July 2021 Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
Minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 7 July 2021 at 6.30 pm at St Peter’s Church, North Rauceby. The meeting time was brought forward one hour by earlier agreement of all councillors.
Present: Cllr M Ireland (in the Chair), Cllr B Balderston, Cllr K Colehouse, 0Cllr G Enstone, Cllr R Enstone, Cllr S Enstone, Cllr M Froggatt, Cllr J Malloch, Cllr R Wright (LCC), Cllr S Waring (NKDC) (delayed, but arrived at item 9 of the Agenda) and the Clerk, Mr I Grady. One member of the public was also present.
Public speaking time: One member of the public was present but did not ask for speaking time.
1. Apologies for Absence: Cllr S Waite.
2. To Receive any Declarations of Interest: None
3. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: None
4. To approve as a correct record the notes of the meeting held on 5 May 2021
Unanimously approved and the Chairman signed the minutes.
5. Rauceby Gigabit Project
An update was given by Cllr S. Enstone summarising his prepared document circulated to the councillors before the meeting:
Since the last meeting with Openreach on the 4th May there has continued to be regular contact:
- An updated quotation for the Ermine Street scheme has apparently been completed and an offer letter should be available shortly. The updated quotation for North and South Rauceby is still in preparation. All properties on the South Rauceby exchange are now included within the scope of the scheme with the exception of a few outlying premises. To serve them would have required a self-dig of over 1.5km which was not supported by the landowner because of the very high cost considering the limited benefit.
- The overall delay is due to the fact that UK Govt (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) has still not agreed with Openreach the terms and conditions for the new voucher scheme launched on the 1st April. Openreach has asked for confirmation that both the South Rauceby and Ancaster schemes will receive vouchers, but this has not been forthcoming. Openreach’s expectation is that this will be resolved in July, allowing progress in August/September.
- Openreach is setting up a website to capture ‘pledges’ of support to enable residents to directly confirm participation and hence speed-up the voucher claim process. Over the past weeks there have been a number of Openreach and Opal (Openreach contractor) vehicles within the village:
- The work undertaken on the Spinney’s is not connected to fibre broadband.
- Opal have recently been working along the roadside from South to North Rauceby (to the school). The Department for Education has provided funding to upgrade schools to full-fibre. Note that through installing ducting to the school, there is the potential to make the connection through to North Rauceby more easily/cheaply.
Recent Announcements: It was reported that the Openreach had confirmed 41 telephone exchanges in the East Midlands that would be upgraded to full-fibre as part of the Government’s plan to reach 85% of UK households. Both Ancaster and South Rauceby exchanges are listed which means that we will receive full-fibre at some point before Dec 2026. The advice received from the rural broadband team at Openreach is for us to continue to pursue the voucher scheme since this ensures installation within 12 months of the contract being signed. (The meeting agreed with this way forward.)
Funding: The total amount of grant funding remains consistent with previous reports. We have registrations for 148 properties in North/South Rauceby and 12 along the High Dyke, giving a total available budget (including an assumed contribution from Lincs County Council of £200 per property) of just over £375k. We will need to re-run a marketing campaign across the village to re-confirm participation.
NEXT STEPS. The Council shall:
- Continue to work with Openreach to secure a final quotation and offer.
- If the quote is less than the available grant, decide as a village whether to accept the offer and sign the contract with Openreach.
- Finalise the ducting audit in Pinfold Lane and Southgate Spinneys such that the risk of householders leaving the scheme can be assessed, and the impact on the overall grant judged. (For clarification: in this area, there are no poles, so all connections are underground. If the underground connections run in ducts, then it is straightforward to pull out the old copper cable, and replace with fibre. However, if the connection is direct buried, then the option is to either dig up the driveway, or install a pole. Both are disruptive, and hence there is a risk that householders would leave the scheme and we would lose the funding associated with that property. We are carrying out the ducting audit ourselves.)
- Given that it has been 3 months since the last communication, send out an update by mid-July explaining the current status.
- Re-launch the marketing campaign in August/early Sept to capture pledges using the Openreach web-site. This will include: explaining next steps, latest costs and practical installation implications. Only launch this communication when these points have been clarified by Openreach.
The Chairman thanked Cllr Enstone for his efforts in holding the project together.
6. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters
- NKDC: Nothing to report.
- LCC: Cllr R Wright notified the meeting that the “Fix my Street” app operated by LCC was the most efficient way of reporting road damage.
- Police: Cllr Malloch reported that police presence in the village area was likely to be reduced as the result of a reshuffling of beat areas and manning by the Force. Cllr Malloch clarified this outside the meeting as follows:
We have one full-time PCSO in Nicole Woolerton. Colin Ironmonger is a part-time, three days a week officer. Both of them work shifts so there is no guarantee when they are actually available at any particular time or day. Should Sleaford Police need to be contacted the best way is to be re-routed through 101.
7. Plans for a Parish Open Meeting
It was agreed to defer this event until May 2022 and a fixed venue can be arranged.
8. Planning Applications
New Applications (this may include applications received since the agenda was circulated)
i) 21/0964/TCA | T1 Ash - fell | 72 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QQ – No Objections by RPC
ii) 21/0871/FUL | Erection of 2 no. poultry units totalling 39,000 bird capacity (meat production) and 3 no. feed silos with associated hardstanding. | Boiling Wells Farm Grantham Road, Greylees, Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Still to be considered by Planning Committee (Action completion required by 30 July 2021)
Plans decided since the last meeting
i) 21/0302/HOUS | Erection of a rear and side extension with internal alterations to form revised living area and attached annexe accommodation. | 14 Pinfold Lane South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QE – No Objections by RPC; Approved by NKDC Planning Dept.
ii) 21/0398/HOUS | Removal of existing conservatory and replace with single storey extension for kitchen / dining space | 42 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QG. – No Objections by RPC; Approved by NKDC Planning Dept.
iii) 21/0672/TCA: G1 2 X Yew trees - reduce the trees to bring them back into line with the hedge, so it can be maintained as a hedge again. 63 Main Street, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QQ. – No objections by RPC. TPO not served.
9. Correspondence
i) The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon. Documents inviting villages to celebrate this event have been circulated to Councillors. (The link can be found here: www.queensjubileebeacons.com). This matter was discussed and it was agreed that the event should be celebrated somehow in Rauceby. The Parish Council did not feel that it should lead a village organisation of such celebrations but that perhaps an ad-hoc committee involving other Rauceby village organisations/ communities could be set up.
Action: I Grady to contact other village organisations to discuss.
ii) Standing Orders. It was thought by LALC that several Parish Councils were using Standing Orders that were out of date. Having checked the status of ours, it is not clear because in transferring the document from the LALC website to ours, all the paragraph numbering and formatting had disappeared. This needs to be checked and then verified that we are using the correct version.
Action: I Grady.
iii) Footpath. Two footpaths had been reported to the Chairman as being overgrown making the way inaccessible. Cllr Ireland spoke with the owners and the path was cleared. Item complete.
iv) Churchyard maintenance. The Chairman received correspondence regarding the overgrown state of the churchyard. This was discussed at the meeting and the following points were made:
a) The churchyard is not within the jurisdiction of the Parish Council but we make an annual donation (£450 this year) to aid its maintenance.
b) Maintenance has always be carried out by the Estate in the past but now they wish to continue this support in a more limited format.
c) The Church cannot afford to finance this work and the diocese wishes for the ground to become wilder and consequently it suggests only an annual treatment. The Parish Council points out that this may be a hazard for people visiting the graves.
Action: None at this stage other than monitor the situation and keep in touch with the church representatives.
10. Update on Outstanding Matters
i) Traffic calming measures. Councillor Malloch summarised the report he prepared and circulated to the councillors before the meeting:
a. The Parish Council must complete the Application forms along with a plan and photos of where we wish to site the gateways.
b. There must be a clearance of at least 600 mm from the road edge to the first post of the gate.
c. The Parish Council must ensure that it is insured against 3rd party claims and must employ a NRSWA accredited contractor to install the gates.
d. The Parish Council, if granted consent, must agree to uphold the County Council conditions regarding maintenance of the structure and removal of the structure if requested by the County Council at their own expense, unless such removal is necessitated by County Council roadworks.
e. The Licensee shall indemnify the County Council against all actions, proceedings, claims, costs, damages and liabilities of whatsoever nature arising from the presence of the structure within the public maintainable highway.
f. The Licensee must obtain public liability insurance for an indemnity of not less than £5 million to cover all liabilities that may arise under the Letter of Consent.
Action: I Grady to investigate items (c) and (f)
Cllr Malloch explained that the best price he had obtained for the purchase and installation of the gates was in the order of £800 in total.
It was considered that the Estate should be notified of the progress and asked for their opinion, given that they voluntarily look after the verge maintenance.
Action: Cllr J Malloch
In addition, a proposal to fix a “Please Respect the Village Speed Limit” sign to the gates was discussed. A vote was held and 7 councillors voted for the proposal and there was one abstention.
Action: Cllr J Malloch to include this in the scope of the project.
ii) Position of Post Box, South Rauceby – No further progress.
Action: Cllr M Ireland
iii) Reinstatement of footpath, Main St, South Rauceby - Complete
11. Financial Matters
i) Financial report (July 2021) – for approval and signing
Report approved and signed off by Chairman
Current account - £18,233.29, 26/05/2021
ii) This month’s expenditures were approved and cheques prepared
J Earl – Grass cutting £140.00.
I Grady – Salary and expenses £329.40 and £27.62.
12. Items of Urgency
A number of items were raised for future discussion:
i) Ditch maintenance near the school (carried out by Opal) did not appear to be properly carried out; a lot of debris has been left behind.
Action Cllr M Ireland to follow up
ii) We have been invited to consult on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. The consultation finishes on 24 August 2021 (before our next scheduled Parish meeting) so if there is to be a submission we only have a few weeks.
Action: I Grady to circulate relevant documents.
Action: Cllr M Ireland and Councillors to consider how to proceed.
iii) Survey of Rauceby cross roads. Our previous LCC representative had committed to ask Highways to conduct a traffic survey at Rauceby Crossroads (A17/N. Rauceby turn-off) to see if the results substantiated our concerns as to the safety of this junction to road users.
13. Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be Wednesday, 22 September 2021 (not the 15th as initially programmed) at a venue yet to be decided.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.25 pm.