Minutes

Meeting of Greatford Parish Council on Monday 27th July 2020 at 8pm via zoom, following guidance for safe practice during the Covid19 pandemic.

Present

Parish Councillors Jon Workman (Chair) JW, Phil Britton (Vice chair) PB, David Anderson (Finance) DA, and Gemma Taylor GT. Councillor Rosemary Trollope-Bellew RTB, Helen Britton (Clerk) HB. Dani Wheeler DW, Chris Granville-White CGW, Bob French BF, Nigel Ashby NA , Elizabeth Ashby, Kerry Hockham, Jeremy Hockham, Lorraine Bunning, Paul Doust.

Agenda

20/21 - 1 Apologies for absence

From Parish Councillor Ibis Channell

20/21 - 2 Approval of Minutes from 24.3.20 (held via email)

Proposed by Cllr David Anderson

Seconded by Cllr Phil Britton

20/21 - 3 Finance update

DA said that we started the year with £7006 in the current account which was £644 higher than forecast. We have received £3600 in precept as requested, £118 in VAT refund claim and £453 for the Community litter grant courtesy of Bob French.This money will go towards paying for the Playing Field development.

We have paid out £1119 . This included the regular costs of grass cutting (playing field and churchyard), the clerk's fees and also £428 for the play equipment inspection, which was £278 higher than forecast due to the COVID19 lockdown, which had delayed everything, and the inspection was required for summer usage. We have also paid the late bill for the village hall hire. The closing current account balance was £10058 which overall was in line with expectations.We also have £785 in the business account.

There were no questions.

20/21 - 4 Reports of an overhanging tree near phonebox

DA reported that this had been raised to him by Lois Webb about an overhanging tree reported to her by a villager. There was some uncertainty about which tree and therefore who is responsible.

Action: David to speak with the villager concerned.

20/21 - 5 Planning matters (including Anglian Water pipeline)

HB reported that there had been no planning applications of note to the village via the Weekly Planning List.

The following email received by the clerk on 20.7.20 from Anglian Water Strategic Pipelines, was read out. It stated that they will “ be able to provide more information about the planned location of the pipeline, and dates, once we have completed our engagement with landowners.

In terms of surveys, we may conduct several types of surveys covering different aspects of ecology, archaeology, landscape, agricultural issues and ground investigation. Some surveys are subject to specific seasonal constraints or may be sequenced, so our survey programme overall may last from this summer, through the autumn, winter and spring to summer next year. Not all surveys will be applied to the entire route.

Most surveys will be carried out by pairs or small groups of staff, on foot, using hand-held equipment. Traffic would be limited to personnel transport to the nearest safe parking location to each survey area. Any exceptions to this would be discussed with the relevant landowners in advance. All staff engaged in surveys will carry identification, including a letter of authority from Anglian Water and we will continue to follow government and public health guidance on working during the pandemic. “ There were no questions.

20/21 - 6 Fibre to the property progress update

PB reported that 20 households had expressed interest in FTTP and that the individual household’s next step is to complete a form to register. JW raised the point that having fast FTTP may increase house sale values.

20/21 - 7 Storing church pews

This item was raised by CGW. NA explained how five church pews are currently temporarily stored at Manor Farm. The Village Hall house one other pew. They have rotten parts and have no monetary value. CGW expressed that it would be good to keep or use them in the village in some way. Following a brief discussion, there was an idea to use the pews to create one ‘good one’ for the Village Hall.

Action: NA to liaise with the clerk about this.

20/21 - 8 Interactive speed sign

GT wanted to confirm whether this is still in place and up-and-running. It is near the church bridge at present and it is working.

20/21 - 9 Litter picking

BF mentioned the annual Great British Clean, 11th-27th September ‘20 and that it would be a good time for the village to attend to any upkeep and litter-picking. There was discussion about painting the railings belonging to Greatford Hall. A date for a village litter-picking session was agreed; Saturday 12th September at 10:30am meeting at the VH.

Action: Clerk to put litter-picking date into Towers & Spires; DA to speak with

Greatford Hall regarding the railings.

20/21 - 10 Flood warden report

CGW gave a resume of the conditions of the watercourses in the village. With the mostly dry weather in recent weeks the river level is very low, with just 5cms depth at the Shillingthorpe gauge on the link. Following the excellent cutting work during May by George Bremner’s farm team, the watercourse around Greatford Gardens is in very good shape.

There has been the inevitable summer growth of vegetation along the sides of the watercourse which will need to be cleared before the autumn by property owners or volunteers, but this is not of concern at present.

JW thanked CGW on behalf of the village for his work as flood warden.

Action: Chris will lead on necessary clearing in the early autumn.

20/21 - 11 Playing field play equipment inspection

DW oversaw the annual inspection and had previously sent out the full report to the parish councillors. There were several low risk items which will require monitoring. Only one item carries a moderate risk and therefore requires immediate action - the frame supporting the monkey bars has some rot and the inspection reported that it may not take the weight of a heavy person playing on it. BF offered to help with repairs. There was a discussion about the fact that the equipment is over 20 years old and that there ought to be a rolling-programme of repair and replacement, with consideration of applying for a grant next year to cover this. The Clerk asked about the need for a play equipment risk assessment but was advised by Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew that an up-to-date inspection and minuted actions would suffice. DW raised the need for a sign for visitors with contact details for the person responsible for the play area.

Action: Interested parties, including parish councillors, to meet 1st August to look at the moderate risk item and plan response.

The Clerk to post a sign next to the play-area with contact details.

20/21 - 12 Playing fields project progress update

DA thanked NA, Amanda Jenkins and Peter Fiddler for help with the grant application, Mathew Davey for the Community Wildlife Grant of £500 and Barry Baker for knocking out the dents to the slide.The application has been successful with grants of £500 from Lincolnshire, £350 from Cllr Trollope-Bellew and £100 from Cllr Cooke. This money will pay for a small heritage orchard, an information lectern, under-planting and new seating. DA suggested that villagers might be asked to sponsor a tree or bench, or towards these items. DA has mapped a plan for purchasing, clearing, tidying, planting, and installing, which is due to begin in August through to Spring ‘21 when it would be the right time to instal the seating.

Action: Ongoing, in line with DAs plan.

20/21 - 13 Tallington bypass proposal

A villager kindly made the PC aware of this proposal and a recent meeting which had taken place. PB researched the proposal online. JW asked Cllr RTW to speak about this. There are hopes for a bridge and route around Tallington and that, at present, this is ‘an idea’.

Action: Continue to monitor.

20/21 - 14 Proposal regarding sponsoring new benches

DA spoke about this and will be liaising with GT about what will be communicated to villagers. DA felt that villagers would be invited to sponsor trees and benches but that these would not be memorial items with plaques of any kind. JW asked whether the lectern might denote the sponsors but DA felt that a general statement would be more appropriate. Elizabeth Ashby suggested a framed list of sponsors being displayed inside the Village Hall.

Action: DA and GT to email villagers about sponsorship.

20/21 - 15 Any Other Business

PB raised that the village hall roof over the area recently refurbished seems to be in a state which would suggest that it is not water-tight.

It was raised that the playing field hedge is in need of a cut. This usually happens in september so will be put onto the agenda of the next meeting which is on September 8th.

Action: Margaret Anderson will inform the Village Hall Committee about the roof.

The meeting closed at 9:30 pm