2019 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 9th October 2019 at 7.30pm at the Town Hall, Market Deeping

Present:

Cllr Miss Collins (Chair)
Cllr Lester
Cllr Broughton
Cllr Miss Moran
Cllr Mrs Redshaw
Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Yarham
Cllr Hanson
Cllr Brookes
Cllr Davis
Cllr Hembrow    

Cllr Miss Collins welcomed everyone to the meeting and the Open Session commenced:

LCC Councillor Mrs Trollope-Bellew thanked the Mayor for the recent Civic Service. She had met with representatives of the proposed BP petrol station to raise concerns voiced by residents and the council, but, as LCC are in favour of the plan, there is little more that can be done. The recent meeting with local councillors regarding Highways issues had been useful and she thanked Cllr Hembrow for his report.

SKDC Cllr Baxter entered the meeting at 7.32pm. He provided members of the council with his report, detailing meetings that he had attended over the past month and noted Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew’s appointment to cabinet member for Culture.

7.33pm Cllr Yarham entered the meeting.

Cllr Miss Moran, for SKDC, advised members that her report would be included in the Town Council meeting. Cllr Broughton, for SKDC, then reported on the meetings he had attended.

There being no further business the public session was closed at 7.40pm.

87.    Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting.

88.    Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Councillor Shelton.

89.    Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

No declarations of interest were made.

90.    Acceptance of minutes of the meeting held on the 11th September 2019.

Cllr Brookes requested one minor amendment to minute 74 and it was then proposed by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the amended notes of a meeting held on the 11th September 2019 as a true and accurate record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.

91.    Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, The Neighbourhood Policing Panel and Police meeting of 17th September, Christmas Market, Saturday Market, Youth Group, Remembrance Working Party, Travellers’ working party, Committees (Amenities and Open Spaces, Town Hall and Cemetery, Finance and Personnel, Planning and Highways), the Clerk and the Mayor’s Diary

Deeping s First 

Cllr Brookes advised members that the public referendum will commence on 12th October and residents will be able to comment on line or by completing a questionnaire. Copies of the Neighbourhood plan will be located in the Town Hall, Deeping St James Institute, the library and the community centre, and there will be a stand on the Saturday market, and at Deeping St James Priory church, informing residents of the consultation. The consultation will be advertised in the local press and members were urged by Cllrs Brookes and Mrs Redshaw to look at the documents and to leave any feedback, positive or negative. The work of the Neighbourhood plan team is now coming to a close, and Cllr Miss Collins thanked all those involved for all their hard work over the last years.

Neighbourhood Policing Panel and Police meeting of 17th September

Cllr Mrs Sked advised members that there had been a meeting last week, but no minutes were yet available. The main concern had been regarding children riding bikes without lights, and Cllr Mrs Sked will consider requesting Grant Aid to purchase some lights to donate to the children concerned. Councillors of Deeping St James are also requesting grant aid for the same purpose.

Cllr Davis then advised members that the Police meeting held on 17th September had been well attended and attendees had been polite and courteous. Despite the subject matter the meeting had been positive and constructive. The police representatives apologised for the lack of communication. However, the timeline provided showed that incidents had been dealt with swiftly. Cllr Davis had provided a report and the clerk had circulated it to all members prior to the meeting. He advised members that the local liaison officer is happy to speak to the council, and the clerk was asked to arrange for this to happen.

Christmas Market 

Cllr Miss Moran informed members that rather than hire a larger craft tent, the committee had decided to offer stalls in the Market Place to encourage more movement in the Market Place and along the High Street. The entertainment schedule will shortly be confirmed and the new manager of the Iron Horse is happy for the children’s fair rides to be sited behind the building as planned. The Model Railway club will be holding a large display in the Community Centre with a newly rebuilt Santa Express.  Cllr Miss Moran will be creating a poster to advertise the event.

Saturday Market 

Cllr Miss Moran reported that the fruit and veg trader has left and SKDC are seeking a replacement. There are only a few stalls as footfall is low, so Cllr Miss Moran asked members to encourage attendance at the market which would in turn encourage stalls to participate. New banners have been sited to further encourage people to visit.

Deepings Youth Group 

Cllr Hanson advised members that the group had raised £200 at the Saturday Market and £900 at the recent beer festival. Attendance continued to be good.

Remembrance working party 

Cllr Miss Collins advised members that the final meeting date would be Tuesday 29th October, and local groups and the RBS would be invited to attend. All invitations had been issued and the road closure for the parade had been approved. 
The clerk had circulated 2 reports from the previous 2 meetings to all members.

Travellers working p arty 

There was no update other than the information provided by Cllr Davis above.

Amenities and Open Spaces Committee 

Members had been provided with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting. Cllr Broughton advised that further work was needed on the electricity box on the John Eve field. He also advised members that that he and Cllr Hembrow would install a memorial bench that had been requested. Finally, he asked the council to ratify his request to Gray’s fair for a contribution of £1000 for a 2 week residence on the John Eve field and it was RESOLVED unanimously to approve this. Cllr Miss Collins asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Town Hall and Cemetery Committee 

Members had been provided with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting. Cllr Lester advised members that the committee intended to retain the buy back clause in the Town Hall purchase contract, but amend it to state that SKDC could only repurchase the Town Hall if the community had no use for it. He also advised members of new gates that were to be installed around the cemetery skip. Cllr Miss Collins asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Finance and Personnel Committee 
 
Members had been provided with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting. Cllr Miss Collins reminded all committees that they needed to work on precept requests for the coming year, to be presented to the Finance and Personnel committee at their November meeting. She then asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Planning & Highways 

Cllr Brookes advised members that there were no significant issues to report. He then asked the council to ratify the decision to purchase a Christmas Tree at £700 as the usual supplier could not provide a tree this year. Other options had been considered and this was the best one available. There would also be the expense of transporting the tree to the Market Place and then erecting it. The committee RESOLVED unanimously to purchase the tree for the town.

Clerk’s Report 

The Clerk had issued members with a report prior to the meeting:

1.    The electrical sockets for the clock have now been replaced and the clock is working.
2.    The Rotary memorial has been put on hold due to illness.
3.    Double and Megson have advised that the contracts for the Town Hall are being drawn up and they are pursuing the allotment issue.
4.    The clerk has passed her CILCA qualification and the council may now claim the General Power of Competence. The council congratulated the clerk on her achievement.

Mayors Diary 

Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s Diary: up to 9th October 2019.

Cllr Miss Collins attended the following events:

Cllr Broughton had not attended any events since the last meeting. 8.12pm Cllr Baxter left the meeting.

92.    Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

8.20 Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew left the meeting

93.    Council Finances

a)    Income and expenditure by budget cost centre

Members had received a copy of the Council Finances and Omega report prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Collins asked if there were any questions. There were none.

b)    Accounts to be paid

It was RESOLVED unanimously that the council pay its bills. See appendix A.
 
c)    Precept preparations for 2020/21

Cllr Miss Collins confirmed that all committees were reviewing their requirements and asked them to ensure that final requests were prepared in time for the November Finance and Personnel committee meeting.

94.    Update on the proposed Leisure Centre

Cllr Miss Moran advised members that the site for the proposed new facility is the rugby field next to the school’s sixth form centre and the rugby pitch, tennis courts and existing leisure centre will be included in the area being developed. All the local clubs will be consulted, as well as Deeping St James PC, and LCC will ensure that the transition to the new facilities is as smooth as possible. Cllr Miss Moran had visited Market Deeping Community Primary school, who were very enthusiastic. It is not yet known who will manage the facility once it is completed, and Cllr Miss Moran will report back on progress at each Full Council meeting.

95.    Report on data protection requirements

Cllr Davis advised members that he had attended training run by LALC and there are many grey areas. He believed it would be of benefit to the clerks to attend. He reiterated advice already received that Councillors should have separate email addresses for council business and that data should not be retained beyond the prescribed periods.

96.    Digital council

Cllr Brookes had been researching this issue, partly in response to the above item. He advised members that a cloud based solution may be the most suitable. There are local providers who would be a good point of  contact and storage could be allocated for all council documentation. The council can then determine who has access to the information stored and can remove access as necessary. He will speak to the clerks about council requirements and will report back at future meetings. Cllr Hembrow voiced the concern of many councillors in wishing to have printed items available, and this would be accommodated. However, members must destroy any information held after the relevant length of time to comply with GDPR. This item is to be kept on the agenda.

97.    For members to ratify the following policies:

• Lone Working Policy
• Sickness absence policy
• Changing of office policy
• Communications policy
• Civic duties policy
• Council constitution
• Chair job description
• Information and data protection policy
• Trust fund policy
• Capability policy
• Community engagement policy

The clerk had provided copies of the above policies as reviewed and amended by the Finance and Personnel committee prior to the meeting. It was proposed by Cllr Lester, seconded by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously that all policies are adopted with the amendments shown.

98.    For members to consider plans for VE Day Anniversary 8th May 2020

Cllr Mrs Redshaw asked members if they wished to celebrate the anniversary and members agreed that they did. It was RESOLVED that the Remembrance working party would take on the planning for the event and Cllrs Miss Collins, Mrs Redshaw and Broughton will ascertain what the RBL intend to do.

99.    For members to consider and discuss any points raised in the public session.

There were none.

100.    Forthcoming events:

• Councillor training: 10th October Planning and Neighbourhood Plans 6-9pm at Pinchbeck (Cllrs Davis and Hembrow booked and will report back), 26th November Councillor training day 10-4 at Dunholme, 13th November Financial Management 1.30-4 at Saxilby
• Other events: Cllrs Surgeries: Cllr Lester 5th October, Cllr Neilson 2nd November. Cllr Lester proposed that the time spent at the library should be reduced due to the lack of enquiries received and it was RESOLVED to alter the time of the surgery to 10.30 to 11.30. The clerk was asked to inform the library and Cllr Neilson.
• Gray’s Fair 9th-12th October, now extended for a week until 19th October
• 3rd November – Opening of the Remembrance Gardens 3pm
• 10th November – Remembrance Day Parade 9.30am. Cllrs to meet at the Green school prior to the service. It was further confirmed that Cllr Broughton will fire a rocket at 11am on 11th November from the Riverside Park.
• 17th November – Closing of the Remembrance Gardens
• Cllr Mrs Redshaw advised members that she is organising a Christmas Tree display in the Chambers, and trees may be dropped off from 23rd November, to be collected on 1st December.
• Sunday 1st December – Christmas Market
• Carols around the Tree tbc

101.    Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss: Staff issues

There were no confidential matters to discuss.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 8.48pm. The next scheduled meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 13th November 2019, in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.