Minutes of Irnham Annual Parish meeting, 15th May 2019
Minutes of Irnham Annual Parish meeting
Held in the Wedding Venue, Irnham Hall, on Wednesday 15th May 2019 at 7pm
Present:- Cllrs Amanda Ayre, Jenny Crow, Lynda Hall, Trevor Vanson.
Parish Council Clerk: Jenny Crow
Also in attendance:- Cllr Nick Robins, Andrew Norman (SKDC) and 3 residents.
1. Apologies for absence
a. Cllr Jon Crook, Sir James Benton Jones BT, Mr T Bagge.
2. Approval of last year’s minutes
a. In previous years the Minutes of the AGM had been approved at the next PC Meeting. The Minutes were approved last year on 27 June 2018.
3. Matters arising
- None.
4. Chairman’s report on the work of the parish council during the last year (Full report available on the website.)
a. Thanks were given to the Clerk and Councillors for the work they have done during the year. Cllr Ayre has continued to work with LCC Highways to improve the state of the roads in the Parish and we are at last seeing some improvement. Cllr Hall has worked hard to ensure fly tipping is dealt with appropriately. Cllr Crook, since joining the council during 2018, has lead on advice re security systems for the Parish and also followed up work from the Big Clean. Cllr Vanson works to keep a pleasant environment in Hawthorpe. Work in the Parish has included the siting of the bench in Bulby, the development of the old Telephone Kiosk in Bulby as an Information Point, arranging the Christmas Event, working with the Big Clean, local residents and arranging for extra grass mowing to ensure the environment in which we live remains attractive. The Parish Council also contributes towards the upkeep of the churchyard for the benefit of all parishioners. The Book Exchange in the old Telephone Kiosk in Irnham is very well maintained and well used and the water pump has been repainted and the surrounding area mown and replanted. Thanks were given to all who support the community by taking on these tasks in a voluntary capacity. This has also enabled the precept to be kept low at £1500. Broadband has continued to be a focus for the Council. Irnham is due to be completed this week. Bulby will hopefully be completed in the next two months and we await final details of the scheme for Hawthorpe.
5. Finance report for 2018/19
a. The Precept was increased by £100 to £1500 to allow for possible Election expenses in May 2019. Councillors planned a very strict budget, covering legal requirements with very little funds available for special projects.
b. The Community Cleaner Grant has continued this year, from SKDC, and a full year payment of £407 was received. Cllrs are very grateful to all who help keep the Parish free from litter.
c. Major expenses: Contribution to Irnham Churchyard Maintenance £500.00, Insurance £250, Bulby Bench £355, Notice Board for Bulby Information Box £106. A laptop computer system and printer was purchased from the Transparency Code Grant of £600. This grant has now been used and was a one off payment.
d. Main Account has a balance of £2084.05. £100 is earmarked for election costs. £1984.05 is therefore carried forward to 2019/20. The Defibrillator Fund has a balance of £5843.46.
e. The accounts have been audited by Martin Fuggle and under the arrangements for authorities with income and expenditure less than £25,000 an Exemption Certificate has been sent to the Auditors PKF Littlejohn.
f. Councillors formally approved the accounts as a true record of our income and expenditure at their meeting on 17th April 2019. They were signed by the Chairman.
g. Documents are formally available for inspection for a set period of time and this will be Monday17th June to Friday 26th July 2019.
6. Report from parochial church council representative
a. Cllr Ayre reported that builders are still to be appointed for the new toilet facilities. The PC request to install some bird boxes in the lower churchyard has been agreed subject to final siting being agreed with the Church Wardens. The Church Roof has been made watertight following the theft of the lead and the work is due to be completed soon but has been held up due to illness of the contractors.
7. Public forum on work of parish council and future priorities
a. Cllrs invited Andrew Norman, SKDC, to make a brief presentation about the CiCLE event which will pass through Hawthorpe and Irnham. Mr Norman outlined the 4 main reasons for the event as:
A major event for Bourne. (Grantham, Stamford already have large annual events)
Economic Benefits.
Enable villages as well as Bourne to be part of the event.
Engaging schools in a community event.
There will be 3 professional races and one sporty event of 54km over the two days, 31st August/1st September. West Street in Bourne will be closed all weekend and there will be other events taking place at the Wellhead.
Two races will pass through Hawthorpe and Irnham on Saturday afternoon, one race on Sunday afternoon. The Peloton will pass very quickly and have Police escort to clear the route.
Cllrs have requested an old bike to decorate and display along the route and are planning to organise afternoon tea outside the Griffin Inn. Anyone who could decorate an old bike in the traditional yellow colours or would like to help with the afternoon tea is invited to contact the Clerk, Jenny Crow, to offer assistance.
b. Cllrs invited Cllr Nick Robins to update residents on the work of SKDC. Cllr Robins thanked local people for their votes in the recent District Elections. Cabinet positions have still to be decided but Cllr Robins hopes to be more available in the District. The Councillors grant of £1000 is available for local projects. Cllr Robins also informed the meeting that the Big Clean is to become the Little Clean. There is a portal on the SKDC web site where residents can notify the team of ‘grot spots’.
c. The Clerk informed the meeting that all parishes in SKDC are entered into the Best Kept Neighbourhood Competition. Judging starts on 27th May with a second round commencing on 8th July. Judges were very complimentary last year and so we hope to do well again this year. Residents are thanked in advance for their support with all the efforts to keep the Parish tidy. Cllr Ayre is following up the work being done adjacent to the footpath entrance to Callan’s Lane wood in Bulby. This has now exposed some dilapidated railings. The brash from the work will not be burned until after the bird nesting season.
d. A resident raised the issue of speeding motorists through the village. The PC has looked into further action which could be taken as part of the Lincolnshire Speedwatch campaign. The possibility of using some funds in the Defibrillator Account to purchase an interactive sign to display actual vehicle speeds will be looked into.
e. The Clerk has received an application form, to complete, to obtain permission to erect a structure at the entrance to the village. Cllrs are considering gates at the side of the road to try to make it clear to motorists they are entering a village. Cllrs will discuss this further at the next meeting.
f. The Clerk informed the meeting that faster broadband should be available in Irnham from Friday 17th May. It is also anticipated that Bulby will be connected by the end of July. Residents in Hawthorpe may benefit from the new cabinet in Irnham but further work will be required.
g. The Chairman informed the meeting of the kind invitation, from Jamie and Leila Benton Jones, for all residents of the parish to attend a soft opening of the Griffin on Friday 24th May from 6.30 – 10.00pm with a welcome speech at 7.30pm.
h. Residents and Cllrs had a brief discussion, to share information, about security cameras.
8. Date of next meeting:- Wednesday 31st July, 7pm. The venue to be confirmed. The Annual Parish Council Meeting and Annual Parish Meeting in 2020 will be on Wednesday13th May.
Meeting ended at 8.20pm.