June 2022 Minutes
THEDDLETHORPE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the monthly meeting held on Thursday, 23 June 2022, 7.30pm
Theddlethorpe Village Hall, Silver Street, Theddlethorpe All Saints.
Chair of the Council: Cllr C Richardson, Vice-Chair: Cllr B Lister
Parish Councillors: Cllr G Foister, Cllr J Sheppard, Cllr N Barker
Also, present: Parish Clerk: None
District Councillor: Cllr S Harrison
County Councillors: Cllr N Sear, Cllr D McNally
Item 06/22-01 Chairman’s Welcome
The Chairperson welcomed 8 Parishioners to the Village Hall, all recognised as Theddlethorpe residents.
Item 06/22-02 Public Forum
The Chairman opened the Public Forum at 19:35 hrs and stated from the Clerk’s report that no questions were received in advance of the meeting by the Clerk.
Parishioners voiced concern that they should be allowed to raise questions at any time in their 15-minute time slot and should not have to submit questions in advance. The Chair reminded the, of the best practice guidance that was presented and shared with them in December but stated he would allow them to raise a question tonight.
A Parishioner read out a short passage of information from the March 18 Extraordinary Parish Meeting minutes, which they interpreted as giving the Theddlethorpe Residents Association (TRA) full ownership of the GDF survey information and not handing it over to the Parish Clerk as had previously been requested. They continued by stating that the PC did not need the information and if it wanted the original data, did the PC not trust those involved in processing it.
The Chair explained that the request had nothing to do with trust or any inferred negative views portrayed by the Parishioner nor did the misinterpretation of the minutes support TRA ownership. The questionnaire was paid for by Parishioners’ taxes, it is the property of all Parishioners and therefore should be kept by the Parish Clerk for future access. The PC had supported the Parishioners’ questionnaire and had been clear in all previous meetings that it wanted to see the analysis as well as the original information for councillors to review. Nearly 3 months has passed now and it’s a reasonable request.
The Parishioner explained that the analysis had not been completed as a member of the team was deliberately preventing them getting access to it. The information had been sent by that person to the clerk who has not passed it on to them. They ended by stating that the original documents would not be handed over to the PC until they had received the information needed to finish their own analysis.
The Chair stated that he did not believe that anyone was withholding information and councillors confirmed that they had not received any data from the clerk. The Chair stated that the information team and its functioning was the Parishioner’s own group of volunteers and suggested that the group should be able to resolve its own issues; he agreed to have a conversation with the volunteers in question to help resolve the situation.
The Chair closed the public forum at 19:46 hrs.
Item 06/22-03 Apologies and acceptance of absence
Cllr K Simpson, Cllr C Lister, Mrs S Bristow (Clerk).
Item 06/22-04 Police Matters
No representatives from the Local Neighbourhood Policing Team were present, but the Chair highlighted that he was made aware of 2 road traffic accidents on the A1031 since the last meeting.
Item 06/22-05 Declarations of Pecuniary Interest from members in accordance with Localism Act 2011
None.
Item 06/22-06 Approval of Draft Minutes
• PC Annual Meeting held on 19 May 2022
• PC Monthly meeting held on 26 May 2022
Both minutes were approved by Cllr B Lister and seconded by Cllr N Barker; they were signed by the Chairman.
Item 06/22-07 Check of Draft Minutes Annual Parish Meeting held 19 May 2022.
Amendments noted and Chair to issue to the Clerk
Item 06/22-08 District and County Councillor Reports
Cllr S Harrison – There was a DWP Pension credit drive at present to support people in the claims process as it had been identified that a large number of people may not be receiving their entitlement and people were struggling with the process. Anyone who is on Pension Credit should go to the Mablethorpe Hub to get advice and help with the claims process.
The Chair added that Mablethorpe Coastal Community Centre is also a resource for help people and it provides computers and free internet access to anyone who needs it 5 days a week from 9am to 2pm. Cllr N Sear clarified that the Coastal Centre is the old Library on Victoria Road.
Cllr N Sear – Overview given on the recent meeting with Highways and Parish Chair identifying all footpath and road issues and speeding issue down Mill Lane. Grit bins had now been located and old ones will be removed, Post box on Mill Lane will have ground stones added, the junction at A1031/Stain Lane/ Kent Avenue is not on the County’s high risk register and is therefore not a priority in the plan at this time. The footpath from Station Road to St Helen Church is not owned by County. The Chair added that the County did not support the Council’s road safety plan for the installation of fixed gates which would protrude into the highway to create a physical slow down chicane mechanism on the road, with one reason being that some agricultural vehicles can be up to 4.5m wide and therefore wouldn’t be able to access fields. The County did support the installation of fixed gates at the side of the highway to create a visual focal point for drivers that they were entering a residential area and need to slowdown. Awaiting further information.
Cllr D McNally – The Medical return/recycle amnesty program had been a success and it has been rolled out to all hospitals in the area providing a network of areas now where you can return older or unused medical equipment (such as Zimmer frames, crutches etc) to be recycled to help others that may need them.
Item 06/22-09 Chairman’s Report
The chairman discussed a change to the evening’s agenda to review new policies at the end of the meeting, and following that a short-closed meeting of councillors will take place.
The chair had received a concerned call with regard to St Helen’s Church Cemetery and an injury, but working with the Church Wardens has now identified a way forward to resolve this issue.
Other discussion points will be covered in the agenda tonight.
Closed meeting resolution (at the end of the meeting) reported here for transparency –
• To form a personnel committee consisting of Cllr D Sear, Cllr C Lister, Cllr B Lister, Cllr G Foister
Resolution – Supported
• Standing orders and Policy on Code of Conduct
Resolution – Reviewed and Supported
• Policy on Financial Management
Resolution – Supported with amendments to be issued to Clerk and checked against guidance to ensure acceptability.
Item 06/22-10 Clerks Report
The Clerk’s report was read out by the Chair, which covered Grit bin relocation success, waste ground on Silver Street, inability to reach Lincolnshire Bid regarding grants for village beautification, Councillor training in autumn, recent Clerk training undertaken and VAT reclamation, polite request that some councillor communications should be raised at PC meeting and not to the Clerk directly (future emails will be an agenda item going forward).
The chair added a discussion on the Dementia survey information sent out by the Clerk, but was concerned how the PC would be able to help and that the case studies were very limited in what they could achieve. All ideas are welcome for consideration.
Item 06/22-11 Parish Councillor Matters to be Raised
To support the restart of regular liaison meetings between the 3 parish councils and Natural England regarding the management of the Dunes Areas including accessible footpaths that provide a good experience and link it up to the Coastal Pathway initiative.
Item 06/22-12 Financial Matters
Chairman presented councillors with a new design budget heads sheet for review of the current financial position and explained the information and how it works following the Internal Auditor recommendation for change. The Chair noted that a previous reconciliation statement would still be needed at least once a quarter for PC reconciliation audits to be carried out.
The following expenditure were supported:
Clerk’s overtime payment (16hrs May) £167.04 Clerk’s Salary (June) £150.32
Clerk’s HMRC £70.60 Clerk’s Mileage allowance £21.15 – added on evening
Approved Cllr G Foister, Seconded Cllr J Sheppard
The previously tabled motion to support expenditure of £132 for webhosting (every 2 years) and an annual payment of £59.98 for councillors to have a separate .gov.uk email address and alternative options was discussed.
It was resolved to support the expenditure.
The Chair stated that some progress had been made with National Savings and Insurance Account with a document request to be signed by the Council’s signatories to enable access to this account.
Item 06/22-13 COVID Community Recovery
The Chair gave an overview of the Jubilee weekend activities and thanked everyone involved in hosting events over the full 3 days.
Cllr N Sear thanked the Parish Council and the Charity of Elizabeth Rook for providing financial support of up to £2500 for the events.
The Chair then asked if councillors wished to remove this item from future agendas as the residents’ association and the village hall committee are all up and running with events planned throughout the year. This was supported.
Item 06/22-14 Planning Matters:
Noted:
Application N/180/00736/22 Determination of The Bungalow (Saltfleet Road) was not required.
New applications
Application N/180/01096/22 Planning Permission - Erection of a menage - The Grange, Mablethorpe Road LN12 1NN
Resolved - Supported
Item 06/22-15 Highways / Footpaths / Lighting Matters
Discussion on responsibilities of tree cutting and impact on highways and electrical cables, following concern over recent months and the number of dying or large top-heavy trees in the Parish.
It is believed that Trees impinging electrical cables should be reported to Northern Power, land owners with trees that could impact Highways / restricting footpaths paths etc are the land owner’s responsibility to maintain (and according to previous Highways discussions) this includes the Dykes in front of their land.
Item 06/22-16 Road Safety
Data discussed on location 8 St Helens Church – returned only 1% speeding above 40mph.
The radar is now located at location 7 as you approach the village at the turn off to Sea Lane and Brickyard Lane (equestrian used area).
Item 06/22-17 Parish on-going issues and general maintenance
Litter Club – Further rubbish collected and disposed of. Chair suggested that due to the long grass it making it difficult to collect and a concerted effort in September especially along the A1031 post-school summer holidays be undertaken.
Gas Terminal Future Use- no further updated from Harbour Energy regarding C02 offshore carbon capture
In June the GDF working group resolved to progress to Community Partnership. Applications to be considered for positions on the CP had been on the Working Together website since last week. The PC will receive a copy of the CP agreement and a review process of the document will be set up soon. NWS would like to meet the PC to address any concerns.
Item 06/22-18 Reports from Outside Bodies
LCC County Views Spring 2022 Report forwarded to all councillors.
Item 06/22-19 Parish Correspondence (Parish Post / Website / other correspondences)
Query from Lincs Rural Housing Association on overgrown land silver street.
AGAR and statutory publication and rights is on the Website.
Item 06/22-20 Next Parish Council Meeting
July’s Parish Council meeting will be on 28 July. There will be no Parish Council meeting in August and councillors to bring diaries to the July meeting to set dates for the reminder of the 2022/23.
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 20:50 hrs.