Minutes of March 2021 meeting
NORTH SCARLE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a remote meeting held on
10 March 2021 at 7.30pm via Microsoft Teams
The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.30pm.
3 parishioners attended.
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
333 APOLOGIES
None.
334 TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
334 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 13 JANUARY 2021
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.
335 CO-OPTION OF NEW PARISH COUNCILLOR
Richard Pullen had applied for the vacancy on the Parish Council, and it was resolved to welcome him to the position. He had already signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and this was counter signed by the Clerk at the meeting. Cllr Pullen joined the meeting.
336 PLANNING having already been circulated to Cllrs.
Determinations for information only:
20/1586/VARCON – Land adj to Sundara, 43 South Scarle Lane – Application to vary condition 7 of planning permission 18/1627/OUT – determined and approved.
Responses had been collated by email and forwarded to NKDC in line with our Covid-19 Policy, regarding the following applications:
21/0231/PNTEL – Application for prior notification of proposed development by telecommunications code systems operators. Installation of a 17.5m column and equipment at junction of Eagle Road and Meadow Lane. 4 against, 1 for. Objection to the location was registered. Parish Council had contacted Telecoms company to discuss alternative locations, but no response had been received ahead of the application.
Parishioner spoke in favour of the application and expressed disappointment that PC had objected.
20/1800/RESM – Land to rear of 27-37 South Scarle Lane – Reserved matters. No responses. No objection registered.
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Applications - discussion and resolution required:
21/0196/HOUS – Holly Tree Farm, Eagle Road – single storey rear and side extension. It was resolved that there was no objection – all in favour.
21/0025/FUL – Holly Tree Farm, Eagle Road – part change of use of land to residential and erection of domestic annexe in connection with a host dwelling to Holly Tree Farm. It was resolved that there was no objection – all in favour.
336 FINANCES
A schedule of payments made between 1 January 2021 and 29 February 2021 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 – electricity bill 219.32
Church hedge plants 242.64
Repairs to Smiley Sid speeding sign 130.00
LALC – annual subscription 226.14
Total wages in the period 576.00
337 NKDC REPORT
NKDC Cllr Peter Overton was absent and no report had been received.
338 CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE
The church hedge has been repaired but further repairs will be necessary in the Autumn.
The Pinfold is ready for the gravel to go in, notice board has been erected. Old board may be used as village notice board.
Report of youths on motor bikes in field off Hives Lane – complainant now has landowner’s phone number, and they will contact each other if it happens again.
Smiley Sid is working and is ready to be put into position. Cllrs Russell and Coram volunteered to assist Cllr Jennings with this.
339 SEWERAGE WORKING PARTY
Cllr Susan Walsh gave an update, and her report is attached.
340 MEMORIAL TREE REQUEST
A request had been received to plant a memorial tree in the cemetery for John Froggatt. Due to the estimated mature size of the tree, Cllr Jennings proposed that it be planted along the hedge/tree line between the cemetery and the car park, rather than in the small memorial garden. This was resolved.
341 PROPOSED FOOTPATH DMMO APPLICATION
A parishioner had contacted the PC asking for their support of a DMMO application on an unofficial footpath through the hedge in the SE corner of the playing field, into a field linking up to Clog Bridge Lane. The parishioner attended and gave many reasons why he believes the path should be subject to a DMMO application. He also questioned whether Clog Bridge Lane is private land and suggested it may be an unrecorded public right of way.
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Cllr Jennings commented that he believes Clog Bridge Lane is only an access road for the owners of the adjacent fields. Cllr S Walsh offered support to both sides of the argument. Cllr Pullen pointed out that the path in question hasn’t got any signage to suggest it is private land. Second parishioner commented that he has been walking the path in question for more than 20 years. After discussion Cllr Russell proposed that the PC shouldn’t support the application. A counterproposal by Cllr S Walsh was put forward, that the PC would include a notice in North Scarle Matters asking for parishioners’ opinions and the matter should be reconsidered at the next meeting. Cllr Walsh’s proposal was resolved. It was noted that the Parishioner could apply for the DMMO application in the meantime.
342 VOLUNTEER WORK FOR DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD
A parishioner had contacted PC asking if there was any volunteer work available for his daughter who is working towards her Duke of Edinburgh Award. Due to Covid restrictions, concerns for safety of a minor without supervision and lack of work available it was resolved that this was not possible at the moment.
343 HEDGE/TREES BORDERING PLAYING FIELD AND CLOG BRIDGE LANE
A complaint had been received that these trees have been cut down. The parishioner who has cut down the trees has told Cllr Jennings that they were overhanging the fence and his property and said the felled trees will be removed.
344 LINK BETWEEN BANK ACCOUNTS
Councillors had agreed via emails to remove the link between the Council bank accounts and this decision was resolved.
345 LCC REPORT
LCC Cllr Thompson had circulated his report prior to the meeting (attached). Also, Hives Lane culvert is on the Highways agenda. He confirmed elections will take place on 6th May. Cllr Jennings commented that potholes need reporting on FixMyStreet including photographs and pointed out that it can sometimes be too dangerous on our roads to stop to take photos making it difficult to report. He also passed on comments that mechanical road-sweepers are opening up recently repaired areas.
346 RETURN TO FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS
It was resolved that the May meeting would take place remotely, if legislation allows. Noted that the small meeting room at the village hall is available for future meetings at £8ph.
347 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
It was resolved that this will take place on the same night as the next PC meeting, remotely if allowed.
348 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was resolved to agree the date of the next meeting 12 May 2021 at 7.30pm.
The Chairperson closed the meeting at 9.07pm
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Item 339
REPORT FROM NORTH SCARLE SEWAGE WORKING PARTY 10 March 2021
Again, I would like to thank all working party members and the PC for their support to resolve the outstanding issues. In addition, I would like to thank Mr Lomas who has been updating us, on a regular basis, about activities around the pumping station and outfall into Mill Dam Dyke during this last event. The support of Parishioners in such a way will help us to achieve our collective aim.
Since my last report of 13 January 2021, a zoom meeting was held between working party members, Adam Boucher and Karl Wilson from Severn Trent on 27th January 2021. Thanks was given for all works carried out so far.
Due to water flowing back from Mill Dam Dyke into the sewerage network, over the Christmas period when the dyke was at high-level, a one- way valve has been installed in the road at the junction of School Lane and Chapel Lane. This has been confirmed as being successful.
We are advised that the overflow is there in an emergency if the pumping station fails. We were informed that if sewage is discharged then it would be highly diluted and not significantly affect water quality or impact on wildlife in Mill Dam Dyke. The Working Group were concerned about this as the incident in August 2020 was not reported by Severn Trent to the Environment Agency until it was raised by the Working Group.
Two tankers were again necessary, daily for over a month, to support the pumping station during this high rainfall event. As part of the ongoing investigations by ST, as a result of intervention by the Working Group, ST reported that there was surface water infiltration on South Scarle Lane. ST was investigating all areas for infiltration during the high water level and they believe that they have removed significant contributions already. It was found that there is no infiltration down School Lane sewer.
A silent pump was installed due to the noise nuisance to nearby residents. This action followed a request by neighbours.
ST have installed new pumps into the pumping station and within the last few weeks have installed a flow monitor to measure the output from the pumping station to Anglian Assets. This has yet to be commissioned.
The Working Party wrote to Nobles asking for them to support Severn Trent’s request to allow them to install a flow meter at Nobles’ pumping station. This is, to monitor their discharge volume to ensure that they are in compliance of their Discharge Licence. Nobles responded by saying they were working with ST, but they have requested from the Working Party.
- all information that indicates that the flow from their site is contributing to the problem at North Scarle Pumping Station
- any information that indicates what is causing the very high flow and
- also requesting what remedial work has been carried out regarding infiltration of ground water that was suspected to be partially causing a problem.
The Working Party has responded to Nobles with the evidence in their possession, including reference to the problems arising in December 2020 and also reiterated that they hope they can work with Severn Trent to install a flow meter.
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As a follow on from the Zoom Meeting on the 27 January we received a response back from Adam Boucher of ST on 1 March 2021 summarising the points raised and stating that each incident, and information from the Working Party, is giving information which will lead to a resolution of some the issues. ST has said that they are still intent on finding a viable option to enable the system to cope without the need for tankers. ST at present can measure the amount of water going into the Nobles site but have no means of monitoring the amount of discharge entering the sewerage system. ST is in discussions with Nobles about the installation of a flow meter to check compliance with the Discharge Licence and there is an indication from Severn Trent that other matters, raised by the Working Group are being discussed.
Severn Trent has suggested a further meeting in April so that we can continue the communication between us to resolve the outstanding issues. A date will be agreed for this meeting.
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Item 345
Lincolnshire County Council
A remote full meeting of council took place on 19th February. The Budget was approved which means an increase of 1.99% in Council Tax. In agreeing to the budget proposals it was noted that £12m has been made available to support businesses which may not have been eligible previously and £12.3 has been provided for road repairs, to replace the loss of this funding from Central Government. Both these measures have been funded from Council reserves.
Green Master Plan
This plan brings together current and future strands which the Council views as important in taking forward measures to achieve our climate change objective of Zero Carbon by or before 2050.
The Plan will focus on collective actions in reducing our impacts on the environment and supporting the individual goals of Lincolnshire's communities, businesses and organisations, as well as Lincolnshire County Council's own impacts.
It sets out three main commitments:
· Don’t waste anything
· Consider wider opportunities
· Take responsibility and pride
By not wasting our time, energy, money we will reduce the need for earth resources and ultimately save carbon.
In considering the wider opportunities we will be able to identify areas where we can work together with partners to achieve multiple benefits and is an efficient use of time and money.
By taking responsibility and pride we are carrying out our moral obligation to leave Lincolnshire a better place acting as custodians for the future.
Aside from our commitments, within the Green Masterplan there is data on carbon emissions across Lincolnshire, a look at what's happening across Lincolnshire and an action plan detailing climate actions across Lincolnshire.
It is intended that the GMP is a dynamic way forward. Whilst the principles of the Green Masterplan will remain the same, as new information, policy or events happen the plan will be reviewed and adapted as necessary.
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County Council support for businesses
Cllr Martin Hill provided information about four schemes put in place by the County Council to support local businesses which can now be found on our website here(www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/grants-funding). In addition advice and support is available from www.businesslincolnshire.com
The four grant schemes are:
- Business recovery fund (for small businesses who have not been able to access any of the government grants to date)
The 'business recovery fund' was available to those small businesses that have been directly impacted by covid-19, being unable to fully trade and have not benefited from the other government's covid support schemes. Although the fund was closed it was shortly reopened for further applications from 4th to 6th March.
- Digital voucher fund (supporting businesses in improving digitisation)
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST window will be open between 8 March 2021 and 12 March 2021
Application criteria published 1 March 2021.
- Invest for the future grant (to contribute towards business expansion)
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST window will be open between 15th March 2021 – 26th March 2021
Application criteria published 8 March 2021.
- Rural business grant (for businesses and organisations with projects specifically in rural areas)
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST window will be open between 8 March 2021 and 17 March 2021.
Application criteria published 1 March 2021.
Mike Thompson
Lincolnshire County Council Councillor Eagle & Hykeham West
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