2019 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 13th February 2019 at 7.30pm at the Town Hall, Market Deeping
 
Present:

Cllr Shelton (Chair)
Cllr Mrs Redshaw
Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Miss Collins
Cllr Gamble
Cllr Broughton
Cllr Lester
Cllr Hanson
Cllr Miss Moran
Cllr Stephenson
Cllr Brookes

Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew, Cllr Baxter, a PCSO, a member of the public, the Clerk and the deputy Clerk were also in attendance.

Cllr Shelton welcomed everyone to the meeting and the Open Session commenced:

The member of the public spoke regarding his concerns at the loss of employment opportunities with the Old Coach House changing from business to residential use.

7.33 Cllr Neilson joined the meeting.

The PCSO advised members of new powers whereby PCSOs could stop a vehicle and issue tickets for use of a mobile phone whilst driving, or for causing an obstruction.

Cllr Trollope-Bellew advised members of the temporary closure order applied to Cross Road.

Cllr Baxter issued members with a report detailing the SKDC meetings and engagements he had attended over the last month.

7.37   Cllr Mrs Sked left the meeting
7.38   Cllr Mrs Sked rejoined the meeting

Cllr Broughton advised members of the meetings he had attended for SKDC and of his application to purchase equipment for the Deepings Youth Group with his SKDC allocated funding.

Cllr Neilson advised members of the meetings he had attended for SKDC, particularly in respect of the homeless population of the district.

There being no further business the public session was closed at 7.44pm. Cllr Baxter and the PCSO left the meeting.

136.   Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting.

137.   Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllr Davis.

138.   Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

No declarations of interest were made.

139.   Acceptance of minutes of meeting held on the 9th January 2019.

It was proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Gamble and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the notes of a meeting held on the 9th January 2019 as a true and accurate record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.

140.   Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, District Neighbourhood Policing Panel, Travellers’ working party, Committees (Planning and Highways, Amenities and Open Spaces, Town Hall and Cemetery), the Clerk and the Mayor’s Diary

Deepings First

Cllr Shelton advised members that his report would be included with agenda item 11.

District Neighbourhood Policing Panel

Cllr Mrs Sked advised members that all the information was included in the report that had been circulated prior to the meeting by the clerk.

Travellers working party

Cllr Shelton advised members that Deeping St James PC has identified vulnerable sites in their parish and Market Deeping Town Council had been asked to do the same. Cllr Broughton advised that he felt Sandringham Way was not a vulnerable site due to the nature of the land.

7.49   Cllr Baxter rejoined the meeting.  Planning & Highways

Cllr Brookes advised members that following Stamford Town Council’s Planning department request to be subject to the Article 4 directive of the Town and Country Planning Act 1995 regarding permitted development rights in the conservation area, Market Deeping Town Council’s Planning committee wished to pursue this also. As other business was all in order, Cllr Brookes proposed, Cllr Broughton seconded and it was RESOLVED unanimously to accept the minutes of the meeting of 6th February as a true and accurate record.

Amenities and Open Spaces

Cllr Broughton advised members that the power cable to the electricity box on the John Eve field was shortly to be installed. He showed members a cross section of a Conker tree that had been felled on the Riverside Park to make members aware of tree disease and rot and how easily a tree can fall.

Town Hall and Cemetery

Cllr Stephenson advised members that the old hedge on the north side of the Cemetery had been taken out by the park keepers and replaced with a farmer’s hedge. All work in the cemetery was up to date. It was proposed by Cllr Stephenson and RESOLVED to accept the minutes of the meeting of 16th January as a true and accurate record.

Clerks Report

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

1.   The precept request has been submitted.

2.   The name blocks from ‘There but not there’ have finally been received.

3.   No nominations were received for the Buckingham Palace Garden and places have now been allocated.

4.   The clerks will be attending training on the forthcoming elections on 4th March

5.   The deputy clerk will be on annual leave w/c 11th February and the clerk will be on annual leave w/c 18th February. The office will therefore be closed on Monday 11th and Friday 22nd February.

6.   Will 2 councillors please volunteer for the Saturday library surgeries on 6th April and 5th May? The
clerk will then produce a new rota after May. It was agreed that no Councillors would attend the surgery in April due to Purdah. A councillor for 5th May will be allocated after the election of 2nd May.

7.   The resident who organised and then cancelled the Santa Stroll has sold some of the assets and sent a cheque for £25 for the Mayor’s charities. The deputy clerk has written a letter of thanks.

8.   The clerks are experiencing difficulties with the online banking system continually crashing and are trying to seek help
 
9.   The clock on the Market Place has broken again and the clerks have contacted Hawkins to have it repaired.

10.   The clerks have provided details of the local walks for the Love Deepings campaign. Councillors had no other information they wished to share with the campaign

11.   The clerk has collated and sent all councillors’ comments regarding the closure of Barclays Bank to Cllr Trollope-Bellew and can also write to John Hayes on behalf of the council if members would like to do so. Members agreed that they would like this to be done.

12.   The clerk has contacted Western Power regarding the power supply on John Eve Field and this is being scheduled for installation

13.   Councillors were asked if they would like to hold their own event for Commonwealth day this year. It falls on Monday March 11th. Councillors agreed that they would like to do so. Cllr Mrs Sked agreed to contact a minister to lead the service.

Mayors Diary

Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s Diary: up to 13th February 2019.

Cllr Shelton attended the following events:

Cllr Miss Collins did not attend any events

141.   Council Finances

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

142.   Accounts to be paid

It was proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously that the Council should pay its bills.

See appendix A.

143.   For members to ratify the decisions made by the Amenities and Open Spaces committee regarding transfer of land from Persimmon:

a)   Allotments, play area and ribbon of land around the estate to proceed

b)   Open space adjacent to Windsor Gardens not to proceed

Councillors were in agreement regarding the allotment land. Cllr Brookes advised members that as footpath 4  is to the east of the Windsor Gardens land the footpath could be improved by the council in future years if they were to own the land. He also suggested that the current maintenance contract agreed with the resident’s organization could be left to run until its expiry date and the council could then maintain the land. It was proposed by Cllr Broughton, seconded by Cllr Hanson and RESOLVED to accept the allotment land (a) and defer the decision on the Windsor Gardens land (b).
 
144.   Correspondence to be Noted and Resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

145.   For members to consider a motion to transfer the Rectory Paddock to the remit of the Town Hall and Cemetery Committee as resolved by the Town Hall and Cemetery committee

8.36 Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew left the meeting

Cllr Stephenson advised members that the Paddock had been reported through the Town Hall and Cemetery committee for the past 8 years and this motion would formalise the arrangement. Members discussed work that had taken place in the past and that the area needed to remain free and open without risk of it being used for Cemetery burials. This was discussed at length. It was then RESOLVED to defer the decision until after the next Amenities and Open Spaces committee meeting, after which the AOS committee will respond to the motion at the following Full Council meeting.

146.   For members to consider a payment of £2500 from Ear Marked Reserves to the Neighbourhood Plan  Cllr Shelton had provided members with a financial report prior to the meeting, and, after summarizing the key events in the Neighbourhood plan to date, he then updated members on the fact finding work currently being done with local residents. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously to approve a payment of £2500 to the Neighbourhood plan from Ear Marked Reserves.

8.53 Cllr Baxter left the meeting

147.   For members to consider the addition of names to the War Memorial in St Guthlac’s Church and a response to the Rotary in respect of their request for an additional war memorial

Cllr Mrs Redshaw explained that as there was no room on the memorial in the church for the addition of the 4 names that had been discovered, she was investigating the possibility of adding a slate plaque with the missing names. This is a lengthy process due to the church being a grade I listed building and the processes involved. It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Redshaw, seconded by Cllr Mrs Sked and RESOLVED unanimously to continue the process of adding the names. The St Guthlac’s memorial is the official memorial for Market Deeping, and the response to the Rotary memorial was deferred.

148.   For members to approve the monthly hire of a Storage crate at £15 per week.

It was proposed by Cllr Gamble, seconded by Cllr Neilson and RESOLVED unanimously to hire the crate for storage of road barriers and signage and Cemetery and Amenities equipment.

149.   For members to consider whether all members should receive a copy of Committee Agendas by email prior to Committee meetings

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Redshaw, seconded by Cllr Neilson and RESOLVED unanimously that this should be done.
 
150.   For members to agree a date for the Christmas Market and to decide members of a working party including the chair

Cllr Shelton asked for volunteers to chair the working party. Members agreed that Cllr Miss Moran had done an excellent job last year and were happy for her to chair the group again this year if she was in agreement. It was then RESOLVED that Cllr Miss Moran would chair the group, subject to the forthcoming elections. Other members of the working party will be confirmed after the May election, and the date will be confirmed at the next Full Council meeting.

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

The resident’s comments regarding the Old Coach House were discussed. It was agreed that it was better for the building to be used than to remain empty and that the design and planning was sympathetic to the conservation area and existing building. Although it would be preferable for employment opportunities to remain it was acknowledged that public houses are not thriving. Cllr Brookes advised members that the Planning committee should look at planning policies but also express the views of the town, even if they could not be met. It was therefore agreed that the clerks would write to SKDC with additional comments regarding regret at losing a public house and employment venue.

152.   Forthcoming events: Annual Town Meeting 5th March, Civic Ball 6th April

The clerk asked the chairs of committees to prepare their reports for the Annual Town Meeting and confirmed that Andrew Norman and Dominic Fieldhouse from SKDC would be speaking. Cllr Shelton then confirmed that the Civic Ball was all but sold out, and Cllr Miss Moran advised details of the venue and furnishings. She then advised of progress on the Saturday Market, which will commence on Easter Saturday. Cllr Miss Moran had met with Paul Allen from SKDC and had contacted existing stall holders on the Wednesday market to give them first refusal over whether to have a stall on the Saturday Market. There is room for 15 individual stalls and charities and local events teams had also been contacted.

153.   Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss: Staffing issues: Locum clerk

It was proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Lester and RESOLVED unanimously to move into Closed Session to members of the press and public in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, for members to discuss items that contained information of a confidential
nature: issues regarding the locum clerk. The local resident duly left the meeting. It was RESOLVED to proceed to mediation. It was then RESOLVED to come out of Closed Session.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 9.50pm. The next scheduled meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 13th March 2019, in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.