2020 Meetings

Folkingham Parish Council
MINUTES OF the ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING
held on Thursday 21st May 2020
Item Action
1) Welcome & Introductions
The meeting commenced at 19.32
NB: During these unprecedented times of the Global Coronavirus Pandemic, this meeting was held remotely via a web meeting –
with each Cllr calling in from their own home. This had been communicated and members of the public invited to join and/or to
submit questions in advance via telephone or email.
The Clerk (EW) welcomed those present at the web meeting – Cllr Weston Smith (HWS), Cllr Richard Clark (RC), Cllr Lucy Robb
(LR), Cllr Watson Grant (JWG), Cllr Sturrock (DS), Cllr Lack (CL) and also Cllr Booth (AB) who joined later. The Clerk stated that as
the Annual Meeting requires a new election to the position of Chair and Vice Chair, she would lead the meeting until item 4 on
the agenda, at which point she would pass control to the newly elected Chair.
3 members of the public also joined the meeting, who were thanked for taking the time to join.
The Clerk reminded members of the public of the requirement to remain muted unless invited to speak and requested that at
Public Questions (Item 8), they should indicate a wish to speak by raising a hand or typing their question in the chat function.
Apologies – Apologies were received from PCSO Sandra Brommell and Cllr Martin Hill (LCC).
2) Declarations of Interest - There were no declarations of interest.
3) Annual Chair’s Report for 2019/20
Please see separate documents.
4) Annual Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2020-21
a) Chair to Council
i) The Clerk asked any Councillors wishing to stand for the position of Chair to make themselves known. Cllr Hannah
Weston Smith indicated her interest.
ii) As no other submissions were received, the Clerk invited this nomination to be seconded. Several Councillors
seconded the proposal so Cllr Weston Smith was elected as Chair to the Council for 2020/21.
b) Vice Chair to Council
i) The Clerk asked any Councillors wishing to stand for the position of Vice-Chair to make themselves known. Cllr
Richard Clark indicated his interest.
ii) As no other submissions were received, the Clerk invited this nomination to be seconded. Several Councillors
seconded the proposal so Cllr Clark was elected as Vice-Chair to the Council for 2020/21.
The Clerk thanked the newly elected Chair and Vice-Chair for their continued support to the Council and passed control of the
meeting to the newly elected Chair – Cllr Weston Smith.
5) Notes of the Annual Meeting held on 16th May 2019
The notes of the Annual Meeting held on 16th May 2019 were approved as the minutes.
6) Annual Financial Report
a) Approve 2019/20 Accounts for audit submission
The Clerk provided an overview of the Annual Accounts in full for 2019-20 – which Councillors had been provided with in
advance of the meeting. The Clerk reminded those present that the FPC financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March.
i) FPC donated a total of £850 in Community grants - £350 to the Children’s Christmas Party and £500 to the Village
Hall towards the costs of refurbishing the flooring.
ii) Profits from the extremely successful Folkingham Feastival & Craft Fair had totalled £1,576.99 after expenditure
and this had been shared between the Village Hall Committee, the Millennium Green Committee and the Parish
Council – resulting in payments of £525.66 to FVH and MGC.
iii) FPC have also spent £2,463 on grass/hedge cutting and have supported St Andrew’s Church by paying the cost of
the Clock service and a contribution to reflect approximately 50% of the churchyard grass cutting costs – an
amount totalling £1,417. Two skips were also provided for use of residents at a cost of £594. £2,665 has been
spent on traffic calming methods – including the new gateways which were reported at last year’s annual meeting
but actually fell into this year’s accounts and some additional 30mph passive speed signs. £520 had also been
spent on allotment repairs.
iv) £8,175 had been brought forward from 2018/19. FPC receipts totalled circa £17,636 received from the precept
(from villagers Council Tax), grants, allotment rent and funds raised at the 2019 Feastival/Craft Fayre. Total
outgoings for 2019/20 totalled circa £14,613.
v) The Clerk reported that the budget for 2019/20 has been very closely adhered to and that the amount carried
forward from 20018/19, along with receipts from the Feastival had been utilised to offset any extra expenditure
(such as festival costs). The Council’s finances were better than expected and we expect to carry forward £11,198
into 2020/21. The Clerk reminded those present that Councils are expected to maintain a contingency of a
minimum of £2,000 and to aim for the equivalent of one year’s precept (in the case of Folkingham this is £11,000).
This puts the council in a comfortable position for the year ahead.
It was noted that:
 Council Finances are available to be viewed after submission and approval by the auditors and will be published after
this, later in the year.
It was agreed:
 To approve the figures detailed on the Annual Audit Return. The Clerk will submit the return within the deadline.
b) Approve draft budget for 2020-21
The Clerk had provided the Council with details of expenditure versus budget for 2019/20 and a draft budget for 2020/21 in
advance of the meeting and these were reviewed.
It was noted that:
i) in some areas we appeared to have overspent against the budget but this was largely due to accounting or
invoicing issues – for example we were presented with several late invoices for grass cutting from 2018/19 that
were paid from the 2019/20 financial year and the cost of installing the new gateways was not invoiced until the
2019/20 financial year when it had been budgeted for in 2018/19.
ii) FPC had not budgeted for any expenditure on the allotments, yet had spent £350 on fencing repairs.
iii) The Council will carry forward £11,198. The budget predicts an approximate income of £13,500 and approximate
outgoings of £12,500
Following a brief discussion and voting by all Councillors, the following amendments to the draft 2020/21 budget were
agreed:
iv) To reduce the traffic calming budget from £2,000 to £1,000 to reflect the fact that no major initiatives are planned
this year.
v) To use the £1,000 traffic calming budget reduction to increase the playground budget from £200 to £1,200 to
reflect some repairs and maintenance required.
vi) To increase the Skip hire budget to £650 to reflect anticipated price increases.
vii) To cap the grass cutting contribution to St Andrew’s Church at £780 per year, as opposed to the previous
agreement of 50% of the cost of 8 cuts – this allows this area of the budget to be more controlled.
7) Annual Committees Review
The Chair acknowledged that the previously agreed committees had not been run as anticipated during the previous year and the
Council agreed that this should be a focus in the upcoming year.
a) Finance Committee
i) No changes – Clerk, Cllr Weston Smith, Cllr Clark
b) Traffic Committee
i) no changes – Cllr Weston Smith, Cllr Clark and Cllr Watson-Grant
c) Allotment Committee (alongside the existing allotment committee)
i) No changes – Cllr Robb, Cllr Sturrock and Cllr Booth
It was noted that Cllr Lack had joined the Council since the committees were last agreed. It was suggested that it would be useful
to have a Communications Committee, which Cllr Lack’s skills would be well suited to. It was therefore agreed to form a
communications committee as follows:
d) Communications Committee – Cllr Clark, Cllr Lack and Cllr Booth
At 20:05 the matters and requirements of the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Council were concluded and the agenda moved on
to standard Parish Council Meeting matters.
8) Public Questions
The Chair noted that 2 public questions had been submitted in advance but first invited members of the public who had
joined the meeting to ask questions.
a) Chris Clark – spoke representing the Folkingham Village Hall Committee – he shared that FVH Committee have
offered free use of the hall to Billingborough, Osbournby and Ingoldsby primary schools – those bookings will take
priority.
b) Chris Clark – asked for it to be noted that as a trained First Aid trainer he was keen and happy to run courses to train
villagers to use the machines and assist with their maintenance. Parish Council to work with Mr Clerk as he is
prepared to take this on with a Councillor’s support.
c) Footpaths (received in advance)
“I'm not sure if the parish council are the correct people to contact, but may someone look into please as it is a
safety issue within the village. I live next to the public footpath that leads to Billingborough Rd and recently have
been asked by walkers how they can get to the new footpath on the corner of the A15 entering Folkingham
(Sleaford side). This entrance appeared a couple of months ago. The only way I can see them accessing this new
footpath is either via a private field with no stiles or signs, or walking down the A15 from the village. The later
seems ridiculously dangerous; there is no separate path from the road, and is approaching the corner just after the
speed reduction. I have recommended neither option, but thought I would seek clarity when asked in the future. If
possible, can you provide clarity please?”
It was noted that this is not a new footpath, but rather an amended one. The Parish Council has no jurisdiction over
footpaths. Parishioner referred to highways.
d) New entrance on A15 (received in advance)
“Does the Parish Council know anything about the new opening that has appeared on the South end of the village
off the A15 near the Mill Cottage?”
It was noted that several other parishioners had asked this question. FPC have no further information nor have
they received any planning applications in relation to this. Parishioner referred to planning and highways.
9) Notes of the last Council Meeting held on 19th March 2020 to be approved
The notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 19th March 2020 were approved as the minutes.
10) Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
11) Updates from SKDC/LCC
No updates were available.
12) Traffic Calming Update
It was noted:
a) The 30 mph passive speed signs have been removed and have been down for some time.
b) It is likely that future rotations will alternate between West Street, Walcot Lane and the main A15/Market Place.
It was agreed:
c) Signs will go up within the next 2 weeks on West Street, Walcot Lane and Churchfields Road.
HWS/RC
13) Playing Field
It was noted:
a) Rent is still outstanding for the Pavilion from 2019 and 2020. The Clerk has sent Pete Stanton another invoice for
pavilion rent and a request for a water meter reading.
b) A member of the public had noted several families using the playground despite the signs noting its closure. The
entrance gate has been cable tied closed and several signs erected around the perimeter for some time; however, the
larger gate used by contractors when cutting the glass has been seen open. It is believed this gate had previously been
padlocked shut so vandalism to gain entry is suspected.
It was agreed:
a) Outstanding work on the playground still to be completed.
b) Combination padlock to be obtained to secure the large gate. Clerk to advise grass cutting contractors when complete.
LR/EW
14) Grass Cutting
It was noted:
A previous query about responsibility of an area at the top of Kime Close had been resolved.
Nothing further to report.
15) Allotments
It was noted:
a) 9 out of 10 rents for 2020 have been received. On chasing the 10th it transpired the tenant wanted to give notice. This
plot has now been allocated to the person at the top of the list with rent paid.
b) 1 person is on the waiting list for the next available plot.
16) Village Green
Nothing to report
17) Folkingham Flyer
It was noted:
a) Cllr Clark has an edition in draft. Cllr Lack to assist in production and publication. It had been suggested that perhaps
FPC could contact Tony Buchan of The Voice to see if it is possible to include a double paged spread from FPC within an
edition of The Voice, though The Voice is currently only available online.
RC/CL
It was agreed:
a) All Councillors and the Clerk to provide a piece for publication. Photographs particularly welcome. Communications
committee to decide on the way forward.
ALL
18) Planning
It was noted:
a) Application for some tree felling/removal has been submitted.
b) S20/0558 – 2 story dwelling on Low Farm Drive submitted
c) The Clerk has added a new page to the website for planning applications and outcomes. The page also contains a link to
the SKDC planning portal for easy searching of applications
19) Finance
It was noted:
a) All payments and receipts were reviewed.
It was agreed:
a) All payments were approved.
The village skip usually arranged for around the time of the Easter Holiday was also discussed. It was unanimously agreed that
it would not be appropriate for this to go ahead given the current advice and restrictions. It will be postponed until an
appropriate time.
EW
20) Training Update
The Clerk continues to circulate training dates available to all Councillors. Some training is now available online.
The LCC training for the new FPC website that the Clerk was due to attend on 30 March has been cancelled due to the
Coronavirus pandemic. The Clerk awaits further updates.
All Cllrs
21) Correspondence
a) CORONOVIRUS: Please let us know if you require any support or you are offering any support that you would like us to
communicate. The Clerk will update the website as frequently as necessary with information on the Covid-19 support
available.
b) Covid-19 Response thanks – A Letter from Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and
Local Government was received thanking Local Councils and Parishioners for work undertaken during the Covid-19
pandemic.
c) Planning Applications – communication from an organisation offering support in the preparation of Neighbourhood
Plans was received. It was agreed to retain this information in case of future need when the current situation is more
stable.
EW
22) Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 9th July 2020 at 7.30pm. Please also note that it is highly likely that
this meeting will also be held remotely – members of the public may submit any questions in advance.
It was agreed that:
 Notes will be published within 28 working days of the meeting
 The Agenda will be published at least 3 full working days in advance of the next meeting
 Items to be added to the agenda must be provided to the Clerk no later than 7 days before the meeting.
23) Close - There being no further business the meeting closed at 20:31
Future Meetings:
Confirmed:
9th July – 7.30pm
Provisional:
17th September – 7.30pm
19th November – 7.30pm