2021 Meetings

NORTH SCARLE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a remote meeting held on

13 January 2021 at 7.30pm via Microsoft Teams

Due to some technical problems, the Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.50pm. 

PRESENT

Cllr D Jennings - Chairperson                Cllr S Walsh – Vice-Chairperson

Cllr K Coram                                         Cllr D Russell

Cllr A Walsh                                          Mrs H Broderick (Clerk)

Open session:

No comments

316     APOLOGIES

None.

Robert Cobb has resigned from the Council and the Chairperson expressed thanks for his work with the Parish Council and Sewerage Working Party.

317     TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None

318     MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 NOVEMBER 2020

It was resolved to adopt the Minutes as a true record.  It was resolved that these would be signed by the Chairperson at the next physical meeting of the Council.

319     PLANNING having already been circulated to Cllrs

Determinations for information only:

20/1212/FUL – Baxter Bridge Farm, Gainsborough Road – agricultural store - determined and approved.

20/1165/VARCON - Land adjacent to Sundara 43, South Scarle Lane – removal of footpath – determined and refused.

Applications for consideration and resolution:

Responses had been collated by email and forwarded to NKDC in line with our Covid-19 Policy, regarding the following applications:

20/1030/FUL – Weddles Farm, Hives Lane – demolition of two storey outbuilding, erection of single storey outbuilding to form agricultural store – 2 for, 3 abstained – no objections.

20/1568/LDEXI – The Gables, Wigsley Road – Application for a certificate of lawful development – no information received from Councillors to pass on to NKDC.

20/1500/PNND – Home Farm, 26 South Scarle Lane – change of use of agricultural building – All against – buildings not suitable for conversion, original application was supported by residents.

Applications - discussion and resolution required:

20/1586/VARCON – Land adj to Sundara, 43 South Scarle Lane – Application to vary condition 7 of planning permission 18/1627/OUT.  Resolved to object (all against).  Original application was to change to equine use and this was backed by Council and residents.

320     FINANCES

A schedule of payments made between 1 November 2020 and 31 December 2020 was circulated to the Parish Councillors.  There were no queries.  It was proposed and resolved that invoices paid via BACS should be hand delivered to the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson to sign and countersign and returned to the Clerk.

          Individual payments made in the period which exceeded £100:

                    For                                                       Amount £

Heritage Room - legal expenses                      348.59

Grass/hedge cutting                                        326.38

Printing North Scarle Matters                           135.00

Total wages in the period                                 576.00

321     NKDC REPORT

NKDC Cllr Peter Overton had sent his apologies.  His report was received via email and is attached.

322     SEWERAGE WORKING PARTY

Cllr Susan Walsh gave an update and her report is attached.  She expressed her thanks to members for their hard work, especially over the Christmas period.

323     PRECEPT FIGURES FOR 2021/22

Figures had been circulated to Cllrs and it was resolved that the precept would be set at £7,000 based on these figures.

24     NORTH SCARLE MATTERS

An email had been received suggesting reduction in advertising fees due to Covid.  Chairperson proposed that fees should remain, as majority of advertisers have already paid with no problems.  This was resolved.

325     SPEEDING

Chairperson confirmed that Smiley Sid is fixed at a cost of approx. £130.  Location to be decided when Sid is collected.

326     CHURCH HEDGE REPLACEMENT OF APPROXIMATELY 25 METERS

Chairperson confirmed hedge is PC’s responsibility and proposed its repair – replace with hedging plants x 30 and tree guards = £315.10 + cost of handyman.  Resolved to agree.

327     MEMORIAL (JUBILEE) GARDEN AND PINFOLD IMPROVEMENT WORKS

Chairperson has again trimmed in the Jubilee Garden and has own plants to go in, the WI have volunteered to help.  Currently, no costs involved.   

WI have been clearing the Pinfold.  Chairperson had circulated proposed location of noticeboard in Pinfold area and suggested the current (old) board could potentially be used as a general village notice board.  Proposed purchase of weed suppressant and golden flint dressing, approximate total cost £180.  All resolved as agreed.

328     CEMETERY CAR PARK

Chairperson has reconsidered requirements, up from 140m2 to 180m2 and requested new tenders.

329     LCC REPORT

LCC Cllr Thompson had circulated his report prior to the meeting (attached).  Also commented that litter and fly tipping can be reported on Fix My Street and the Resilience Forum is still available.

330     DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was resolved to agree the date of the next meeting 10th March 2021 at 7.30pm.

331     CLOSED SESSION

It was resolved to move into closed session.

332     HANDYMEN

Litter picking will be allocated to one handyman as part of handyman duties – no more than 4 hours per month.

Other work will be allocated between both handymen up to a maximum of £60 per month.  Anything over £60 to be agreed prior to work starting.

Clerk to keep record of jobs and costs and Cllrs to be informed prior to work being carried out.

Proposed and resolved.

The Chairperson closed the meeting at 8.50pm

Item 321

NKDC Report

Grants to support our local economies

We have £46 billion in this round “until the Spring”.  The Lockdown is currently planned to be six weeks to mid-February, if everything goes well. Grants based on business rate registration are mandatory and councils are asked to pass this on directly. Our request for more discretionary grant was heeded and local businesses should apply in order to apply to help them survive and protect jobs. More info from North Kesteven copied below and national business advice is here. You can apply to the District Council retrospectively for the mandatory grant based on business rates or the discretionary grant if you evidence that your legally compliant business has suffered because of the lockdowns. ecodev@n-kesteven.gov.uk  We were in national lockdown March 24th – July 4th, and Nov 5th - Dec 2nd, Tier 3 from Dec 2nd - Dec 30th, Tier 4 from Dec 31st - Jan 4th and now the third six week national lockdown from Jan 5th - Feb 15th. The District Council has so far distributed £23m

Funds for our Councils

The Settlement of central funds for local government was announced and our Councils are expected to respond now. We had an excellent LGA session on Council funds this week. Previously, Councils objected to austerity dropping our income from government by 60%, and were encouraged to make their own funds in commercialisation. There is now a clear change in attitude, as the economy falls, and councils are more at risk from losing on these investments.

Making ends meet

Our national Independent group held an excellent session on Council Budgets, looking at making savings or using reserves, and increasing income. The government has made sure that no council will have less than before, but that is largely from raising our council tax by the maximum amount of 2% plus 3% for adult care, over one or two years. The government is leaving us short as only about 70% of income losses are recoverable. And on top of a backlog of significant austerity loss of central government funds over the past decade, we now face increased local pressures. Councils are entering the budget process now, so please let me know if you think we should be doing more or less of anything.

Elections

Currently elections are scheduled for the Thursday 6th May, with people able to vote in person at polling stations. It is worth applying for a postal vote. You can take it in to the polling station yourself on the day if you wish. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-postal-vote There will be elections for Lincolnshire County Council and Police and Crime Commissioner for everyone in Lincolnshire. In addition, there are all out Parish and Town Council elections, and some by-elections. There is no NKDC election this year

*Two Covid Safety Ambassadors for NKDC funded by central Government. Details at PC meeting

Cllr Peter Overton

Item 322

Working Party Report to Parish Council. 13th January 2021

Since our last report, the Working Party members have been very busy and I would like to thank everyone for all of their continuous efforts.

At the request of the Working Party, it was agreed for letters to be sent from the Parish Council to residents along School Lane and Chapel Lane to update them of any progress, so far, regarding the sewerage problems in North Scarle.

It detailed the installation of non-return valves to some properties down School Lane and that anyone now wishing to do so would have to justify the necessity by providing details of flooding.

(Previously these were fitted because of restricted toilet use – we have been led to believe that this is no longer the case)

Residents were appreciative of being kept informed.

It was also agreed for the Parish Council to send a letter to Nobles asking why they had not responded to our letter of 24 September 2020. This was resolved.

The Parish Council have since had a couple of responses. We appreciate the communication with Nobles and wish to continue to work with them to resolve the ongoing problems at the pumping station.

After heavy rain on 23 December 2020 the mitigation put in place down School Lane came into effect. The main sewer was full and the non-return valves closed protecting the properties in question.

Karl Wilson contacted Alan Walsh and informed us that he was aware that the pumping station was on high level, but that he wanted to test their mitigation and maintenance of their systems at the Pumping Station.

On 24 December 2020

It was noted and photographs were taken showing that the sewer along School Lane was still full. A number of residents along Chapel Lane were informing members of the WP and Severn Trent that the sewer along Chapel Lane was also full and they were having issues with restricted toilet use.  The main issue for the working party was that blue plastic, ear plugs and other plastic waste was found in the sewer down School Lane. Despite being assured by Nobles that this could not and will not happen because of systems they have in place; it obviously still is! This is an ongoing issue that we will raise once again with Nobles and Severn Trent.

Tankers were sent out and it was established by Severn Trent later that evening that one issue, on this occasion, was that water was re-entering the system via the overflow into Mill Dam Dyke. They bunged it up, but over the next few days trying different bungs there was still an amount of seepage entering the system. It was believed that the pumping station could cope with this quantity of seepage, but that the system would not have been able to cope with the additional surges from Nobles when they pumped out from their pumping station, causing the necessity to keep tankers in place.

Tankers were kept in place until the level of Mill Dam Dyke went down (31 December). Although supporting residents along School Lane and Chapel Lane, residents next to the pumping station were again, for a period of time, disturbed by the noise of the tankers.

Severn Trent had informed us of further plans to alleviate the problem with the ingress from Mill Dam Dyke, which they did warn us would involve some road works at the end of School Lane. This is to install a non-return valve in a chamber in the road, which they started yesterday 12 January 2021.

The working party have a scheduled meeting with Severn Trent later this month and we will continue to communicate with both Nobles and Severn Trent until we can resolve an agreeable solution.

Cllr Susan Walsh

Chairperson of Working Party

Item 329

Lincolnshire County Council Report

It is customary at this time to wish for “A Happy New Year”, so much has happened affecting everyone in the first week that it already seems that 2021 has been around for ages, but my best wishes and hopes that it will be a better and happier year for us all.

County Council leader Martin Hill OBE has updated County Councillors following the issue of new lockdown rules with the following information included which may be helpful for Parish Councils and residents.

Household Waste Recycling Centres are open as usual – but remember you have to book a timeslot via our LCC website. If you have a van or a larger trailer, we are also continuing to process permit applications.

Just as during the previous lockdowns, our highways crews will still be out maintaining and improving our roads as normal, including gritting roads and repairing potholes. Where it is safe to do so, work will continue on our major development project and road building schemes around the County.

Shielding for the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) has returned, so our Public Health and Emergency Planning Teams are continuing to work with Partners at the Resilience Forum to help get residents the support they need. If residents need support doing this, please remember our Covid-19 Helpline: 01522 782189, which is available 7 days a week. 

With another Lockdown, many residents' businesses will have been affected. Business Lincolnshire can help support businesses to operate within government guidance or to access financial support or grants if needed. Contact www.businesslincolnshire.com

Mike Thompson

Lincolnshire County Council

Councillor Eagle & Hykeham West