2019 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 11th September 2019 at 7.30pm at the Town Hall, Market Deeping

Present:

Cllr Miss X Collins (Chair)
Cllr Mrs Redshaw
Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Brookes
Cllr Neilson
Cllr Hanson
Cllr Miss Moran
Cllr Hembrow
Cllr Yarham
Cllr Davis

Cllr Miss Collins welcomed everyone to the meeting and the Open Session commenced: LCC Councillor Mrs Trollope-Bellew sent her apologies.

Cllr Miss Moran, for SKDC, had attended local meetings and also the hearing for the Mill Field Village Green application. This had been unsuccessful following a vote of 4 in favour, 6 against and 3 abstentions, but the supporting group are continuing their campaign.

Cllr Baxter, for SKDC, had provided a report to members and sent his apologies for the meeting. There being no further business the public session was closed at 7.37pm.

70.    Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting.

71.    Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Councillors Broughton, Lester and Shelton.

72.    Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

Cllrs Miss Collins and Hanson declared an interest in the Youth Group for agenda item 5. Cllr Miss Moran declared an interest in respect of planning issues for agenda item 5.

73.    Acceptance of minutes of the meeting held on the 10th July 2019.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Redshaw, seconded by Cllr Hanson and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the notes of a meeting held on the 10th July 2019 as a true and accurate record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.

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

Deepings First

Cllr Brookes advised members that the public referendum will take place around April 2020 and the draft plan will be published shortly. He confirmed that it could not protect Mill Field, but that it would place it low down on the list of places to be developed. The planning permission sought by LCC for the Mill Field forms part of  the local plan published by SKDC rather than the Neighbourhood Plan that relates to the Deepings Parish and Town’s local plan. Cllr Neilson expressed concern that the LCC planning permission could be granted before the Neighbourhood plan was approved, and Cllr Brookes advised members that there would be less risk in the future once the Neighbourhood plan is approved.

Neighbourhood Policing Panel

Cllr Mrs Sked advised members that there had been no meeting since the last report but reminded members of the Police meeting to be held on 17th September at the request of DSJPC Cllr Bowell following the recent visit  by travellers to Deeping Gate. Several members plan to attend the meeting.

Christmas Market

Cllr Miss Moran informed members that all was proceeding well and she was arranging for a larger craft tent due to high levels of bookings. New River Retail had offered to contribute further towards this cost. The fair issue had been sorted out and Cllr Miss Moran was arranging for the Model Railway club to hold a display in the Community Centre. The army cadets had volunteered to help and the entertainment schedule was filling up.

Saturday Market

Cllr Miss Moran reported that the market was still improving, and the buskers had proved very popular. New stalls were still being sought and a new manager for the market had been appointed.

Deepings Youth Group

Cllr Hanson had provided a report and DSJPC Cllr Bowell had provided members with a copy of the accounts. Members were pleased to see the progress with increased attendance and the fact that the group was saving money.

Remembrance working party

Cllr Miss Collins advised members that arrangements were in progress. The services will be organised by Market Deeping Town Council but Deeping St James had been asked if their Chair and deputy would like to do a reading as they had done last year. Road closures had not been applied for as this had not been an issue in the past and some residents had disregarded the road closures set up last year. Also, there had been a lack of volunteers to man them. The British Legion had attended the meeting and were arranging for a bugler and parade leader for the Remembrance Day parade.

Travellers working party

Two reports had been provided to members and the police meeting mentioned above on 17th September was discussed. Cllr Yarham believed that some crime reports had been over inflated and that the travellers were
sometimes being referred to in a derogatory manner in the way the terms ‘Black’ and ‘Gay’ had sometimes been used. Cllr Neilson wished it to be minuted that black and gay people would not act in the way the travelers had allegedly acted.

CCTV meeting

Cllrs Miss Moran, Davis and Brookes had attended a meeting at the control room in Grantham and found it to be very useful. Cameras recorded 24hours a day, but were only monitored by one or two people. Members discussed the possibility of adding a further camera to the Town Hall once it was in the possession of the council to cover the area near the crossing and the Stage which is currently difficult to detect with the existing cameras. Members agreed in principle that the cost of approx. £4500 would be acceptable. However, Cllr Hembrow reminded members of planning restrictions on listed buildings and it was agreed to pass this item to the Planning and Highways committee.

Amenities and Open Spaces Committee

Members had been provided with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting of 17th July. There was one query regarding a payment for limestone dust that was required urgently for a Health and Safety issue, and members
had no further queries.

Town Hall and Cemetery Committee

Members had been provided with a copy of the minutes of the last meeting of 17th July. 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 of 24th July. Cllr Miss Collins asked if there were any questions and there were none.

Planning & Highways

Cllr Brookes advised members that there had been 2 meetings since the last Full Council meeting on 7th August and 4th September. There was nothing significant to report from the September meeting. However, he asked for ratification from the council of a decision made following the visit of Mr Tse from SKDC regarding siting a monolith sign post in the Town centre. The committee had voted against the monolith but suggested that additional information could be placed on the reverse of the SKDC notice board sited outside the Town Hall. It was RESOLVED unanimously to support this decision. The excessive use of A frames for advertising in the town centre was also discussed and it was agreed that this should be placed on the next Planning and Highways agenda.

Clerk’s Report

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

1.    The repairs to the Town Hall window were completed in the last week of July.

2.    The new photocopier is finally working with networking capability as from 8th August.

3.    The clock has broken again and the repair company has been asked to return (end of July). Update: The repair man advised that the plug socket is not suited to outdoor use and this is why the clock fuse keeps tripping. Cllr Hembrow has advised on what type of plug needs to be installed.

4.    Rachel Blackwell, the new police inspector, wrote to introduce herself on 30th July

5.    Deeping Rangers football club wrote to thank the council for their Grant Aid payment

6.    A resident has written to thank the council for funding the Playscheme

7.    Double and Megson have advised that there is further delay with the allotments due to Persimmon wishing the land to be offered to SKDC first under the terms of the S106 agreement. No reference to the allotment land can be found in the agreement so all sides are seeking clarification.

8.    We have been asked to comment on the Town Hall purchases by the local press

9.    During August there was 3 weeks without a meeting and the clerks focussed on Compliance and Health and Safety issues

10.    The clerk will need help on the morning of Sunday 15th September for the civic service set up (one
hour would be a great help) as the deputy clerk is unavailable. Update: The park keeper will lend assistance.

Mayors Diary

Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s Diary: up to 11th September 2019.

Cllr Miss Collins attended the following events:

Cllr Broughton attended the following events:

75.    Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted 

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

76.    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 was one query as detailed above regarding a payment for limestone dust required urgently for a Health and Safety issue and no other questions.

b)    Accounts to be paid

It was RESOLVED unanimously that the council pay its bills. See appendix A. See also appendix B for accounts paid in August 2019 while the council was in recess.
 
77.    Update on year end accounting

The clerk advised members that the external auditor had provided their report and the council accounts for 2018/19 are all in order. It was noted that the Risk Assessment policy had not been approved by the Full Council during the 2018/19 tax year.

78.    For members to adopt the committee Terms of Reference

It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the Terms of Reference as revised and recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee in their meeting of 24th July 2019.

79.    For members to review and adopt the Council’s Risk Management policy

It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as revised and recommended by the Finance and Personnel Committee in their meeting of 24th July 2019.

80.    Business Watch in Market Deeping

The clerk had provided details of the scheme prior to the meeting. Members agreed that this initiative was suited to the Business Club rather than the council. The clerk was asked to refer this to the Business club, and, if the club felt a presentation to members was appropriate then the council could attend for information purposes.

81.    Digital Council

As some interested members were not present it was agreed to defer this item to the next meeting.

82.    For members to consider a Climate Emergency motion

The clerk had provided members with a copy of notes prepared by Cllr Brookes prior to the meeting. Cllr Brookes advised that many local authorities had adopted a Climate emergency plan and the District authority had recently also adopted one. Members discussed the issue at length and agreed to make small measures immediately wherever possible, such as banning the use of plastic bottles in the Town Hall. It was agreed this should be added to the Town Hall booking form. Longer term measures could include the purchase of electric vehicles and the digital council initiative. It was however acknowledged that the council does not know how big the existing carbon footprint is. It was then proposed by Cllr Brookes and RESOLVED unanimously that the council declare there to be a climate emergency, and further that a working party will be created to establish the scale of the problem and agree long term solutions.

83.    For members to ratify the following policies:

•Council Vehicle Policy – It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Disciplinary and Grievance policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Equality policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Health and safety policy – the clerk was asked to contact LALC for guidance in establishing who is ultimately responsible for liabilities under this policy and to report back
•Leavers’ policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Performance appraisal policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Shared parental leave policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Sickness leave scheme policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee
•Training policy– It was RESOLVED unanimously to adopt the policy as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee

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

There were none.
 
85.    Forthcoming events:

a)    Councillor Training and reports:

•18th September 10-4 at Welbourn, 24th September 6-9pm FOI and data protection at Bourne (Cllr Davis booked), 2nd October Councillor training 10-4 Mablethorpe, 10th October Planning and Neighbourhood Plans 6-9pm at Pinchbeck (Cllrs Davis and Hembrow booked)
•report from Cllr Yarham on NALC open day: Cllr Yarham reported that the day was very useful, it clarified the structure of NALC, their responsibilities and what they are working on. They are  able to help with many guides on such issues as decentralisation, diversity and tolerance, and also with legal topic notes. He felt it to be more relevant to Councillors than clerks.

b)    Other events:

•Civic Service 15th September
•Deeping Police Public meeting 17th September at the Open Door Church
•Cllrs Surgeries: Cllr Miss Moran 7th Sept, Cllr Lester 5th October
•Gray’s Fair 9th-12th October

Cllr Hembrow reminded Cllrs of the Highways meeting arranged for Wednesday 18th September at the Halfleet Car park.

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

It was proposed, seconded 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: staff issues. It was RESOLVED with 2 abstentions to allow the 2 members of staff to join the pension scheme. It was then RESOLVED to come out of Closed Session.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 9.30pm. The next scheduled meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 9th October 2019, in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.