September 12 - Parish Council Meeting
DRAFT: Minutes of Langtoft Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 12 September 2023 at 19:00 in the Village Hall
Present: Cllrs. Colin Gamble (Chair), Brian Branch (Vice Chair), Yvonne McCulloch, Kevin Payne and Steve Valentine.
In Attendance: 6 members of the public, County Councillor Phil Dilks, District Councillors Rosemary Trollope-Bellew and Vanessa Smith and Sarah Gresty (Parish Clerk).
Public Forum:
• Members of the public asked about the future of SKDC’s sports fields off Manor Close. Cllr. T-B explained that historically these fields had been subject to special expenses paid for by the residents of Langtoft which are now reduced. SKDC at present cut the grass and have revamped the tennis courts. Action: Cllr. T-B to arrange a meeting with Richard Wilds of SKDC and the Parish Council to establish the first stage of plans for the future ownership of the playing fields.
• Members of the public reported on an educational tree planting program acting as a windbreak around the boundaries of playing fields.
• A conversation took place about improving communication between the Parish Council and village residents. This was something that would be worked on by the Parish Council.
• A member of the public read a statement addressed to the District Councillors. “For some time and on occasions refuse collection operatives use the substation adjacent to my property as a toilet! Only last week a female operative had to use this facility, which brings me to my question. What welfare facilities does the Council provide for refuse collection operatives when travelling around the District? I’m not complaining but simply bring this to your attention.” Action: Cllrs. T-B and Smith would look into this matter.
• A member of the public thanked Cllr. Dilks and Craig Spence (Acting Director of Housing SKDC) for the recent letter to all residents following the public meeting on 29 August. However, it was missing an important part which was the explanation of the financial elements to the purchase of the 12 houses. It would have been very informative to know the amount of funding received from the Government and the amount SKDC had provided and from where. Response: Cllr. Dilks confirmed that the monies were from Government Local Authority Housing Fund who put in about half of the amount for the purchase of the 12 houses; the remaining balance came from SKDC Housing Revenue accounts. The SKDC Housing Revenue account has approx. £5m. (£1m of which has been transferred out to enable future opportunities to buy houses on the open market when the opportunity arises). SKDC wants to maintain and grow the housing stock. Approx. 50 houses a year are lost from the stock through ‘right to buy’.
• SKDC housing register is currently under the process of being validated. More information will follow in the autumn.
The public forum came to an end at 19:23. It was resolved to close the forum and to continue with the parish council meeting as no further questions were raised. Proposed Cllr. Valentine, Seconded Cllr. Payne and unanimous in favour.
Agenda
23/24-127 Chairman’s welcome and remarks. Cllr. Gamble opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He thanked past Councillors Andy Halfhide, Andy Hallam, Debbie Hallam and Lewis Trickey, who had recently stepped down from the Parish Council, for all their hard work and the achievements they had made during their time on the Parish Council.
23/24-128 Apologies: There were none.
23/24-129 Disclosure of Pecuniary Interests: There were none.
23/24-130 Minutes: :
a) 1 August 2023 Parish Council Meeting, which had been amended, were presented as a true and accurate record of events. Proposed acceptance: Cllr. McCulloch, Seconded Cllr. Branch and unanimous in favour RESOLVED
b) 7 August 2023 Extraordinary Parish Council Meeting were presented as a true and accurate record of events. Proposed acceptance: Cllr. Gamble, Seconded Cllr. Payne and unanimous in favour RESOLVED
c) 29 August 2023 Public meeting audio recording available on the website was noted.
23/24-131 Items from previous minutes for information exchange.
Permissive path bridge - An official opening with the installation of a plaque from the Deeping Lions was being arranged for later in September.
23/24-132 Casual Vacancies. A co-option application had been received from Julian Tatam and circulated before the meeting.
Proposal to accept Julian to the parish council – Proposed Cllr. Gamble, Seconded Cllr. Valentine and unanimous voted in favour RESOLVED. Julian was welcomed to the parish council and signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
23/24-133 To receive reports from
a) County and District Councillors had submitted reports prior to the meeting
Cllr. Phil Dilks gave his Report.
Cllr. Vanessa Smith gave her Report, adding SKDC’s Meet the Cabinet session date was confirmed to be Monday 25 September 1-2 pm in the Lionel Beck Room at the Deeping Community Centre. Also, she asked that planning applications be notified on social media when received by the Parish Council. These are available on the Parish Council website.
Cllr. Trollope-Bellew - Following a complaint regarding a plot of land at New Road, Langtoft, which had been allowed to become a waste area. The Neighbourhood’s Officer had undertaken further enquiries into the ownership of the land and managed to contact the landowner who advised that they had purchased the land in April this year and would be building on it in the next 8-12 months. The Neighbourhood’s Officer explained that it was not acceptable to wait that long for the vegetation to be cut back and it was agreed that the owner would instruct a grounds maintenance crew to attend and cut back the growth to below knee height. The Owner also suggested that he would cover the fencing with some sort of tarpaulin so that local residents are not looking onto wasteland.
b) Police Reports are received and circulated and made available on website/noticeboard upon receipt.
23/24-135 Finance & General Purposes : Financial matters presented by the Clerk as follows:
a) Financial Report for the period 01 April 2023 to 04 September 2023 with online bank statements and subsequent Unity Trust Bank statements were presented by the Clerk.
b) Resolve Payments as follows:
23/24-136 IONOS dd 7.7.23 3
23/24-137 ICO data protection 35
23/24-138 BDG Mowing July grass inv. 23/1370 234
23/24-139 PKF Littlejohn 22/23 audit SB20230148 252
23/24-140 S Gresty Apr-Jun clerk expenses 171.64
23/24-141 SKDC uncontested Election costs 87.22
23/24-142 Online Playgrounds repair tape 68.8
23/24-143 Branch Brothers Inv. 1061735 bridge repairs 136.71
23/24-144 IONOS Inv. 203037738427 3
23/24-145 ACR Computes Inv. 108676 35
23/24-146 S Gresty clerk August salary
23/24-147 N Bright Gardeners Aug salary
23/24-148 Refresh&Renew Grapevine Advert refund 125
23/24-149 Jeremy Harrison Grapevine Advert refund 83.33
23/24-150 Stamford Bathrooms Grapevine Advert refund 125
23/24-151 Rosemary Trollope-B Grapevine Advert refund 83.33
23/24-152 InCtrl Grapevine Advert refund 125
23/24-153 BDG Mowing Inv. 23/1397 Aug mowing 234
23/24-154 A Harrison Penfield expenses 239.44
c) To Note Income
23/24-155 Cemetery Fees MB £360
23/24-156 Cemetery fees WS £90.00
Proposal: To accept and adopt all the financial matters as presented above Cllr. Gamble, Seconded Cllr. Branch and remaining unanimously voted in favour - RESOLVED.
d) A quotation of £150 per hour plus VAT plus travel costs for the services of Elizabeth Allen Land Agents Ltd to draw up compliant plans for the registration of the village hall with the Land Registry was presented by the clerk.
Proposal: To instruct Elizabeth Allen to draw up compliant plans. Cllr. Gamble, Seconded Cllr. Branch and remaining unanimous in favour - RESOLVED. Action: Clerk to instruct Elizabeth Allen
e) A quotation of costs from Taylor Rose, solicitors was still awaited. Action: c/f to next meeting.
f) Tree Safety management survey. The Clerk presented 2 quotations
Ligna Consultancy £525 + VAT
Rutland Tree Care £1200 + VAT
Proposal: To instruct Ligna Consultancy to undertake a tree survey on East End Park, Black Bull Green and the Cemetery. Cllr. Gamble, Seconded Cllr. Valentine and remaining unanimous in favour-RESOLVED. Action: clerk to instruct Ligna
23/24-157 Working Group responsibilities and identification of skill gaps required were discussed.
a) Amenities – Brian Branch (Lead) & Cllr. Kevin Payne. Potentially ask Penfield volunteers to help with tasks when required. Action: Clerk to investigate external play equipment repair companies’ costs.
b) Cemetery – Cllr. Yvonne McCulloch (Lead), Cllr. Brian Branch and Clerk. A tidy day had taken place on 2 September and the remaining jobs are on the gardener’s list to be completed. Action: recruit additional councillors with an interest in being involved with the cemetery
c) Events – Action: Recruit additional councillor to lead this working group.
Village Footpath Walk - 20 September 6.30 pm cancelled. Rearrange in the spring.
Christmas Reindeer Trail and collaboration with pre-school – Action: To ask for volunteers nearer the date
d) Grapevine Magazine – Suspended. Action: Recruit editor & consult public on its future.
e) East End Park Pond Project Report – Pete Coles had submitted his report prior to the meeting. Pollarding of some of the willow trees in the pond will commence w/b 9th October. Next year hope to undertake a professional newt survey. He has 5 volunteers he can regularly call on.
f) Village Hall – Chairman is the representative
g) Planning - All councillors are members of this group – Cllr. Gamble (Lead)
h) Penfield - Cllr. Julian Tatam Parish Council representative on the Committee
(outstanding item: Committee to: update Terms of Reference and to submit budget for 2024/25 by 31 October 2023)
i) Finance & General Purposes. Cllr. Julian Tatam and Clerk
Other Tasks
j) Speed Indicators Signs – offer from Chris Palmer (resident) to help was accepted with thanks. Action: Cllr. Valentine to contact Chris.
k) Defibrillator Weekly Check – Gardener/Handyman Battery checks Liz Jarman
l) Funding – Liz Jarman and Parish Council to work together
m) Facebook/Website - Cllr. Steve Valentine will be the media manager
n) Any other – none.
o) Outstanding Actions from previous Minutes - An outstanding matters list was reviewed, the list updated and tasks reallocated
p) Inventory of contents of Parish Council Container - Once all equipment is known to have been returned, a full inventory would take place. Action: Cllr. Valentine and Tatam
23/24-158 Planning - Two applications had been received by the Clerk on the day of the meeting. S23/1601 & s23/1641 these would be circulated to all councillors for response.
23/24-159 Request from Public Meeting of 29 August to enable a Public Enquiry. The Parish/Residents would effectively have to seek a judicial review which is an independent legal process. It would be necessary to seek legal advice if that were to be a course of action to be progressed. It would look at SKDC’s decision-making processes to ensure that SKDC is fully compliant with its constitution and other statutory requirements in respect of coming to the decision to purchase the 12 properties from Ashwood Homes.
Action: It was Resolved that the Parish Council would take No further action at this stage.
23/24-160 To note Correspondence received from last meeting was noted from the agenda.
23/24-161 To receive Items for Future Meetings
LPC Emergency Plan. To consider updating LPC’s Emergency plan Action: Cllr. Gamble.
SKDC proposal for the management of the Langtoft Play Park and potential asset transfer
War memorial in church. Tidy
Memorial wreaths and British Legion donation
Date of future meetings: 2023: 24 Oct 28 Nov. 2024: 23 Jan, 5 Mar, 23 Apr, 28 May, 16 July,12 Sept,
22 Oct, 26 Nov
Meeting Closed at 21:13