November
FOSDYKE PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING FOR FOSDYKE
PARISH COUNCIL
HELD ON THE 5th OF NOVEMBER 2024 AT 7.30PM
AT FOSDYKE VILLAGE HALL
Present: Cllr J Cropley Chairman
Cllr K Gratton Vice Chair
Cllr M Houssain Cllr A Mowton
Cllr C Cropley
Apologies None
Clerk Mrs B Gratton
Admistration Miss C Glenn
Assistant
Members of Public 15 Members of the Public
15 members of the public attended tonight’s meeting.
10 Minute public Forum
The Chairman explained the purpose of the Public Forum. The chairman stated that he has taken Legal advice from counselling governing bodies to now draw a line under previous financial matters this was met with sneering from the Public. The Chairman went on to say that he knows he will be written about on social media for his comments and advised that he will close the meeting to the public if they are not prepared to listen to updates from the council.
A resident asked the question to the Chairman “are you going to publish your legal advice and that the chairman/council is 100% culpable” The resident then made a comment that she has found 9 discrepancies with the accounts that relate to the present clerk. The Clerk made the comment that the external Auditor is aware as are Lalc and the ICO. Some figures have already been amended; the clerk is still waiting for the ICO for further information. The resident wants answers, and she wants to see the solicitor’s advice.
A resident raised an issue regarding speeding on Whitecross gate, it’s a 30-mph limited but they are going a lot faster. The resident asked what can be done about that? The chairman mentioned there are horses also uses the road, and larger vehicles can look faster than they are. A member of public was advised by Cllr Houssain to raise the issues with fix my street also to report the issue to Lincolnshire Police on 101, Fosdyke Parish council will also speak to Lincolnshire highways regarding the issue.
Another resident also raised an issue regarding the state of the roads down Whitecross gate, narrow road and is sometimes covered in mud and road starting to disintegrate and raised the issue of safety. For the elderly residents this is a concern as they feel unsafe on the road with mud on it. Cllr Houssain again advised to contact fix my street with photos and coordinates.
24/55APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
No apologies for absence received.
24/56 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST UNDER THE LOCALISM ACT 2011
There were no additional declarations of interest.
24/57TO APPROVE AS A CORRECT RECORD THE NOTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL HELD ON: 3RD SEPTEMBER 2024
The minutes were not signed during meeting due to discrepancy raised by Cllr Mowton. Cllr Mowton received a copy of the minutes on the 27th of October 2024. A week prior to the council meeting on November the 5th the clerk received no notifications to amend the minutes. Cllr Mowton stated in a phone call [I believe] to the Chairman that he would discuss the discrepancies with him and the Clerk during the week. Cllr Mowton finally emailed the clerk with amendments on Monday the 11th of November 2024. The clerk has amended the minutes of September the 3rd 2024.
24/58CORRESPONDENCE
The Clerk read out the list of correspondence, list is attached.
24/59Finance – accounts and financial information
The clerk read out the accounts for Fosdyke Parish Council, a report is attached.
Cllr Mowton asked where the allotment payments are not shown on the report the clerk has said that this will all be explained under the budgeting sections of the meeting.
24/60 SOCIAL MEDIA
Cllr Houssain stated the Facebook page has 174 followers, 148 visits to page and has reached 208 people
The chairman mentioned that our Website is not simple to use and that we need a meeting with our website provider as the minutes are difficult to find and that we have had a complaint from residents. The clerk will contact our website provider to resolve the issue.
24/61 Allotment's update
Due to still waiting on a copy of agreements and site maps we are currently unable to move forward with this matter, councillor chairman J Cropley has asked councillor Mowton on the progress of getting the documents needed, Cllr Mowton said he has had the allotment agreement over 40 years, and he will provide a copy of this and a map to the Clerk.
24/62Heavy goods vehicle's using bell lane
The Chairman has spoken to contractor and haulage of the sugar beet was completed within a two-week period. This has now been completed for this year. The clerk will contact Boston Borough Council Re Speed limit advisory signs for HGV vehicles using the Bell Lane.
24/63Emergency village group
Councillor C Cropley proposed to Fosdyke Parish council to join an emergency village group with the 5 villages within the area. The idea proposed by councils within the area along with Cllr Cropley and Cllr Cantwell this would involve a WhatsApp group with a committee which would include councillors from the villages, volunteers and member of the public. If one village has an emergency for example flooding of a village hall another village would supply their village hall to help and so on, this is an idea that is still in the planning and will not progress until thoughts are finalised and votes have concluded. Proposed we join Cllr Mina Houssain 2nd by Cllr Gratton
24/64Appointment of administration assistant and clerk salary pay scale
Courtney Glenn has now been appointed as admin assistant to Fosdyke parish council to help relieve clerk Gratton of some duties. Admin duties will involve creating the minutes of the meeting, creating the agenda with the clerk, logging correspondence and keeping on top of the notice board. Miss Glenn is very interested in training within the council next year for all council members and we hope to get scribe up and running towards the end of the financial year which will help decrease workload on the clerk and admin assistant
There will also be an increase in clerk pay in line with government pay scales. To ensure there is no extra cost within the council the clerk will decrease hours to which the administration assistant will pick up these hours in order to keep the hours and cost the same.
24/65 Budget for Fosdyke Parish Council year 24-25
Councillors were given up to date statements for this year going into next year as available
24/66 Any other business
Street lighting has now been completed and in working order.
Councillor Mowton expressed his concerns regarding where the £429.81 has come from regarding allotment's rent. This money was paid into the bank. Chairman J Cropley replied that due to data protection laws he is not allowed to say and the matter has now been finalised.
An update email from James Cantwell was read out by the clerk:
I have drainage leaflets, and I have given some to the village hall for residents interested in their responsibilities when it comes to waterways. Earlier in the year Fozzy’s contacted me about the bottle bank overflowing so I arranged for Boston Council to clear this. The Church Footpath resurfacing is currently being considered as part of this coming years budget so myself and Cllr Brown will continue to push for this to be done. Residents reported that the sign for Low Mill Lane has not been replaced by the borough, I chased this, and they confirmed it will be done in the coming month.
At the recent Boston Full Council meeting I asked a question around the cleaning of detritus between the road and pavement curb in the villages. This is a Borough responsibility to clean and after I asked my questions about the cleaning rota, they admitted there wasn’t one and they will be producing a timetable for this which they will then give to Parish Council’s so you know when your streets will be cleaned. In this meeting I also put forward two motions one to write to the government about the Winter Fuel Payment cuts and for the council to begin local awareness campaigns about eligibility for these payments, this was passed. The other motion asked the Borough Council to create a Rural Strategy, like the Town Centre one they developed, with clear actions points and introducing increased support for Rural Communities. I am happy to say this was passed as well and a report will be present to the Council’s Cabinet about how to move forward, I specified this strategy will be created jointly with Parish Councils.
All the best,
James
Meeting closed at 20:23HRS.