July 2023 Minutes
Wyberton PARISH COUNCIL
Mrs Val Austin, Clerk, Wyberton Community Centre, 295 London Road, Wyberton, PE21 7DE
Telephone: 01205 351450
Email: clerk@wyberton-pc.gov.uk
Minutes taken by The Clerk Mrs Val Austin, for the Parish Council meeting at Wyberton Parish Council, which was held on Wednesday 12th July 2023 at 7pm in Wyberton Community Centre
(These minutes will be checked at the next meeting before the council amends/approves them as a correct record)
Present: Cllr Mike Sharp (Chair) Cllr Jason Stevenson (Vice Chair), Cllr Richard Austin, Cllr John Smith, Cllr Steve Slater, Cllr Heather Ainsworth, (Arrived 19:07pm), Cllr Alison Austin (left 20:09pm) & the Clerk Val Austin.
The meeting was called to order at 19:03pm
1. Chairman to open meeting:
• Hello & Welcome
• Before the meeting started Cllr M Sharp, asked if anyone had any comments from the chairman’s opening comments. (Annex A)
• No comments received.
2. Apologies for absence: To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Clerk prior to the meeting:
• Cllr Maxine Stones – Due to holiday
• Cllr Cristina Vannini-Goodchild – Due to a work commitment
3. Public Forum: To resolve to suspend the meeting for a maximum of 10 minutes to allow members of the public to ask questions or make short statements to the council.
• No members of the public were present.
4. Declarations of interest (if any): To receive declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011 – being any pecuniary interest in agenda items not previously recorded on Members’ Register of Interests:
• No Interests declared
5. Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 12th June 2023- To resolve as a correct record and to authorise the Chairman to sign the official minutes.
• With no objections, all councillors agreed for the Chairman to sign the minutes.
6. Lincolnshire County and Boston Borough Councillors Comments:
a) Cllr Mrs Alison Austin:
• Prior to the meeting, councillors received an email dated 7th July 23, (Annex B)
• Will take comments to the Highways officer regarding A16 to the Football Ground.
• To note: All councillors concerned with A16 / London Road with an accident waiting to happen.
• London Road crossing has been approved; no date has been set for installation.
b) Cllr Mr Richard Austin:
• New Mayor Cllr David Brown, & Cllr Richard Austin is Deputy Mayor
• The borough council are considering a medical centre behind The Len Medlock Centre.
• Cllr Richard Austin received 23 letters from 8-9 years old, in an exercise on writing letters, to ask for their school to be classed as a listed building. Cllr Austin advised that the building was not old enough to be classed as such. Cllr Austin was impressed with the letter writing from the children.
c) Cllr Mr Chris Mountain:
• Cllr Chris Mountain, was not in attendance:
7: Update on Items from previous agendas:
a: Village Gateways – Update: - Gates have arrived, waiting for installation date.
b: LHP Land Parthian Avenue Village Green / Play Area:
• Cllr’s R Austin & S Slater have had 2 quotes & a 3rd is in process.
• LHP site meeting required – Cllr S Slater dealing
• All councillors approved & adopted the Safeguarding Policy
c: Footway Lighting – Update:
• Cllr R Austin requested help from another Cllr, too much for one person to deal.
• Update at August 23 meeting.
d: Brown Garden Waste Bin – Now completed – To be removed from future Agenda’s.
e: Website – Update:
• Cllr Jason Stevenson, advised all councillors received a link to the website,
• Website is not yet live.
f. Policies - To note:
• The clerk to add updated policies to Dropbox for councillors to advise on
• All policies to go to full council for adoption.
g: Parish Hall Road Sign – Ongoing.
8: Councillors to discuss & resolve the following items:
8.1 Discuss & Resolve – Go Green - Purchasing of Laptops / tablets for councillors. - Resolved
• All councillors agreed that if they require a tablet to advise The Clerk
8.2 Discuss & Resolve – Funding for the Summer Event
• All councillors agreed to the funding of £350.for the Summer Event
• Cllr Mike Sharp mentioned the Road Hog Bus, Cllr Ainsworth to speak to parents to see if the interest is there for Wyberton to host the bus.
8.3 Discuss & Resolve – Install Bench – Plaque on tree:
• Cllr M Sharp mentioned for the bench to be concerted in place.
• Cllr S Slater to quote for prices on installation.
• Cllr S Slater to advise wording for the plaque, wording to sent to all councillors for comments.
8.4 Discuss & Resolve – The purchase of a Strimmer:
• Cllr John Smith, showed the councillors different strimmer’s
• Councillors agreed the strimmer should have variable heads
• Total cost of strimmer £200.00
• The clerk to action.
8.5 Discuss & Resolve – Areas to benefit within village.
• The clerk sent the list to all councillors by email prior to the meeting.
• Cllr M Sharp advised would have to check Wyberton Parish Council Insurance to see who is covered for working in the village.
• Cllr S Slater is looking for a person that could do some tidying / Mowing / Litter picking around the village.
• To use existing contractors. – To enquire if they are interested.
Potential items for Next Agenda – (Not to be discussed – For next Agenda)
1. Neighbouring Plan:
• Cllr M Sharp asked Cllr J Stevenson to send the link to all councillors with regards to the neighbouring plan.
• Until more information is gained, will not be added to the agenda.
9. Finance
A: Approve Payments of Accounts
All councillors resolved to sign the payment list.
• Payments to be made July 23 - £5,710.97
• Payments made in between meetings - £813.40
• Receipts received from 15th June to 12th July 2023 - £6,587.07
B: Bank statements – Dated 12th July 2023
• Treasures Balance £5,739.44
• Business Bank Insta £113,581.25
C: The clerk has applied to Lloyd’s bank for a debit card – In progress
D: Website Ticket Purchasing – The clerk to speak to Lloyd’s bank with regards to having an online events bank account. (Linked to the main account)
• Councillors agreed to leave as it is at present, with the PayPal account linked to the parish council.
E: Discuss & consider – 2024 – 2025 Spending review for Wyberton Finance committee.
• Cllr Steve Slater requires a spending review with a 3-year plan
• Cllr Richard Austin advised that the parish council should be holding funds for emergency repairs to the community centre & general reserves (running costs) for at least 6 months.
• The clerk to send the budget sheet to Cllr Steve Slater.
10: Planning matters: Town and Country Planning Act 1990 - To consider and make observations on all planning applications received and to note planning approvals, refusals, enforcement complaints and appeal decisions advised by the Borough Council –
To include those received between the day of posting this notice and the day of the meeting
10.1 – B/23/0104 – No objections – Advised BBC via email
B/23/0152 – No Objections – Advised BBC via email
B/23/0207 – Cllr S Slater had some points with regards to this planning, the clerk has advised BBC.
B/23/0198 – No objections – Advised BBC via email
B/23/0214 – No objections – Advised BBC via email
B/23/0201 – No objections – Advised BBC via email.
Next Meeting: Wednesday 9th August 2023 – at 7pm
The Meeting called to an end at 20:27 pm
Chairman’s Opening Comments
Item 1 – Annex 1
Dated: 12 July 2023 Agenda
The elections in May are the beginning of a new four-year session for parishes councils across England, and following the election of the officers of the councils at the May meeting, it is usual then to introduce the policies, protocols and standing orders of the council, and to commence a review of these so that they may be updated as required. It is appropriate for this to follow the Councillor Induction (and Refresher) training provided by Lincolnshire Association of Local Councillors (LALC) which always follows the elections, in order that councillors understand under what authority we act. All should have received a copy of the Good Councillor Guide, and to become familiar with the areas which do and don’t apply to a parish council.
Over half of our councillors were able to attend the LALC induction training this month, and now have a good grounding into the role of our council, including Legal obligations, Code of Conduct, and the ‘corporate body’ responsibility of the council in such areas as finance, and employment of staff.
It is good that there is a wealth of enthusiasm to meet and resolve the ambitions, issues and needs of the community we represent, and to fully use the resources available to us – funded by the residents through the parish precept.
Many of the issues the residents face is the legal responsibility of higher authorities for which residents pay their council taxes; - the Borough Council, the County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner. Others are Central Government agencies such as the NHS, Local Education authorities, the Environmental Agency and many others. It may be said that the role of a Parish Council is to hold all these to account on behalf of the residents. We have no authority to assume roles which are held elsewhere.
As we review our policies, protocols and standing orders we will determine whether our resources are cared for appropriately. They are limited; in terms of property there is only the Community Centre, and our most important human resource comprises just two key employees, the Parish Clerk (also the Financial Officer), and the caretaker/cleaner.
The seven Nolan principles should guide our conduct with all our colleagues
The intention of the review is that we all become familiar with them, particularly with the standing orders and code of conduct. Cllr Jason Stevenson and I have dealt with issues in the past two months where inappropriate e-mails have been sent to colleagues; these are potentially available as a public record to the embarrassment - or worse - of the sender and council.
Committees must meet the legal requirements; this appears not always to be the case. The Standing Orders will advise. For example, notice of all meetings must be posted with an agenda three clear days prior to the meeting. Which is achieved by posting on the notice boards and websites. Social media will shortly be added. There is much more to follow in these standing orders, and they are statutory requirements.
The agenda for the Parish Council meeting is of concern. The standing orders look for a meeting of two hours 30 minutes maximum, and issues resolved should not be re-opened for 6 months. The Proper Officer (Parish Clerk) will consult the chair/vice chair if these restrictions appear to be at risk. Hence not all requests for agenda items can be met.
Wyberton is one of the smaller Parish Councils, with few resources and few responsibilities. Some larger councils have allotments, cemeteries, and welfare facilities. There seems to be no reason for the differences except historical. Wyberton may well need more than it has, and there are processes that could enhance our communities. However, it has a potentially strong and dynamic team which can - and has - achieve much for the community. As a corporate body we will only do so by working together within the statutory framework – so knowing what that is essential!
Chairman: Mike Sharp
Annex B
Good evening
Several years ago, possibly when Andy Wharff was the local Highways officer, a footfall count was carried out on London Road in Wyberton. It established that the section of London Road fronting onto Parthian Avenue opposite the Pincushion etc qualified for a crossing. Wyberton Parish Council was asked to specify the most appropriate location.
I cannot give you the precise date of this, but I was elected to LCC in 2013, so it was after then. I think it was before Kyra Nettle took over as Highways officer. I recall that Cllr Davies may have visited at that time.
Since that time, there have been a number of different Clerks to that council and almost a complete turnover of Parish Councillors. The Parish Council was asked to identify the most appropriate location.
After construction of the new Co-op store, dropped kerbs and tactiles were put in between Parthian Avenue and near the Co-op to assist disabled residents, so that could be the most appropriate location for that crossing and this is what the Parish Council approved.
The Parish Council is shortly to submit a planning application for a children's play area on the large grassy open space on nearby on Parthian Avenue, so this would certainly make construction of a crossing imperative.
It must be borne in mind that for the planning purposes, the SE Lincs Joint Local Plan treats this section of Wyberton as part of the built-up area of Boston. There is a mismatch in that this part of Wyberton has been omitted from Boston's Local Transport Strategy. This should be rectified, please. Regretfully I was the only local County Councillor not invited to be part of the team involved with that strategy.
Funding for this new crossing must be a high priority, please.
Kind regards
Alison Austin