Annual Parish Meeting

Present:                       Cllr Chris Stephenson, N Bush (Clerk)

Also Present:              8 others including 6 Parish Councillors and Cllr Mike Brookes (County Cllr) Cllr Stuart Evans (Borough)

Meeting started 7.00 pm

23/071 Apologies for absence and reasons given.

Cllr Suzanne Welberry (Borough Cllr) gave apologies, it was resolved to accept the apologies.

23/072 Draft minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 20th March 2023 to be confirmed and signed as minutes.

It was resolved to accept the above draft minutes.  They were confirmed as minutes and signed by Cllr CS.

23/073 To receive the report from Amber Hill WI

AMBER HILL W I Annual Report 2023-2024

We currently have 30 members. Speakers for the year have been varied from a talk & power point presentation on The Crown Jewels, to floral demonstration and decorating cookies.  We had talks on The Gentlemen’s Society of Spalding and spinning wool.   Our 88th Birthday party was a fashion show which was well attended by members and guests.

We had our Christmas party at our meeting in December arranged by our committee which was enjoyed by members with a demonstration of musical chimes with some members having a go.

I think we have all enjoyed an interesting, varied and successful year together.

June Orford - President

23/074 To receive the report from Amber Hill Playing Field

Chris Firth grass cutting is good, every 2weeks with no problems. He has agreed to weed killer around the edge of the field and paths as usual in better weather. 

The play equipment, benches etc would benefit with a good wash down again in better weather. We are discussing at our next meeting at the beginning of March about repainting some of the play equipment to freshen the park up. 

We have a lot of people using the park, footfall has risen on nicer days. 

We would benefit from some more ‘No Dogs allowed’ signs. If the parish clerk could help get some. We would be very grateful. 

Also on our last walk around to check the fencing etc we noticed the dog poo bin on the far side closest to the corner had fallen down. If this is something the parish council could help sort this out, please. 

We’d like to express our thanks to the parish council for their continued support. 

Annabel Potts

Cllrs commented that the bin is on a private road and that this would be discussed in the main meeting, while the Parish Council contribute to the grass cutting maintenance, but the signage is the responsibility of the Playing field committee. In addition, it was noted that no financial information has been included this year.  Clerk to feedback to the Chair of the committee.

23/075 To receive any further reports.

None received.

23/076 To receive the Chairman’s Report on Parish Council Activities for the past year.

Thank you to my fellow Parish councilors for their support during the past year.  Edward Panton joined us in May 2023 and adds youth, enthusiasm, and common sense to our team.  Thank you, Nicky, for your guidance and efficiency.

The state of our roads made a brief appearance on Look North and work appears to be scheduled to repair them.

Fly tipping continues and thanks to Brian Stevens and Ros Bowler, report and collection is swift and successful.

We now have a defibrillator available for the community on the school wall.  The cabinet, funded by Grass Roots, has allowed the school’s defibrillator to be accessible to the general public through 999.

The precept figure for 2024/2025 is £3750.

Cllr C Stephenson

23/076To receive the Highways report from the Highways Officer

Throughout the year the state of the roads has been discussed at the regular meetings and Cllr MB has had regular meetings with Lincolnshire County Council.  Some works have been carried out during the year and there is extensive work that has been scheduled into Lincolnshire County Council program of works.

23/077 Any other matters

None

Meeting closed 7.12 pm

Signed: