Annual Parish Meeting Minutes
MINUTES OF THE FRISKNEY PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
HELD AT FRISKNEY VILLAGE HALL
ON WEDNESDAY 17TH MAY 2023 AT 7.30PM
APM23001 - PRESENT
Councillors: M Hill (Chairperson)
P Holland
D Patrick
R Scott
A Shaw
A Simpson
K Smith
W Twigg
K Wickham
R Wood
Attendees: W Trigg - Clerk
Cnty Cllr W Bowkett
Dist Cllr C Dickinson
M Weedon - P3 Co-Ordinator
Public Attendance - 3
APM23002 - APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Cllr Reeves and PCSO Richardson.
APM23003 – GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTIONS
Cllr Hill made the appropriate introductions to the Parish, District & County Councillors.
APM23004 - FRISKNEY PARISH COUNCIL CHAIR’S REPORT
Thanks were given to the Parish Councillors for their support and Andrew Shaw was introduced as a new member of the team. Thanks were also given to the Cemetery and Churchyard Caretakers, the Litter Picker and the Footpath Co-Ordinator for all their hard work. Also thanks were given to the District & County Councillors, the Village Hall Committee for maintaining the hall and the Clerk for making the Parish Councillors jobs a lot easier.
This year the Parish Council repaired the tarmac in the play area, purchased two new bins to replace the vandalised plastic ones, added a new Rotaweb as requested by the older children. The next project is to paint the equipment and continue to remind people that dogs are banned from the play area under a National PSPO.
The trees have been trimmed in the car park, and a local pizza van was authorised to trade from there too.
After years of complaints, the footpath by the school has been resurfaced and other repairs and defects are constantly being logged on FixMyStreet.
Trees have been planted in the new Cemetery area which will be consecrated this year. We also planted trees in the Churchyard which include two commemorative Oaks for the Queen’s Jubilee and the Kings Coronation.
Grants have been given to the Specialist Tearooms and the Village Hall for the Jubilee celebrations. Grant application forms are available from the Clerk.
APM23005 - PREVIOUS MINUTES
The minutes from the last Annual Parish Meeting were unable to be approved as the Clerk had printed the wrong minutes. These will be brought to next year’s meeting for approval.
APM23006 - FINANCIAL REPORT – FRISKNEY PARISH COUNCIL
The Clerk distributed the report and highlighted the main points to the attendees. There were no questions.
APM23007 - FINANCIAL REPORT – FRISKNEY UNITED CHARITIES
A report was made available and will be posted on the Village Hall notice board.
APM23008 - DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
I was delighted to be elected again as your Councillor for the next 4 years, there are 13 new councillors this term. Conservatives have held the majority at ELDC so I doubt the leadership on the Executive Board will change.
ELDC’s new HQ, The Hub, is now fully functional at Horncastle. It is a significant change for everyone with no offices/departments but an open plan space of desks which are booked by staff when they are not working from home. There are other bookable desk spaces around the district for staff to use, this is helpful for planning, environmental health and other officers who travel around the district during their role. The building has been constructed to be as energy efficient as possible with solar panels, LED lighting and low energy devices.
South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Community Lottery has been running for 6 months and helps raise regular funds for local charities. It gives players the opportunity to offer regular financial support to the charity/charities of their choice, as well as giving them the chance to win anything from free tickets to £25,000. Each month there is also a giveaway prize such as iPads, iPhones, short breaks or Hello Fresh subscriptions. The latest prize is a £1,000 voucher for a European City Break - https://www.selcplottery.co.uk/
ELDC was awarded £5m from Arts Council England’s Cultural Development Fund to support transforming the Embassy Theatre and regenerating Skegness Pier and the surrounding area. It is important that ELDC keep applying for grants for our coastal resorts and promote our area of natural beauty, the Lincolnshire Wolds.
The So Festival will be in Skegness on 16th and 17th June and then in Mablethorpe on 18th June. The programme of events for that weekend is due to be released soon – https://www.sofestival.org/so-festival-2023-programme/
The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership has been awarded £15.4m of Home Upgrade Grant funding for a 2year programme aimed at improving the energy efficiency of domestic properties across East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland. The funding was awarded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero via the Midlands Net Zero Hub and the scheme is due to start in Jun’23 and run through until Mar’25. The funding will award an average of £18,000 per property to install measures such as loft, cavity, external/internal wall and floor insulation, solar panels, heating controls, low-energy lighting and low-carbon heating solutions such as air source heat pumps. The measures are designed to reduce utility costs whilst also lowering the carbon footprint of domestic properties. Grants are likely to range between £5,000-£38,000 depending on the property type and measures that can be undertaken - https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/article/23907/HUG-2-Grant-Scheme
Mablethorpe, Skegness Central Beach and Sutton on Sea central beach have all retained their Blue Flag award status, which is widely considered the Gold standard for beaches.
APM23009 - COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
It has been a pleasure to work with you over the past year, as always your support is greatly received and working together we can get things done.
I am pleased we are continuing to work on Fodder Dyke and the next section, Fen Bank, Friskney will commence on 24th October. The last phase just above the school will be in 2024/25. Church Road and Cranberry Lane will have recycling and resurfacing carried out this year also.
I know speeding in and around the village is still causing concerns and I will work with Highways to see if there are any signage that can be done to help, as well as talking to the Road Safety Partnership.
In our budget this year a total of £93m was put into Highways, which includes an extra £7m which LCC have added through the budget. This will help in improving unclassified roads, which we know is well needed in some places. 21,387 reports in the last week on FixMyStreet, 28,629 fixed in the last month. Any issues with potholes, drainage, street lighting etc, please report on FixMyStreet or call Highways on 01522 552222 or Wendy Bowkett on 07917 494478. The next 3 years of highways schemes will be planned so we all know when roads are going to be resurfaced in our area.
Coastal car parks now have the new payment system which runs from Easter to 31st October. Anderby Creek, Chapel, Six Marshes, Huttoft, Marsh Yard and Wolla Bank are included. You can now pay by card and whilst the ticket is valid, it can be used across the different car parks.
As my role in Adult Care and Public Health Exec Member, we have secured £4m pounds to further the work with alcohol and drug treatment across the county. This is very important as since Covid there is a real problem with excessive alcohol consumption, so hopefully this can reach even more people than before. The adult care budget for 2023/24 is £169m and the budget for children’s services is £98m.
The latest Covid booster vaccine is now available for over 75’s and anyone with a weakened immune system. You should be contacted to book by the NHS app or a phone call. You can also go on the NHS website or call 119.
APM23010 - POLICE REPORT
No report received.
APM23011 - OPEN FLOOR
Sally Hall advised that due to retirement, she will no longer be producing the Parish Magazine and if a volunteer isn’t found, it could stop entirely.
APM23012 – CLOSE
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 8:02pm.