September 2023 Minutes
DRAFT MINUTES of a HOUGH ON THE HILL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING held at 7 pm in Hough on the Hill Church on 6th September 2023.
Present: Cllr Stewart Sharman (SS) (in the Chair), Cllrs S. Allen (SA), R. Harris (RH), V. McLean (VM), J. Pope (JP), L. Rann (LR) and A. Seage (AS) plus Cty Cllr A Maughan, Dist Cllr Penny Milnes and 5 members of the public.
The Chair welcomed all present.
There were no questions from the public at this point.
Cllr A Maughan advised that devolution is being sought by Lincolnshire County Council, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Councils. This would be effective from the south of the Humber to the south of the Wash (so north to south of the entire county). These three Councils are putting forward a devolution bid. It would give them more powers, more money from central Government and they would have a directly elected mayor. There is a lot of work to be done but the aim is to have it all in place by March 2025.
Cllr P Milnes said that the Local Plan Review is still delayed due mainly to the housing allocation arrangements. She was asked to see if Parish Councils could be kept informed of progress. She asked if we would like a “walkabout” with the new Leader of the Council and also reminded us of the Prosperity Fund availability. SKDC has to buy 21 homes for Ukrainian and Afghan refugees and has bought 12 in Langtoft with a further 9 still to be purchased somewhere. Solar farm planning applications are many and proving very contentious – they are now looking at bringing wind farms back on shore. A new Standards Committee has been set up for Code of Conduct complaints – the Monitoring Officer remains as Graham Watts.
31/23: Apologies – there were none.
32/23: Declarations of Interest – Cllr Harris in Wayside Farm planning matters.
33/23: Minutes of meeting held on 21st June had been read and it was resolved to approve them – the Chair then signed them as an accurate record. SA and VM raised an issue with Minute reference 20/23 and it was agreed (6 for, and 1 abstention) that this will be amended to read: “and the Design Code and LGS matters will be deferred until 2026”.
34/23: Civility and Respect Pledge – Agreed we will do the Zoom training on this matter on 4th October at 6.30 pm.
35/23: Planning:
S23/1000 – Extensions at Grange Farm Cottages – pending consideration.
S23/1099 – Extension roof light and porch at Wayside Farm – pending consideration.
S23/1126 – Tree works at The Limes, Gelston Road – approved.
S23/1130 – removal of metal shed, add block paving and new hedge at Wayside Farm – pending consideration.
S23/1559 – extension at Park View – response agreed that the PC has no objection as parking spaces are being retained plus there will be an additional two and the PC encourages businesses to remain viable. The design is in keeping. An adjacent property owner to the site has issues over the parking and SS agreed to talk to the applicants.
Appeal for single side extension at Hillside, Lower Road – dismissed.
ENF22/0122 Beechers Farm – felled trees – going nowhere – remove from future agendas.
Neighbourhood Plan – Two consultants had offered quotes and it was agreed unanimously that ThinkOpenPlan are our approved consultants. A first meeting will be organized for the PC to meet with them to agree the way forward.
36/23: Highways – The working group had met with LRSP and agreed sites for the SID. Brandon’s site will be the first to have the SID. VM to coordinate purchase of brackets and the installation plan.
Bridleways – the Modification Order sought for Thompsons Lane ends up in a field. Requests are dealt with by LCC in the order in which they arrive and they are currently dealing with those from 6-7 years ago and so it is unlikely this will be dealt with in the foreseeable future. Cllr Maughan to keep us informed.
37/23: Defibrillators – SA reported that the training had gone well and suggested that this be carried out bi-annually. It was confirmed that the PC defibrillators are listed on The Circuit. After discussion it was agreed new fridge magnets are not required. However the VETS number should be put on Next Door once SA has updated the contacts list. LR will arrange electrical check for defibrillator cabinet heaters.
38/23: Litter pick – JP advised that he had taken delivery of 8 litter pick kits from SKDC. It was agreed to defer the parish litter pick until a Sunday in mid October. LR to arrange for the removal of the bin at the Church so that only the black wheelie bin is used – SA will put this out for collection on the appropriate days.
39/23: Play area – All monthly checks are up to date. Clerk to arrange for the weeds in the play area to be sprayed by the contractor. Clerk to chase the contractor appointed to do the repairs to equipment. The bark has been delivered and will be spread by Councillors on Friday evening.
AS put forward suggestions for the playing field – “kick about” area; tennis court; skateboard trail; community orchard; wildlife area; allotments. A scale plan will be drawn up but it was agreed that the first action should be a questionnaire to every household, putting forward these suggestions and asking for any others. This will be a requirement for any grant funding. AS to deal.
40/23: Highways project – All works complete.
41/23 – Future projects – SS outlined the next tranche of the PC projects given that the first trance are either complete or in train. Ideas were discussed as follows:
(A) Playing field – this is a large and ongoing piece of work AS has the lead and SS agreed to help.
(B) Passing places – exploring the feasibility and installation of passing places on single track roads in the Parish. Whilst it was recognized that this would take time, it was felt that this was a worthwhile aspiration. Cllr Maughan to be engaged and Clerk to arrange a meeting to discuss the way ahead.
(C) Refurbishment of the noticeboards – RH will deal with this.
In conjunction with the play park questionnaire JP to ask Parishioners for any other ideas for future projects. JP to maximise social media.
42/23: Finance: Resolved to sign the bank reconciliations at 30.6.23, 31.7.23 and 31.8.23.
43/23: Social media – agreed that Clerk would put a precis of the Minutes in News and Views and JP on Next Door. JP will also put a link on NextDoor to the Agenda section of the website for each upcoming meeting.
44/23 – Hough Charity – Clerk read out a brief outline of what is required and SA agreed to join the Charity as a trustee.
45/23: Correspondence: Clerk advised that she had had a requisition from the Land Registry with regard to ownership of Gelston Green and Pinfold, which she had responded to and we will get registration confirmed shortly. Only available training for Councillors for the foreseeable future is on 26th September at Mareham Le Fen – AS, VM and LR will attend (6-9 pm).
46/23: Next meeting: 29th November.
Meeting closed at 9 pm
Closed session followed.