Minutes of May 2022 meeting
NORTH SCARLE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting held on 11 May 2022 at 7.30pm in North Scarle Village Hall
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.30pm.
PRESENT
Clllr D Jennings – Chairman Cllr S Walsh – Vice-Chairwoman
Cllr K Coram Cllr R Pullen
Cllr D Russell Cllr A Walsh
Mrs H Broderick (Clerk)
Open session:
No comments.
446 APOLOGIES
Cllr Ward sent her apologies.
447 OF CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON
It was proposed and resolved that Cllr Jennings should be re-elected as Chairman and Cllr S Walsh should be re-elected as Vice-Chairwoman. Both signed the Acceptance of Office forms.
448 TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None.
449 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 17 MARCH 2002
It was resolved to adopt the Minutes as a true record and they were signed by the Chairman.
450 PLANNING having already been circulated to Cllrs, were read aloud:
Decision notices – for information only
21/1282/HOUS – 14 School Lane - erection of two storey side extension and single storey rear extension, wall, pillars and retrospective retention of gates – determined and refused.
22/0136/FUL – Field Farm, Besthorpe Road - erection of permanent agricultural workers dwelling – determined and approved.
Applications – resolutions required
22/0396/FUL – The Old Rectory, Besthorpe Road – Change of use from residential institution to health spa. The applicants attended the meeting and provided information regarding the proposal. After discussion it was resolved unanimously that there were no objections.
22/0623/HOUS – The Manor House, 5 High Street – loft conversion and internal alterations.
After discussion it was resolved unanimously that there were no objections.
451 FINANCES
A schedule of payments made between 1 March 2022 and 30 April 2022 was circulated to the Parish Councillors ahead of the meeting.
Cllr S Walsh queried why we are paying for surface water at the Heritage Room – what service is being received? Where does the water go? It was resolved that Clerk should make enquiries. Invoices paid via BACS were signed and countersigned.
Individual payments made in the period which exceeded £100:
For Amount £
01/03/2022 Handyman services 100.00
08/03/2022 Speed Indicator Devices 8788.63
22/03/2022 Heritage room - water bill (surface water) 206.11
22/03/2022 Heritage Room Rent 104.16
22/03/2022 Posts for SIDs 600.00
22/03/2022 Jubilee Party (s.137) 155.00
07/04/2022 Street light electricity 248.28
07/04/2022 LALC - annual membership 230.11
19/04/2022 Cemetery grass cutting 120.71
19/04/2022 Heritage Room Rent 104.16
19/04/2022 Jubilee Party (s.137) 324.00
28/04/2022 Handyman services 110.00
28/04/2022 North Scarle Matters - printing 145.00
Total wages in the period 624.00
452 NKDC REPORT
NKDC Cllr Peter Overton read his report, which is attached.
The Chairman commented on flooding. Mill Dam Dyke is classed as a main river. After high rain fall within a certain area comes to the dyke and can be stopped by the River Trent flood gates depending on circumstances. Is there an opportunity to divert some of that water into another dyke alongside Meadow Lane which would end up in Fosse Dyke. Could this help with the pumping station problems? Cllr A Walsh mentioned an idea that was discussed years ago regarding the potential creation of lagoons. Cllr Overton asked for these comments to be made in writing so that he could look into them. It was resolved that the Chairman would let the Clerk have the relevant wording.
453 2021/22 ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN (AGAR), BALANCE SHEET, PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT, BANK RECONCILIATION AND SCHEDULE OF MATERIAL VARIANCES
These had been circulated to the Councillors ahead of the meeting. After discussion, the Parish Councillors resolved to agree:
• AGAR Certificate of Exemption (page 3). This was signed as appropriate.
• AGAR Annual Governance Statement (page 5). This was signed as appropriate.
• AGAR Accounting Statements (page 6). This was signed as appropriate.
• Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account
• Bank Reconciliation.
• Schedule of Material Variances.
454 SEWAGE WORKING PARTY
There was no report, but the Working Party will chase Seven Trent for the flow meter on School Lane.
454 DOG FOULING
Posters have been put up around the village to remind dog owners to pick up after their dogs. It was proposed and resolved that the Parish Council will try to keep posters visible in the village and the Clerk would add the poster to Facebook again and point out that dogs should be picked up after on footpaths in fields too.
465 GENERAL NOTICEBOARD
The Chairman pointed out that the general village notice board is falling apart and needs replacing or repairing and possibly re-siting. He asked the Parish Councillors to bring some ideas to the next meeting.
466 HIGHWAYS
The Chairman and Cllr Russell had driven round the village with LCC Highways Manager Joe Phillips and LCC Cllr Mike Thompson, noting many defects in the parish roads. Some of the problems noted have already be addressed and we should receive a regular update from LCC. The Fix My Street website should be used to report problems with as much detail and accuracy as possible.
467 CEMETERY CAR PARK
The Chairman proposed a change to the plans: to reduce the kerbs to edgings and also reduce the excavation, in turn reducing the amount of spoil which would all be taken away. NKDC have confirmed that the changes are acceptable without the planning application being amended. This was discussed and the Parish Councillors agreed. This was resolved.
468 PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATION
The organising group is working hard and there seems to be growing interest. The event is currently coming in under budget.
469 LCC REPORT
LCC Cllr Thompson read his report which is attached.
470 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was resolved to agree the date of the next meeting as 13 July 2022 at 7.30pm.
471 CLOSED SESSION
It was resolved to move into closed session.
472 CEMETERY CAR PARK
The Clerk had received a revised quote from Fearnplant Ltd based on the amended plans (item 467) and this was shared with the Councillors at the meeting. This was for the same amount as the previously agreed quote and it was resolved that this should be accepted and we should commence work ASAP.
473 INSURANCE RENEWAL
Chairman advised that we are in a long-term agreement with our current insurer. This ends next year when we will be able to obtain a comparison quote from other companies.
474 CLERK’S ANNUAL REVIEW
The Clerk left the room. The Clerk had had an appraisal with Cllr Coram who reported back to the Parish Councillors. After discussion it was resolved that the Clerk’s wages should be amended in line with the Local Government Services Pay Agreement. The Clerk’s contract will be updated and agreed at the next meeting.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.06pm
ITEM 452 NKDC REPORT (Annual Report)
During the past year I have been able to attend five of the six Parish Council meetings at North Scarle Village Hall. During this year of sporadic lockdowns it has not always been easy to be as proactive at North Kesteven District Council as I would have liked but I have been a prime mover on major issues affecting the District, mainly transport and planning. It is planning that is the main focus of most villages and is the prime purpose of the Council. North Scarle Parish Council has been a good group to work with and it is always a pleasure to visit for meetings.
I have particularly pressed for proper consideration of the impact of drainage issues, prior to planning consents being given, since this is of special significance to North Scarle. I raised the issue three years ago as a newly appointed member of Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board, persuaded them to tighten up their non-statutory advice to the District Council. I then took a key role with the engineer in pushing forward the alleviation of flooding problems on Eagle Road by the installation of drainage pipes and re-routing of the flood water away from the village. This has been one success but as North Scarle Village knows only too well it can take a long time to tackle problems caused by poorly considered development. I expect that the new Local Plan mentioned below will give this much higher priority
During the year I reported and advised on the various Government Grants that were available during the main Covid period. They were administered very efficiently by NKDC and all the money has been handed out to well over 2000 independent businesses around the district. There are currently no more discretionary grants available.
The Countryside Code and the scourge of litter and possible solutions were a feature of the 2021 meetings within Council. The District suffers especially from fly-tipping. North Kesteven District Council is doing its best with this problem and has installed some hidden cameras in dumping hot spots, with some success in prosecution.
There are implications from the increasing construction of lagoons for holding digestate from on-farm energy plants. I highlighted the difficulty in current planning regulations of distinguishing industrial development in the open countryside from what used to be considered conventional farming operations. The Thorpe lagoon was an interesting test case which I worked hard on, mainly because of the traffic implications through the village there. Later in the year I led a report from the Lincolnshire Independents giving a view on the new Lincolnshire Transport Plan (LPT5) which we felt did not take sufficient account of the increasing problem of traffic in villages. North Scarle, in common with most villages does seem to suffer from short cut routing from the Collingham Road and we hope our comments through LTP5 will be taken on board by the relevant authorities.
Another report that I have been working on is the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. NKDC is committed to putting tackling climate change at the front of all its policies. In terms of its own in-house behaviour, it is doing well. However, the planning policy has the potential to drive a coach and horses through the aim of zero carbon by 2030 because of the housing growth plan, forced on the Council by the current Government. We have been pushing hard to get all new housing built to maximum energy efficiency at an early date, but there is a lag between ambition and action due to the slow introduction of legislation. About 450 of the NKDC social housing stock of some 4800 is very energy inefficient, and work is in progress to tackle these properties as a priority.
The new Local Plan is now in its final stages of drafting and further recommendations had to be submitted no later than 9th May. I have scrutinised this version, with my Independent Colleagues. It is slightly changed from the version we reviewed in September. It is anticipated that the final plan will come into force around May 2023 after the appraisal process by the inspector has been completed over the coming months. However, some of the proposals are already coming into play in planning decisions. The urgency of tackling climate change, which I and my Independent colleagues pushed forward with a Full Council motion in 2020, does at least appear (now) as the key feature of the planning policy and we shall be keeping our foot on the pedal to try to ensure it is applied at all stages of planning. Happily, I can confirm that the whole Council is in tune with this objective but there are still some elements of the new plan that are inadequate to achieve the objective; transport policy being the most notable. It will be interesting to see how LCC responds to this.
NKDC has been promoting Purple Bins to separate dry paper and cardboard from other household waste. After an earlier pilot project, the purple bins are now rolled out across the District and seem to be working well. The separation is bringing in welcome revenue from ‘waste’ that used to have a cost attached to it. However, there are frustrations with some households over the separation of Black Bin and Green Bin waste (plastics for recycling). NKDC has taken a robust attitude in not collecting ‘contaminated’ green bins. However, as people become more used to the system it seems to be working better. The problem remains the unfortunate level of food plastic, most of it unnecessary, and which the supermarkets are being slow to resolve.
During the year NKDC has had a Local Government Peer Review, which involves a team of Councillors and officers from elsewhere in the country examining the processes and performance of our Council. There were 13 recommendations for our Council to consider and I pressed in Full Council for each and every one of them to receive attention and that a report back to Councillors be made. There were some failings which certainly need attention, however, in general NKDC was considered to be well run and my own experience is that the officers are constructive and helpful when asked for advice and action. They need to re-focus as restrictions from Covid are relaxed by so many are now home-working that things seem unlikely to function fully as before in the foreseeable future.
As your District Councillor I will continue to the best I can but rely on the Parish Council and members of the Parish to raise issues where I may be able to assist.
Cllr Peter Overton
ITEM 469 LCC REPORT (Annual Report)
Covid19 Pandemic
Meetings of the County Council were held on Microsoft Teams for 18 months during the COVID19 pandemic. The Local Resilience Forum was mobilised to provide support for organisations and volunteers during the pandemic. Arrangements were made for council services to be maintained with many staff working from home. Together with District Councils financial and other support was provided to help businesses. County Councillors were allocated funding for recognition of community projects within their Divisions. From September 2021 the council returned to in-person meetings but has continued to work within Covid precautions. Many lessons have been learned from working through the pandemic and the best of these, where benefits have been identified, are being incorporated in a plan for "smarter working".
Highways
Changes took place with major contractors in April 2021. It is hoped that these will lead to more efficient and effective working and repairs. The Lincoln Eastern Bypass was a major work completed and opened. The North Hykeham Relief Road has been agreed and is moving to the next phase of development. Despite some temporary additional Government funding, £12 million was withdrawn from LCC Highways budget and replacing this from reserves has been agreed to mitigate a reduction in services.
Adult Social Care
The County Council has a responsibility to fund and commission adult social care. The way this is done is changing with a move to Integrated Care Systems which are currently being set up which aim to improve cooperative working with partners in the NHS and private care providers.
Looking ahead Parish Council and residents may be interested in:
Wildlife Grant
Lincolnshire County Council makes awards of grants for between £50 and £500 and up to 75% of total costs for projects in Lincolnshire that protect, improve or promote wildlife; promote access to and enjoyment of the countryside; local communities support and may undertake.
The community wildlife grant is open to parish councils, charities and constituted voluntary groups with closing dates for applications on 1st April and 1st September each year.
Grants are awarded for:
tree & hedge planting; woodland improvement; hedge laying; village nature area creation repairing dry stone walls; access improvements to nature area; leaflets and information boards; wildlife surveys.
Energy from Waste Open Day - 18th June 2022
Lincolnshire’s Energy from Waste plant at North Hykeham, which is operated on behalf of LCC by FCC Environment, was opened in 2013. Since then more than a million tonnes of waste have been processed, surpassing expectations by turning waste into green energy – enough to power 29,000 homes. It also produces around 215,000 tonnes of incinerator bottom ash used in road construction.
The facility costing £125m was the biggest capital investment ever made by the County Council and enables us to do the right thing with our waste, environmentally and economically. Everything is being done by LCC to minimise rubbish sent to landfill which has been reduced by 92% to just 4%, saving £91 per tonne in landfill tax. In 2018 96% of waste was recycled, recovered, reused, or composted.
Regular public open days are held and the next one will be on 18th June 2022. The plant will be open to visitors with free drop-in entry from 9 am to 3.30 pm.
Open Day contact 01522-814315
LCC Street Lighting Policy amendment 2022
Executive Councillor for Place decision 10th May 2022 published to approve amendments to LCC Street Lighting Policy. Access and details via LCC website
Cllr Mike Thompson