PCM 11th November 2015
Caythorpe and Frieston Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 11th November 2015
Present: Councillors: Nelson(Chairman), Ashcroft, Bailey, Budden, Dix,
Giddings, Greybrook, Mountain, Roberts, Woodward.
District Councillor: Sampson
Clerk: Mrs Smith
OFFICIAL BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL
1. Apologies for absence.Apologies were received from Cllr’s Fritzsche.
2. Declaration of Interests - To receive declarations of interests under the 2000
Local Government Act.
None.
3. Approval of Minutes of the last meeting of the Parish Council held on
Wednesday 9 September 2015
It was proposed by Cllr Dix and seconded by Cllr Bailey that the minutes of the meeting on 9 September 2015 were a true record of the meetings and they were agreed to be signed.
All Agreed. Carried.
4. Clerk’s Report - Update on matters occurring since the last meeting not
otherwise on the agenda.
The Clerk informed that she had received a letter from John Scott asking for permission to plant an Indian Bean tree on the lower green at Frieston.
It was agreed that Cllr Roberts would look into the tree and report back to the Parish Council.
The Clerk has advertised the position of litter picker but to date has received no response.
5. Financial Matters:
a. Presentation and approval of the current Parish Council accounts.
All Councillors were given a copy of the current Parish Council accounts. It was proposed by Cllr Giddings and seconded by Cllr Dix that the accounts be accepted as a true record.
All agreed. Carried.
b. Authorisation of BACS/cheque payments.
It was proposed by Cllr Dix and seconded by Cllr Woodward that the cheques and invoices could be signed.
All agreed. Carried.
c. Allotments update from Cllr Ashcroft.
Cllr Ashcroft informed that the relocating of the barrier had been completed. The original costs had been estimated at £23,229.50 + 10% contingency. The actual cost has been £21,901.67, which is around £12,000 from the Parish Council and £10,000 Big Lottery Grant.
They recently did an inspection of the allotments and all bar 3 of them are doing well, with the 3 needing a little bit of work. There are 4 people on the waiting list.
Cllr Roberts thanked Cllr Ashcroft for all his hard work.
d. Maintenance Issues.
Cllr Nelson informed that the Clerk had struggled to get quotes for the removing of the Oak Tree and the Finance Committee had agreed to go ahead with the quote for £410.
It was agreed that the other trees around the war memorial needed cutting back.
It was discussed that the war memorial is need of cleaning once the trees have been cut back and how there is a grant scheme for war memorial cleaning.
It was agreed that another letter should be sent to Western Power distribution with a phot of the trees attached.
A letter is to be sent to Mrs Blakemore informing her of the Parish Councils intention to cut back the trees and would she like the branches put on her property or to be removed, allowing her 1 month to reply before the work is carried out.
In the meantime a quote is to be received for the work.
Cllr Roberts informed that Time Assured had been out that day to service the church clock and that it would be £125.
He also informed that Lisa Gilbert had been contacted regarding the hedge at No. 1 Eastcliff Sq and she had informed that as far as highways were concerned the hedge was not obstructing the highway. Therefore he would like the clerk to contact the Estates manager at SKDC to see if they could contact the resident to get the hedge cut back.
He informed that he would like a copy of the maintenance schedule from SKDC and LCC so that he could monitor it, to check that the work was carried out.
e. Minutes of the Finance Meeting on Tuesday 3rd November, including the precept.
The Council were given a copy of the Finance Meeting minutes from the 3rd November when the budget was agreed and the precept proposed at a 1% increase. Cllr Nelson informed that if the Council were happy to go ahead with the 1% increase he would put it in the News & Views, and it would be looked at again in January for a final decision.
It was proposed by Cllr Dix and seconded by Cllr Ashcroft that they go ahead with a 1% increase to the precept.
All agreed. Carried.
Cllr Nelson informed them of the application from the Allotment Association for a Community Grant of £500.
It was proposed by Cllr Dix and seconded by Cllr Giddings that they grant them up to a maximum of £500 upon receipt of invoices.
Cllr Nelson informed that they had today received an application from the Caythorpe Childrens Centre for a Community Grant towards a wooden canopy. It was agreed that Cllr Nelson would speak to the applicant for more details before it was discussed further.
Cllr Bailey had looked at the Unity Trust Bank as a viable option for the Parish Council. She informed that it covers all their statutory needs. It has passwords and usernames for internet banking. They require 2 months notice to close the account. You can make deposits into the Post Office. She would recommend it.
Cllr Nelson informed that he would look at it further and then it would be brought back to the meeting in January.
6. The Parish Environment:
a. Planning – Report on planning matters affecting the Parish.
Cllr Ashcroft went over the items discussed at the planning meeting held on the 27th October.
Application: S15/2627 and S15/2628
Proposal: Conversion of public house to restaurant and bakery & erection of 3 x dwellings.
Location: Waggon & Horses, 57 High Street, Caythorpe
The Council objected to the application, see the planning minutes for full details.
At the planning meeting it had been agreed that Cllr Nelson would contact the owner of the Waggon & Horses to discuss the Parish Councils concerns. Cllr Nelson confirmed that he had contacted Lesley Rann and spoke to her and that Simon Skipworth who attended the meeting on behalf of the residents had met with her and an amicable discussion had taken place.
Application: S15/2408/LDE/AH/PC3
Proposal: Lawful development certificate for existing use of land for the siting of caravan in residential (class C3) use
Location: Gorse Barn Farm, Gorse Hill Lane, Caythorpe
The Council had no objections to the application, subject that the premises are only occupied by personnel involved in agriculture and limited to the current occupier only. The PC would not wish to see additional caravans on the site. Additionally exterior lighting should be kept to the minimum to avoid issues of light pollution.
Application: S15/2807/TPO
Proposal: Works to trees; Laburnum T2-T3 trim by 1 – 2 feet; Laburnum T1 reduce crown to 5m x 5m at 4m height; Ash T4 by 3 feet
Location: 9 Arnhem Drive, Caythorpe, Grantham
The Council had no objections to the application.
b. Burial Ground.
Cllr Roberts asked if G R Ward could be contacted and asked to remove the top soil in the burial ground.
Cllr Roberts had been in touch with the family regarding the memorial seat in the burial ground, they were happy for the seat to be placed just outside the burial ground. The Parish Council are to secure it.
Cllr Roberts asked if the Council would consider giving the Clerk authority to allow double depth plots if the residents wish it. It was agreed that this would be looked at along with the burial ground charges.
c. News and Views update.
Cllr Budden has set out two heads of terms, with key areas being editorial control and insurance. Cllr’s Budden, Woodward, Dix and Nelson will continue with it.
d. Parish Plan Update.
The survey has been distributed with the News and Views and the on line survey is live. The deadline for completion is the end of November so far we have 80+ responses.
e. Update on Memorial to the crew of the Lancaster.
The Arnhem weekend next year is the same weekend as the when the Australian families are coming to the village, however it is still going ahead. They have had 3 designs for the plaque, with the RAF and RAAF emblem on it.
f. Remembrance Day.
Thanks were given to Cllr’s Dix, Greybrook and Roberts for all their work towards the remembrance day, it went extremely well. It was agreed that the bugler should be contacted for next year.
g. Housing Committee Update.
There had been a successful meeting of the Housing Committee and all were in agreement on what they hoped to achieve.
Cllr Dix informed that SKDC were subject to right to buy, hence social housing has diminished. The government are looking at making Housing Association houses subject to right to buy, making the houses on Loveden View part of the right to buy.
It was agreed that the Council would write to MP Stephen Phillips asking for support in making rural areas like Caythorpe excluded from the right to buy or whoever sells a house has to build the same amount to replace it.
h. Joint Exercise MID UK and Fire Service.
Sean Taylor from the Fire Service came and spoke to the Parish Council about the joint exercise between MID UK and the Fire Service.
On Monday night there will be a live exercise starting at 7pm, where there will be 5 pumps. He informed that he would be happy to come back to the Parish Council meeting in January and report how it went.
On the 19th November there will be a multi-agency exercise, SKDC, NKDC, Police and Highways. Cllr. Giddings volunteered to attend on behalf of the Parish Council and District Cllr Sampson informed that he would also be attending.
It will start at 10am and finish at around 3pm, refreshments will be provided. The plan is to have an incident and look at a scenario for 48 hours, 68 hours and 7 days, what impact it will have on Caythorpe.
Sean informed that they had inspected the Caythorpe site recently and it was considered to be a well managed site for reduction of risk.
Cllr Dix informed that they were looking at an emergency plan for the village and maybe they could look at any recommendations that come from the exercise.
7. Transport and Highways - To discuss any urgent highway concerns within the Parish.
Cllr Roberts would pass a list of repairs to be sent to highways to the Clerk.
Cllr Roberts asked if the Council would look at asking highways to have parking at the rear of the school scored. Cllr Nelson informed that he had spoken to the deputy head of the school and it was agreed that they should wait to see the response from the Parish Plan .
8. Recreation and Leisure Facilities:
a. Report from Playing Field Committee.
Cllr Nelson informed that the fireworks display was extremely well organised and attended.
b. Report from Village Hall Committee.
The village hall committee would like to thank the parish council for the grant of £3000 – very much appreciated.
The decoration of the committee room has been completed – an excellent job done by Ian Maclean – a committee from various organisations in the village will be formed to make a decision as to how the ‘Arnhem Memorablia’ will be displayed.
Three projects in hand at the moment are : installing wi fi, for which a grant has be made by SKDC, the provision of a new sound system – this is as a result of a number of comments made by organisations about the acoustics when there is a large audience in place and replacing fencing between hall and bungalow next door.
The old friends party is scheduled for Friday 4th December – this year there is a request for a £5 donation per person to go some way to covering the cost of the event, after the event there will be a review into its ongoing viability.
The village breakfast continues to be a success thanks to the hard work of the committee and volunteers.
9. Community Involvement:
a. L.I.V.E.S. – report form Cllr Ashcroft.
Cllr Ashcroft informed that they are having problems with people willing to go out. They have 3 / 4 active members. There is a new moving / handling training that all new responders will get and all current members need to get. They need younger people to volunteer.
b. Community Heartbeat - report by Cllr Greybrook
All four defibrillators are in good condition, none of them have been used over the summer months.
10. Community Safety – Report on local crime and policing matters.
None.
11. Items of urgent business.
None.
12. Arrangements for next meeting –
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 13th January 2016 beginning at 7.15pm.
Open Forum
Residents
Mr John Galvin from The Anchorage on Lincoln Road informed the Council that he has recently moved to the village. He commented on two points.
Firstly the A607 where he lives is bordered by two bends that are encompassed in a 50 mph speed limit. They have been amazed at the speed some vehicles do along this section of road and have on many occasions found cars almost upon them when they pull out of their property turning right towards Grantham. They feel that there is a case for a reduction in the speed limit on this section of road. They suspect that there are now more residential properties leading onto this section of road than when the speed limit was originally imposed. They asked the Council if they would be prepared to support such a proposal and if so would they be prepared to take it up with Highways.
The second issue is a pothole and low drain cover on the Grantham side of the road between their house and the garage. This is causing some of the heavy lorries to almost take off with the consequent noise and vibration that can be felt in the house. They are concerned that the vibrations could cause damage to their building and the six foot brick wall that fronts the property. They have reported it to highways on the internet and found a week later they had cancelled the report without feedback to him. He had called Lisa Gilbert at Highways who played the lack of resources card and said “ In its current condition I do not believe this depression is of a safety concern as far as I am aware we have received no other complaints regarding this either from the Parish Council or members of the public. Having said that this area will be considered for future works as in when there are patching works in this area.”