2024 Annual Parish Meeting

STICKFORD PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH  

Venue : Stickford Community Centre, started at 7.30pm on 14th May 2024

DRAFT MINUTES

No. of Residents present : 10          Official attendees read Y for attending N for non-attendance
Chairman Councillor Mrs Lesley Reeson       Y       Councillor Tony French                         Y
Vice Chairman Councillor Mr John Howlett   Y       Councillor vacancy                    N
Councillor Mr Clive Kingswood                   Y        Councillor vacancy                               N
Councillor Mrs Pam Bryant                        Y        Parish Clerk Mrs Nicki George                 Y
Lincs C C Councillor Mrs W Bowkett           Y        ELDC Councillor Mr Terry Taylor            Y

1.   The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all present. 

2.   Update and Matters Arising from last Annual Meeting of the Parish held 9th May 2023 : 

1)   Speed Limit on Fen Road, from bridge up to Poppypole Lane. No change as continues to be outside of the village curtilage, so will remain at 60mph, with 40mph as an advisory limit for when the road is bumpy. 

2)   Floppy bollards erected along side of dyke on Hagnaby Lane. Highways did put these up for road safety. 

3)   Control of traffic that park on bend on Hagnaby Road. Following a consultation with Councilllor Bowkett and 2 members of the Highways team, a clear white line has been painted along the centre of Hagnaby Road. Manholes have been made safe on the pavement. No double yellow lines have been done. 

4)   No recent sightings of the vehicle that was parking at the top of Hagnaby Road.

5)   Two defibrillators have been positioned, one on either side of the village, after fund raising by a newly formed Community Group. A big thank you is extended to all involved in successfully completing this project.  A much valued and welcomed addition to the facilities available to all villagers. 

6)   Bin collection along Catchwater Bank. No change but residents accept the process available to them ie. Plastic bags instead of purple bins for recycled items. 

7)   Road sign of Catchwater Bank. No change. Fortunately, the postal delivery people know the various names that refer to Catchwater Bank. For Council tax purposes it is known as Drain Bank, Post Code it shows as Fen Road. 

Approval of Minutes from 9th May 2023: all agreed to approve the Minutes and the Chairman signed them. 

3. Annual Reports : 

1) Chairmans Report :  

The Parish Council has continued to provide support to residents, village groups and assets. We have continued to report issues from trees to potholes and everything in between to the relevant authorities. We continue to provide grants to village groups. This year we updated the village assets with a new Parish noticeboard and 4 metal bus shelters to replace the almost beyond repair wooden shelters. 

The War Memorial Clock is now fingers crossed running again. It has not been without its problems but when you have a very old clock that has been restored it does take some adjusting and settling back in. Hopefully the clock shall chime away for another centenary. This couldn’t have been achieved without the grant received and donations. 

The Parish mower and strimmer were put to use last year, it has now been left to the friends of St Helen’s to continue to cut the grass. If anyone would like to help then please let myself or Cllr Howlett a message and we can tell you how to go about it.

The Kings Coronation again another village celebration organised for May 6th last year was albeit damp but a good time was had by those that attended.

We will always discuss any issues/ideas in the village and encourage residents to either attend the Parish meetings or contact the Parish Clerk. 

Finally, I thank the other councillors for their hard work this last year and of course the clerk for ensuring we continue to fulfil our duties as a council.

Regards       Lesley Reeson       Chairman      Stickford Parish Council

Stickford Village Assets Check and Assessment of None Assets 

War Memorial in good condition with some greening to side where trees are situated.

Bus Shelters x4 No issues.

Benches x3 in good condition but Hagnaby Road bench could do with a tidy up.

Noticeboards Hagnaby Rd/Top of Fen Road Hagnaby Rd is no longer used and needs removing at the earliest opportunity. It is currently safe and secure with no damage. Fen Rd noticeboard is also safe and secure with no damage.

Roads and pavements there is still a large number of potholes on roads in the village. Continue to report on fix my street. Pavements are generally in good condition. Church Road closest to dead end has a build up of moss but people continue to walk on the road. Look again at organising removal of the moss.

Dykes and waterways appear to be fairly clear and working. Monitor and report if an issue arises.

Trees none identified as dangerous. Continue to monitor.

Conducted by Lesley Reeson April 2024

2) Community Centre: 

An Asbestos survey of Stickford Community Centre was completed. There were no issues.

We now have many policies in place – Health & Safety, Fire and Fire risk assessment, Safeguarding, Trustee statement of liability, Lettings Policy & Equal Opportunities.

Play area quotes received but it was decided not to pursue the project.

Table top sale held in January 2024

Suspended ceiling replaced in March 2024 by Blounts of Spalding. New Led electric lighting also installed. Grant received from the UKSPF (UK shared prosperity fund) fund of £11,000 towards cost. Grant of £2000 promised by Parish Council but not received yet.

Monthly coffee mornings cancelled from March 2024 but they can be re-started at any time if someone would like to run them.

Problems with trees and plants coming into the Community Centre grounds from Houldershaw’s. They are causing problems with our wire fence but no one is allowed to enter their premises to deal with them.

A new central heating boiler was installed in July 2023 for which a grant towards the cost from Awards for All was received.

The C Centre continues to be used for monthly meetings by the village community groups –

Keals Club, Stickford Ladies Social Circle and Stickford Local History Group. There is now a new group,

Relax and Craft, which meets monthly. Stickford Parish Council hold their meetings here and it is regularly used by training groups.

Monthly Bingo takes place here from September to April, raising money for the church and the Community Centre.

Cheryl Steele

Chairman of Stickford Community Centre Management Committee

11th May 2024

3) Stickford Charities :  

The Relief in Need Charity.   Provides financial help for those in need living in the Parish of Stickford.  It provides School Clothing Vouchers, Birth Grants and Christmas money to Pensioners, single mothers, and others in need at Christmas.  

It also provides assistance for residents, for example with repair bills, funeral expenses, aids for disabled people etc. 

It also provides a bus service twice a month.  Boston on the second Wednesday, and Horncastle on the fourth Thursday. It is free for those residents without transport. And those who can show a genuine need to use the service, even if they have their own transport as well. 

Please contact any of the trustees if you are interested in using the service.   

Pam Bryant    01205 480410            Wendy Morley 01205 480474
Helen Edwards 07932 717553          John Howlett 01205 481361      
Rev Fran Jeffries 01790 752526

Stickford Education Charity.

The object of the charity is to support by financial grants, any educational objectives, including for equipment, books, courses and experiences, for people of any age resident in the Parish of Stickford (including those normally resident but attending university or college elsewhere) and means tested if the Trustees in their discretion so require. 

All application for anything other than the School Clothing Vouchers should be made in writing to the Clerk of the Trustees, Mrs Katherine Bunting, at the Old Vicarage, Church Road, Stickford, Boston PE22 8EP or by email to katherine.bunting@chattertons.com 

4) ELDC Report :  

All of the flooding hotspot areas have been visited including Stickford along with engineers from LCC Flood Section. 

National Grid project continues – public consultation is now closed. Two new schemes are following on with plans for underground pipes to be laid. 

Fly tipping Fixed Penalty is increasing to £600. Report on Fix My Street if anything around our area is seen. 

Local housing policy and infrastructure continues to be monitored and recorded. 

5) LCC Report : 

Lincolnshire County Councillor Annual Report for Stickford 

Its been a pleasure as always to work with you and the parish over the past year, how quickly the months go by.

I was pleased to have been able to get Fen Road through to the Cul de sac in the resurface programme last December, it is a huge improvement 

Keal Bank, Stickford will have carriageway recycling in Q2, and Footpaths on Hagnaby lane and road will be micro resurfaced in Q1 and Q2.

Highways fixed 110,532 potholes in 2023, repaired 224 miles of roads, rebuilt 77 miles of footpath and cleaned 192,235 drains. County council have added a further £19 million of extra money to the highways budget and Government have promised £253 million from the HS2 fund.

Highways have started there first grass cut of the highways verges this will take place from the 22nd April to 28th May further cuts will take place from the 10thJune and the 12th July and 2nd September to the 4th October. Two weed treatments will also take place the first has commenced it started on the 15th April to the 28th June and the second will will be from the 8th July to the 20th September.

The heavy rain continued through the winter and in October we sadly saw many more properties and land the county, unfortunately Stickford suffered with many properties flooding on both sides of the village. 

Anglian water have carried out investigations in most of the village to identify areas of surface water infiltration into the vacuum system. They found a few cross connections which customers were asked to remove and also some surface water infiltration from the highways into some individual collection chambers. There network support technician has requested sealed covers fitted on those chambers. Non return valves have been fitted on one property. Since the flooding issues, Anglian water have cleaned and serviced the whole vacuum system.

Anglian water have set up a MAG working group, with agencies, parish clerks, Anglian water, councillors all sitting round the table to work through the areas that flooded, looking at what can be done to try and prevent further flooding moving forward. I have put myself forward to be the independent chair for the group, and will hold all agencies to account to make sure all works are being done that are needed.

In the past 18 months we have seen 5 ½ feet of rainfall which is an incredible amount, and still many fields are still sodden and will struggle to grow crops this year.

The section 19 reports are being processed for the last two storms in October and January and should be concluded by August, this will determine the causes of every property flooded in the county. The results will come to the flood scrutiny committee at the county council.

The County Council have committed a further £4 million to help in flood prevention around the county, this will ensure all drains are jetted regularly and kept clear, which will help in reducing surface flooding.

The Call Connect App is now available, you can now book your journey online and all for £2 for each journey, the £2 journey also applies to the service buses.

Lincolnshire county council are looking at ways to further support and encourage bus travel in Lincolnshire we are gathering resident's views to help plan further improvements as part of the latest County Views survey. We want to know how often residents travel by bus, what would encourage you to use it more often, what they like and dislike. The county views survey can be completed on www.letstalk.lincolnshire.gov.uk/buses paper copies can be found in the County news which is delivered to you homes and can be returned via free post.

Please get in touch with me any time either by email cllrw.bowkett @lincolnshire.gov.uk or call me on 07917494478

4.   Residents’ Open Forum: 

1)   A resident expressed concern at the slippery state of the pathway at the end of the Cul De Sac and the foot path that crosses the bridge. Vehicles turn around at the end of the Cul De Sac and the mud is being churned up. The ground is owned by LCC. Cllr Bowkett will investigate disabled access to the bridge along this public foot path. 

2)   A resident asked if the speed limit along the A16 could be looked at again, reducing it to 50mph. The last survey was completed in March 2022 and was declined as the criteria was not met with regards to Density of Development & Accident Data. Cllr Bowkett will investigate with Highways as to whether another Speed Survey can be done. 

3)   A resident has requested that the curb be dropped along Church Road for disabled access, by the carpark of the Red Lion. Cllr Bowkett will investigate.
 
4)   A resident asked if more play equipment can be erected in the Community Centre play area. The Community Centre committee have been looking into this and have obtained 3 quotes. It was deemed at the time that not enough children in that certain age range lived in the village so the project has not proceeded. If someone with an interest wanted to take on this project , please approach the Community Centre committee to discuss further. 

5)   A resident asked how to get more people involved in the village and its activities. There are currently 2 vacancies for Parish Councillors. 

6)   A resident asked if street lighting could be considered along the Cul De Sac and any other area around the village. This has been looked into before and at the time not enough residents wanted it. 

The meeting was closed by the Chairman at 8.45pm

Date of the next Annual Meeting of the Parish to be 13th May 2025. 

Date of the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council is 21st May 2024. 7.30pm