2020 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 15th January at 7.30pm At the Town Hall, Market Deeping

Present: Cllr Miss Collins (Chair) Cllr Broughton

Cllr Lester Cllr Miss Moran

Cllr Neilson Cllr Yarham

Cllr Hanson Cllr Shelton

Cllr Hembrow Cllr Mrs Sked

Cllr Mrs Redshaw

Andrew Norman, Head of Visitor Economy for InvestSK, the clerk and the deputy clerk were also in attendance.

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

Andrew presented the councillors and clerks with 2 brochures ‘Working together to promote South Kesteven’ and ‘Discover South Kesteven’. He then explained how the team had worked during the past year to promote the area, particularly to cyclists and overseas visitors. The clerk was asked to contact Terry Wright’s cycles to enquire if there was a professional cyclist who would be willing to help plan routes through the area. Andrew went on to explain funding sources that would allow bids of £25,000 or more to promote places to stay in the area. He asked that Steve Bowyer, the chief executive of InveskSK, be allowed to speak at the next Full Council meeting in February.

Cllr Baxter had provided a report of his actions over the previous month.

Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew had sent apologies via the clerk.

Cllr Miss Moran, for SKDC, told councillors about a presentation she had attended for the launch of Eventus II. The LCC representative had explained that the site would cover 1.5 acres with a mix of offices and industrial units. The business club were very happy to see this investment in the town. Cllr Miss Moran had also spoken to BBC Look North, who were intending to provide more coverage for the Deepings, and will meet with them together with representatives from the business club and Cllr Baxter to discuss local concerns such as lack of policing and cash machines.

Cllr Mrs Redshaw mentioned the upcoming Heritage film that will be screened at the Deepings School conference centre on 12th March, and Cllr Miss Moran mentioned the Deepings Film festival taking place every Saturday in February at the Open Door Baptist Church.

Cllr Broughton, for SKDC, had conducted weekly surgeries in the Town Hall.

There being no further business the public session was closed at 7.53pm.

136. Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting and wished them all a Happy New Year.

137. Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllrs Davis and Brookes.

138. Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

There were none.

139. Acceptance of minutes of the meeting held on the 11th December 2019.

Cllr Miss Collins asked members if they were to accept the minutes of the meeting. Cllr Mrs Sked asked it to be noted that she had returned to the meeting shortly after leaving at 8.31pm. It was then proposed by Cllr Broughton and Resolved unanimously to accept the notes of the meeting including the above amendment as a true and accurate record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.

140. Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, The Neighbourhood Policing Panel, Travellers’ working party, Committees (Planning and Highways), the Clerk and the Mayor’s Diary

Deepings First

Cllr Shelton had provided members with a report on the latter stages of the Neighbourhood plan. He advised members that he would be submitting the plan, including amendments resulting from the public consultation, to the Full Council on 11th March for approval. This will enable the plan to move to formal submission. As the councils of Market Deeping and Deeping St James are qualifying bodies, council approval is a necessary action for progression of the plan, and Cllr Shelton urged members to visit the website to read the updated document. Following approval, the plan will be submitted to SKDC, who will publish the plan for 6 weeks for interested parties to make representation.

Neighbourhood Policing Panel

Cllr Mrs Sked advised members that the next meeting will be held on 28th January. Both she and Cllr Broughton reported that they had had prompt responses from police officers when needing to call them in recent weeks. The clerk advised that Insp Blackwell had now taken on the roll of Operational Policing Inspector for the area and Insp Gary Stewart was now the Neighbourhood Policing Inspector.

Travellers working party

There was no update as no meeting had taken place. It was noted that Travellers were currently in Deeping Gate.

Planning & Highways

Members had no specific queries on the notes of the meeting of 8th January. However Cllr Yarham asked that members thoroughly review all planning applications submitted with the agenda packs in advance of committee meetings, in line with the Council’s Standing Orders. This will then save time during the meetings which tend to be lengthy and close to the time limit of 2.5 hours. The clerk was asked to include ratification of this point in the agenda for the next Planning and Highways committee meeting.

Clerk’s Report

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

1. The code for the defibrillator remains 0159.

2. The Carols Round the Tree event was well attended and raised £256 for the Mayor’s charities. As it had been quite difficult to source a gazebo would the council like to consider purchasing one at a cost of approximately £150 for future events? Cllrs Resolved unanimously to purchase a gazebo.

3. Please forward any responses to the Buckingham Palace Garden party nominations to the clerk by 24th January

4. As there have been complaints regarding the roundabout being untidy, would councillors like the park keepers to tidy up the roundabout? The clerk was asked to put this on the Amenities and Open Spaces agenda for the meeting of 22nd January.

5. The Tallington farm that the council purchased the Christmas tree from has said that they have suitable ones for Christmas 2020 if the council wishes to pay a deposit. Would members like to do this? The clerk was asked to put this on the Planning committee agenda for the meeting of 5th February.

6. VE day celebrations 8th May – RBL has advised they will be having an event to which the council will be invited. Do councillors still want to have a separate event? It was Resolved unanimously that the council would support the RBL event rather than host a separate event.

7. The clerks have been notified that Insp Blackwell is now the Operational Policing Inspector for the area, and Insp Gary Stewart will be taking over as the Neighbourhood Policing Inspector.

Mayors Diary

Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s Diary: up to 15th January 2020.

Cllr Miss Collins attended the following events:

Cllr Broughton had attended the following events:

141. Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

142. 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

The clerk advised members that the precept request had been submitted as agreed at the last Full Council meeting.

143. For members to ratify the quotation costs for replacement office pc systems and software

Members had been provided with a copy of the quotation costs prior to the meeting. The provider had already checked the market to find the most suitable pcs for the best price for the council. It was Resolved unanimously to accept the quotation of £2044.50 to provide and install the new pcs and Office software.

144. For members to consider a joint press release statement with Deeping St James Parish Council regarding lack of Police provision in the area.

Cllr Miss Collins advised members that the councils should work together to support this issue. Members were in agreement. Cllr Miss Collins asked the clerk to contact DSJPC to say that she would meet with the chair to progress this issue and Cllrs Miss Moran and Shelton also offered to be involved.

145. Town Centre Cash Machine

Cllr Miss Moran advised members that she had originally been informed that as there were 3 cash points within one kilometer of the town centre then we were not eligible for another. However, having explained the constraints, the application is now passing on to the next phase, which can take 10/12 weeks.

146. Update on the proposed Leisure Centre

There was no update available.

147. Digital council

The clerk had provided all members with a copy of the Information commissioner’s Office Factsheet for councils on the use of personal email addresses and devices. As this matter has been ongoing for a considerable time, and regulation of a combined email address could prove difficult, members agreed that, as a short term measure, they would endeavor to obtain an email address that was separate to their personal email address. It was agreed that the letters mdtc should preferably be included for clarity.

148. For members to ratify the Council’s Employer’s Pension Scheme Discretion statement

Members had been provided with a draft copy of the statement prior to the meeting. The clerk explained that the LCC pension scheme requirements state that the document has to be adopted by the council by 31st January. It must be reviewed annually, or when the council sees fit. A template had been provided, and the LCC legal team had examined the statement before providing it to employers. Members Resolved with 6 in favour, 4 against and one abstention to adopt the statement.

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

Andrew Norman had requested that Steve Bowyer attend the next Full Council meeting in February. This is addressed in the following item.

150. Forthcoming events:

• Councillor training: Evening sessions: Tuesday 4th Feb at LALC office, Dunholme, Day Sessions (10am -4pm): Wednesday 12th Feb at LALC office, Dunholme, Wednesday 29th April at Grantham. Planning – Feb 6th 6-9pm, Sleaford, 26th Feb - Employment Law/Resolving conflict & Code of Conduct, Cranwell

• Civic Dinner Saturday 7th March at the Deeping Sports and Social Club

• Annual Town Meeting: Tuesday 21st April 2020 7pm at the Green School – Cllr suggested that Steve Bowyer, the Practice Manager at the Deepings Health Centre, the Neighbourhood Policing team and the LCC representative for the Eventus II initiative be invited to speak. The clerk will write to invite them.

• Other events: Cllrs Surgeries: Cllr Mrs Sked 1st February, Cllr Miss Collins 7th March – Cllr Shelton advised that he had had no visitors for the surgery he attended and the clerk was asked to advertise the forthcoming sessions on the council Facebook page. If attendance by residents remains low then the council will review whether to continue with the service.

151. Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss:

Staff issues

There were none.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 8.44pm. The next scheduled meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 12th February 2020, in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.