May 2021 Minutes

MINUTES of the Hough on the Hill Parish Council meeting held at Hough on the Hill Church Community area at 7.45 pm on Thursday 13th May 2021.

Present:  Cllr S Rowland (SR) (in the Chair), Cllrs. P. Baker (PB), A. Barrett (AB), R. Holden (RH), A. Knott (AK), Vicky McLean (VM), and C. Ward (CW).    Cty Cllr A Maughan and Dist Cllr P Milnes were in attendance and there was one member of the public.

01/21.    Chair welcomed those present and congratulated Cllr Maughan on  securing another 4 year term as our County Councillor.

02/21.  Apologies for absence – There were none.

03/21.  Declarations of interest – Cllr McLean in agenda item 5 ref S21/0405.
              
04/21.    Minutes of the meeting held on 11th March 2021 were read and it was resolved
to accept them as a true record, and they were duly signed.

05/21.    Planning:
S18/0078 and S20/0098 – Brandon Wood Clay Shoot – Cllr Milnes advised that this application is still under consideration.  A lot hinges on the noise and number of days permitted.
S19/0735 – Drive through coffee shop at A1 petrol station site – this application is now out of time and nothing more can be done until Highways England matters are resolved.  There has been no request for a S270 Agreement as yet – Cllr Maughan is pushing for a meeting with Highways England.
S21/0271 – agricultural building at Grange Farm – approved; S21/0289 – changes to windows at Old Hall Barn – approved; S21/0315 – tree works at 2 Gelston Road, Hough – approved; S21/0405 – new dwelling to the south of The Cottage, Lower Road, Hough –pending consideration; S21/0406 – solar panels at Rowan Cottage, Hall Lane, Brandon – approved; S21/0430 – extension and loft conversion at 8 Village Street, Gelston – approved; S21/0466 – various alterations at Old Hall Barn, Brandon – approved; S21/0560 – replacement windows and extension at Lower Road, Hough – pending consideration; S21/0730 – tree works at 12 High Road, Hough – pending consideration.

Neighbourhood Plan (NP) – Any NP must comply with the Local Plan.  Spatial Policy is new but ongoing.  Clerk to get a copy of the Old Somerby NP which they have just completed.  Agenda for September meeting.
Enforcement
06/21.    Playing field:
Report for April to hand.  Swing seats still cracked but no worse than before so leave for the time being.   Clerk to add the goalpost to the monthly checklist.
3 bags of bark will be delivered on Friday 21st May.  Clerk to advise Cllrs Knott, Ward and Baker when she knows a time.

07/21. Road safety/Highways:
Cllr Maughan advised that Richard Davies had taken photographs of all the water in Hough.  Enforcement action has been taken regarding the problems on the Church footpath to Lower Road.  Investigations are ongoing with regard to Lower Road and High Road water.  
Anglian Water had visited Water Lane and taken samples of the water and there was no evidence of sewage in the water.  Cllr Maughan will look into the LCC contact that SKDC sent information to some months ago.   
Work on the culvert at Brandon was due to start next week but as the ditches are full of water this may be postponed.  Posts on the verge at Brandon are encroachment but Cllrs Barrett and Rowland will talk to the property owner.  The drain cover at Brandon is still a problem and Cllr Maughan will look into this for us; he is also chasing the pothole repairs for Church Lane and Blind Lane in Brandon.  Thanks were offered to Cllr Barrett for repairing the bench at Brandon Church.

08/21.   Footpath 8:  A meeting is to be arranged with the owners and Footpath Officer.

09/21. Defibrillators – Cllr Barrett gave information on paediatric pads.  It is highly unlikely that we would ever need them and adult pads can be used on children by placing one on their front and one on their back.  Agreed we do not need to purchase paediatric pads.

10/21.  Financial matters:
[a] Bank balance at 30.4.21 £8,670.85 (current a/c) and £4,813.22 (deposit a/c).
[b] It was resolved to sign the bank rec and income/expenditure account as at 30.4.21
[c] It was resolved to sign the Certificate of Exemption on the AGAR forms.
[d] It was resolved to sign Section 1 of the AGAR forms.
[e] It was resolved to sign Section 2 of the AGAR forms.
[f] Clerk gave a resume of the quotes for insurance from Came and Co and BHIB.  It was resolved to move to BHIB with a 3 year agreement.
 
11/21.    Correspondence:   none to hand.

12/21.    Presentations from invited speakers:
Prior to the speakers starting, Clerk suggested that this item of the Agenda be moved to the first
item of business after the signing of the Minutes.  This would be followed by Highways matters and
Planning matters meaning that Cllrs Maughan and Milnes would not have to sit through the whole
Meeting.  It was agreed that we would try this at the September meeting to see how it pans out.
Cllr Maughan thanked us for our votes – Lincolnshire had the highest turn out of voters.  The Leader
of the Council is appointing various new people.  Highways has a new JCB Pothole Probe which has
been trialled in Sleaford; it is now being used and we should have use of it at some time.  LCC is
pushing walking and cycling starting with the towns and radiating out to villages. Every adult will
have had their Covid vaccine by the end of July.  Alex will look  into the poor Broadband reception in
Gelston.
Cllr Milnes advised that SKDC is having face to face meetings again although some are off site.  Social
distancing means that the Chamber at St Peters Hill offices is not always big enough.  The 4 leisure
centres are now under LeisureSK.  Penny will let the Clerk have the contact regarding litter bins with
a view to getting one provided in each of the three villages.  Dog fouling is a problem and this would
help a great deal.  
Cllr Knott said that he will design something for fridge magnets for the VETS number re
defibrillators.
There is to be a new water pipe over the railway line which is likely to close the Gelston to Marston
road for a week.

13/21. Date and time of next meeting:  9th September at 7.30 pm.

                            Meeting closed at 9.30