NOTES Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as the official minutes of Council proceedings until they are approved and signed at the next meeting

MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 09 OCTOBER 2018 AT 7.00PM IN THE STANHOPE HALL

In the chair: Councillor Burbidge

Present: Councillors Aron, Birchall, Hinkins, Lamb, Lechler, F Martin, J Martin, Moore, Roark, Wilkinson and Williams

In attendance: • A Bushell - Town Clerk • 6 members of the public • J Fieldhouse - Horncastle News • Councillor Campbell-Wardman - ELDC Councillor for Horncastle

Prize giving for Best Kept Allotment Competition: Councillor Burbidge presented prizes to the winners - Best Kept Allotment to Mrs Janet Disney and Best Newcomer Allotment to Mr and Mrs Harrison

Public participation: A resident asked questions about grass verge cutting and asked for clarification on some items of expenditure and Town Council budgets. The Clerk answered the resident’s questions.

77. CHAIRMAN’S REMARKS Cllr Burbidge welcomed Cllr Dominic Hinkins to his first meeting, and asked any member of the public to inform the Town Council if they were recording any part of the meeting. Cllr Burbidge informed the meeting that he had attended the Over 50’s Club AGM since the last Town Council meeting and he spoke about the Club. He also mentioned that he had been delighted to present the winner of the 100 Years of Remembrance pin badge competition; and he had also taken part in a live radio broadcast by BBC Radio on Lincolnshire Day to promote the town.

78. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND REASONS GIVEN None, all members were present. PCSO Wass and District Councillor Avison had both sent their apologies.

79. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS AND DISPENSATIONS There were no declarations of interest or requests for dispensations received.

80. UPDATE FROM LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (LCC) OFFICERS ON THE ROAD IMPROVEMENT WORK TO LINCOLN ROAD, JUBILEE WAY, LANGTON HILL AND WEST STREET Matthew Fox and Steve Brooks from LCC introduced themselves and gave a recap on what the improvement work involved and an update on what stage the work was at. A plan was shown of the work that had been carried out to date and the work still to be done was explained. The work had initially been due to finish on 26th October but had fallen behind by two days so the contractors were working hard to try and pull this time back and ensure that the project finished on time. The LCC Officers mentioned the work planned at Woodhall Spa and they assured the meeting that the road at Woodhall Spa would not be closed until the Horncastle work had finished. The full night-time closure of the West Street / Langton Hill junction was programmed for week commencing 22nd October and the diversion route during this closure would be 40 miles because the diversion must be on an equivalent standard road. It was hoped that the work to the junction that necessitated the full road closure would be completed in 5 days. It was reiterated that the full closure would only take place at night (from 7pm until 5am) and the two-way traffic lights would return during the day. Advanced notification signs were already in place and there would be a formal press release from LCC and a Facebook campaign to try and get the message out. Mr Brooks and Mr Fox answered questions from councillors and members of the public about the work being done by Anglian Water and the Traffic Management Company. Concerns were raised about the road closed signs being misleading and Mr Fox explained that experts had produced the signage for the scheme. The LCC Officers were asked to ensure that the roads remained open until the road closure time and they agreed to speak to the contractor about this.

81. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 11 SEPTEMBER 2018 PROPOSED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED (unanimously) that the notes of the Council meeting held on 11 September 2018 be approved as a true record of the meeting. The Chairman signed the minutes.

82. REPORTS FROM THE CLERK AND COUNCILLORS ON MATTERS OUTSTANDING Members received the following update on matters outstanding: Speed signs (min ref.173 – 13/02/2018): The application to LRSP to get new locations for the speed signs assessed has not yet been submitted but the Clerk had now received 4 suggested locations following the article in the Horncastle Matters magazine so these locations would be submitted. Cemetery Chapel (min ref. 21 - 08/05/2018): Quotes had not yet been sought for the work required to address the cracking or carry out long-term repairs. Benches along the riverbank near Tesco (min ref. 56 – 10/07/2018): The grant application to the Tesco Bags of Help Scheme would be submitted once the project to replace a piece of play equipment in Coronation Walk park had been completed because Tesco would only allow 1 grant application from each organisation to be live at any time. Making Planning Decisions (min ref. 68 – 11/09/2018): The Planning & Development (P&D) Committee had one application to make a decision on at its next meeting on 15th October, and another had been received to be decided at November’s meeting. All members of the P&D Committee have received planning training, but only one councillor who was not on the Committee had received training so Cllr Aron was the only councillor who was able to be a substitute for the planning decision section of the P&D Committee meetings.

83. TO CONSIDER THE MOTION FROM COUNCILLOR HINKINS REGARDING CHANGING THE PROVISION AT COUNTY HOSPITAL, LOUTH ON MANBY & CARLTON WARDS Cllr Hinkins read out the motion. Cllr F Martin spoke about the Stakeholder meeting which she had attended the previous week and she clarified the position of Manby and Carlton wards by explaining that the reduction to the number of beds had been made in June 2016 and there had only been 16-20 beds since that time. At the Stakeholder meeting two options had been put forward and it was unanimously felt by those present that option 2 (20 beds plus 6 chairs) was the best option, however there was strong feeling that neither option was appropriate. Cllr Hinkins spoke about the public meeting which he had attended in Louth where concern had been raised that the reduction to the number of beds had been made without consultation. He explained that patients receiving more care at home was the intention of the hospital trust, but the resources didn’t exist for this to happen, and at the public meeting in Louth the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) had admitted that there were issues with neighbourhood services. Cllr Martin commented that the matter was not yet at the formal consultation stage so it was premature for the Council to support the motion, Cllr Hinkins replied by stating that he didn’t think that it was premature since the change had already happened and they were now looking to make it permanent. Further discussion took place about integrated care packages and back up services to offer care to patients at home. There was no seconder for the motion, therefore the motion was lost. PROPOSED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED (by 11 votes) to recognise that County Hospital, Louth is an important resource and is much valued by the people of Horncastle and indeed the whole of , but wait for the formal consultation to be announced and invite the Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group to the next meeting to explain and get information about the changes to Louth Hospital. It was acknowledged that the changes to Manby and Carlton Wards was only part of the proposals for Louth Hospital as the theatre, Outpatient department and surgical wards came under another Commissioning Group (United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust).

84. REPORTS FROM THE PCSO, DISTRICT COUNCILLORS AND COUNTY COUNCILLOR District Councillor Campbell-Wardman reported that the Chief Executive Stuart Davy had now retired and there was no replacement as yet, but the recruitment process had started and senior officers at ELDC would be covering the role in the interim period. It was the ELDC Full Council meeting the following evening and there was also a motion on that agenda regarding Louth Hospital so the District Councillors would report back to the Town Council the outcome of that discussion. County Councillor Aron spoke about the new Highways fault reporting system – Fix my Street. He explained that it was a lot more user friendly and there were currently 47 outstanding faults in Horncastle. At the last meeting the issue with traffic lights had been mentioned so he had arranged a meeting with two Highways Officers to look at the traffic light sequencing. The Street Lighting policy had been updated so a community could now choose to turn back on footway lighting if it covered the cost. Highways Officers would be looking at the speed limit on Lincoln Road, and no waiting lines on Prospect Street were also being looked into. The residents who had suggested parking permits on West Street had been signposted to the relevant department at LCC. Cllr Aron reported that there currently wasn’t a crossing patrol on East Street, but LCC was actively looking to recruit a replacement. He spoke about the footpath at the rear of Thomas Gibson Drive and suggested that all interested partied needed to get their heads together to consider what could be done to improve the situation. Cllr Aron was asked about extending the 30mph speed limit on Lincoln Road past the Accommodation Road junction, and he agreed to speak to officers about this. Cllr Aron also mentioned that LCC had extended its contract with Serco by 2 years and a Senior Coroner had been appointed to start in November because Lincolnshire had been reduced to 1 Coroner. Cllr Aron also mentioned the art exhibition at the Usher Gallery in Lincoln.

85. TO RECEIVE THE NOTES FROM THE FOLLOWING COMMITTEE MEETINGS: a. Estates Management on 3rd September RECEIVED with no comments b. Planning & Development on 17th September RECEIVED with no comments c. Personnel & Finance on 25th September RECEIVED with no comments

86. UPDATES FROM REPRESENTATIVES The following reports were received: Lincolnshire Wolds Tourism Group: Cllr Williams had attended the previous meeting and she gave details of a conference taking place at the end of November.

Horncastle Together: The attendance at this meeting had been disappointing. The notes from the meeting had been circulated by the Clerk.

Walkers are Welcome: The notes of the meeting had been circulated by the Clerk.

Asset Enhancement Working Group: The Working Group met with officers from ELDC in September to visit some of the assets and get further details on them. The Working Group was meeting again at the end of the month and would come up with a recommendation for full council to consider.

Stanhope Hall: Things were going well and the hall had a healthy bank balance, but a new Booking Secretary had yet to be appointed.

Community Emergency Plan: The draft of the plan produced by the working group had been e- mailed to the Emergency Planning Team at Lincoln, but they had yet to respond.

CCTV: No further update, the next CCTV Partnership meeting would take place at the end of this month so there would be more details given at November’s meeting.

87. REPORT FROM THE RECREATION AREA WORKING GROUP, AND TO AGREE THE NEXT ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN

Councillors were provided with a feasibility report produced by the working group. Members of the working group were thanked for producing such an excellent document and it was asked for thanks to be passed to the Deputy Clerk who had done a lot of the work. Cllr Wilkinson ran through the report and emphasised that it was a recreation facility being considered and not purely a skatepark. He spoke about the results of the consultation which had been carried out earlier in the year and he commented that the response had been a little disappointing. Examples of similar local projects were spoken about and councillors were informed that the preferred location for the new facility would be on the existing recreation area at Prospect Street. It was explained that this area was already allocated as recreation land so the use of it would not need to be changed, the area would just be enhanced. The cost of the project was mentioned and the working group explained that they were fairly confident that the Town Council would be able to secure funding to deliver it, but it might have to be a phased project with different aspects being completed at different stages. Councillors raised concern about the impact to Prospect Street residents, but the members of the working group explained that it was a large piece of land and the Council would only be enhancing the existing facility not providing a new area; and it would engage with local residents to keep them informed. The Working Group was asked to find out if any noise surveys had been carried out on similar projects in other areas. The members of the Working Group acknowledged that there was still a lot of work to be done but they didn’t want to carry on and waste time if the the project was not supported by the Town Council. PROPOSED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED (unanimously) to: a. agree in principle to proceed with the delivery of a Wheeled and Sporting Community Facility on the recreation area at Prospect Street; b. give approval for the Working Group to consult with potential suppliers to create delivery/ supply recommendations; c. acknowledge the proposed/indicative high-level costs and approve for the Working Group to get quotes for the new facility; d. ask the Asset Enhancement Working Group to consider recommending for the Prospect Street Recreation Area land to be transferred to Horncastle Town Council from ELDC as soon as practically possible. AGREED that the Working Group would report back to full Council and get further approval on the contract regarding the location, the supplier and the proposed building approach and to spend any funds.

88. FEEDBACK FROM THE ARMISTICE / 100 YEARS OF REMEMBRANCE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 8TH OCTOBER; AND TO NOTE THE DETAILS FOR THE EVENTS TAKING PLACE OVER THE WEEKEND OF 9TH – 11TH NOVEMBER AND APPROVE THE ASSOCIATED COSTS The notes of the meeting held on 8th October had been circulated to councillors and Cllr F Martin ran through these. It was reported that a brief last-minute Committee meeting would be held on 5th November to confirm arrangements. Cllr Burbidge and Cllr F Martin gave further details of the events taking place, and Councillors were informed that it was hoped that a wrought iron commemorative seat could be purchased as a lasting memorial if funds permitted. Councillors were informed that the Temporary Traffic Restriction Order had been granted for the Town Council to close the roads on the route of the parade and this year this would be done by Town Council staff and volunteers using the signs and barriers provided free of charge by Lincolnshire County Council. PROPOSED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED (unanimously) to: a. Receive the Remembrance Committee meeting notes from the meeting on 8th October; b. Approve for the following costs to be paid for by the Town Council: Item Cost Pin Badges £1,053.85 Trophies £127.38 Donation to Banovallum Brass Band £50.00 LIVES for first Aid Cover £100.00 Order of Service (being printed by the church - order of service and info £100.00 sheets for War Memorial service) Step One (have waived their fee and HWMC will give a donation to the RBL Nil on their behalf)

Hire of PA system for Community Centre & outside War Memorial Centre £75.00 Banner £60.00 Poppy Wreaths (2) £40.00 Printing costs for tickets (Friday Concert & Beacon Lighting) £25.00 Fireworks £1,211.63 Programmes £325.00

89. TO RECEIVE THE LIST OF ISSUES/QUESTIONS RAISED FROM RESIDENTS AT THE TOWN COUNCIL SURGERY ON 15TH SEPTEMBER, AND TO AGREE WHAT ACTIONS TO TAKE The following list was considered and the actions to be taken were agreed: Issue Agreed actions to be taken 1. Junction of Boston Road and Industrial Estate is a None (The board had traffic issue. The A board for Flogas needs moving as already been moved). it restricts view of the road, especially at 5.00pm when lots of people are leaving work. 2. Lincoln Road derelict house. Weeds and building None debris, looks unsightly. This was a private property. 3. Hedge on Thomas Sully needs cutting. See issue 6 4. Double yellow lines needed on the High Street outside Cllr Aron to ask LCC to look the Co-op Foodstore to stop parking there and the into this road being blocked 5. Visibility on corner near Magpies when leaving Cllr Aron to ask LCC to look Stanhope Road to join Road / East Street into this 6. Thomas Sully Close hedge needs cutting back. Not in The Town Council’s Estates deeds, not their land, used to be cut by the Council staff would be asked to cut (but not sure which Council). back the hedge and if they LCC confirmed that they will not be cutting the hedge. were unable to do it a quote would be sought from a contractor for a one-off cut. The Town Council would not take on ongoing responsibility for cutting the hedge. 7. Holt Lane road needs to be resurfaced – LCC said Cllr Aron to ask LCC to look that this would be done when it was made into a into this and report back to public right of way but this has not happened and it is the Town Council. full of potholes and in a poor state of repair and there is no lighting down there which makes it extremely dangerous at night time. Nothing has been done since gate removed. Un- adopted lane. 8. The gate from The Wong to Coronation Walk playing Cllr F Martin would speak to fields has been removed and it is now being used as a ELDC Officers about it. cut through.

The issue has been reported to Waterloo Housing but no response has been received so far. ELDC Officers were also informed of the issue on 18th September. 9. The surrounds below the trees in the Market Place To contact ELDC and ask if need improving. they can be improved. 10. Problems caused by the road improvement work at None. The resident had the junction of Lincoln Road / West Street / Jubilee attended this meeting and Way and Langton Hill. heard the update by LCC Officers. Resident confirmed that he had contacted LCC about the issues and informed that Officers from LCC will be attending the Town Council meeting in October.

90. TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS WORKING GROUP FOR TREES AND LIGHTS FOR CHRISTMAS 2018 Councillors received a report from the Christmas Lights Working Group regarding the arrangements for this year’s Christmas Lights. PROPOSED, SECONDED AND RESOLVED (unanimously) to approve the following recommendations: a. To instruct Gala Lights to remove and replace 24volt string light with green rubber cable on 12 trees in the Market Place at a cost of £5,500 + VAT; b. To purchase 100 x 100-125cm cut Norway Spruce trees from Fillingham Trees at a cost of £10 per tree, £40 delivery + VAT c. To purchase 5 brackets from Cape & Sons at a cost of £10 + VAT each d. To charge each business £20 per tree with lights e. To give a donation of £250 to Horncastle & District Lions for putting up and taking down the trees Councillors were informed that Gala Lights was currently having an issue with the availability of the 24volt string lights. It was hoped that new stock would arrive by early November, but they were not able to promise this. AGREED that if the new stock wasn’t available then the existing lights would have to remain for this Christmas even though many were not working and they would be changed in 2019.

91. FINANCES a. To receive the external audit report and certificate from PKF Littlejohn for the 2017/18 Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) The Personnel & Finance Committee had already considered the external audit report and the explanation from the Clerk for the Except For comment regarding the inspection period of the 2017/18 accounts. Councillors were provided with a copy of the external audit report and certificate. The Clerk confirmed that the notice of the conclusion of audit had been advertised on the Town Council website and notice boards. RESOLVED (unanimously) to receive the AGAR for year ending 31 March 2018. b. To receive a financial report Councillors received reports showing receipts and payments to date, and a copy of the latest bank reconciliation. The Clerk ran through the report and answered questions. RESOLVED (unanimously) to receive the financial report. c. To approve future and retrospective payments and note income received RESOLVED that: the following payments be approved: i. Payments to be made: Recipient Detail Amount Jackson Buildbase Maintenance supplies & digger hire £234.74 * Shogun Vehicle Leasing Lease rental of vehicle £289.45 * Welton Garden Services Grass cutting verges in August £1,260.00 * Diesel for works vehicle & petrol for grounds Boston Road Service Station maintenance equipment £43.19* Vodafone Mobile phone contract £17.70 * Staff Wages – October £4,161.46 LCC Pension Fund Pension contributions – October £1,345.35 HMRC PAYE & NI contributions – October £778.88 G.L. Clarke & Sons Diesel & Petrol £98.25 #* Aggregate Industries Gravel £80.40 * Robert Bell & Co Office Rent (October) £325.00 LALC Training course fees £37.00 J.T. Friskney PPE and maintenance supplies £88.10 * Inspection of Lightening Protection system at W.E. Harrison Cemetery Chapel £180.00 * The Banovallum School Cutting of additional allotment land £65.00 Michelle Moss Reimburse for stopwatch purchased from E-bay £2.59 ICCM Training course £2,520.00 * Cllr Bill Aron Travel allowance claim – training £15.30 Charles H Hill Strimmer line & file £58.44 * Running Imp Pin badges & trophies £1,417.48 *

WCS I.T support £42.09 Supersize Print Printing of large sized cemetery maps £70.29 * Reimburse for cleaning supplies bought for Town Amanda Bushell Council office £20.85 Darlingtons Bagged rock salt £180.00 * Gritbin.net Grit bin £116.39 * Fireworks International Fireworks for beacon event £1,211.63

ii. To approve retrospective payments: Recipient Detail Amount E-on Electricity at allotment toilet £8.19 # G.L. Clarke & Son Diesel £49.78 # Refreshments for Community Clear Up event (petty Heron cash payment) £4.43 Age UK Lindsey Jugs for serving refreshments (petty cash payment) £3.50 Community Lincs Play area routine inspection training course £100.80 * PKF Littlejohn Annual audit fee £480.00* Engraving of shield for allotment competition (petty Locks & Leather cash payment) £10.00 *

* These payments include VAT at 20% which will be reclaimed from HMRC. # These payments include VAT at 5% which will be reclaimed from HMRC.

iii. Fund Transfers Details Reason Amount From deposit account to To move money into current account to cover £10,000.00 current account payments

iv. Payments received: Item Amount Cemetery fees £337.00 Cemetery Lodge Rent £400.00 Precept £64,505.00 VAT refund £351.84 Bank interest £151.61 Grants & Donations (play equipment & bridge) £10,000.00 Contribution from LCC towards grass verge cutting & weed treatment £4,414.78 Returned grant from Banovallum Singers £200.00 Donations towards 100 Years of Remembrance events £300.00

92. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED SINCE THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING The following correspondence was considered: From Regarding Action agreed/already taken

Officer from LCC Signs Existing traffic sign located at the Following the Council’s comments and Lines Team junction of South Street/The Wong made at the September meeting the Officer has confirmed that they have removed Salvation Army from the sign, and all other legends that are currently there will remain on the new sign. The new tourism sign for Horncastle Pool & Fitness Suite will not have a swimming pool symbol on it due to size restrictions, but it will read Pool and Fitness Suite, and they will not be removing the old signs until the new signs go up, and this will be done on the same day. Victoria Atkins MP Invitation to attend the Older Peoples Invitation sent to all councillors Fair on Friday 21st September in Residents Copies of e-mails sent to LCC Noted

Highways regarding the roadworks in Horncastle Lincolnshire East Clinical Review of provision of inpatient E-mailed to councillors Commissioning Group services on Manby & Carlton Wards at County Hospital Louth. Link to survey and details of engagement events BBC Radio Lincolnshire Details of BBC Radio Lincolnshire Nomination forms passed to ‘Make a different’ awards councillors. Poster displayed on notice board. Lincolnshire County Invitation to participate in Winter Self Estates Committee agreed that the Council Help and Mutual Aid scheme, and Town Council’s Snow Plan needed receive a supply of grit from LCC to be re-written. This was in the process of being done and a request for volunteers would go in the next issue of Horncastle Matters magazine. AGREED that the Town Council would participate in the scheme.

93. TO SUBMIT COMMENTS TO THE EAST LINDSEY DISTRICT COUNCIL REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICT AND POLLING PLACES FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS HELD WITHIN THE CONSTITUENCY OF LOUTH & HORNCASTLE RESOLVED (unanimously) not to submit a comment to the review because there had been no changes to the polling places in Horncastle.

RESOLVED to continue the meeting past 9pm.

94. REVIEW OF THE HORNCASTLE VISITOR MAP AND TO RESOLVE TO REPLACE THE EXISTING MAPS Councillors were provided with a copy of the visitor map, although the copy which the Council had been sent did not contain the adverts. Councillors questioned the purpose of the map because the section showing the town centre was very small and not very detailed, and the map didn’t show the whole town, so couldn’t be used for locating streets because a lot of them were not shown on it. AGREED to invite the company which had produced the map to the next Horncastle Together meeting and ask the meeting to consider the map and ask if it would be possible for it to show the whole town.

95. ITEMS FOR FUTURE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING AGENDAS Councillors were provided with a list of items for future agendas, and the following items were suggested for next month’s meeting: - To receive feedback from the 100 Years of Remembrance events - To discuss the suggestion of pedestrianising St Lawrence Street from the Market Place as mentioned in the Horncastle Neighbourhood Development Plan. - To discuss the changes to County Hospital Louth with Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group (if able to attend the meeting) - To consider the impact that the Chafer Grub infestation is having on the gardens of Horncastle and resolve to push for MP Victoria Atkins to take this up with Government

AGREED that the Chairman would call an extraordinary meeting for the Council to consider the recommendations of the Asset Enhancement Working Group, and decide which assets to take over from ELDC.

The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.10pm.