September 2020 Minutes
STUBTON PARISH COUNCIL
Members
Martin Davis - Chair
Bob Warren - Clerk
David Butler - Councillor
Rick Crooks - Councillor
Andrew Smith -Councillor
Minutes of the Meeting (virtual Zoom) held on Wednesday 23rd September 2020
Present
Cllr Martin Davis - Chair
Cllr David Butler
Cllr Rick Crooks
Cllr Andrew Smith
Bob Warren - Clerk
County Councillor Alexander Maughan
SK District Councillor Penny Milnes
1. Cllr Davis welcomed everyone to the meeting and briefed the participants on the Zoom protocol for the meeting. He stated that the meeting may be recorded by anyone present.
2. Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr Ann Wise. Cllr Davis at this time informed the council that he had now received a letter of resignation from Cllr Wise which would take effect immediately. Cllr Wise had been with the council for 4 years.
ACTION - BW to notify SKDC of the resignation on 24.9.20
3. There were no declarations of interest.
4. Open Forum:
Mr Wilson asked if parishioners were allowed to speak outside of the allotted forum time. Cllr Davis affirmed this and the clerk reminded that it was solely at the Chair’s discretion.
Mrs Rose gave her thanks for the Millenium Plaque on the flagpole and said how great it looked.
5. The Minutes of the last meeting held on Wednesday 29th July 2020 were agreed, approved and signed by the Chair.
6. Copies of the new Stubton Standing Orders were circulated to the councillors and approved. These would be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In due course a copy will be added to the website.
7. Accounts paid since the previous meeting were read out, these being
£1200 for the siting of the posts for the village speed reduction gates
£677.50 for the speed reduction gates
£86.45 for a water butt and guttering to the bus shelter to provide water for village planting.
8. Report by County Councillor Maughan:
The review into LCC devolution is ongoing but unlikely to occur in the near future due to a number of circumstances.
- Progress is being made with the Grantham relief Road which is now in stage 2.
- The Toll Bar Road Coffee Shop has been approved and all expectations are that this will result in the closure of the right hand turn into Toll Bar Road from the A1 northbound although there is still a consultation process to take place.
- Cllr Butler pointed out that the southbound slip road is very short at this junction and Cllr Maughan responded that the southbound slip road improvements are a separate issue and that land would have to be purchased to enable an extension. The planning application has however provided the opportunity for a review of the slip road and general road safety along that stretch of the A1.
9. Report by District Councillor Penny Milne:
- Despite being in a recovery phase, SKDC are doing a great job to support residents and businesses. A corporate plan in October will further guide this.
- A new budget has been presented and approved. There is a shortfall of up to 1.3 million through loss of income. This will be met from reserves and government funding.
- Following a consultation on affordable housing, SKDC has been asked to almost double their current provision in a bid to meet national requirements.
The local plan adopted in January is already under review. Cllr Crooks asked how that might impact on Stubton. Cllr Milne explained that the main change would revolve around infill and edge of village development.
- Plans for the shooting ground are still under consideration
- Re closure of A1 cross over turning at Marston - it has been suggested that traffic would have to exit at Long Bennington and return South on the A1 to the Marston turning. There are further considerations but the safety benefits are thought to outweigh any ensuing issues. The answer is not just to keep closing the A1 crossovers as this has a big impact on residents and businesses alike and is a particular concern as the bulk of our area is to the east of the A1.
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10.1 Neighbourhood Plan:
Cllr Butler stated that via Hugh Wilson contact has been made with Jake Horton at SKDC. A virtual meeting is to be arranged and dates are being discussed.
10.2 Speed Gates:
There has been a delay on delivery from Musson’s suppliers. The gates are due for delivery to Rob Thornton along with fixings on 24.9.20. Installation will be by a small installation team and then a painting party will finish the gates and posts within the next few weeks.
Cllr Crooks stated that he thought signs were not allowed on the gates but that other parishes seem to have them and clarification was required.
Cllr Maughan stated that decoration and plants on and around the gates is probably ok although road signage would in all likelihood be the responsibility of LCC Highways but he would look into what was and was not allowable.
It was noted that the Best Kept Village sign would not be visible once the gates were fitted and it was suggested this may be acceptable to move to the gates along with signage regarding littering.
Cllr Davis stated that the effectiveness of the gates would be diminished if too many signs were positioned on the gates.
10.3 Doddington Lane Quiet Lanes update:
Cllr Crooks stated this is still work in progress. One issue raised at the previous meeting was the difficulty in designating a quiet lane with a lot of agricultural traffic.
Cllr Maughan clarified that his previous comments were generic and not specific to Stubton. The designation of a quiet lane within Lincolnshire would require a whole county policy change and that at this time with budget restraints that would be unlikely to happen. There is also the issue that designating a quiet lane is not enforceable and users are likely to ignore it anyway. The take-up on this initiative from other Local Authorities has been very low as far as he could tell. He suggested writing to the Director of LCC Highways to get a feel for their stance on the quiet lanes initiative.
Cllr Crooks stated there was to be another traffic survey next week and following that he would like permission to write to the residents of Doddington Lane to canvass their views.
Cllr Milne stated she was very supportive of the initiative and would like to see more cyclists, ramblers and horse riders using the lanes. She suggested that the Parish Council could purchase a speed sign to be put up with Highways approval. She would give her backing to this. She also suggested including Doddington Lane in the Neighbourhood Plan to reflect the residents’ views on its usage.
Cllr Maughan suggested he could put a request in to Highways for specific signage e.g. unsuitable for HGVs, Beware Horse Riders, depending on what the PC thought would be most effective. He also stated he would be happy to make a site visit and invite representatives from Highways to attend.
Further discussion took place around the issues of HGV’s, public transport, community speed watch and advice from Highways.
10.4 Thanks were expressed to the residents that attended the litter pick on 9th August which was a great success. Cllr Davis also thanked those residents that regularly took the time to collect litter on their daily walks around the village
It was agreed that Cllr RC would write to residents to canvass opinion.
10.5 Bonfires:
There has been a query from a resident about problem bonfires in the village stating that at times this is a nuisance.
Cllr Davis stated that he had checked the local council website and that occasional bonfires were not seen as a statutory nuisance. Where they become a nuisance is when they are more frequent, long running or when hazardous material may be being burnt.
Cllr Davis stated that SKDC has a reporting system on their website for problem bonfires and that he would post details on the village website.
11. Date and time of the next meeting.
Wednesday 25th November at 7:30pm. Format to be confirmed.