Minutes

Parish Council Meeting Held at Greatford Village Hall on Tuesday 15th January 2019 at 7.30 pm

950/19 Present : Nigel Ashby (Chairman),

Parish Councillors: Ibis Channell, Jon Workman and Gemma Taylor

Parish Clerk : Mrs. Lois Webb

Members of the Public : Mr G. Aylett, Mr R French, Mr J. Halsey Mr C. Granville-White, C.Cllr/ D.Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew,

951/19 Opening of Meeting : The Chairman welcomed everyone to our meeting, and asked

if anyone present had any objection to their name appearing in the minutes/web site – no-one objected.

952/19 Apologies: David Anderson, D.Cllr Kelham Cooke and David Trawford.

953/19 Declarations of interest: None

954/19 Approval of Minutes of PC meeting held on 2nd October 2018.

The minutes previously circulated were proposed for approval by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr J Workman. However, Cllr.Channell disapproved of the comments regarding her not having a computer and availability to the internet, (ref:931/18), and was still not satisfied with the amount of applications for tree felling. After much discussion she was asked to draft the letter of her concerns to the chief Planning Officer in SKDC Planning, and give it to the Clerk to type and send. The minutes were then agreed and signed off.

955/19 Introduction of Mrs Gemma Taylor, who was co-opted on to the Parish Council to bring our

number back up to 5 members. The Chairman welcomed Gemma to our meeting. She then signed the Acceptance of Office Form, and the Pecuniary Interest form 2012 (which the Clerk will send to Julie Edwards at SKDC Election Team). The Clerk apologised for the oversight of not pre-notifying the PC earlier.

956/19 The Chairman took this opportunity to remind everyone present that regulations specify

that in Greatford’s case there is a requirement for the PC to have 5 members, plus a clerk (who may not also be a member of the PC). For resolutions to pass 3 members constitutes a quorum. Parish Council elections are due on 2nd May 2019; the last day for nominations is 19 working days before this, i.e. 2nd April 2019.

In the event of elections to the PC being necessary the PC must fund the election – approximately £1000. As the PC budget is limited it will be good practice to ensure that there are just 5 candidates available. The Clerk will notify all households by email and/or printed material of the position regarding the election, and encourage anyone interested to contact her so that a satisfactory resolution can be made.

Finances

Cllr. Anderson had earlier prepared a budget (with the Chairman and Clerk) for this meeting, and it was presented in his absence. The budget and precept to be adopted at this meeting.

957/19 Budget for 2019/20. Cllr. Anderson (with Chairman and Clerk) had prepared a budget for the coming year and as he was away and unable to be present copies were distributed to the Members. It is pretty much self-explanatory with comments at the side of each item and at the bottom. The Chairman pointed out one or two items. The grass cutting of the playing field was way down on last year because of the hot dry summer thereby needing less cuts. We had received a total of £815 over 2 years from the Community Grant, and Bob French was thanked for his diligence in achieving this for our PC. It was asked if Brexit would have any bearing on our Budget! Difficult to answer!

958/19 Precept 2019-2020 for £3,400. (2019/2020) was also prepared by Cllr Anderson (with Chairman and Clerk) and presented at the meeting. This is an increase of 3% on the previous year’s £3,300. This will be sent off immediately to Sue Scott, Treasury Management Office, SKDC, Grantham, as it has to be in by 18th January 2019.

959/19 It was proposed that we accept the Precept and Budget for year 2019/2020

960/19 The VAT claim of £1,277. 81 had also been sent off by David Anderson, and was in the

Account on 23 November 2018

961/19 The Clerk wished to note her gratitude to David Anderson for his tremendous help in producing the budget and precept

962/19 To note receipts and payments since last meeting :

a. Payments:

752 Came Insurance* 2019 341. 20

753 Churchyard cut CH inv 46 RC 40. 00

754 PJH Landscapes 11993. P.field cut 56. 40

755 Purchase HiViz jackets (20) RF 42. 00

756 Clerk Nov.Dec.Jan 15.1.19 inv 023/2019 180. 00

757 Gate repair 10.1.19 invoice awaited. 655. 00

( 50% to reclaim from VH)

758 N.Ashby for “close the gate” sign on new gate : 11. 90

b. Receipts Wayleave 2019. ** 30. 00.

VAT HMRC 23.11.1 1,227. 81

963/19 NB: for the record: * Came Insurance information sent to Clerk 15.1.19.

“We have recently announced that Stackhouse Poland will be acquired by Arthur J Gallagher & Co. Came & Company Local Council Insurance is a trading style of Stackhouse Poland. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter 2019. We will continue to keep you regularly informed. If you have any questions please speak to your usual Came & Company representative, call 01483 462860 or visit www.stackhouse.co.uk to find out more.”

96419 ** the Wayleave of £30. Should be increased to £50 per annum (in accordance

with inflation) at which time we should make sure there will be no legal costs involved – if there are it should be Western Power’s costs.

Planning Applications:

965/19 S18/2389 Kerry Hockham 15 Greatford Gardens, To Remove 3x Crack Willow trees

(T1, T2 & T3) to ground level, fell 2x Conifer trees (T4 & T5) and remove 2 branches from Poplar trees (T6 & T7).

Cllr Channell registered her stand on felling of trees again, but it was stated that there are going to be a lot of trees of a certain age having to be felled (especially willows) as so many have reached their maturity and it is not always possible to replace every tree which comes down. The Clerk will respond to the application as “no objection”

966/19 S19/0023 Rebecca Jackson 8 Greatford Gardens. Reduce 20 conifers by 3.5m to 4.5m, which are dramatically blanking sunlight of southwest elevation of garden. It was presumed this read that 3.5m would be taken off to bring them down to 4.5m high. This was discussed and passed. The Clerk will respond to the application as “no objection”

Mr Trawford (14 GG) made known his concern that the hedge should not be trimmed anywhere below that for which permission may be granted, and that on no account should any trees on his own property be cut.

967/19 Ash tree Carlby Road, alongside Greatford Gardens.

D/C Cllr Rosemary Trollope-Bellew reported to the meeting, this tree felling will be dealt with as a good will gesture, as the condition of it has deteriorated - noted by Nigel Sardeson, Arboricultural Officer, Lincolnshire County Council). The hedge is not the responsibility of LCC, they are working to find out the true ownership, (the occupants of 1, 2, and 3 Greatford Gardens have had correspondence about it) but at least it looks like something will be happening.

Highway Matters

968/19 The Finger post on King Street –

The Clerk had written again (10.1.19) on this matter to renew our request for it to be repaired urgently, to avoid potential accidents. They replied wanting an exact location (post code !!) we gave them O/s ref of TF107132. This was originally given a reference no. of 101000230416 after sending them a picture of the fingerpost on 6 December 2015. This has been chased up annually ever since and we were told they would not be doing it as funds did not permit anything that was not considered urgent!

969/19 Subsided trench across the road at Hare Bridge, (at the 30mph signs) following work by

Open Reach. The Clerk had reported this to CSC Highway Faults, under reference

number 4117053. The Clerk had a phone call a.m. on14.1.19 from Richard Leonard at Highways to say that any damage on highways carried out by BT will have to be re-instated by BT. He had informed them of our request to repair the road. The Clerk will monitor repair.

970/19 Hare Bridge. NA explained that this is the official name of the bridge over the River

Glen to the church (not least by Highways). Cllr Channell inquired as to the possibilities of putting a sign on the bridge wall to record this fact. Although the listing may prohibit this the Clerk will explore the situation.

971/19 Footpath bridge at rear of 14 Greatford Gardens.

The wooden bridge is broken along one side and is leaning badly. The Chairman had asked the clerk to report it to the Rights of Way Officer, Andrea Phillpot (email : countryside_access@lincolnshire.gov.uk telephone for reference purposes 01522 782070) noting that, as a new footpath sign and access bridge to Shillingthorpe had been recently installed on the Carlby Road at the Cocked Hat junction to Braceborough, this footbridge in Greatford was considered to be more urgently needing repair. Clerk’s email has been acknowledged.

972/19 Potholes

-especially on Barholm to Uffington Road - were re-appearing at a rapid rate,

from Casewick corner stretch into Uffington, with one very deep and large one in the road itself (ie away from the verge) just half a mile from “Naylor Farm” leading into Uffington The Clerk has reported them to LCC Highways. Her email has been acknowledged.

973/19 Interactive 30mph Speed Signs are now working again. The faulty battery was replaced by Unipart free of charge.

974/19 Greatford Millenium oak sign post

Mr Tony Mason to be asked for a price to build a domed plinth approximately 3ft high surrounding the base, as a precautionary measure to extend the life of the oak post.

975/19 Pedestrian Gate post to the playing field and village hall has now been replaced, and a “please close the gate “ sign attached both sides. At some point it will need to have to be treated. We have had the invoice (S Cox of Hanthorpe) for £655. The cheque was signed to be posted the next day.

976/19 Repeater speed signs/speed guns etc. LRSP

The Clerk is still trying to find prices for these items.

977/19 Parish Plan

Richard McDermott was not able to have an update in time for this meeting, but hoped it would be in time for the next one. It is basically awaiting a front page about the history of Greatford

978/19 Flood Warden’s report. ( C.G-W )

Chris G-White gave a short overview of current issues and developments with flood risk- reduction activities :

Autumn 2018 Water Course Clearing

After the long hot Summer, with record low water levels in some rivers, Autumn clearance work was carried out in the small water course around Greatford Gardens by a small team of volunteers during three Saturday mornings in Sep/Oct. Other sections were cleared by riparian owners of this water course to the east of Carlby Road. Apart from two days over Christmas when the river level increased to around 0.28m, the height of water in the river remained very low. However, there is no room for complacency as demonstrated in 2012 when shortly after a hosepipe ban had come into force during the late Spring / early summer, heavy rains began and continued on and off through the rest of the year, which resulted in flooding in Greatford just before and after Christmas.

EA River Walk

On 3 Dec Emma Kirk (EA Partnerships and Strategic Overview Advisor Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) and Simon Bonney (EA Environmental) came to Greatford to walk the river bank between Shillingthorpe and Greatford. This was a useful opportunity for them to see the areas where the river and small watercourse are most prone to overflowing. They confirmed that the EA team continues to discuss options in the context of the flood risk to Greatford and assessing what needs to be done (modelling, funding sources etc) to enable work to be undertaken. The project continues to be on their list with the challenge of working out what might be done with available funding.

Strong Winds

During the Autumn strong winds caused the odd tree and some branches to fall across or into the river. However, it was during calm conditions that a large tree fell across the small water course from the Greatford Gardens bank a few days before Christmas. Fortunately this did not block the water course and it was soon cleared away.

The Chairman thanked him for his report and diligence in checking dykes etc.

979/19 Flood insurance – following an article in the DT last week, it was thought as well to advise villagers to check their policies with their insurance companies about flood reduction.

980/19 Reports from LCC Rosemary Trollope-Bellew

Cllr R.T-B gave Cllr Kelham Cooke’s apologies, he was at Westminster attending the “Meaningful vote” (the House of Commons decision on the EU Withdrawal Agreement. (lost by 230 votes, i.e 432-202 ) SKDC Authorities were now looking to set budgets for the next financial year. Precepts will be set at the usual rate.

The Bourne CiCLE Festival will be taking place across a significant part of the district during the weekend of the 31st August – 1st September. (CiCLE is a brand name, not a mis-spelling!) The local farmers were concerned that the proposed road closures would not only disrupt farm vehicles going about their daily business, but they were also worried about Emergency Services not being able to get about. The contact for more information is : (andrew.norman@investsk.co.uk

Any Other Business :

981/19 Road side hedge along Stowe Road (towards Barry Bakers) is in urgent need of cutting back as it is encroaching into the road, causing danger to pedestrians, cyclists as well as motorists. (R.T-B to let us know who to contact about it) (for Rowan’s list)

982/19 Speed reactive signs, NA moves them around roughly every 3 weeks, when the battery is charged. He will move a bracket further eastwards off a poles at the east end of the village.

983/19 Defibrillator: The battery will have to be replaced soon as they only last 3-4 years.

Cost will be c. £248. .At that time there may be another training session with the responders. (908/18). C. Granville-White informed the meeting that he had a word last week with Top Cat, who said that although the new light was delivered to him in the late Autumn, he had by then moved house and the postman had left the package in the garden of the previous house. Top Cat now has the light. He will fit it and let you have the invoice. The PC had been unaware that this light had actually been ordered, as it was agreed that responders need to take a torch with them if called. Clerk to contact Top Cat.

984/19 Shovel for grit bin. Cllr. Channell said she still thought it worthwhile to purchase a small shovel for the grit bin at The Steadings corner, and will do so. It was deemed unnecessary to put shovels in the other bins (at Stowe Corner and School corner) as they were used by people with their own shovels

985/19 Cllr Channell also informed the Chairman that she would return his file on Minerals when she had coloured in the necessary areas.

986/19 CEMEX.

Cllr. Channell had written to the Estate Manager at Cemex (Mr. Smeeton?) and

is awaiting a reply. The Chairman had also been in touch with their Sustainability Dept at the Rugby HQ. (This is the department i/c land restoration of after the extraction of gravel.)

In a conversation NA suggested that perimeter tree planting could be initiated years prior to any workings. This suggestion would be ‘logged in the department’. Cemex pointed out that an agreement to extract minerals from the Mason Farm site had not yet been made with the landowner.

NA suggested that an approach could be made to the landowner (Dr Lane/Ashton Estates) for a tree planting programme to be initiated prior to or when an agreement on mineral extraction with Cemex is made.

Clerk will ask Amanda of Fenland Partnership for advice.

The Clerk to find contact details of Ashton Estates for an approach concerning the above.

987/19 Village entrance gates.

Cllr Channell brought this subject up again. CCllr Trollope-Bellew reminded us that we would have to get a licence from Highways, but our finances at the moment do not allow for this expenditure.

988/19 Grey Bin “ 3 Don’t” stickers :

D/C.Cllr Rosemary T-B had mentioned in her previous report about the stickers detailing what cannot be put in the grey bins. We informed her that no stickers had appeared on bins in Greatford yet. The clerk will query this with Mr Keith Row, Manager at SKDC Waste Management Services.

989/19 Spot Light at rear of pub pointing towards the car park

Cllr. Channell pointed out this light is far too bright and is blinding walkers coming towards it from Barholm, She asked if the PC would have a word with the Landlord of the Hare and Hounds. This was deemed not to be Parish Council business, and was suggested she ask Mr Rigby herself.

990/19 Hi Viz jackets 20 have been purchased by Mr French and are in a locker in the VH. +gloves and bags. He is still awaiting to hear when he can acquire 10 more litter pickers

There being no other matters, the Meeting closed at 9.15 pm

The next PC meeting will be held on Tuesday 26th March 2019 in the Church ( the village hall has a prior booking, and this was the only date everyone could make.)

Signed (Chairman) Nigel Ashby

Signed (Clerk) Lois Webb