Minutes
Full Council Meeting Minutes
Wednesday 6 July 2022 at 7.30pm at St Andrews Community Centre, Saxilby.
Members Present:
Cllrs Cotton, Harper, Hillman, Mann, Spurr, I Willox, and J Willox.
Absent:
Cllrs Ashton Derry, Crump, Saunders, and Spurr
In Attendance:
Lydia Hopton, Acting Clerk.
Zarina Belk, Assistant Clerk.
There were 20 members of the public in attendance.
Public Questions
1. At the junction of Skellingthorpe Road and A57 trees are obscuring the view – Clerk to report to Canal and River Trust.
2. The condition of the public footpath between Highfield Road and William Street was raised.
3. A member of the public commented on the decision to hand back the memorial field was a shock. They were disappointed the original decision was made in closed session and stated the briefing document should’ve been what happened at the start of the decision-making process.
4. A member of the public asked when the council made the decision to pull out from the memorial field and why a councillor was not present at the recent open public meeting arranged by the trustees.
5. A member of the public said they understood the council took a decision not to send any member to a trustee meeting. They said the council cannot walk away from the legal obligation to have four members as per the indenture.
One member of the public left
6. A trustee noted they have temporarily changed the number of councillors on the indenture via the Charity Commission to allow them to have meetings and can change it back and joint co-operation is required.
7. A trustee noted there was a meeting held in May and it was agreed two trustees and two councillors would meet to discuss to move things forward.
8. A resident asked why there was no consultation with residents before the decision was made and when did the trustees write to the council and ask them to take over
9. County and district councillor Brockway spoke supporting document and noted the plan on the agenda is high quality. She noted she had some concerns - it is a very difficult situation and the difficulty of councillors not going standing as trustees due to concerns regarding liability can be resolved by the charity taking out indemnity insurance.
Taking the original item in closed session was not good practice of governance. Discussing the background paper and taking the decision tonight to allow open discussion and voting in open session is transparent.
A member of the public noted a lot of people were very worried and asked the council and trustees to work together to resolve the issues. To try and do this by October is going to be too tight. They requested the issues are resolved as a village. Residents pay precept and a lot goes to the community centre. They asked what will happen to budget setting for 2023-24 and going forwards.
A member public noted there was historically a business plan and the charity did not have enough money to cover cost of the community centre, so council took it on and questioned whether the village wanted to lose that.
A member of the public noted the found the timing difficult. Noting the charity currently has no income. They asked whether it is not better to get together and concentrate on what we are trying to achieve and can’t understand why problem has happened and the only losers are residents of the village.
Cllr Brockway queried why the co-option application was not resolved at a previous meeting. It was clarified the item had no proposer to move it and it was deferred.
A member of the public asked if there was a copy of the 2007 agreement. A former trustee commented there wasn’t written agreement. It was verbally agreed the council would operate the day-to -day management with the trustees would be in overall control.
Six members of the public left.
Chairman asked if Cllr Brockway would like to provide a district/county council update. She noted the proposed solar farms would take out around 7,000 acres of agricultural land, and it was being opposed by the district council and there were more appropriate sites such as former airfields.
The recent road dressing on Church Lane is temporary until the after developments complete.
Issues on Westbank continue as there is sinkage.
Meeting
20.16pm started
179/22 To receive apologies and accept valid reasons for absence, these having been submitted to the Clerk prior to the meeting
Apologies were received for Cllrs Ashton Derry, Crump, Saunders, and Spurr which were accepted.
180/22 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011
Cllr Hillman declared a disclosable pecuniary interests agenda item 5b (minute ref 183/22b).
181/22 Approve the notes Full Council on 1 June 2022 and Extra-Ordinary Full Council on 21 June 2022, and the chairman to sign them as the agreed minutes
Cllr Hillman proposed to approve the Full Council 1 June 2022 and Extra-Ordinary Full Council 21 June 2022 minutes, and this was resolved.
182/22 To note the meeting action log
Item deferred.
Cllr Hillman left 20.19pm
183/22 Finance
Cllr Harper proposed, and it was resolved to:
a. To approve expenditure above specified limits, as per Financial Regulations
b. To approve payments to reimburse expenses
One member of the public and Cllr Hillman returned at 20.19pm
184/22 To consider and agree actions regarding the management of the memorial field
Cllr Cotton read out NALC LTN28 guidance, custodian section.
It was noted the council previously used to provide a grant to the charity and this could be an option going forwards.
A comment was made regarding the four-month deadline being very tight and the whether this could be delivered within this timeline. It was noted the intent was to work towards the deadline to try and get done what is required.
Cllr I Willox proposed the paper as the starting position to move forward and this was resolved.
All remaining members of the public left 20.38pm.
185/22 CLOSED SESSION – Council to resolve to go into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 for the following item(s) on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted
Cllr Hillman proposed to go into closed session. This was resolved.
The Acting Clerk left the room at 20.40pm.
186/22 To ratify personnel committee recommendations regarding the clerk
Cllr Mann proposed, and it was resolved to ratify personnel committee recommendations
The Acting Clerk returned at 20.48pm.
The meeting closed at 20.49pm.
Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Assistant/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.