2022 Annual Parish Meeting

Minutes of the Annual Assembly of Electors for Tattershall held on Tuesday 3rd May 2022, held in Tattershall Village Hall.

Present: Mrs C Dawson, Mr M Keeling, Mr S Coulber, Mr N Edwards, Mrs G Shaw D Cllr Mr S Avison and C Sivill plus 2 guests and Mrs K Elliott, clerk.

Groups represented – Coningsby & Tattershall Wombles, Community Speed Watch volunteers and Tattershall Village Hall
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The meeting commenced at 6.08 pm.

The formal meeting followed:

1.    Manning Trophy: CD welcomed everyone to the meeting and announced that the parish council have awarded the Manning Trophy to Sivill Service to acknowledge there work refurbishing computers and other devices for use in schools during the lockdown. Cllr Mrs Dawson Chair of Tattershall with Thorpe Parish Council presented the Manning Trophy.

2.    Apologies: Have been received from Mrs Taylor, Mr Knowles and C Cllr T Ashton.

3.    Minutes: of the last annual assembly held on 4th May 2021, as per the circulated documents were proposed, seconded, RESOLVED and accepted as a true record, signed by the Chairman.

4.    Matters arising: there were no matters arising from the minutes.

5.    Best Kept Garden competition: the first round will be judged by the council and each councillor is allocated an area of the parish to inspect at the June meeting and gardens are then shortlisted and are put forward to a chosen judge to make the final choice.

6.    Parish Council Chairman’s Report: copies of the report from Mrs Dawson were circulated to all present.

Reflecting on my year as the Chair of Tattershall with Thorpe Parish Council I was at first stuck to know what to write, however after taking time to reflect I have come up with quite a list that the parish council has achieved;

My year began with the welcome move to recommence face to face meetings in the village hall following a long period of holding them via Zoom due to lock down restrictions.

As I was looking for inspiration of what to write I checked back to our previous chairs report from 2019 and noted he was hoping that the Market Place improvements as funded by Tesco 106 monies would have been completed that year! I am pleased to report that our persistence has eventually paid off and the final project which is to add lighting to the War Memorial is currently ongoing with an expected finishing date of June 2022. 

Back in the summer of 2021 the parish council was awarded a sum specifically to be spent in Tattershall parish via ELDC from The Welcome Back Fund. This has been used within our parish to replace benches, and provide planters as a welcome to the parish. This work is still in progress and parishioners and visitors will be able to enjoy these over the coming months when the project is completed.

Early 2022 saw the completion of Franklin Row, the community led housing project. I was lucky enough to be invited to have a tour of these lovely new homes before the first residents moved in. 

With the help of our local scout group, we have planted trees on the parish council owned land at Clinton Park as part of the Queens Green Canopy project. There is also a new oak tree in the Market Place which has been planted to honour the Queens Platinum Jubilee this will hopefully be there for generations to come.

The parish council are now funding a router in Tattershall village hall so that all users can benefit from having Wi-Fi available for the duration of their use of the hall.

We have also worked with Coningsby Town Council to bring a number of community events for the Queens Jubilee celebrations in a few weeks’ time.

The Coningsby & Tattershall Wombles continue to grow in numbers and have kept the momentum going with keeping our parish litter free. Something that parishioners and visitors to the area can appreciate. My thanks go to all of our hardworking wombles who give their time whenever they are able to.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parish councillors for their time and efforts. It’s not the done thing to single anyone out but I feel it wouldn’t be right not to mention Cllr Serv Coulber for his commitment to keeping Tattershall Thorpe looking its best. Cllr Coulber has spent many an hour voluntarily cutting the grass in Tattershall Thorpe and due to health reasons has requested the Parish Council take over. We now have a contractor appointed who will be continuing his good work. 

Finally, on behalf of all the Parish Councillors I would like to express our thanks to County & District Councillors who attend our regular meetings and ensure we are kept in the loop on developments at higher levels of local government and public service.

Caroline Dawson

7.    Community Groups: Mrs Shaw noted that in order to encourage new members to the CSW team a WhatsApp group is to be set up to coordinate availability.

8.    Any other items for discussion: Police in our parish was discussed and the clerk is to voice our concerns about the increase in antisocial behaviour and litter.  The increase in precept was discussed and CD and NE provided an explanation for this which includes extra grass cutting and future projects.  It is noted that the precept has returned to the same level as in 2015/2016.  D Cllr Avison also noted that ELDC are worried about the percentage increase in precepts over the district.  It was suggested that the notice board already in the Market place could be used for information about the trees and other street furniture.  One side is currently blank and one has a map which needs updating.  Fencing at Clinton Park was also discussed and this will be brought to the next parish council meeting.  It is not always obvious to the general public what the parish council does for the residents.  It is noted that the grass triangle at the Fortescue Road Junction is regularly being missed by the grass cutting contractor.

There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and the meeting closed at 6.40 pm.