2024-25 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a meeting of Cowbit Parish Council held on Monday the 11th of November commencing at 7:30pm in Cowbit Village Hall, Barrier Bank, Cowbit.  

Present
Parish Cllrs:    T Tyrrell (Chair), J Barnes and C Elliott
DIstrict Cllrs:    A Woolf, T Sneath and A Casson
Clerk/RFO:    A Harrison
3 parishioners

54.    Chairman’s welcome and Public Forum.

A lady asked about the welcome gates.
The Chair replied to state that there had been a lot of positive comments regarding them and CE confirmed that he had had the same.
There is a plan in place to paint them provided the paint will adhere to the surface.
There will be speed limit signs attached to them and the PC would like to plant flowers around them.
The initial idea was to keep them plain so that the speed signs will stand out.

55.    To formally co-opt Mr Mark Noyce onto the Parish Council.

Unfortunately Mr Noyce had been called away for work, so was unable to attend the meeting.
It was agreed that he would be co-opted at the next Council meeting.
a.    Declaration of Acceptance of Office to be signed by Mr Noyce and witnessed by the Clerk.
This will be undertaken at the January meeting, as explained above.

56.    To receive and approve apologies for absence.
Apologies have been received from Eric Fragale, Peter Simpson and Daniel Sandhu.
It was resolved to approve these apologies and the Clerk confirmed that the meeting was quorate with 3 members being present.

57.    To receive Declarations of Interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and to consider any requests for dispensations.
There were none.

58.    Minutes of the September meeting to be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.
It was proposed by JB and seconded by CE that the Minutes be signed by the Chair as a true record. 

59.    Matters arising from the Minutes, (not covered on this agenda).
There were none.

60.    To receive the Clerk’s Report on matters outstanding (formerly the Village Action Plan).
Parish Council Notice Board
Budgeted a maximum spend of £1,000 in 2025/26 for a new notice board.
Members would prefer a free standing, dual-sided board – one side for notices and the other for the information map.
Action: Clerk to look at options

Outdoor Gym Equipment (Grant money from the Village Hall)
Still awaiting information from DS.

Memorial Bench
Clerk has contacted Mrs Whale, but is awaiting details of the exact location so that permission can be requested from the landowner.

Wild Flowers
JB stated that during a telephone conversation with Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust she was told that the wildflowers have to be in keeping with the flowers growing naturally in the area.
The Chair thought that the email from LWT was overcomplicating the matter.
The PC will request that SHDC leave a strip from Drain Bank to the lay-by next year.  
Action: Clerk

Village Information Boards
Mr Stamp was working on the boards and has requested Mr Simpson’s email address to pass on all the artwork.
Action: Clerk

Electricity Costs, Pavilion
CE has spoken with Cowbit Football Club and they expect to receive an invoice.
The Chair requested that DS be asked to setup a meeting within the next 2 weeks, with members of the PC and both football clubs to discuss the electricity charges.
Action: Clerk

BSH Parish Council Engagement Session
This will be held via Teams on Friday the 23rd of January 2025.
It was resolved that CE would attend on behalf of the PC.
Action: Clerk to send details to CE

Defibrillators
A new defibrillator has been installed on the Village Hall and is registered on the Circuit.
The old defibrillator has been retained and the PC would like gift it to a community group in the village.
Another defibrillator has been purchased through London Hearts, (match funded).  This will be placed by The Station House, with thanks to PS for agreeing to meet the electricity costs.
The Clerk will register this one as soon as it has been installed.
CE advised that the defibrillator on the Pavillion, (owned and maintained by SUFC), is back in operation after being used recently.
Cllr Sneath suggested that the PC look at positioning a road sign on Barrier Bank pointing to where the defibrillator is located, as it is not visible from the road.
Action: Members to look at signage
The Clerk showed an image of signs that have been put up next to the defibrillators in Crowland, which give instructions and their exact location using what3words.
Action: Clerk to find out costs for Cowbit PC

61.    Police matters and to receive the online Police report.

Details of 10 crimes in September, in 3 locations within Cowbit from the Police website, had been circulated prior to the meeting.  
The report was received and the Chair expressed his dismay that there had been so many crimes committed.
It was raised and understood however, that where 3 crimes were recorded in one location, this may have stemmed from the same incident.

62.    Highways matters and to receive the CSW report.
There were no Highways matters to discuss.

A report from the Community Speed Watch team had been compiled by the Clerk, from emails received from their co-ordinator, Mr Green.
The highest speeds recorded were 51 in a 40mph zone and 45 in a 30mph zone.
Details of vehicles exceeding the speed limit are sent to Lincoln.
In one of his emails, Mr Green requested that the following be recorded in the meeting Minutes: -

‘Whilst reporting I would like my next point mentioned and mentioned in the minutes of your meeting.
When we carry out a session adjacent to Ashtree Tree Drive off Barrier Bank we seem to attract the attention of a local person, male who lives nearby in Dun Cow Close, when he pulls out of the development in his car we always receive a vile hand sign followed by one or two choice words, we have put up with this nitwit for too long & following my recent email to Dave Mitchelle at Lincoln he has passed me a direct email link to one of the local Police Sergeants who hopefully will be speaking to this person as and when he next pops his head out of his hole!’

The Chair complimented the CSW team for doing a great job, as testament, at their last session, they checked the speeds of 34 vehicles and none were exceeding the speed limit!

63.    Financial matters: -

a.    To agree the Budget for 2025/26 as per the RFO’s report.
A comprehensive spreadsheet had been compiled and circulated prior to the meeting.
The spreadsheet captured all expenditure since April, along with forecast expenditure from November to April 2025.
Spending for the coming year was discussed at a working party meeting with members prior to this meeting, and also included predicted income.
The spreadsheet showed that a budget of £23,050 will be required to meet expenditure for 2025/26.
With an expected income of £3,050 the PC will need to Precept £20,000 to cover the expenditure.
The budget for 2025/26 was moved by CE and seconded by JB and it was agreed that the Precept for the ensuing year would remain at £20,000.

b.    To formally approve an increase in the Clerk’s hours.
The Chair proposed that the Clerk’s hours be increased from 5 to 8 per week, due to an increase in workload. 
This was seconded by JB and members agreed that this should be effective from the 1st of November 2024 to coincide with the Public Sector increase of 2.5%

c.    To receive a Summary report and Bank Reconciliations.

Bank Reconciliations for September and October had been prepared and circulated prior to the meeting.
The Chair signed them.

The Summary Report was received and members expressed that they found it easy to read.

d.    To approve outstanding payments as per the list provided.

It was proposed by CE seconded by TT and resolved that the payments totalling £2746.99 be approved. (As listed below).

64.    Planning matters.
At the time of the meeting, there were no new applications to be considered.

65.    Playing Field Usage.
a.    To receive an update regarding Cowbit football’s field usage.

CE explained that Caroline, part of the Cowbit Football Club had complained to him about the state of the pavilion following usage by SUFC.

The Chair requested that DS be chased for an update.
Action: Clerk

b.    To receive an update regarding the proposed new play equipment.

The Chair requested that the Clerk chase DS for an update as the grant money needs to be spent by the end of this year.
Action: Clerk
The Chair added that additional trees will be planted from the 18th of November.

The gates are in need of refurbishment/replacement and the PC are currently requesting quotes.
JB asked whether the District council owned garages on Parkin Road were going to be pulled down for additional parking.  She believed that some were empty, but when she requested one, she was told there were none available.
The District Councillors in attendance, stated that they had no knowledge of the garages being removed and explained that some residents rent the garages but don’t necessarily attend them regularly.

66.    Items to be included on the agenda for the next meeting. 
There were none.

67.    To confirm the date of the next meeting, provisionally set for the 13th of January 2025. 
It was confirmed that the next meeting will be held on the 13th of January 2025.

As this was the last meeting of 2024, the Chairman took the opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Meeting ended at 20:26