2024 Rauceby PC Minutes of Meetings

DRAFT Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
email: raucebypc@gmail.com, website: https://rauceby.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk
Minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 20 November 2024 at 7.30 pm at the Village Hall, South Rauceby. 

Present:      Cllr S Enstone (in the Chair), Cllrs G Hall, G Enstone, M Ireland, P Ireland, B Balderston, and M Froggatt; R Wright of LCC, J Clarke of NKDC and the Clerk, Mr I Grady. 

Public speaking time: There were no members of the public present. 
1. Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Cllrs J Malloch and J Hoare of the Parish and Cllr J Clarke of NKDC.
2. To receive any Declarations of Interest: None were received.
3. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: None requested at this stage. 
4. To approve as a correct record the notes of the meeting held on 18 September 2024: Unanimously approved; the Chairman signed the minutes. 
5. Rauceby Gigabit Project: Cllr S Enstone reported that the project has finished successfully and that it will formally close at the end of November. He said that Openreach had confirmed that there was no residual liability on the Parish Council regarding unclaimed vouchers. There will be no more routine Gigabit Project reports. 
6. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters if any: 
NKDC:   Cllr A Hagues referred to the NKDC newsletter distributed to councillors earlier in the month. Its subject matter included items on the Winter Fuel Payment, Council Tax Support Scheme Consultation, the Sleaford Monument Gardens and a warning about a Universal Credit Scam currently going the rounds. As this newsletter has a wide distribution in the NKDC area no further detail will be given here.
LCC:   Cllr Wright repeated his appeal of the last meeting for all to take note of any recent road works/repairs and to report any abandoned temporary road signs to the Highways Department (via FixMyStreet). This is to ensure that contractors give value for money and that they do not walk away from badly completed work.
He also offered to give the council some stickers for residents to attach to their waste bins reminding motorists of the local speed limit.
Police:   No representative was present to make a report.
7. Planning Applications 
Received from NKDC (This may include plans received after the agenda was circulated):
i. 24/1302/TPO| Sycamore tree - fell.| Rauceby Hall Park Pinfold Lane South Rauceby NG34 8QE. No Objections were raised at the regular meeting of Rauceby Parish Council. Submission to NKDC completed on 23/11/24.
ii. 24/1310/TCA| Well Plantation - remove young, dead and diseased elm.| Well Plantation Surrounding 28 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QG. No Objections were raised at the regular meeting of Rauceby Parish Council. Submission to NKDC completed on 23/11/24.
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting
iii. 24/1110/LBC| Alterations to roof to include new tiles and roof timbers and trusses, removal of roof dormer and replace with 3no veluxs and additional first floor window to rear. | 46 Main Street, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QQ. No Objections by Planning Sub-Committee of Rauceby Parish Council. Submission to NKDC completed on 16/10/24. Approved by NKDC.
iv. 24/1002/TCA|T1 Plum - Reduce by 1.5m to previous reduction points as per photo T2 Cherry - Fell and remove. T3 Ash limb - Side to the boundary fence, approximately 3m. T4 Aspen - Deadwood the lower canopy from the ground only. |The Old Chapel, Chapel Close, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 8QZ. (Item was added after initial publication of the agenda in order to enable discussion at this meeting.) No Objections were raised at the regular meeting of Rauceby Parish Council. (Submission to NKDC completed on 19/09/24.) Cllrs G Enstone and S Enstone excused themselves from the discussion about this application. Approved by NKDC, TPO not served.
8. Matters Arising and New Business Notified to Clerk prior to meeting
i. Maintenance of Village entrance sheep signs. The clerk described a report on behalf of Cllr Malloch to the meeting explaining that he has received a quote from a contract painter (the same person who painted the telephone kiosk). Cllr Malloch has not yet received a quote from a contractor who could repair the plinths. It was decided to hold the matter over until all the costing information has been received. We are aware that refurbishment cannot take place in winter.
ii. Speed monitoring in the village. Our application for a grant from the Rural England Prosperity Fund to purchase two monitoring devices was unsuccessful. At the meeting it was considered that we could purchase one using our own accumulated funds, and accordingly a new quote for a single device has been obtained from Elan City and was given as about  2250 (excluding VAT).
In addition to these events, discussions have been held with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership regarding them installing a system to monitor temporarily the traffic movements in the village. This could only be done at the earliest by April 2025 because inclement weather necessarily causes a reduction in overall speed levels, which would skew results. Again the meeting considered this was a good approach and we will contact the officer in charge to make arrangements. 
The officer also mentioned that he may be able to supply further information about different (possibly cheaper) monitoring devices and also a set of mile-limiter signs (speed limit imposed over a yellow background). 
Action Nov (1): Chairman (to contact officer)
Action Nov (2): Clerk (to monitor project)
iii. PCC Crime and Policing Survey. It was considered that this should be carried out by individual members as they see fit.
iv. Emergency Planning. A request to examine our Emergency Planning arrangements was made by NKDC via their regular newsletter. Cllr Wright reinforced the message by stressing the importance of such plans, especially those concerned with flooding and the handling of any aftermath. There is a large amount of helpful guidance available to generate such plans. 
Action Nov (3): Chairman (to follow up)
v. Provision of Gritting Bins. LCC has already agreed to supply, free of charge, a one tonne bag of salted grit for the winter. They have also said that they would also supply a bin if it is located in a place that qualifies for a free installation. It appears that outside the village hall may be a qualified location. It was agreed that if the village hall management agrees then the clerk will apply for the installation of a gritting bin outside the VH. There is some urgency as bad weather is predicted.
Action Nov (4): Cllr Balderston (to contact VH management)
Action Nov (5): Clerk (to follow-up after VHM agreement received)
vi. LCC Community Wildlife Grant. After discussion, it was decided not to proceed with this item.
vii. Local Government Services Pay Agreement 2024. This discussion was deferred until the end of item 10.
viii. Litter picking event report-back. The litter picking event carried out in October was, again, successful and many bags of rubbish were collected by volunteers. NKDC removed these from the area. 
Another event was proposed for next April which was agreed. Apart from the benefits of clearing rubbish, it is seen as a community get-together. All residents are invited to participate.
ix. Free trees offer by Woodland Trust. This is a regular generous offer by the Woodland Trust. Once again, the PC declined to take up the offer as there is no obvious location for planting to take place.
9. Update on Outstanding Matters 

i. Actions from previous meetings:

10. Financial report
i. The financial report was approved and signed off by the Chairman.
The Current account stands at £8074.37 as of 15 October 2024.
ii. This month's payments were approved:
* I Grady: Expenses (RBL Wreath) £20.00
* I Grady: fees (2 months) (GDPR)
* Stuart Clegg Associates (Payroll management) £25.20
* HMRC: PAYE (GDPR)
* Village Hall hire fees (July, September 2024) £37.00
iii. The Savings account stands at £10,000 at 28 August 2024 (interest will be added at the end of the FY).
iv. Lloyds Bank has notified the PC that it will be imposing account charges from the new year. They include a monthly standing fee of £4.25 and a cheque handling fee. It was agreed that the clerk would explore using on-line banking facilities at Lloyds to avoid the cheque handling fees. This could save about £45 a year (which includes savings on postage). 
We have had reasonable service from Lloyds Bank and it was felt that changing to a new bank would not merit the inconvenience. It was also thought that other banks would eventually follow suit regarding bank charges.
Action Nov (6): Clerk (to follow-up with Lloyds Bank)
v. Local Government Services Pay Agreement 2024. (This item was deferred from earlier in the meeting.) It was proposed and seconded to hold this item in closed session. The councillors from LLC and NKDC and the clerk of Rauceby PC were asked to leave the meeting to enable the closed session discussion to take place.
When the closed session was completed, the clerk was notified that it had been agreed that his salary be increased by one spine point and in line with the national pay agreement, backdated to April 2024, the effective date of the national agreement.
11. Any Other Business:  Any matters which have arisen after the agenda was published. 
i. The Village Hall Management has asked the PC whether it has any records concerning the roof solar panels purchased by the PC in about 2015 with ownership subsequently transferred to the Village Hall. It appears they may be able to claw back some feed-in expenses from the electricity supplier if they can prove ownership. The clerk holds no records going back that far but he will ask the bank if they can supply a bank statement containing the relevant details. 
Action Nov (7): Clerk (to follow-up with Lloyds Bank)
12. Date of Next Meeting: The meeting closed at 20h40. The next regular meeting will be held at 19h30 on Wednesday, 15 January 2025 at Rauceby Village Hall. 

Matters which have been raised in meetings and which may be considered further at a future date:
* South Rauceby Well refurbishment: deferred until more appropriate.
* Watching brief on requirement for EV charging points for the public and for residents who do not have off-road parking facilities (originally discussed March 2024).
* Councils  new duty to prevent sexual harassment: when more information becomes available about how compliance is to be managed the Clerk will prepare a policy document for adoption by the PC (originally discussed March 2024). 
* The Council shall keep a watching brief on the progress of the Rauceby Foundation re-wilding project at the plot of land on Main Street ear-marked for a public leisure area (originally discussed May 2024).