2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Dunston Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 1st March 2021

PRESENT: P.Cllrs R. McLuckie (RM) (Chair), P. Moore (Vice Chair), L. Phillipson (LP), R. Churchwood (RC), P. Duncan (PD), G. Armstrong (GA), W. Haggerty (WH), D. Cllrs N. Bryant and Clerk R. Boden (RB) 

1. APOLOGIES: C.Cllr R. Kendrick and D.Cllr L Pearson

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None

3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: The minutes were held to be a true and accurate record. 

4. REPORTS:

COUNTY COUNCILLOR R. Kendrick

• Bulletin will be sent out shortly.
• Blocked culvert advice – matter outstanding 70/21

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR Nick Byatt:

• The Future Additional Restriction Grant is now open on the NKDC website until the 19th March.
• The Census will be held on the 21st March and will mainly be held online.71/21

5.DUNSTON PC REQUIREMENTS:

a.CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Russ McLuckie: 

No road planings were left in the village hall grounds. 72/21

Yarn Bombing: The idea has grown considerably and extra areas around the village may be needed. The Green and Cllr W Haggerty’s hedge could be done along with areas outside the Village Hall and the Church. 73/21

b.Lead Roles for Councillors: It has been mentioned before about each of the Councillors having a specific area. This was discussed and the following agreed:

Linda Phillipson – History of the Village. Photos and articles to be made available on line. Sheila Redshaw has an amount of information on Dunston and has done something similar for Nocton. ACTION: RM to give LP phone contact.
Linda Phillipson – Police Liaison Officer.
Geoff Armstrong – Financial Oversight Lead
Ross Churchwood – Planning Lead
Paul Duncan – Grounds Maintenance Lead 
Wendy Haggerty – Highways
Pauline Moore – Village Hall
Russ McLuckie – Chairperson

Hopefully this will help engage the community into communication with the Parish Council with areas outside the Village Hall. 74/21

c.CLERK’S REPORT:

Clerk’s paperwork has been collected from Louise and the financial paperwork is nearly ready to collect. Louise completes on her house in Germany at the end of this month. ACTION: RB to contact Louise to see if paperwork is ready to collect.75/21

6.HIGHWAYS: 

a. Speed Controls. 

A proposal was made to place White Speed Gates at both ends of the village (Lincoln Road/ Dunston Road) to encourage drivers to slow down as they entered the village, as an addition to the speed limit signs. 

It was agreed to apply to establish the costings and then bring these back to the PC and discuss/ vote. Prop RM/ Sec RC. ACTION:RB 76/21

b.Village Access Only Sign: Matter Outstanding. 77/21

7.PLANNING: 

Application 21/0237/TCA, Front Street. Approved.78/21

Application 19/1482/OUT, Potato Store. The appeal date is set for the 17th March at 10.00am. RC has stated that he would like to attend the appeal on teams. ACTION RC 79/21

Extra: Apply to land registery to confirm if land been acquired by Nocton House. ACTION RB 80/21

8.ENVIRONMENT ISSUES:

a.Ongoing Sewage Issues in Fen Lane: There is still the ongoing issues though this has calmed down with a dry spell in the weather. RB has forwarded any correspondace that she receives from Mr Plummer. The 3 new housing developments towards Metheringham have been approved and these will effect this issue. 81/21

b. Quotes for bench bases: Three contractors were approached for quotes over the bases. One replied and explained it is not in their remit and only one of the others actually put in a quote of £2,400. It was discussed the breakdown of the costs and that some savings could be made on it.

RB has asked for two other companies to quote and has given an extra 10 days. Other names from around the village were mentioned and they are going to be approached. 82/21

c. Hedges: LP has been approached by a member of the public with concerns over an overgrown hedge. Whilst discussing this a further three hedges were identified of work that needs to be carried out of trimming them back. 
ACTION: PM to write a generic letter to send to these houses.

It needs to be minuted that homeowners need to be aware that they may be obstructing the footpath with their hedges especially at this time of year. 83/21

9. PLAYING FIELD: The recent incident at the playing field has been closed but HB will be asked if she can keep an eye on and remove any debris that flakes off from the rocks. ACTION: RM to speak to HB. 84/21

10. VILLAGE HALL:

a.Management Committee Feedback: The DVHMC previously met the week prior where funding  was discussed regarding the costs of repairs/ capital purchases for the Village Hall.

It was brought to the PC to ask if they would fund the costs of repairs/capital purchases with DVHMC agreeing to make a contribution towards their net costs (with PC then claiming VAT back).

This was based on our understanding from the VH meeting that at the current time this work/purchases was able to be financed by DVHMC because of the grant monies available.This is all subject to normal financial process of obtaining 3 quotes etc.The Parish Council agreed this proposal. 85/21

b. Ownership & Responsibilities: As requested by the Village Hall Management Committee it was discussed who was responsible for repairs/maintenance to the fabric of the building, given that the PC own the building.

The PC confirmed that they are the legal custodians and have overall responsibility for insurance and maintenance of the building and grounds.

They also have a view that the PC & DVHMC have always worked in partnership to keep the VH as an asset for the community and would wish to continue with this approach. 86/21

c. Forward Planning: With respect to maintenance, improvement of facilities and ability to contribute financially, an improvement in communications is needed in order to have a shared vision and plan ahead.

ACTION: To be discussed directly between the Chairmen of the PC & DVHMC with a view to having a ‘memorandum of understanding’ in place. 87/21

11. FINANCE: As of 19th January 2021

The Parish Council also curate an account holding funds allocated to preservation work on behalf of the Trout Project. The current balance is £9,300.45. 88/21

12. PUBLIC ZOOM MEETING:

It was discussed as to the date of the meeting and it was felt that the meeting could be held within the normal meeting time of the Parish Council. The aim of the meeting is to invite the local community and groups within the community to engage with the council and discuss what the council does and can do for the residents of Dunston.

The meeting will be publicised through the Limespring, the PC noticeboard, the nextdoor app and facebook. ACTION: RB Limespring/ Noticeboard. PD Facebook/ Nextdoor App

The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on the 5th April at 7.30pm via Zoom. 89/21

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING:

Monday 15th March 2021 at 7.30pm via zoom.

Meeting ID: 883 592 6322     Password: 1Bsbxr
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8835926322?pwd=RHEQIBpaFZxOWhmTDBmMIUzSkdtUT09

The meeting closed at 9.07pm