September 2024 Minutes
SEPTEMBER 2024 MINUTES
The Parish Council meeting was held on Thursday, 5th September 2024 at 7.03 p.m. in Hough on the Hill Church community area.
Present: Councillors S Sharman (Chair), J Pope, A Seage and V McLean, District Councillor P Milnes and 1 member of the public.
Clerk/RFO - Donna Lang
Absent: Councillors R Harris, L Rann, S Allen and County Councillor A Maughan
Public Participation:
There were no public comments or questions.
26/24 To receive apologies for absence, these having been submitted to the clerk prior to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Cllrs Harris, Rann, Allen and Cty Cllr A Maughan.
27/24 To receive Declarations of Interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and receive Requests for Dispensations. There were none.
28/24 To approve the draft notes of the Parish Council meeting held on 9th May 2024 and for these to be signed as the agreed minutes. It was proposed by Cllr Seage, seconded by Cllr Pope and resolved to approve the Parish Council minutes. The minutes were duly signed.
29/24 To receive reports from Dist Cllr P Milnes. Dist Cllr P Milnes read out her report (a copy is attached to these Minutes. The Chair mentioned the fact that PWC Building Control had gone into administration and the impact on planning.
30/24 To note the list of correspondence since the May council meeting. Noted and a copy is attached to these Minutes.
31/24 To note tree works applications received from SKDC:
S24/1349 Street Record, Grantham Road, Hough on the Hill - Section 211 Notice to remove dead oak tree. Application approved. Noted.
S24/1220 Hough Manor, Folly Lane, Hough on the Hill – Felling of 3 dead trees and work to a damaged and dangerous tree. Application approved. Noted.
32/24 To note planning applications received from SKDC:
S24/1178 Grange Farm Cottages, Grange Lane, Hough on the Hill – Nonmaterial amendment to replace facing bricks with concrete blocks and render. No comments from the PC. Application refused. Noted.
S24/0434 Gelston Grange Farm, Lovedon House Lane, Gelston – Proposed two storey side extension. No comments from the PC. Noted.
S24/1256 Gelston Grange Farm, Lovedon House Lane, Gelston – Extension to existing building to create new steel framed building – No formal submission required. Noted.
33/24 Play area: To discuss and resolve the purchase of play bark to cover existing areas. To discuss the Wicksteed Annual Inspection and resolve the repair and maintenance of equipment to adhere to the safety of the equipment and area. To note play inspection reports received for May, June, July and August 2024. To arrange litter pick date? Cllr Harris will assess if any bolts need replacing and organise replacement. The Chair has fitted a new play sign to the play area and has measured the play bark area. It was unanimously agreed that the Clerk would purchase one bulk bag of play bark. Cllr Rann has agreed to lay the play bark once delivered. The Chair emphasised the necessity of play area inspection reports completion monthly to adhere to insurance requirements in the event of an accident. Play area inspection reports were noted. Cllr Pope agreed to arrange a litter pick.
34/24 Emergency Group/Drainage issues: Cllr Sharman update. The Chair advised that Cllr Allen had partly completed a draft Emergency Plan and had worked hard on this to date. The Chair would liaise with Cllr Allen to complete and once complete it will be published on the website.
35/24 Neighbourhood Plan and Design Code: Cllr Sharman update. The Chair read out a report on the Neighbourhood Plan which is attached to these Minutes. There has been lots of work going on in Hough regarding the drainage issues. Cllr McLean advised that the majority of these works had been initiated under the previous PC. Brandon has had some works completed but some works are still ongoing.
36/24 Speed Indicator Device (SID) – Cllr McLean update. Cllr McLean had spoken to Andrew Barrett who advised that all was going well but it would be more helpful if we had another SID in place. The Chair said that Andrew Barrett was doing a great job moving the SIDs on a regular basis and the PC appreciate his hard work. District Councillor P Milnes advised that Stubton PC had done a fund raiser which was successful in obtaining another SID for their parish. The Chair advised that he would research and look into arranging a fund raiser with the help of Cllr McLean. The Clerk would obtain quotations for SIDs.
37/24 To discuss and resolve upon multiple parishioner requests for the speed limit along Stubton Road to be designated a 40mph zone before submitting a formal request with PC reasoning for a speed limit review to LCC. All councillors had received multiple parishioner comments about the speed limit reduction before this meeting. There was a short discussion based on the emails received. Cllr McLean proposed, Cllr Seage seconded and it was unanimously agreed to submit a request to LCC for a speed reduction to 40mph along Stubton Road.
Financial matters:
38/24 To note SKDC invoice for £51.00 in respect of one-off annual payment for green bin at St. John’s Church Brandon. Noted.
39/24 To note BDG Mowing Contractors invoice for £312.00 in respect of grass cutting in April and £156.00 in respect of May. Noted.
40/24 To approve bank reconciliations for 31.05.24, 30.06.24, 31.07.24 and 31.08.24. The bank reconciliations had been checked by Cllr Sharman prior to the meeting. It was unanimously resolved to approve the monthly accounts. They were duly signed.
41/24 To note LALC Webmaster invoice for £108.00 annual payment for website maintenance. Noted.
42/24 To note Clarks Clerical Service invoice for £50.00 in respect of audit fee 2023/24. Noted.
43/24 To note CSW invoice for £52.59 in respect of new play area sign. Noted.
44/24 To note Wicksteed invoice for £158.40 in respect of annual inspection fee. Noted.
45/24 To note credit refund from Unipart Rail for £288 in respect of damaged SID equipment. Noted.
46/24 To note Hough Gardening and Handyman Services invoice for £502.00 in respect of grass cutting in June and £488 for grass cutting in July. Noted.
47/24 To note LALC invoice for £48.00 in respect of LALC Conference and AGM on 24.07.24. Noted.
48/24 Resolution to approve the payment of Clerks expenses and overtime May, June, July and August 2024 - £167.30. It was proposed by Cllr Pope, seconded by Cllr McLean and unanimously resolved to approve this.
49/24 To note date of next meeting – Thursday, 7th November 2024. Noted.
The meeting closed at 7.49p.m.
Attachments:
District Councillor P Milnes’ report
Correspondence
Chair’s NP Notes
Report from District Councillor Penny Milnes
• A Parish Forum was held last night for parish clerks and councillors to meet the senior staff and network. 21 people attended including June Hutchinson, Chair of Fulbeck PC.
• The Shoot. Recently the Planning Inspector in charge of the Enforcement Appeal ruled that the Enforcement Notice as served is a legal nullity. Further legal advice is being sought as to the next step.
• NPPF review consultation ongoing with a result expected by Christmas:
SK potentially need to find allocations in the Local Plan review for another 200 homes which is deemed significant. A time dispensation could delay submission until June 2025. The impact on the smaller villages should be minimal and the current policies will not change very much. No land in the Ward has been put forward for allocation but small scale developments will be considered on a submission basis.
Applications for commercial solar farms and onshore wind farms would be encouraged.
• 10% Biodiversity Net Gain is now required by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021 for development (mandatory from 12 February this year). This can be offset by developers buying units off site if necessary. Cascade of preference is on site first/off site/statutory grants from Govt.
Interestingly, there is a site called Boothby Wildland being commercially developed in the District, where units can be purchased by developers and keep the biodiversity in the District…64 hectares of woodland/grassland/meadow/ponds. You can find details on Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s website. SKDC are obliged to monitor the sites and today the planning committee agreed S106 terms for £35,000 for an initial monitoring fee. The monitoring need is for 30 years.
• Digging Market Garden at Fulbeck Manor was a successful few days archeological digging culminating in the announcement that £147,550 has been awarded to SKDC from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to enable the ongoing creation of SK’s Airbourne Forces Heritage Trail ‘Soldiers from the Sky’.
• Market Square refurbishment to create a level space for community events has been delayed until end September due to supply problems with the setts. Station Road design improvements have begun to enable a welcoming and easier access into the town.
These projects were awarded as part of the previous governments High Street Fund and Heritage Fund which began pre pandemic. Now urgent to finalise due to Government grant conditions.
Together with urgent work on Dysart Road traffic congestion will get worse with school returning.
SKDC and LCC are working together to expedite the works and mitigate the impact.
SK are also planning a series of events to bring people to the refurbished Market Place, beginning with a celebration of Lincolnshire Day on 1st October.
• Community Awards
The SK Community Awards are back for 2024 with a number of categories to present. The link is below and the deadline for nominations is 20th September.
SK Community Awards 2024 | South Kesteven District Council
Correspondence received since the May 2024 council meeting:
Unipart Dorman
LALC
County Cllr A Maughan
District Cllr Penny Milnes
CSW Support Shop
Website Administration
SKDC Planning
ICO
BS Place Highways – LCC
SKDC Waste/Recycling
BS Place Highways
South Kesteven Economic Development Strategy
LALC newsletter
SKDC Planning
SKDC Garden Waste Invoice
LCC Network
Webnos
County Councillor A Maughan
Open Plan
Communities Team
LALC Pre-election briefing
LALC Training Bulletin
LCC Parish Council Community Newsletter
Parishioner email regarding NP consultation
Jake Horton SKDC
LCC Highways
SKDC Election Notice
SKDC Democracy regarding DPI forms
Parishioner email regarding Church grass and verges in Brandon
Notice of Election
Parish Online Mapping
Webmaster re: phishing online
SKDC Corporate Plan 2024-2027 (added to website)
LCC Town and Views regarding Lincolnshire Public rights of way network
Steve Kemp – Open Plan regarding NP consultation
Lincolnshire Wildfire Park – re open day for service men
PKF Littlejohn – re submission of AGAR documents
LALC newsletter
NP Locality Info
LALC AGM Newsletter
CSW Play sign design
Unipart Dornan Bracket refund
Parish Council Community Newsletter
Jake Horton SKDC - NP consultation
Innovative Resilience – Flooding issues
R Davie T/A Hough Gardening Invoice
LALC Newsletter
Steve Kemp – NP Updated Plan/Design Code
Flood Risk Lincolnshire Gov.Uk
Parishioner email - Flooding
Jake Horton SKDC - NP
National Highways
SKDC Local Plan Review update
BS Place Highways
LALC News
Historic England
SKDC
SKDC Decision Notice on Tree Works
LCC Notification of temporary traffic regulation Order
Lincolnshire Police Safer Together Newsletter
Parish Online Newsletter
LALC
Parishioner email – Stubton speeding
WEBNOS
Parishioner email – Stubton speeding
Cllr A Maughan Summer Newsletter
SKDC Contaminated Land Survey
SKDC Food Bank Newsletter
Ian Ward LCC Flooding
Parishioner email COO1 roadworks query
Parishioner email support with NP comments
LALC Newsletter
Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan Survey
Stubton PC re Stubton Road speeding
Cllr Penny Milnes re: Fulbeck events
Parishioner email – Stubton speeding
Steve Kemp – Openplan
LALC Training Bulletin
Hough Gardening invoice
Parishioner email – Village Survey
Parishioner email – NP comments and broken sign
Witham and Humber Drainage Board – NP comment
SKDC Democratic Services
Stubton PC – Speeding issue
Cllr A Maughan
Environment Agency – NP comments
Parishioner email – NP support letter
South Kesteven Neighbourhood Policing
LCC Town and News
LALC News
Planning Mail – S24/1256
Planning Decision Notice – S24/1178
LALC Summer Conference Slides
National Gas NP comments
National Grid NP comments
SKDC Decision Notice S24/1349
Natural England – NP comments
Parishioner email – NP comments
Parishioner email – COO1 road markings
Anglian Water – NP comments
Jake Horton SKDC – NP comments
Cllr Penny Milnes – NP comments
Parishioner email – NP comments
Biodiversity Project Funding
LCC Parish Community Newsletter
LALC Newsletter
Community Engagement Conference Newsletter
Recommendation:
Council to note the correspondence
SEPTEMBER 2024 MINUTES (@ 35.24)
NP Update
The NP consultation period generated a number of comments from Parishioners which have been forwarded to both SKDC and the independent Planning consultant for consideration and inclusion in the final NP. It is clear that the consultation period was the right thing to do and informs the next stage.
The next stage is driven by advice from SKDC that the National Planning Policy Framework is being reviewed and reworked (due to be completed by Dec 24). It has been agreed with SKDC that the PC, in conjunction with the professional planners, should consider the comments received with the intention of adjusting the NP as required. This will enable the PC to be in a position to make any further amendments falling out of the NPPF and reworked Local plan for submission in the NY. This will include a DC.
As a footnote – there is a view from central government that NP and Design Codes are in general too long.