavilion at the Recreation ground.

Present: Cllrs C Woodhead (Chairman), J. Surtees, M Turner , R Stafford ,  R Rayside.

In Attendance: H Beaver (Clerk). 

There being no public present at 6.30pm, the Chairman opened the meeting at 6.30pm

1.   Confirmation of Councillors and signing of acceptance of office and Declaration of Interest forms.

01.All forms completed and given to the Clerk for submission to SKDC.

2.   Election of Chairman and signing of Chairman’s Acceptance of Office form.

02.Cllr Woodhead declared that she was happy to stand for re-election and asked if anyone else wanted to stand, as no one else declared, Cllr Woodhead was unanimously elected as Chairman.

3.   Election of Vice Chairman.

03.Cllr Surtees declared himself as a candidate and was unanimously elected.

4.   Apologies for absence. All present.

5.   Approve draft minutes of the meeting held 14 March 2023 and note the draft minutes of the APM held on 16/5/23. 

04.It was resolved to accept the minutes of the 14/03/23 as correct and the chairman signed the minutes. No comments were received regarding the minutes of the APM so these will be presented for approval at the Parsh meeting in 2024.

6.   Councillor vacancies and possible Co-option.  No applications received.

7.   To consider any requests from Members for a dispensation on any items on the agenda. To agree, or not, by resolution to any dispensations, including voting rights. 05.It was RESOLVED for Cllr Turner to take part in discussions at agenda items 16b 1,2,3 and 4 and 16c, but that no vote would be allowed.

8.   Appointment of Members to designated Roles & Responsibilities.

06.It was RESOLVED that as there was currently 4 vacancies on the Council, in the short term Cllrs would keep their current roles and re-assess as new Members joined. 

9.   Appointment of 3 Members to form a HR Committee and elect its Chairman. 

07.Cllrs Rayside, Turner and Stafford were elected to the HR Committee with Cllr Rayside as Chairperson.

10.    Review and adopt the Asset Register.

08.It was RESOLVED to adopt the asset register as it stands but note that the Council also owned a leaf blower.

11.    To Adopt the Council Policies and Procedures: Cemetery Regs, CCTV Code of Practice, CCTV Policy, Co-Option Policy and Proc, Complaints Proc, Data Protection/Publication /Freedom of Information Policy, Discipline and Grievance Policy, Equal Opps Policy, GDPR Privacy Notice, Financial Regs, Risk management Policy, safeguarding Policy and Standing orders.

Action: HB

09.It was RESOLVED to adopt all the above policies with no alterations.

12.   To Review the following Policies/Statements/Terms of Reference: Cllr expenses policy, Environment Policy, Health & Safety Policy, Social Media Policy, Statement of Internal Control/HR Comm’ Terms of Reference, and adopt the Grants Policy. 

010.It was RESOLVED to adopt all of the above with no alterations and also to adopt the Grants Policy as circulated as an additional policy.

13.   Finance Report – RFO

a)   2022/23 End of Year Accounts & External Audit Return

i.   To receive and review the annual Internal & external audit report.

011. It was RESOLVED to accept the annual internal & external audit reports as presented.

ii.   To approve and sign the Annual Governance Statement.

012. It was RESOLVED to accept the Annual Governance Statement, the Chairman and then the Clerk Signed the statement.

iii.   To approve and sign the Annual Accounting Statement.

013. It was RESOLVED to accept the Annual Accounting Statement, the Chairman signed the statement, which had already been signed by the Clerk.

iv.   To approve the end of year accounts.

014. It was RESOLVED to accept the end of year accounts as presented.

v.   To approve the dates for the Period of Public Inspection.

015. It was RESOLVED to set the dates for the period of public inspection as 19 June 2023 to 28 July 2023

b)2022/23 Accounts.

i.   To Approve the previously circulated accts to the end of April 2023

ii.  To approve payment of expenditure listed on the payment schedule.    

016.   It was RESOLVED to approve the accts to 30/4/23 as presented and all invoices listed on appendix C attached. Councillors Rayside and Surtees signed the invoices.                                     

14.   Clerk’s Report and any matters arising.

017. The Clerk reported that the total balance for both bank accounts as at 30/4/23 was £71,582.50 with payments and receipts since the last meeting held on 14/3/23 being listed on Appendix A&B attached.

15.    Admin Matters:

a)   To consider any planning applications.

018. Planning Applications S23/0511 – the proposed solar Farm and S23/0047 a proposed dwelling at the Fortescue Arms. It was RESOLVED to reiterate the original objection to the proposed development on the car park of the Fortescue Arms with the additional comments of questioning the validity of the arboricultural report.

It was also RESOLVED to object to S23/0511, proposed Solar Farm. Whilst on balance the Council is not against the erection of a solar farm, it has concerns that this proposal meant a loss of grade 2 arable land, was aware of concerns raised about an increased risk of flooding due to water run-off, it considers the fact that section 106 monies are to be managed by a Lincolnshire trust with no guarantees that any monies will be made available to the local area was not acceptable, that a considerable number of planning applications were presently being considered in this area, some of which may be on more suitable land. Councillors were also unhappy that the traffic management plan in place was inadequate, and would need an assurance that any road used, be it the Mareham Lane, or Billingborough Rd, would need to be made good and resurfaced once the works were complete. 

b)   BAGS Contract-to decide on any amendments. 

019. It was RESOLVED to present the new contract with amendments as circulated to the BAGS committee for comment.

c)   Date for Clerk’s Appraisal. 

020. The date was set for 4 July 2023.

16.   Recreation ground:

a)   Update on any works carried out following the annual inspection, assess any further requirements and allocate tasks and set budgets.

017. Cllr Surtees volunteered to try and organise some of the repairs if possible. 

b)   To discuss any outstanding queries from the Cricket Club, including:

1.   Soil removal.

2.   Query hedge cutting.

3.   Internal works/decoration.

4.   The erection of Cricket Club sign.

021. It was decided that as the soil had been left for so long it could now be left in situ. Members voiced their concern that the Cricket Club had again made alterations, by cutting the hedge at an angle and erecting a club sign without liaising with the Council, the Chairman was asked to feed this back to the club members. Regarding the internal decoration the CC Chairman advised that there were plans to decorate the main room and kitchen area.

c)   Pavilion external works, including to consider any quotes received. None received.

17.   Spring Wells:

a) Slabs below VE Day bench – update. No update.

18.   Village matters:

a)   Village Signs – update and plan. No update.

b)   Coronation celebration and medals.

022. The Chairman reported that she had delivered Coronation medals to Horbling, Pointon and Billingborough Schools for the Billingborough pupils who attended them. The gesture had been well received at Horbling and Pointon, she was made to feel welcome and feedback had been received, however she had not heard anything from Billingborough School, Cllr Rayside, as liaison officer to talk to the school.

c)   Coronation Bench – to confirm method and contractor for installation, approve cost of installation and plaque.

023. It was agreed to order the Coronation bench with the King Charles Coronation emblem on each end with fixings. The Cricket Club members had already agreed to help with installation.

d)   Traffic Attendant – update if any. No further update.

e)   Replacement bin for Barleyfields.

024. It was RESOLVED to purchase a replacement bin with a budget of £200. Clerk to organise.

f)   Hall Field meeting.

025. Following Saturday’s public meeting it was felt that from the number of replies received whether made in person at the meeting or by emailing to the Clerk, the majority of parishioners wanted to keep the Hall Field as it is. Main concerns were about the cost of long term maintenance, that any development would disturb all the wildlife that currently inhabits the area, any seating or enclosure may increase the possibility of anti-social behaviour. It was felt that there was a feeling that the area did need some attention and it was RESOLVED not to go ahead with the project but to lobby the owners to initiate some maintenance, and to mention that wheelchair access had been requested. Chairman to action. 

g)   Fields in Trust.

026. It was RESOLVED to set a budget of £1500 for solicitors fees should this be necessary to complete the transaction.

h)   Resolve on request from BAGS to plant 3-4 fruit/nut trees.

027. As the agreement states that fruit and edible nut trees can be planted as long as they are no more than 3 metres high, the Council had no objection to this request.

Next meeting: Tuesday 11 July at the Pavilion, Recreation Ground.

APPENDIX A: Payments made on behalf of BPC 1/3-30/4/23

APPENDIX B: RECEIPTS RECEIVED  1/3/-30/4/23

APPENDIX C: Transactions requiring authorisation on 14 MARCH 2023