August 2019 Minutes
Langtoft Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 27th August 2019,
at Langtoft Village Hall
Present: Cllrs Andy Halfhide (Chairman), Andy Hallam (Vice Chairman), Brian Branch, Angela Brogan, Alastair Fraser, Debbie Hallam, Yvonne McCulloch, Lewis Trickey.
In Attendance: Julian Tatam (Parish Clerk), County Councillor Barry Dobson, District Councillors Rosemary Trollope-Bellew and Kelham Cooke, PCSO Michelle Laughton and 3 members of the public.
38 /19-20 Open Forum
Questions were asked about:
A15 Crossroads. Following the recent motorcycle accidents at the crossroads, which required the attendance of the air ambulance, a resident has raised a petition to lobby the council for improvements. 2,000 signatures are required but has 1,400 at present.
Following meetings between C Cllr Richard Davies (Executive responsible for Highways) and the Parish Council at the crossroads, C Cllr Davies is not progressing the issues as fast as the Parish Council would like.
D Cllr Trollope-Bellew has set up a meeting with C Cllr Perraton-Williams, deputy to R Davies, to try to progress the assurances on improvements.
In support of the Parish Council, C Cllr Dobson has requested that LCC Highways come forwards with a scheme to calm the traffic down the A15 corridor.
Proposed BP Filling Station: C Cllr Davies has told the Chairman of the Parish Council that if Lindum Group (the proposed contractor) were submitting more traffic data, obtained from the Archer survey and others he would call a meeting with the Parish Council to assess this.
Penfield Nature Reserve: The Parish Council has not taken possession yet but the main issue of rabbit damage to neighbouring crops should have been resolved (rabbit fencing has been installed along 3/4 of the length of the western boundary). An update on progress will be given at the next council meeting.
Planters: A resident has suggested that the East End Park area would benefit from some more planters. D Cllr Trollope-Bellew offered to consider a contribution from one of her local funds. The Amenities group will check the cost of new planters and report back.
Dog fouling: PCSO Laughton stated that reports should be made via the SKDC website as Lincolnshire Police now had an officer who could issue fines.
Police: Deeping St James are complaining about the lack of policing in the Deepings area in general. They have arranged a public meeting to discuss the issue on the 17th September and there is a meeting of the police panel on the 24th. The Parish Council is to liaise with DSJPC to co-ordinate a meeting with a senior police official.
Parish Council accounts: In response to a request from one of the parishioners regarding how the Council was funded and spent its money; he was told that the Council operated prudent financial controls and worked to get the best benefit from a limited precept. All accounts and budget statements are in the public domain and are posted on the Parish Council website.
The open forum closed at 19.30pm
39/19-20 Chairman’s welcome and remarks
40 /19-20 Apologies for absence
Cllr Valentine; on holiday
41 /19-20 Declarations of Interest
No declarations of interest were made.
42 /19-20 To approve the minutes of the previous meeting
The approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 2nd July 2019 was proposed by Cllr Trickey seconded by Cllr D Hallam; all in favour.
43 /19-20 Report from County and District Councillors and Police
PCSO: There have been less issues of antisocial behaviour involving moped users.
There are acknowledged issues with queuing while telephoning ‘101’ as callers are referred to the online reporting system which delays getting the information to the front line.
Staff resources remain under pressure.
C Cllr Dobson: LCC have been very involved with assisting with the recovery after the flooding at Wainfleet. They are also investing in improving the coastal economy.
More locally he will seek to get a petition around other villages on the A15 to help boost the numbers to the required 2000.
He will write to C Cllr R Davies regarding the delay in rectifying the flooding at the crossroads.
He has applied for a TRO to put a weight limit on West End to restrict HGVs.
On the topic of gritting, he suggested that the Chairman write to him (C Cllr Dobson) to request that the gritting of Outgang Road is switched to West End / Stowe Road and King Street, in view of the significantly greater traffic volumes on the proposed roads.
D Cllr Cooke: thanked and congratulated the organisers of the Langtoft Festival.
Will pick up the issue of a replacement pavilion at the playing fields in September, though it is noted the existing lease to the Pre School has some years to run. It is likely that the football club will be granted a renewed lease so that they can raise funds from the Football Association.
The Parish Council could take over the playing fields for a nominal sum, but would then be responsible for the upkeep.
44 /19-20 Clerks Report
The Clerk’s report had already been provided to the Councillors, including a log of communications. Key points:
Obtained replacement parts for the swings at East End Park.
Further liaison with tree specialist and challenged the accuracy of a report indicating that our trees at East End Park are causing subsidence to a neighbouring property.
Chasing Hansons and our solicitor to expedite the transfer of Penfield Nature Reserve.
Placed notices in the cemetery asking informing relatives about the rules relating to plots in the memorial gardens, requesting that they abided by them.
Contacted C Cllr Dobson to ask that he gets the sign at the A15 crossroads directing HGV traffic to the Kings Street Industrial Estate removed, in line with a previous agreement with LCC Highways.
Has been unsuccessful in setting up a Facebook page for the Parish Council; awaiting contact from Facebook
45/19-20 Working groups
There was brief discussion on which Councillor would lead each working group and the following was agreed:
Amenities & Highways - Cllr A Hallam
Finance & General Purpose - Cllr A Hallam
Cemetery - Cllr Brogan
Events - Cllr McCulloch
Grapevine - The Chairman
Planning - The Chairman
Penfield Management Group is led by Pete Coles, who is not a councillor.
The reports were presented for each group, of note are:
Finance & General Purpose:
The publication of The Grapevine is still at a cost to the precept payer and the group is asked to look into more income generating activities.
Amenities and Highways:
In conjunction with the Events group, consideration should be given to obtaining a temporary road closure of East End for the evening of ‘Christmas at the Crossroads’ and to bring in Santa with his sleigh.
Quotations for hardwood to repair the benches at East End Park are being obtained. Will also consider recycled plastic in view of its durability.
46 /19-20 Finance
Year to date accounts. The accounts to 22 August had been circulated to all Councillors.
The balances at that date totalled £24,906, with £20,153 of this sitting in the deposit account.
The external audit report is awaited.
47 /19-20 Other Matters
Revisions to Standing Orders as recommended by NALC had been previously circulated and were accepted without changes. Proposed Cllr A Hallam, Seconded Cllr Branch; all in favour.
Proposed BP Filling station. The meeting was informed that an exploratory meeting of the Parish Councillors and representatives of Lindum Developments was held in late July to express a very strong opposition to the location of the scheme due to a dangerous access. The Councillors asked Lindum to look at an alternative site with safer access but Lindum stated that they were legally obliged to progress with the current application. BP had been asked to attend this meeting but were unavailable. Lindum were asked to impress upon BP the Councillors’ concerns about safety and ask BP again to attend a meeting with the Parish Council. It is understood that BP have declined that further invitation.
Given that the village Post Office is about to close Cllr Trickey suggested that we could consider and ‘Outreach Post Office’ such as the one recently established in Essendine.
48 /19-20 Date of future meetings
Next Full Council meeting: 15 October 2019 at the Langtoft Village Hall at 7.00pm
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.35pm.