2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Scopwick and Kirkby Green Parish Council
http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ScopwickandKirkbyGreen/

Parish Council Meeting Minutes: 30th July 2019, Scopwick Village Hall

40/2019 Public Forum

Three members of the public attended the meeting.

One resident of Kirkby Green reported that he had been in contact with the Church authorities over the neglect of the churchyard and the boundary wall. He and his wife had been cutting the grass in the churchyard. Cllr Davies responded for the Parish Council. He confirmed that they were aware of the issues and had received copies of his communications with the Church. The Clerk had written asking the Church to take action and had reported the wall to Lincolnshire County Council Highways Department. Cllr Davies reported that Kirkby Green church is in the process of being closed. The Church Commissioners instituted the closing procedure over 5 years ago. He believed that in time the building may be sold with some of the churchyard. Any section of the churchyard remaining open for burials would probably then be transferred to Scopwick Parochial Church Council.

A member of the group Friends of Scopwick Royal Oak had contacted the new owner of the pub. He is currently looking for a manager and hopes to open soon.

The Parish Council were asked about steps to improve the mobile phone signal in the village. The Clerk confirmed that a planning application had been received for a mast along Heath Road. This application is currently with the District Council Planning Department and details can be obtained from the online service.

41/2019 Opening

Welcome by Chair of Parish Council Philip Baumber.

Attending:

Cllr Philip Baumber (Chair), Cllr Janet Flett, Cllr Tim Banks, Cllr David Nelson, Cllr John Money, Cllr Owen Davies.

District Cllr Jim Clarke and County Cllr Rob Kendrick.

Apologies received from: Cllr Alistair Brackenbury and District Cllr Steve Clegg.

Officer: Jill Moran (Parish Clerk).

42/2019 County and District Council Reports

County Cllr Kendrick had circulated a monthly newsletter. He reported that the Parish will be part of a pilot scheme to improve recycling in the County by separating paper and cardboard waste from the current recycling bins. Households in the trial will be supplied with a separate container.

District Cllr Clarke had attended a briefing on the review of ward boundaries to be carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England later this year.

43/2019 Declarations of Interest and requests for dispensations

Cllr Banks declared an interest in item 8(d) on the agenda.

44/2019 Minutes

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 28th May 2019 were approved and signed by the Chair as the Minutes.

45/2019 Reports

(a) Clerk’s Report

1. Defibrillator for Kirkby Green. The machines require housing in a cabinet which needs to be connected to an electricity supply. The red phone box, which is now owned by the Parish Council, would provide suitable housing. BT have confirmed that power is still connected and that they will continue to pay for the supply for a minimum of 7 years. BT work with a charity, the Community Heartbeat Trust. The community need to pay for the machine, the cabinet, renovation of the box and the ongoing service charge (replacement of battery and pads every 2 years or when used.) The machine would also need to be included in the Parish Council insurance cover. Approximate costs are:

Initial: machine and cabinet £1500 (includes installation; paint and sign for box); cost of painting and cleaning box; planning application for change of use. Ongoing: £50 per year maintenance and insurance.

2. Meeting with Rowan Smith (Manager Lincolnshire County Council Highways Department) in July 2019.

Mr Smith suggested the installation of ‘village gateways’ (fence at either side of the road using the grass verges.) He sent through the forms to apply for consent to the structures from the highways department whilst pointing out that the cost, installation and maintenance of the gateways would be the responsibility of the Parish Council. Another initiative which would be parish council funded but require highways approval, would be a permanent vehicle activated sign. The call for a mirror mounted opposite the junction, which had been made both by residents (survey) and Councillors was dismissed by Mr Smith as not permitted.

Requests for Highways intervention have to follow a set procedure with an application through our County Councillor.

Measures which could be taken by the Highways Department include:

• solid white lines to discourage overtaking. Other road markings including the changes to the junctions suggested at the meeting with Rowan Smith to improve visibility.
• the introduction of new speed limits and/or extension of existing limits
• Traffic lights, pedestrian crossings.

Other issues discussed were the works to extend and improve the verge outside the village hall.

These will go ahead although not this year; the delay has been due to the need for consultation with the environment agency and the completion of a vole survey. Mr Smith confirmed that the Parish Council, who agreed to contribute up to £4000 to the works, will not be asked to pay any more than this and the contribution may be less.

The poor state of the roads and pavements on the Springfield Estate and particularly in the area of the sheltered housing was brought to Mr Smith’s attention. He suggested the area be put forward for resurfacing next year.

Mr Smith was also asked about plans to improve the drainage culvert running along Main Street. In the past a report had been prepared and funding sought by the County Council. He agreed to look into this and report back to the Parish Council.

The engineer responsible for the new bridge over the B1188 met Councillors to discuss the design. A couple of amendments to improve the visual impact were suggested and the design altered to incorporate them. Works are planned for late August.

3. Planning applications received/decided since last meeting:

1. Tree works application 19/1046/TCA | Received date: Wed 24 Jul 2019 | Status: Pending Consideration T1 Cypress - fell; T2 Holly - reduce height to 3m; T3 Rowan - reduce height by 1m - Jasmine Cottage 27 Beckside Scopwick Lincoln Lincolnshire LN4 3NX

2. LCC REFERENCE: PL/0118/19 DEVELOPMENT: TO VARY CONDITION 2 OF PLANNING PERMISSION N53/1134/00 TO ALLOW THE CONTINUATION OF RECYCLING OPERATIONS FOR A FURTHER 10 YEARS. LOCATION: LONGWOOD QUARRY, LONGWOOD LANE, BLANKNEY GRID REFERENCE: 506207 358695. The County Council has received an application for to the above development. The application can be viewed and commented upon online using the following link: http://lincolnshire.planning-register.co.uk Status: pending consideration | Parish Council response no objection.

3. Installation of a 15m monopole supporting 3 no. shrouded antennas, 2 no. equipment cabinets & ancillary development thereto including 1 no. GPS module & 12m Armco barrier. - Grass Verge Of Heath Road Scopwick Lincolnshire LN4 3JB Ref. No: 19/0895/PNTEL | Received date: Tue 18 Jun 2019 | Status: Pending Consideration | Case Type: Planning Application | Parish Council response: no objection.

4. Erection of single storey rear extension 11 Heath rd Scopwick LN4 3NU Ref. No: 19/0897/HOUS | Received date: Wed 19 Jun 2019 | Status: Pending Consideration | Case Type: Planning Application | Parish Council response: no objection.

4. Demolition of rear extension and erection of replacement extension and alterations to existing dwelling. - WestWing Scopwick House Lincoln Road Scopwick Lincoln Lincolnshire LN4 3JARef. No: 19/0233/HOUS | Received date: Tue 19 Feb 2019 | Status: Approved

(b) Playing Field Committee Report

Cllr Nelson reported that the stile into the Playing Field had been replaced.

The next fundraising event will be an ice cream stall at the Village Show on the 3rd August.

The next Committee meeting is scheduled for the 12th August 2019. On the agenda will be the designs for new play equipment together with maintenance issues. RoSPA are due to inspect the Playing Field equipment in August/September.

(c) Village Hall Committee

Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee had been circulated.

Cllr Flett as Chair of the Committee gave a report as follows:

The Village Hall has had an electrical inspection which it passed.

The Great Get Together held in June raised £236 for Marie Curie.

(d) Neighbourhood Planning Group (NPG)

A copy of the report produced by NKDC with the results of the village survey is available to view in the Village Hall and electronically on the Parish Council website (see ‘news’ section).

The NPG had chosen a consultant after interviewing three candidates. Helen Metcalfe, Planning with People, was the preferred choice and the group are applying for funding to cover her costs.

(e) Community Speed watch(CSW)

Statistics from the mobile SID in June from Kirkby Green are available on the Parish Council website.

Volunteers continue to record and report speeding motorists. Data collected so far by the CSW is as
follows:

Vehicles recorded over the speed limit (35 in a 30mph zone and 46 in a 40mph zone) have received letters from Lincolnshire Road Speed Partnership in association with the police.

46/Correspondence

A correspondence log was circulated by the Clerk and general correspondence noted.

47/2019 Matters considered

(a) Highways – traffic calming measures.

Further to the meeting with the Highways Officer in July the Parish Council considered what if any measures should to be taken to supplement the use of the mobile speed indication device (SID) and the monitoring by the CSW volunteers.

The Officer suggested the installation of ‘village gateways’, it was agreed that these can be an attractive and effective measure and the Clerk will look into the costs and possible funding sources.

In the interim it was agreed that the Clerk will write to LCC Highways asking them to assess the markings at the junction of Main Street and the B1188 and to alter as required to improve visibility for vehicles pulling out onto the main road. Also to remove the 40mph signs from the same junction as they are confusing giving the impression that there is a 40mph speed limit on Main Street.

The Clerk will also prepare a letter to the County Councillor requesting two traffic calming measures on the B1188; the current 40mph limit to be reduced to 30mph and the introduction of double white lines on the approach to the centre of the village from both directions.

(b) Internet and mobile phone coverage.

Mobile phone signal. An application for planning permission has been received by the District Council. If granted the new mast off Heath Road should improve the signal.

The Parish Council have received information regarding possible funding to improve broadband. Page 22 of the NPG village survey identified 46% of responders having a problem with broadband performance. There are currently two schemes to provide funding to help improve broadband in rural areas; One which gives a grant towards the cost of full fibre broadband and the other which pays for the installation of a gigabit connection to a public building. The Clerk will obtain specialist advice to assess whether either of these schemes would be available and effective in the Parish.

(c) Village maintenance:

• Footpaths: Trundle Lane has been cut to clear the footpath by Blankney Estates. The Clerk agreed to contact NKDC to check when and if they cut the public footpaths and bridleways in the parish.
• Anglian Water. The bridge outside the pumping station is currently under repair. A missing drain cover on Main Street on the side of the road between it and the beck has been reported. On his visit Rowan Smith inspected the damaged drain and agreed to report this himself and ensure that the job was given priority.
• Cllr Baumber had cleared the area around the bus shelter on Heath Road.
• Cllr Baumber agreed to ensure that the grass was cut and overgrowing hedges in the village meadow trimmed ready for the village show.
• It was agreed that the new planters at the entrance to the Parish were a great success and letters of thanks had been sent to Paul Scholey and Linda Fisher who organised, planted, sited and agreed to maintain the planters.
• Other: The Limes. The area around the buildings was overgrown and this was reported to the property owner. The long grass has been cut, however the signs of neglect including sycamore trees growing in the hedge on the boundary with the green lane have not been dealt with. It was agreed that the Clerk write to the property owner asking him to take further steps to properly maintain the site. The poor state of repair of the handrails on the wooden footbridges over the beck on Brookside have been reported to LCC Rights of Way Officer by the Clerk.

Cllr Flett is maintaining the wooden seats around the Parish.

48/Planning Application PL/0118/19 Longwood Quarry Blankney

All Councillors, apart from Cllr Banks who had declared an interest as Director of the applicant company, had viewed the above application online and had no objections to the proposal.

49/2019 Finance

(a) Accounts summary as at 26/7/19:

• Co-operative Bank current account: £2,790.83
• Co-operative Bank deposit account: £21,873.92
• Total available funds: £24,664.75

(b) Payments approved:

• J Moran – Clerks expenses Apr/May 2019 £ 106.02 (Other – Paper and other stationary, Instant Ink, Survey Monkey(NPG), refreshments APM £96.02;administrative £10)
• J Moran salary May 2019 £ 428.76
• Calico Internet Ltd – annual fee for domain name for parish website £ 24.00
• Zurich annual insurance premium £ 566.24
• SKGVHC hall hire invoice 20 £ 45.00
• Scopwick PCC grass cutting donation for 2019 £654.00
• P Ingamells grass cutting invoice 533 £690.00
• J Moran salary June 2019 £428.76
• P Scholey replacement of stile into Playing Field £105.00
• P Ingamells grass cutting invoice 569 £240.00
• Groundwork UK repayment of unspent balance of NPG grant £433.55

(c) Payments approved for payment before next meeting:

• J Moran – Clerks expenses June/July 2019 £ 48.41 (Postage: £7.13; Other –Instant Ink £15.98; administrative £10; travel £15.30 )
• J Moran salary July 2019 £428.76

50/2019 Date of next meeting

Tuesday 1st October 2019 – Parish Council meeting at 7pm in Scopwick Village Hall.

Minutes submitted by:
Jill Moran, Parish Clerk. Dorset House, Vicarage Lane, Scopwick. Tel: 07512 234965.
Email: clerkscopwick@gmail.com