January 2023 Minutes
Snitterby Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
Held in the Village Hall on Thu 19th January 2023 19:30
Present: Cllr T Gundry (Chairman), Cllr S Kapil, Cllr R Lawrence, Cllr B Milton
Cllr Stephen Bunney
Officer: Andy Hopkins (Clerk)
There were no members of the public present.
- To receive apologies for absence
There were apologies from Cllr G Kettle-Gundry.
- To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011
There were none.
- To approve the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 17 November 2022
These were resolved as a true and correct record.
- To receive reports and feedback from the County and District Council
Cllr Bunney provided the council with the following update:
Lincolnshire County Council Budget. The executive have proposed the following budget for the period 2023 – 2024. The main expenditure items are:
£275m for adult care and community wellbeing
£84m for children’s social care
£47m for highways
£22m for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue
The proposals include three options for a rise in council tax of between 3% to 5%. The council will still need to use between £3.4m to £10.3m from its reserves to balance the budget, and LCC were seeking views on this.
Lincolnshire Bus Services
LCC is currently considering its bus service provision.
For passengers who do not have a concessionary pass the £2 cap per journey applies to buses in Lincolnshire. In some cases, this represents a substantial decrease in cost to the customer.
Government Emergency Alerts system
The UK government’s new Emergency Alerts system will be launched early this year. The system will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone in the event of emergencies when lives are in danger, such as severe flooding. Messages will be sent to all compatible mobile phones within the area of risk. They do not track your location, need your phone number, or collect personal data. It is possible to opt out of the scheme.
If you get an Emergency Alert on your phone, you’ll hear a loud, siren-like sound. A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond to it.
Local Elections May 4th 2023
Elections will be held on Thursday May 4th 2023 for West Lindsey District Council and all Town and Parish Councils in the area.
The current Government proposal is that electors will need to take some form of approved photo IDto the polling station along with their polling card. For those without suitable ID appropriate documentation will be available from WLDC. Once the exact details have been confirmed they will be widely circulated.
- Police Matters
Inspector Mike Head had sent an email to introduce himself, the Council thought it would be a good idea for him to have a session with some of the smaller councils rather than a specific invite to come and talk to Snitterby in isolation. The Clerk was asked to make the suggestion.
There was nothing on the website to share with the Council, nor anything to report.
- Finance
The Clerk presented his draft budget to Council, and this was resolved to adopt as tabled:
It was resolved that the precept be set at £2998 and the Clerk would let WLDC know.
It was resolved to make the following payments and accept the bank reconciliation up to the end of December 2022:
A request for a grant payment from the Church had been received to assist with the general upkeep of St Nicholas’ Church. The decision was taken to not give a grant due to the Local Government Act 1894 that prevents such payments. The decision included taking advice from the National Association of Local Council's L01-18 Financial Assistance to the Church briefing note, that states that the 1894 Act stands and has been confirmed by Government, as no other legislation has overridden such provisions since.
Cllr Milton was also going to check the payment for the green bins with WLDC.
- Grounds Maintenance Contract
A quotation had been received from the existing provider for the 2023/2024 season. This was an increase of £17.92 per on the previous year. It was still thought that this offered value for money for the service that the village received.
The Clerk was asked to check is the person who cuts the cemetery and open space would continue to undertake this.
It was resolved to accept this quotation.
8. Vehicle Speeding in Village
It was agreed that speeding in the village was becoming an issue from all directions.
A meeting had taken place with the Chairman, Clerk and the Road Safety Partnership Officer and locations had been looked into. Some draft costs had been supplied, around £2500 per sign..
The Clerk was asked to try and get some firm costings from the contacts provided at the meeting and see what funding might be available.
Cllr Bunney confirmed that moving the 30mph signs to the other side of the bus stop had been planned for.
9. Planning
There were no new applications.
10. Highways
The potholes on School Lane, Church Lane and Chapel Lane had been reported. As had the drains again in front of the pub that was causing flooding across the road.
11. Clerk and Councillors updates
There had been fly tipping on Cliff Road passing places in the last few days and the Clerk was asked to report.
The Clerks post had been advertised, but there were no applications. This would be readvertised.
Confidential Item:
12. Pit Land
Cllr Kapil had spoken to an expert for advice and the Council agreed to progress this and report back to the next meeting.
Date of Next Meeting 18/5/23