Skellingthorpe Parish Council

SKELLINGTHORPE PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

Minutesof the Annual Parish Meeting held on Wednesday 17th April 2013 at St Lawrence’s Church, Lower Church Road, Skellingthorpe at7.30pm.

Present: Cllrs Bennett (Chairman)Cllr Billinghurst,Goldson, Richardson,Mrs Chambers, Scott, Bennett,Walshaw, Barnett.

Lincolnshire County Cllr Shore and50members of the public. NKDC Councillor Mrs Flint

PC Marc Horsewood.KyraNettleLincolnshireCounty Council, Luisa McIntosh NKDC Community Partnerships. Alison Wade Lincolnshire Libraries.

Of the 50 parishioners in attendancesome were representing various village organisations.

1. Apologies.

Apologies were received from Pat Jackman, Sophie Bennett, Brett Foster and Stephanie Elkington.

2.Notes of the last Annual Parish meeting held on 17thApril 2012to be received and approved to become the minutes of that meeting.

The Clerk’s notes of the meeting held on 17th April 2012were approved as an accurate record of the business conducted at that meeting. Proposed byMrs Seviourseconded by Cllr Billinghurst and unanimously approved by those present at the meeting. Cllr Bennett as chairman of the meeting signed the minutes.

3. Police Report

PC Marc Horsewood gave the police report. He has recently been acting as the designated Beat Manager for both the Rural North Beat Team as well as North Hykeham Town BeatTeam. They will shortly be going back to having 2 police offers as was formerly the situation. The new Beat Team Manager appointment has been made and Marc will be reverting to Beat Manager for North Hykeham Town with the new officer taking over the Rural North Beat Team which covers Skellingthorpe.

Rural North currently has 2 PCSOs(PCSO Jo Mackie and PCSO Sarah Lingard) on the team which is 2 under strength but that is under review.

PC Horsewood reported an overall reduction in crime in the Skellingthorpe area and the whole of the Rural North area.

There have been 69 crimes in Skellingthorpe alone – last year the figure was 120 for Skellingthorpe area. Reported crime is down by 28.5% over the year. There has been a slight increase in the amount of Anti-Social Behaviour in Skellingthorpe but perpetrators have been identified and spoken to and hopefully that will result in a reduction in the reports of ASB.

The Team is concentrating on police visibility within the village with regular foot patrols spending a good 2 hours walking around the village and talking to residents. This is a new priority for the team and they are also visiting clubs and organisations and will shortly be holding surgeries in Skellingthorpe Library. There were no questions from the floor.

The Chairman thanked the Police Beat Team for their support throughout the year.

4. Highways Matters

Kyra Nettle of LCC Highways North addressed the meeting and indicated that she is part of a team that has responsibility for 650 miles of road and about 350 miles of footways. There are 4 highways officers covering the whole area.

They are carrying an extensive workload at the moment which includes amongst many other duties, white lining, potholes etc. The County Council is currently in 4th year of alliance which initially had some teething problems which have subsequently been resolved. There is a team of men carrying out minor works with one pothole patrol covering the area who carry out hot work which includes cutting out potholes and filling.

They also share a large construction gang with the other Lincolnshire areas which is an indication of the limited funding that they have for maintaining many miles of Highway in a rural county.

PC Horsewood left the meeting at this point having been called to an incident.

All steps possible are being taken in order to halt the decline in the network within the resources available.

Contact can be made through the call centre at LCC, on the County Council website or through the village office where people can report Highways problems.

Members of the public present were given the opportunity to raise concerns with Kyra.

It was noted that there are problems with crossing the road at Methodist Church as traffic is coming through so fast when people are crossing the road and visibility is obscured by a large hedge. There are further problems at this location with lorries and other vehicles parking on the double yellow line to visit the store. Kyra will look at hedges in the area to see if there is anything that can be done to improve visibility. She will also ask for a visit from the Civil Parking Enforcement officers with a view to carrying out some enforcement at this location.

Highways is currently investigating remedial action at the village green in order to reinstate and improve the geometery of the green triangle which has been extensively damaged and is considered to be a further hazard at this busy location. Strong concerns were voiced regarding the configuration at this location and the high risk to pedestrians walking on the pavement or crossing the road.

There were a number of complaints about hedges encroaching on the footway at this location which Highways are currently investigating.

There was a complaint from a parishioner who has written to Highways about cattle being transported to a local business and driving through the village at all hours. Kyra had been advised by NKDC that the routing agreement attached to the planning permission on this business is not enforceable and is reliant upon co-operation and goodwill.

There are also aggregate lorries and tankers travelling through the village and the volume of this type of vehicle is on the increase.

In response to this enquiry Kyra indicated that the last survey that had been carried out on HGV traffic had not indicated that the HGV traffic in the village is any greater than that in other villages.

She said that the poor condition of the road surface on Church Road may be contributing to the noise problems on the road. She advised that she would make enquiries about imposing a weight restriction but at this point in time it appears that the overall volume of HGV traffic through the village is reducing.

Another regular attendee at the Annual Parish meetings indicated that traffic from the industrial estate at Saxilby is short cutting through this village. Kyra said she hoped that a routing agreement would have a condition of this planning permission and she will check on that.

It was agreed that she will look into a further survey of HGV traffic in Skellingthorpe but doubts that the 3% of HGV traffic indicated in the last survey would have increased to 10% which is the criteria for a weight restriction to be imposed. As the situation stands at the moment Skellingthorpe is an unrestricted highway.

One resident indicated that he has seen different villages throughout the county where HGV vehicles are prevented from going through certain villages. Without the specific sites indicated Kyra is unable to answer the query. Thorpe on the Hill has a weight restriction of 7 ton which is a left over from the Quarry site. Kyra would be happy to investigate locations where these restrictions appear to be imposed to see if there is anything that can be applied to Skellingthorpe.

Speeding traffic at Woodbank/Old Woodwas raised but without a frontage it is not possible to put a speed restriction on Woodbank and as the road into the Old Wood is a private road, Highways have no jurisdiction.

Lack of white line down the centre of the road at Blacks Lane – the Parish Council has already asked about this on a number of occasions but has been advised that owing to the low hierarchy of the road it doesn’t meet the criteria for the installation of a centre white line for the whole length of it.

The Chairman thanked Kyra Nettle LCC Highways for attending the meeting. Kyra left the meeting at this point.

5. Presentation on Neighbourhood Planning by Luisa McIntosh NKDC Community Partnerships.

Luisa is not a planner but has an interest in planning now as since the Localism Act she has been the Partnerships Manager and is working with a number of communities on Neighbourhood Plans. If questions are raised on planning she will take them back to NKDC and report back answers.

A slide show presentation was given and the scope of Neighbourhood Plans was outlined. It gives the community the opportunity to choose where to build shops, new homes, businesses etc but is also about protecting assetsin the designated area of the neighbourhood.. It is a legal document which is optional and must be led by the community. There are 5 simple stages to formulating a plan but it must be in accordance with the Local Plan and cannot block development.

For Skellingthorpe they would suggest that the designated area should be the Parish area.

In preparing a Neighbourhood Plan it has to be in conformity with the strategic policies of the Core Strategy and it is unlikely that a Neighbourhood Plan would be capable of being adopted prior to formal adoption of the Core Strategy which is out for further consultation with publication and then inspection expected in 2014. Individula housing allocations will be considered 2014/15 and a Neighbourhood Plan can inform that process.

Phenomenally difficult process and requires a huge commitment on the part of all of those involved. There is technical support available from NKDC and there is also some funding available but on average it is likely to cost somewhere in the region of £20,000 to produce a Neighbourhood Plan.

If the village decides not to do a Neighbourhood Plan there are other ways of having a say in what happens in the village but it is important to be involved and to take up the opportunity that is given to feedback into the consultation process.

Upper Eden has already produced a Neighbourhood Plan and Luisa suggested that it might be worth looking at it in order to get a better idea of what it involved.

Luisa is happy to take questions when she is back at the office at NKDC.

Cllr Goldson reminded the meeting of the need to keep fighting for the village identity to be protected and of the past history of successful representations to protect the village. It is important to keep making representations to the Core Strategy team as there are currently over 400 housing allocations outstanding in this village so there is already more than enough development pending.

District, Parish and CountyCouncillors will continue fighting for the protection of the village identity.

The Chairman thanked Luisa for attending the meeting and giving the presentation. Luisa left the meeting at this point.

1. Committee Reports

Reports from the Committee Chairmen and Finance Specialist had already been published in the Annual Report which had been published in the Chatterbox magazine.

Questions were taken from the floor. Cllr Scott Chair of Administration and Finance Committee and Cllr Billinghurst Finance Specialist took the mike to respond to questions.

A resident asked why over 50% of the village precept was being spent on administration costs. In response the meeting was advised that owing to some services being devolved from principal authorities to the Parish Council this in consequence has resulted in an increase in the cost of administration as so much more work is being carried out by the Parish Council. In addition the council now manages a burial ground and has a ‘one stop shop’ office which is open to the public for 12 hours per week. The Council has to comply and have in place policies that govern its activities and has to meet legal requirements that may not have been as stringent as in the past. There were no further questions.

Cllr Mrs Hall as Chairman of Estates Management and Chairman of Planning took the mike to respond to questions. Cllr Mrs Hall reported that the council is looking for feedback on suggestions for development of the redundant tennis court. Feedback slips have been handed out his evening and parishioners are asked to complete them to give their suggestions as to what they envisage would be of amenity value to the village.

Cost and maintenance is going to be a major factor as there has to be properly approved play equipment and safety surfaces that meet play area equipment standards and inspection compliance.

There was a suggestion that volunteer groups should be asked to clear areas where there are eyesores and areas for improvement but the Chairman reminded those present that such activity is subject to certain constraints and must observe the legalities of Health and Safety etc.

No questions on planning.

1. Chairman’s Report

Cllr Bennettreportedthat there is currently a vacancy on the Parish Council which is being advertised. Thanks were given from Chairman to everyone who has supported him during his tenure as Chair of the Parish Council.

8.Community Award – to present the Community Award Rose Bowl

Cllr Bennettpresented Dave Butler with the Community Award Rose Bowl and a framed certificate.

9.Pauline Harley Memorial Achievement Award – to present the award

Cllr. Bennett presented Sophie Hallworth with the Pauline Harley Memorial AchievementAwardand a framed certificate.

10.Reports from Village Organisations

Skellingthorpe Library

Alison Wade is the new site co-ordinator for Skellingthorpe Library and gave the report. New library management system has recently been introduced. There have been some teething problems but thanks to everyone for their patience whilst the new system has been implemented. A new member of staff has been recruited. Beginners internet taster sessions have taken place, the County Councillor and Police hold surgeries there and there has been a programme of children’s activities taking place. Online services include ancestry, theory test pro, library catalogue etc. You can download e-books and audio books and there are other online resources. Incentives for youngsters are running in the form of Bookstart. There is a printing and photocopying service from the library at 10p per copy.

The mobile library visits on 3rd Tuesday in month and stops on The Hill – further information on services can be obtained from the library or by visiting

Keep Fit Club– Maureen Bunnage gave the report. The club runs with about 18 ladies who are mostly long standing members of the group. New members are always welcome to come and join and enjoy movement to music in a friendly and sociable setting.

The club meets on Monday evenings 7.30pm – 9.30pm and each year holds a sponsor night which this year raised over £600 for Candles.

Community Centre ManagementCommittee– Shirley Flint gave the report. The last 12 months have been difficult as the serving officers had intended to step down this year but as there were no new people coming forward they had to approach the Parish Council to make it aware of the difficulties it was encountering. In the event of them not being able to form a committee the Parish Council would become responsible for running the centre. Fortunately some new members have now come forward so there is a viable committee managing the centre at the moment.

The existing committee members will be carrying on a bit longer to ensure a smooth takeover.

They have a list of regular bookings from organisations but there is poor support for weekend bookings. Mrs Flint appealed for parishioners to continue to use the centre and advised that volunteers are always welcome.

MethodistChurch - Peter Bell gave the report. Various arts and crafts groups meet in the Methodist Hall and Guides and Brownies and choir meet at the hall along with some children’s groups. It is their policy to reach out to the village an its parishioners and to offer a venue and facilities at a reasonable price.

A visual arts weekend took place recently and was very successful. There were 16 different crafts they were able to show.

Art Group - Mr Bellreported that an Art Group has recent started meeting at the Methodist Church which involves just painting and invites new members to come along and join.

WI – Sheila Gostelow gave the report. The group continues to be well supported. Various talks with a wide variety of interesting speakers have been given and a number of competitions have been held.

April last year was a very important anniversary which was celebrated by raising money to buy a defibrillator which was then presented to the Parish Council after having been installed on the outside wall of the Community Centre.

The members have enjoyed a number of trips to various locations including concerts and theatre performances and they are now looking forward to a very busy and interesting forthcoming year.

WI has supported the Parish Council event at Xmas by baking and serving cakes.

The Chairman thanked the members of WI for their magnificent fundraising efforts resulting in the purchase of the defibrillator for the benefit of the parishioners of Skellingthorpe.