2022 Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of the meeting of Cowbit Parish Council held on Monday 14th March 2022, 7.30pm at the Cowbit Village Hall

Attendance. Cllrs Tyrrell, Elliott, Barnes and Sandhu.

District Cllr Casson, 5 members of the Public and the Parish Clerk.

1.Chairman’s welcome to the Annual Parish Meeting.

a. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, noting it had been 2 years since the last Annual Parish Meeting. The Chairman advised that due to reduced Council spend over the last 2 years, the Council had been able to contribute more to the Jubilee Celebrations. The Chairman opened the meeting to the public.

A resident raised concerns with the ongoing closure of Mill Drove, noting the additional miles to access their farm land equates to 112.5 miles approximately in agricultural machinery, the figure excludes journeys in car. The resident noted they had contacted LCC Highway as no work is being carried out, LCC Highways advised they would look into the matter and have yet to update the resident. The Council agreed to write to Cllr Pepper and the adjoining ward County Councillor for an update.

A resident raised concerns with the a dropped kerb along Stonegate. The Council agreed to write to LCC Highways and following their response, the property owners.

The Council thanked District Cllr Casson for arranging the removal of fly tipping. The Chairman noted he had spoken with District Cllr Woolf regarding the fly tipping on Drain Bank North, the Council discussed 4x4 vehicle use of the land, smashed gates and digging out the section and using the excess soil to form a bank. District Cllr Casson noted SHDC are in negotiations with an enforcement team to pursue prosecutions for the SHDC. 

Cllr Barnes advised she had heard from a number of residents regarding the opening hours of the tip and related cost. A resident commented regarding the ‘man with a van’ posts on social media, following this it was noted that it is the individuals responsibility to ensure their waste is deposed of correctly. 

General meeting of Cowbit Parish Council

Public Forum

None.

2. Apologies.

a. Apologies were received from Cllr Fragale, District Cllr Woolf and the Village Hall committee Chairman.

3. Declarations of interest.

a. None received.

4. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 17th January 2022 to be approved as the new minutes.

a. It was resolved to accept these notes as the minutes and the Chairman duly signed.

5. Matters arising from the minutes/admin matters.

a. None.

6. Police matters.

a. The Chairman noted the Parish has a new PCSO and read through the following report:

In terms of a police update for meetings, Lincolnshire Police have moved away from regular reports to Parish Councils. I’m told that you should have had a letter regarding this previously with a full explanation as to why this has happened. 

Unless you require an officer to discuss a specific topic, we now ask all Parish Councils to refer to the Police UK website which can be found here https://www.police.uk/  This site records all crimes, details of the policing team responsible for the area and our current priorities.

Quarterly Priority:

The priority set in January for the first quarter of 2022 was to Promote Positive Working with CSW Community Speed Watch. I have made contact with Ralph and hope that we can join up at a session in the future, he will let me know when one is arranged. If it’s not myself it will be a colleague who comes along. There is a month left for this priority to run, however once the next one has been set it, I hope that the joint working with CSW will continue.

Nextdoor.co.uk 

Would it be possible if people aren’t already signed up to nextdoor.co.uk to let them know about it? As police we share any relevant information to each area e.g rouge trader alert, missing person, news. You may remember Lincs Alert, it has replaced that system.

7. Cemetery matters.

a. Ongoing, to find suitable land.

8. Highways matters and CSW.

a. The Clerk advised no Highways reports had been received.

b. The Chairman read through the following report:

Results from our CSW session during February 22 :

22 cars/ vans checked on the 40mph section on Barrier Bank, 3  registrations forwarded on to Lincoln for driving in excess : 2 at 48mph 1 at 53mph

Ditto for Januarys Session on Barrier Bank on the 30mph section outside the village school

13 cars/ vans checked  3 registrations forwarded on to Lincoln for driving in excess:

2 at 39 mph and 1 at 47mph.

Due to holidays, inclement weather these numbers are down on our normal sessions.

A resident advised concerns with speeding in the village, especially along Backgate and Stonegate. He noted that the lack of speed repeater signs were not assisting the matter. The Council advised they were in possession of the passive signs and are hoping to install asap.

c. The Chairman updated the meeting, noting the welcome gates are ongoing, with the original company no longer responding to his contact he continues to look for an alternative.

d. Cllr Barnes updated the meeting, noting the she was waiting for LCC Highways to come back to her regarding the wildflower grass verges. The Council agreed for the Clerk to contact LCC Highways, asking them not to cut the A16 verges until the flowers had finished flowering and the bird have finished nesting. 

9. Bus Shelters.

a. The Council noted the application to LCC for the grant was progressing. It was noted that the proposed wooden bus shelters were guaranteed for 5 years against vandalism. 

10. Financial matters.

a. The financial report had been circulated, Cllr Elliott proposed and Cllr Sandhu seconded, it was resolved by all to accept the figures given.

Cllr Elliott noted that another three payments for use of the pavilion and playing field were expected shortly and the annual payments and works carried out by the team means that the majority of the upkeep was covered. 

11. Planning matters.

a. Planning application had been circulated and any comments made were listed on the SHDC portal.

12. Village Hall representative.

a. The Chairman read through the following report:

Like every other UK business or household Covid has been the main Focus of our attention over the last two years however 6 months ago we started re-opening up the hall back to the public and welcomed our regular hires again.

Not every group has re-started however we have also had new activities at the Village Hall including weekly Tiger Tots, Dog Training school and Clubberise.

Bingo also started back in October and pleased to report After a slow start numbers have built up and now above pre-Covid levels with many new Regulus.

Also very popular is tea @ 2, Once a month meeting open to anyone especially lonely and vulnerable.

We’ve also started to see parties returning at the weekends.

To recap on the work we’ve done at the hall in the last year, a new main hall floor, the kitchen and toilets walls painted , various repairs done and finished  the outside storage.

We have an outstanding insurance claim on some subsidence and waiting for some vegetation to be cleared before the work pairing to walls can begin.

We would also like to thank the Cowbit Parish council for supporting the cost of the broadband that has been installed at the hall and is free for groups and Clients, and hope to have many activities that are not possible including training courses and zoom meetings.

Next Monday 21st March at 7.30pm is our annual AGM where the new committee is elected as well as being responsible for the running and maintaining the Village Hall the committee is also Responsible for management of social media including the Village group Facebook page and we are planning a discussion and review of the rules after the AGM.

We have many plans for the coming year including replacing the front door, Taking our bank payments online and introducing a online payment and invoice system for Bookings.

13. Playing field/Pavilion representative.

a. Cllr Sandhu updated the meeting, noting the park had generally been quite which was expected given the time of year. Parking had been a concern but this was now resolved. Cllr Sandhu advised the Cowbit Litter Picking Group had completed a litter pick of the playing field, the Council thanked the Litter Picking Group.

b. Cllrs Elliot and Sandhu advised that the quote for the soft pour concerns raised on the RoSPA report had been received and circulated. The Chairman proposed and Cllr Elliott seconded, it was resolved to accept the quote. Cllrs Elliot and Sandhu noted they continued to look at other items raised on the report, and a community ‘working day’ was on the agenda. 

The Clerk advised an update on the bins had been requested, the Council asked Cllr Casson if he could chase on their behalf and if he would be able to contribute to the purchase. Cllr Casson confirmed he would chase an update and come back to Council regarding a contribution.

c. The Council agreed for the Clerk to arrange a meeting with the Sports Holiday Club Proposal team to discuss in more detail.

g. The Chairman updated the meeting regarding the Council’s involvement with the Queen’s Green Canopy. He noted the Council, with the assists of the local school children the Council has planted 7 native silver birch trees. 

14. Jubilee celebrations.

a. Cllr Elliott read through the following report:

We continue to meet once a month and welcomed new members to our meeting last week, The plans are now in the final stages and ready to start publicising the different activities.

Throughout the whole weekend will be the Cowbit scarecrow festival, Also a church flower festival 

Sat 4th June - 11 am will be the punt gun salute opposite the church.
Sat 4th June - 1am the main activities on the playing field will start this includes karate demonstrations, local dance groups and performances from the Cowbit School, design a crown competition for the school kids (To be judged at the school before hand)

•   We have hired a large marquee with lighting and dance floor 
•   professional master of ceremonies, who will be supported by festival lighting and sound equipment throughout the whole field. He will be making announcements throughout the day as to what events are going on and also running competitions and games
•   3pm we have an Adele tribute act on the main Trailer stage.
•   children’s activities planned throughout the afternoon.
•   Dog show is returning again this year, also Returning is the rock bus which proved very popular with the children
•   we will have our usual stalls holders and anyone interested it’s just £5 for the afternoon
•   We will also have trampolines and 2 Bouncy Castles
•   There will be a license bar open throughout the day and 2 food Trailers
•   Car show 
•   outside toilets booked
•   fireworks

Sat 4th June 6pm In the evening we have 2 bands

Arctic Roll and Molly’s Chambers finishing with fireworks at the end and a DJ set to close

On the Sunday 5th June the marquee and toilets will be available for the public to come and bring their own picnic and be encouraged to meet their neighbours.

The next meeting is Monday 28th March 7.30 at the Village Hall.

15. LALC.

a. The Council discussed and resolved to accept the LALC subscription 2022-23 at £370.05.

b. The Council discussed and resolved to accept the LALC Annual Training Scheme 2022-23 at £132.00.

15. Correspondence.

a. None.

16. Councillor’s reports, items not on the agenda and for Councillors to raise items for next meeting’s agenda. Councillors are requested to use this opportunity to report minor matters of information not included elsewhere on the agenda and to raise items for future agendas. Councillors are reminded that this is not an opportunity for debate or decision-making.

None.

17. Date of the next meeting.

a. Date of the next Parish Council meeting, the Annual Parish Council meeting,  9th May 2022, 7.30pm at Cowbit Village Hall. 

18. To resolve whether to move into closed session and exclude public, police and press (who will be required to leave the meeting at this stage), in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972), due to the confidential nature of business to be discussed in relation to the following matters: Should this resolution be passed, members of the public, press and police will be required to leave the meeting.

Meeting closed at 8.40pm