2025 Meetings

NORTH SCARLE PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT Minutes of a meeting held on 12 March 2025 at 7.30pm in North Scarle Village Hall

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting at 7.30pm.

PRESENT

Cllr D Jennings (Chairman)                           Cllr K Coram

Cllr R Pullen                                                     Cllr W Tucker

Cllr A Walsh                                                     Cllr S Walsh

Cllr K Ward

Mrs H Broderick (Clerk)

1 parishioner attended.

805        APOLOGIES

None.

806        TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None.

807        MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 15 JANUARY 2025

The Chairman proposed that the draft minutes should be adopted as a true record, this was resolved and they were signed by the Chairman.

808        PLANNING

Applications.

24/0956/FUL – Cranswick Pet Products, Lodge Farm, Wigsley Road. Additional information.

No further comments were received from Parish Councillors for submission before the deadline.

Decision Notices – for information only

24/1413/VARCON Application to vary conditions – 3 Eagle Road. Approved.

24/1401/FUL – Boiler room extension – Cranswick Pet Products, Lodge Farm, Wigsley Road.  Approved.

809        SEWERAGE WORKING PARTY

Cllr S Walsh’s report is at the end of these Minutes.  Cllr Briggs asked if he could attend the meeting in April to gain more knowledge.  Cllr S Walsh agreed and will invite him.

810        MILL DAM DYKE AND WATER COURSE

FANS report can be found at the end of these Minutes.

Rob Cobb of FANS attended the meeting and reiterated the points made in the FANS report regarding a lack of commitment and interest from other parties.  He has joined a group called Flooded People which is hoping to create a centralised group to join forces across the country to get results.  He will keep us informed between meetings and also try to attend our meetings. Cllr S Walsh commented that in information received from EA they state “during high water level the right hand bank is susceptible to slumping the resulting of vegetation and sediment transported downstream causing blockages.  This results in water backing up and causing flooding in North Scarle”. Rob commented that EA had previously listed the bank as their asset but now state it is riparian owned. Cllr S Walsh asked that the Parish Council’s thanks be passed to Jo for her hard work. Rob left the meeting. 

811        FINANCES

A schedule of payments made between 1 January 2025 and 28 February 2025 was circulated to the Parish Councillors ahead of the meeting. There were no queries and the Chairman proposed that these be agreed and this was resolved.  Invoices paid were signed and countersigned.  Individual payments made in the period which exceeded £100:

812        VE DAY EVENT

Cllr Pullen provided a brief outline of the expected event to take place at the Village Hall on Sunday 11th May in the afternoon, provisionally with stalls, refreshments, 1940s outfits, evacuation train rides.  The beacon will be lit on Thursday 8th May at 9.30pm.  Cllr Jennings will liaise with the White Hart regarding the beacon. Does the Parish Council have traffic cones that could be borrowed?  We have a couple to lend. Councillors asked about insurance and risk assessments. Clerk will contact organiser to suggest these things are checked with the village hall’s insurance policy. £200 had been requested as a donation from the Parish Council towards the event.  After consideration, it was proposed by Cllr S Walsh that up to £300 (s.137) should be provided as long as invoices are made out to the Parish Council, as they are unable to provide the money to any individual involved in organising the event, and this was resolved.

813        ALLOTMENTS

The Clerk had provided Councillors with a draft of next year’s tenancy agreement, which was discussed and minor amendments made. The Chairman proposed that this be adopted and this was resolved.

814        JUBILEE GARDEN ON CHAPEL LANE

The Chairman proposed that this area around the bench and the footpath should be tidied up by the handyman in the first instance and then a request for general volunteering be made in future issue of NSM, and this was resolved.

815        VILLAGE HALL AND PLAYING FIELD

Parish Council had received a request for a representative to join the VH&PF Committee.  Unfortunately, at the present time no Councillor was able to promise the time and commitment needed and the position was not filled.

816        STREETLIGHT BULB REPLACEMENT

At our January meeting, the next scheduled streetlight bulb replacement was cancelled after being removed from the precept. After discussion of costs and other factors, Cllr A Walsh proposed that bulbs should not be replaced unless they are faulty and this was resolved.

817        REPLACEMENT STRIMMER

Our strimmer is broken and irreparable. A specific model was not considered but Cllr S Walsh proposed that no more than £300 should be spent on a replacement and this was resolved.

818        BACK DOOR AT THE HERITAGE ROOM

The back door had been looked at by the handyman and the Chairman. The Chairman proposed that quotes should be obtained and this was resolved.

819        LCC REPORT

Cllr Briggs has a meeting with a Highways Officer on 26th March and asked if there were any specific roads in need of repair and it was agreed that School Lane and High Street should be looked at.

820        NKDC REPORT

Cllrs Goldson and Johnston had sent their apologies.

821        DATE OF NEXT MEETING.

The Chairman proposed that the next meeting should be moved to 21st May (at 7.30pm) and this was resolved.  It will be preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting at 7pm.

822        CLOSED SESSION

The Chairman proposed that the meeting should move into closed session and this was resolved.

823        COST OF SERVICING THE SIDS RADARS

A quote for £45 per service per SID had been received from Vimartech to compare with the cost of extending the warranty (£199 + VAT, per SID, per year).  The quote was considerably cheaper (but doesn’t include the cost of parts or labour) and Cllr Ward proposed that this should be accepted and that a service should be arranged for each of the SIDS and this was resolved.

823        PLAYING FIELD BRIDGE

Quotes had been received to carry out a survey on the safety of the bridge. After discussion, the Chairman proposed that the quote for £1,250 +VAT from PCC Consultants should be accepted, subject to reassurance that they will specify that the bridge is fit for purpose and what the weight limit should be and this was resolved.

824        HERITAGE ROOM TENANCY AGREEMENT

The Clerk had spoken to LALC, who recommended that we should undertake a Parishioner Consultation, providing them with information on the current set up regarding the tenancy/sub-tenancy agreements, costs and facts regarding our remit. A decision on whether or not to renew the tenancy agreement with NDKC should then be taken based on responses, information held by the Parish Council, advice provided by LALC and what is allowed within our remit.  This course of action was proposed by Cllr Ward and after discussion, was resolved.  The Consultation document will be circulated in the March issue of NSM, posted on Facebook and provided to the postmistress when it is finalised with the printer.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.16pm.

Item 809 Sewerage Working Party report

Sewerage Working Party report for Parish Council Meeting on 12th March 2025.

After an informal conversation between a member of the Working Party and Severn Trent in January and subsequently a Sewerage working party meeting held on 5th February 2025, the following is an update on further progress and actions to be taken:

Severn Trent have been thanked again for organising the tankers in January when the sewerage system was overwhelmed.

ST have been advised by Noble’s that historical water use has dropped by 40% but there is no historical/modern data to confirm this. Cleaning is substantially carried out on night shift. Noble’s Managers have admitted that at times operators still use water as easy option for cleaning.

After numerous requests for data by the WP, we have been informed by ST that the monitoring valve that is fitted at the end of School Lane has never worked to give data collection, however, the Department responsible has now decided that fitting a cable to the flow meter will enable data to be transmitted directly to Severn Trent.

It was agreed, unanimously, to write to Noble’s head office to thank them for their recent support with North Scarle School, but also to inform them of the issues that is believed to be causing extra burden to the pumping station at North Scarle during times of heavy rainfall. This in turn, because the discharge is pumped, causes flooding of sewerage. As it has been noted that Nobles goal is to achieve B corp certification, working towards their planetary goals, nurturing a healthier planet and reducing environmental impact, the group consider that the head office may not be aware of the environmental impact that these events are having on their local community and hope that we can work together to achieve a solution. A further aim of Nobles is for no pollution events associated with their own ops. Maybe they could hold the discharge in a holding tank until the situation is improved or discharged directly from their site using tankers, giving the pumping station and the sewerage line time to recover.

Nobles are to be invited to a meeting with the WP.

It was agreed that we would try and work with ST in encouraging residents to use water recycling, which has been mentioned on a number of occasions by ST and by explaining that this would in turn reduce their sewerage bills. As a matter of policy ST do not agree to unconsented surface water disposal.

ST raised again that pumping station was designed for foul sewer only. At the last meeting they had agreed that this would be investigated.

Notwithstanding that ST already know through billing who pays for surface water discharge, it was also considered and agreed by the WP to send out questionnaires to ascertain how many properties in the village pay for surface water to be discharged into the sewer, to verify if it is a foul only sewer or could be considered combination sewer.  If so, ST would have to consider if the Pumping station is adequate for combination sewer classification. It is understood by the working party that this is not solely a North Scarle problem but a National issue. In some cases ST have had contractor’s install water butts on downpipes. Questionnaires to be delivered with PC magazines.

If the village want improvements to the pumping station more residents need to complain when there are issues. Despite a number of residents being affected during Storm Babet and Storm Henk, Severn Trent only received approximately 6 complaints. Severn Trent raised that there are budget constraints within the company and they will only consider spending money on improvements where it is deemed a problem; projects are prioritised based on the number of telephone calls/complaints that are received and unless problems are highlighted other schemes will take priority.

Ice pigging: There was some good news about additional ice-pigging. The work had been given approval and subject to weather the job was planned for the first week in February. It is SWP thoughts that if the pumps were upgraded in the pumping station this would increase flow through the pipes and reduce silting, therefore the need for ice pigging would hopefully not be required as regularly, which at present, is a huge cost to Severn Trent. ST accepted this, but also pointed out that as well as the pumps, the electric controls would need changing and would add considerably to modification costs. This will be discussed at the next meeting with them.

Section 19 updates were discussed. There was no real comment regarding sewerage other than the overflow of Mill Dam dyke inundating the sewer system.

Meeting with Severn Trent representatives to be arranged for April, asking for relevant parties to attend who can decide on pumping station upgrades, requirements and flow meter adjustments and billing information.

Thanks go to Mr M Jervis for keeping in contact with Karl Wilson (Severn Trent)

The Sewerage Working Party have made much progress over the years, all of which have been reported and published on the NSPC website.

https://north-scarle.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk  

We have a good working relationship with Severn Trent and will continue to work with them to make improvements for the village, however more and more we are going to need the co-operation of all residents /businesses of the village. We cannot do this on our own without their full co-operation.

Item 810 FANS report

To North Scarle Parish Council

From Joanne Cobb (FANS)

Date: 07/02/25

It is with deep regret I inform you that I have resigned from my role as Facilitator of FANS. This comes after much consideration and deliberation. I informed the members of FANS on Thursday 27th February ahead of the cancelled meeting. (Cancelled due to lack of attendance) I have asked if anyone else would like to take on the role of Facilitator and given 14 days to await a response.

The reason I give are:

1.            Lack of commitment from members of FANS and their willingness to contribute and take up and pursue action points.

2.            Despite the huge success of the open evening and the open invitation for others to join the group from the village, no one has come forward. It hugely disappoints me no one from Duck Ponds wants to participate in the group bearing in mind how they were affected.

3.            Due to personal life circumstances, I can no longer invest the time and effort that is required to move this group forward.

4.            Without going into the various issues with the EA it is clear that their avoidance and lack of communication is as best draining. It also appears that despite numerous requests from FANS the PC have managed to receive additional information via an FOI request that FANS had never seen.

5.            There is no funding available for North Scarle and they say it is not viable for a project to be developed in this area.

6.            At the last FANS meeting we felt that more responsibility should be provided by our Lead Flood Authority ie. Lincolnshire CC.

As flood victims ourselves and as we are still putting our home back together, Rob will continue as we have previously to liaise with the EA to ensure annual maintenance is carried out on MDD. He will also liaise with The County Council as they are The Lead Local Flooding Authority. As quoted in the Section 19 report “LCC as Lead Local Flooding authority should work with the EA and TVIDB to consider a better understanding of local factors which influence flooding in North Scarle”.

Rob has stated that he will continue under the FANS banner whether that be singularly or with some external support. This is still being explored. He will of course retain all correspondence that we have accumulated over the 13 months FANS has been running, should it be required in the future.

Rob will endeavour to attend the PC meeting of Wednesday evening, however he has a TEAMS meeting with The Flooded People Group at 6.00pm, and will attend as soon as his call has ended.

Yours sincerely

Joanne Cobb

END