January 2023 Minutes
Great Ponton Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting held on January 9th 2023 at 7pm.
Present: Councillors Eileen Booth, David Booth, Gordon Taylor, Fred Furber, Ian Cruickshank Chair. Richard Parkinson David Bellamy and Ben Green.
Carol Ramsey Parish clerk.
Chairmans welcome
Public forum 3 villagers attended to ask for help with permission for woodburning stoves and the state of the road at Ellyslande.
Apologies: None received
Declarations of interest according with the Localism Act 2001. None received.
Previous minutes 29/11 were declared as correct.
Matters arising from the meeting.
4a 13500 vehicles passed through the village. Average speed 17.4mph. 1008 vehicles exceeded the speed limit. 45mph was the highest speed
There was a brief discussion as to why figures were as they were. It was felt that it was simply a quieter period and not related to the speed camera position..
4b Boundary village centre still ongoing.
4c Update on potential outdoor gym facilities etc It was reported that the clerk has applied for a grant of £14.500 to fund this scheme. It was ascertained that the monies in the playing fields account should be for the provision of a new pavilion if possible. We will hear the outcome of our application by March 23.
4d Secure email systems LALC strongly suggest the use of secure emails although it is not a mandatory requirement. This was at a cost of approx. £120 per annum. After a discussion it was decided to leave the email for PC use as it is for now.
4e Update on PC website The website is now fully up to date after some very welcome help from Pete Langford and LALC.
4f Update on previous requests David Bellamy advised on how to move forward with previous requests and provided email addresses and contact phone numbers.
4g Health and Safety issues. It was agreed that the PC should comply with H/S legislation and produce a risk register and carry out risk assessments. As there were no volunteers I am happy to carry out this task as I have considerable experience of H/S in previous employments.
District and County councillors’ reports.
The councillors provided information on how to move forward with previous requests that had not been acted upon.
5 Village centre matters none received. Ian Cruickshank discussed this matter as he is technically Chairman of the village centre although he has not been formally told this and had not been formally requested to attend committee meetings at the village hall.
6 Community playing field.
6a Ian remains in discussion with Gonnerby football club regarding using the playing fields. He will inform us of the outcome.
6b Discussions again revolved around running the site in strict accordance with Caravan Club rules, mainly that no one can reside in their caravan while having no other residence, on any CC site even if they go off site for a day and then return. All sites are for recreational touring only. Recreational tourers can visit our site for 27 days go off for one day and then return if they wish. The site has an annual certificate but are allowed to have caravans on site from Easter to October 31st only. These are the Caravan Club rules. We can apply to open all year but this has to be discussed and decided by the Parish Council. It was decided that once we are up and running next spring, we will apply to open all year round providing everyone agrees. It was resolved keep the daily rate at £12 with no exceptions.
Financial matters
7a up to date accounts were given to all attending, no issues were raised.
7b Update on banking matters. Still slow progress but have finally got the correct signatories, changed the names and addresses of the accounts to the Great Ponton Parish Council at 7 Ellyslande Great Ponton, apart from the Browns Trust which the bank say cannot be touched.
7c Precept request It was agreed to ask for a 3% increase on the precept figure for 23/24.Paperwork has been completed and is with SKDC.
8 Correspondence none received
9 Councillors reports Councillor E Booth asked for several paths to be cleared. It was also reported there are several streetlights out in the village. Requests have been reported to SKDC.
10 Date of next meeting 6th March 2023 at 7m at the village hall.