[speaker001:] Apologies for absence
[Steve:] Councillor Peter, Mrs Pat, Sir John, Mr Peter and Mrs and David apologize, they will be attending but they'll be a few minutes late.
[Lynn:] Alright. Minutes of the meeting held on the seventeenth November.
[speaker001:] ...
[Lynn:] Right, er matters arising from the minutes.... Nothing on page one, page two, page three, page four, page five, page six, page seven.
[David:] Yeah page seven er er I think that speaking from memory we did want that made clear that that er was the recognition of the achievements of the groundsman handyman, particularly in relation to the high standards of upkeep in the park.
[speaker001:] That's right.
[David:] I think it's important that that should er be madam chairman. We also agreed that erm performance assessment reports in the future would be provided by the chair and finance after considering the recommendations of the chairman of the recreation ground committee and the clerk.
[Lynn:] Don't these minutes
[David:] No no no I didn't query them
[Lynn:] Sorry.
[David:] because, but I just felt that er those particular aspects were important for future year, because of the er discussions that took place. Erm we are dealing with public funds and er and those that particular minute I think relate to detailed discussions that took place before approval was given.
[Steve:] I wrote to both and the handyman and said that is was for a performance related bonus and er
[David:] Yeah that's fine.
[Lynn:] An anything else from the minutes?... Can we go on to the minutes of the committee meeting of sixth December then.
[speaker001:] [clears throat]
[Lynn:] Anything arising from them... page one... page two... page three... Right, we we're not doing the minutes for the tenth of January because you've only just got the copies this evening so that's being erm, we'll go through those at the next meeting.... Financial statement, bills for payment....
[speaker001:] queries
[Lynn:] Has anyone got any queries about them?
[speaker001:] [cough]
[Lynn:] Erm can I just mention then about the car park and the total cost of it now. Okay. Erm just to go over the payments for the car park which has come up actually under community industries and the plants, the total being now for plants it was four hundred and forty four pounds er and the gravel, right gravel and plants and what was the other bit?
[speaker001:] And there was some wood for planking
[Lynn:] Wood for planking. Erm and then the actual, the labour charges from the er what are they called
[speaker001:] Community
[Lynn:] Community community industries, labour charges for car park were eight hundred and twenty two fifty but that's got to have the VAT deducted from it. Erm so it's a total of approximately one thousand
[speaker001:] Skip hire. Skip hire.
[Lynn:] Oh skip hire as, four hundred pounds. That makes it a total of about one thousand five hundred. From that we have six hundred and fifty allowed for the car park from last year for paper bank money, four hundred and five recycle money just come in,
[speaker001:] Yes.
[Lynn:] from the paper bank and four hundred pounds worth of grant, two hundred from the county council and two hundred from the district council, so added up car park. Mm. Okay?
[speaker001:] [clears throat]
[Lynn:] Yes.
[Roger:] Yes. I I mean I think I think in retrospect the erm this isn't intended as a criticism erm of past work, but I do think we need to look at getting as much volunteer help in the town towards volun volunt environmental achievements as possible because one of our one of our claims is that we're cost effective and can galvanize voluntary effort, and if we erm put all of our work out to tender including relatively small works, we're actually going to negate that particular claim and we're gonna look as as as er cost cost wasteful as the district council and the county council in their use of professional help all the time, even though there may be people in the community who are prepared to help. I think we need to plan our projects so that we can galvanize voluntary efforts as much as possible, particularly in small projects er when they come up in future. I think that's an important part of our claim. Erm we criticize the county council because it's always using professional professional work rather than voluntary help, er because that's the way they choose to do it, er if we continue this line.
[Lynn:] I think can I just say one thing we did actually h it wasn't community industry erm the people that did it I don't know
[speaker001:] They they trained that's the
[Roger:] to be honest because erm it's and that I won't say that there's a criticism of this particular project which I supported at the time but I think that in future we do need to plan our projects and and there are people in the in the town that are prepared to work, perhaps need a bit of organizing, we need to think about how that might happen, but we mustn't first reaction go to professional or semiprofessional help.
[Lynn:] Any more
[Christine:] erm it may be erm a a good idea to use it as a erm as a first scheme perhaps to erm to try and er car park and if you look at that at the beginning and just keep it on a on a rolling programme then all that doesn't get so enormous er it doesn't get such a a large task so maybe if er, but it does need coordinating perhaps we should think about it.
[Lynn:] Yes. Right. Any any other comments on the financial statements?
[Madeleine:] Can you tell me what a planting of a quick is?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Stuart:] When the men installed the new er fence on the nature reserve,
[Madeleine:] Mm.
[Stuart:] that so it doesn't look like a new fence we planted quick.
[Madeleine:] And plants are they?
[Stuart:] Yes quick plants. I'm sorry.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] Right well
[Peter:] I haven't been to one of the meetings so I can't remember who the, but how are all these contained within the budget, all these costs, and have they all been approved and agreed?
[Lynn:] What
[Peter:] The the bills for payment. I haven't actually done the tally backwards and forwards.
[Lynn:] I think so. Is there anything that to comment on that?
[speaker001:] Well er the bills during the month of December and early January erm hire of waste paper skip... erm if you if query, the reason we hired the chain saws to save ourselves spending thousands of pounds on doing tree works. We've now got a trained erm chain saw operator working for us. That's saved us about nine hundred and forty pounds. The three hour the recreation chairman asked that we er, standard bills for garage for petrol and Centre for the standard items,. Er I'd like to mention the contribution to the market square refurbishment. Erm Jim asked me if we could pay up er as soon as the job had been done to help them with their cash flow situation district council. Erm I I've allowed Don to have a jacket as he was getting soaked. Erm Out of interest madam chairman, does that mean we've paid the total amount that we we said that we would contribute?
[Lynn:] Yes.
[speaker001:] So on the second stage of the refurbishment they're going to pay for the lot?
[Lynn:] Yes.
[speaker001:] Er the account of contribution towards cost of the installation of two new footpath lights, this is on the footpath that runs between the School, Church Street side and the minster. Er there was a lady fell over about two months ago on that footpath just at the beginning of the winter, and the cathedral council offered to pay for the installation of a light and what we did we contributed seventy seven pounds which is sixty including V A T to enable a second light to be installed because of the two steps on that footpath, one at each end, erm
[Peter:] Did that, I can't remember that coming to the council, did that come to the council?
[speaker001:] No, no the chairman erm agreed that one out of committee. The reason for that is they wanted to go ahead and produce the two lights. Erm, what happened was the cathedral council one light in at a cost of four hundred and fifty pounds but they couldn't afford the second light, so we got some money from erm the residents who contributed some money, we got some money from the school and there was a shortfall of sixty six pounds thirty one pence for the total bill, so the chairman er.
[Lynn:] Er we do actually have money in the budget for the actual erm
[speaker001:] So it may just
[Lynn:] so it could actually come out of that couldn't it?
[speaker001:] There is
[Peter:] Chairman chairman there seem to be when I looked at it there seem to a number of headings here that I couldn't account for and I've asked the chair of the finance committee, she couldn't account for them either, and I think it's, whilst I understand the reasons for going and I'm sure we would have approved them, I think it's actually quite important that all these small sums,wh when you add them up over this erm over this month and you look at them, are quite large over the budget that we have have already adopted and the things that we wanted to do, and it concerns me that some of these things which are maybe very sensible, actually reduce our effectiveness of doing things that the council's agreed that they are going to do this year and next year, the seventy six pounds here, the thirty pounds later on, fifty four pounds for large thorn plants et cetera, et cetera, and a hundred and fifty pounds over the budget on the Christmas lights. All of those extra sums, if you total them up, we're talking about quite a lot of money over the budget and that's why I'm getting concerned because there seems to be some between what the budget said we were going to do and what a chairman here and a chairman there has agreed, and I I'd like to get it back onto position.
[speaker001:] Yes I I would agree with that but I wondered, I think perhaps it should be the finance committee, I mean cos I understood that most of these these items are contained within the existing budget, because I mean the individual committees do have have the power to the monies within their own, and I it has it I would agree with Peter that if we have gone over and above the that the committee were working to but I understood that that was not the case, so I.
[Lynn:] Would you like to comment on that.
[speaker001:] Yes. There are a number of areas erm John expression was and yet it is possible to find the monies. The the problem we had is because if in December, when we put the Christmas lights up for example, to use that as prime example, we put one erm harness I think it's called on the tree, it was absolutely pathetic. Erm so the Chairman erm erm agreed to this additional purchase. There was no meeting in in erm December. in December so it wasn't actually possible to to sort out these these queries. And I accept there are a number here of items, I mean there's er another one that Peter mentions which was the er large thorn plants to discourage the children from climbing the newly erected fence at the nature reserve. The problem there was the children climbing the fence and with just having spent five hundred and eighty pounds putting a fence up, spent another fifty four pounds although it's not in the budget, I accept that, er was er a necessary expenditure which I took a decision on straight away because I didn't want to see our five hundred pound fence being knocked down within a week of being put up. So I I accept there are a number of items here which I discussed with the chairman and he agreed to. But, I I agree.
[Lynn:] any more comments on the financial statement and the bills for payment now?
[speaker001:] correspondence.
[Lynn:] Right that's
[speaker001:] Two items.
[Lynn:] Two items. one of the quotes a new mower from
[speaker001:] Having received three quotes from three different companies, I wanted the company chosen to agree that they wouldn't exceed a certain price and they have confirmed that the mower we've chosen will not exceed eighteen thousand six hundred and sixty eight pounds and this is for everything, this is the mower including the new cab erm and all the fittings that we wanted included on mower.
[Lynn:] Right items correspond
[speaker001:] actually agreeing to that quotation, I wanted to be sure what the other figures were. That was done at a previous meeting, it was Yes
[Lynn:] I don't You're not agreeing to it are you?
[speaker001:] No we are.
[Lynn:] are we?
[speaker001:] It's already been ordered.
[Lynn:] Oh it's been ordered?
[speaker001:] There there was a a to Madam Chairman where we thought that erm three quotations should be retained,
[Lynn:] Mm.
[speaker001:] erm I can't recall erm any quotations having been put for approval but neither can I find anything
[Lynn:] No.
[speaker001:] the last council meeting erm so I'm a bit confused as to where we discussed it.
[Lynn:] We'll find, while he's just finding that look there's just one more item that's erm a Christmas card from so I'll pass that round so you can have a while we're just trying to find.
[speaker001:] Perhaps it was the October meeting, I can't remember. No. I don't think it was.
[Lynn:] But I don't know
[speaker001:] ... [LAUGHTER] Madam Chairman I recall giving three quotes, twenty one thousand something, nineteen thousand something and eighteen Oh well to confirm that I I've heard it somewhere I mean I'm sure it was one of the meetings. It was. Mm.
[Lynn:] But wh well what are you looking for now, to see if we actually made a decision on it?
[speaker001:] Yes. No I asked you for formally for permission to go ahead and go ahead with the. I've looked er erm
[Lynn:] I think it was when we actually settled the erm the budget er for the various.
[speaker001:] You know if everybody's happy that we've accepted the lowest quote then fine.
[Lynn:] Right that that was just a letter for reference anyway
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[Lynn:] wasn't it?
[speaker001:] Ca can you repeat that figure again please? Yes sixteen sorry eighteen thousand six hundred and sixty eight pounds. Thank you. Plus V A T. Plus V A T.
[Lynn:] Right move onto corres oh no no sorry, representatives' reports. Does anyone have any reports on any of the committees?
[speaker001:] Just as a matter of interest I was gonna bring up onto the er planning minutes for the tenth of January but as I wasn't allowed er The I had a phone call from the electricity board following the erm erm discussions that we had about the power supply on Road, they'd received a follow up enquiry from the press, if you recall we expressed concern that we thought that secured following the harsh winter three years ago.
[Lynn:] Sorry just what item is this under, is it... are you
[speaker001:] It's representatives' reports. I'm representing you as the consultative. [LAUGHTER] The reason I'm I'm bringing this up is that the gentleman in question wants to come to the parish council and put on a a short video of the electricity board's er er activities in this area. He's aware of concern expressed by Parish Council and he's going to see them and he will be very happy to come and er speak to us and answer any questions that we wish him to, so I advised him to contact the clerk to make arrangements. I thought this would sort of save Steve having to write a letter as as he'd been er instructed to do. I didn't know where else to get it in. [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] Erm Mr.
[Peter:] Er yes chairman. The I'm your representative for the minster governors and I'll be slipping out later on this evening if I may of the installation of the new headteacher, that will be seven minutes time so if you'll excuse me.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] Alright.
[Peter:] appointments which. So perhaps we might need to do might want to until I return, which I shouldn't think will take too long.
[Lynn:] So you won't be very long then?
[Peter:] No.
[Lynn:] Right. Er Christine.
[Christine:] Having said nothing about the er the charity erm erm the meeting on erm the meetings four times a year and we're quite but there are some available for erm people erm and particularly to erm we agreed a list of people who wished to give them Christmas gifts, cash but I'm sure they would help and and erm the names of people who who might need help er are always welcome so if I could just erm erm ask people to let me know if they know of anyone financial help.
[Lynn:] Thank you, erm anyone else?
[Madeleine:] Well I don't know what this comes under but last or er last Saturday week I had several complaints about the old market square, you know where er and shop is. It was an absolute disgrace, it really was a disgrace, and so as we'd been informed by somebody at, now don't ask me who cos I don't know, but from one of the public meetings we held, er they said you can phone up any time and you y the rubbish would be collected. So I took them at their word and phoned them up. Well the man nearly went through the roof and er, this was a Saturday morning, of course he didn't come, and in the meantime I had another replai re complaint about the path outside the W I hall, again which was a disgrace, not one person but several people. And erm, and then on the Sunday morning, it was the local tradespeople erm who were taking down the Christmas trees and things, they had to clear up, they didn't have to but they did clear up the mess, it was a disgrace. When the man came from I wouldn't know, but I just felt as a op coopted parish councillor that I should make my voice heard on behalf of all the people that complain to me.
[Lynn:] Right.
[Madeleine:] That's all.
[Lynn:] Right
[Madeleine:] I mean perhaps Saturday morning isn't the right time to phone but it was
[Lynn:] probably erm the clerk could perhaps deal with that then.
[Madeleine:] Mm. If they do query it, cos I mean erm it really was a disgrace and I I'm pretty tolerant. [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] I think madam chairman you'll find that there's in the administration that er an officer, he's left and I think replaced. That's probably why she got the response she did. mm.
[Lynn:] Thank you, we can follow up that up anyway, erm
[Madeleine:] Only because so many people complain, I mean I just had to do something.
[speaker001:] I did phone the hot line earlier in the week, er because the bin outside School hadn't been emptied for since before Christmas er cos I put a hub cap in there myself [LAUGHTER] which was in the middle of the road, but I phoned them and to be fair to them they responded very politely, very pleasantly, and dealt with it straight away, so erm
[Lynn:] Mm.
[speaker001:] apart from the fact by the wayside they did respond immediately.
[Lynn:] I I've I've only got one report that I went to erm a meeting of the youth club erm in December I think it was, we just had sort of general discussions, nothing really to report erm back on that. We discussed erm erm other places for people to meet et cetera has actually been closed down, some some problem with the isn't it, erm but they can't use it for the public so erm that was, it was just left that we'll have another meeting in March and looking around for alternative places to meet, but that's all to report on that. erm can I suggest then that we questions from from the public. Anyone oh one member of the public here, did you want to No, no. Right then. We can't do item eight because Peter is going to talk about it and he's gone. Could we defer it erm and do the other items first? Is that okay? number eight at the end. Now we can do the reports on the car park. Er Roger, could you do that one please?
[Roger:] Er yes. W we have looked into er the question of car parking in Southwell and the possibility of charging for long term parking. Erm the views of the er of the subcommittee are that that this does appear to be er perhaps a practical solution er and at the moment, er we are looking to erm make some of the spaces, certainly in the Church Street car park erm short term, I E two hours, certainly so the people who are who are making shopping visits, or visits to the banks et cetera would get the lower car park and the the people who are staying for a longer time would be at the top. Er in relation to King Street er car park, there are there are complications in relation to er the usage of the car parking spaces erm and the health centre and on street car parking erm and we are going to do er further work in surveying the usage of those spaces and how we could perhaps better allocate them to ensure that there are erm spaces available for people who need to get to the surgery and the subcommittee will be reporting back to the council. Erm the cost of capital costs of of signing er will also be looked at and then a further report from the subcommittee to the council.
[Lynn:] Does anyone have any comments?
[speaker001:] Could I ask through you chair er how this system is going to be policed?
[Stuart:] That is the problem erm in so far as initially er we felt that it that that the onus would be on the individual, I E if it's a short term stay car park they would not use it. Erm and one would have to see the the effectiveness of that. What one doesn't want to do er is is by having to police the situation cause a charge to be erm brought up against the council. Erm so it's a question of how one can best do it, but initially it would be er the onus would go on the individual to use the the spaces not designated as short stay.
[speaker001:] I think the regrettable thing about the parking in in the town is the way that some of the disabled slots at the surgery are taken by the cars of people who are perfectly able to walk from the car park, and I think the great problem we're going to have is we're going to rely on the public spiritedness of our fellow townspeople and there does seem to be a fair group of people who are extremely selfish when it comes to come to parking.
[Madeleine:] Well shall I tell you that a certain member of the er medical staff, you know they've got bollards where the staff can put their cars in a certain place, and one member of the staff came out and said, please remove your car it's in the staff parking part, the person said, yes I even had to move the bollard.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Madeleine:] Well I mean how do you win
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] I'm not sure. [LAUGHTER] I think we have quite a task of public education. [LAUGHTER]
[Madeleine:] I don't know what happened but I think.
[speaker001:] The problem in the doctors' surgery, I mean you've got people taking ill sick children round there with high temperatures and, and they do tend want to park close to the surgery, er and if they see a space they will obviously use it. I think it's a difficult situation, I mean I know in er in Nottingham now, if the car parks are full, you actually get directed by the attendant to use a disabled space. Erm so it does mean that as parking becomes more and more congested, it the subject does become more and more topical. But I agree with Stuart, I think what we've got be careful is that if we're gonna introduce something, it is actually erm capable of being enforced and it's very difficult to see us an enforcing agent. If I recall er when that er the King Street car park was given to the town by the benefactors we did want entrance er at the top end of the car park for the people who shopped which saved a lot of people coming round that dangerous corner where you know we've had one fatal accident there, and I just wondered whether we should take this under the umbrella while er we're actually discussing it. Well that's interesting because yes we have we have discussed that and I don't know whether the er the clerk wants to comment further but I think that is absolutely right and and if that could be taken further it would be of very positive benefit to you know the car parking problem for those people who want to shop on King Street and have difficulties in find a car parking space. The district council actually commented to me that they'd like to see that entrance opened where that er derelict building is at the top end of Church Street car park, which would be an ideal entrance. We did nearly get it through once didn't we, years ago? No, no. I can't remember what snag, I think the person or something, I can't remember details but we nearly had an entrance at that end of the car park which in my opinion was you know, a lot of the people There is an entrance at the moment. The top of the top of Church Street car park through top of Church Street car park to King Street. Well how
[Lynn:] There needs to be an entrance there then?
[speaker001:] No, no.
[Lynn:] For pedestrians you're suggesting, not
[speaker001:] Pedestrians. Oh yes oh yes pedestrians. Oh yes, sorry. Well can I say that er we'll we'll take that on board rather more positively,
[Lynn:] Mm.
[speaker001:] er at the subcommittee and report back. And and can the clerk look into the details when this, I think.
[Steve:] Yes.
[speaker001:] You know, there should be some document somewhere. Erm I'd hate it to er we get charging away and We aren't intending to charge. No, well income from that? No we're not, no we're not er
[Lynn:] Anyone else anything to add on that? No? Purchase of play equipment for Gardens playing field and the recreation ground.. We have actually erm got a number of leaflets and brochures on play equipment but erm as was mentioned at the last meeting I was going to get together with David and the clerk to discuss future plans for play equipment but we haven't actually had a meeting yet cos we're still getting information from various reps and playground equipment companies and erm we'll leave that item for now. Erm item sorry
[speaker001:] Wh while you're on that madam chairman, I've had two persons er contact me as regarding, you know playing field and er it's a no go for dogs isn't it, and th and we therefore the people have mentioned they had to go down the side of the playing field onto the onto the old, and er have we an obligation to er to pave not pave it but er make it, it's a very steep bank, a very steep old ladies daren't go down, and they know they're breaking the law by taking the dog in the in the er recreation ground, and I just wondered whether we had an obligation to er. Those people with dogs in that sort of situation are very welcome to walk through the playing field and then out the other side and away, I wouldn't stop them going over from that entrance to the to the top entrance. Well and er I was just wondering we we ought to do something, I mean these poor old dears have adhered to what we have said and facilities for them to get down onto to the er the. I would accept that bank is very steep, Yes it is, it is very steep. Erm erm it's not a very. greasy you know, terrible, the poor old dears daren't go. They're they're tongue in cheek going across the recreation ground, thinking that we're going to pounce on them because they're not allowed in there. So you know, it's a for them. I would say I think that's a very good point chairman now can we ask perhaps either our groundsman or or or whatever to look at it to see if something to make it safer for these these people to er get access to.
[Lynn:] I was going to suggest something similar but erm, can we say is is it public footpath er
[speaker001:] Yes well it
[Lynn:] sort of track are contacting the people who done a very good job on the on the public footpath erm and that was actually going through our land, and they done some steps with erm you know erm wooden erm supports in them, er maybe in in conjunction with, was it?
[speaker001:] Was it the ramblers? Er the ramblers they
[Madeleine:] The ramblers did it, the Newark ramblers, they did they did the one at the bottom of Lane.
[Lynn:] Now this is the one on Road.
[Madeleine:] Oh.
[Lynn:] If you could find out who who did that and Was it, and possibly give us some help but erm
[Christine:] Can I just make one point er all the footpaths need rain so it might just be but conditions at the moment are just very bad I think generally anyway.
[Lynn:] Mm. Any more on on that subject of the erm playground, no? Shall we put in item eight now as Peter is back. back to item eight then.
[Peter:] If you'd er allow me to go back to item seven briefly. Erm this news is until twelve noon please tomorrow. Er the appoi the governors have just made an appointment of erm to the headship of who's the current deputy head, senior deputy at, he'll be taking up his appointment er at Easter. [clears throat]
[Madeleine:] did you say, not Flintstone?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Madeleine:] mm.
[Peter:] [clears throat] I apologize. Erm find some empty chairs. [clears throat]. We still haven't got a name for this er facility, been dragging on for some time.
[speaker001:] Mm.
[Peter:] We er actually do need to decide what the name ought to be.
[Lynn:] Er we have got one suggestion here from Madeleine and that's sports park, anyone else?
[speaker001:] What about the er centenary sports ground? Well that would certainly be my favourite, we we'll be coming up to our hundredth anniversary aren't we fairly soon? Erm really this has been to a large extent I think a parish council initiative and I'm sure all the members of this council are enthusiastic supporters of grassroots democracy in the role of parish councils. [LAUGHTER] a few years er beyond er our why not celebrate our own centenary? high profile I think centenary park has quite a ring to it.
[Lynn:] No centenary park not centenary sports ground then?
[speaker001:] That's a bit of a mouthful.
[Lynn:] Centenary park. Do was there any other suggestions? Cos we ought to decide tonight because it's been going on a long time.
[Madeleine:] Centenary, a centenary in our parish last year wasn't it?
[speaker001:] The centenary's this this year Eighteen ninety four, the local government act. It had a stormy passage through parliament. It created parish councils.
[Madeleine:] It's an ideal name.
[Lynn:] Does anyone have any suggest any more suggestions?
[speaker001:] Yes madam chairman. Er centenary seems and I know we are round this table [LAUGHTER] and I was thinking of the benefactor who actually offered this er [cough] facility for for us to take it up, and er I would like to see may be er some something incorporated, there was one suggestion of a Bramley park or something of that nature wasn't there in those suggestions we had, have we still got that one, could you could you just er inform me what it really said?
[Lynn:] Erm I don't know, we didn't er did we formally If we decide on the first then we can decide whether it's a park or a sports ground or or what shall we do? Shall we shall we put them to the vote, how shall we do this?
[speaker001:] Well I I'm I think that er I'm less worried about dating it cos I think it actually quite important to date it, like the war memorial ground and actually fairly closely although it's not actually dated to the end of the war, I mean it was nineteen fifty two when it was established. But it ties it in to a date and I think in a similar way, erm centenary which is the only thing we're going to do offic I think that it could be the only thing we do to celebrate our hundred years of existence apart from a small exhibition in.
[Lynn:] Can I make one more suggestion one, to combine two of these to call it Southwell Centenary Park, would that make it any better? Well it's just another idea. There were comments last time about trying to give it a name so people realized where it was.
[speaker001:] That it was in. [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] Or you could call it Brinkley Centenary [LAUGHTER]
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] But is it just the centenary of the parish council, that's why I thought of the Southwell bit but what do y, what about that
[speaker001:] Can I ask madam chairman, is it is it for anything else except football?
[Lynn:] I don't know.
[speaker001:] Well facilities for anything else, other than football? I think the answer is yes.
[Lynn:] Mm. But it's football initially cos they've shown an interest and I think that the pitch is there for anybody.
[speaker001:] and the summer uses. Given our advancing years John croquet. [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] Well what, shall I read what we've got so far then?
[Madeleine:] Excuse me,do won't the schoolchildren asked at one stage
[speaker001:] Yes, yes.
[Madeleine:] didn't they come up with anything?
[speaker001:] Nothing. I phoned them last week and said you know have you got any suggestions, and they said they'd come back to me and they haven't.
[Christine:] They're too busy on the national curriculum.
[Lynn:] The I mean there's not a huge choice here is there, we've got two or three words, you've got Southwell Sports Park, Centenary Park, Bramley Park, Brinkley Park, erm what do you think, shall we have a vote on it, how shall we do this?
[speaker001:] Can I propose that we vote either to go for Southwell Centenary cos I think they are the fav either or, and then we also have another vote for Bramley or Brinkley and then we have a vote between the winners of either of those two, [LAUGHTER] because then that gives us a chance of voting for a for a third option. Is this is this matter madam chairman [LAUGHTER] is this matter urgent or important or is it urgent and important?
[Lynn:] Well I think that it's gone on a long time and it's not
[Madeleine:] It has.
[Lynn:] it's not that hard to decide a name, I think we ought to
[speaker001:] Well I think that what you're in danger of coming up with is a camel. Erm no seriously I think it really shouldn't take long, you're quite right to sort this matter out but I think three people really should go away and come back with a suggestion or a couple of suggestions. Yes. Because you're going to get into a situation where you're taking amendments to the amendment and you well with great respect I think you would be better to duck out at this stage.
[Lynn:] But we did mention this at the last meeting didn't we?
[speaker001:] Mm. Mm.
[Lynn:] And we did put forward ideas then as well.
[speaker001:] Well as I say, I think three people would make a better of it and come back with their recommendations..
[Lynn:] Let's let's let's ask who would like to vote on it now then. Who thinks we should decide it now?
[speaker001:] Chairman, we have something on the agenda. We're going to name the sports ground, I think we should stick to the agenda.
[Lynn:] We should name it.
[speaker001:] Can I ask you a que Erm it seems silly to me to call it anything other than by the name of the place where it is. I mean it seems stupid to call it Bramley. Brinkley, everybody knows where Brinkley is. Or if they ask for Brinkley, people can be guided there. It's er sort of like calling a place in Easthorpe Westhorpe. [LAUGHTER] I think the fact is that er we are in a situation where up and down the country parish councils have been er doing things and organizing events and er providing facilities to mark one hundred years of er er of parish local services [cough] and this particular project, a lot of hard work has gone into it by members of the parish council and er I think it's perfectly appropriate, and the ground was bought, it wasn't donated, er it's come of the er erm the funds that parish council receives from er residents and I think that it's perfectly appropriate that it should mark one hundred years of parish local government. We have the county council and the district councils telling us what a good job they do at the present time, spending a lot of money in doing it, we have provided this largely out of our own efforts, we've got grants from er other bodies, I think it's something that we should properly erm hallmark as an initiative of this parish council to celebrate one hundred years of parish government, and I would propose centenary field.
[Lynn:] Centenary field.
[speaker001:] the reason I stated that is there's plenty of football grounds that are known as fields. Erm a park tends to give the impression of being like a memorial park, erm equally it's not just earmarked for football, which is it could be er seen as just that, the idea was that it would provide facilities for all types of sports and interests throughout the er throughout the area, particularly er girls, I know girls play football but there's a lot of interest in er sport particularly hockey, and I personally wouldn't like to see it just dominated by football. Erm so the term field I think is perfectly acceptable to mean all things to all people. Erm
[Madeleine:] a ground
[speaker001:] Well
[Madeleine:] Southwell, I mean Centenary Sports Ground.
[Lynn:] Well le, shall we take a vote on the first word and then decide whether it's a park, a sports field or a a sports park or whatever?
[speaker001:] Chairman before before we do that could I just make an observation on
[Lynn:] Yes.
[speaker001:] what er Councillor said. I think er he has a a very valid point but I think whatever we call it, it doesn't include the location. The location's going to be appended.
[Lynn:] Mm.
[speaker001:] So if we call it Centenary Sports Ground, the next thing that will be added to it is Brinkley, the Centenary Sports Ground, Brinkley, which is fine. And I think erm that the issue of location is going to be resolved anyway whether we add it to the name or not. Yes quite right. I mean clubs that are arranging fixtures will be responsible for telling, they'll know where it is, and they'll be responsible for telling people who are coming there where it is. We don't need to go into [cough] address, I used to play for Caythorpe Cricket Club, half the clubs used to go to Caythorpe in Lincolnshire before they found us.
[Lynn:] If we eliminate the name of the place as being the first word, we're down to Centenary or Bramley then. You wouldn't?
[speaker001:] No.
[Lynn:] Well can somebody suggest on this thing cos I'm so confused now.
[speaker001:] Well could we have centenary title
[Lynn:] Right yes.
[Madeleine:] I will hold with that.
[Lynn:] Right who who thinks that the word centenary should be in the title then?... Okay.
[speaker001:] Seven.
[Lynn:] Do again? No.
[speaker001:] Well you should really.
[Lynn:] centenary being in the title. So centenary's got to be in the title then, yes? Next word, is it going to be a sports park, a field
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] or a sports ground?
[Madeleine:] Weren't you going to ask weren't you going to suggest that three people choose this?
[Lynn:] What about Centenary Field Brinkley then?
[Christine:] Well we know it's at Brinkley don't we?
[speaker001:] But that will be added, we don't need to discuss that.
[Lynn:] Right the next word then, should it be field or a sports park?
[speaker001:] Or sports.
[Madeleine:] Or sports ground.
[Lynn:] Ground, right then.
[speaker001:] Doesn't it continue erm dribbling down the field now we've got the ball rolling, could I propose sports ground?
[Lynn:] Right.
[speaker001:] And I'll second that.
[Lynn:] Now who who who's in favour of sports ground then, being the next word? right, and who's against that?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Lynn:] So we now have Centenary Sports Ground then.
[speaker001:] but why is it necessary to, why isn't the Centenary Sports Ground and it's at Road. You know why is Brinkley so important? Brinkley is where it is. Is it Brinkley?
[Lynn:] Do we have to?
[speaker001:] go down the road it's got Brinkley up. You've got to have a correct address David. Centenary Sports Ground on the notice board, you know that it's Brinkley.
[Lynn:] Oh yes.
[speaker001:] you've got a road sign.
[Peter:] Thank you gentlemen. Erm
[Lynn:] Mr carry on.
[speaker001:] voted on Centenary Sports Ground Yeah. Well the Centenary Sports Ground.
[Lynn:] No, we don't need to vote on on it any more.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Peter:] Erm if you recall in our managements' erm in our discussions when I presented the last the last minutes of the er s the subcommittee which has purchased the ground, we agreed to erm co er co-work with two other two of the clubs sports clubs to establish a management committee, which we would then hope would take over management of the ground from the parish council. At the moment, Centenary Sports Ground is owned and managed entirely by the parish council, on the parish council rates and as you know it's been planted and it's coming up well. We need to move this into the next stage which is to get it managed for a sports field, sports ground properly. And the management committee will do that. The two clubs are I think are in the process of electing er members and have asked us to put forward two parish councillors to be their nominees. So we're looking for two additional representatives on this parish council to be our nominees on the management committee, and the management committee will present us with proposals to buy the ground in due course.
[Lynn:] Could I erm nominate erm Roger. Would you like to
[Roger:] I I'm happy to serve as long as it isn't you know, I mean I I can't give a lot of time because er my time's so committed.
[Lynn:] Anybo anyone else who wants
[speaker001:] How about you David? No I'm s no I'm sorry I couldn't er.
[Madeleine:] David I'd like to propose, but as you proposed him.
[speaker001:] I'm quite happy to do it.
[Lynn:] Perhaps Alright do we do we need to vote on that?
[speaker001:] Before you move on madam chairman may I make a suggestion general approval, presumably we will be erecting a notice board er at the ground er and I would think it would be appropriate having selected the name that we make er erm some statement on the notice board saying the facility was originally provided by Southwell Parish Council. Similar to erm the accreditation that is er up at, with the help they've had from er er interested er people there. I think that the parish council's involvement should be by by reference on the board. I think chairman within our within our original budgets erm we're still awaiting [clears throat] the provision of electricity and water to the site, but within the original budget and with the estimates and quotations we've had, there will be some money available for the erection of a small sign, so perhaps er I propose that we do that within the budget that we've already established for the purchase of the ground,wh which is within budget at the moment, so if there's any spare after the provision of electricity and water to the site, suggested. But I think that er this er Centenary Sports Ground gonna be large enough for the public to see and this and wants to be on a smaller metal er edition that's there for er ever and a day. Right. You see my point, it's it's not a like a M and S or railway sign one small sign you know at the bottom or wherever. Yes in an appropriate position this glorious name and just [LAUGHTER] I mean I'm not, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these formal you know want's to everything but the idea of this is that we go we get it off the ground and then the management committee take over and run it, it will hopefully have two parish representatives, won't be overcommitted by being you know constantly hectored and badgered by people saying this is your ground. Erm but I just thought that it is appropriate in the circumstances because we have basically provided this facility, that there should be erm [cough] on the part of the public that this was a facility provided by the parish council, it's not just a sports club facility as will develop over the years, which is what we intended, but it doesn't belong to those clubs, facility was originally provided by us.
[Lynn:] Is that it then?
[speaker001:] It is. Oh I'm sorry. I have one other, can I reserve one matter to the end of the meeting because I wish to make a proposal which er would be erm I think ought to be taken erm in closed session because of the nature and confidentiality of the business and personal interests, so perhaps I can propose the closure of the meeting to the press and public at the end of the meeting and defer the final item an item relating to this matter at that time.
[Lynn:] [clears throat] Item eleven then,. I think all they want to do is kn is the existing one needs pulling down, am I right? And then they want to build a new one where the old one is at the moment.
[speaker001:] Right. They've actually drawn a very detailed plan for it, shows us where the war memorial recreation ground
[Madeleine:] Where it was.
[speaker001:] and, yes where it is, er and it says, [reading] please find enclosed plan for mower store, present wooden hut is inadequate for our requirements []. Erm they're going to pay for everything, they're going to build it, they're going to submit planning application, they're gonna do everything. So all they're asking really as you're the landlords, do you have any objection to them building a new er mower store? How big is it? How big is it chairman in relation to the existing shed? Be the same size? It'll be slightly larger. When you say slightly larger will it be more visible or, I mean the present one is partially hidden in actual fact. The measurements are eight foot by nine foot. It's on the same site and everything, to be honest I've never measured the old one. Green felt covered concrete roof, red bricks to er local authority local authority [cough] erm doesn't given any more details than that, but it's red brick to local authority approval, so they're going to submit it to them for them to agree that it fits in. I think one of the problems is they had a break in and had quite a lot of gear stolen, and that's why they want a concrete roof, so they can't er get in through the roof. I can understand that.
[Lynn:] it'll come up again at the planning meeting anyway? This is just asking us for permission for them to apply for planning permission. Right, we'll move on now to item twelve, Southwell Tennis Club, permission for floodlighting. I believe we've had a letter
[speaker001:] [cough]
[Lynn:] asking if we will contribute towards floodlighting, is that it?
[speaker001:] What they're actually asking for is that whether we would be able to help them by arranging for a loan on their behalf, they would service the debt at this time, so I might suggest chairman that we revert it to the finance committee for
[Lynn:] Yes can we put that to the finance committee.
[speaker001:] As a matter of urgency I think chairman,be because if we're going to apply, we need to apply for the first of April [cough] credit approvals now get taken up so quickly because the government doesn't let much money borrow erm much money to be borrowed parish councils unfortunately so we need to do it fairly urgently if we're going to get it on the list, I think the list is already about ten parish councils long.
[Lynn:] When is the next finance?
[Christine:] We were hoping to erm organize, arrange one quite soon.
[Lynn:] So this. Right, okay then. Erm, maintenance of rights of ways in Southwell, item thirteen. It's just a letter from the county council about footpaths, erm shall we [clears throat] [reading] This department has been running an experimental scheme called project. This project was set up by the county council and Countryside Commission to experiment with new approaches to path maintenance. Due to the pilot nature of the scheme it is only operating in a few selected areas initially, which is why your parish has not been contacted. This project has already demonstrated the positive benefits of working with both parish councils and the farming community. The work is due to finish in May nineteen ninety four and the results assessed. After this time the rights of way team have every intention of working more closely with parishes and farmers throughout the county [] Am I right in saying that people talk to us about this? I think it's do with us taking over the foot the footpaths isn't it? Can can you say more on that.
[speaker001:] What will basically happen is we would organize the clearance of footpaths within Southwell boundary, and so they would give us an amount of money each year and then we would er take on, we would nominate which footpaths are to be cleared, we have got far more ideas than they have in Nottingham need attention. But they were quite happy to come along and discuss it with the parish council erm and.
[Madeleine:] Am I right in saying Women's Institute, don't they go round and checking up on [cough] sorry erm footpaths? And what happens about re repairing of stiles and all that sort of business?
[Lynn:] A at the moment what happens is individual people report back to the clerk,
[Madeleine:] Mm.
[Lynn:] the county council's responsible for footpaths.
[Madeleine:] I know they refer to don't they?
[Lynn:] ramblers
[Madeleine:] Mm.
[Lynn:] I think they're erm
[Madeleine:] But house er erm what is that that's the footpath people isn't it, they always come and repair things if they're told, at least they sh, but obviously they have to work in collaboration with the farmers, er concerned.
[Lynn:] controlled by the county council
[Madeleine:] Mm.
[Lynn:] erm and they've got the responsibility of all the footpaths in the area. I think what they're trying to say is if it was more localized it would be easier.
[Madeleine:] Yes, but they've still got to keep in touch with the farmer concerned or farmers
[Lynn:] Yes.
[Madeleine:] they can't just say we're going to repair the footpath.
[Lynn:] Then it will be the parish council instead of the county council.
[Madeleine:] But you've still got to liaise with the farmer or something.
[Lynn:] Yes, yes.
[speaker001:] But I would do it rather than
[Madeleine:] Oh I see yes. Mm, mm.
[speaker001:] a splendid initiative and it's similar to the way in which the district council is now devolving responsibility for public toilets, and I'm delighted that local government reorganization has been given a bit of stir that districts and county councils to get their acts together. I'd actually go a bit further and say yes we'd like to do this, can we also look after road maintenance as well, because the road maintenance is sent out to contractors, contractors are so busy, they can't actually do half this work, they've got a list as long as your arm, so pit pitfalls in in the pavements as well as as some of the motorways aren't being done because the contract's been placed, but they've placed it with the wrong people. We know where the problems are, we can actually solve those problems, and I think that's where parish council actually far closer in touch with the people, because we're on the ground and there are fifteen of us [cough] in the village and one of you know that's than than the county council which is over the river in house. But I think I'd actually like to support that idea, I think we ought to er er write back to them and say it's a splendid idea, erm let's have more of it and and thank you to the local government commission for s er seeing to this after a hundred years.
[Lynn:] Don't we want write and in fact get him to come to the next meeting then yes?
[speaker001:] Madam chairman, er just as it happens er I've [clears throat] I've been in conversation with Mr assistant [LAUGHTER] and ha and Southwell parish is a very big parish [cough] and I think I'm right is saying there are sixty seven footpaths in Southwell [cough] sorry More than that. and I don't want to, I don't want to get involved with a lot of money that we'd have to outlay for upkeep until we've gone into it thoroughly.
[Lynn:] Mm.
[speaker001:] Because at the moment, er I mean they spend a lot of money on various footpaths that I know of which are a tremendous er price so let's be a bit cautious you know, because er I don't want to be saddled with a a great bill just for footpaths.
[Lynn:] I think you we can ask him all these questions then can't we.
[Madeleine:] Will you let us know please when and maybe some of the footpath people, local footpath secretary or chairman
[Lynn:] When when shall I get him to come to one our meetings.
[Madeleine:] Yes perhaps you'll let let me know.
[Lynn:] Alright, now there's one
[speaker001:] [clears throat]
[Lynn:] item on the agenda right at the end late edition, which is the byelaw on control of dogs, which I think is something we discussed years ago
[speaker001:] [cough]
[Lynn:] but I can hardly remember what we decided but it seems that we've now got to
[speaker001:] [cough]
[Lynn:] that we did agree that we would we would we would go along with so erm
[speaker001:] [clears throat]
[Lynn:] ninety two
[speaker001:] Yeah the minutes of the meeting of the nineteenth of February nineteen ninety two, that's an awful long time ago erm, and it is proposed to bring into force byelaws for district and parish council-owned land upon or as soon as possible after the first of April nineteen ninety two. [cough] The byelaws as proposed would be for a dog ban at the toddlers' play area of the War Memorial Recreation Ground and for the Memorial Recreation Ground excluding the tennis courts and bowling green, the play area at gardens. It was agreed that the byelaws for dog ban at the toddlers play area be endorsed and clarification be sought for the possibility of dog ban in other areas, which is included in the document. There's there's quite a lot of information in on this proposal.
[Lynn:] Right, so what what you're asking to do is to sign it and send it back? agreeing that we should and send it back?
[speaker001:] Mm. Mm.
[Madeleine:] Who's this letter from then? County council?
[speaker001:] District.
[Lynn:] Erm district.
[Madeleine:] Because I mean they're being e I've lived here twenty three years, this comes up every three or four years this dog business.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER]
[Madeleine:] I mean I've written countless letters and nothing's been done.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] I apologize for the urgency on this, but to get it through to the Department of the Environment it has to be lodged at the beginning of February and then up to then by by March.
[Madeleine:] What are they going to do about it?
[speaker001:] This this this is because the the Department of the Environment lost the paperwork for a year erm because apparently the Home Office are un incapable of reading documents unless they're in order, and they take them in order and it takes them a year to read them. And I I've got a letter from the Department of the Environment and the Home Office saying that, er and th and because of that it's taking them this long to actually get these byelaws effected. There's no apology or anything, they just that's the statement. I think Madeleine what enforceable by the district council law. that needed the consent of the is it the D O E or Yes Secretary of State. and that has been a long time coming but it now appears to be
[Madeleine:] It's been twenty three years since I
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Could I enquire madam chairman er is the same areas on that specific document the same one as we agreed in nineteen ninety two?
[Lynn:] Mm I think so.
[speaker001:] If they are fair enough.
[Lynn:] Yes
[speaker001:] Perhaps the clerk will check.
[Lynn:] check through but I think it's exactly the same as what we agreed
[speaker001:] Thank you. Just before you close the meeting hold on No well any way before we go onto that
[Lynn:] Right.
[speaker001:] can I just ask did the chairman respond to The clerk and chairman
[Lynn:] Right, could I ask