2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Fleet Parish Council

Meeting – Monday 21st January 2019

A meeting of Fleet Parish Council was held at the Community Hall, Hargate Close, Fleet Hargate on Monday 21st January 2019 at 7pm which was attended by 6 members of the public and the following Councillors:

Peter Coupland (Chair)
Evelyn Penney
Yolanda Ward
Valery Gemmell
Geoff Donley
Paul Barnes

Prior to the commencement of the meeting a 10 minute public forum was held when the following points were raised by members of the public:

1. Hard standing area at the top of the Playing Field – request made for this to be looked into. Item on the Agenda so agreed to discuss at appropriate juncture.

2. Farmers Market held on a monthly basis– would the PC be amenable to this idea? Hard standing would facilitate.

3. Moles on the Playing Field – would PC consider closing the area for 2 weeks for the problem to be properly addressed. Agreed to discuss under Item 5.

There were no reports from the Police or elected members of Lincolnshire Council and South Holland District Council.

MAIN MEETING

1. Apologies for Absence – received from Cllr A Male who was on holiday and Cllrs R & A Dean due to ill health.

2. Declarations of interest - in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011, members were reminded of the need to note any direct interest in Agenda items in the book provided for this purpose and to request dispensation in respects of pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests – there were none.

3. Signing of the Minutes – the minutes of the meeting held on 19th November 2018 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

4. Financial Matters
➢ Clerk talked members through the Bank Reconciliation for November & December 2018 and detailed the current balance of £8499.66 after unpresented cheques accounted for.
➢ Payment of invoices to the following were approved:

Hollyoak Landscapes - £576 (gross) – partial dyke clearance @ Playing Field
Michael Tee - £15.30 – compost and plants f or planters at both ends of Old Main Road
SHDC - £99 – hire of community room for PC meetings during 2019

➢ After much discussion and analysis of the Budget figures prepared by the Clerk, it was resolved to increase the Precept by 7.5% to a figure of £22,550 for 2019/20 from £20,775 in 2018/19 to cover estimated expenditure. It was agreed that a Grants fund of £2000 would be earmarked for any organisations that may apply for assistance and that a full schedule of works would be put together and distributed to a minimum of 3 grass cutting contractors to enable quotes to be obtained on a like for like basis for cutting the playing field.

5. To receive reports -

• Actions List – Clerk went through the current Actions List to provide an update and ascertain which items had been dealt with since the last meeting, resulting in the highlighted items being removed due to completion:

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• Playing Field & Pavilion Working Group - Cllr Coupland reported that there had been no problems lately other than another infestation of moles. It was discussed and resolved to arrange for another course of treatment and to ‘close’ the area for 2 weeks while this work was carried out to secure maximum impact. Signs will be erected warning that members of the public ‘Enter at their own risk’; Cllr Coupland to arrange. Quote from D Moore Services to replace pavilion windows to be placed on file pending further quotes.
• Fleet Christmas Festival, 7/12/18 – Cllr Donley reported that the event was very successful with approx. 270 visitors enjoying the various stalls and entertainment. It is hoped that this can become an annual event and with this in mind a request has been made for a fir tree to be planted to negate this cost year on year. As the event was virtually self-funding (£57 provided from PC funds) there was no need to call on the £250 offered from District Funds which will be rolled over to this year’s event
• Monthly Councillor surgery - Cllr Donley reported that whilst attendance was low, he still felt the surgeries were beneficial and was happy to continue with them on a monthly basis; next one scheduled for Saturday 2nd February at Holbeach Library.
• Skate Park fund raising group - Cllr Coupland advised that the group had held another meeting at which approaching the 3 local Wind Farms for funding had been agreed. He pointed out that many funding providers were keen to see community engagement in any potential project and that this was the next area of focus with a press release and leaflet drop being considered.

6. Planning Matters

Cllrs noted the following Planning Applications and decisions received from SHDC since the last meeting and were reminded of the need to submit any comments to Cllr Male in a timely manner:

Applications received since last Meeting:

Decided Planning Applications by SHDC:

7. Correspondence - the following items were noted:

• British Red Cross – free first aid sessions for parish councils. Cllrs agreed that training should be arranged in the Spring; place on Actions List for organisation.
• University Academy Holbeach – proposal for expansion
• SHDC – Parish Ward changes. County boundaries were revised in Lincolnshire in 2016 and whilst the Fleet has not changed the names are now Fleet North and Fleet South instead of village and fen wards.
• LCC – Road closure, Little Marsh Lane between 04/02/19 and 15/02/19 for essential maintenance works.

8. Fleet identity – Clerk advised that following request from Royal Mail, letters of support had been submitted from Rt Hon Sir John Hayes and South Holland District Council. Royal Mail now need to prepare consultation letters for distribution to all affected postcodes and will advise when this is complete. Place on Action List for monitoring purposes.

9. Provide hard standing at top of Playing Field – following the successful Christmas Festival which was held on this area, Cllr Barnes asked members to look into the possibility of making the top of the Playing Field hard standing to allow for parking to ease the congestion on Old Main Road and for other events such as Farmers Markets, Car Boot sales etc to be organised. He also requested permission to use the playing field again for a 2019 Christmas event which was unanimously approved.

Cllr Coupland advised that fear of travellers visiting the site had meant that this not been done before but an adequate barrier should prevent this. It was resolved that Cllrs Coupland, Barnes and R Dean would look at the area to consider what could be done and report back to the next meeting. Agenda next meeting for update

9. Speed watch initiative – Cllr Barnes had attended a meeting for a new Community Speed Watch initiative and Cllrs now needed to resolve whether to participate in the scheme as there were some logistical and financial implications. It was discussed and resolved that the Clerk would contact the organiser of the initiative to find out further details which would be cascaded to members accordingly. Resident asked to attend the next training event on 28th January – Charles Penney – which the Clerk will organise. Agenda next meeting for update.

10. Information Boards – whilst Cllrs Coupland and Ward had made some improvements to the content for the information boards, they advised there was still some work to be done before they were ready for manufacture. Place on Action List for monitoring purposes.

11. Alternative polling station provision – following the distribution of 370 letters to residents living in proximity of the Catholic Church asking for their views on this matter, it was discussed and resolved that as very few parishioners had responded, the current polling station at Hargate Close would be maintained.

12. Date of next meeting: it was noted that the next meeting will be held on 18th March 2019

13. Closed session - it was resolved to go into closed session to discuss the resignation of the Clerk and agree an interview panel to appoint her successor.