2022 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

 

Present: Chairman Cllr P Sagar, Vice Chairman Cllr J Smith, Cllr J Mackenzie, Cllr K Otter, Parish Clerk W Gray, SKDC Cllrs K Cooke, R Trollope-bellew, County Cllr A Baxter, 4 members of the public were also present.

 

 

A minutes silence was held prior to commencement of the meeting in memory of Cllr Gash and the Ukrainian victims of the war.

 

1. Public Forum – None.

 

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

 

3. Apologies for Absence - Cllrs J Brocklebank and A Hassall.

 

4. Declaration of Interest - None

 

5. To agree minutes of Parish Council Meeting 18th January 2022 – all in agreement for minutes to be signed.  Cllr Otter abstained. 

 

6. Matters arising from the above minutes - None.

 

7. Councillor Vacancy – SKDC advised – notice published.

 

8. Anglian Water/LCC – Problems with Network Rail & LCC permits re Road Closures update expected asap.

 

9. Finance

Authorisation of payments:

Inter meeting payments made (February):

P Sagar – Sleeper for Planters from Yorkshire Railway sleepers £579.48 (£482.90 +VAT)

Parish Online Renewal £54.00

P Sagar – 2 Signs & planter barrier liner £32.94

Payments Agreed at meeting:

Tallington Church Donation 2021 - £500.00

Parish Clerk Salary £365.00 

Parish Clerk Expenses £102.25

A Flatters Emptying Dog Bins (2 months) £157.08

LALC Affiliation Fee £268.98

J Pettican (Footpath scrapping Millennium Green excl footpath no 4 route) £2,280 (£1,900 + VAT)

All above payments approved by Cllrs Present.

 

10. Planning

Scoping Opinion Consultation EIA/28/22 – the Parish Council supported information provided.

S22/0121 – proposed extension 19 West Road, Tallington – Planning Permission Granted.

S21/2529 – Conversion of a Garage, Workshop & Storage Building to provide a Dwelling, Moorelake, Barholm Road – Permission Refused.

 

11. LCC & Footpath No. 4 – LCC area of MG – Andy Savage the LCC Countryside officer visited the footpath two weeks ago in order to obtain a second quotation and is now awaiting for a price from the contractor.  The contactor will be providing a price to install timber edgings and self-binding gravel to provide path users with a durable and accessible surface. The proposed scheme would take a number of weeks to complete and the contractor has indicated that it would be necessary to maintain a site cabin on the Millennium Green for the duration of the works. It will also be necessary to store materials on the Green for use on the footpath (the affected storage area will be reseeded afterwards).  TPC would provide permission to store materials and

the site cabin on the Green and arrange access through the lockable bollards at the junction with Main Road. The next steps; -Bid for funds using the quotation.

 -The parish council will be required to dedicate the affected section of route as a public footpath. The dedication agreement can be addressed as soon as the Definitive Map Team have available resources.

 

12. Trees – Response to our request for trees from https://eforests.co.uk/freetrees- they can only support projects of 150+ trees. Trees cannot be offered to residents, as they have to be accessible to all in public space owned by TPC. We have limited space and cannot accommodate 150 trees. Chairman advised that we could share 150 trees with a number of other Parish councils if they wish to be involved. Parish Clerk will enquire of other parishes (share out 150 trees). This project would have to planned for late autumn now as planting season ending.

Cllr Smith confirmed that the dead Chestnut tree will be felled on the April 7 + 8th.

 

13. Environment Agency – intention was to have work completed by now but not the case, trying to get done and repair valves on waterside by end of March.  Concreting and replacing wooden timbers on footbridge over river at eel pass - work expect to be completed by 11th March.

 

14. Church Lane Green Area – 4 wooden planter boxes assembled by John Allen (Thanked) and lined by John and Cllr Sagar – more than enough gravel available now to use to set planters on and put some in the planters. Two signs “Please Do Not Park on Grass Verge” have been added and Chairman suggested possible use of some of the larger branches taken off the tree on MG to reduce further the access.  Andy Thurlby is supplying top soil for planters.  Kerbs put in last year great improvement.  Who is going maintain planters?  Cllr Smith suggested open to the village for sponsors/volunteers.

 

15. Community Cleaner – new Job Description written – Clerk will contact current cleaner – ask him to contact Cllr Sagar to go through and confirm whether he wishes to continue, if not we will advertise the vacancy at £9.50 per hour – 2 hours per week. TPC will need to subsidise a little as SKDC contribution frozen at last year’s contribution.

 

16. Village Litter Issues – problems continue in particular in Layby.  Number of bins – is this causing the problem.  Street Cleaning Team did a good job before Xmas but need to come back and finish from Village hall to Crossing to cut all grass back on pavements and clear weeds from road gullies!

 

17. Reports from Councillors. 

District Cllr K Cooke:

MARCH PARISH UPDATES Budget SKDC enters a new financial year with the goal of protecting the high quality of our services in spite of the challenging financial times faced by all local authorities. We are streamlining costs and ensuring value for money, whilst capping reductions in council tax, to prevent local residents from sharing the burdens of these challenges in a world of rising living costs. While practicing fiscal prudence, we are still making it possible to expand our initiatives for dealing with homeless, climate change, and mental health. Our commitment remains to provide high quality housing across South Kesteven, both affordable private and social housing, and we are making funds available for any improvements that may be required to social houses to meet our tenants needs. By-Election Results Last week, by-elections took place in both the Aveland and Isaac Newton Wards, and I was delighted to welcome our newest councillors, Richard Dixon-Warren and Ben Green respectively. Both were excellent candidates who brought energy, passion, and local knowledge to their campaigns and will, no doubt, bring the same to their new roles in SKDC. Not only do we have enthusiastic new councillors but we also see an end to the period of purdah, which will allow myself and my colleagues to more clearly spread the word about the important months ahead for the Council. Festivals Update We have a wide range of events and activities across the district in the months ahead, starting with the Grantham Folk Festival on 19th March featuring folk artists from all over the country. Later that evening, we will see the Bourne in Lights events in which North Street will be illuminated with exhibits, projections, and live performances. On 26th March, Grantham will also be hosting a youth festival, with a temporary skate part, street art, music and entertainment to give our younger residents a great day out. Finally, the Deepings Literary Festival is taking place between 27th April-1st May and will have sessions from a variety of accomplished novelists about the process of writing. Many of these events were funded by the Welcome Back Fund, which has continued to help our high streets recover from the impact of the COVID lockdown by supporting residents return to our public spaces. Stamford Arts Centre My colleague and Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, wrote recently in the Mercury to allay unwarranted fears within our community about the future of our local Arts Centre. As Cllr Trollope-Bellew pointed out, an independent review highlighted the fact that 11 percent of SKDC’s total expenditure was being spent on arts and festivals, which is sadly unsustainably high. Despite the reduction in numbers attending shows since the start of the COVID pandemic, we remain committed to the arts in general and our Arts Centre in particular. There have been changes to the staffing of the Arts Centre is and there will be changes to box office services, however, there will still be services for booking tickets in-person and over the phone. There is a wide variety of shows planned for the Spring season and there will be much more to come in the future as we ensure an exciting and sustainable arts centre. InvestSK We have made the decision to bring our economic growth company, InvestSK, back in-house to relieve the administrative burdens on the team and to help bring about a more integrated approach to economic growth in the Council. The InvestSK team have done amazing work, proving essential in helping the Council support local businesses to navigate the COVID pandemic and access government grants. By creating a more joined-up approach, we will be putting economic growth at the centre of what we do to help deliver a thriving local economy for our residents and businesses.

 

18. Field in Trust Dedication (Millennium Green) – Chairman confirmed at long last final paperwork completed with some corrections in particular that the Green is classified as “Open Space” and not as a playing field. Documents signed and witnessed at end of meeting by Cllrs Sagar and Smith for return to Fields in Trust by clerk.

 

19. The Queens Platinum Jubilee celebration – Cllr Hassall and the village hall committee are planning a Jubilee barn Dance on Friday 3rd June. A trio has been booked. Cllr Sagar recommended that the TPC support the event. Competitions for Best table, and design a card for children, winner to be sent to queen from village. Posters being made to advertise. Quotes obtained for a village Beacon were discussed but felt impractical due to cost and lack of location and liability issues.

 

20. Village Hall and Playing Field reports – Lottery Grant requested for the Play Scheme to be run again.

 

21. Speed Sign – Cllr Sagar confirmed charger and key returned from Rob. Cllr Sagar asked for volunteer for someone to look after and recharge as he will be unavailable for some weeks. No takers! Speed control update C/F to next meeting (Cllr Hassall).

 

22. Lock Gate – Carried forward to next meeting.

 

23. Public Forum – None.

 

24. Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 17th May 2022 at 7 p.m.  Annual Parish Meeting, Annual Parish Council Meeting, normal Parish Council Meeting.

Meeting closed at 9.15 p.m.