Minutes 2021/22

SWINSTEAD PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of the Annual meeting of the Parish Council held 13th May 2021 at 6pm:

Present Cllr B Lynch, Cllr C Lunn, Cllr L Underhill, Cllr J Ashby Cllr D Plowright & C Hatch (Clerk)

1. Public Forum: One member of the public attended the forum. During the 15-minute forum the resident asked if the PC are considering any events to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee on the 22nd of June 2022. The council thanked the resident and advised this will be discussed at a future meeting.  
2. Election of the Chairman. As is Mandatory, the Chairman resigned his office. The Clerk invited any Councillors who wished to be candidates for the Chair to say so. The outgoing Chairman stated a willingness to serve again, and was elected unanimously.  Cllr Ashby was elected as Vice Chairman.
3. Apologies: None
4. Receive Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011:  None
5. To approve the draft minutes of 11th of March 2021 Zoom meeting: These were adopted unanimously.
6. Matters Arising: None.
7. The Chairman's Annual Report. The Chairman presented his Annual Report for the benefit of those attending the meeting. The report will be posted on the Parish Website https://swinstead.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ and viewed at the end of these minutes.
8. Councillors' Reports:
   1. Cllr N Robins SKDC reported, Elections went very well with all staff working hard and efficiently to count all the different elections. 1st Phase of restoring and improving River Witham ecology centres on Queen Elizabeth Park. Consultation closes on June 6th. 97% response for census. May 17th is the last date for online applications. Our SKDC call centre answered 121,000 phone calls and 30,000 emails. Phone calls down 12.5% and online up 65%. Environmental Officers seized music equipment in Mkt. Deeping. Locally, he spoke about Community Speedwatch initiative, Croake Hill and Archer Surveys.
   2. Annual Governance Statement and Financial matters. The Clerk confirmed, as both Income and Expenditure are less than £25,000, the PC need only complete the Annual Exemption Certificate.  This year the audit and Certificate will be completed by Fiona Hatchman of Additions Accountancy.

Accounts Statement 2020-21. The Clerk presented the Annual Accounting Statement to the Councillors, there were no questions. Prop Cllr Underhill, Sec Cllr Lunn.

9. Phone Kiosk: The Councillors discussed the possibility of purchasing the Phone Kiosk in the High Street for a cost of £1 from BT. Then using it for the benefit of the community, i.e, Book or Seed swap shop. The Clerk will consult with BT regarding the usage of the Kiosk, number of calls etcetera.
10. Highways: The Councillors were pleased with the work Highways had carried out on the potholes in and around the Village. The Clerk to report potholes outside Eager Farm.
11. Village Christmas Tree: Cllr Ashby advised, Christmas Trees of the size we had last year cost in the region of £80-150, orders should be placed by September this year. Prop Cllr Lunn Sec Cllr Underhill. Cllr Ashby also hoped to expand the Santa Run from Swinstead to other Villages in the area.
12. Correspondence: The Chairman had received a letter from the Church Warden, thanking the PC for their kind donation the previous year and would the PC consider a similar gesture this year. After discussion, a donation of £350 was agreed unanimously.
12. 1 The Clerk received an email from Ian Duncombe notifying the PC of a Fun Run planned for September 12th. The run is in memory of youngsters who sadly left us too soon and to raise money for sport equipment for The Ron Dawson Sports field.  
13. Any Other Business: Cllr Lunn raised concerns regarding parking on the pavements causing inconvenience and obstruction to members of the public. A letter will be sent to all residents of the Village requesting courteous parking.

The Clerk advised the PC of the progress of Martin Tonkin who has had major surgery whilst in hospital. The PC would like to thank all those who have sent messages of good will to Martin on his behalf.

14.  Date of the next meeting 17th of July 2021 18.00 Swinstead Village Hall. (Members of the public most welcome).

Chairman’s report

After a strange year living and working through global pandemic and all the problems that has created for the parish council tonight is a welcome return to face-to-face meetings.

Our Zoom meetings, something new to us all have been well organised by our Parish Clerk Chris Hatch so thanks to him for his help with those.

It was gratifying to see the village come together to help people who were isolating, this was done by village individuals as well as the Parish Council, so thank you to everyone who helped or offered help in whatever way they could.

The village had its own Xmas tree which was donated by the late Bunny Robinson and installed by Councillor John Ashby and Johnny Hawkins.
The flower troughs at the entrance to the village have been well maintained thanks to the efforts of Janet Andrews and Chris and Jenny Hatch.

The Jubilee Orchard on Creeton Road is an ongoing project of replacing fruit trees that have died or suffered deer damage.

Speeding through the village is still a problem and probably always will be as we don't meet the requirements for regular police speed traps.

Thanks to all the Parish Councillors and public who helped with the Brambles removal at Croake Hill.

I hope that we will live in better times thanks to the countries fantastic NHS vaccination program and that as Parish Council we will continue to be able to meet face to face and I urge everyone to have the vaccination when it is made available to you.

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