Minutes 2023

WEST KEAL AND KEAL COTES PARISH COUNCIL
Please note these minutes are draft until approved as a true record
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF WEST KEAL PARISH COUNCIL
The Annual Parish Council was held on Wednesday 10th May 2023 at 7.00p.m. in The Keals Village Hall, West Keal.

Present: Councillors A. Watson (Chairman) J. Rowntree, J. Roughton, M. Rickard and S. Thompson. District Councillor Terry Taylor and County Councillor William Grey were also in attendance. 
Clerk Sarah Kulwicki
Also present: 4 members of public

The chairman declared the meeting open at 7:00pm. 

1) Apologies for absence – Appologies received from Councillor Lacey.     

2) Notes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Wednesday 25th May 2022 to be approved as minutes
It was:- 
Proposed by Councillor . Rowntree , Seconded by Councillor J. Roughton and RESOLVED that the notes are approved as minutes and be signed by the Chairman.

3) Chairman’s Annual Report:
I firstly would like to say a personal big thank you for standing by me as your chair for my first year in this position, as much as we haven’t succeeded in all of our attempts to better our community, we have in some areas. 
Within this last year we have seen a few of our councillors resign but have also co-opted on two new councillors, Mrs Jules Roughton and Mr Steve Thompson that left the council with no vacancies. Following our recent election however we are now left with a vacancy. There has been an increase in public attending our parish meetings and this is always encouraged as we want to work as a team with our residents.
Looking back to our discussed forward plans at last years AGM, the highlight of conversation was the speeding throughout the villages. This is also a strong area of concern for most of our residents and remains an ongoing battle. However, it was arranged for an anchor survey to be done on 26/05/22 to monitor the speed of vehicles going through West Keal. It was agreed that there was evidence of speeding however due to there being no recorded collisions, the road safety partnership explained that due to this they were not able to help us further. The parish council did not give up here, so much so it was agreed on the 29/09/22 to install a set of reactive speed signs at either end of the West Keal Village to encourage drivers to be more thoughtful of their speed. The posts have since been installed and the purchase of the solar powered signs were picked and agreed on the 8th March 23. At current we are waiting for them to arrive and to be fitted. 

Within Keal Cotes there had been ongoing concerns over potholes on hagnaby lane, thankfully through determination these have been filled in. Sadly however the state of Fen Road still does remain an ongoing battle . The idea of welcome gates to the villages had been discussed and have since been approved for these to be installed, a very big thank you goes to councillor Rowntree who has volunteered to make and install these. 

The first council meeting for all of the neighbouring villages was held by Spilsby Town Council on 9th September 2022 that previous vice chairman and I attended. It was evident that speeding was among everyone’s concerns and the discussion upon the CSW equipment led to the idea of sharing the trained volunteers within each village to increase the amount this can be done. It was agreed more meetings like this would be beneficial and as much as one was talked of for February this year, a date hasn’t yet been arranged. 
On the 10th December was our Christmas event that had two reindeer that we were very lucky to have attend thanks to councillor Lacey , a raffle which had a hamper donated by Balfour Beatty , games and an array of cakes and refreshments that members of the council had prepared. It was a good turnout and the day raised £248.85 that was agreed to be donated to the West Keal Church . 

There are now three newsletters that are delivered to every household in the year, January, April and September. They are always full of not just council but local events, information, and interesting stories. 

4) Looking forward – The council will continue to work on local matters. Councillor Roughton asked Councillor Grey to chase getting a base around the phone box which is being used as an information point. He reported to the council that an investigation will be carried out into the relocation of the bus stop to a safer place. 

5) Any other business at the discretion of the Chairman
a) Councillor Roughton asked if the water leaking down the A16 needed to be investigated by Anglian water as there may be a burst pipe. Councillor Taylor confirmed that this was a normal occurrence when the water is high due to a nearby stream. 
b) A representative of the Keals village hall committee gave a handout to the council about local events happening and feedback on some that have taken place.

The meeting closed at 7:18pm
  
Signed by chairman:     00May 2024