June 2021 Minutes
MORTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting for Morton Parish Council held on Tuesday 28 June 2021 at 6.30 pm.
15 minute public forum - no members of the public in attendance
In Attendance - Cllr Parry (Chair), Cllr Allison (Vice-Chair), Cllr Butroid, Cllr Youngman Cllr Bull, C. Graves (Clerk)
Cllr Parry welcomed Councillors back to the first face to face meeting since February 2020.
1. Apologies For Absence - Cllr Gott, Cllr Ward, Cllr Clews
2. Minutes of the Meeting held on 4 May 2021 including Annual Parish Meeting - Approved by all Parish Councillors. Proposed as a true and accurate record by Cllr Allison. Seconded by Cllr Butroid.
3. Declarations of Interest - No declarations of interest noted.
4. Matters Arising and Review of Outstanding Items
a. Crime Vandalism and Antisocial Behaviour - No representative from police present and no report received. Cllr Allison advised that problems were ongoing with motorcyclist persistently driving around Cross Street/South Street and Field Lane, however, police were aware. Cllr Parry expressed disappointment of fly tipping along Field Lane. Clerk to make further enquiries with WLDC as there had also been some domestic waste dumped in the skip at the cemetery.
b. Councillors Update - Cllr Butroid had previously shared correspondence from Mr Purdy between WLDC, The Water Management Board and himself regarding the Morton Warping Drain and need for improvements. Cllr Allison requested that the Council consider a Parish Council Community Award which could be given in recognition for a parishioner going above and beyond through a nomination process. Council to give this some thought and discuss at next meeting.
c. SID Signage - Monthly statistics circulated prior to meeting by Cllr Allison. Total movements recorded was 156,399 and an average of 117 vehicles a day exceeded 35mph along Front Street. Cllr Allison proposed that the Parish Council write to Chris Davison, Assistant Chief Constable (Local Policing) in response to his letter dated 24 June regarding enhancing provision for neighbourhood policing. Agreed by all. Cllr Allison to draft response. Clerk reported that the solar sign had now been ordered from Elan City and we were awaiting installation of the dedicated post in the near future. Cllr Allison also asked the Council to consider moving the spare bracket so the SID sign could be repositioned further along Front Street to enable data capture of vehicles exiting the village.
d. Bus Shelter Walkerith Road - Grants still available. Clerk to liaise with Littlethorpe of Leicester regarding recommended shelter.
5. Neighbourhood Plan - Cllr Allison reported that the Plan was due to be adopted at this evenings Full Council meeting. He advised that moving forward he would draw up a checklist of points taken from the Neighbourhood Plan that are relevant to new planning applications. This would assist the Parish Council to be more objective when it comes to future planning applications and give additional guidance to refer to in addition to the standard planning objections.
6. Accounts - monthly financial statement for May/June distributed prior to meeting. No questions.
a. Statement of Financial Affairs - report from internal auditor Rigel Wolf distributed prior to meeting with explanation of variances provided by Clerk. No questions. Proposed Cllr Butroid. Seconded Cllr Allison. Approved by all.
b. Annual Governance Accountability Return - Section 1 Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 and Section 2 Accounting Statements 2020/21, distributed prior to meeting. Proposed Cllr Butroid. Seconded Cllr Youngman. Approved by all and both documents signed by Chairman, Cllr Parry. Clerk to submit to external auditor PKF Littljohn.
7. Burial Ground - Consideration was given to a memorial enquiry received, however, due to this not meeting the conditions set by the Parish Council of the burial ground the request was refused. Clerk to action. The Council also gave consideration to the purchase of burial plots, details distributed prior to meeting. Clerk to action. LCC highways had made enquiries regarding the dyke running alongside the cemetery and requested that the Parish Council arrange for this to be cleared, however, although the Parish Council manage the burial ground the land does not fall within the remit of Morton Parish Council.
8. Planning Matters - no planning applications received.
9. Playing Field and School Facilities - Clerk reported that DWG Groundcare had advised on accessibility issues on more than one occasion when attempting to carry out maintenance of the playing field. Clerk had liaised with both the school and DWG Groundcare and efforts would be made to carry out any work prior to school opening time or alternatively after 4pm. Cllr Youngman reported that Morton Feast was planned for the weekend of 17th July, however, this would be a scaled down event due to COVID restrictions. Cllr Butroid gave an update on the rabbit issues.
10.Litter Pick - A date for the annual litter pick was agreed for Saturday 28 August. Cllr Youngman would liaise with Simon Smoothey regarding equipment. Cllr Allison to make arrangements for a poster to advertise the event.
11.Website - Clerk advised on additional assistance from P Langford via LALC for support with the website. There would be a small monthly charge for this. Clerk and Cllr Allison would still have administrative access and continue to upload and manage the website as needed. It was agreed that the additional assistance would be of benefit. Clerk to make further enquiries and feedback. Cllr Allison requested that the Council consider updating the current Morton Parish Council Facebook page, which had not been utilised for some time. Clerk to liaise with Cllr Panter for further clarification.
12. Items for Inclusion on next agenda
a. Litter Pick
b. ID badges
c. Community Speed Watch
d. Parish Council Award
e. Facebook
13. Date and Time of Next Meeting Monday 2 August at 6.30 pm.
The meeting closed at 7.50 pm.