Chairman’s Annual Report
At our Annual Parish Meeting held at the primary School on 9th May our Chairman, Councillor Mike King gave his annual report as follows:
“The past 12 months have seen steady progress in the affairs of the Parish Council and in maintaining and improving the village. This is despite the Council being beset by the problems caused by the previous Parish Clerk. We appointed a new Clerk, Michelle Free, in September and we are extremely grateful to her for the extra work she has had to put into the aftermath of this affair.
We have continued to be involved in planning applications in the village and 2015’s spate of planning applications has resulted in permissions for some 75 homes in the village which could take us to 100 if the remaining northern part of Grimer’s Yard is permitted for new housing. We have been concerned about flooding in the northern part of the village in particular and we instigated a Section 19 report under the Water Management Act 2010 after two homes in West Road flooded in May 2015. As a result the 11 new flats in West Road which are nearing completion have all sustainable soak away drainage (SUDS) of surface water which should minimise pressure on our old drains. We have also influenced the detailed design of these new homes.
A new Local Plan is being prepared for South Kesteven through to 2031. In our early comments we have given the view that the village has enough extant and likely housing permissions on brown field land without extending into surrounding green areas. We have lost one of our two pubs although a great job has been made in restoring it for residential use. Hopefully the Local Plan policies will be strong enough to ensure our last pub, the Fortescue Arms , remains.
Connectivity. We have at last seen supposedly ‘super-fast’ broadband connected to the whole village although many of us are finding that that the internet speeds are no faster. Some pressure from us may have helped resolve the problem of poor mobile phone signals for around six months. Strangely and positively the appearance of more buses in the village has defied expectation. We now need some bus stops!
Campaign –wise the Council, along with our District Councillor, played a big part in objecting to the apparent plans of the Environment Agency to not replace the pumps at Boston which control the water levels in the Forty Foot Drain. There were many local objections made to the so-called ‘options’. Sadly there seems to be no positive investment solution and the matter has been ‘kicked into the long grass’ represented by a new Lincolnshire committee with no local representation.
We have made minor improvements around the village with tree and shrub planting and continuously pressed the County and District Councils to carry out repairs to paths and street lights. Our Community Cleaner continues to do an excellent job in keeping the village tidy. By and large the problem of dog mess is far less widespread. However this is let down by a small number of persistent offenders in known and watched locations including the Recreation Ground. We have been appalled by the quantities of dog faeces deposited in the children’s play area. We are working to resolve this problem with the District Council but it is not easy and the co-operation of the whole village is needed to report offenders.
Some of our projects have been delayed and affected by the problems with our previous Parish Clerk. We have caught up and can report good progress on a number of items.
We have purchased a mobile speed detector which can be moved between sites in the village and we can report the digital recordings to the Police. We may make further investment in speed detectors subject to being satisfied about their working effectiveness.
New picnic benches have been purchased for the Recreation Ground and we are just waiting for a working party of volunteers to assemble them, thus saving money.
I am pleased to announce that our grant application to South Kesteven’s new Community Fund has been successful and we are getting some £9,000 towards the cost of new children’s play equipment for 5 to 14 year olds. This project should commence shortly.
Our largest project – the purchase and recreational use of the playing field area of the former Aveland Secondary School on Birthorpe Road is proceeding well. We believe we are on track for the infrastructure works, including the access road and car park to be completed this summer. However the critical path still remains the red tape of the negotiations between the County Council and the Secretary of State for Education and the Crown Estate to free the land up for the sale to us.
A new Billingborough Allotments and Gardening Association has been set up with a lot of enthusiasm about preparing and running up to 30 new allotments. At the same time we are making progress with discussions on the use of the remaining playing pitches by local football teams.
All in all I believe the Parish Council achieves a great deal in the village considering that its income from our 650 homes remains at only £13,000 a year. Much of this is due to the time and volunteering effort of the parish councillors and other villagers. I also believe that we have entered the new financial year stronger in respect of our financial and other systems. Many of the rules applying to bigger Councils also apply to us so this is a challenging requirement considering our limited resources. I would like to thank everyone involved.”
Would you like an allotment?
Hopefully our new allotments will be ready for preparation later this year with a full growing season ahead next Spring. Anyone interested can now contact the Secretary of the new Billingborough Allotments and Gardening Association, Judith Tweddle on tel240850 or mobile 07946 373632.
Reporting dog poo
You can help keep the village clean by reporting dog poo by scanning this QR code with your mobile phone. This takes you directly to the South Kesteven District Council website.
Parish Councillor Vacancy
We have a vacancy for one parish councillor. If you are interested please write to the Parish Clerk by e mail or letter by 13th June. Michelle Free’s contact details are below and in addition her address is 4 Blasson Way.
Please include your background, relevant experience and why you want to do this voluntary job in the community.
The vacancy is due to the resignation of Councillor Andy Bain because of work commitments and we thank him for his input over the past year.
Contact Us
Our Parish Clerk, Michelle Free, is our first point of contact. She can be contacted by e mail or on our dedicated phone 07415 842591.
Parish Councillors
Our Parish Councillors are: Mike King (chairman) 241005; Bob Free (vice chairman) 07833 431377; Margaret Cummings 240128; John North 241034; Peter Pocock MBE 240837; Roger Stafford 240136; Matt Peace 07940 073793; Paul Jepson 240448
The next Parish Council meeting will be:
On Monday 4th Julyat the Primary School. There will be a public forum at 6.50pm at which any resident can ask questions or put forward proposals. This will be followed by the main meeting of the Council at 7.00pm or when the public forum is finished. Anyone can attend the main meeting but will not be able to speak.