January 2022 Minutes
Minutes of the meeting of Cowbit Parish Council held on Monday 17th January 2022, 7.30pm at the Cowbit Village Hall
Attendance. Cllrs Tyrrell, Elliott, Fragale and Sandhu.
District Cllr Casson, County Cllr Pepper, 2 members of the Public and the Parish Clerk.
1. Chairman’s welcome.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Public Forum
Cllr Casson advised the base for the bin on Curlew Drive is in place and the bin is too be installed shortly.
A resident noted a fence along the A16 had been removed to gain access to Drain Bank North, Council advised the matter was now resolved.
2. Apologies.
a. Apologies were received from District Cllr Woolf.
3. Declarations of interest.
a. None received.
4. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 8th November 2021 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 Clerk advised no report had been received, the Council asked the Clerk to chase.
7. Cemetery matters.
a. Ongoing, to find land suitable.
8. Highways matters and CSW.
a. The Chairman updated on his recent meeting with LCC Highways, Cllr Pepper and Cllr Casson. Concerns were raised with Parking along Backgate and the number of vehicles using Mill Drove North given the current conditions. Parking concerns to be reported to SHDC.
b. The Chairman read through the following report:
Following a speed watch session on Stonegate Cowbit on 19th November starting at 3pm , finishing at 4pm we recorded 3 cars that exceeded the limit of 30mph.
43 Cars/ vans checked, 3 reported to Lincoln for excess speed, ranging from 37 to 39mph.
Following our session of last week on Friday 10th December on Barrier Bank at the junction with Ashtree Drive , starting at 2.45 until 3.45pm we checked 22 cars / vans and took the details of 8 which I reported to Lincoln for driving in access of the 40mph limit.
8 registration numbers were logged , speeds ranged from 48 up to 61mph, 2 of these driving through the adjacent 30 limit near the school at 60 & 50mph respectively.
One of the these cars which I know belongs to a local lady not far from where I live, with these facts in mind I will be speaking to our local PCSO in an attempt to encourage her colleagues to set up more police speed watches but also to ask her to join us as well.
c. The Chairman noted he had been in contact with several companies and had been advised the gates would need to be built in situ to take into account the bank.
d. No update was available for the Wild Flower grass verges.
9. Bus Shelters.
a. The Council discussed concerns with the ‘urban’ look of the chosen bus shelters, it was resolved by all to install a wooden bus shelter outside of the Church and apply for the LCC Bus Shelter Grant. Clerk to forward supplier details to all. After discussion it was resolved by all to remove the current bus shelter.
10. Financial matters.
a. The financial report had been circulated and it was resolved by all to accept the figures given.
b. The Bank reconciliation for the 3rd quarter had been circulated and it was resolved by all to accept the figures given.
c. The Budget report for the 3rd quarter had been circulated and it was resolved by all to accept the figures.
11. Planning matters.
a. Planning application had been circulated and any comments made were listed on the SHDC portal. Clerk to regularly review portal.
12. Village Hall representative.
a. The Chairman read through the following update:
Happy New Year to everybody sadly I cannot make it to the meeting tonight, But happy to give a brief report to the Parish Council, as you all would have noticed the hall is now reopened following 2 weeks of maintenance work. hopefully you can see a difference with the floor which has been stripped down and re-varnished and also all the walls and ceilings in the toilet, kitchen and storeroom have been refreshed including the solid internal doors.
We are still working with the insurance company to get a satisfactory outcome out of the subsidence and hope to report further at the next parish meeting.
The committee is looking to continue with improvements including replacing the front doors and other minor repairs required to keep the Hall attractive for people to hire whether it’s for weekly Activities or parties on the weekend.
We will also be holding our annual general meeting in March further details will be posted online.
13. Playing field/Pavilion representative.
a. Cllr Sandhu updated the meeting, noting the park had generally the park had been quite which was expected given the time of year. Parking had been a concern but this was now resolved. Cllr Elliott advised the fence around the Forest School area was now in place and a second football team would temporarily be using the field.
b. Cllr Elliot updated the meeting noting he continued working on resolving the concerns listed. Cllr Elliott noted he was awaiting the soft pour quote and was looking into the possibility of a community ‘workday’ to address some of the smaller concerns.
c. The Council discussed the Sports Holiday Club Proposal and asked the Clerk to enquire regarding attending March’s meeting for discussion and more details.
d. The Council discussed and agreed to temporarily lift the dog ban on Saturday 4th June and Sunday 5th June.
e. Cllr Sandhu advised he was awaiting 2 quotes from CCTV companies and there had been no further instances.
f. Moved to closed session.
g. The Council discussed the Queen’s Green Canopy and it was resolved by all to purchase trees, associated items, and a plaque to mark the area. Cllr Elliot advised he was in contact with the school and the school would be involved in the planting.
14. Jubilee celebrations.
a. The Chairman read through the following report:
Although we haven’t had a meeting since the end of November a lot of work has been done in the background. We have an article going in the next newsletter for February and public launch on 6th Feb, the date the Queen officially marked 70 years.
We have one of 2 bands confirmed for the evening, several stallholders and activities during the day including the rock bus we had last year and an Adele tribute act. Punt gun salute at 11am and activities on the playing field from 1 pm until fireworks late evening.
Have have asked the Parish council to allow dogs on the field and to have the dog show again.
It was agreed to send invoices to the Parish Council for the large purchases that included VAT so it can be reclaimed back, This included toilet hire, fireworks and marquee hire. Many of the other purchases will be from the social committee fund.
No next meeting is Monday 31st January 7:30pm and every last Monday of the month until Jun
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.
a. None.
17. Date of the next meeting.
a. Date of next meeting, 14th March 2022, 7.30pm at Cowbit Village Hall to include the APM.
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.
a. Council discussed initial steps to clarify situation.