Minutes May 28th 2020
MINUTES OF THE LEGBOURNE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ONLINE (ZOOM) ON THURSDAY MAY 28th 2020
PRESENT Cllrs: M Chapman (Chairman), P Maw (Vice Chairman), A Hallifax, D. Harrison, C Stephenson; County Councillor S Parkin; the clerk A Claydon.
16 / 2020 CHAIRMAN’S REMARKS – The Chairman welcomed everybody to the meeting.
17 / 2020 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Cllr S Cole; district councillor A Grist
18 / 2020 MINUTES – the notes of the meeting on 4th May 2020 were considered and it was RESOLVED to adopt them as minutes of that meeting. (pCS sAH)
19 / 2020 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST. No changes were received or declarations made
20 / 2020 CLERK’S REPORT – the clerk had been in touch with the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum regarding the lack of requests for assistance emanating from the CVC and had been reassured that they were not waiting for any information; it was purely that there was insufficient demand for assistance to warrant utilising the group’s services. The position across the county was mixed and while there were areas of material community activity it appeared that most of the volunteer groups in those villages and towns were well established before the CV19 outbreak.
It was noted that the planning application for development of housing adjacent to Boothby House had been refused by ELDC due to the potential impact on open countryside.
21 / 2020 PLANNING APPLICATIONS: None received
22 / 2020 STATEMENT OF LOCAL PLANNING PRINCIPLES / CONSIDERATIONS. A discussion took place regarding ELDC’s policy of restricting development in coastal areas and how this effectively meant the NPPF housing quota had to be fulfilled through inland sites. The Chairman had looked at NPPF and local plan policies and felt that some 80% of these were not relevant in Legbourne. Thus the aim of linking the SoPP to the wider policy framework was possibly more achievable than first appeared to be the case. Mention was made of Councillor Cole’s work in cross referencing ELDC’s local plan to the recent Boothby House application, which is a good basis for further work.
23 / 2020 SPEED LIMIT WESTERN END OF STATION ROAD (A157). LCC had consulted on introducing a 40mph zone on the approach to the village (currently 60mph). Councillors were fully supportive of the idea and were also keen to see a similar 40mph “transition” zone at the eastern end of the village. It was RESOLVED:
a. To support the proposed 40mph speed limit at the western end of Legbourne (pAH sPM); and
b. To raise the issue of a 40mph zone at the Easter end of Legbourne with LCC Highways, copying in the ward councillor. (pDH s CS)
24 / 2020 PARISH ISSUES -
a. Street Lighting – none reported.
b. Highway matters – The LCC portfolio holder had emailed LCC members with details of “Community Highways schemes”, which were intended to facilitate a focus on sections of highway with wide ranging problems, rather than dealing with these separately. LCC are looking at establishing flexible local teams able to deal with numerous issues at the same time. The effectiveness of such an approach depends upon the accuracy and completeness of data received by LCC and LCC councillor Parkin expressed concern about the information held on Fix My Street. Parish Councillors agreed to each collect data about highway faults in the sections of the village used for leaflet distribution and send this (including photos where appropriate) to the clerk.
c. Parishioners’ issues –Reports of a Quad Bike being ridden along Mill Lane had been received, expressing concern as to whether the vehicle was roadworthy / licensed /insured and the rider of age; and also regarding the increased pedestrian usage of Mill Lane since Lockdown. A request was made to mention this issue in the newsletter insert but there was no June edition. It was suggested that the clerk email a copy of the insert for printing and posting on the noticeboard.
25 / 2020 FINANCIAL MATTERS
a. Insurance arrangements. The clerk had contacted five insurance providers and had received responses from all of them. A spreadsheet was circulated showing the range of cover and comparative cost. The lowest price had been received from CAS Ltd, an offshoot of Community Action (Suffolk) with professional support from Suffolk County Council, having over 500 clients extending beyond the county boundary. The cover provided was comparable to that given by the current insurer and the price over £80 cheaper than the next lowest quote as well as being £30 lower than the available budget. It was RESOLVED to use CAS Ltd for the Council’s 2020/21 insurances, on single year terms, at a cost of £369.60. (pDH sCS)
b. Accounts to be paid/authorised: It was RESOLVED to pay the following items (pDH sCS)
Clerk’s salary & expenses April 2020 including paper
HMRC – income tax deducted - £21.00
CAS Ltd – 2020/21 insurances - £369.60.
c. Accounts Risk Assessment. It was RESOLVED to approve the risk assessment (pDH sAH)
d. 2019/20 accounts – the clerk had completed the annual return figures. It was RESOLVED to agree these figures and to seek exemption from external audit arrangements. (pDH sSC)
26 / 2020 CORRESPONDENCE – this was noted.
27 / 2020 COUNCILLORS REPORTS. Councillor Hallifax mentioned the volume of items and the lateness of some supporting information and asked for earlier distribution for subsequent meetings..
28 / 2020 AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: internal audit; internal control statement; revisit of project suggestions
29 / 2020 NEXT MEETING – Monday 22nd June 2020 at 7.30PM , ONLINE
The meeting closed at 8.22 pm
Clerk: Chair:
Date: Date: