2023 Parish Council Meeting Minutes

THEDDLETHORPE PARISH COUNCIL 

Minutes of the monthly meeting held on Thursday, 22 June 2023, opened at 19:46

Theddlethorpe Village Hall, Silver Street, Theddlethorpe All Saints. 

Chair: Cllr K Simpson

Vice Chair: Cllr N Barker

Parish Councillors present: Cllrs L White, R Aldrich, B Swift, A Spink, M Crookes, D Sear 

Also, present County Councillor: Cllr N Sear

District Councillor: Cllr T Hesketh

Parish Clerk: Mrs S Bristow

Public Forum 

No questions were received in advance. A parishioner asked about recording the meetings and was advised this was their legal right.

District and County Councillors’ Reports 

Cllr N Sear noted a Highways visit upcoming on 4th July and that she had forwarded the footpaths report prepared by Cllr Goodley. She asked that speed data the PC compile be sent to her LCC contact; Cllr Aldrich took this information for actioning. Crook Bank access issues were raised and Cllr Sear asked villagers to email complaints directly to her or via the Clerk. 

Cllr Hesketh noted he was concluding ELDC training and he was enjoying getting to know the ins and outs. He has a trip planned to Cumbria to meet with NWS. He’s noted already having met with ELDC Leader Cllr C Leyland and M Sacks and has been promised a meeting with LCC Leader Cllr M Hill. Noted fly tipping in Gayton.

Item 06/23-01   Chair’s Welcome 

The Chair welcomed 16 Parishioners to the Village Hall.

Item 06/23-02  Apologies and acceptance of absence

Apologies were accepted from Cllr S Goodley. District and County Cllr D McNally also sent apologies.

Item 06/23-03 Declarations of Pecuniary Interest from members in accordance with Localism Act 2011

None.

Item 06/23-04 To Resolve as Minutes the record of the Monthly and Annual meetings held on 11 May 2023 and the extraordinary meeting on 12 June 2023.

All sets of minutes were RESOLVED and signed.

Item 06/23-05 Chair’s Report

The Chair thanked all for their support and encouragement. She noted the PC continued to be under scrutiny.

Item 06/23-06 Clerk’s Report

The Clerk gave an oral report which concluded with a member of the public interjecting about a letter they’d written which was delayed in being responded to. The Clerk assured the person that their request would be on the July agenda, with her apologies for the delay.

Item 06/23-07 Parish Councillors’ Reports and Matters Arising

i) Parish noticeboard repair update: both boards have been refurbished my Cllr Crookes and the costs are detailed in Item 8 (ii)(4)

ii) Consideration of dates (proposed as Saturday 1 July 9-11am, Friday 7 July 1-3pm, Thursday 13 July 6-8pm, Monday 17 July 4-6pm, Saturday 22 July 1-3pm) and costs for Village Plan focus groups (£150): The council RESOLVED to hire the hall at the costs noted.

iii) Adoption of Policies: Data Breach, Data Protection, Equal Opportunities: The council RESOVLED to accept the three policies.

iv) Discussion of Neighbourhood Watch scheme: Cllr Swift is to organise the community for this effort.

v) Discussion of a Community Speed watch scheme: Tabled until July. At this point it was noted the busses of Grayscroft Coaches often speed through the village. It was RESOLVED to write a letter asking their management to remind drivers to obey the speed limits as posted.

vi) Nomination of one (1) councillor for the Elizabeth Rook Trust: Noting Cllr D Sear had applied outside of Council knowledge but had not yet been accepted, there are in fact two open seats for Councillors. Both Cllr Crookes and Cllr White will also apply, giving the Trust a choice of two from three. 

vii) Consideration of software for Clerk wage PAYE submission: it was RESOLVED that the Clerk would run her own payroll using HMRC Basic PAYE Tools.

viii) Publication of a Parish post type newsletter to introduce new council: RESOLVED to put this into motion.

Item 06/23-08 Financial Matters

i) Approval of 2022/23 AGAR for submission and publication: the AGAR was RESOLVED and dually signed on the night.

ii) Approval of June Payments: All RESOLVED

(1) Clerk’s June wages £205.92 and printing plan reimbursement £14.97, Total £220.89

(2) Bridget Knight Internal Audit £100

(3) T Taylor Grass Cutting total £300 (+ £100 additional invoice, total £400)

(4) M Crookes Noticeboard repairs total £161.03

(5) Village Hall hire for Focus Group dates £150

Item 06/23-09 Planning Matters

None

Item 06/23-10 Highways / Footpaths / Lighting Matters

None

Item 06/23-11 Parish on-going issues 

i) Litter Club: this topic will be devolved to the community and no longer appear on the Parish Council agendas

ii) Gas Terminal Future Use

(1) Update from communication with Simon Acklam, Community Partnership representative for Withern and Theddlethorpe electoral ward: He is happy to work together more closely and dates for a meeting will be considered at a later date.

(2) Discussion of meeting notes between the Chair, Vice-Chair, Cllr N Sear and Victoria Atkins, MP: notes of the meeting on 26 May were surmised and the Chair noted that there would always be two from our side whenever meetings of this nature took place. The Council’s feelings of concern were fed back and it was noted that Mrs Atkins told the Chair and Vice-Chair that a return to agriculture was unlikely and that the community may wish to decide on a more palatable option. A reply to Mrs Atkins’ concerns from National Gas was shared and the council RESOLVED to reply to that letter. Concerns were raised by members about the potential contamination in the soil and the Clerk was asked to obtain soil test costs.

Item 06/23-12 To confirm the date of the next Parish Council Meeting as 27 July 2023

Confirmed.

The meeting was closed at 20:45 to allow a natural break prior to continuing.

The meeting was re-opened at 20:57. 

Item 06/23-13 To receive written applications for the office of Parish Councillor and to co-opt a candidate to fill the existing vacancy

Two candidates, both of whose particulars were circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting, were given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the Council and Councillors were invited to ask one question of each candidate. At the conclusion of this process, the council moved to Item 14. 

Item 06/23-14 To resolve to exclude the public and media to discuss confidential items relating to individuals and confidential financial matters in accordance with The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960

A) To undertake a vote on the co-option candidates received in item 13

The meeting was closed at 21:20 to discuss the candidates and was re-opened at 21:25 for the vote to be undertaken. Mrs A Beet was the successful candidate and signed the declaration of office.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 21:30.