Minutes APM 2021
Minutes of the virtual Maltby le Marsh Annual Parish Meeting held on Tuesday, 06 April 2021 at 7.30pm via the Zoom platform.
1] The Chairman, Cllr D Whitehouse, welcomed Cllrs B Williams, P Baildon, J Gray, County Cllr G Cullen, the Parish Clerk and one member of the electorate to the Annual Parish Meeting. District Cllr S Harrison sent her apologies.
2] Notes of the last meeting were resolved as the minutes, signed by the Chairman.
3] There were no reports on outstanding matters.
4] Annual report from the Chairman of the Parish Council;
The last year has been unprecedented in its impact Nationally and Locally. Who would have thought that some 2 weeks after our last Annual Parish meeting, we would be locked down to help save us from Covid from China?
Our Meetings since have been remote via Zoom. In this regard I extend a heartfelt thanks to Graham who has organised everything with his usual efficiency. We have now held 6 Zoom meetings as well as the Anne Bolles AGM. Graham has also redesigned the Parish website, no easy job with all the regulatory criteria to meet. Please have a look if you haven’t, you will be impressed.
I would also like to thank my fellow Councillors for their help and advice and especially my Vice Chairman Brenda. Everyone including myself is finally getting proficient with Zoom. Very sadly in August Janet Richmond died. Janet had been a Parish Councillor since elected in 2009. She was always supportive and enthusiastic and is much missed. We were pleased to unanimously elect Jane Gray in November to fill the vacancy. We have been pleased to see Sandra Harrison and Graham Cullen at our meetings. Their updates on ELDC and the County Council are very informative and appreciated.
We have considered several planning applications and tree works and responded accordingly. We have objected to the proposed 32 van touring site at School Farm. We feel the Village already has more than adequate capacity for tourists. This the more so with so few amenities now.
Sadly, the Annual Garden Competition had to be cancelled. Sally Wilby thus has the Anne Graves cup for 2 years. We hope regulations will allow it to be held this year. We have had the seat near the old Post Office repainted which I am sure is appreciated by the users.
We continue to administer the Anne Bolles Educational Foundation. There were no grant applications at the December AGM.
Speeding in the Village is an increasing concern. The large number of HGVs travelling through and several recent accidents have highlighted safety risks. We pursued the problems of speeding from the Louth direction in September. We suggested the 30mph signs be moved further out on Strubby Road or alternatively a 40 mph buffer zone. To date the issue remains outstanding. Philip wrote in February to the Police and Crime Commissioner with copies to Victoria Atkin and the Chief Constable expressing our concerns. We have also held a Zoom meeting with Roisin Mullee the PCCs Safer Together Co-ordinator in March. The matter has been referred to the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. We await their ‘substantive’ response. I mentioned in last year’s report that our pursuit of the footpath from Grange Leisure to Mablethorpe seems to be nearing fruition. I am pleased to say plans to proceed have at long last been agreed.
I conclude by thanking John Alldridge for his excellent Newsletters and he and his helpers for delivering during the epidemic. Thanks also to Robert Aldrich for keeping our Village tidy. In this regard the Village Hall Committee are to become Wombles and organise litter picks. The Parish Council have been pleased to support them. We also thank the several people who have been litter picking in the last year. The Parish Council have also agreed an annual payment, to be reviewed annually, to support the Village Hall.
Let’s hope 2021 will be a more normal year and we can meet face to face again.
5] The clerk reported the Parish Council continues to keep a tight rein on spending, allowing a gradual increase in the reserve without resorting to large increases in the parish precept, which was again kept to 2% this year. The pandemic resulted in some savings, 2 editions of the newsletter were not produced saving £100 and approved footpath clearance work has not yet been achieved by Mr Aldrich, a further £96 saved. However, this work will hopefully be possible in the near future. Since 2011 the reserve has been increased from £2291.93 to a healthier £6057.40 but this does include an election reserve which the Council adds to annually now that it has to pay for any parish elections. The parish precept for a Band D property in 2011 was £15.83, now it stands at £27.54, a rise of only £11.71 over the last 10 years. The Council has also included in its annual budget a payment to the Village Hall, towards the cost of maintenance, equivalent to the tax base figure times £2.
6] The Parish Council had awarded the Village Hall Committee a grant to help cover the costs of its litter picking campaign. This has also been greatly aided by the generous donation of equipment by ELDC.
The seat near the bus stop on main road was painted last year but was already showing patches of rust. After discussion the clerk was asked to contact the contractor to see if he was willing to remedy the problem.
With no further matters put forward the meeting closed at 8.08pm.