The Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held in Ashwell Village Hall, on Tuesday 25 May 2021, beginning at 7.40pm, following the Annual Parish Meeting.
This was the first face to face meeting to be allowed after the lockdown, social distancing was observed.
Present were Wendy Cheesman; Tony Graveling; Brian Farr; Val Harvey; Ward Councillor June Fox. Clerk was Sally Harnett.
There was one member of the public.
1 There were no apologies for absence.
2 There were no Declarations of Interest.
3 The Minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.
4 The election for the Chair of Ashwell Parish Council was not conducted as there were no candidates for the position. It was suggested that a chair could be elected for each meeting in future. Wendy Cheesman was elected to act as Chair for this meeting, proposed by Val Harvey, seconded by Brian Farr, voting was unanimous.
5 Matters Arising from the last meeting.
A leaflet explaining the work of a parish councillor for Ashwell is pending. There is 1 vacancy on Ashwell Parish Council. It was decided to insert a notice in the Wellspring Newsletter.
The extra work during the last year resulted in significant cost out of the budget for clerk’s wages, and significantly much more commitment for voluntary councillors. It is believed that this has been the same across the county. It was agreed to put the subject forward for inclusion in a future Agenda of the Parish Council Forum.
The Agenda of the Rutland Parish Council Forum is always consulted by Ashwell to decide if there is anything of particular relevance to Ashwell.
List of Good Neighbours and First Responders. It is believed that the First Responders is a body of medically trained volunteers. Constructing The List of Good Neighbours has been tried in the past with an appeal for volunteers, this resulted in no persons replying. However, Ashwell has always had a successful informal system of many people helping wherever there has been seen a need of any sort.
There was some discussion of a possible second defibrillator. Brian Farr will investigate.
The Conservation Area leaflet has been reproduced and delivered to all properties. The Chair expressed the thanks of APC to Tony Graveling and Val Harvey.
The Cottesmore Tip has re-opened with a booking system for 4 days a week, restricted to 18 cars per hour, 6 at a time. It is expected that service will return to normal in June 2021. Ashwell Parish Council campaigned long and often to achieve the reopening.
Councillor Walters at RCC will be asked to come to a meeting to explain Health Matters for Rutland.
6 Finance report by Tony Graveling.
The present balance stands at £13,042.63. The Precept of £4000 requested for the year has been received.
A bank reconciliation of the parish council was carried out on 31March2021.
Membership of LRALC and CPRE for 2021/2022 was renewed as agreed.
The Parish Council Insurance needs to be renewed with effect from 1June2021. A quotation of £291.77 from our present insurers, Zurich, has been received, the same premium as last year. An excess of £100 applies. Other quotations have been looked at. Insurance covers public liability and assets.
It was resolved to renew the insurance with Zurich, at a cost of £291.77, proposed by Wendy Cheesman, seconded by Brian Farr, passed unanimously.
The Annual Return 2020/2021.
Mrs Fiona Tylecote kindly agreed to act as Internal Auditor for Ashwell Parish Council financial accounts for the year ending 31March2021.
Resolution: To approve the Ashwell Parish Council accounts for 2020/2021, proposed by Brian Farr, seconded by Val Harvey and passed unanimously. The relevant documents were signed by the Chair.
6.1 As Ashwell does not have any income nor expenditure above £25000 the council declares itself exempt from an External Audit, the Chair and RFO signed the necessary form. The Annual Return forms will be published on the parish council website as required. Any queries from the general public should be directed to PKF Littlejohn, the appointed external auditor for Ashwell.
6.2 The Annual Governance Statement for 2020/2021 needs approval.
Resolution: To approve the Governance Statement for 2020/2021.
Proposed by Val Harvey, seconded by Wendy Cheesman, passed unanimously.
The Chair and Clerk signed the form.
6.3 The Accounting Statement needs approval:
Resolution: to approve the Accounting Statement for 2020/2021, proposed by Brian Farr, seconded by Wendy Cheesman, passed unanimously.
The Ashwell Village Hall Committee has set out a list of items and costs to complete the refurbishment of the village hall. A total of £3300 would be required. It was suggested that a generous donation could be made for this purpose.
Resolution: to donate £3500 to Ashwell Village Hall using LGA 1976 s 19(3).
Proposed by Wendy Cheesman, seconded by Brian Farr, passed unanimously.
(Val Harvey declared an Interest in this resolution, a committee member of Ashwell Village Hall, and took no part in this item.)
Ashwell Parish Council has received a request for a donation to Rutland Citizens Advice Bureau, a well used service during the present situation.
Resolution: to approve a donation of £300 to Rutland CAB: Proposed by Tony Graveling, seconded by Brian Farr, passed unanimously.
The Clerk was thanked for her dedicated work, and wages of £432 for 36 hours work were paid.
The Chair thanked Tony Graveling for his valuable work on Finance.
6a. Village Hall update.
The notice board, its use to be shared by parish council and village hall, has been ordered.
There has been some confusion between some departments at RCC over licences for benches. These licences are needed for 1 bench and 1 notice board to be placed in Ashwell. It was remarked that the forms needed for licences are not user-friendly.
7 Planning
Yellow notices will continue to be displayed in the vicinity of planning applications.
Some alterations to a property within the Conservation Area have been observed. No notification has been received from RCC, they will be requested to make a site visit.
The fact that parish councillors are expected to observe alterations to the street scene in Ashwell puts councillors in a very awkward position if the system is unclear. RCC will be asked for clarification of their notification system. RCC portfolio holder for Planning is now Ian Razell, he will be contacted.
8 Highways.
There is evidence that cars are driving over the grass on the village green in Cottesmore Road. Highways will be asked to inspect the damage. “Fix My Street” will be notified.
Rubbish dumped on local roads was reported, and RCC came out immediately to collect. Ashwell Parish Council is impressed with the work by “Fix My Street”. Information will be forwarded to the editor of the Wellspring, as anyone can use the facility.
There are still some potholes, these are down for attention by Highways. The subsidence in Brookdene has been given a job number on RCC Highways list, 11003808.
The very bad surface at the junction of Loodle Lane and Oakham Road has been repaired, and can now be ridden and walked over.
There was some discussion about a question as to whether the footpath/cycle route could be extended past the front of Langham Place cottages to opposite the garden centre. For the cottage residents there is nowhere else to park their cars other than across the footpath, forcing pedestrians and mobility scooter users to walk into the busy road. Councillor Lucy Stephenson will be contacted to attempt to make this crossing safer. There is a form on line which could be filled in.
The road surface of Cottesmore Road close to the Museum is reported as still not satisfactory. It is recommended that photos taken at defects and forwarded to FixMyStreet.
The memorial tree and bench for Len Ellis is still pending, the licence for the bench has not yet been supplied by RCC.
Speeding has been a problem, less traffic during the lockdown has meant an increase in the speed of cars driving through the village. PC Laurie Appleton will be asked to organise more presence in Ashwell, Cottesmore Road is a problem area. Another effort will be made to form an Ashwell Community Speedwatch group. Efforts to get 40mph limit signs on the approaches to the 30mph limits in the process to try to improve the safety of residents will be continued.
Flooding at the junction of Water Lane and Cottesmore Road continues. The stream is now due to be dredged in July, but no date has been given for the removal of roots growing in the drain. APC will keep asking for updates.
The drains at the junction of Woodside and Cottesmore Road need properly clearing out, as they constantly block after rainfall.
The Parking notice at the village hall is misleading, in the past Police have said there must be no parking on that bend, yet the notice advises most of the vehicle should be parked in the road, with one side being on the kerb. APC will request its removal.
Mobility scooter users face a very dangerous crossing at the junction of Langham Road and Oakham Road. The only crossing is adjacent to a blind bend, there have been near misses experienced. Highways will be asked to inspect.
Impaired visibility for drivers at the bridge on Cottesmore Road near to Eastfield Farm was reported, and an inspection was made by RCC, who found no problem. APC decided that this was not satisfactory, and that there was a problem on the approach to this narrow bridge. RCC will be contacted again, Robert Salt informed that an officer was willing to meet.
Woodside/Cottesmore Road junction alterations to road markings have provided some slight improvement, but visibility for drivers emerging from Woodside is still very impaired.
Residents will be reminded that they should make a log with photos of any incidents to inform the police.
9 Correspondence
Clerk has attended all Zoom meetings held by RCC concerning parish council matters during lockdown. Clerk has received weekly Roundup emails from RCC. Notes from both have been circulated to parish councillors.
Rutland Conversation set up – it was accepted that APC had already done much work towards the Local Plan. RCC will circulate the results from all the surveys during the Rutland Conversation scheme.
APC has asked for the bus route between Peterborough to Nottingham to be re-installed.
The Rutland and Stamford Sound broadcasting station is available, information will be forwarded to the editor of the Wellspring.
The open letter to MP Alicia Kearns, published in the local press, was discussed. The Local Plan focussed much attention on the sale and development of St George’s Barracks by the Ministry of Defence. This Local Plan was not accepted by the council, and the control of the finances involved will now go back to MOD. If there is a question of breach of contract the Plan could still come back to Rutland. If there is no Local Plan there could be unsupervised development. The difficulty is that some information is sensitive and not in the public domain. Ward Councillor June Fox will keep APC updated.
10 Police
The local beat team send information by email every month, Ashwell is in a low crime area.
The Neighbourhood Alert system is good, notifications of problems are posted frequently. Individuals can join the system. A reminder could be put in the Wellspring.
11 Public Forum (notes)
There was discussion concerning housing developments locally, and the danger of developers not putting in any infrastructure. It was stated that the lack of a Local Plan must exacerbate this danger.
12 Any Other Business for the next meeting.
Rutland Local Plan.
Rutland Conversation.
More social contact between residents of Ashwell.
13 The date of the next meeting is 7 September 2021.
It was noted that the closure of the A6003 at Manton was due to reopen on 5 July, with penalty clauses of £10,000 per day after that.
Further closures on Brooke Road have caused some chaos for drivers trying to bypass the Manton area.
The A606 will also face some closures around 3June and again 19June for resurfacing.
The request for an update on the Travellers in Green Lane, APC emphasised it was not a complaint, resulted in a visit to the site by an RCC officer, who informed that environmental health at the site was satisfactory.
The meeting was declared closed at 21.25.
Ashwell Parish Council – News and Publications
