2023 Meetings

NORTH SCARLE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting held on 8 November 2023 at 7.30pm in North Scarle Village Hall

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.30pm.

PRESENT

Cllr D Jennings                                              Cllr S Walsh

Cllr K Coram                                                  Cllr R Pullen

Cllr A Walsh                                                   Cllr K Ward

Mrs H Broderick (Clerk)

14 parishioners attended.

Mat Everett and Dr David Hickman also attended from the Drainage Board.

638     APOLOGIES

None.

639     TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllrs S Walsh, A Walsh and K Coram declared an interest in item 6. “flooding”.  In order that a full discussion could take place they had applied for a dispensation which the Clerk authorised.

640     MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 13 SEPTEMBER 2023

It was resolved to adopt the Minutes as a true record and they were signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman proposed that item 6 “flooding” be moved up the agenda to be followed by the “open session”, for the convenience of the attendees.  This was resolved.

641     FLOODING

The Chairman gave a brief introduction to the recent flooding event and introduced Dr David Hickman and Mat Everett from Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board (DB).  Dr Hickman gave further introductions, explained how Mill Dam Dyke (MDD) is maintained and requested any useful information be sent to them after the meeting.

Comments, questions and answers can be found in the report below.

The Chairman proposed that the Paish Council should ask that the Environment Agency (EA) arrange as a matter of urgency for MDD to be cleared of all debris and other material to reinstate a clear water course for the length under the control of the EA and to maintain that situation by annual, thorough maintenance.  This was resolved.

Clerk commented that parishioners could send information to her but to specify it should be sent on to DB.

Cllr S Walsh commented on a Local List Validation Consultation received from NKDC.  She proposed that PC should ask them to add that a Flood Risk Assessment and a Drainage Statement should be included in an outline planning application.  This was discussed and resolved.

Parishioner thanked the Parish Council for their hard work on this issue and thanked the DB representatives and LCC and NKDC Cllrs for their help and attendance.

Cllr S Walsh proposed that PC ask the village hall for use of a garage to store full sandbags and that PC should thank everyone who helped during the floods but specifically Paul Munnelly and Andrew and Richard Fotheringham who helped with sandbags and sand and parishioner asked PC to thank Turnbulls (Newark) for sand.  This was discussed and resolved.  Cllr Coram will put forward a request to the Village Hall.

DB representatives and 13 parishioners left the meeting.

Open Session:

The meeting moved into open session.  There were no comments and the open session ended.

642     PLANNING having already been circulated to Cllrs, were read aloud

Decision Notices

23/0356/FUL – Sueander Farm, Eagle Road. Application approved.

23/0766/OUT – Land off Chapel Lane. Application refused.

Applications – resolutions required

23/1095/FUL – 51 South Scarle Lane.  Change of use of land to domestic curtilage and associated erection of garage. After discussion the Chairman proposed no objections and this was resolved.  All in favour.

643     FINANCES

A schedule of payments made between 1 September 2023 and 31 October 2023 was circulated to the Parish Councillors ahead of the meeting.  Invoices paid were signed and countersigned. There were no queries.

Individual payments made in the period which exceeded £100:

644     INSURANCE PAYMENT RELATING TO LAWNMOWER FIRE

Our ride on mower caught fire and was written off.  The insurance company had offered £3315.85 based on a quote for a new one, net of VAT and policy excess.  CIlr Ward proposed acceptance of this offer and this was resolved.

655     REQUEST FOR DONATION TO SCHOOL FOR A FLAGPOLE

We have received a letter from North Scarle Primary School requesting £200 to purchase a flagpole, to be sighted on school premises but outside the fence so that it is also available for village use.  The school will be responsible for its upkeep. This was discussed and Cllr A Walsh proposed that £200 should be donated and this was resolved (Cllr S Walsh abstained).

656     POLICING PRIORITY SETTING FEEDBACK FORM

This was discussed, the Chairman proposed to add the same comments as last year – increase police visibility and make it easer to get in touch – this was resolved.

657     CEMETERY GRASS CUTTING

Urgently needs a final cut. Quotations for the work have been difficult to obtain. Cllr Ward had tried to obtain quotes. Contractors not interested in the work or not returning calls.  LCC Cllr Briggs suggested contacting probation services or Hill Holt Wood to see if they could help.  The Chairman proposed that he would aim to get a final cut and let Councillors know of costs involved prior to the work being done, so that the cemetery is tidy then work out a plan to start next year.  The Councillors agreed and this was resolved.

658     LCC COUNCILLOR REPORT

No report but pledged continued help.

659     NKDC COUNCILLOR REPORT

No report but pledged continued help/support.  Requested he be cc’d in appropriate correspondence.

660     DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was resolved to agree the date of the next meeting as 17 January 2024 at 7.30pm.

661     CLOSED SESSION

It was resolved to move into closed session.

662     AGRICULTURAL LAND LEASE

Solicitor had provided a draft FBT which was discussed and resolved to agree.  Clerk to forward this to interested parties together with a plan showing the electricity cable, requesting their tender and clarification of the area of land they are interested in.  The tender deadline will be 1 January 2024.

Topping of the land had taken place and the cost of £360 was ratified and resolved.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.50pm.

Item 641 Flooding (Report)

• David Hickman visited North Scarle soon after the flood and met some parishioners at that time.
• Trent Valley is part of a consortium of 4 drainage boards.
• There had been approximately 90mm of rain in 24 hours.
• Looking at a large number of affected areas and using the information to provide a stronger case to Government and EA where they believe there are issues that improved maintenance regimes could help.
• IDB manages the EA’s Mill Dam Dyke.  IDB maintains sections of MDD under licenced to the EA.  It is called a Public Sector Corporation Agreement, other sections are maintained by the EA. DB is responsible for MDD to the corner of Chapel Lane then it is EA for School Lane.
• Working on getting a meeting ASAP with the EA.
• EA had apologised for not attending this meeting.
• 2019/20 flood event caused significant bank erosion from the Trent doors down to the village which meant DB could no longer work on the crest of the bank.  Bank gets a flail mow around May and August, then an excavator so far along the bank and a different machine later in the year.  DB have had to chase EA to do their work and Parish Council chase DB for this too.

The Chairman then invited parishioners to ask questions and make statements.

Parishioners’ abbreviated comments included but were not limited to, the following:

• Thanks to drainage board representatives for attending.
• Dismayed that the DB can’t get necessary machines to do the work. There are machines that could do the work, may mean closing the road but it is a weak excuse.
• Agree that problematic section needs clearing urgently but DB and Environment Agency (EA) has increased catchment area with little forward planning.
• 9” of water in their property
• Approximately £100k of repairs taking 6-9 months.
• Increase in insurance premiums.

• Decrease in resale values.
• Why isn’t dyke cleared by hand if machines can’t do the work?
• School Lane/Chapel Lane corner is the problem with silt and is overgrown.
• Girton hadn’t breached at the time of the flood in North Scarle.
• Trent flood gates didn’t close.
• Needs investment, maintenance, silt bed level needs dropping and redesign.
• With the right machines it could be clean quickly.
• Pilings have been in the bank around 20 years ago – they need investigating.
• The bank on School Lane is becoming eroded by traffic and in the water course.
• If DB don’t have the necessary plant why don’t they hire some?
• Does DB accept flooding was caused by bad maintenance? Answer: No, there are sections that are challenging, there are sections that the EA are responsible for (including the School Lane section) and sections that should have been cleaned but due to scheduling and the weather have not been.
• The MP has written to various parties already.
• Could DB sub-contract out for equipment? Answer: probably doable.
• Can parishioners enter the water themselves?

Cllr S Walsh commented:

• MDD is classed as a main river and should be a priority. DB’s August email stated work would be done when water level was low.  Answer: DB cleaned section they responsible for. Cllr Walsh commented that his reply didn’t make it clear that the EA’s section wouldn’t be cleared.

Cllr K Coram commented:

• There is confusion about who is responsible for which parts of MDD.

The Chaiman commented that different parts of North Scarle are serviced by different companies for water supplies and sewerage and different drainage boards and that it makes it a complicated situation. We need to talk strongly and we have our MP behind us.