November 2019 Minutes
STUBTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Stubton Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 20th November 2019
Present:
Mr D Butler
Mr R Crooks
Mr M Davis
Mrs A Wise
County Councillor Maughan
District Councillor Milnes
There were no apologies for absence and there were no declarations of interest
1. Election of Officers for the year 2019/2020
Mr R Crooks, as acting Vice Chair proposed Mr M Davis as Chair and this was seconded by Mr D Butler
There being no other nominations, Mr Davis was elected.
Mr Butler was proposed as Vice Chair by Mr M Davis and seconded by Mr R Crooks
There being no other nominations Mr Butler was elected.
2. The Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd October 2019 were read and approved.
3. Matters Arising
3.1 Fly tipping on Doddington Lane: mattress removed. Further flytipping on Fenton Road reported by Cllr Davis via the website and has also been removed. Cllr Davis recommended the use of the SKDC website for reporting flytipping.
3.2 Churchyard flooding: a “two pronged” request was adopted with reporting of the problem from the PC and the Church Warden. Once the flooding from the difficult weather conditions has been dealt with the drain will be flushed since Cllr Maughan has followed this problem through on behalf of Stubton.
4. Adoption of Councillor Co-Option Policy
Members of the Parish Council have discussed and put together a new Co-Option Policy which was duly approved and adopted.
5. New Councillor Co-Option
5.1 Expressions of interest had been received from two villagers with regard to the vacancy on the Parish Council. The existing Councillors had had the opportunity to peruse the cv’s submitted by the candidates and were now in a position to vote. The vote duly took place and a majority vote of Councillors were in favour of Co-Opting Andrew Smith.
5.2 Mr Smith was present at the meeting and was invited to join the Council. Mr Smith signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and duly took his place as a co-opted member of the Council.
6. County Councillor Maughan
6.1 Cllr Maughan updated the meeting regarding the Churchyard drain as reported earlier. He went on to say that the Highways teams were working flat out due to the current abnormal weather conditions and day to day requests on less urgent matters would be dealt with as soon as conditions returned to normal.
6.2 New maintenance contractors for Lincolnshire’s highways have been appointed and at the same time new performance measurements have been introduced in order to establish and maintain quality service. Within these contracts an Apprentice Scheme has been established.
6.3 There has been 1 million tonnes of green energy produced from the District’s waste processing plants and 29,000 homes have benefitted from this energy.
6.4 Following a question from resident Mr Libby, discussion ensued regarding the prioritising of road repairs with particular reference to Clensey Lane near Hill Farm Furniture. This part of the road has already been the subject of a site visit by Cllr Maughan and Mr Rowan Smith but since that meeting the condition of the lane has deteriorated considerably.
It was agreed that a letter describing the condition of the area of road would be sent to Cllr Maughan in order that he could raise the issue again with Mr Smith.
7. District Councillor Milnes
7.1 The Public Enquiry regarding the Clay Shoot on Brandon Lane, Stubton is to be held on the 25 – 27th February 2020. Venue to be decided.
7.2 Following a recent query DC Milnes can confirm that Fenton is a Civil Parish and is not part of Stubton.
7.3 Under the description found in the new Local Plan, Stubton is classified as a “Small Village” and as such development here will be supported in accordance with Policy SP3 (infil) and SP4 which is village edge and all other areas which do not alter the nature of the village.
It was notable that in the new Local Plan there is no village curtilage.
7.4 DC Milnes will be able to give further and more informed updates on various following meetings she has scheduled with the new Directors at SKDC.
7.5 SKDC has launched a Veterans’ Discount Card – further information is available in detail on the SKDC website.
8. Village Gates
8.1 A provisional order for the gate posts has been placed with the timber yard through village resident Pip North.
8.2 The placement of the posts is not possible until John Daubney, the official Contractor, returns to full health and is back at work.
8.3 The gates themselves will be ordered from the same supplier as the posts and village resident Martin Stammers has obtained the relevant catalogue giving details and prices.
8.4 Following discussion, it was agreed that a re-visit to the suggested sites for the gates would take place to confirm measurements and placing.
8.5 Anyone willing to join a working party for painting the gates and posts please contact Cllr Davis.
9. Stubton Social Club and Stubton Village Hall Committee: Capital Spend
9.1 It has been proposed that a meeting be held between the two Committees representing the Village Hall and the Parish Council with a view to discussing how monies held by the Village Hall can best be put to good use on projects in the village. The Village Hall Committees would like to undertake this with the support of the Parish Council.
9.2 Projects suggested as examples are
Village Christmas tree with lights
Village planting (most likely by the four sets of village gates once in place)
An electronic speed sign for each road in Stubton
9.3 In connection with the electronic speed sign Cllr Maughan pointed out that full impact was gained by moving the sign every 6 weeks and that therefore purchasing 4 was an unnecessary expense.
9.4 The meeting between the 2 Committees and the Council is scheduled for January 2020.
10. Woodland Trust
10.1 The Woodland Trust is organising the planting of trees with a view to combatting carbon emissions.
Since Stubton has few areas where public trees can be planted, despite being a rural village, it is classed as “urban”.
The Trust is putting together a “3 tree kit” which is available to Parish Councils. Individuals may also apply via the Woodland Trust website.
It is, however, imperative that someone is nominated to look after the trees during the first year of planting particularly with a view to watering.
10.2 One area where trees may be planted is outside Mayglen. Mr Stammers informed the meeting that this was Stubton Hall land and therefore permission must be sought from Mrs Brainerd before any planting there can commence.
11. Neighbourhood Plan
11.1 Stubton Neighbourhood Plan is 5 years old and a review is due particularly in the light of the new Local Plan and the new rules regarding building in villages. When the Neighbourhood Plan was written, Stubton was classed as an unsustainable village and therefore the Plan does not address building since none was permissible. As reported earlier the new Local Plan changes these rules and the Stubton Neighbourhood Plan needs amending to reflect this. DC Milnes said that Stubton would be well placed to move forward if plans were formulated now; the next phase of the Local Plan is due in the new year.
11.2 It was agreed that the original Neighbourhood Plan Committee would meet and that Cllr Butler would be co-opted to that Committee as the Parish Council representative.
12 Parish Precept
The Precept has been held at £1,200 for the last 19 years but in light of the potential increased salary for the new Parish Clerk it was agreed that Councillors needed more time to consider the matter.
13 Any Other Business
13.1 Best Kept Village: following discussion between Councillors and the floor it was agreed that the Clerk would draft a letter, for approval by the Parish Council, to be sent to the organisers of this competition. The letter would expsress the Parish Council’s and village’s dissatisfaction with the marking method.
13.2 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe: Cllr Butler proposed holding a street party to celebrate this event together with participating in the Bells Ringing Out for Peace celebration at 7pm on the 8th May 2020.
He proposed that the party took place on the 8th May 2020 and that an application be made for a road closure of St Martin’s Close to facilitate this.
Anyone willing to be part of a Committee to make the arrangements for the celebrations on the day, please contact Cllr Butler.
13.3 Clerk Resignation: Gilly Wilson the Parish Clerk has handed in her resignation after 18 years. In the first instance a village email will be sent out advertising the post. The post becomes vacant on 31st March 2020 unless the new incumbent is available beforehand.
13.4 A letter of thanks has been received from Mr Rob Thornton regarding his gift from the Parish Council after he had stepped down from its service.
14. Open Forum
14.1 Mrs Rose asked if it would be possible to have a placque noting the fact that the flagpole had been placed in celebration of the Millennium. Cllr Davis will make the necessary enquiries.
14.2 Mr Pip North opened a discussion regarding the flooding on Doddington Lane outside The Garth and Westfield. Ultimately it was agreed that Cllr Crooks would contact Cllr Maughan to make arrangements for a site visit.
14.3 Discussion moved on to the general infrastructure in the village particularly with reference to septic tanks and the new legislation soon to be introduced. Cllr Milnes will make arrangements for Mr Rogers of SKDC to forward a Brief on the new rules.
14.4 Mr Pip North informed the meeting that two dogs who were not on leads had attacked his dog which had had to be rescued by Mr North’s daughter. It was agreed that the village would be emailed asking for all dogs to be kept on leads when approaching other dogs, particularly if the approaching animal was on a lead.
15 Date and Time of the Next Meeting
Wednesday 8th January 2020 at 7.30pm in Stubton Village Hall