2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

ROUGHTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 10th August 2023 at Roughton Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm.

Present:  Councillors K. Dormer (Chair), T. Davis, D. Perie, L. Roberts, R. Willey. J. Drew, L. Spurrier.

Not present: None 

In Attendance:   A. Everard (Acting Clerk)

Public:   County Councillor Bradwell and District Councillor Gray plus two other members of the public. 

016   Public Forum:  Grass-cutting issue at Mill Close, Roughton Moor raised because the land is full of weeds and is now only getting three amenity grass cuts a year from Lincolnshire County Council. Residents tried to maintain collectively but not enough willing to pay directly for this service to continue.  Options were discussed;

•   The parish council could take it on under an agreement with Lincolnshire County Council and appoint a contractor to undertake the work.  It will need to be established what the sum of money LCC would pay under the Parish Agreement Scheme. It could increase the precept. 
•   ELDC PRIDE team could be approached for a one-off clean-up/ re-seeding but it was noted they are very busy.
•   The parish council could approach Woodhall Spa Parish Council to explore if their contractors could add the patch of grass to their maintenance contract.
•   Approach neighbouring Hoplands /Oakwood site contractors to see if they might be able to extend their contractors to cover the ground.
•   It was noted that the parish council were not under any obligation to undertake grass-cutting and they did not do this elsewhere in the parish.

The Acting Clerk will make some enquiries to gather information for the next meeting.

Another issue raised was the proposed bio-digester at Martin Moor due to its potential impact on extra traffic through the parish. County Cllr Bradwell advised that it is at pre-planning stage and will go to LCC planning when the applicant has prepared an application and associated reports.

017   Chair’s Welcome and Remarks: The Chair welcomed all present. The Chair reported the Clerk’s continued treatment hopes for a full recovery and signs are good on that front.  

018   Declaration of Acceptance of Office: Cllr J. Drew and Cllr L. Spurrier signed and they were witnessed.

019   Apologies: None

020   Declarations of Interest:  None

021   To approve the notes of the meetings held on 25th May 2023 as minutes:  

These were proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to be adopted as the minutes of the council.  They were duly signed and dated by the Chair.

022   County Councillor Report:  Councillor Bradwell reported that Highways Officer was still looking into the extension of the speed limit zone for Roughton village and looking into the verges issue.

Thornton speed issues had been considered but Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership say the lowering of the speed limit is not possible because it does not meet the criteria to require a reduction (due to the number of accidents reported).  The Police also support that view. It appears that if there are accidents but no injuries/fatalities then it is difficult to justify a speed reduction. The Chair stated that there had been 8 accidents but they were not logged.  It was noted that the Police do not come out to all accidents and damage to property alone does not meet the criteria. 

District Councillor Report:  District Councillor Gray reported that ELDC was seeking applicants to join an Arts Board to help allocate £2million of investment. There were also Social Grants to help people to keep warm – up to £2,000. The annual electoral register canvass is due imminently – encourage as many people to complete. For those visiting an East Coast resort please be aware of the dog ban in place in many resorts. ELDC also has some money to help those struggling with cost of living increases – LCVS are administering it. ELDC have awarded some UK Shared Prosperity funds to large projects and now small grants available so communities are encouraged to apply. ELDC is supporting many cultural, community, sports and social events – please support them. 

The Chair thanked both councillors for their contributions. 

023   Finances:

a) Bank balances and bank statement signed: The current account balance was £6,058 with £15.21 in deposit account. 

The Council resolved at the previous meeting to transfer £2,500 to the deposit account and this would be done as soon as it was practicable.    

b) Payments: £180 LALC website management fee, LALC locum services £77.40. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to approve the payments listed.

c) Bank signatories: Cllr D.Petrie awaiting addition to the signatories.
   
024   Planning matters:

Applications received               

025   Highway Issues 

a) Community Speedwatch: Community speedwatch equipment in place. Training mid-September.  Electronic sign arriving tomorrow. Only one location approved so far more may be needed. 

b) Update from Highways and Thornton residents

Highways visit to the village had been completed. Awaiting further update. Cllr Bradwell is aware of the Thornton residents’ issues and keeping in touch with Highways Officer but the level of reported accidents was not likely to change much on the highway as Lincolnshire Road safety Partnership did not assess it as a dangerous road.  Residents must ensure any road traffic accidents in that area must be reported to Lincolnshire Police.  
   
026   LCC email regarding the NHT survey and drainage issues: It was decided that individual parish councillors would answer the Neighbourhood survey individually. The maps provided to identify the drains in the parish was difficult to use.  Cllr Bradwell noted this. Councillors would see if they could review the drainage on the map and report if it was not working if they could.

027    Litter-picking kits: The Chair will discuss with the village hall to see if they could be stored there. Once this is agreed then notices will go up on the noticeboards, parish council website and later in the year a newsletter will be issued to residents to let them know they exist. A safety note will be prepared. Details will be worked out residents obtain them.

028   John Read’s bench: It was unanimously approved for the bench to be restored and this will require removal by the family. 

029    Mill Close grass-cutting: The Chair and the Acting Clerk will undertake further enquiries as identified in the public participation period in minute 016 and bring back to the council to consider. Concerns were raised about the potential cost to the precept to all parishioners to pay for a service provided to just a few residents.  

030   Correspondence:  None other than what was considered during other items on the agenda. 

031   Training: None required.

032   Declarations of Acceptance of Office: It was noted that all had been signed.  There were no vacancies to fill by co-option.

033   Date of next meeting: 21st September 2023 7.30pm.  Future meetings were resolved at the previous meeting to be on 16th November and in 2024 on 18th January, 21st March and 16th May.

Meeting was closed at 20.55.