June 28 - Parish Council Meeting
Minutes of the Langtoft Parish Council (LPC) Meeting held on
28 June 2022 at 19:00 in the Village Hall
Present: Cllrs. Andy Halfhide (Chair), Cllr. Andy Hallam (Vice Chair), Brian Branch, Debbie Hallam,
Yvonne McCulloch, Steve Valentine & Liz Jarman.
In Attendance: 2 members of the public and the Parish Clerk Sarah Gresty.
Public Forum:
• A member of the public asked for advice on how to report an overgrown plot of land that the vegetation is creeping on to the highway and over boundaries. Action: The Parish Clerk would send a letter to the land owners from the Parish Council and also report this on fix my street.
• A member of the public asked for an update on the road repairs to New Road. Response: Some of this work had been done.
• A member of the public express concerns at the possibility that 5g masts would be installed on lighting on New Road and around the village. He had done some research into this matter and was concerned at the harmfulness of millimetre waves, electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation, positioning of the masts close to people and housing. Do the telecoms companies not require planning permission? How could his concerns be heard? Response: The Parish Council have little powers in this situation, the member of the public was urged to write directly to Cllr. Dilks County Councillors and Cllr. Rosemary Trollope-Bellew as District Councillor. (both of whom were not present at the meeting). The Parish Council believed that wayleave agreements would be applied for from the Telecoms companies to the owners of the street lighting which was SKDC, it was thought that no planning permission was required.
Action: Parish Council would also ask Cllr. Dilks for further information.
Agenda
22/23-38 Chairman’s opened the meeting by welcoming all present.
22/23-39 Apologies: were received from Cllr Lewis Trickey and Martin Lauridsen
The apologies of Cllr. Trickey were unanimously accepted.
The apologies of Cllr Martin Lauridsen were unanimously accepted
Other Apologies received: Cllr. Kelham Cook
22/23-40 Disclosure of Pecuniary Interests: Cllrs A and D Hallam had an interest in item 74g Planning Issues: S22/1038 The Church Barn, East End.
22/23-41 Minutes: To approve the minutes of :
a) 17 May Annual Parish Council Meeting were presented as a true and accurate record of events. Proposal: To accept and sign minutes. Proposed by Cllr. D Hallam, Seconded Cllr. Andy Hallam – unanimous in favour.-RESOLVED
b) 24 May Annual Parish Meeting were presented as a true and accurate record of events. Proposal: To accept and sign minutes. Proposed by Cllr. Steve Valentine, Seconded Cllr. Brian Branch – unanimous in favour.-RESOLVED
c) 24 May 2022 Parish Council meeting were presented as a true and accurate record of events. Proposal: To accept and sign minutes. Proposed by Cllr. Andy Halfhide, Seconded Cllr. Yvonne McCulloch – unanimous in favour.-RESOLVED
Matters Carried forward from these meetings:
i) Councillor Responsibilities. Cllr. Andy Halfhide explained the rationale behind the idea of segmenting the village and allocating areas to each Councilor. Action: Cllr. Halfhide would bring to the next meeting a segmented map of the village with individual Councillors marked for decision and resolution.
ii) Standing Orders – c/f to next meeting
iii) Financial Regulations c/f to next meeting
iv) All Policies c/f to next meeting
22/23-42 To receive reports from
a)County and District Councillors
Cllr Cook submitted the following report:
Last month I was delighted to have been re-elected as Leader of the Conservative Group
on South Kesteven District Council and, therefore, to be continuing as Leader of the Council. Over the last three years we have achieved so much and I’m looking forward to the next 12 months in the build up to the local elections.
SK Community Awards 2022 We are aiming to repeat the huge success of last year’s inaugural SK Community Awards. Please look around your communities, see who is making a difference in and nominate them.
Council Tax rebates Since April, tens of thousands of £150 Council Tax rebate payments have
been processed and have reached householders’ bank accounts to help counter energy price rises.
What’s On If you would like to discover what’s happening in the arts world, look no further than the latest What’s On brochures from South Kesteven District Council’s arts centres, which are full of information about packed summer programmes. Both Grantham’s Guildhall Arts Centre and Stamford Arts Centre have brochures available online through their websites, with printed copies available at each venue.
Fly - tipping prosecution Enforcement officers from SKDC, working alongside the council’s legal team , have successfully prosecuted a fly tipper from Bourne. The 70 - year - old pleaded guilty in court to three charges of fly tipping and was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for one year. The offences were described at Lincoln Crown Court as “ commercial and deliberate operation and having a significant impact on the environment.” It takes a huge amount of hard work to bring about a successful prosecution of this kind and it sends a strong message to others who may be tempted to dump waste wherever they like. Illegal dumping of waste is a significant blight on the community and our environment, a potential danger to public health, a source of pollution and a potential danger to wildlife. It is also a crime, costing the taxpayers of South Kesteven thousands of pounds each year to clear up. Rest assured, we take fly- tipping very seriously and, despite the challenges in bringing offenders to justice , we will take action whenever possible.
b)Police – The police report was now available on website. After the neighbourhood policing priorities submission priorities had now been set. The comments regarding East End Park (EEP) anti social behaviour were noted. The Police street the needs for incidences to be logged by calling the police. Police still want to work on the issue raised regarding speeding/obstruction of highways safety and have raised this with the roads policing units.
22/23-43 Finance & General Purposes : Financial matters presented by the Clerk as follows:
a) Financial Report for the period 01 April 2022 to 31 May 2022 with bank statements and reconciliation.
Payments were noted as follows:
22/23-44 DKO Wheatley chipper Penfield £414
22/23-45 S Valentine Penfield expenses £64.97
22/23-46 N Bright May Salary
22/23-47 S Gresty May Salary
22/23-48 Deeping Direct inv. 26678 £144
22/23-49 A Harrison DEB and Penfield Expenses £28
22/23-50 Graytones Printers inv. 33277 £48
22-23-51 BDG Mowing inv. 22/1110 May grass £220
22/23-52 Langtoft WI memories book £22.50
22/23-53 Graytones Printers inv. 33336 Penfield £24.00
22/23-54 Bumps 2 Four jubilee craft expenses £75.83
22/23-55 LALC inv. 12673 Cllr training £27.60
22/23-56 N Bright may expenses £124.14
22/23-57 ICO renewal £35 direct debit
22/23-58 A Hallam Penfield expenses £63.72
22/23-59 AWB Ltd inv. 9631 Jubilee expenses £80.82
22/23-60 S Gresty Clerk June salary
22/23-61 N Bright gardener June salary
22/23-62 HMRC Qtr. 1 Tax and NIC £527.40
22/23-63 A Harrison Penfield expenses £14.84
22/23-64 LALC inv. 12703 website maintenance £60.00
22/23-65 P Coles Penfield expense £11.69
22/23-66 Ionos1&1 inv 203031058625 £120.12 dd
22/23-67 Unity Bank £18.00
To note Income
22/23-68 Langtoft WI donation Penfield signs £171
22/23-69 Cemetery EROB 121&122 £90.00
22/23-70 Cllr. RTB inv. GR ss 01 £84.00
22/23-71 HMRC VAT reclaim £3534.83
Proposal: Cllr. Yvonne McCulloch proposed acceptance of all the financial statements above, Seconded Cllr. Liz Jarman and unanimous in favour-RESOLVED.
22/23-72 East End Pond – A full 3 year plan has been submitted by Pete Coles at the last Parish Council meeting.
Proposal: To accept the Restoration Project and 3 years proposal in full. Proposed by Cllr. Andy Halfhide, Seconded Cllr. Steve Valentine and unanimous in favour-RESOLVED.
Action: Clerk to confirm to Pete Coles the resolution and to ask for a budget to be submitted at the next meeting for resolution of expenditure requirement. Clerk to put the Restoration Plan on the website.
22/23-73 Village skips. c/f next meeting.
22/23-74 Working Group Reports
a) Penfield
i) Report by Cllr. A Hallam
The management team, continues to be well supported by approximately 10 volunteers from the village and since the last PC meeting we have completed the following:
• Build and installed a new bench on the lower path. (Many thanks to Brian for the
• Cement mixer)
• Extended the upper wooden fence from bird feeders all the way to the edge of the
• woodland.
• Strimmed and kept the footpaths clear of brambles and other invading plants
• Dealt with a flood, which unfortunately saw the demise several ground nesting
• birds nests including that of a marsh harrier.
• Recorded at least 3 species of Orchid on site (Bee orchid, Marsh Orchid & Pyramid).
• Seen our first snake (an adder).
• Had to turn off the site 17 youngsters, who were on their bikes, having a picnic and
• swimming in the ponds. Many thanks to Lewis and Pete (one of the volunteers)
• Started the wood staining (preserving) the benches and the fences
• Repaired the Eastern boundary fence
• Hired a chipper to make wood chips out of the tree branches etc. that we cut down over the winter. The chipping have been spread on soggy parts of the paths.
• Recorded activities / nests and fledglings in 14 out of 20 of the nest boxes that School Children built. A separate thank you report has been sent to the school.
• Potential date for an open day Saturday August 13th
ii) First Aid Training – Action: Clerk to recirculate dates for Sept/oct
b) Cemetery – Cllr. Debbie Hallam gave a report.
• New section needs marking for burials
• Plots for ashes had recently been marked and now plentiful
• Some trees need attention in the cemetery, one dead needs removing, one needs fencing diverting around it.
• A working party to tidy the cemetery will be arranged
• One recent grave needed additional soil removing.
• Research into another possible war grave proved not to be one.
• Long term maintenance – several old graves were in need of attention. Further investigation required.
c) Amenities – Report by Cllr. Andy Hallam
The group did not meet face to face as there was already a full agenda in support of
the other groups. For the Jubilee we, along with other councillors and members of the public, erected and took down 2 marquees, which were unfortunately not used because of the inclement weather. In addition to the marquees, with help Richard Reedman we planted the Jubilee holm oak in East End Park.
East End Park. The Swing frames have now been painted, repairs have been made to the slide step, albeit temporarily until the whole structure is refurbished. 3 bench slats have been replaced, 2 leg guards and the new hardware slat on the bench behind the pond. Cllr. Jarman is looking at funding opportunities, in particular for equipment that we have not got at the moment, possibly adult outdoor gym equipment. More on this in future.
i) Permission footbridge and path – LCC solicitor is still working on this issue.
ii) Village Sign. Cllr. Halfhide had reported that he had cleaned the village sign himself, so no further action required. Cllr. Yvonne McCulloch reported a lifted slab at the base of the sign.
iii) Village Gate Submission required to LCC Highways as to exactly where we want these. This is ongoing with liaison with District Councillor Cllr. Dilks. Cost for installation and moving the existing 30mph sign would be required.
iv) New Play equipment quotations – Cllr. Liz Jarman multi play has been shelved for now. Fresh Air adult gym equipment @ £9,500 (installed costs) was being pursue. Planning permission would be required as well as National lottery funding. Cllr. Jarman to investigate this further.
v) Speed Indicator Signs, positions, rota and to resolve purchase of any equipment necessary?
Cllr. Steve Valentine confirmed that he does not use ladders to install the signs and was happy to continue to do this. Alternative positions for the sign were discussed.
vi) Defibrillator Training – to be combined with first aid training (22/23-74aii)
Cllr. Halfhide was meeting with the SKDC Highway contractor tomorrow to arrange installation of the final two defibrillators next to street light on the corner of Aquila Way and Black Bull and the corner of New Road and East End.
vii) Maintenance Issues. Action: Clerk to write to Dan Goodman regarding the drop curb at Penfield which was scheduled to be done on 16 May.
Proposal: To suspend Standing orders to allow the meeting to conclude. Proposed Cllr. Andy Hallam, Seconded, Cllr. Andy Halfhide and unanimous in favour -RESOLVED.
viii) Events: Report by Cllr. Yvonne McCulloch
Proposed Bulb planting day, 8 October, Time 10am to 2pm meeting in the Village Hall
People will pick up the bulbs and planting area from the Hall, refreshment to be served 10 am to 2pm, we thought this may encourage more people to come along.
Cost of bulbs is £25 (approx.) for a sack of 500 Suggested areas to plant are :-
Post Box in EE and WE Noticeboard in EE and WE Deer Park Rd, Along path to Penfield and any other.
g) Planning Issues: To Note planning applications received since last Meeting.
S22/1030 Stonehouse Farm, 24 West End
S22/1038 The Church Barn, East End.
S22/1058 47 East End
S22/1098 71 Truesdale Gardens.
S22/1151 4 Manor Way
All Cllrs would submit their responses to the clerk by 5 July and a majority decision would be the response.
h) Grapevine Magazine. New prices for printing were noted 28pp-£350, 32pp-£385, 36pp-£460 & 40pp-£500
i) Village Hall – Action: Cllr. Halfhide to circulate meeting notes. He was unfortunately not able to attend the last meeting.
21/22-75 To note Correspondence was noted from the Agenda
Additional items received
Reminder for the Baston, Langtoft and Thurlby Naturhood meeting 6 July at 7pm
21/22-76 To receive Items for Future Meetings
Date of future meetings: 2022: 23 August, 11 October, 22 November.
2023: 10 Jan, 21 Feb, 4 April (Annual Parish), 16 May (Annual Parish Council), 27 Jun, 1 Aug, 12 Sept,
28 Nov. 2024: 18 Jan