Tallington Parish Council

Minutes of Annual Parish meeting held on Tuesday 17th May 2022

Present: Chairman Cllr P Sagar, Vice Chairman Cllr J Smith, Cllr J Brocklebank, Cllr A Hassall, Parish Clerk W Gray, County Cllr A Baxter, 4 members of the public were also present.

Minutes

1. Opening of Meeting – Cllr Sagar welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. Apologies for Absence - Cllrs Mackenzie and Otter, District Cllrs K Cooke (joined meeting at item 10) and R Trollope-Bellew.

3. To agree minutes of Annual Parish Meeting held on 4th May 2021 – all in agreement for minutes to be signed.  

4. To receive Matters arising from the Parish Councils Report below: Cllr Sagar advised report had been distributed via email and delivered to 90 plus homes. It is attached to these minutes.

5. Public Forum – Mallard Pass – Cllrs Sagar and Smith hope to attend webinar and report back.

6. Parish Plan – needs updating this year.

7. To receive a report on Tallington Village Hall – Lots of party bookings from within and outside the village – picking up following Covid.  Hope next year to do more work on the play area – wall needs re pairing.  VH looking to get more play equipment for the play area.  More members needed to help – if interested in getting involved contact a member of the committee.  Post Office continues to use the hall weekly.

8. Edward Heron Trust – all properties taken.

9. Neighbourhood Watch – no update.

10. County Councillor

Annual Report to Town and Parish Meetings - Cllr Ashley Baxter briefly highlighted items from his written report which is printed below.

This is the first set of Annual Parish Meetings since I was elected to LCC in May 2021. Thanks to everyone who participated in the election by nominating, delivering leaflets and most importantly by voting.

The Deepings West and Rural Division comprises most of the town of Market Deeping along with the following villages: Barholm, Baston, Braceborough, Tallington, Uffington, West Deeping and Wilsthorpe.

I am an Independent councillor and now part of the ‘shadow executive’ of the 8 councillors from the Independent and Labour groups. I am the shadow portfolio holder for Economic Development, Environment and Planning.

The political balance of the ‘new’ County Council is composed as follows:

Four meetings of the full council have taken place since May. The first was held at the Lincolnshire Showground to enable compliance with social distancing regulations. The others have been held in the council chamber at County Hall, Lincoln.

As well as Full Council meetings, I also attend the Committees to which I have been

appointed. These are:

• Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee

• Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee

• Pay Policy Sub-Committee

• Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education

I have attended all my scheduled meetings except for one meeting of the Environment Committee and one meeting of the Pay Policy Committee.

Highways – The local picture

Any problems with the roads, pavements, streetlamps or footpaths should be

reported via the “Fix My Street” website.  This doesn’t guarantee a response but it does ensure LCC is aware of the problem.  I usually meet with the Highways Officer

every 6-8 weeks to discuss a long list of ongoing issues in the Division.

Highways – The bigger picture

“For 2019/20 Lincolnshire County Council had its maintenance funding from the

Government cut by a massive £12m. This was to have a huge effect on the county’s roads.  Because of the cash cut, county councillors voted to fill the void last year so that essential road works could still be carried out. They did this using council funding reserves for the year – but this is something that they won’t be able to do in the future.  This missing £12m pays for filling 24,000 potholes and rebuilding 37 miles of deteriorating road per year.”  The above quote is from a county council campaign to the government to reverse the funding cut. The campaign didn’t work and so the County has increased your council tax in order to fill the holes in the budget and the roads.

Budget - Due to the illness of the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Shadow Executive, I was required to lead the opposition response to the council budget. The alternative proposal suggested a council tax increase of 1% lower than the Conservative proposal while at the same time securing the highways budget, investing in children’s mental health service and installing solar PV panels on council properties. This was affordable because the council has an anticipated underspend of around £7m on the current year’s budget. Sadly, the Conservatives rejected the budget amendment.

Flooding

There are sometimes problems with excess water at the various places in the division and the county with a variety of causes. These include blocked gullies, inclement weather, inadequate drainage and sewerage systems as well as the increasing impact of climate change. As a member of the LCC flood committee I have learned a lot about the county’s strategy for preventing and responding flooding.

Deepings Leisure Centre

The unfortunate closure of the Deepings Leisure Centre due to decades of neglect and

Inadequate maintenance by South Kesteven District Council has had a terrible detrimental impact on access to sports and recreation in the Deepings. I have been heavily involved in the campaign for better leisure facilities and have tried to negotiate the obfuscation and misleading information presented by Conservative cabinet members at SKDC. The plans for brand new leisure centre, which had been promised by the Conservatives since 2017, have now been abandoned. On a more positive note, SKDC plans to allocate a budget of £10m to refurbish the existing leisure centre in the hope that it will meet the community’s needs for another 25 years. The details of the refurbishment are supposed to be guided by a ‘meaningful consultation’ and works on the site are expected to start in January 2023 and complete in 2025.  The leisure centre site is owned by the LCC and the refurbishment is dependent on the agreement of a lease between the various interested parties including LCC, SKDC and the Deepings School. The lease has been a bone of contention for more than 40 years but hopefully the current refurbishment proposals will be bring the negotiations to a positive outcome.

Nuclear Energy

An organization called Nuclear Waste Services (formerly RWM) is proposing to dispose of nuclear waste at Theddlethorpe on the East coast of Lincolnshire. Alternative proposals for the same site include the greener technologies of Hydrogen

production and also Carbon capture and storage.  Despite significant financial incentives being offered to the parishes in the vicinity of Theddlethorpe, I remain personally opposed to nuclear waste being dumped in Lincolnshire.

Likewise, I am opposed to the recent proposals by Conservative Executive Member, Cllr Colin Davie, to consider modular nuclear reactors as a means of energy production in the county.

Solar Energy

Another contentious technology being proposed for Lincolnshire is energy generation from Solar PV on an unprecedented scale. There are, at least, five proposed sites for large solar farms including the Mallard Pass scheme which would be partly in our division.  The decision on some of the solar schemes, including Mallard Pass, will be taken by the Secretary of State in London rather than by councillors in Lincolnshire because they are NISP (Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects).  I have been an advocate of renewable energy all my adult life and I cannot be opposed to a scheme (of national significance) only because it is on my ‘doorstep’. There are many factors to consider including the need to address climate change; and to reduce dependence on imported gas and other fossil fuels.  At the same time, I respect the legitimate concerns of local residents regarding the proposed size and layout of the Mallard Pass project. I have asked various questions about the project informally and formally at LCC. There are currently a lot of unknowns including the types of panels to be used, the heights of fences and the means by which biodiversity and wildlife would be managed.  I encourage residents to participate with each stage of the consultations.

Media

As a new councillor, I was delighted to be featured in the autumn edition of ‘County News’.  I have also given comments on various issues to local newspapers, BBC Radio and BBC Look North on issues of concern.  If you have any questions or require any further information about Lincolnshire County

Council, or if you would like to discuss becoming an Independent councillor in next year’s SKDC elections, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Cllr Ashley Baxter - Deepings West and Rural 07799 077090-01778 344070

cllra.baxter@lincolnshire.gov.uk

District Councillors report – May 2022 – Kelham Cooke

Best Kept Village - We recently announced the return of the 2022 Best Kept Village Award, a really engaging competition that celebrates the aesthetics of our beautiful villages and champions the efforts of our local communities. Every village in the District will be inspected and judging is scheduled to commence in July on key village facilities, grounds maintenance, street scenes and front gardens. Judges will include representatives from the Lincolnshire Gardens Trust and a mystery judge from SKDC.  Only one village per parish will be eligible for a prize and only measures that are readily visible will be assessed. The parish council of each winning villages will receive £400 for the top award, £300 for second and £200 for third.  Last year was a great success and really shone a light on the hard work that goes into each of our local villages on a daily basis. I can’t wait to see the images of each candidate this year and I look forward to seeing the difficult decision made by judges to establish this year’s winners.

Jubilee events  - I have been amazed by the amount of work carried out by parish councils across the District generally, and tin and around Stamford specifically, in organizing events to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June. There is such a wide variety of events, including a village rounders match in Uffington and the beacon lighting event and fair on the Stamford Recreational Ground.  It has been incredibly to see the preparation for these events so advanced as early as March, and I am really excited to get out and experience everything we have going on and see so many within our community come out and celebrate this momentous event.

St Martin’s Park - I recently met with Burghley Estates to visit the site of the new St Martin’s Park development and I was delighted to see the next step in the process get under way. The demolition of the existing buildings has now begun, which means we are moving in a steady towards the construction of this amazing concept.  I am so excited about this project and I can’t wait to see the progress made over the next year as we see ground broken on the sight and beyond.

Deepings Leisure Centre Update - This month, the Cabinet approved the results of a public consultation on the future of the Deepings Leisure Centre, agreeing with plans to fully remodel and refurbish the much-needed venue.  The Cabinet also approved the decision to retain the learner pool, as requested by local residents during the consultation process.   Next, we will be working with Lincolnshire County Council, the owners of the site, and Anthem Trust, who use the facilities through the Deepings School, to agree a legal agreement that will allow us to press ahead with the works.  We are eager to get the leisure centre re-opened as quickly as possible, but with the proviso that the necessary changes are made to ensure the site truly meets the needs of all local users.

District Councillor’s report – May 2022 – Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew.

Written report

The Queens Platinum Jubilee weekend will soon be with use with parishes busy organising events, you can register your details on the SKDC website - Platinum Jubilee events in South Kesteven.  please email the details to pr@southkesteven.gov.uk. 

In the north of the district SKDC is jointly hosting a Beacon Lighting event in Dysart Park, Grantham, on Thursday June 2, residents can bring along a picnic and enjoy a great night of entertainment and celebration, featuring the Cranwell Military Wives Choir and the Jammy Codgers band?

Local District Councillors will be attending a zoom meeting with representatives from Mallard Pass this week before Stage 2 of the statutory consultation begins on 26th May to 4th August.  Parish Councillors should have also been approached for a meeting.

We have just launched our Best Kept Village Awards 2022, there are two categories – small villages 100-500 residents and medium villages – 501-5000 residents.  A golden litter bin will be awarded to the winner, please contact Steve Frisby on S.FRISBY@southkesteven.gov.uk  for copies of last year’s report.

More residents have come forward to offer accommodation to Ukrainian evacuees, (including Baston) escaping the terrible conflict in their country. At the last count there were 124 approved registrations of interest from those wishing to become a sponsor and this number is increasing on a daily basis.    In response, TeamSK’s project team set up to help those arriving is continuing its great work and had completed 86 accommodation checks.  More information is available at Homes for Ukraine scheme – expressions of interest (EOIs) and Support for Ukraine (southkesteven.gov.uk)

We are also lucky that the Queens Jubilee Baton will be visiting Wyndham Park, Grantham on 11th July, the Baton started its journey from Buckingham Palace on 7th October 2021, travelled around the various Commonwealth countries and will finish at Birmingham for the opening of the Commonwealth Games.

SKDC has refunded 35,997 households who pay their council tax by direct debit, this amounts to £5,399,550 in the last 2 weeks.  For those who don’t pay by DD, the district council hopes to contact by letter from 13th June.

Annual Report – May 2022 – Rosemary Trollope-Bellew

Coronavirus has taken again taken centre stage for the majority of 2021 to March 2022.  The councils own Meres leisure centre at Grantham continues to be where residents can receive vaccinations, in just 5 months from opening the centre had vaccinated 100,000 people -May 2021.

Our street scene and waste collectors continued to give an outstanding service during covid with families being paired together.  We are waiting for the new depo to be built which will give better access and facilities for our workers.

InvestSK worked with businesses to receive various grants, the Welcome Back fund £(252,909) which was used to promote the 4 market towns which included the very successful Bourne in Lights.  There is the Covid Additional Relief Fund (£2,699.6520) to be used for businesses affected by pandemic but were ineligible for support.

The street markets continue to be popular with our residents especially during the worst of coronavirus, with some traders doing a delivery service to more vulnerable members of the community.

Last year saw the first SKCommunity Awards with 70 nominations, the response was better than we could have imagined and look forward to it again this year.

The Stamford & Grantham Mid-lent fairs made a welcome return after a 2 years absence

The council had to take the decision to close Deepings Leisure Centre last year due to health and safety reasons – boilers, roof, tiles coming off in the main pool, lift out of action to name a few.  A decision was taken at Council to up-grade the existing building due to the strong feeling/views from local residents.

The council is responsible for 3896 streetlights of which we are up grading to LED lights.

With just under 6000 council properties we continue to up-grade and build more for rent.  The right to buy scheme is still available to our tenants.

During the last year we have also done an Arts Review, SAC has received a new roof, decorated the ball room & gallery, moved the Customer services into the centre and keep the Box office function. 

At the end of the year the Council was busy checking properties ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees into the district.

11. Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 16th May 2023 at 7 p.m.  Annual Parish Meeting, Annual Parish Council Meeting, normal Parish Council Meeting.

Meeting closed at 8.20 pm.

Parish Council’s Report to the Annual Parish Meeting

Introduction
The Council aims to make the village a good place in which to live, with a healthy and safe environment, and pleasant and peaceful surroundings.  This report summarises the way the Council has tried to achieve this in the past 12 months.

PARISH PLAN

The Council continue to monitor the conclusions in the parish plan and where possible implement improvements in the village. A continuing theme that repeats in the Plan is “to encourage further social cohesion and friendly community spirit”.

Village Hall & COMMUNITY
The Council is grateful to the Committee of the Village Hall and Playing Field Association (a registered Charity) for maintaining the village hall and playing field.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events. A Window decoration Competition and Card for the Queen competition are being run. However the Barn dance planned for Friday 3rd June has been cancelled due to lack of support. 

Playing Field

Some play equipment on the Playing field has recently been painted. Further painting planned this summer.

The Parish Council takes responsibility for insuring the village hall, playing field and play equipment. The Council are grateful to the Village Hall and Playing Field Association for reimbursing the insurance premium.

Quotes are being obtained for the repair of the stone walls in the playing fields damaged though vandalism.

Lottery monies for a children’s holiday play scheme were obtained by the Village hall association in 2022.

During the last years the Council gave £500 to the Church to help maintain the graveyard and £500 to the Village Hall and Playing Field Association to help maintain the village hall.

Social Media / Updates/ Website

The Council will continue to use the church “Towers and Spires magazine” to publish updates and important information for residents. T & S is distributed free to all households every month.

Regular updates, agendas and minutes of parish council meetings are posted on the Council Website regularly.
The Parish Clerk maintains the Council website at https://tallington.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/

The Tallington village hall Association also has a Facebook page and can be contacted at ‘tallingtonvillagehall@gmail.com’. The village hall association also runs a 200-club raffle.

Newsletters to all households are issued as and when necessary.

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT

The centre of Village life is the Village Hall and playing fields. Bookings for the Hall have slowly increased. The Table tennis club has restarted. The hall is available to hire and is available for village residents to use for social events for young and old. Other events are held on an ad hoc basis in the village hall and details of all events can be found via the village hall Association Facebook page where bookings can also be made. tallingtonvillagehall@gmail.com                             2

Thanks to Adele for keeping the Mobile Post Office going on Tuesdays 2- 4pm throughout lockdown in the village hall. Please do use this service if you can.

The Residents of Tallington Lakes now make up a large part of the village and are warmly invited and encouraged to participate in Village activities (i.e. Parish meetings, Village socials etc.).

Millennium Green

The Council continues to maintain the green and its footpaths by cutting the grass, (Thanks to Watts farm Services). It should be noted that it was always intended to be maintained as an open space, rough cut and not a lawn finish.

The Council has now agreed with the LCC Countryside officer that part of the footpath (along the old canal basin) will be adopted and maintained by LCC to correct the historic inaccuracy of footpath No 4 that is currently shown on plans as being along the old tow path next to the hedgerow that has long been inaccessible.

The remainder of the footpaths on the green have recently been widened back to their original widths and funding is being sort to top dress these paths.

The Millennium green is now legally registered with ‘Fields in Trust’ as are the playing fields. Both are protected for residents to enjoy in perpetuity without fear of unwanted development.

Green areas and Trees

The area of green verge at the entrance to Church Lane that was decimated in previous winters by inappropriate car parking has had an extended kerb installed by LCC highways. The Council has also recently installed 4 wooden planters (licensed by LCC) with signs to protect the grass verge from further damage from cars.

The large dying chestnut tree at the western end of the Millennium Green that the Council have been monitoring for the last 3 years received further wind damage earlier this year. Sadly and following professional advice it was decided that it would have to be felled and the stump ground out due to the size of the branches that were falling onto the footpath. This work has now been completed. It will be replaced by a suitable hardwood variety in the next planting season.

The Council is currently seeking to obtain free ‘native species’ trees to plant on areas it has responsibility for. We have been offered free trees from eforest.co.uk and are currently seeking other councils we can work with to accept the minimum 150 trees required. It is hoped this can be achieved in time for the next planting season.

Speeding in the village

The speed of traffic (especially along Main Road and Bainton Road) continues to be a cause for concern. The passive speed signs that were installed on lampposts in the village some years ago along with the speed indicating device have shown some benefit but further action is needed and volunteers are being sort to carry out speed checks in the village under the Community Speed Watch scheme.

Fast or Superfast Broadband

Fast or Superfast broadband is available in the village via a green cabinet in Bainton Road as “fibre to the cabinet” from BT. Or  via “Gigaclear” who have installed “fibre to the home” availability via access points at the entrance to every home in the village.  Gigaclear has installed free Wifi in the village hall.

Bypass & Closing the railway crossing
Closing the level crossing and By Passing the whole village continues to be the aspiration of the Council. The Council continues to explore every opportunity to leverage funding from any source for this and continues to work with all parties (LCC, Network Rail, SKDC and Land owners) to examine opportunities as they present now and in the future.

Defibrillator

A defibrillator is located next to the entrance to the village hall. Instructions for access and use are clearly displayed on it.

Drainage and Flooding issues

Following the historic problems of surface water flooding the roads and the February 2021 issues with blocked drains. After continued pressure from the Council Anglian Water have recently in partnership with LCC carried out some improvement works to the drainage systems in the village with more work yet to be done. Anglian water are also we understand going to carry out some alterations to a number of private properties surface water drainage systems as some currently drain into the foul sewers.

Anglian water have again asked that we make all residents aware of their Keep it Clear campaign  to help avoid future blockages.

Welland River Flood defences

Further work has been carried out by the Environment Agency to repair the flood valves on the waterside next to Bainton Road Bridge.  Also the replacement of wooden timbers on the eel pass footbridge. This follows the extensive repair works last year to over 700 metres of flood bank from the waterfall to Copt Hill. Including the relocating of a number of badger setts and repairing areas of rabbit damage.

Development/planning applications

The Council receives copies of all planning applications within its boundaries and is invited by SKDC for comment.

CRIME

There is a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. (Volunteers required please).  There have been reports of burglary in the last year unfortunately. Can all residents remain vigilant and report any unusual activities vehicles loitering.

Council Finance & Administration
The Council made grants of £500 to the Village Hall and £500 to the Church to help maintain the graveyard.  As summarised in the accounts at the end of this report, the Council’s other expenditure related mainly to ground works to footpaths on Millennium Green and new planters on Church Lane, insurances that the Council must carry, the subscription to the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (which is an invaluable source of advice to parish councils) and other necessary administrative expenses adopted for 2021/2022. The Council Precept for this current year 2022/23 is £7,800 (increase of £299).  A % increase on a band D property of 0.6%.

The Council and its Meetings

The Council currently has six councilors with one current vacancy due to sad demise of Cllr Gash over Xmas. The Council usually meets bi monthly during the year on a Tuesday although extra meetings are occasionally called.  Attendance generally has been good and now back in the village hall with many residents taking time to attend. Wendy Gray continues to act as Parish Clerk in an efficient and professional manner. The Council also appreciated the regular attendance and wise advice of District Councilors, Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, and Kelham Cooke along with County Councillor Ashley Baxter. Representatives of national agencies and local firms are invited and do attend from time to time.

Any residents wishing to be kept informed of news and meetings or wishing to be considered for the Councilor vacancy are invited to contact the clerk Wendy with their email details.       wendy7wansford@gmail.com

Philip Sagar, Chairman                                    
Wendy Gray, Clerk for and on behalf of the Council                                                          17th May 2022

In this report “Council” means Tallington Parish Council; “SKDC” means South Kesteven District Council; and “Lincs CC” means Lincolnshire County Council.