2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a meeting of Crowland Parish Council

Held on Monday 7th June 2021

In Crowland Abbey at 7:00pm

Present:       Bryan Alcock, David Kempton, Philip Green, Cathi Elphee, David Ringham, Graham Searle, Jan Woodroffe, Reg Boot, Michael Atkinson, Matt Elderkin and Annette Williams

Clerk:           Angela Harrison

Local Press:  Victoria Fear

In the Chair:  David Kempton

The Chairman announced the sad death of Mike Jackson who was a member of the Council and Scout Leader in the Community.  The Parish Council held a Minute’s silence to remember him.

1) 40. Apologies for Absence

Lee Quince, Jon Boor, Darren Warner

District Cllr Jim Astill

County & District Cllr Nigel Pepper

2) 41. Declaration of Interests as per the LGA 2000

Dave Ringham:           Crowland Cares

Graham Searle:          Crowland Cares & SH Voluntary Car Scheme

Matt Elderkin:              Service Station if discussed.

3) 42. To Agree as a correct Record the Minutes of the Previous Meetings

Proposed:        P Green

Seconded:       D Ringham                             

All Agreed

4) 43. Matters Arising from the previous minutes and Clerks’ Report - to receive the Clerks’ report of actions outstanding.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Item 2. Electric Car Charging Points at the Health Centre Car Park

• Agreed a new location with SHDC; awaiting acceptance of contractor.

Item 12. West Street Bus Shelter Roller Shutter

•  Work in progress; pending success of other actions to control ASB there.

Item 15. Update Allotment Tenancy Agreement

• Clerk to send copy of current agreement to G Searle.
  • Need to review the rents Annually -                               Action – Farms & Gardens

Item 17. Speed Limit Reduction at Radar Corner

• DK has responded to LCC.

Item 18. WW2 Airmen Memorial

• This has been put on hold as the person leading it is busy with another project.

PG asked about Item 14 in the Minutes, whether the action to contact Cllr Pepper for his assistance regarding the A16 had been followed up.

• It was agreed to add this to the Clerk’s Report for Action

Action: Clerk

5) 44. Chairman’s Report - to receive the Chairman’s report

A Copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• Now that we can meet physically, Chairman would like to arrange a workshop to review our Governance, in particular with regards to our discretionary spend and the role of Committees and Portfolio Holders
  • Firstly, to try to take some responsibility and time away from the full council meetings, as they go on for too long, and secondly, to try to get everybody engaged in something.
• If we did more in the Committee meetings, making smaller decisions, leaving the bigger, more strategic decisions for full council meetings, which should move the pace on.

Everyone agreed.

6) 45. Approval of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return

            (I) Section 1 - Annual Governance Statement 2020/21

• The Clerk read out the Annual Governance Statements, 1 to 8, to which the Members all agreed.
• Statement number 9 was agreed as ‘not applicable’, as the Parish Council does not manage any Trust funds, charitable or otherwise.

The Chairman and the Clerk both signed the Annual Governance Statement

            Section (ii) - Accounting Statements 2020/21

• The Parish Council approved the Accounting Statements which had been provided by the RFO and signed prior to the meeting, on the 31st of May 2021.
• Boxes 3 and 7 include the amount form the Bond Guarantee which is being held whilst the bungalows are being built on the old allotment site.  Should the bungalows not be built to our specification, the money will be released to the Parish Council.
• Reserves held by the Council have on paper increased considerably from £136,637 to £1,720,784. However, clarification is required to split this as follows:
  • Capital £72,869
  • Section 106 £209,423
  • Earmarked £2,448 being allotment deposits and keys.
  • Revenue £39,689 plus outstanding VAT claim £21,355
  • Bond Guarantee £1,375,000
  • Members will be aware that all the above Reserves are ring-fenced with the exception of the Revenue amount which is currently available for day-to-day expenditure.
  • A slight increase was made in the Precept for the current year from £105,000 to £110,000 to rebuild the Revenue Balance a little.

The Chairman signed the Accounting Statements.

7) 46. Amenities Committee  -  to receive the Chairman’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated a few days prior to the meeting.

• GS asked about the Public Liability insurance regarding the Junior Playground
  • DR confirmed that he had received it last week.

8) 47. Finance and Admin Committee - to receive the Chairman’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• Money will be tight again this year and we need to be careful with what we spend it on
• Crowland in Bloom (Affiliated to the Horticultural Society), asked if they could rent our premises on a Charitable rate?

P Green proposed

G Searle seconded

All agreed.

9) 48. Farms & Gardens Committee - to receive the Chairman’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• RB stated that the annual ‘Safari’ would be taking place this year.  Wasn’t able to do one last year due to Covid restrictions.  This will be a tour of all the land owned/rented by Crowland Parish Council. 
• Tree work is in a conservation area, so awaiting approval from SHDC.
• No replacement lease on behalf of the land that we rent through the Diocese of Lincoln.
  • MA has been trying to get a response, as has the priest, Charles Brown.
  • Law has changed and now the maximum we can have is 7 years.
• CE stated that a lease can be for any specified length of time.
  • We are still cutting the grass and will hold out for an extended lease.
• One of the grounds men reported that they are picking up lots more litter.
  • Community warden stated that litter is not a problem in Crowland.

10) 49. Planning Committee - to receive the Minutes of the meeting held on 11th May 2021.

A copy of the Minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• Thorney Road footpath
  • May need to be reconstructed, however, many other places in the County score higher.
  • Should be done within 3 years.
  • GS – saw 2 surveyors walking the length of Thorney Road last week.
• Paving around the red phone box going in, subject to funding.   Action – Planning & Place
  • New bench seat
  • Lighting was discussed and it was stated that a light will be installed inside the Phone Box.
• Temporary permission expired April 2020 for resident to occupy land adjacent to Trinity Court.
• Land would give access to car parking, so needs to be kept in public ownership.
• Week commencing 5th July replaced bus stop will be erected on Peterborough Road.
  • Should complete within 24 hours.
• Yellow Stocking Hall development - planning approved to provide annex.
  • No longer shared entrance - made an entrance from a farm track on Lord Normanton’s land
  • The PC has not been consulted on this and we lease that track from the half acre.

Action: D Kempton & P Green

• Land Agent and SHDC to be informed                                                 Action  -  Clerk

10) 50. Safety & Security - to receive the Chairman’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• Significant amount of graffiti on the skate park
  • Ground’s men cleaned it off and managed to get most of the expletives removed.
  • Met with Community Warden on Friday who took some useful information from the graffiti to pass on to the Police.
• PG - Could not erect market stalls outside the Chinese for the second time in 4 weeks.
  • Need to enforce the no parking from 6am to 2pm                           Action: B Alcock

12) 51. Fitness & Well-being Centre - to receive the team’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• Registration for Charity has come through and Trust will now apply for a reduction in NDR’s.
• Opening delayed due to problems with a particular area of the floor
  • Finished floor is now down.
  • Gym is now fully painted.
• Plan to be finished by the end of this week.
• Hoping to be able to open completely some time in July.
• Meeting next week to look at storage for specific clubs.
• As soon as the hall is clean, the hiring groups can get back in
• The gym equipment has had to be put into the hall whilst the contractors worked on the gym as there was nowhere else to put it.

BA asked whether we could call in some professional cleaners?

• DR answered to say that he had already requested a quote.

DK suggested that a program of events be put together.

• Access will be through the gates at the front of the school.
  • DR – Combination code will be provided for the padlock.
• A representative of LCC has been invited to come down and assist with the access situation.

DR stated that it was all in hand and that he will produce a programme with costings for moving forward.  Also, an updated Business Plan

Action: D Ringham

13) 52. Assets Working Party - to receive the team’s report.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

• BA said that AWP had attended a site meeting with developers.
  • Ironed out some of the difficulties.
  • A little bit behind but should have properties available to us late summer, early autumn.
• DK - Roofing felt is going on the first house this week.
• A lot of provisional interest from people in and affiliated with Crowland.

14) 53. ‘In Principle’ Approval for a feasibility study for a replacement Pavilion/Community Building

DK stated that he wanted to consider the demolition of the existing building and our other buildings in that area and replace them with a new ‘community building’.  Especially due to the recent closing of the British Legion Hall.

• Feasibility study - what it would include, cost, etc.
• Looking for the PCs approval to set up a new Working Party to work on this.
• GS - No other halls available in Crowland for Weddings, parties, Christenings, etc.
• DR stated that he may still have a copy of the original plans that were drawn up.
• Potential to ask for more S106 monies, so funding may not be the biggest hurdle.

All agreed.

Action: D Kempton

15) 54. Party in the Park

• PG has produced a rough outline of a flyer for the event.
• Provisionally booked 3 bands
• Working Party will be formed from within the Planning Committee.
• The event will require First Aid people
• Marquee for older people or those who would seek shelter from the weather (hot or cold)
• The event will come under the umbrella of the Parish Council, using the PC’s insurance, etc.
• DK proposed that we have a PC funded firework display at the end.
• Week before Bank Holiday in August
• All 3 District Cllrs have committed to donating some of their Ward Budget monies to help fund the event.

Proposed:        D Kempton

Seconded:       J Woodroffe

All approved

16) 55. (i) Accounts for Payment

            (ii) S137 Payments

(i) A lot of the costs this month, are for the Gym and Sports Hall

• Internal Auditor’s Fee is also high due to not having an RFO for 6 months of last year.
• Bulb energy bills were discussed, as they appeared to be excruciatingly high.
  • RFO confirmed that we pay a fixed amount via DD each month; we must take actual readings.
• Late entry Lucksbridge Horticultural bill for hanging baskets and in-Bloom will be put on the list for next month’s payments.

Proposed:       J Woodroffe

Seconded:      A Williams

All agreed

(ii) There were no S137 Payments

17) 56. Matters to be considered for inclusion on a future Council Agenda

1. Create a Working Party for the Pavilion
2. Although Charles Brown made no charge for the use of the Abbey, the PC expressed that they would like to make a donation to the Abbey Window fund

• It was agreed to make a donation of £50.

Meeting ended at 8:47pm