Hoby with Rotherby Parish Council
Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 4th July 2016
7.30pm at Hoby and District Village Hall.
Present:
Cllr. Mary Dunford (MD), Cllr. Nicola Wheeler (Chair) (NW), Cllr. Mike Tilling (MT), Cllr. David Williams (DW), Cllr. Angus Walker, Cllr. Joe Orson (LCC), Tree and Heritage Wardens Mr Garry and Mrs Candice Barker and Mr Vic Allsop (VA) – Clerk and 12 members of the public.
Apologies:
Cllr. Ed Hutchison (Borough Councillor).
1. Cllr Nicola Wheeler welcomed everyone to the Meeting.
2. Declarations of interest (personal and/or pecuniary). Cllr Angus Walker identified an interest he had in relation to the NDP.
3. Cllr. Nicola Wheeler introduced a session of open questions. No items.
4. Matters arising:
4.1 Wild Flower Verge, parking and signage. It was agreed to get quotes for two signs one at either end of the verge and for a single sign. A letter will also be produced for Brooksby Road residents with regard to parking on the verge. Action VA
4.2 Outstanding calls with the Highways Dept were confirmed as the drain at Ragdale 9496572 and the drains at Rotherby 9499462. A pot hole on the Thrussington Road near the Mill Lane turning was to be reported. Action VA
4.3 The new notice board for Rotherby was to be delivered shortly. Action VA
4.4 Quotes for restoration work to the Rotherby Pump still outstanding. Action VA
4.5 Brooksby Level Crossing had been reported to Network Rail call 6060700208. An inspection by Network Rail had taken place, they have closed the call identifying no further action.
4.6 The Lane at Rotherby. Grass cutting is still to be looked at. This has been missed off the list of late. Call with LCC 9502628. Action VA
4.7 Bin at Brooksby has not yet been refixed. MBC have agreed to do this at a cost of £75 to the Parish Council Action MBC
4.8 Night lighting at the College, as of yet to be identified what they do and what alterations have been made. Action NW and Brooksby Melton College.
4.9 Contact with Leicester City Council about a local group being able to clean out the pond was still to be confirmed. To be followed up. If this was not possible LCC to be asked to do the work. The pond area is particularly overgrown with bushes over hanging the pavement. Action VA.
4.10 Night Time savings to the street lighting in the parish had not been implemented and the Parish Council were to investigate about what had happened. Action VA.
5. Finance Matters:
5.1. The accounts for 2015/16 were now with Grant Thornton.
5.2. The Councillors received a financial update to the beginning of June.
5.3. Invoices paid since the last meeting were shared.
5.4. The Asset register will be reviewed during the remainder of the financial year. Action VA.
5.5. The Santander accounts relating to the Play Area are in the process of being closed with monies being transferred to the Parish Council. Action VA
5.6. It was agreed that a new account be opened for the Light Source Fund monies in particular to get a better rate of interest than was currently being achieved. Action VA.
6. Planning Applications:
6.1. Planning applications since the last meeting were shared with Councillors and the public.
· Councillors had been in discussion with the applicant and neighbours of 58 Main Street, Hoby where a rear extension to the dwelling was being proposed. This application has now been approved by MBC
· Application from The Grange, 50 Main Street. Cllrs were concerned that Archway Cottage was to be rendered, and had expressed their reservations about this to MBC.
· Still nothing had been heard about the Brooksby Spinney Campus application since it was deferred last December.
6.2. The B&Q Lorry parked at The Homestead.
· It was still hoped that the lorry would be removed from the village. It was also noted that Local Enforcement could become a responsibility of the Parish Council working with MBC. A meeting with MBC had yet to be arranged. Action NW and VA
· It was also noted that the footpath (running across The Homestead) had become overgrown the land was owned by the same person. This is to be followed up with LCC and the owner. Action NW and VA
6.3. SHLAA Potential Development Sites Proposal Form. MBC had received notification for land (0.9ha) West of Holmfield and off the Thrussington Road in Hoby for a small development of five dwellings to the rear of the site. MBC determination expected in the autumn. The comments of the Parish Council have been submitted.
7. Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP)
7.1 Cllr Angus Walker gave an update to Cllrs. The Working Group was now in place and regular monthly meetings have now been set. The next meeting will have a speaker talking about Rural Housing needs and there will be a chance to identify key milestones and to prepare a time plan. ‘Drop In’ sessions and a meeting with Stakeholders is also planned. The Working Group next meets on July 5th.
7.2 The Melton Local Plan Emerging Options (Draft Plan) has concluded its consultation and the next document is awaited.
7.3 It was reported that Thrussington Parish Council launched their NDP on Saturday 2nd July at an event in the Village Hall.
8. A meeting with 2Commune Ltd has been arranged to take place on July 11th 10am at the Community Computer. This will provide training for the Clerk and for Terry Fleming and Tony Geary. The process of transferring data from the old site to the new one can then start. The LCC site will be closed on 31st August, by which time all data required will need to have been moved. Action VA TF and AG
9. Superfast Broadband. Cllr Mary Dunford reported on a meeting she had attended at Grimston. The arrival of this for our own villages is expected to be 2017 (sometime). We needed to be better informed on this and it was agreed that Cllr Jo Orson (LCC) would look into this for us.
10. Play Area.
· The swings had arrived and had been fixed in place.
· Play equipment had been repaired.
· The bark required for the play area had been delivered and put in place. The site was much improved.
· As mentioned the Santander accounts were being closed and monies transferred to the Parish Council Account.
· It was agreed to follow up a possibility of obtaining a grant from Awards for All to obtain further equipment. The picnic tables needed replacing. Action VA
· The RoSPA report had been received and all was now in order.
· The Log Book was checked and found to be in order.
· John Hendy was thanked for the work he had carried out with this project on behalf of the Parish Council.
11. E-ON deemed account. A fixed contract with E-On was not viable for a Parish Council of our size. Only savings can be made by looking at migrating to LED street lighting, which can provide savings on energy, carbon and maintenance costs. Councillors agreed that the next light failure should be switched to LED and that we should then identify the cost to us of migrating over through a replacement of failed lights, this is thought to be between 4 and 6 lights a year. Action VA
12. Correspondence. The Parish Council had received an invitation to an event being organised by Melton and Oakham Waterways Society. It was thought that none of the Cllrs would be available to attend.
13. Date of next meeting:
· September 19th 2016 (to also discuss any Lightsource applications).
· November 28th 2016 set budget for 2017/18
· All meetings on a Monday and all starting at 7.30pm at Hoby and District Village Hall.
14. With there being no other business Cllr. Nicola Wheeler closed the meeting at 8.40pm thanking everyone for their attendance.
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