August 2022 Minutes
STUBTON PARISH COUNCIL
Members
Rick Crooks - Chair
Andrew Smith -Councillor
Guy Pollard – Councillor (absent)
Andrew Watkins – Councillor
Margaret Flint - Councillor
Jenny Taylor - Clerk
Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday August 17th 2022
1. Introduction
The chair welcomed the Councilors and 4 residents to this public meeting and formally thanked SKDC Cllr Penny Milnes for attending. LCC Cllr Alex Maughan was unable to attend.
2. Open Forum
A resident asked if the dates of footpath closure could be published on the website. Various dates were suggested but the Chair agreed that we should contact the land owners, get the dates and publish them.
A resident asked if it was possible to get the agenda published on the website as well as the noticeboard. The Chair confirmed that the question of website update would be dealt with during the meeting.
A resident asked if anyone has been specifically requested to water the village plants. The dry weather has had an impact on our village plants but willing residents have given up their time to plant new beds and try to keep them watered. Since some of the beds are new plants, the roots are still getting established. The hot weather could be the norm but the plants are taking time to get established but everyone is trying their best with the upkeep of the beds which is in hand. Next year will be better.
The Chair took note of the resident’s concern and agreed to look at the situation with the surrounding beds this year. If there needs to be any changes in the type of planting, a decision for next year will be made. The Chair also noted that Stubton has received the second prize in SKDC Best Kept Village award due to the hard work of our willing volunteers.
3. Procedural Matters
3.1 Apologies for Absence
LCC Cllr Alex Maughan sent his apologies
3.2 Disclosure of Interests
Cllr Flint expressed an interest in item 3.4 and wished to absent herself from the meeting for that discussion.
3.3 Minutes of Last Meeting
These were proposed as a true record of the last meeting by Cllr Smith and seconded by Cllr Crooks, carried and signed by the Chair. These will later be posted on the web.
3.4 Parish Council Web and IT management
Motion: That the Council accepts this offer of help on a voluntary basis and that for the next meeting recommendations are produced regarding the nature of this web page and on the security of Council web activity.
The post was advertised in the village but unfortunately no interest was obtained. Originally Mr Flint volunteered to take this task on before the post was advertised and is still willing to do so.
Cllr Watkins requested that the details of roles and responsibilities in relation to the management of the website should be clear before the Council made a decision. Information security needs to be in place beforehand and a key element is to define the authority and responsibilities around that role.
Cllr Smith asked if there was available guidance from LALC to help set up and run a website. This was confirmed by the Clerk and this will be looked at.
Cllr Crooks asked for an interim solution. The Clerk offered to be responsible for handling the webpage and keeping it up to date.
Cllr Watkins offered to assist the Clerk to tighten up the responsibilities and authority and to establish a role profile that will protect the information security of the Council. When the role profile is correctly defined, we can look again and make changes if needed. He emphasized the importance that all parties signed up to something that is clearly understood by all.
Cllr Smith agreed that it is important to protect others in the Community, not just the Council.
Cllr Watkins suggested that the motion should be amended to stall the process of the present motion until a set of roles and responsibilities are fully defined. The interim plan would be that Cllr Watkins would work together with the Clerk to get that role and responsibilities defined.
Cllr Crooks noted that one of the issues that is of concern at the moment is the inflexibility of the current website and suggested that this needs to be looked at. He said that the current webpage system was adopted because it was free and may not enable us to have totally secure email addresses. This was questioned by Cllr Watkins.
Amended Motion: That the Council suspends acceptance of this offer of help on a voluntary basis and that for the next meeting the Clerk and Cllr Watkins devise a web policy detailing the roles and responsibilities of the management regarding this web page and on the security of Council web activity. Meanwhile, the Clerk will manage the website with the assistance of Cllr Watkins. Proposed by Cllr Watkins and seconded by Cllr Smith. This amended motion was carried
ACTION: Cllr Watkins proposed that the Council should thank Mr Flint for his offer to continue to manage the Council Website. However the Council is not yet in a position to make a formal offer since there is no clear definition of the responsibilities and authority of the role. These need to be as watertight as possible to make sure that Mr Flint and the Council are properly protected it that role. Cllr Smith agreed with Cllr Watkins.
4. Update on Lincolnshire County Council – Cllr Alex Maughan –
Cllr Maughan sent his apologies
5. Update on South Kesteven District Council – Councillor Penny Milnes
Cllr Milnes apologized for her previous absence due to family illness.
Congratulations on second place in BKVC.
SKDC is having difficult decisions on leisure and the arts which are being reviewed.
The planning review finished and some changes were made to the constitutions. Previously all major applications did come to the Planning Committee but now it relies on callings from ward members. If Stubton PC feels that there is an application that is controversial the Clerk needs to contact Cllr Milnes and she can decide whether the application should be forwarded to a committee.
SKDC has also been busy with the Ukraine issue inspecting houses that accommodate the Ukrainians who have come to our area.
£150 council tax rebate for bands A-D has progressed well.
The SKDC offices are moving to a place above the cinema and the existing offices are being sold. This will save £350k a year on certain costs – hybrid working with some people working at home some of the time. The customer base will still be available. This is still ongoing.
Many solar farms are coming in thick and fast - north of Grantham there are several 50 MW solar farms which are relatively small. Mallards Pass solar farm, 7x as big (4.8 miles long) with infrastructure to connect to the national grid, came to committee last week. This planning will be a decision by the Secretary of State, not the committee, but this was a pre-application with technical advice that the SKDC was not happy with due to lack of information or that it hadn’t been done in a proper way.
With regard to solar farms there are two camps according to the focus on concern for the impact on landscape/food security vs the need for viable energy. The Mallards Pass solar farm is detailed as ‘Nationally Important Infrastructure Project’ and is the biggest that has come forward so far. This is a sensitive area – landscape, village, footpath issues.
It is a difficult debate as to where to put these large farms to weigh the benefits against the impact locally. Only grade 3B agricultural land can be used. Grade 1/2/3A is not allowed but most 3B land has patches of 2/3A within it that get sucked into the project and that land then gets taken out of farming.
Cllr Flint asked about the recycling of the redundant solar panels. Cllr Milnes noted that this is going to be an issue that has not yet been resolved together with the government issue of where the panels are coming from.
The Brandon Shoot planning application will come to committee on September 8th. Cllr Milnes does not know the conditions of the recommendations. All 5 parishes object to this. The application in January 2021 was originally 50 days of private shooting but this application is for 150 days public shooting with extra days for open field shooting under permitted development. It has been said that because of legal technicalities they are going to recommend approval and they will put conditions on the plan that noise will not be an issue. Cllr Milnes is not convinced that those conditions will work. Sensitive receptors are mainly in Fenton with on Brandon Road and in parts of Brandon on Stragglethorpe Lane. Guidance on noise levels can be found in the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health document on Clay Pigeon Shoot.
Stubton has a Neighbourhood Plan stating its tranquility of bridleways and footpaths but there will be quite short notice of these recommendations. The agenda will be out 5 working days before September 8th. Cllr Milnes asked if the Council wanted to send a speaker to the planning meeting where she will be sitting as a Ward Councillor.
ACTION: Consider sending a representative to the meeting and/or asking Cllr Milnes to speak on behalf of Stubton PC
Cllr Milnes is going to look at the planning necessity for the sign on the grass verge/Green.
There is a planning permission for 66 new homes in Claypole along Doddington Lane. This by is a larger developer where the land is not allocated and there will be issues in this small village where there has already been a prior refusal for planning on that land. Cllr Crooks said that the Clerk had been in contact with the Clerk of Claypole Parish Council who are discussing this on 7th September. Stubton has a peripheral interest with regard to infrastructure. Cllr Milnes said that Highways will rarely have an objection.
Cllr Watkins requested a presentation from a member of the Planning Committee to come and explain the planning process and where we fit in the new structure. Cllr Milnes is trying to get some Planning Training for the Councils. We did receive a document to Parish Councils on how to respond to applications – material and non-material considerations that can be used in planning. Really need to get a grip with the policies. The Stubton Neighbourhood Plan is out of date with the 2020 SKDC local plan on the two spatial policies of infill and edge of village (SP3 and SP4). Cllr Milnes suggested that Stubton should review and edit through the intermediate way.
Cllr Crooks stated that Stubton were recently told by the inspector to keep their Neighbourhood Plan the same and not change it. Cllr Milnes informed the Council that there are some new and more informed planners with some good ideas.
ACTION: Cllr Milnes will ask about video update on planning. Stubton could join with another parish council to receive this.
Cllr Watkins asked for an update on SKDC support and supply of allocation for traveller camps. Cllr Milnes agreed that if there is no allocation for that purpose then there has to be a good reason to reject a site used by travelers.
Cllr Watkins asked what SKDC is doing about providing allocation so that we are not faced with making spaces vulnerable to travelers turning up and moving onto a site. SKDC has a responsibility on this issue and Cllr Milnes said that she would continue to work on it but no one wants the sites on their land which makes this very difficult. However she promises not to be deterred.
Cllr Watkins asked to be kept updated and this was agreed.
6. Business Items
6.1 Review of Assets
Motion: That the Council will review and update its Asset Register.
Current Assets consist of:
Bus Shelter
Phone Box
3 benches
Flagpole
4 sets of Gates
Grit bins
Cllr Crooks asked Cllr Milnes who owns the litter bins? Cllr Milnes says that SKDC empty them but not sure who owns them. If a new one is needed, it will have to be paid for by Stubton PC.
Cllr Flint stated that from her experience, the council will install new bins but should they need to be replaced, it is the job of the PC to pay for the replacement and the same applies to road signs. Cllr Milnes will check this for us. More responsibility for costs will come down to Parish Councils as funds get tighter.
6.2 Maintenance Plan for Council Assets
Motion: That the Council should have a plan for this issue
Previously this has been an adhoc arrangement with offers of painting but not necessarily with any programme in mind. Cllr Smith suggested a Maintenance Plan
Cllr Crooks noted no outstanding issues at the moment but maybe we need to renew and update our assets.
Question: Who own the grit bins? No clear answer was provided but we expect the village is responsible for them.
Cllr Smith said that we were offered new grit bins several years ago but it was the job of the village to go to collect the grit rather than Highways or SKDC. Cllr Flint has asked who we need to go to for the collection of the grit. There are certain dates where we can request that our grit bins are refilled if needed.
ACTION: Check the levels of the grit in the bins and check the dates for delivery (if possible.)
ACTION: Put values on our assets and devise a Plan for Maintenance of these for the next meeting.
ACTION: Upload the Insurance Policy to the website.
6.3 Financial Spending Plan for residuum of 2022/23
Cllr Crooks is concerned that the Council has money in reserve that is not detailed for spending.
A list would include:
Potential maintenance costs
The new village sign
The Phone Box painting
Cllr Watkins asked about the planning for the village sign and whether it was needed since there was previously no planning application for a sign outside his house on his own land rather than LCCs land. This has been checked out by the Clerk and is being further investigated by Cllr Milnes.
This item will need to be forwarded to the next meeting when we have more information on needs and costs.
7. Updates
7.1 Finance
7.1.1 Current financial position
Bank balance £4046.77- £239.28 (uncashed cheques) = £3807.49
7.1.2 Payments since last meeting
Paint for gates – Mr Wilson - £35.28
7.1.3 Forthcoming Payments –
Painting of phone box ~~£400
Maintenance of assets tbd
Village sign + Planning tbd
7.2 Telephone Box
Painting to start on August 20th by the painter organised by Mr Hudson
7.3 Village Sign
ACTION: Apply for a Community Grant – by October 17th 2022
Cllr Milnes has offered help in this
ACTION: Request update from Cllr Milnes re-planning
7.4 Speed Reduction Gate Painting
All except for Claypole have been painted.
Cllr Flint suggested that the untidy vegetation should be cut back to clean it up and that the gates at Claypole Road should be painted along with the others.
Cllr Watkins asked about the SKDC clean up campaign and the outcome? It is not clear whether this has yet happened
ACTION: ask SKDC about this plan and about cutting back vegetation obstructing signs?
Cllr Milnes did say that hedges are the responsibility of the landowners.
7.5 Progress of Village Speeding Ideas
The Speeding Group has joined with Great Gonerby to share equipment to monitor speed.
7.6 Ukrainian Flag
Cllr Flint has brought questions from village residents asking how long the Ukrainian Flag was staying erected on the flagpole. The comment became the question of why our own flag could not be flying instead.
Cllr Watkins responded that it was in solidarity of a country in Europe being oppressed.
We have people resident in the village who are pleased to see the support.
Cllr Crooks stated that the flag was looking weary. The resident who ordered it said she had two and the council asked her to get another so that we have replacement and the flag can still fly brightly.
Cllr Watkins proposed that, on behalf of the village, the flag should be flown every day, subject to periodic review, except for those days when another flag is timetabled to be flown.
8. Correspondence received
8.1 Planning Applications – None of relevance to Stubton
8.2 Letters relating to provision of Allotments – 3 letters have been received. 6 must be received in order that the Council should consider the request. The act of 1904 directs that if a council receives 6 letters of request for allotments they must consider supplying them.
9. Date and Time of Next meetings
Suggested dates for future meetings
12th October
14th December