March 2022 Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
Minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 16 March 2022 at 7.30 pm at The Village Hall, South Rauceby.
Present: Cllr M Ireland (in the Chair), Cllr G Enstone, Cllr R Enstone, Cllr J Malloch (Vice-Chairman), and the Clerk, Mr I Grady.
Public speaking time: No members of the public were present.
1. Apologies for Absence: Apologies were received from Cllr M Froggatt, Cllr S Waite, Cllr B Balderston and Cllr S Enstone.
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 19 January 2022: Unanimously approved. The Chairman signed the minutes.
5. Rauceby Gigabit Project: Although Cllr Simon Enstone was not present he has submitted a written summary of the progress to date of this project:
- For the larger, Rauceby scheme, Openreach have submitted our application to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for approval. This is now awaited. We have been notified that the approval process, which should normally only take 2-3 weeks, is sometimes taking much longer.
- Work is still underway to address the funding shortfall for the Ermine Scheme. Lincolnshire County Council broadband team have indicated that there is progress being made towards an official top-up scheme for Lincolnshire, for which some news should be available by the end of this month. It is the expectation that this should help resolve this funding shortfall (and act as a top-up for Rauceby if needed).
- Over recent weeks there has been a lot of press coverage regarding the changeover to digital voice, whereby the landline is ‘retired’ and the impact that this has in power cuts. This change is independent of the full-fibre upgrade programme, however, full-fibre in essence pulls forward the date at which digital voice is implemented (BT have targeted to upgrade all households to digital voice by 2025). Further information is being gathered to share with the community.
6. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters:
- NKDC: Nothing to report.
- LCC: Nothing to report.
- Police: Nothing to report from the Police Service. Cllr J Malloch informed the councillors that the Police are holding a World Café Event at various locations across Lincolnshire to explain how their money is being spent and to get an impression of what the public sees as the priority functions of the police for the future. The event in Sleaford will take place on 26 March 2022 between 11h00 – 13h00 and is open to anyone.
7. Planning Applications:
Cllr R Enstone suggested that the manner in which we comment to applications to NKDC Planning Dept may not fully indicate the strength of feeling, for or against a proposal, that the Council may have. It was agreed that the Clerk will prepare and circulate a draft revised Planning Application Procedure to address this point.
Action: Clerk
Received from NKDC (This may include plans received since the agenda was circulated):
i) 21/1927/FUL | Proposed erection of 3 detached houses and garage block. | Land To The Rear Of 38-44 Main Street North Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QP. (This application was discussed at the January Parish Council meeting but has not yet been determined by NKDC.) In January Rauceby Parish Council discussed the application and also gave consideration to comments made by the applicant and correspondence received prior to the meeting from a parishioner. It was decided to support the application by a majority decision (7 votes for and I abstention) although a recommendation was made that the Council would like to see safe passage for two vehicles passing when using the proposed north access.
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting:
ii) None: All previous applications have been discussed in Parish Council Meetings and determined by NKDC.
8. New Business: Notified to the Clerk prior to the meeting.
i) Co-Option of new Councillor: The Clerk confirmed that the necessary legal procedures had been used to (a) notify NKDC of the vacancy, (b) advertise the vacancy over a specified period of time, in a specified format within the village to determine whether there was a need for an election. NKDC notified us that there had been no response from the village and therefore no need for an election. This allowed us to appoint a new councillor in accordance with our procedures.
Mr J Hoare, a well-known resident of the village, had written to the council expressing a desire to become part of the council. On the basis of his interest it was decided unanimously that the Chairman would approach Mr Hoare and invite him to be co-opted to the council.
Action: The Chairman to invite Mr Hoare, and if he is in agreement –
Action: The Clerk to carry out the administrative requirements for the co-option.
Action: The Clerk to formalise the Parish Council procedures for co-option.
ii) Developments on the Rauceby Estate 20 Year Plan: Mr Spurrier, a Trustee for the Estate, wrote to the Chairman explaining the current position. He has approached the school regarding the renewal of their lease and a possible inclusion of a car park on a estate field adjacent the school.
The councillors discussed the suggestions and unanimously agreed to support them.
Action: The Clerk to write to Mr Spurrier giving our support.
iii) Mobile SID repairs and maintenance: It was reported by Cranwell Parish Council that the SID (which is shared with Rauceby) was not functioning and wanted to find out how it could be repaired. After examining the device, the Chairman determined that the charging mechanism had a difficult connection and that with a bit of fiddling the charge could be made successfully. We recognise that the device is several years old and repairing it may not make financial sense. We are trying to keep it working for as long as possible before it irretrievably fails.
Action: Chairman to contact Cranwell PC regarding the technique for charging the device.
iv) Damage to Buttercross Monument: Progress is slow in determining the means to repairing the monument. The driver has not yet contacted the Parish Council regarding insurance details and LALC has not yet responded to a request from us for help.
Action: Clerk to follow up
v) Donations: A request for a donation was made by The Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire. After discussion it was unanimously agreed to make a donation of £50.
The Parish Council also discussed its regular donation to the Churchyard. It was unanimously agreed to make a donation of £450.
In response to a request by LCC to consider donating to the Ukraine refugee crisis it was decided to give this some further thought and a decision to be made at our next meeting.
Action: The Clerk to send donations.
Action: All councillors to consider donations for the Ukraine refugee situation.
vi) Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant visit/funding presentation: Two councillors have been invited to represent the Parish Council at a presentation to be given by Sleaford REP regarding funding potentially being made available by the company to the Parish. Cllr Ireland and Cllr S Enstone expressed a wish to attend and this was agreed by the council.
Action: Clerk to notify the contacts at Sleaford REP.
vii) Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries: This does not appear to affect Rauceby Parish Council so the matter has been dropped.
9. Update on Outstanding Matters:
i) Actions from the last meeting: All actions have been carried out except a few that are still in progress:
Items 8(ii) (road accident) and 9(iii) (red tarmac on roads) are to be discussed with LCC at a meeting arranged for 17 March. (Chairman)
Item 9(iii) (traffic calming gates) in progress (see below).
Item 9(iv) (website update) in progress (see below).
Item 11(i) (Pinfold Lane) in progress, Cllr Waring of NKDC is to be contacted regarding the procedure for permissive development.(Chairman)
ii) Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration (Spanning Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June): The first full meeting of the organising group was held on Monday 14 March with 8 attendees from various organisations in the village, including the WI, Parish Council, Rauceby Hall and the Primary School.
Three suggestions for the celebration have been put forward:
- A picnic at the school
- A picnic at Rauceby Hall
- A street party.
It was decided that the best option would be the picnic at Rauceby Hall, to be held on Sunday 5 June 2022 starting at 12h00. Village games and music would be provided. Participants would have to bring their own food and eating facilities (tables, chairs etc).
The organising group will prepare publicity leaflets (for a letterbox drop) and posters.
The Parish Council would need to supply portable toilets and check on any insurance requirements. No action is required at this stage.
iii) Traffic calming measures: No further action from previous report, Cllr Malloch reported that the gates have been delivered and we are now waiting for an opportunity to paint and install them.
There was some discussion about an initiative being taken by another village where they monitor speeding in their village and report any persistent speedsters to the police who would follow up. There was a lukewarm discussion about this and it was agreed not to proceed with something similar at this stage.
iv) Website maintenance: The Rauceby Parish Council website is still in the process of being updated. The Clerk has received training in the process which makes the task somewhat easier.
All information (historical agendas, minutes, financial information, policies etc) that is required to be present is now available on line in the correct format. In order to make the site more attractive to visit, the suggestion to link to other sites so that visitors can use our site as a central information hub will still be carried out. Suggested links are to the websites for the following amenities: the pub, the Aviation Museum, the WI, Local Walks and the Gigabit project.
Action: The Clerk to follow up these suggestions.
In addition the Standing Orders Procedure and a new Records Retention Procedure were discussed and it was agreed that they should be uploaded to the website. All other procedures are being examined to ensure they are still up to date.
Action: The Clerk to upload procedures and examine existing procedures.
The website maintenance service has been reviewed by LALC and a new pricing structure has been offered. After discussion it was agreed that the scheme that provided the council with 10 hours technical service a year at £15/hour was the best for us at this stage.
Action: The Clerk to arrange continuance of the service.
v) Damaged Bus Shelter: Mr D Elmes has been approached to effect a repair. He will fit this relatively small job in with his larger contracts elsewhere so it may take some time to complete. In the meantime the bus shelter is not in an unsafe condition.
10. Financial Matters:
i) Rauceby Parish Council Budget 2022/23. It was noted that the budget was now complete.
ii) Financial report (March 2022)
The Financial Report was approved and signed off by Chairman.
Current account stands at £15715.60 on 31/01/2022 (there was no bank statement for February).
iii) Expenditures: This month’s expenditures were approved and cheques signed:
LALC Subscription - £116.71.
Information Commissioner fee (ICO) – £35.00 (by direct debit)
I Grady – Clerk fees £244.76 and expenses £7.92.
Village Hall – Meeting hall rental £16.00
Citizens Advice – Donation £50.00
Churchyard upkeep – Donation £450.00
iv) Clerk’s Annual Remuneration: The Clerk withdrew from the meeting place during this discussion. On his return he was notified that the Clerk’s fee is to be increased by one spine point (to SP14) at the new rates of pay published by NALC on 2 March 2022.
11. Items of Urgency
i) Pot Holes: Cllr R Enstone reported that the incidence of pot holes in the village roads was increasing alarmingly. He felt there were too many to count and report to NKDC, stating that if NKDC were to survey the village roads they would see the magnitude of the problem for themselves. Councillors were reminded that a direct link to “Fix My Street”, NKDC’s road issue reporting mechanism, existed on the Parish website
Action: Chairman to discuss with Cllr Wright of LCC.
ii) Central Lincolnshire Proposed Local Plan Consultation: This item arose because an email was received from the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Team immediately before the meeting and as the period to make comments ends before our next meeting it was deemed necessary to raise the matter without delay. The preamble to the email:
“The Central Lincolnshire authorities are preparing a new Local Plan to replace the Local Plan adopted in 2017. This consultation follows on from an Issues and Options Consultation which was held in June and July 2019 and the Draft Local Plan Consultation held during June, July and August 2021.
This Proposed Submission Local Plan builds on the strengths of the existing plan and looks to address the changing challenges particularly arising at a national and global level. It has also been influenced by comments made during the previous rounds of consultation.”
Councillors have been sent the email and were asked in the meeting to check the website for details of the Plan and prepare comments if necessary. A hard copy of the Plan has also been placed in Sleaford Library. The consultation runs from 16 March to 9 May 2022.
Action: Councillors to scrutinise the Local Plan and make comments to the Clerk who will co-ordinate a Parish Council response.
12. Date of next meeting
The next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at the Rauceby Village Hall. The meeting will start at 19h00 as a public forum for parishioners to raise and discuss matters of relevance with the Council.
The Head Teacher of Rauceby Junior School, Ms J Waites, has been asked to give a short presentation to the attending members of the public and councillors describing her vision for the school and its activities.
The regular Parish Council meeting will follow these events.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 21h00.
Signed
Chairman