Minutes of Barrowby Parish Council Held in the Reading Room on Monday 03/08/09

Minutes of Barrowby Parish Council held in The Reading Room on Monday 03/08/09

Open Session- 6.15.pm.

Mr. Chapman was present on behalf of the Gardeners’ Assoc. in support of the request for more land for the allotments. Rae Yuille & Mr. Sanderson were also present on behalf of the Low Road residents. It was questioned as to why all the barriers to Lowfield weren’t kept locked at night. It appeared only the outside one was locked & Mr. Cragg pointed out that all the barriers should be locked as other users of the road had access to the outside barrier & if they left it open, Lowfield would be vulnerable to travellers etc. There had also been some rubbish tipped by someone accessing Lowfield while the barrier was unlocked. Ms. Yuille enquired of the P.C. why there had been no further meeting with the ‘residents’, as she had understood that was to be arranged & were the costs attributed to Lowfield available to view. Mrs. Bosworth replied that as there were no further developments at the moment, there was nothing to report/discuss. A meeting could take place when information regarding the proposed changes to the access road were approved by SKDC planning. Mrs. Bosworth went on to say that the delay had been brought about by the objections from Low Road residents. She stated that all accounts were available to view by appointment with the Clerk. Mrs. Bosworth also pointed out that all the money used by the P.C. for the pavilion and anything attributed to that building & it’s surrounding areas, was from the sale of land and not from the precepts (Council Tax).

Main meeting @ 6.30.pm.

1) Chairman’s Remarks

Mrs. Bosworth wished to apologise to Barrowby parishioners on behalf of the P.C. for the disturbing anonymous leaflet that had been distributed around the village (discussed at the last meeting). As it had contained totally incorrect information concerning the use of Lowfield, which had upset many Barrowby residents. She went on to say that legal advice was being sought about this type of propaganda. Various Councillors reported that residents had approached them stating their concerns about this leaflet and that they were very distrustful of unsigned correspondence. Mrs. Bosworth went on to say she hoped that this issue had now been settled.

2a)Present

In the Chair Mrs. P. Bosworth, Mr. L. Cragg, Mrs. G. Harrison, Mr. K. Harrison, Mr. D. Markham, Mr. B. Harper, Mrs. P. Harrison, Mr. R. Cross, Mr. P. Cupit, Mrs. R. Sleaford, & Mrs. B. Whittle .

b)Apologies

None.

3)Declarations of Interest

Mr. D. Markham for Item 11.

4)Approval of Minutes

Minutes of 06/07/09 & 29/06/09 were approved & signed.

5)Clerk’s Report

• Clerk read out letter from Hannah Bond of SKDC planning dept. confirming that the ‘change of use’ was only to the ‘marked/shaded’ area of the pavilion outlined on the drawing. The rest of the surrounding area & ground would remain a D.2 status.
• Clerk read out a letter from L.C.C. legal dept. stating their authorisation for the pre-school to use the small piece of access road from The Drift to Lowfield, as they considered this organisation to be classed as recreational & therefore not in breach of the contract.

(copies of the last two letters to be sent to Rae Yuille).Mr. Cupit pointed out that as LCC considered the pre-school to be recreational what was stopping them using the whole of the pavilion. Mrs. Bosworth pointed out that the P.C. would not give consent to that. Mr. Markham stated ‘the change of use’ seemed to be a pointless requirement when taking on board the comments from LCC.

• Clerk produced one entry for the ‘poster against dog fouling’. This was from a pupil called Holly who attended BarrowbySchool. It was felt she should be rewarded for her effort with a prize. Mrs. Sleaford proposed a voucher for £25.00 & Mrs. Whittle seconded, all in favour. Clerk would seek permission from the school & her parents, to use the poster. Clerk would contact Kate Waghorn.
• Clerk had received an Email from Longhursts stating the replacement fence would be erected in the pony paddock on 29/07/09. Mrs. Bosworth reported that she had been to look but could not see that it had been done. Clerk would contact Cathy Aljohari.
• B.T. had sent details of maintenance of telephone kiosk now that the P.C. owned it. It was felt that it should be made secure to stop it being vandalised. Clerk to contact Woodland Site Services about a lock for the kiosk. Email Central Networks again re. the power supply.
• Clerk suggested that the window cleaner should clean the inside windows of The Reading Room as they had not been done for a long while. Council agreed and Mrs. Sleaford asked if he could also clean the large mirror as well.
• Clerk reported she had spoken to John Earth at Chattertons about the proposal made to the P.C. by Nigel Jones, that there could be an agreement drawn up which would protect the Lowfield from ever being used for anything other than sport & recreation. Mr. Earth had assured the Clerk that there was no such binding document and he recommended that the agreement already in place was as good as anything else that was available. No one could guarantee what would happen in years to come. Mrs. Bosworth asked the Clerk to send a transcript of this conversation to Nigel Jones.
• Clerk mentioned that the Minutes & Agenda for the next meeting would be delivered earlier than usual as she would be on holiday. The expenses would have to be given at the meeting.

6)Expenses

Clerk’s Salary (August) / £371.00
Clerk’s expenses (postage, stationary, internet & sundries) / £36.47
W. F. Bosworth (maint/repair fence cemetery / grass clean/bus shelter repair) / £126.00
S. Jex (window cleaner) / £9.00
E.on (electricity for pavilion - to be reimbursed by pavilion committee) / £111.39
CDHSafety (H & S inspection fee) / £360.00
V. J. Smith (caretaker fee July 5wks. ) / £265.22
In Out & About (community clean July) / £46.00
SKDC (agreed monthly payment for business tax) / £96.00
British Gas (gas R/room) / £220.19
P. E. Hempstead (grass cutting June) / £595.01
British Gas (gas for pavilion - to be reimbursed by pavilion committee) / £265.79
Total / £2,502.07

Lowfield Account

Sporty-Co (Cricket Club score board re. Grant money) -£3503.59

7a)Planning (New)

• Mrs. P. Rai, P R Property Developments Ltd., ‘Highgate’, Church St. - Outline Planning - erection of 3 No. dwellings - Concerns were stated by the P.C. about the access onto Church St. which already experiences fairly heavy traffic re. the situation of the school.
• Dr. Higgins, ‘Innisfree’, Church St. - proposed garden room, breakfast room & cloakroom to rear - Householder Dev. - No objections.
• Mr. N. Smith, Casthorpe House Farm, Casthorpe - Full Planning - change of use of attached store area & detached barn to office & holiday accom. - No objections.
• As above - Listed Building Consent. - No objections.
• Poplar Farm, Barrowby Road, Grantham - Outline Permission for residential, community facilities, public open space, sports pitch, railway bridge, roads & ancillary works. - OL Environmental Impact Assessment. - No comments.

(NB. All of the above were assessed for comment on 20/7/09 in the presence of Mrs. P. Bosworth, Mr. L. Cragg, Mrs. R. Sleaford, Mrs. B. Whittle, Mr. B. Harper, Mr. P. Cupit, Mr. K. Harrison & Mrs. G. Harrison.)

1. Mr. & Mrs. D. Soloman, ‘Manor House’, 19 High Road - erection of extension to front of dwelling - Householder Dev. - no objections.

b)Planning (Update)-

• Mrs. Thurlow, 21 The Drift - approved conditionally.
• Mr. & Mrs. F. Whitworth, 2 Reedings Close - approved conditionally.
• Proposed erection of dwellings @ The White House, Casthorpe Rd. - to go before planning committee on 4thAugust 09.

8)Reappraisal of Clerk’s workload.

Clerk handed out copies of the original job description when she started approx. 5 years ago. Also copies of the job description as it stood at the moment plus approx. hours over a month. She stated once again she was happy to carry on with the main duties even though hours were more but wished that the end of year accounts to be handed over for completion for audit by Streets (Accountants). Mr. Hubbard had been unable to come to the meeting as arranged, he would have been able to give an appraisal of the work required and a figure to carry that out. Clerk to ask him to attend next meeting. Mrs. Bosworth stated that she felt this request from the Clerk was not unreasonable as the work load had increased considerably in the past couple of years and she proposed to accept the Clerk’s request. Mr. Cross said he felt it should be accepted in principle but reserved till a quote from Streets had been acquired. Mrs. Whittle seconded on that understanding, vote 8 for, 3 abstained, proposal carried.

9)Health & Safety

Burial Ground - The pond in far corner is full of debris & needs a new ‘warning’ sign against possible deep water. (this had been reported previously) Mr. Cross proposed a site meeting with Mr. Handley to ascertain his recommendation to solving the problem. Mrs. G. Harrison seconded, all in favour. Clerk to contact him.

Reading Room - fire extinguisher in main room had been missed when AllSecure had made their annual check. Clerk to contact them.

Mr. Handley had carried out a survey with regard to the request for staggered barriers Leys Close/Reedings Road walkway. His report was favourable for the barriers re. the incident where a child was hurt. Mrs. P. Harrison pointed out that the boy had been cycling not running as stated in Mr. Handley‘s report. Clerk would correct that item & send the report to Highways.

Mr. Markham commented that there had been no correspondence to Mr. Kendal (H & S consultant) since the P.C.’s meeting with him. Mrs. Bosworth stated that there should be further discussion before replying to him. Mr. Cupit said he did not think it advisable to be party to Mr. Kendal’s suggestion of the P.C. being involved with safety checks, as it would place them in a very vulnerable position re. the insurance. Mrs. Bosworth agreed that it was too much of a responsibility to take on and it was agreed by Council to decline Mr. Kendal’s recommendation. Clerk would write to him.

10)Pavilion

Clerk produced the water rates for the pavilion as she was unsure who would be responsible for paying. Mr. Harper informed the P.C. that the pavilion committee would pay. Mr. Harper queried the fact that Charter were being paid by the P.C. he felt it should be the contractor’s responsibility as it was a guarantee issue. It was pointed out by the Clerk that misuse of the shutters (i.e. the shutters had been brought down onto an open door) cancelled out claiming on the guarantee. Mrs. Bosworth agreed and stated that payment should be made and put it down to experience not to let it happen again. Mr. Cragg suggested that Mr. Harper should look at the manual for the use of the shutters, as he felt it would be clear that all doors should be checked before closure was initiated. Mr. Harper reported that Mr. Poore would finish as caretaker at the end of August; a cleaning service had been arranged saving approx. £1000.00 per year. After the meeting with Mr. Sibthorpe that morning it had been decided to recommend changing the top car park surface to wood bark & the bottom car park was to be raked clear of rough stones between the two barriers as a continuation of the road. The road itself would be infilled with soil and rolled. This to be done at least twice with a mixture of grass seed. Environmental Health were against a chicane effect on the access road as ‘stop- start’ would cause more noise. Mr. Cragg stated he felt that as SKDC had given their approval originally, it was their responsibility that it wasn’t acceptable now. Mr. Harper informed the P.C. that Linda Lukies would receive a letter re. the rental rate @ £4.00 per sq. ft. plus 5/7ths of costs per year, also extra for the holiday club. He would be having a meeting with her on Wednesday morning. Mrs. Bosworth felt that a reduction should be made for the fact that they do all their own cleaning. Mr. Harper disagreed.

It was felt that the land at the rear of the pavilion could be utilised in some way & any suggestions would be welcome. Mr. Cross said that Grantham Archery Club had lost their venue perhaps they might be interested. Mrs. Bosworth replied that the grass needed attention there & asked the Clerk to contact Hempstead for a price to deal with it. Mr. Cragg reported that the rubbish from the tree cutting was still on Lowfield. Mr. Markham agreed that the Allotment Committee would clear it away.

11)Allotment - roadway.

Mr. Markham reported that the pot holes at the entrance were in need of repair and stated that the Society could make a contribution. It was decided that it would be discussed again when Mr. Markham had produced some quotes for the work to be carried out. He mentioned the fact that the Society had been advised to take out Public Liability as they were not covered for any work that they might do for the P.C. unless it was classed as voluntary. He also asked if there was a possibility of a purchase of a strimmer for the purpose of keeping the extremities tidy. Mrs. G. Harrison replied that she had one for sale that had hardly been used. This would be discussed at the next meeting after Mr. Markham had tried it for suitability. He also asked if there would be a possibility of the P.C. releasing any land for more allotments as there was now a waiting list building up. The pony paddock was suggested but Mrs. Bosworth pointed out that the rent for that at the moment was a more viable proposition.

12)Correspondence

• Letter from Mrs. I. Douse (her disgust at the leaflet that had been distributed re. Lowfields)
• Free trees for Communities. (Mrs. Bosworth to deal with this).
• East Midland Regional Plan (Partial Review)
• Finals List for BKV Comp.
• Letter from SKDC re. Private Sector Housing Stock Condition Survey.
• Letter from L.C.C. re. ‘Useful Stuff Handbook’.
• Lincs. Playing Fields Update.

13)Date of next meeting- 7th. September 2009.

14)AOB

Mrs. Sleaford asked if there had been anything done about the problem with the standing water near the bridge on The Drift at Harlaxton. Mr. Cragg said he thought it was probably a blocked storm drain. Clerk to ring Harlaxton Parish Clerk. Mr. Cupit reported fly tipping (re. tree cuttings in large quantity) on the A1 slip road. Clerk to contact Highways. The willow tree on The Willows requires pruning. Clerk to contact SKDC. No. 17 High Road, their hedge requires cutting back as it is encroaching onto pedestrians. Clerk to write. Mrs. G. Harrison reported she had been asked if anything can be done about all the parking around the Post Office area. Mrs. Bosworth replied that it was an on going problem that parking in the village was causing difficulties. Mrs. Harrison also asked if the trees over the High Road bus shelter could be cut back. Clerk to deal with this. Mr. Harper reported a street light was out on Low Road.

Meeting closed @ 10.pm..