2023 Rauceby PC Minutes of Meetings

Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
email: raucebypc@gmail.com, website: https://rauceby.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk
Minutes from the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 7.30 pm at The Village Hall, South Rauceby. 

Present:      Cllr M Ireland (in the Chair), Cllrs J Malloch, S Waite, J Hoare, S Enstone, M Froggatt, R Enstone, G Enstone, B Balderston, Cllr R Wright of LCC and the Clerk, Mr I Grady. 

Public speaking time:  Mrs E Hoare attended the meeting to make a presentation (see item 8(i) below). There were no other members of the public present. 
1. Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Cllr S Waring of NKDC. 
2. To receive any Declarations of Interest: None were received.
3. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: None required. 
4. To approve as a correct record the notes of the meetings held on 16 November 2022: Unanimously approved; the Chairman signed the minutes. 
5. Rauceby Gigabit Project: An update was given by Cllr S Enstone. He is confident that work will be able to commence on the installation shortly. There are several business vouchers that have not yet been validated by DCMS through no fault of the businesses concerned. It seems DCMS demands HMRC evidence from businesses in a format that is no longer produced by HMRC. Another hurdle to overcome! 
A vote of thanks was made to the two members of the council, Cllrs S Enstone and M Ireland and three parishioners, Mr John Gasson, Mr Jeremy Dent and Mr Simon Dachtler, who have been guiding this process on behalf of the village.
6. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters if any: 
LCC – Cllr R Wright reported that the red tarmac project for the road entrances to the village would be commenced shortly, when the roads were in a suitable condition for the tarmac laying to be effective.
He also explained the forthcoming budget of LCC and various proposed options. After some discussion it was unanimously agreed by the Parish Council that we should support the budget increase option of 4.99% with a further recommendation that an amount be ring-fenced for road maintenance purposes.
NKDC – Nothing to report. 
Police – Nothing to report. 
7. Planning Applications Received from NKDC (This may include plans received since the agenda was circulated):
i. 22/1769/PNAGR (As amended 18 January 2023) | Erection of an agricultural storage building. | Boiling Wells Farm Grantham Road Greylees Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QX. No Objections by Rauceby Parish Council.
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting
ii. 22/1480/TPO | T1 Beech - reduce height to 12m and crown-spread on road side to 7m | Adjacent to Sewage Works Rauceby Drove South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QB. No Objections by the Planning Sub-Committee of Rauceby Parish Council. TPO Works approved by NKDC.
iii. 22/1531/TPO | T138 Sycamore - propose reduce height to 10m; T140 Lime - propose reduce height to 7m | 7 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QG. No Objections by the Planning Sub-Committee of Rauceby Parish Council. TPO Works approved by NKDC.
iv. 22/1526/VARCON | Application to vary Condition 2 (retaining wall) of planning permission 18/1004/RESM (Reserved matters application for the erection of two dwellings to be considered following application 15/1211/OUT - Erection of two dwellings (outline with all matters reserved). | Land At 57 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford NG34 8QQ. No Objections by Rauceby Parish Council. Approved by NKDC.
8. New Business Notified to Clerk prior to meeting
i. Rauceby Estate development: Guest speaker, Mrs E Hoare, speaking on behalf of the Rauceby Foundation Trust, described how a patch of land owned by the Estate near the south entrance of the Hall may be converted for the benefit of the village. The land used to be a Nature Conservation Area and has changed ownership several times.
Two options have been proposed by the trustees: either turn the land into a car park for the use of visiting ramblers and cyclists, or create a rest area for visiting ramblers and cyclists where they can relax in natural surroundings. The responsibility for the upkeep of the land would remain with the Estate. The car park suggestion was not generally favoured by the Trustees (or the Parish Council) because of the difficulty of access from Main Street. If the rest area should be selected, a car park adjacent the site, on estate land, with an entrance via the south gate may be feasible.
The Parish Council thanked Mrs Hoare for explaining the options being considered.
ii. Planning Sub-Committee operation: There has been some difficulty recently about getting feedback from councillors in time to achieve Planning Dept deadlines. After discussion it was agreed to keep to the present procedure and review it after the May meeting. 
It was also agreed that with respect to Tree Works Applications, if there were any nil responses, they should be treated as approvals. 
iii. Budget and Precept for 2023/24. A draft budget for next year was presented. After some discussion it was agreed that it would be finalised at the next meeting when more expenditure information was available.
A request (which was agreed by the Council) was made that Mr J Earl be asked to clear the leaves which accumulated in the bus shelters a couple of times a year. Cllr G Enstone said she would contact him for a quote.
Action Jan (1): Cllr G Enstone to contact Mr Earl.
The proposed precept was discussed and it was decided that we should request a level that is zero percent above the 2022/23 base level.
Action Jan (2): Clerk to notify NKDC 
iv. Neighbourhood Plan. Despite the amount of work necessary to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan there are benefits regarding granting future village development. Welbourne village has such a plan and it may be helpful to look at it before making a final decision on a plan for Rauceby. A suggestion was made to invite a member of the Welbourne community to a Rauceby Parish meeting to discuss their experiences in the creation of their Plan. Another suggestion was for the NKDC Neighbourhood Planning Department to speak at the Open Meeting.
Cllr Wright explained that NKDC would support the village in the preparation of a Plan.
Action Jan (3): Clerk to circulate web link of Welbourne’s Plan (if there is one).
v. Emergency Plan. There was no sensible response from LALC on the Clerk’s request for information. After discussion it was decided that an Emergency Plan would not be necessary for the village. 
vi. Coronation of King Charles III. After discussion it was decided that the Parish Council would not take the lead on any celebration in the village but would assist other organisations in the village if requested. 
vii. Drought damaged footpath on Chapel Lane/Main St, North Rauceby. It was decided to refer this issue to the Fix My Street service of LCC.
Action Jan (4): Chairman to contact Fix My Street
viii. Missing/damaged Information boards: there used to be two information boards; one has been removed and the other has faded beyond legibility. The text used on the original boards has been unearthed from NKDC but they say they do not own the boards. They think Heritage Lincolnshire own them. On contacting them, LH say the boards are not theirs (but see item 8(xi) below). It was suggested that this text should be placed on the Rauceby PC website. 
Action Jan (5): Clerk to investigate feasibility of uploading the text to our web site.
ix. Ownership of Street Artwork: these items consist of wooden carvings, stone sculptures and metal structures placed around the village. They are owned by NKDC who have expressed a wish to transfer ownership to us. After discussion the council agreed to approach NKDC with a view to taking possession of the artwork with all the responsibility that entails (maintenance, insurance etc).
Action Jan (6): Clerk to contact NKDC regarding ownership of the artwork.
x. Parish Elections: these are to take place in May. Further information will be distributed when it becomes available.
xi. Parish Grants: LALC has advertised the availability of grants to (inter alia) Parishes within a certain distance of waste disposal facilities. Rauceby qualifies for such a grant and it has been suggested that we apply to have the information boards described in Item 8(viii) replaced.
Action Jan (7): Clerk to contact the sponsors of the grants for further information
xii. Street Cleaning: After the autumn/winter leaf fall, some areas of the village have become treacherous to walk in. Street cleaning has become rare. Cllr Wright said he would contact NKDC to help out.
Action Jan (8): Cllr R Wright to contact NKDC regarding leaf clearing in roads and pavements
9. Update on Outstanding Matters 
i. Actions from the last meeting: 

10. Financial report – for approval and signing; November 2022
i. The financial report was approved and signed off by the Chairman.
The Current account stands at £16,944.01 on 18 January 2023.
ii. This month’s payments were approved and cheques signed:
* HMRC (PAYE clerk) £(redacted under GDPR provisions)
* Village Hall hire £18.00
* I Grady fees (2 months) £(redacted under GDPR provisions)
* Bookkeeping costs £30.00
11. Any Other Business:  Any matters which have arisen after the agenda was published. 
None raised.
12. Date of Next Meeting: The meeting closed at 21h00. The next regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, 15 March 2023 at the Rauceby Village Hall starting at 19h30.

Matters which have been raised in meetings and which may be considered further at a future date:
* Flooding and drainage at the junction of Rauceby Drove and A153 (Lincolnshire Highways are aware of this issue and have it on a long term planning strategy.)
* S Rauceby Well refurbishment: deferred until more appropriate.