Alvingham Parish Council
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting
Held on 17th January 2023
Present: Councillor N Ashley
Councillor A Graves
Councillor R Wahlberg
Councillor G Cummings
Clerk: Mrs S McFarland
In Attendance: Councillor E Mossop
Mrs Christine Lowis
Apologies
Apologies were received from Councillor Hall prior to the meeting.
Open Forum
Mrs Lowis the Church Warden had kindly accepted our invitation to attend our meeting. She informed the Councillors that the village church has had to pledge £1200 per year to Lincoln in order to remain open as a Festival Church. This means it will be possible to hold baptisms, funerals and weddings in addition to 4 Rota services ( Harvest, Easter, Christmas and 1 other). The Church must also pay for insurance costing £1318 per annum, ground maintenance and heating costs of approximately £500. The costs have been met for this year and £4000 is held by the church for next years costs. Following that they will be reliant on fundraising and collections to remain viable.
Mrs Lowis thanked the Parish Council for the assistance they have given to the Church by arranging for the grass to be cut over the years and to the wider community for their help with fund raising through the carol singing at Christmas which raised over £300.
Councillor Ashley thanked Mrs Lowis for the information and for attending tonight’s meeting.
Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 1st November 2022 were read and approved. They were proposed by Councillor Cummings and Seconded by Councillor Graves. Councillor Ashley then signed them as a true copy of the meeting.
Matters Arising
Regarding Ivy Cottage there have been no further incidents reported. Councillor Hall will be asked to see if it is possible for someone to come and give the path a clear.
Treasurers Report
Councillor Cummings advised that the balance in the current account stands at £5054.95. A cheque is payable to the Clerk.
The precept needs to be set. The rate was set at 21.51 last year. It has not been increased for 5 years. An inflationary rise of 4.6% to 22.50 which equates to 99p per household was proposed to cover increasing costs. The proposal was passed by a majority vote.
Correspondence
The planning application submitted in relation to Claylake was discussed. No objections will be made.
Other relevant business
The need to help the church to survive was discussed. The Parish Council already assists with the cost of cutting some of the grass. It was agreed that it is of benefit to the community for the Church Yard to be kept in a good state. Magnus has been approached and is happy to take on all of the work needed but would prefer to be left to do it all so he knows what needs doing and when. The cost of the work that is needed in the church yard this year, including tree cutting is £1200. It was agreed that the Parish Council would offer to take responsibility for the cost of maintaining the church yard to lessen the burden of the Church’s reserves and to ensure the grounds remain in a good state for the benefit of the whole community.
In the meantime, to further help the church with fund raising a ‘friends of the church’ scheme will be suggested.
Date and Time of next meeting
Tuesday 14th March 2023 7pm at the Village Hall. Annual Parish Meeting.