2024 Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of Welbourn Annual Parish Meeting

Wednesday 8th of May 2024

Meeting Room, Welbourn Village Hall, Beck Street, Welbourn

Present:

1. The Vice Chairman of Welbourn Parish Council, Councillor Stephen Short took the Chair for the meeting.

2. Cllr Short welcomed everyone to the meeting.

3. Apologies were received from Cllr Peter Overton; Paul Broadbent; Robert Cross; Mary Cross; Rod Storer.

4. Alison Short proposed that the notes of the annual parish meeting held on the 17th of May 2023 be accepted as minutes. This was seconded by Harriet Huntsman. 

4.1 Resolved: These notes be approved as minutes. The Vice Chairman signed these minutes. 

5. Public Forum

5.1 Ann Broadbent asked whether the flood mitigation proposals prepared by Welbourn Flood Working Group (WFWG) had been submitted to Lincolnshire County Council.  Jim Fieldhouse read out an email received from Andrew Baptie, Senior Flood Risk Officer at LCC acknowledging receipt of the report. Mr Baptie explained in his e-mail that there were various meetings and procedures to go through which could take up to three or four months before he could offer a site meeting with members of the WFWG. 

5.2 County Councillor Marianne Overton expressed her opposition to the new Lincolnshire Devo Deal which involves appointing a mayor for Lincolnshire. She also voiced her opposition to the proposed Fosse Green solar farm and the Springwell solar farm. She has concerns that it is proposed to develop a substation to serve these two solar farms at Navenby. The scale of the development is industrial in nature, and it is likely that if the development goes ahead there will be new pylons emanating from the substation.

5.3 Ann Broadband asked whether the Parish Council had established an Emergency Planning Committee. Councillor Stephen Short responded by explaining that Lead Volunteer George Kane (a village resident) was here to explain how the Emergency Plan is to be put together and that it will comprise of volunteer monitors for each street in the village.

5.4 Councillor Marianne Overton said that the Emergency Plan would be very useful if it comes into operation as the emergency services were overstretched during Storm Babet. They were not able to attend to flooded residents in Brant Broughton.  

6. Guest Speaker - George Kane, Lead Volunteer Coordinator Welbourn Emergency Plan

The purpose of developing a community emergency plan is to help prepare us to be ready for emergencies. This will also help support emergency services and relevant authorities by building resilience within Welbourn, making use of our existing resources in the most efficient and successful way. The key aim will be to provide expertise and voluntary support that is safe and proportionate. Also. to help support and focus help to helping the community and responding agencies. The process to be adopted will need to be developed in conjunction with villagers so that there can be a good understanding of the plan and where help, support and resources may be required in the event of an emergency. 
There will be three key stages in forming the plan; 

1.    Planning for the Emergency:  This will involve identifying local people volunteering to support the emergency committee, establishing a community emergency group, identifying the most vulnerable people in an emergency, identifying and preparing for various risks; assessing community skills and resources; assessing insurance and health and safety issues; identifying key locations for shelter; developing an emergency contacts list.

2.   What to Do in an Emergency. This will explain how the plan is activated; running a community emergency briefing meeting; how to evacuate members of the community to a safe place, and how to communicate if telephone or Internet communication is down. 

3.   Practising and Reviewing the Community Emergency Plan. This will involve sharing the plan with Welbourn residents to seek their views and feedback. The plan will also be shared with the Emergency Planning Officer, local emergency responders and the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum so that they will know who to contact in the event of an emergency.

7.  Chairman's Review 2023-24 (This was read out by the Vice Chair, Cllr Stephen Short) 

May 2023 - The coronation bench is unveiled. Welbourn Parish Council welcomed 3 new councillors to the Council.

June 2023 - The proposed Welbourn Emergency Plan is approved. The nature portfolio is created. 

July 2023 - The funding grant of £81K from FCC Communities Foundation is approved. A special thank you to Cllr Bighi for handling the details. 

August 2023 - A survey of drains and gullies is carried out and the results reported on fix my street

September 2023 - After seeking clarification from North Kesteven District Council Planning, the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan states that Welbourn needs to provide 17 houses. However as 2 of these houses have already been built and a further 15 have planning permission, there is no strategic need for any more housing. 

November 2023 - The Parish Council would like to thank Ann Broadbent and David Miller for organising a residents meeting on the 7th of November 2023 to discuss the implications of the flood damage caused by Storm Babet. The Welbourn Floods Working Group has been established. Thank you to the members of the Group for their work so far. 

December 2023  - Proludic contractors complete the installation of the new play equipment at the playing field and Kedel deliver the picnic tables.

January 2024  - The Parish Council agrees to contribute 50% of the insurance premium paid by The Village Hall and Playing Field Committee.

February 2024  - The final VAT payments due to Proludic limited and Kedel Limited is made. These VAT payments have now been reclaimed from HMRC. 200 sandbags are purchased and now stored in the Parish Clerk’s Office. The Parish Councils plans to purchase a large bag of builder’s sand before Autumn. 

March 2024  = 3 allotments are re let and a grass cutting contract is agreed.

April 2024  - The condition of the village pond is reported to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency asked the Anglian Water to check further upstream and found that the water was clean. The Parish Council is informed that the discoloration in the pond is due to rising levels of benthos.

The Welbourn Floods Working Group submits its proposals for flood mitigation to Lincolnshire County Council. This submission has been acknowledged.

Five litter picks took place since the last Annual Parish Meeting. The Parish Council wishes to thank the volunteers who helped. 

Thank you to all the Councillors and officers of the Parish Council for their work throughout the year. 

8. Review Finance Committee 

This was presented by Daniel Bancroft who explained the contents of the following pie charts:

9. Review Personnel Committee for 20/23/24 - This was presented by Cllr Katie Stark. 

9.1 The purpose of the Personnel Committee is to oversee staffing and recruitment matters. The Parish Council has two employees: the Parish Clerk and the Responsible Finance Officer. 

9.2 The Parish Clerk, Jim, has been employed since June 2022. He receives a monthly salary based on a notional 20-hour month. The hourly rate of pay is within the National Joint Council for Local Government Service (NJC) Part-Time Hourly rates as at April 2023. 

9.3 The Responsible Finance Officer, Daniel, has been employed since March 2022. He receives a monthly salary based on a notional 20-hour month. The hourly rate of pay is within the National Joint Council for Local Government Service (NJC) Part-Time Hourly rates as at April 2023.

9.4 The Personnel Committee performed staff appraisals for each staff member in September 2023. 

9.5 The Committee was entirely satisfied with each officer’s performance. The officers were therefore awarded a pay increment. As no appraisal took place in 2022 some back pay was due to each staff member. 

9.6 Current agreed NJC pay scales for 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 were announced on 6 November 2023. These pay scales are often announced 6 months after they become effective which part explains why back pay is sometimes due. 

9.7 This was reported in the October 2023 Welbourn Parish Council minutes. 

10. Review from Planning Portfolio Holder for 20/23/24 - Presented by Cllr Short

10.1 The Parish Council has continued to consider and comment on planning and applications to undertake tree works within the Conservation Area, as reported in the council minutes published on the Parish Council website. 

10.2 The Welbourn Neighbourhood Development Plan appears to remain consistent with the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan which was adopted in April 2023. Advice is being sought from North Kesteven District Council as to any action required. The proposed solar farms nearby and their resulting impact on the environment and the loss of large areas of productive agricultural land, have become matters of concern and this has been commented on by the Parish Council. The proposed Springwell site just across the heath to the east, straddles the A15 and extends to just under 5000 acres. The Fosse Green energy proposal to the west, straddles the A46 and extend to 2478 acres.

10.3 Review of Village Hall Matters - Presented by Cllr Short

10.4 The monthly coffee shop continues to go from strength to strength and is the main source of ongoing fundraising. The Village Hall & Playing Field Committee is appreciative off the 50% contribution from the Parish Council in respect of the annual insurance premium. The play equipment has been installed, funded largely by a grant from the FCC Communities Foundation and a third-party contribution paid from the Parish Council reserves. The Committee again wishes to record their thanks for this. Sadly Ted Moon the former chairman of the Village Hall and Playing Field Committee recently died and his wife Joe has stood down as treasurer of the Committee. They both gave sterling service to the village. The Parish Council extends condolences to Joe and her family. The Village Hall & Playing Field Committee Annual General Meeting is on the 3rd of June at 7:00 PM and everyone is welcome.

11. Closure of the Meeting 

11.1 Vice Chair Cllr Stephen Short asked if there were any more questions prior to the closure of the meeting. Marion Goodhand asked if consideration could be given to the establishment of a footpath from Mill Hill to Groves Hill as she had mentioned at last Annual Parish Meeting. Cllr Short explained that the Parish Council had considered this in June 2023 but resolved that this matter was outside the jurisdiction of the Parish Council. 

11.2 Cllr Short thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 7.35 pm.