September 2024 Minutes
Halton Holegate with Halton Fenside Parish Council
Minutes of the full Council meeting held at Halton Holegate Methodist Chapel on Thursday 19th September 2024 commencing at 7pm. These are notes of the meeting until approved as a true record.
Present:
Cllrs D Sisson (Chair), C Holmes (Vice-Chair), S Andrew, C Clare, C Edwards, T Robson and J Vickers; District Councillor T Taylor and County Councillor W Bowkett.
Clerk - J Sargent.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
Lincolnshire County Councillor W Bowkett
County Councillor W Bowkett provided a written report, circulated with Councillors prior to the meeting. Cllr Bowkett commented that devolution looked to be going ahead which would be good news for the county.
Cllr Robson asked if the National Grid’s pylon project was a foregone conclusion. Cllr Bowkett advised that the County Council would look to delay the plans with legal action.
East Lindsey District Councillor T Taylor
District Councillor T Taylor provided information via email circulated with Councillors prior to the meeting.
Cllr Sisson reported attending a meeting in Boston with Gleesons Homes and flood risk management authorities. The water run off for the Halton Road development had been redesigned. However, the health centre and social housing had been decoupled from the drainage design for the development.
With no further matters, it was resolved unanimously to go into formal session.
40. Chairman’s Welcome.
The Chairman confirmed the Council was quorate, welcomed all present, and thanked Councillors for their attendance.
41. Apologies.
None received.
42. Declarations of Interest.
None received.
43. To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 11th July 2024.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes from July as a true and accurate record.
44. Finances:
a. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for July.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration.
b. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for July.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only.
c. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for August.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration.
d. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for August.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only.
45. To receive reports from:
a. The Chair
Cllr Sisson circulated a report prior to the meeting via email. Cllr Sisson queried whether Northorpe Road was still untidy. Cllr Robson confirmed it was still overgrown. Cllr Sisson advised it was supposed to have been tidied up in the 2023/24 winter programme and will follow up again.
b. The Clerk
The Clerk reported completed the training programme for the CiLCA qualification with a view to submitting documents for assessment over the coming months. The Clerk also reported working on the Local Council Award Scheme and making sure the Parish Council meets the criteria on the application with the hope of submitting in January.
Cllr Sisson requested further information to be circulated with Councillors regarding the Local Council Award Scheme.
46. To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, withdrawals, or amendments.
a. Housing Development on Halton Road - 600 houses.
Cllr Sisson advised an invite had been received to participate in a multi-agency meeting regarding drainage management, with the developers and relevant authorities. Unfortunately, the representative from East Lindsey was unable to attend. Cllr Sisson reported that it was a positive meeting and that it appears that the drainage on the site has been redesigned to allow for lower run off criteria.
Cllr Sisson mentioned the negative aspect of the meeting was the health centre and social housing had been decoupled from the drainage design. It is unsure who will be responsible for this design as it should have been dealt with as one. Cllr Sisson advised a consultant acting as ELDC Case Officer has been appointed to oversee the approvals process for this development.
Cllr Bowkett suggested that Gleesons as the developers should be responsible for the drainage on the whole site.
b. The National Grid Pylon proposals, Grimsby to Walpole.
c. The National Grid Eastern Green Link proposals
Cllr Sisson suggested taking items b and c together and advised that drones had been active in the area surveying the routes. Halton Holegate is wholly within the route of the Eastern Green Link proposals.
Cllr Robson queried whether the new Labour Government were planning on re-nationalising the National Grid and suggested it may be a conflict of interest to approve the plans.
Cllr Sisson advised that the Parish Council were missed off a consultation which was later circulated by District Cllr T Taylor. Representations had been made to ELDC Planning to seek rectification of this oversight.
47. To receive an update on highways, footpaths, and road closures.
a. To consider the problems with parking on Station Road.
Cllr Sisson advised the consultation considered at the previous meeting was as agreed by Council sent with no objections were raised. The next steps are to go to a wider consultation to residents on Station Road with a hand delivered letter drop.
Cllr Sisson reported an issue at the start of the school term, which was reported to the school and to ask the school to put information on parking in a newsletter to parents. A representative from LCC Highways is trying to set up a meeting with the school.
b. Issues to be reported or already reported to fix my street.
Cllr Sisson covered issues within his report. Cllr Robson mentioned Northorpe Road. Cllr Sisson to follow-up. Cllr Sisson mentioned issues such as overhanging trees and Cllr Holmes mentioned a damaged pavement.
c. To receive the location and condition of the village grit bins and approve actions.
Cllr Sisson advised that the three bins that needed reporting to fix my street have been, on Black Horse Bridge, on the cross-roads in Halton Fenside and one next to Station Road Railway Bridge. Cllr Holmes thought the bin on Northorpe Road needed attention as well.
Cllr Sisson queried whether a tonne bag of salt was needed or just to report to fix my street when the bins needed refilling. It was resolved unanimously to report to fix my street when needed. Councillors Clare, Edwards, Robson and Sisson agreed to take responsibility for checking bin contents throughout the coming winter period.
48. Village Flood Investigation.
a. To receive a Flood Report Update.
Cllr Sisson advised that the anniversary of the Storm Babet is approaching and that residents might be concerned about further incidents with winter coming. Cllr Sisson advised that the Parish Council need to be prepared to help Parishioners.
Cllr Edwards reported that there was half a bag of sand remaining and around 20 sandbags. Cllr Edwards suggested ordering another tonne bag of sand and more sandbags.
Cllr Sisson suggested a letter drop in the community advising of the work going on in the background and recommending residents be prepared. Cllr Sisson mentioned that despite the work gone on, if a similar event was to happen to Storm Babet, the outcome would likely be similar.
Cllr Robson praised the work of Councillors for their efforts, particularly in the aftermath of the event. Cllr Robson expressed disappointment that there were no tangible results despite the great efforts that have been made by members of the Council.
Cllr Edwards suggested that residents might not be aware of what has been going on as they haven’t seen any physical action until recently where Witham 4th IDB have been carrying out maintenance. Cllr Edwards also mentioned the grants available to residents to apply for to be able to protect their homes and properties from flooding.
Cllr Bowkett recommended that residents prepare their homes for flood eventualities, taking appropriate action to protect their homes and properties. Cllr Bowkett spoke with confidence that issues will be identified and addressed.
Cllr Sisson mentioned that a multi-agency flood forum has been set up to look solely at the feasibility of protecting the Halton Parish as a result of the lobbying already done. Cllr Sisson also advised that the Environment Agency across Lincolnshire have nine riverbanks that have not been repaired due to a lack of funding. The river through Halton overtopped its banks. The EA have instructed Witham 4th IDB to clear the drain of weeds from top to bottom, but no further action has been planned up to now.
Cllr Robson queried what could be done to help in the event of another flooding event. Cllr Sisson mentioned keeping residents informed, as well as providing sandbag and sand to residents.
b. To receive a review of the Action Plan.
Cllr Sisson reported all points complete on the action plan and now waiting for formal response, possibly in the next couple of months.
Cllr Clare thanked Cllr Sisson for his efforts on this, particularly with it being such a specialist area.
49. To review policies:
a. Accessibility Statement
b. Privacy Notice.
c. Publication Scheme
The Clerk circulated the draft policies prior to the meeting, which are based on LALC templates.
It was resolved unanimously to adopt all policies.
50. To review Terms of Reference for:
a. Staffing Committee
b. Grievance Committee
The Clerk circulated the draft terms of reference prior to the meeting. It was resolved unanimously to adopt both terms of reference.
Cllr Sisson noted that the Clerk’s annual appraisal is due in October and asked the Staffing Committee to review the terms of reference ahead of the appraisal meeting.
51. To receive an update on the actions following the Internal Audit Report for 2023-24.
The Clerk advised all the work recommended by the internal auditor had been completed and will make a copy of the report available to the auditor at the mid-year audit, in November.
Cllr Sisson advised that the website was largely up to date. Cllr Holmes mentioned that the insurance needs to be updated to the current year and the list of Councillors needs to be updated. The Clerk to arrange.
52. To receive an update on the emergency plan.
Cllr Bowkett suggested contacting the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum who were creating a simple version on an emergency plan and in the meantime creating a basic flood risk and snow risk emergency plan. Cllr Bowkett recommended keeping a WhatsApp messaging group open. Cllr Edwards volunteered to write a basic emergency plan.
53. To receive an update on the website.
The Clerk advised all issues were being worked on. Cllr Robson and Cllr Edwards offered to upload agendas and minutes to website but needed the help of the LALC webmaster for other items.
Cllr Holmes mentioned a new website was being launched in October. Cllr Holmes advised there have been issues with the current website, suggesting it is not user friendly. Cllr Sisson reiterated that the jadu based website was not great and advised that there may be some funding set aside for a .gov website.
Cllr Edwards advised the analytics on the website show very few people actually view the website and requested copies of the minutes to load to the website.
54. To consider agenda items for the next meeting.
Cllr Holmes recommended bringing a sexual harassment policy to Council as it is a statutory council duty to have such a policy in place. The Clerk advised that he monitor the situation and once a LALC template policy is made available, he will adapt it for Halton Holegate Parish Councillors approval.
Cllr Sisson advised an item to consider a report from the Staffing Committee after the appraisal meeting and to consider a draft budget for 2025-26.
55. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 14th November 2024.
With no further comments, Cllr Sisson closed the meeting at 8:48pm.
Signed…………………………………………………………………………………
Chair of the Council - Cllr D Sisson
Signed………………………………………………………………………………..
Clerk to the Council and RFO - Jack Sargent
14th November 2024