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Minutes of the meeting of Heather Parish Council held on Monday 24 October 2016
at the David Taylor Memorial Hall, Heather
Present:
Chair Person – Councillor Alison Wright
Councillors Peter Fell, Phil Harris, Steve Pettitt, John Petty
In Attendance:
Mr R Bebbington, Ashby 20 Race
Mrs Marina Brooks, Scarecrow Festival Committee
Mr & Mrs D. Farmer, residents
Mrs J Shepherd, Parish Clerk
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Phil Cureton.
Declaration of Interests are as stated in the Register of Interests
Mr R Bebbington was in attendance at this meeting to notify the council of the details of what
has been done to enable the Ashby 20 Race to proceed with as little disruption in the
community as possible. The race has been held annually for twenty years but was originally
around Ashby. The by-pass made this impossible and so a different route that
encompassed a number of outlying villages was put in place. Road closures were forced on
them by legislation. This has caused one ore two problems in the past but they are trying to
work with affected residents, businesses, Parishes and churches to prevent the problems in
the future. The race next year will be held on March 19th and the route will be the same as
last year. Then organisers have already been in touch with Cattows Farm, Simon at the
Crown and the landlord of the Queens Head.
The first runners are expected to go through Heather at around 10.30am and the last around
2.00pm. There will be many marshals on the day – they have a team of 200 volunteers for
the event along with 100 litter pickers. The District Council do the litter pick for the busier
roads.
Money is set aside from the event for the Community Fund and councillors need to be aware
of what this money can be used for.
Questions were invited and were as follows:
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The road closure in Heather was just at the time when the Church service was
starting and this caused great difficulty for those who always drove to church –
because they were unable to get there.
Comment was made that it was good for the money raised to go back into the
community.
£10,000 has been raised over the last five years for local charities.
There are 1500 runners. Applications opened last week and it was fully subscribed
in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Richard has agreed to ensure that the church is contacted and the vicar to ensure
that there are no “special services” e.g. Christenings on that week.
Councillor Wright thanked him for his attendance and for the information shared and Mr
Bebbington agreed to keep us informed of any further information that he thinks relevant to
our village.
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90.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of Heather Parish Council held on Monday 26 September 2016
were confirmed as a true and accurate record and signed by the Chair Person.
91.
MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising from the last meeting which were not part of the agenda.
92.
PUBLIC QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
Scarecrow Festival Committee – Marina Brooks, the treasurer, presented the Parish Council
with two gifts:
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The sum of £2200 was given to the council to pay for the hanging baskets for the
season from Spring 2017.
The sum of £500 was given to the David Taylor Memorial Hall. It was suggested that
it might be possible to obtain better signage for the hall from Swepstone Road and
use this money towards that. There had been a number of comments that it was
quite difficult to find the hall if you were not aware that it was there.
She said that the Festival Committee had raised £7000 this year and the majority of that
money had been given to organisations in the community. Just a small amount was kept
back to enable the process to begin again for next year.
There was some difficulty in obtaining volunteers this year to cover the Football Club and the
Village Hall. There was a suggestion that the Village Hall could be used for programmes
and toilets with just one person on duty but that presented them with real safety concerns.
They are hoping that the army cadets will be on duty on the second weekend next year.
Marina was thanked for her attendance, the update and the gift. The clerk will write to the
Scarecrow Festival Committee.
Traffic at School – residents were notified that the police were intending to visit the village at
the close of the school day to see the situation with traffic.
HGV’s through the village – John Clarke was going to monitor but he was unable to attend
this meeting so we have no update at this time.
93.
COMMUNITY POLICING
There was no report from the local Beat Officer at this meeting.
94.
DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS COMMENTS
There were no District or County councillors in attendance at this meeting.
95.
REPORT FROM ALLOTMENT CO-ORDINATOR
The clerk had received a complaint from a local resident about a bonfire being lit on a really
sunny afternoon. The rules and regulations state clear guidelines on the lighting of fires.
The content of this section was brought to the attention of a new allotment holder and a new
copy of the rules and regulations sent to ensure that all allotment holders were aware.
The allotment co-ordinator had no further matter to bring to the meeting.
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96.
REPORT FROM THE VILLAGE TREE WARDEN
There was no report from the Tree Warden at this meeting.
97.
REPORT FROM THE HERITAGE WARDEN
There was no report from the Heritage Warden at this meeting.
98.
ACCOUNTS
The following accounts were ratified by the Council:104.34
Bulbs from Parkers, paid by clerk and claimed for
The following accounts were approved by the Council:384.00
Clerks salary
37.70
Clerks expenses
681.00
C J Springthorpe as per invoice number 11111
85.13
C J Springthorpe as per invoice number 11115
2995.00
SDI Gardening, grounds maintenance contract
The following income was received by the Council this month:131.82
Western Power re wayleave fees
526.50
LCTSS Grant
5473.50
Second half precept
Village Hall costs this month:96.00
Cleaners fees
106.55
British Gas
Village Hall rents received this month:60.00
Visage Art
30.00
Kettlercise paid in September
100.00
Yoga paid in September
The statement for Heather Parish Council was received.
The statement for Heather Recreation Ground was received.
The Bank Reconciliation for Heather Parish Council to 30 September 2016 was received.
This will be forwarded to the internal auditor, placed on web site and filed for audit purposes.
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The Income and Expenditure Spreadsheet has been updated to date and was received by
the Council.
The council were notified that all necessary information has been input and actions
completed for the HMRC and information for 2016 to 2017 is now up to date.
The council were informed that the work required to comply with the legislations for Pensions
in the Workplace has now been completed. The clerk ensured that the council were aware of
their responsibilities with this legislation as it is the employer that takes responsibility for this
work.
The clerk has not yet received any information from UtilityWise in relation to new service
contracts. When it arrives, she will forward it to them by email.
SDI had given a quote of £130 to deal with the trees that we asked him to look at. This was
accepted and he is to be asked to carry out the work.
99.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Applications
16/01169/FUL
The Ashes, Newton Road
single storey dwelling in
place of current dwelling
Decisions
there have been no decision notices this month.
The clerk has checked the weekly planning lists. There is nothing more listed and we have
received no notifications. All planning applications and decisions are available to view on
NWLDC website.
There has been no further information relating to any of the large applications submitted to
date, nor have we heard that the LCC have submitted an application.
Licence Applications
No new applications this month.
100.
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VILLAGE ISSUES
The Play Area Inspections have been carried out this month on 3rd, 10th, 16th and 24th
October. It was reported that Matthew Springthorpe had been to look at the gate at
the Belcher Close Play Area and he said that the cost for all the fittings and the
labour was huge for such a small item. Councillors Fell and Harris will go and check
it out again on 25th October and report back to the next meeting.
The clerk has met with Mr A Clarke relating to the position of the defibrillator and he
has made some suggestions for it. He was not happy about it being too close to the
Phone Box. He has, therefore made another suggestion to the clerk and the
councillors were very pleased about his suggested siting. It was, therefore, agreed
that the defibrillator will be ordered.
The fees for the allotments, the cemetery and the Garden of Remembrance were
reviewed. It was proposed by Councillor Petty and seconded by Councillor Fell that
the allotment fees remain the same for the next year. All were in favour. It was
proposed by Councillor Wright and seconded by Councillor Petty that the Garden of
Remembrance fees remain the same for next year. It was also proposed by
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Councillor Wright and seconded by Councillor Petty that the fees for the cemetery
remain the same for next year. All were in favour of this also.
The council Standing Orders were reviewed. It was agreed that we appoint a vicechairman of the council at the next meeting.
Financial Regulations; Disciplinary Policy; Grievance Procedure and Environmental
Policies were reviewed. It was proposed by Councillor Pettitt and seconded by
Councillor Fell that all remain as they are currently. All were in favour.
The Risk Assessment document was checked. It was agreed that the cemetery would have
a weekly check when the play areas are being checked. It will be added to the book. This
was proposed by Councillor Pettitt and seconded by Councillor Fell with all in favour.
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101.
The clerk reminded the councillors that residents and councillors can now contact the clerk
via the web site. You can also find out what is happening at the David Taylor
Memorial Hall by clicking on Community on the left-hand side of the home page and
then clicking on “What’s On”
The minutes of the residents forum at Cattows farm are available for perusal by
councillors. The clerk will put on web site so that residents can also access them.
The clerk has had no further correspondence relating to the Countywide Accessibility
Policy Review. She, therefore, assumes that we have not been selected to be a part
of that consultation group.
We have received notification of a Boundary Review being undertaken by the
Boundary Commission relating to Parliamentary Constituencies. The object is to
make all of the constituencies more equal. It involves changing the constituency
boundary in a number of locations. The proposed changes would take Heather out
of North West Leicestershire and into Hinckley and Bosworth. There was some
debate on whether this meant for everything or just the parliamentary boundaries.
The clerk is to check that out. Our MP is opposing the changes stating that the
number for North west Leicestershire constituency is within the parameters agreed
for the representations so why change. He has sent a letter asking us to support his
alternative proposals. The clerk will progress this and report by email to councillors.
VILLAGE HALL
1. Land Registry – the clerk has contacted them and is progressing
2. Face Book page continues to be updated by Katherine Wright. The councillors thank
her form doing this for us.
3. On Line diary – see the new web site
4. The clerk has received a request for the Village Hall to be used for the County
Council elections in May 2017. This was agreed.
5. No further correspondence has been received in relation to the remedial work form
received from the County Council.
6. It was suggested that the Parish Council should try and be more involved with the
Scarecrow Festival Committee particularly in relation to the actual weeks of the
festival.
102.
CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS
Councillor Wright asked if any councillors had any comments or concerns to be brought to
the meeting. They were as follows:
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The stile on Mill Lane has still not been repaired
The stile at the allotments has still not been repaired
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The clerk is to write to County Highways relating to these two items.
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103.
There is a huge pile of rubbish that has been dumped on Heather Lane. One of our
councillors noted that most fly tipping seems to be done on the days that the Coalville
Site is closed. The clerk is to contact the County Council to make them aware of this.
She had telephone about the fly tipping and it had been removed when she came
down to the meeting.
The clerk is to contact SDI relating to the reseating and fixing of the loose slabs on
the footpath.
The two clocks have now been put up.
The Chair Person recommended that we purchase a new strimmer. She will make
enquiries about the cost and type.
The clerk is to contact the County Council relating to the grass cutting contracts for
the grass verges in the area. SDI have quoted a price of £308 per cut. We will find
out if the County will allow any sum for us to do the work under our grounds
maintenance contract.
DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCIL
The District Council have sent information relating to the Remembrance Day parade and an
invitation to be responded to. Our councillors will all attend the parade and service in
Heather.
104.
CORRESPONDENCE AND CIRCULARS
Hags advertising
Wicksteed Playgrounds
Clerks and Councils Direct
Pomona Fruit catalogue
SLCC General meeting notification
Clerk, the magazine of the SLCC
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
28TH November 2016; 23rd January; 27th February; 27 March 2017
There will be no meeting in December.
The meetings will be held in the David Taylor Memorial Hall.
Web site address – www.heatherparishcouncil.org.uk