Minutes 11th January 2024
Halton Holegate with Halton Fenside Parish Council
Minutes of the full Council meeting held at Halton Holegate Methodist Chapel on Thursday 11th January 2023 commencing at 7pm. These are notes of the meeting until approved as a true and accurate record.
Present:
Cllrs D Sisson (Chair), C Holmes (Vice-Chair), S Andrew, C Edwards, and T Robson; District Cllr T Taylor and County Cllr W Bowkett.
Clerk - J Sargent.
There were four members of the public in attendance.
Public Session
Cllr Sisson welcomed all present and spoke briefly about the drop-in session held to discuss the recent floods in the parish and advised that the data received will help lobby other bodies to help find solutions.
Resident 1 commented on the aftermath of the recent floods and the meetings held. The resident advised that a member of the drainage board would be in contact but was yet to do so. Cllr Sisson offered to follow up the member of the drainage board.
The resident also asked to be reminded of the details of the grant available to flood victims. Cllr Bowkett offered to provide the details again and Cllr Sisson advised they were available in the Parish Council’s website.
Report from District Councillor T Taylor
District Cllr T Taylor circulated ELDC news updates via email and mentioned that the green bin applications need to be with ELDC by 18th February. Cllr Taylor mentioned the upcoming devolution consultations and that former District Council buildings were being turned into affordable housing.
Report from County Councillor W Bowkett
County Councillor W Bowkett submitted a written report which was distributed to Councillors via email. Cllr Bowkett also reported on the devolution consultation, with events being held in Skegness. Cllr Bowkett suggested that devolution could be a great opportunity for Greater Lincolnshire as it would bring more funding to the county. There is a flood resilience meeting being held at Bateman’s Brewery in Wainfleet on 9th February.
With no further matters, it was resolved to move into formal session.
Chairman’s Welcome
The Chairman welcomed all present, reminding attendees to turn off mobile phones and of escape routes towards emergency exits.
Apologies
None received.
Declarations of Interest
None received.
To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 9th November 2023.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes from November as a true and accurate record.
To confirm the minutes of the Extraordinary Council meeting held on Thursday 14th December 2023.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes from December as a true and accurate record.
Finances
To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for November.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration.
To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for November.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to update on the Council’s financial status.
To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for December.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration.
To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for December.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only.
To receive a budget review for the third quarter of the financial year.
The Clerk provided a budget review from the third quarter of the financial year, to keep Councillors updated on the allocation of Council’s income and expenditure, for information purposes only.
To confirm the precept request for 2024-25.
The Clerk advised the precept request was £4,750.00, which would be a 5% increase. For a band D property, this is an increase of £1.43 a year. It was resolved unanimously to confirm precept request. The Clerk to submit to ELDC.
To receive a report from:
The Chair.
Cllr Sisson circulated a report prior to the meeting via email; mentioned issues with the website and an upcoming staffing meeting with the Clerk.
Cllr Holmes requested to post Halton Holegate Ladies Tuesday Club Programme for 2024 on the Parish Council Website. Information to be forwarded to Cllr Edwards to update.
The Clerk.
The Clerk reported missing a training day through illness and hope to join another class in the spring as part of the CiLCA qualification. The Clerk listed correspondence distributed including the LALC newsletters, LALC membership and training subscriptions, ELDC’s Town and Parish newsletter, the Rural Services Network Bulletin and a Lincs Wolds AONB Questionnaire.
To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, withdrawals, or amendments.
Housing Development on Halton Road - 600 houses.
Cllr Sisson contacted Councillors in December for questions and concerns to be put to Gleesons in an upcoming meeting hosted by Spilsby Town Council. Three major concerns were raised: surface water run-off, sewerage, and the impact on the highways. Cllrs Sisson and Holmes to attend the meeting on behalf of the Parish Council.
To receive an update on highways, footpaths, and road closures.
To consider the problems with parking on Station Road.
No new updates. Cllr Bowkett advised that there was a wait for the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership to finish their assessment and issue the report.
Issues to be reported or already reported to fix my street.
Two footpaths were reported as closed due to flooding.
Village Flood Investigation.
To receive a Flood Report Update.
To receive a review of the Action Plan.
To receive an update on the consultation meeting.
To consider Emergency Plan updates.
The flood report was formally submitted to Lincolnshire County Council, East Lindsey District Council, the Drainage Board, and the Environment Agency. Amendments are need for the Emergency Plan to include other scenarios such as traffic or road incidents as well as issues with flooding. Councillors spoke of setting up a Facebook group to provide information only.
Cllr Edwards read out a reply from the MP Victoria Atkins regarding flooding. A copy to be included in the minutes folder. Cllr Holmes mentioned the potential difficulties in obtaining insurance in the future for those affected by the flooding.
To consider adding flood risk information and advice provided by gocompare.com to the Parish Council’s website.
Councillors decided against using the article and advert provided by gocompare.com. It was suggested to edit the article to tailor it to suit Halton Holegate and Halton Fenside and post on the website. Cllr Robson to review the article.
To consider a Training and Development Policy.
Councillors asked the Clerk to include a section on training and development for Councillors as this policy focused on staff. It was resolved unanimously to adopt the policy, but to add ‘staff’ into the title and bring to Council a policy on Councillor training to be considered.
To consider action to fill vacancies on the Parish Council.
It was confirmed that there are two seats vacant on the Parish Council and that a Co-option Policy was adopted in 2022. Posters to be placed in the noticeboards and on the website advertising the vacancy with a deadline for an expression of interest as the 9th February and a deadline for application as 23rd February. The Clerk to review the application forms to include eligibility criteria and to review the co-option procedure. Co-option policy also to be reviewed.
To consider agenda items for the next meeting.
Co-Option Applications
D-day Commemoration Events
Update from the meeting with Gleesons regarding the housing development on Halton Road.
To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 7th March.
With no further comments, Cllr Sisson closed the meeting at 8:37pm.
Signed…………………………………………………………………………………
Chair of the Council - Cllr D Sisson
Signed………………………………………………………………………………..
Clerk to the Council and RFO - Jack Sargent
11th January 2024