East Kirkby Parish Council Meeting
16th January 2025 19.00 start
East Kirkby Village Hall
Public meeting: Chairman opened the public meeting at 19.10 and welcomed everyone.
Bus shelter: MoP (Member of the Public) updated the council on the situation. Despite numerous emails and phonecalls, there has so far been very little response from F&B (Foundations and Buildings) with regards to the proposed start of the build. There was some confusion as to when we originally had a visit from F&B at the parish councils and the minutes of July 2024 were referred back to where Mr Joyce advised that he already had the agreement of AE Lentons and others from the business park to assist with the costs. With the recent inclement weather, the need for the bus shelter is urgent. MoP will contact F&B again and ask for their commitment to the bus shelter.
Chairman asked if any other MoPs had any issues to bring forward. Chairman closed the public meeting at 19.25. Chairman reiterated that MoPs were welcome to stay, but that they were no longer able to participate.
Present and apologies: Cllrs B Nowicki (Chairman), C Brandwood, V Lingard, District Cllr T Taylor, Members of the Public (MoP), Mrs JH Mussett (Clerk)
Apologies tended and accepted: Cllrs C Warman, C Briggs, County Councillor W Gray
Declarations of interest: None – based on the published agenda.
Update from County Councillor: Report had been distributed to all Councillors.
Climate change & Environmental impact course: ELDC/SELP are committed to every report produced will now be offset against the Council 0% carbon impact targets.
Jim McMahon (Minister of State (Minister for Local Government and English Devolution)) and Victoria Atkins (Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) met with the secretary of State and lobbied for additional funds for the drainage board. It has been acknowledged that it is a problem that needs to be tackled. A request for £10M has been put in as the £3M funds originally assigned have almost run dry. Discussion ensued regarding the potential impact of the large numbers of solar panels and any additional extra impact on the soil by rainwater coming off the panels.
Flooding: New Website has been set up for people affected http://www.lindsey.giv.uk/flooding-jan2025
Cllr Taylor left the meeting at 19.45.
Approval of minutes: Approval of minutes from the Parish Council meeting from October 2024: Chairman ascertained that the Councillors had read the minutes and that they were an accurate representation of the meeting. Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Cllr Brandwood and seconded by Cllr Lingard. Chairman signed a copy of the minutes and will post a copy on the notice board. Minutes are available on the website.
Updates from previous month:
Anglian Water: Nothing new to report.
2024 Remembrance Day: All agreed that the service went well. Chairman mentioned that he'd been round the village advising people that there was a remembrance service on the following day (Sunday) in the church - which was poorly attended. It was agreed that any church service must be better "advertised" and added to the drop leaflet etc.
Chairman invited Ms Yvonne James to join the Parish Council and Ms James was passed all the various forms to fill in. Ms James will fill in and forward to Clerk. Declaration of acceptance of office was signed at the meeting and countersigned by the Clerk.
VE day 2025 Commemoration: Cllr Brandwood suggested that we follow more or less the same format as we did for the D-Day 80 in June 2024 which went really well. The format will be Intro; Proclamation; Lighting and siting of jam jars; Reading of the Tribute (Mr P Donelly from RBL); Light the Lamps of Peace (one for the soldiers (Chairman) and one for the animals requisitioned into the army (Clerk)); Act of Remembrance and laying the VE Day 80 wreath by Chairman); Hymn; National anthem; Thank you and finish off by Chairman with an invite to all those present to come to the village hall for coffee/tea and cakes.
It was suggested that the commemoration service starts at 5.30pm with assemble at he War memorial at 5.15pm.
Cllr Brandwood mentioned the bunting for both the War Memorial and the village hall and will check to see if more needs to be purchased. (Cllr Brandwood and Clerk to ask RBL re the purple colouring for the lantern).
The D-Day 80 was a commemoration of "bringing light into the darkness" and the VE day is a celebration of the end of hostilities in Europe.
Tommy silhouette: Our Tommy silhouette was blown over in the strong winds recently and severely bent out of shape. Cllr Brandwood has taken the silhouette down to save it from further damage. Cllr Brandwood will get any repairs to the Tommy silhouette carried out. It was suggested that the Tommy silhouette be relocated back to the church on a permanent basis and be returned to the War Memorial for commemorations (VE Day and Remembrance Sunday).
Planning applications: None received as of 12th January 2025.
Procedural and Financial Matters:
NALC pay-scales: Chairman suggested that Clerk's wages get raised as of the next invoice to £12.50 per hour in line with guidance from NALC. This was unanimously agreed by all Councillors.
MTFP/Precept: Chairman took Councillors through the MTFP (Medium Term Financial Plan) and advised of the changes and raises to charges and precept discussed with Clerk. In the ensuing discussion, a number of changes to the MTFP were found to be needed and Chairman will update and re-distribute to all Councillors. At which point it will also be uploaded to the website.
Village hall rental: Chairman reiterated that our annual peppercorn rent is £26. Cllr Lingard mentioned this was last paid in 2017 (Cllr Lingard to confirm) and it was agreed that we will write a cheque to cover the period 2017 to 2024 upon either a receipt or invoice from the Village Hall Committee. From April 2025 Clerk will issue cheque to the Diocese.
Procedures: Chairman distributed the updated and finalised procedures to all Councillors. Chairman reiterated the large number of hours spent, by Chairman and Clerk, on getting these finished. These are what Chairman and Clerk consider to be the minimal set of procedures for a council of East Kirkby’s size. All procedures have been uploaded to the website.
Invoices: Clerk advised that RBL and Diane Malley invoices were paid in December 2024.
Chairman asked for Councillors to approve the Clerk’s invoice for wages, which was unanimously agreed and signed off by Chairman.
Chairman thanked all those present for their attention and contribution and the meeting was closed at 21.10.
Any items to be brought before the Council can be submitted to the Clerk via eastkirkbypc@gmail.com
by the Thursday (1 week) before the meeting.
Findings will be recorded in the minutes and uploaded to the website.
Please visit our web-site via:
https://east-kirkby.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/
Meeting dates for the first half of 2025:
20th February; 20th March; 17th April; 15th May; 19th June
Dates are subject to change.
All meetings start at 19.00 and take place in East Kirkby Village Hall.