June 2022 Minutes
Great Hale Parish Council
Notes taken at Parish Council Meeting held on
Monday, 6th June 2022 at Hale Magna Village Hall
Present: Councillor N Turner (Chairman)
Councillor G Cooke
Councillor M Barnatt
Councillor A Broom
Councillor J Cope
Councillor L Mountain
Apologies Councillor N Dady
In attendance: County Councillor A Key (Lincolnshire County Council)
District Councillor S Tarry (North Kesteven District Council)
Councillor S Ogden (North Kesteven District Council)
Mrs Tracy Cooke – (Parish Clerk)
Public Forum
Public Forum.
The Public Forum Opened at 6.30 pm.
The chairman welcomed the public to the 15 minute Public Forum
Two members of the public present.
A member of the Public gave information regarding the running cost of the Public Access Defibrillator stating that the defibrillator had been accessed 4 times over the year and was used twice. Each time the Defibrillator is used it cost £125 to replace the pads, which has been funded to date by donations from residents of Great Hale and requested if the Parish Council could help with future funding.
Chair said that it was on the agenda and would be discussed later in the meeting.
The other member said that he had had no reply from Network Rail yet.
Cllr Key said that this Member of the Public had sought funding for solar panels for the village hall from the Renewable Energy Plant at Kirkby la Thorpe and had been successful in obtaining a grant of £5000 towards the total cost. Cllr Key wished to celebrate this achievement and the work that member of the public had put in to obtain this grant.
The Public forum closed at 6.35pm
The Chairman opened the meeting at 18:35hrs.
Official Business of the Council
1 Apologies (22/45)
Council accepted apologies from Councillor Dady for their non-attendance.
2 Previous meeting held on 9 May 2022 (22/46)
It was unanimously agreed that the draft minutes from the meeting held on 9 May 2022 were a true record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.
3. Clerk’s Report (22/47)
1. Contacted Time Assured re Church Clock – email circulated to Councillors 12/5
2. Phone call on PC mobile from a lady re brambles back of Magna Close and Queens Road. Photographs taken and Fix my Street request made 12/5
3. Met with Cllr Broom 12/5 re siting of bench on corner of Little Hale Road / Church Street
4. Letter written and delivered to Nick Needham
5. Letters of acceptance and declaration of interests for Cllr Barnatt scanned and sent to NKDC
6. Declaration of interest for Cllr Cope scanned and sent to NKDC
7. Smiths of Derby contacted re Church clock. They will get back to me after 13th June as company is currently closed.
8. Emails with Gallaghers inc new amount of assets. Cover is now £930.39 (from £862.02)
4 To receive declarations of interests (22/48)
Cllr Cooke made a declaration of interests on Item 7
Cllr Cope made a declaration of interest on Item 6.3
5 To receive reports from County and District councillors (22/49)
Cllr Tarry said that they were no longer in purdah and were therefore able to speak more freely. She shared that North Kesteven and other Councils within Lincolnshire have been working with ‘Yes Energy Solutions’ who were offering grants for both homeowners and those in rented accommodation to improve their homes for:
External wall insulation, Loft insulation, Cavity wall insulation, Underfloor insultation, Solar panels (PV), Air source heat pump, High heat retention electric storage heaters.
Cllr Tarry was to send details of the scheme to the Clerk, who would create a ‘poster’ to display on the notice board, advertise on social media and to put onto the website.
Action: Clerk to create poster, print for the noticeboards, advertise on Social media and upload information to the website
Cllr Key paid tribute to the organisers from Great Hale for all the Jubilee events from events in the Church, the band and the Village Hall amongst others. He wished to recognise the hard work that had gone into creating memorable Jubilee celebrations.
Cllr Key said that he had judged the best decorated house, with the winner in Magna Close.
He stated that the Annual Meeting of the County Council was on 20th May 2022, which, unfortunately, he could not attend due to illness. Some information from the meeting included:
Pot holes – 45,000 pot holes filled in Lincolnshire – 1 every 11.6 minutes. Money is not from Government which is why there is a 2% rise on Council tax. To further increase revenue, money was also taken from reserves to continue with this work.
Cllr Key said that he continues to push for money for our area and discussed the positive effects of the new Holdingham roundabout and the Lincoln bypass. Cllr Broom mentioned that overhead signs for lanes would be useful.
Cllr Key left at 18.50hrs
Cllrs Tarry & Ogden left 18:52 hrs
6 Planning Applications (22/50)
(6.1) Planning Application Reference: 22/0581/ADV Proposal: Erection of illuminated sign displaying business name (Revision of 21/1783/ADV - Erection of illuminated sign displaying business name (retrospective)) Location: Abbey Parks Farm Shop Boston Road East Heckington Sleaford Boston – This has been Approved. No further discussion.
(6.2) Application Reference: 22/0428/HOUS Proposal: Single storey extension to the southern (side) elevation of 26a Grove Street. Location: 26A Grove Street Great Hale Sleaford. This has been Approved. No further discussion.
(6.3) Application Reference: 22/0521/VARCON Proposal: Application to vary conditions 2 (materials) and 6 (approved plans) attached to planning permission 21/1874/FUL - Proposed replacement dwelling Location: Crow Lane Farm Crow Lane Great Hale This has been Approved. No further discussion.
7 Finance matters (22/51)
(7.1) To approve the May 2022 bank reconciliation and spend to date.
(7.2) To approve accounts for payment (22/52)
It was unanimously resolved to approve the accounts for payment.
(8) Highway matters for discussion and resolution (22/53)
(8.1) Bench siting: 41728212413. – to continue with this plan, the forms must be completed and returned to Highways at LCC.
Action: Councillors and Clerk to complete forms to submit.
9 Orchard Green
9.1 Inspections (22/54): Weekly inspection completed with satisfaction, and all was in order. Cllr Cooke said that it was tidy, with a small amount of litter. He had found a hole in the ground at the noticeboard entrance to the park and had sent information to Cllr Turner. Needs some pea gravel to fill the hole.
Action: Next month’s inspections – Cllr Mountain
9.2 Annual Playground Inspection (22/55)
An accompanied inspection was undertaken on 11th May 2022 by Jim Hayes of Wicksteed and Cllr Broom.
Cllr Broom recommended an accompanied visit every year to answer small queries by Wicksteed instantly.
Cllr Broom replaced bird spikes with upward cable ties, strimmed and fixed a bolt.
Goal posts – recommendation that it was secured.
Wicksteed were complimentary about repairs and fencing.
Height of zip wire – needs adjusting. Komplan coming out to adjust free of charge.
10 Other matters
(10.1) St John the Baptist Church Clock (22/56)
Action: Clerk to write to Churchwarden to establish ownership of the Clock
(10.2) Insurance Renewal for Great Hale Parish Council (22/57)
Discussed. Authority to renew
(10.3) Costing of repair materials for bench Church St / High St corner (22/58)
Cllr Broom – repair of bench. Replace materials – 4-500 in wood.
Difficulty in removing of old bolts and old materials
Cllr Cope suggested renewing with recycled ‘plastic’ slats.
Action: Cllr Broom to investigate new slats through company near Scampton
(10.4) Positive thank you for village litter pickers(22/59)
It was discussed and unanimously agreed that the work of the Volunteer Litter Pickers was invaluable and greatly appreciated by the Parish Council. Many options of how to thank them were discussed. It was agreed that a letter of thanks to be written to the litter pickers and public recognition of their work through an article and photographs.
Action: Clerk to write thank you letter to litter pickers and find an opportunity to write a piece for village magazine
(10.5) Tender for the Jubilee Garden (22/60)
Chair wished to thank the Working Party who had cleared the elder and more of the area. Suggested to remove the rest of the foliage from that area. To include the clearing in the tender to be submitted. Cllr Cope suggested just 1 bench in the Jubilee area.
Trees for the area. To be considerate to neighbours. Chair – suggested Whitebeam and Silver Birch
Cllr Broom suggested to seek tenders for clearing the area and to gain their advice on the types of trees.
Suggested Contractors – Councillors to email Clerk as in Open session.
(10.6) The tidying of the Churchyard (22/61)
Working Party to tidy on Saturday 11th June at 9am
Action: To contact Churchwarden to inform her of date and time.
(10.7) Defibrillator (22/62)
Member of the Public requested that the Parish Council support the funding of the Pads and batteries for the Great Hale defibrillator in the Open Forum. It was established that the Defibrillator has been used 4 times in the past year (twice requested and twice fully) and that it was a hugely valuable asset for the villagers.
Councillors agreed in principle to support the funding subject to Grant application.
Clerk: Grant application to be sent to the Member of the Public and to be put back on to the next agenda.
Member of Public left at 19:36pm
11 Future agenda items (22/63)
(11.1) Cllr Broom – bench repair
(11.2) Fundraising – Cllr Broom Bicker Fen / Sleaford Renewable / Lincs Foundation
(11.3) Defibrillator
(11.4) Start time of meeting
(11.5) Overhanging Churchyard trees
12 Date and place of next meeting (22/64)
Monday 4th July 2022 @ 1830 hrs in Hale Magna Village Hall.
The Chairman thanked all for attending and closed the meeting at 19:45hrs