August 2022 Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on 17 August 2022
Present
Cllr Hinton (Chairman), Cllr Brooman (Vice Chairman), Cllrs Goode, Hayward, McLaughlin, Webber
In attendance
District Cllr P Robbins
Apologies
Cllr Harvey, County Cllr C Vernon
1.Declarations of interest
None
2.Approve minutes 27 July 2022
The notes of the 27 July 2022 meeting were approved as minutes and signed by the Chairman. Proposed by Cllr Brooman, seconded by Cllr McLaughlin, all in favour.
3.Matters arising
None
4.County Council matters
5.Deferred
6.District Council matters
District Cllr P Robbins presented her report - the Mallard Pass project will go to cabinet; no time scale was known at present. Ukraine Independence Day will be celebrated on 24 August. New applications for businesses to grow and develop were welcomed by SKDC. Grantham Guildhall and Stamford Arts Centre programmes were now available online. SKDC website has handy links for the safe disposal of batteries in order to avoid fires. Witham on the Hill had won the Best Kept Village competition. The Bytham Woodland Trust in Little Bytham had submitted an application to replace play equipment at a cost of £120,000. A planning appeal had been received for Pineview, Holywell Road. Cllr Robbins had asked for a meeting to establish the state of the application for Plots A and B at the Old Quarry, Station Road; Cllr Hinton said that there were ongoing issues with regard to Section 106 funding for children’s play equipment for the Village, which is dependent on completion of 75% of the housing scheduled for the quarry.
7.Land ownership - upper green, lower green, plot around the village pump
Cllr Hinton thanked District Cllr P Robbins for her help with the land ownership matter. Cllr Hinton had had a conversation with Mr Dawkins at SKDC regarding the transfer of ownership of the Upper Green plot of land between the two sets of steps; following the transfer, the Parish Council will have the freehold of the Upper Green.
The Parish Council has been maintaining the SKDC owned Lower Green and has liability for the village sign and the bench; it was proposed by Cllr Hayward, seconded by Cllr McLaughlin to approach SKDC and seek to acquire ownership, all in favour. The village pump, or Victoria Well was installed in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s jubilee; Cllr McLaughlin will find out whether the pump is listed before a decision is made on the Parish Council seeking land ownership of the plot of land surrounding it.
8.Planning issues - verbal report from the Planning Working Group
Cllr Goode reported that there had been no objections to recent tree applications and that there were no changes to the Parish Council’s comments on application S22/1533.
9.Planning A) S22/1533 - Mrs Wendy Lovell. Crown raise cedar tree to offer 2.5 clearance. Willow Rise, Water Lane, Castle Bytham. The Parish Council had no comments on this application. B) S22/0249 - Planning Appeal: Pineview, Holywell Road, Castle Bytham; Oakwood Homes Mark Nicholson has appealed to the Secretary of State against the Council’s refusal of planning permission for: - Proposed new dwelling with garaging and private parking (Plot7). The Parish Council had no changes to make to comments previously submitted for the application.
10.Amenities Working Group report
Cllr Harvey carried out an inspection of the Recreation Field on 14 August and found the area generally in reasonable condition. Much of the grass parched, although some green and growing areas around the swings and further west. Picnic Benches - no issues. Swings and see-saw - all secure and no issues. Trees - no issues. Castle Mound and slide - barrier posts and fencing are all secure. Concrete slabs, on both north and south sides of slope, having previously been covered, are still partially re-exposed and need to be re-covered. Swing gate to footpath beyond “castle” mound remains in good repair. The latch on the main pedestrian gate from Glen Road was replaced and remains secure. Goal posts remain secure and offer no risk. The new fitness equipment has been installed and was all secure; the equipment will be added to the insurance schedule. A promotional piece will appear in the September Glenside News; positive feedback had been received on Next Door. Cllr Hinton said that the ISO container will be purchased by the Parish Council with funds donated by the Midsummer Festival Committee.
11.Footpath signs project
Cllr Hinton would like to replace the green footpath signs with more decorative ones, thus enhancing the street view and also showing the distance to the various destinations. Cllr Hinton will present some options and costs at the next meeting for the Councillors to discuss how many signs could be replaced. Highways (Countryside Services) granted permission for this project in 2018.
12.Village pump repair/upgrade options
Deferred
13.Update on bank fraud recovery
Cllr Hinton has received two sets of legal advice which both suggested paying the invoice due to Playground Projects now that the equipment has been installed minus the £1919 outstanding amount of funds not recovered after the fraud. Cllr Brooman advised seeking approval from Playground Projects on the Parish Council withholding £1990 until the matter is resolved.
14.Burial Committee matters
None
15.Correspondence
Mallard Pass consultation e-mails x5
Parish Online newsletter
LALC news
YMCA Lincolnshire news
LCC Town and Parish Council news
De Montfort University student - online survey
JM Building -enquiry regarding playing field
DM weekly planning list
Rural Services Network bulletin
Lincolnshire Police Neighbourhood Policing
LALC - Civility and Respect Pledge
NHS Lincolnshire Engagement newsletter
SAAA 2022 - option to opt out of SAAA central external auditor
Lincolnshire Reservoirs
16.Accounts
Cllr Hinton said that the accounts were healthy and will provide a half year assessment in September; the Councillors will start discussing the precept in December. Michael Wright’s proposed pay increase will be on the September; Cllr Hinton also suggested adding a further 5% to the 5% already agreed in July to the clerk’s salary in view of inflation. Cllr Hayward will look into 30 day deposit accounts as Unity Trust Bank do not offer a very good rate.
The following electronic payment were approved:
M Wright - mowing £294.00
M Wright - mowing £182.00
17.Councillors’ verbal reports
Cllr Hayward said that strimming around the Station Road bus shelter and Station Road overgrown verges had not yet been done. Cllr Hinton will write to all residents in that row of houses.
Cllr Hayward suggested installing a litter bin near the gazebo on the playing field; Cllr Hinton said that SKDC would not be able to empty it and suggested placing a couple of signs encouraging people to take their litter with them.
Cllr Hayward mentioned that the hedge at 44 Glen Road was making walking on the pavement difficult.
Cllr Webber said that the chopped wood still remaining at the cemetery has been offered to residents.