November 2021 Minutes
Minutes of a meeting of Crowland Parish Council
Held on Monday 1st November 2021
in the Community Hub at 7:00pm
Present: David Kempton, Philip Green, Bryan Alcock, Graham Searle, Jon Boor, Darren Warner, Reg Boot, Jan Woodroffe and Annette Williams
Clerk: Angela Harrison
Press Officer: Victoria Fear
In the Chair: David Kempton
1) 122. Apologies for Absence
Wayne Glenton, Lee Quince, Cathi Elphee, David Ringham and Michael Atkinson
District & County Cllr Nigel Pepper
It was resolved to accept the apologies for absence.
2) 123. Declaration of Interests as per the LGA 2000
Graham Searle: Crowland Cares & SH Voluntary Car Scheme
Philip Green: Payments
Jon Boor: Farmland
3) 124. To Agree as a correct Record the Minutes of the Previous Meetings
Under Item 14: Agenda Packs will be emailed out, with hard copies available on request.
Proposed: P Green
Seconded: J Boor
All agreed
4) 125. Matters Arising from the previous minutes
Item 7: Clerk’s Report is still being worked on.
Action: Clerk & DK
PG requested that the CCTV for the allotment building be discussed “in Committee”.
Item 12: BA is still to liaise with his colleague at SHDC (postponed due to harvest season).
Action: BA
5) 126. Chairman’s Report - to receive the Chairman’s report.
A Copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
There were no further comments or questions.
6) 127. Amenities Committee - to receive the Chairman’s report
A Copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
DK advised that in the absence of the Committee Chairman, a Working Party meeting had been held. There had been no tangible progress with most of the outstanding issues, but he could report the following:
Junior Playground
- Gates have been refurbished.
- Awaiting replacement sandpit for the multi-play piece of equipment.
Parish Rooms heating system.
- Western Power have refused access to their land at the side of the Parish Rooms to install the heat exchange unit.
- Option to install it inside the storage shed but could be issues regarding odour and adequate ventilation.
- A discussion was had, and it was agreed that a group of Cllrs would Get together to assist LQ with this project.
Action: DK
Youth Building
- Meeting arranged.
Youth Shelter
- Not in good order.
- PG offered to contact the company who installed the cycle hoops in the town.
Action: PG
Tennis Courts
- PG thanked BA for passing on the details for Lincs Community Voluntary Services.
- Requested quotes from 2 local contractors to remove the tree roots and even out the surface.
- British Lawn Association do not ask for match funding, whereas Government grant does.
- Will seek further quotes to put down a porous, Astroturf-style surface which will be suitable for multiple games, e.g., tennis, 5-a-side football, basketball, cricket, netball, hockey, bowls, etc.
Action: PG
Kicking Wall
- RB will continue to talk with MA who is currently unavailable.
Action: RB & MA
7) 128. Finance and Admin Committee - to receive the Chairman’s report.
A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting, along with a Bank Reconciliation to the end of October 2021.
The Chairman thanked the Clerk and BA for their reports, which everyone had found most useful.
8) 129. Farms & Gardens Committee - to receive the Minutes of the October meeting and to discuss works required on the woodland trees.
A copy of the minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting.
- JB added that he had met with a representative of Aveland Trees regarding thinning the Millennium Wood. He had extensive knowledge of the Wood, as he planted it. He suggested that girdling work be carried out on the ‘rogue’ trees.
- As this is a niche market and Aveland have intimate knowledge of the Wood, JB proposed that they be given the go ahead to carry out the work. Costs to be discussed “in Committee”.
Seconded: D Kempton
All agreed.
9) 130. Planning Committee - to receive the Minutes of the October meeting.
A copy of the Minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting.
- Item 6: it was suggested that the comma be removed after the word ‘land’, as this changed the meaning of the sentence.
- Officer at SHDC has been written to regarding this item.
- PG mentioned that the builders have raised an affordable housing issue on the old allotment site, which is a usual tactic on developments.
- PG proposed that the PC make no comment on this, as the PC has a vested interest.
Seconded: J Woodroffe
All agreed
Christmas
- Brass Band have requested a £150 donation, plus a gazebo and chairs.
All agreed.
It was also asked whether the toilets could be kept open for the duration of the event.
Action: JB
- Electric Car Charging Lease
- All members present agreed to the signing of the Lease
- PG and DK signed the document
- The Clerk signed as witness.
Action: Clerk to post
10) 131. Safety & Security - to receive the Chairman’s report.
A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
- GS advised members of an incident at the allotment site.
- Police progressing and responding well.
- Chairman thanked GS for his work in getting the Police to recognize issues in Crowland.
- BA offered the name of the Superintendent, who could be contacted should it be necessary.
- JB stated that he was pleased to see the report on hare coursing.
11) 132. Leisure and Wellbeing Centre – to receive the team’s Report.
The report was circulated prior to the meeting.
DR and WG were both absent from the meeting, which made it difficult to ask questions of the report.
- The Chairman stated that the report was useful, but left questions unanswered.
- Trustees are not prepared to take over the Sports Hall prior to the gym opening.
- All issues regarding the Sports Hall have been brought to the attention of LCC in a formal manner.
- DK suggested that a few members meet with WG, (Chairman of the CIO), along with some of the other members of the CIO.
- PC needs to run a ‘due diligence’ test on the CIO before it is passed over.
- A full and frank discussion was had, and the following members stated that they would be happy to meet up with the Trustees:
- G Searle, D Kempton, J Woodroffe and B Alcock.
- As secretary of the CIO, AW will liaise with them regarding the meeting.
Action: AW, DK & Clerk
12) 133. Assets Working Party - to receive the team’s Report
A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
- The first houses will be ready in about 3 weeks.
- Paving, fencing and turfing remains to be done.
- Meeting arranged for Thursday.
- DK stated that the manager of the Letting Agent was taken around the site and she was quite impressed.
- These are quality, rented accommodation for older Crowland people, or those with close contacts with Crowland, in the best location within the town.
13) 134. Correspondence – Email regarding loose dogs on the Snowden Playing Field
An email from a local resident was circulated prior to the meeting.
- The matter was discussed, but it was made clear that there is no Bylaw.
- The PC started an application for one a number of years ago, but the condition of Enforcement made it unviable.
Action: Clerk to respond.
14) 135. Accounts for Payment - See separate sheet
A list of payments for approval was circulated prior to the meeting.
- The cross charges from the school were discussed and following an emailed explanation of the unusual charge from the school, it was agreed that this should be approved for payment.
- With the current volatility in the energy market, it was requested that the meters were read monthly.
Action: Clerk
Proposed: J Boor
Seconded: G Searle
All agreed
15) 136. Matters to be considered for inclusion on a future Council Agenda.
- PG stated that our application to the Cllr Volunteer Scheme to lay slabs around the telephone box had been accepted.
- This will be carried out on Thursday 11th November at 9:30am.
- DR has a commemorative bench on order through Crowland Cares.
- GS raised the changes to the use of Red Diesel which come into force on the 1st of April 2022 and suggested that the F&G Committee might like to do more research, in order to budget for any changes.
Action: JB
Meeting ended at 9:10pm