May 2021 Chairs Report
Marshchapel Parish Council
Chair Report – 4th May 2021
We were unable to hold an Annual Parish Meeting last year in May 2020 due to Covid 19 and lockdown regulations. We planned to hold it later in the year but were never in a position to hold a public meeting for face to face attendance.
At this moment in time we still cannot hold face to face meetings and probably won’t be looking to until August or September. However I can now report that in 2019 we held a poster competition for the Best Kept Village and had a fabulous response from the school children and the prize winners were very happy with their Smythes toy vouchers. Their posters were displayed throughout the village.
We were very grateful to our volunteer who painted the benches in the village for us and made them look better.
We bought a second speed sign for the village, this one will be in the village permanently, alongside our shared one; when it is our turn to host it. We feel sure that the sign does cut the speed of the traffic through the village
We were happy to be able to site a second defibrillator in the village with the help of Trace McPhee, this is at the Village Hall, which along with the one at the local shop gives better coverage in the village.
We welcomed our new Councillor Sam Atkin in September 2019 and we also helped the Village Hall committee with the cost of their electrical work which needed doing. We also undertook to do some landscaping work at the Village Hall.
Well, that was 2019, now on to 2020, Covid year and Zoom meetings were the only way forward for the Council. The ‘Zoom App’ proved indispensable and I am sure that although we found it tricky at first, we have found that it doesn’t stop us getting things done. On the cold nights of November and December it was lovely to be able to stay at home for the meetings.
However, things were going to be different in 2020, the Best Kept Village was cancelled, we launched a competition, along with Grainthorpe Parish Council to say ‘Thank you’ to all our Keyworkers, Our thanks go to Martin Rylatt Plumbing and Heating and TEJ Contracting for kindly agreeing to help sponsor this competition for Marshchapel and provide Smythes Toy vouchers as prizes. We didn’t get the response we were accustomed to but we did get some entries and the children got their prizes.
We were sad to receive Cllr Bealeys resignation in June after 13 years of service and have only recently co-opted our new Councillor Vicky Claricoates.
The younger children’s multi play equipment will receive a re-paint. We have no football team regularly using the field at present.
LCC have done their best to try and sort out the drainage problem in Sea Dyke Way, they have recently been jetted and we are waiting for the cameras to go down and check them.
We monitored planning applications and we tried very hard to limit the development that was put forward at Lowgate, we were very aware that the roads are not suited to the development but we were over-ruled by Planning Officers. We submitted our views to ELDC on Issues and Options for the Local Plan and our opinions are recorded in our minutes as supporting the plan to run until 2041, opting to keep two zones, coastal and inland and supporting settlement hierarchy being led by the two main towns of Mablethorpe and Skegness. We also drew their attention to the Joint Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Section LP4.
It has not been an easy year for anybody but the village pulled together during all the lockdowns, the shop played their part and were very supportive which we deeply appreciate.
We move forward in 2021 with a ‘to do’ list and we will hopefully be able to have a face to face meeting next May, when we hold our Annual Parish Meeting.
Finally, it should be noted that none of the above would be possible without the continued support from all the Parish Councillors and the work put in by our Clerk. I am very grateful for their efforts and the work they all put in.
Paul Rickett
Chairman – Marshchapel Parish Council
4th May, 2021