2020 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 9th September at 7.30pm

Zoom meeting code 821 3244 4542

Password 485872

Present: Cllr Yarham (Chair) Cllr Miss Collins

Cllr Brookes Cllr Miss Moran

Cllr Hembrow Cllr Mrs Redshaw

Cllr Shelton Cllr Davis

Cllr Broughton Cllr Mrs Sked

Cllr Dolan

SKDC Cllr Baxter and the Clerk were also in attendance.

Cllr Yarham welcomed everyone to the meeting. Cllr Baxter then advised members of his correspondence with Persimmon regarding progress with the handover of the allotments, InvestSK funding for project work, and the Leisure centre.

Cllr Miss Moran, for SKDC, then advised members that she would be attending a meeting regarding the Leisure Centre the next day. She also advised members of her discussions with the midwifery service, who are no longer able to use the Health Centre and who urgently need a new local base to be able to continue their service. Cllrs Baxter and Miss Moran have volunteered to use their SKDC allowance to fund the service within the Deepings until Christmas but a new location must then be found to save expectant mothers having to travel to Stamford or beyond.

Cllr Broughton had no report in respect of SKDC business.

7.45pm Cllr Miss Collins left the meeting due to a poor internet connection.

87. Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

Cllr Yarham welcomed members to the meeting.

88. Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllrs Neilson and Lester.

89. Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

There were none declared.

7.47 Cllr Baxter left the meeting.

90. Acceptance of minutes of an extraordinary meeting held on 2nd July 2020

Cllr Yarham asked members if they were to accept the minutes of the meeting. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved unanimously to accept the notes of the meeting as a true and accurate record. The Chairman will sign the minutes when safe to do so.

91. Acceptance of minutes of a meeting held on 12th August 2020

Cllr Yarham asked members if they were to accept the minutes of the meeting. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved unanimously to accept the notes of the meeting as a true and accurate record. The Chairman will sign the minutes when safe to do so.

92. Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, Committees (Planning and Highways), Mayor’s Diary and the Clerk

Deepings First

Cllr Shelton confirmed that the public consultation period would finish on Monday 14th September. He advised members that the new white paper on ‘Planning for the future’ was discussed at the previous Planning and Highways committee meeting and that he would also respond on behalf of the Neighbourhood plan. Cllr Shelton then pointed out inconsistencies in the planning regulations, particularly in respect of S106 and CIL (Community Infrastructure levy) requirements.

7.52pm Cllr Miss Collins rejoined the meeting.

Cllr Shelton also reminded members of the government white paper on ‘Power and Place’, detailing plans for a two tier system of unitary authorities throughout England.

Planning & Highways

Cllr Brookes confirmed that the committee will respond to the white paper on planning. He also acknowledged the ongoing correspondence regarding the Persimmon estate, and said that there were no other issues to report.

Mayor’s Diary

Cllr Yarham had attended the following events:

15/08/2020 – VJ Celebration at the Riverside Park

31/08/2020 – Mayor’s car boot sale on the John Eve field.

Cllr Miss Moran, as Deputy Chair had also attended the above events. She confirmed that £200.16 had been raised for the Mayor’s chosen charity of Sense

Clerk’s Report

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

1. The survey of the Town Hall is due to take place on 16th September.

2. The clerk has contacted NJ Electrical to perform PAT testing in the Town Hall and the Park Keeper’s shed as this is now due.

3. A website accessibility statement is required to be in place by the end of the month. The clerk is in the process of gathering information and preparing a draft policy statement and will submit this to the Policy Working Party for onwards agreement and approval by Full Council.

4. Please see below extract of the new Covid restrictions announced 8th September:

Social gatherings of more than six people in England will not be allowed in law from Monday 14 September

The new rule applies to people in private homes, indoors and outdoors, and places such as pubs, restaurants, cafes and public outdoor spaces

It applies to all ages

The rule does not apply to schools and workplaces, or weddings, funerals and organised team sports

A full list of exemptions is due to be published before the law changes

People who ignore police could be fined £100 - doubling with each offence to a maximum of £3,200

In view of this, would members like to issue statements cancelling Remembrance events and Carols around the Tree, or wait for further guidance? Members agreed that a very small Remembrance event, with no members of the public in attendance, may still be able to proceed and agreed to wait for further guidance.

93. Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

94. 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 Yarham asked if there were any questions. There were none.

b) Accounts to be paid

Cllr Yarham asked if there were any questions. Cllr Miss Collins had been able to rejoin the meeting and, in regards to the August meeting, she asked it to be noted that she is a trustee of the Youth Group on behalf of the council, and also that the Grant Aid payment to the Youth Group was on behalf of running costs. This was agreed and it was then proposed by Cllr Davis and Resolved unanimously that the council pay its bills. See appendix A.

95. For members to discuss the received tender quotations for the creation of the Sanctum Garden and to agree a way forward

Cllr Hembrow had prepared a summary document of the three tenders received and the clerk had circulated this to members prior to the meeting. He believed that Alfresco could provide the best quality work and value for money. They were also able to complete all of the work required. However, all quotes received appeared to be well presented and well-priced. Cllr Hembrow then proposed that the Alfresco director be invited to the next TH&C meeting to answer any questions the committee may have before proceeding. This was Resolved with 9 in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention. Members considered the urgency to act before the bad winter weather takes hold and the ground becomes too difficult to work. It was then proposed by Cllr Yarham, seconded by Cllr Mrs Sked and Resolved with 7 in favour, 2 against and 2 abstentions to authorise the Town Hall and Cemetery committee to instruct Alfresco to proceed with the work, up to a maximum sum of £25000, subject to the committee being satisfied with the interview at the meeting of 16th September. Cllrs Broughton and Miss Collins asked for it to be noted that they objected to this proposal, and accused the chair of acting ‘unconstitutionally’.

96. For members to receive the transfer plan in respect of land to be transferred from Persimmon and to agree the transfer as proposed

Members noted that the terms of the S106 agreement stated that the land should be offered to SKDC before the Town Council, and that Persimmon and SKDC have now agreed to amend the agreement so that the land can be passed directly to the Town Council. As members did not have experience of taking over land of this nature, which includes flood areas, and as there was no experience amongst members of agreeing commuted sums, it was proposed by Cllr Yarham, seconded by Cllr Davis and Resolved with 9 in favour and 2 abstentions that the clerk should seek guidance from LALC and also write to Anglian water regarding any liability with respect to drainage. Cllr Shelton then confirmed that a member of the Neighbourhood planning team who is a planning professional may be able to look at the details on behalf of the council.

97. For members to consider the formation of an Events and Community Engagement Committee and the employment of the required administrator and to agree a way forward (Cllr Miss Moran)

The clerk had provided a copy of the tasks associated with civic events to councillors prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Moran explained the frantic nature of the work in dealing with events that happen quickly and the lack of time to go to Full Council for decisions. The clerks had also asked that the council consider the employment of a non qualified admin assistant to deal with the associated work as and when events could take place again.

The proposal made was therefore two fold: firstly, to establish an Events Committee to enable slicker management of council events, and secondly, for an additional member of staff to be employed in view of the events requiring many hours of organisation and administration. Whilst this is not necessary with current restrictions in place, the proposals were suggested to take place from February 2021. Members discussed the necessity of acting on both these issues and it was then proposed by Cllr Yarham and Resolved unanimously that the clerk should contact Deeping St James PC to ask the remit of their events committee.

98. For members to receive an update regarding the provision of a dog warden and to agree how to proceed (Cllr Miss Moran)

Cllr Brookes thanked Cllr Miss Moran for her preparation work with this issue. The clerk had circulated the details of the two options available to members prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Moran then advised members that the attendant (not known as a dog warden) would work varied hours each week for a suggested period of 6 months to advise residents rather than ‘punish’ them. Councillors calculated the sums necessary to fund the person for a six month period, with option a (normal working hours) calculated at £2496 and option b (out of hours) at £3548. The person would be funded from the AOS and TH& committee budgets. Members discussed the issues regarding education as opposed to policing the issue and it was then proposed by Cllr Miss Moran, seconded by Cllr Mrs Sked and Resolved with 9 in favour and 2 against to employ the dog control officer for a period of 6 months immediately following the issue of the awaited order, with the cost to be shared between the AOS and TH&C committees.

99. For members to receive an update on Digital Council

The clerk advised members that the website was making good progress, with LCC having resolved some of the initial issues, and the contractor employed to transfer data to the new site being helpful and responsive. The email domain provider was somewhat slower but has started the process for setting up a .gov.uk domain.

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

There were none.

101. 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: It was Resolved with 10 in favour and one abstention for the F&P committee to conduct interviews and hire a replacement deputy clerk. It was further Resolved unanimously that the clerk arrange for a temporary clerk. It was then Resolved unanimously to come out of Closed Session.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 9.15pm. The next scheduled meeting of the Full Council will be held on Wednesday 14th October 2020, virtual meeting details will be given when the agenda is published.