Annual Parish Meetings

 

2. To receive the previous minutes held 15th May 2019.  It was noted that there was no annual parish meeting held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Those who were present at the 2019 meeting resolved to accept the minutes as a true record. Cllr EC duly signed minutes.

 

3. Report of the Chairman of Covenham Parish Council – Cllr Emma Cooling reported that the Council

a. has grown with the co-option of two more councillors on the parish council who are a great asset to the council.

b. successfully recruited a professional qualified clerk who has been pivotal in moving the council forward

c. successfully applied for grants totalling more than £20k which will be used to start refurbishing the parish rooms.  Structural survey completed and priority works being planned.  Damp proofing start on Monday. Finally the vision is starting to materialise.

d. Standing Orders and Financial Regulations have been refreshed and adopted and the council is following best practice on statutory and legal requirements. Annual reviews of all council policies are now in place.

e. Administration and accounting records are now properly organised.  Notices of meetings and draft minutes are published on time. 

f. A new website is in place and compliant.

g. Despite the pandemic, the council has embraced technology and continued to meet regularly via Zoom to carry on the business.  

h. From this financial year, council meetings have been set to meet on the last Friday every other month with a start time of 7pm.  This provides residents a consistent schedule for their attendance.

i. The Council has re-established communication links with other statutory bodies, like the district, county and police; albeit some more successful than others.

j. Continued membership with LALC for advice and specially for training of councillors.

k. Finances are regularly monitored and reconciled.  Accounting records are duly noted and properly organised.  Council follows due process on budget setting and precept calculation. Historic expenditure covering the last three years provide a useful resource in assessing the following year’s likely expenditure. Previous years’ precept demands had not kept up with costs to maintain the parish rooms.  This is now rectified.

l. All Council assets have been registered for insurance purposes and kept up to date.

m. Moving forward, priorities for this year includes:

1. More co-option to council to make a full complement of 7 councillors for CSB and 4 for CSM. Currently 5 for CSB and 1 CSM.

2. Continue refurbishment of parish rooms. This year the council has set aside specific reserves to ensure that required maintenance works are done.

3. Change banking arrangements that is more customer friendly.

4. Looking at utility costs and considering better value suppliers

5. Continue with building relationships with other village organisations.

 

And lastly the Chairman thanked all the other councillors for their dedication determination and support.

 

4. Report from East Lindsey District Council- Cllr Edward Mossop reported

a. It has now been two years since he was re-elected in 2019.

b. He has provided continued support to residents and community groups. Through his Councillor Community Grant, he provided financial help for the kitchen refurbishment in St Mary’s Church and the website development for the parish council.

c. He supported the inoculation drive for all students 

d. He has been elected as Vice Chairman of the Overview Committee which recommends development of policies and hold the Executive to account for their actions, via special call-in powers.

e. He attends Planning Committees to represent his wards’ considerations.

f. He also sits on the Lincolnshire Marsh Drainage Board which helped progress the clean-up of Poulton Drains in Covenham St Mary.

g. He hopes to continue supporting all his wards through attendance at parish council meetings.

 

5. Report of Covenham Plough Community Hub – Cllr Gareth Smith reported that CPCH was supported by the Plunkett Foundation and is registered as a community benefit society to secure The Plough as a community pub. The sale negotiations had fallen through and the pub owners had subsequently applied and refused planning permission on three occasions to convert the pub into dwellings.  CPCH is now in negotiations with ELDC to secure the pub as an asset of community value.

 

6. Report of Eleemosynary Charity – Cllr Don Wiltshire reported that since 2019, the Charity had purchased a box for the defibrillator kindly donated by Cllrs Don and Alyson Wiltshire. The equipment is located outside the parish rooms. The Charity also organised the village event in 2019 which was well attended.  The Charity hope to organise an event at St Mary's Church in December 2021 and are planning an Open Gardens event and a Village day, plus other events to be decided in 2022.  All Trustees were thanked for their support.

 

7. Report of St Mary’s Church – Cllr Anne McCready as Churchwarden reported that during 2019, there were monthly services of Holy Communion attended by a small but faithful congregation who stayed for coffee and biscuits and a chat. They also organised nine events including a very well attended Magic Lantern Show and a Country Dance evening, bingo sessions, Harvest Supper, Christmas Faye and Carol Service. They also hosted the Covenham Café jointly with CPCH on the first Saturday of the month between April and September.

 

The money raised at the 2019 annual Charity Bingo night went to St Barnabas Hospice in Louth.  The Church aims to support a different charity each year to spread the goodwill around local causes.

 

The restrictions caused by the pandemic had stopped services and holding events although the church was allowed to open on Sunday mornings and pre-arranged times for private prayers during July and August.

 

The bell chime box was fitted in June 2020 which has allowed for bell ringing from the kitchen.  An open air service of rededication in September was led by the Bishop of Grantham and the Rural Dean.

 

Normal service was resumed in December following a risk assessment with a slight blip last February 2021.  The Church continues to be open for private prayer upon request

 

The planned spring and summer events will be postponed until 2022 and it is hoped that there will be an event in Autumn 2021.

 

The planned new church kitchen is being progressed albeit taking longer and more expensive than originally planned due to handmade shelf units to be built to comply with regulations. All funding is in place and final approval by the Chancellor is awaited.  It is hoped that work will commence in the summer and fully fitted for autumn events.

 

8. Annual report of St Bart’s Heritage Trust – Mr Ian Fazakerley gave a very informative history of Covenham dating back to 1086 consisting of two Saxon manors and a Saxon Church which is where St Bartholomew Church stand. An architect's report completed for the diocese in the 70’s reported that the present St Bartholomew was mostly of Victorian construction.

 

The church requires major work and the transept was of greatest concern and was assessed as being in imminent danger of collapse. A grant was applied for and given via Historic England for repairs and there is now a waterproof transept.  It was intended that open days would be organised with the craftsmen on-site and allowing interested people the opportunity to learn more about the works and having a go.  The pandemic had not allowed such opportunities.

 

The Trustees have met with Historic England, ELDC, the surveyors and Jordan Roofing in early May to assess progress. Historic England were extremely pleased with the results and the architect involved will form a Trust to deliver training whilst undertaking conservation work. The Heritage Trust hopes to secure further funding in the next two years to repair and secure repurposing of St Barts for the future.

 

9. Annual report from the Covenham Jubilee Committee - Nicky Gulley-Brown represented the group and reported that the purpose of the committee is to promote and provide leisure and social activities for the benefit of the community.  The group is managed by a committee of not less than five but no more than 15 members.  Prior to Covid, the group met most months and have organised games nights, race night, history talks, fashion show, table top sale, summer fete, village auction, Thursday coffee mornings, Children’s Christmas party, games stalls, members’ meal at the Mill House. The group has also planted bulbs and other plants at village welcome signs coming into Covenham.  Until two years ago, the group did the village Christmas tree and lights.

 

10. Report from Lincolnshire Police Neighbourhood Team – Cllr R Precious sent his apologies but submitted a report read out by the Chairman.  PC Precious had been on medical leave and has just come back full time. Prior to his absence he has taken over as Beat Manager for both Louth Town and Louth Rural and PCSOs for both teams have been reduced from 7 to 2. This has created a lot of challenges.  The current incident with a dog is being dealt with by another officer, there was no need for him to intervene.  Although he was involved with an incident two years ago about the same dog, the case was finalised and closed.

 

In terms of police incidents, he reported that Covenham is a low crime area and outlined the number of cases including wildlife crimes, scam reports, missing persons, domestic-related incidents, malicious communication reports, amongst others.

 

He was pleased to report that the burglary spike in recent years has declined and with Humberside Police, they have arrested a male which they believe have been responsible.

 

The police has also worked with Anglian Water to limit the anti-social behaviour incidents at Covenham Reservoir.

 

PC Precious reported that Sergeant Andy Price has started his role as the Neighbourhood Policing Team Sergeant.  He encourages reporting all incidents to 101 to ensure that the police get a clear idea of parish issues and can then take appropriate actions to address them.

 

11. Open Forum – The dog incident was the main issue discussed.  The Police have sent a report stating that the dog owner has agreed to a dog control order and has erected further fencing to ensure that the dog does not escape.  However, there was concern that the height of the fence is inadequate and the dog will be able to jump over.  Cllr DW and Mr I Fazakerley have volunteered to look at the fence and report back.

 

The meeting closed at 7:10pm.