Tallington
Annual Parish Meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9th May 2017 in the village hall at 7:00pm. The Meeting will receive reports from the Parish Council (see below) the Village Hall & Playing Field Association, Herons Trust, the Neighbourhood Watch and our District and County Councillors, and there will be the opportunity to raise any issue of concern to the village.
Parish Council’s Report to the Annual Parish Meeting
Tallington Annual Parish Meeting: Parish Council Report1
Introduction
The Council aims to make the village a good place in which to live, with a healthy and safe environment, and pleasant and peaceful surroundings. This report summarises the way the Council has tried to achieve this in the past 12 months.
PARISH PLAN
The Council continue to monitor the conclusions in the parish plan and where possible implement improvements in the village.
Village COMMUNITY
The Council continues to be impressed with the good community spirit in the village engendered in part by the activities in and around the village hall. The Council is grateful to the Committee of the Village Hall and Playing Field Association for maintaining the village hall and playing field.
The Council has taken responsibility for insuring the village hall, playing field and play equipment. The Council are grateful to theVillage Hall and Playing Field Association for reimbursing the Council the insurance premium.
During the year the Council gave £500 to the Church to help maintain the graveyard.
CRIME
The Council is grateful to the Neighbourhood Watch coordinators. Tallington continues to enjoy a low crime rate.
VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT
A continuing theme that repeats in the Parish Plan is “to encourage further social cohesion and friendly community spirit”. We are pleased to see that theVillage Hall and Playing Field Association continue to arrange themed social evenings on the last Friday in each month. They are generally well attended and residents meet in an informal and friendly atmosphere. Parish Councillors attend when possible.
News letters
The Council continue to issue newsletters to all households in the village. We received positive feedback regarding the content of the newsletters and we intend to issue further news letters as and when necessary.
We have a good relationship with the “Mercury” newspaper and generally they print our meeting minutes and press releases, especially those relating to the crossing closure.
We also use the church “Towers and Spires magazine to publish our minutes and articles.
One way or another we try to get our message across.
Millennium Green
The Council continuesto maintain the green and its footpaths by cutting the grass at intervals and endeavouring to keep the weeds and grass from encroaching onto the footpaths.
Dog fouling
This continues to be a problemin certainareas of the village. The police andSKDCare aware of the problem.
We have responded to residents concerns and installed an additional “dog fouling bin” on Millennium Green. Our Community Cleaner has agreed to empty the bins on a weekly basis. We will monitor the situation before considering further bins.
Public Footpaths and Trees
The public footpath on Millennium Green has been repaired by Lincs CC. The large ash tree on Millennium Green may require felling in the coming year.
Speeding in the village
The speed of traffic(especially along Main RoadandBainton Road) continues to be a causeforconcern.The police are aware of this problem. We have purchased passive speed indication signs and an active speed indication sign (approx cost £2,000 excluding VAT). These signs will be installed on lampposts in the village in the very near future. We are grateful to The Herons Trust and the Village Hall Committee for providing grants for the purchase of these signs.
Fast or Superfast Broadband
Fast or Superfast broadband has now arrived in the village via a green cabinet in Bainton Road as “fibre to the cabinet” from BT. We are aware that probably 150 houses will receive this vastly improved service from BT. The remaining properties should receive an improved service.
“Gigaclear” has received a significant number of acceptances from residents for a combined telephone and broadband service but this has not yet arrived in Tallington.
The service agreement for wifi in the village hall has expired and we are currently exploring whether it is viable to provide the service via an alternative service provider.
Bypassing the railway crossing
Bypassing the level crossing continues to be the aspiration of many in and around the village.
The Council has taken a very active role in discussions and meetings with Network Rail and their consultants during the year.
Network Rail arrived at their “preferred route”. This route comprised a new highway behind the Jet filling station, a bridge over the railway and a new road turning left behind Searson Close and entering Main Road via the field next to The Manor House.
This route was not acceptable to the majority of residents and a significant number of adverse comments were submitted to Network Rail.
With the change of government in May 2015 a period of inactivity by Network Rail followed. And we were subsequently informed in August 2015 that the programme of closing all crossings on the East Coast Line was cancelled for the period 2013 to 2018, Control Period 5.
The Council have contacted Network Rail to establish whether crossing closures will occur in the period 2019 to 2024, Control Period 6 and have received the following statement:
“Network Rail are currently conducting a Route Study which is assessing the strategic needs for the East Coast Main Line over the next 30 years. …….. The Route Study will be identifying a range of options improving the ECML – including among other things raising line speeds and upgrading or removing level crossings…….. The Route Study should be published around spring 2017……… The “Initial Industry Plan” for Control Period 6 includes proposals for level crossing closures in the next Control Period 6 starting April 2019”
This is an abbreviated version of an e mail received on 30 March 2016. A full version of the e mail can be provided.
As soon as there are any significant developments the Council will circulate information to all residents.
Cleanliness of the village
Our Community Cleaner continues to do a grand job keeping our village free of litter etc.
Defibrillator
The Council have obtained a defibrillator and this will be installed at the village hall in the near future. Eight volunteers are being sought to be trained in the use of the unit.
Development/planning applications
8 new Planning Applications have been received in the last 12 months. The Council currently does not know of any significant new developments in the village.
Council Finance & Administration
As noted above, the Council made grants of£500 to the Church to help maintain the graveyard. As summarised in the accounts at the end of this report, the Council’s other expenditure related mainly to the insurances that the Council must carry, the subscription to the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (which is an invaluable source of advice to parish councils) and other necessary administrative expenses adopted for 2016/2017.
The Council and its Meetings
The Council currently has seven councillors and it met 6 times during the year. Attendance was good and, normally, several residents also attended. Wendy Gray continues to act as Parish Clerk in an efficient and professional manner. The Council also appreciated the regular attendance and wise advice of County Councillor, Martin Trollope-Bellew, and District Councillors Rosemary Woolley and Kelham Cooke.
Website
The Council maintained its website at ( to improve communication with residents, using free arrangements offered by Lincs CC to parish councils. It is now being updated regularly. Usage figures suggest the site is being used, but as always the Council would welcome feedback and suggestions for improvements.
Geoff Mayling Wendy Gray
ChairmanClerk
for and on behalf of the Council
06 May 2017
Tallington Annual Parish Meeting: Parish Council Report1
Summary of receipts and payments 2015/2016
Receipts / Other AccountsPrecept / £4,491.00 / NS&I
Interest on reserves / £473.29 / Balance: £3,055.61
Refund of VAT / £777.40
Community Cleaner / £748.80 / Lloyds Fixed Term Deposit (3 years)
LALC – Transparency Fund / £590.00 / Balance: £29,500.00
Insurance contribution from Village Hall / £231.08
£7,311.57
Payments
St Lawrence Graveyard Grant 2015/16, 2016/17 / £1,000.00
Community Cleaner / £757.20
LALC Affiliation Fee/Training / £173.91
Maintenance ofMillennium Green / £600.00
Clerk’s salary / £1,890.00
Clerks Expenses / £382.35
Wifi and broadband for Village Hall / £44.95
Insurance / £871.83
Audit fee – Internal/External 2015 / £100.00
Misc – Printing/Nibbles re Church Mtg / £27.00
Dog Bins (Black Sacks) / £36.07
Laptop/Printer (Transparency) / £702.83
Speed Signage (brackets) / £37.73
Total payments / £6,623.87
Excess payments over receipts / Nil
Tallington Annual Parish Meeting: Parish Council Report1
In this report “Council” means Tallington Parish Council; “SKDC” means South Kesteven District Council; and “Lincs CC” means Lincolnshire County Council.