SKELLINGTHORPE PARISH COUNCIL
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 12th April 2011 at St Lawrence’s Church, Lower Church Road, Skellingthorpe @ 7.30pm.
Present: Cllrs Billinghurst (Chairman) Cllr Bennett, Goldson, Mrs Flint, Richardson, Gant, Mrs Chambers, Waller, Jackman, Barnett and Mrs Hall, Lincolnshire County Cllr Shore (attending another meeting and will arrive later), and 28 members of the public. Alan Brown Area Highways Manager & Kyra Nettle LCC Highways. PCSO Chris Boyle.
1. Apologies.
Apologies were received from PCSO Brooker, PC Truelove, WI, Lincolnshire Libraries, Rainbow 2nd unit, Derek Edge, Ian Fytche Chief Exec NKDC, Bowls Club.
2. Notes of the last Annual Parish meeting held on 20th April 2010 to be received and approved to become the minutes of that meeting.
The Clerk’s notes of the meeting held on 20th April 2010 were approved as an accurate record of the business conducted at that meeting. Proposed by Jim Bennett, seconded by Marion Seviour and unanimously approved by those present at the meeting. Cllr Billinghurst as chairman of the meeting signed the minutes subject to one amendment to the Bowls Club report. There had been a member of the Bowls Club present at last year’s meeting but their report had been read by the Clerk. The minutes were amended.
3. Police Report
PCSO Boyle gave the police report. There had been a total of 84 crimes for the year. There had been 5 crimes since the last report given at the Parish Council meeting at the end of March which included 3 burglaries, one entry into an unsecured property and the theft of cycle. The issue of anti social behaviour is a priority for the next 3 months for the police community beat team as requested at the last meeting of the policing panel. People witnessing activities were asked to report incidents as they are happening so that the police can apprehend the offenders in the act. Ring 0300 111 0300 to report incidents. The contact numbers for the Beat Team will be publicised in the Chatterbox again.
The Chairman of the meeting advised PCSO Boyle that the Parish Council was pleased to see police patrolling the village and special thanks were given to the police team that patrols this area.
Drink and drugs offences are being targeted with some incidents having been dealt with through the court system and others that have been cautioned. It is accepted that criminal damage and drinking and drugs may go hand in hand. There are similar problems in other villages that are surrounding Skellingthorpe and are being dealt with on a daily basis.
A boxing club has been started in Witham St Hughes with 48 children attending and PCSO Boyle indicated that it could be extended to Skellingthorpe if it is believed that there is a need for it.
PCSO Boyle left at this point
4. Highways Matters
Alan Brown and Kyra Nettle of LCC Highways, were available to advise on resident’s concerns in relation to Highways/Traffic matters.
Alan made some comments on the last 12 months. It had been an interesting and difficult year with the changeover in contractors from Ringrose to May Gurney. The first few months of the year were problematical especially in the grasscutting area. It has now settled down and the first cut of season has been carried out.
From 29th November 2010 to 5th Jan 2011 the emphasis was on gritting and snow clearance and then when the thaw came there were lots of potholes so all resources were thrown into potholing.
Budget cuts have been difficult and it has been problematical for the contractor who has not known what his budget for the next 5 years would be. Budgets are now back to where they were last year but with no increase so Highways have managed to accommodate that although they have lost some staff resources. The work to complete the second half of Gardenfield is to be carried out and some resurfacing and patching is in hand for Saxilby Road and Jerusalem road. The work will be carried out over a two year timetable with patching to be done first and the resurfacing to be carried out later.
Some questions about Highways matters were raised by Parishioners.
Mr Brown advised that the dualling of the trunk road is Government maintained through the Highways Agency. The decision of the central government is that the development of the Teal Park site and the small area of the bypass that is to be dualled is only to be carried out at the expense of the developer. The modification to the Whisby Road Junction has been dealt with urgently and as part of the development as it is recognised as being a major problem.
The issue of large articulated vehicles travelling down the High Street which is not suitable for that sort of traffic was raised. As there has been a new and recent application for expansion of the abattoir , Highways were looking to obtain a condition through the planning process for reinstatement of Ferry Lane and also a planning condition restricting the routing agreement for delivery vehicles to the site has been submitted to and approved in writing by the district planning authority in consultation with the highway authority. Enforcement will be a planning enforcement matter. The agreement is currently being written by the legal section. Mr Brown advised that it is not possible to have a weight restriction because the village has a business usage and some larger vehicles will have a legitimate reason for using the village. It is very difficult to enforce a weight restriction as it would be so difficult to prove that the heavy vehicles didn’t have a legitimate reason for driving through the village.
Mr Brown advised that Lincolnshire has a real problem with HGVs throughout the county that are using roads that were never intended for vehicles of that size.
Skellingthorpe village planning group have canvassed villagers on the road safety aspect and other highways movements. The footpath on Lincoln Road to roundabout is very narrow in places and concerns have been raised about pedestrians walking the route and how close they are to the road. The suggestion from the group was that the footpath that runs from Waterloo Lane to the roundabout should be fully tarmacked but there are limited funds available. Mr Brown agreed that it would be worth adding to the list of bids to fund a footpath/cycle track along that stretch. Kyra advised that it could be a s106 agreement tied in with the possible development of the Taylor Lindsey site on Lincoln Road. Kyra has already looked at this suggestion when the Taylor Lindsey development was raised recently and both of them agreed that they supported the proposal subject to funding.
Potholes are being dealt with but the numbers are so vast that the teams are having to use a temporary repair but are carrying out more first time permanent repairs where possible.
Blacks Lane had a spillage that was covered with some oily residue that had to be removed as a matter of urgency but it was done with a limited budget as it was not possible to get the culprit to admit to having spilt the effluent.
A serious problem with the right turn at Co-op onto Jerusalem Road was reported. Mr Brown advised that a mirror at the location is not a solution. It would be difficult to resolve the issue at this location and should have been dealt with at the time the development went in. Highways will look again at the location to see if there is an easy solution to resolve the issue of poor visibility. If anyone has any ideas they were asked to feed it back to Highways through the Village Office.
A parishioner expressed grateful thanks to the Highways staff for their efforts in keeping the traffic moving and roads open over the severe period of winter weather.
Goldfinch Close has been patched this week and thanks were given to Highways for dealing with that matter.
The Highways Officers left at this point.
5. Committee Reports
The committee reports had been published in the Annual Report which had been delivered to every household in the Chatterbox magazine with spare copies available at the Village Office and Library.
Chairman of Administration and Finance Specialist Andy Gant was asked to come forward to answer questions on his report included in the Annual Report. He explained the procedure that had been undertaken in setting the precept. Lengthy discussion had taken place over several meetings with final project bids from committees being prioritised with those that were felt to be less of a priority being held back to be reconsidered in the future. There is one large item of playing equipment on order. Savings have been made on insurance and through changing to suppliers of services whose prices were more competitive. There has been a decrease in the contribution from NKDC towards the agency work the Parish Council carries out on its behalf but it had not been as severe as expected.
The Chairman of Planning Jim Bennett advised Parishioners that the Parish Council is only a consultee in the planning process and NKDC is the planning authority that makes the decisions. Whilst the Parish Council responds to each application it receives, the Parish Council comments and objections are not always upheld by the District Council. Lincoln Road is an extant permission and the development can still be carried out although concerns have been expressed by the Parish and District Councillors over the infrastructure’s ability to cope with a development of this size. All that the Parish Council can hope to achieve is to gain some better conditions as part of the approval when the development commences.
There are expected changes to the planning rules for the future but there is not much concrete fact about the proposals at this point in time.
A resident asked if the metal fence at Lincoln Road Development could be removed as it was an eyesore. The clerk reported that NKDC planning enforcement had already been asked if there is any action that they could take to persuade the developer to remove the fence but they had reported that the was no enforcement that they could impose.
Estates Management report was given by the Chairman of the committee Cllr Mrs Shirley Flint.
She reported that it had been a frustrating year with all initiatives or improvements that were planned being unviable either because of Health and Safety issues or because of anti-social behaviour and vandalism. Everything that is put in with the best of intentions is being abused and vandalised. The fence around the Pavilion has been attacked but it has reduced the level of vandalism to the Pavilion building.
The wooden playhouse that was recently installed in the play area was vandalised and had to be taken away within 7 days of its installation. A minority of children are spoiling it for the majority.
Cllr Mrs Flint advised that the answer to why the Parish Council is not doing more is for three reasons that are preventing that - funding, vandalism and Health and Safety.
Cllr Shore arrived at this point having been in attendance at another meeting earlier in the evening.
6. Chairman’s Report
Cllr Billinghurst reported that Big Society is currently in the news striving to improve the general wellbeing of communities to make them good places to live but in the case of Skellingthorpe this has been hampered by the lack of funds. Chairman was keen to improve community cohesion as there is only currently the 50/61 Squadron Memorial Service, the Services of Remembrance and the Gala weekend that bring the community together. It had been hoped that a Christmas event could have taken place last year but the lack of funding had prevented that.
The Chairman was pleased to report that the amenity grass cutting of village verges that had much improved as a result of being taken in house by the Parish Council from the County Council.
The Local Access point has been at risk because of a reduction in funding from NKDC. It is a flagship service for the village offering a ‘one stop shop’ for local council services which has been well used by parishioners and neighbouring parishes. The Parish Council has agreed to maintain the current level of service in spite of the reduction in funding from NKDC.
Cllr Billinghurst is shortly coming to the end of 2 years office and will be handing over to his successor yet to be appointed.
A parishioner asked if a litter pick could be carried out along Lincoln Road which is frequently littered by passing vehicles throwing food packaging out of vehicles. The Clerk reported that there are some Health and Safety issues for some stretches of the road that are too heavily trafficked or have no verges for litter picking to be carried out by the village handyman or the Hill Holt Wood Rangers. The Hill Holt Wood Rangers can be called upon to litter pick at ‘hot spot’ areas and to supplement the work of the village handyman/litter picker. Residents can report areas that are a problem to the office and clerks will attempt to resolve the matter if possible.
The County Councillor advised that he would ask LCC if it is possible to close Lincoln Road for a litter pick by parishioners to take place and will assist if required.
He further advised that he will continue to pursue the issues relating to highways problems and speeding vehicles through the village.
7. Community Award – to present the Community Award Rose Bowl
Cllr Billinghurst presented Marion Seviour with the award for her hard work and involvement in many aspects of the village life and for her total commitment to the Chatterbox Magazine.
Cllr Billinghurst thanked Pete’s signs for their assistance in lettering the community award board each year and LPS Woodbank Printers for printing the award’s certificates at no cost to the village.