July 2019 Minutes
MAREHAM LE FEN PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on 24th July 2019
Chairman Cllr J Huggins.
Vice Chairman, Mr P Chilvers.
Councillors:
Mr P Bourn.
Mr R Cox.
Miss P Fytche.
Mr A Hawkes.
Mr D Loveridge.
Mr C Wentzell.
County Councillor B Aron attended the meeting.
3 members of the public also attended.
2876. Apologies for Absence.
District Councillor S Avison sent his apologies.
2877. Declaration of interests.
Cllrs R Cox and A Hawkes declared an interest in item 11 on the agenda, the extension of the grass contractor’s contract.
2878 Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council meeting held on 19th June to be approved.
The following items were pointed out, number 2866 had been included twice, the second one will therefore be changed to 2866A, secondly County Councillor Stan Avison left the meeting before the Parishioners not at the same time. Following these alterations, the minutes were approved by Cllrs, proposed by Cllr Wentzell and seconded by Cllr Chilvers. The Chairman signed the minutes.
2879. Matters Arising.
The forms had been taken to the bank to alter the signatories.
The new Cemetery plan had been done by Cllr Cox and he was thanked for doing this.
2880. Correspondence.
A letter had been received asking the Parish Council to contact the owners of the Lawns and ask them to cut their hedge. The Clerk had done this and the hedge had been cut, the Clerk will write and thank them.
A Parishioner had phoned the Clerk to ask whether the Parish Council had been informed of the planning applications at Sideways, Lammins Lane. The Clerk had informed her that it had been discussed at the previous meeting, but she would check the website to ensure no alterations had been made to the original planning.
LCC notified that there would be a temporary traffic restriction on 04/08/2019 for the Country Show at Revesby.
A Parishioner emailed the Clerk to ask if the subject of benches for the Village could be included on the agenda. Unfortunately, the agenda had already been done and publicised. The email was read out at the meeting and this will be included in the August agenda.
2881. Planning.
No planning items had been received this month.
2882. Mareham le Fen Community Centre Trustees, re refusal to accept Parish Council’s nomination.
Following the letter received from the Mareham le Fen Trustees saying that neither of the Parish Council nominations were acceptable due to “significant conflicts of interests”, Councillors asked the Clerk to contact the Charities Commission and ask for their advice.
2883. Should ELDC be approached to reduce the number of Councillors.
Councillors discussed this and decided that they wished to keep 9 Councillors. The Clerk will put up a notice to ask for other nominations.
2884. Finance.
The following items were presented for payment:
£22.00 Mareham le Fen Community Centre rent of room June meeting
£409.50 Mr D Lawrence grass cutting etc June 2019
£487.00 Mrs S Hendy salary & expenses ¼ to 30.06.19
£264.00 HMRC tax on Clerk’s salary
£114.00 Bowls Club hall rent to January 2020
£17.50 LALC magazine subs
It was proposed by Cllr C Wentzell and seconded by Cllr J Huggins that these were paid, all voted in favour.
2885. Report from Cemetery Committee.
The Cemetery Committee had been to the Cemetery and identified several problems. The most important at the moment is repairing the road from the gates and repairing the roof on the Chapel. Other items can be done later. Councillors said they would be able to paint the green waste and soil compounds and paint and repair the chapel door. It was suggested that the vents in the Chapel roof could be used for owl or bat boxes. Cllr Chilvers will discuss this with the Owl/bat Trust. The Clerk will contact ELDC to check whether the Chapel is a listed building.
They said that a gap had been left to put in a path to the new plot but it would not be necessary to put a proper path in until it was to be used.
A letter had been received from the secretary of the Mareham le Fen Community Centre complaining about the lack of grass cutting carried out on the 3 footpaths around the Community Centre and damage to the Village Green sign on Main Road.
The wild flower planting was discussed again, Cllr Huggins had contacted a seed firm and said the seed could be purchased for approx. £83, however the ground would need to be cleared ready for Spring planting. It was suggested that Parishioners could be asked to help. Cllrs will investigate sites where wildflowers could be planted and report back at the next meeting.
2886 Purchase of phone for Clerk.
Councillors discussed the purchase of a pay-as- you go mobile phone for the use of the Clerk. All Councillors approved of this, proposed Cllr Hawkes, seconded Cllr Loveridge. The Clerk will purchase this.
2887. Purchase of new plot for the Cemetery.
No news had been received re the purchase of the new plot
The Council discussed the burial charges for the Cemetery, these were compared with charges at 3 other local Cemeteries. It was decided to leave the Parishioners charges at their current rate but increase the costs to non-Parishioners to £400. This was proposed by Cllr Chilvers and seconded by Cllr Wentzell, all Councillors were in favour. A notice of charges will be put on the notice boards and on the Chapel board and also sent to the local funeral director.
Cllr Fytche suggested that there should be a defined area for the scattering of ashes at the Cemetery where the Council could put some plants and perhaps a bench.
A letter had been received (from a relation whose grandparents had a plot in Mareham Cemetery) to ask for details of the reserved plot. The Clerk will reply.
2888. Grass Cutting and Management.
Councillors discussed extending the Contractor’s contract to 2 years which would enable him to purchase new equipment to improve the standard of work. Cllrs decided to extend the contract as everyone was very happy with the work carried out by Mr Lawrence. This was proposed by Cllr Chilvers and seconded by Cllr Wentzell, 2 Cllrs abstained and everyone else approved.
A Parishioner was unhappy that the grass in front of his property had not been cut as well as other areas in the Villagers. Cllr explained that it was only cut twice a year (as per the cutting contract with LCC) and it had been cut once and would be cut again to get it to a good standard. The Clerk will write to the Parishioner.
2889. Mareham News
Cllrs thought it would be a good idea to try and Parishioners involved in helping with the Cemetery upkeep, preparing and planting of wildflowers. Cllr Hawkes will include a request for help in his magazine article.
It was suggested that a profile of Parish Councillors could be included in the magazine but Cllrs did not want this included.
2890. Parish matters and items for the next agenda.
Cllr Aron was asked to chase up the road sign repairs.
The Clerk was asked to contact ELDC again regarding the damaged street signs, these have already been reported and also chase up the painting of the benches.
The Chairman had been approached by Parishioners complaining about not having a path from the Community Centre to the Church. Cllrs said the Parishioners should contact the Trustees , it was not a Parish Council issue.
Cllr Avison said that details of the siting of any grit bins required would need to be sent to LCC during the next few weeks, Cllrs were asked to decide where they thought grit bins would be beneficial. This will be discussed at the next Council meeting.
Cllr Aron said that the dinosaur exhibition next to the Usher Gallery would be finishing in September.
The meeting closed at 8.45 pm.