January 2024 Minutes
Roughton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 18th January 2024 at Roughton Village Hall commencing a 7.30 p.m.
Present: Councillors K. Dormer (Chair), T. Davis (Vice Chair), D. Perie, L. Roberts, L. Spurrier, R. Willey
Not present: J. Drew
In Attendance: K. Handley (Clerk)
Public: Two members of the public
061 Public Forum: Concerns were raised by the two members of the public present that the building works taking place at Bainland Lodge were not conforming to the planning applications submitted to ELDC. They had notified their concerns to ELDC and a site visit had taken but building work was continuing. The Chair agreed to contact ELDC and raise their concerns and liaise with them once ELDC had contacted the Parish Council.
062 Chairman’s Welcome and Remarks: The Chair welcomed all present and thanked for attendance.
063: Apologies: J Drew-it was resolved to approve the reason given for absence. District Councillor Gray also gave his apologies and LCC Patricia Bradwell also notified the meeting that she had other meetings to attend but would hopefully arrive later.
064: Declarations of Interest: None
065: To approve the notes of the meeting held on 16th November 2023 as minutes:
These were proposed, seconded and unanimously resolved to be adopted as the minutes of the council. These were duly signed and dated by the Chair.
066: County Councillor Report: None due to absence of Councillor Bradwell
District Councillor Report: Cllr Gray had circulated his report prior to the meeting which had been received by all Councillors. This comprised of Severe weather emergency protocols, Home Energy advice, Housing register drop in scheme, Green waste collections, Public consultation information on Devolution, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Involvement and Health Inclusion Workshops. This information is available on the Parish Council website https://roughton.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk.
067: Finances:
a) Bank balances and bank statement signed. The current account balance was £2,111.67 with £2,523.52 in deposit account.
b) No payments made as cheque book is still with the Acting Clerk.
c) To approve draft budget for 2024-2025 financial year: Chairman went through the draft budget which had been sent to the Councillors prior to the meeting. It was expected that insurance costs would rise, a new lap top needed to be purchased, subscription charges to LALC had risen, wage costs had increased as per the NJC guidelines. The refurbishment of the telephone kiosk was discussed but it was felt that it was too costly and all agreed that this could not be completed in this financial year. However, the clerk will speak to District Councillor Gray regarding grants available which may facilitate the refurbishment of the kiosk. The Chair proposed that he would undertake some basic cleaning of the kiosk. After discussion, it was proposed, seconded and RESOLVED to accept the draft budget.
d) To approve the precept for 2024-25 financial year: It was proposed, seconded and RESOLVED to raise the precept by 8.4% and the clerk was instructed to ask ELDC for a total precept of £3,600. This would raise the payment for a Band D property by £1.11 per month.
068: Planning matters:
S/141/02282/23 150 Horncastle Road, Roughton Moor, Woodhall Spa LN10 6UX-Outline erection of a bungalow (with means of access to be considered) It was proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to support this application.
S/141/02082/23 Land rear of 52A Eastfield House, Horncastle Road Woodhall Spa –erection of a house with garage and construction of a vehicular access. This application had already been discussed at the previous meeting and no objections had been raised by Councillors.
S/141/02133/23 Land North and West of Martin Bridge, Horncastle Road, Martin-Construction of a vehicular access, hardstanding and service road for the new crematorium. This application had already been discussed at the previous meeting and no objections had been raised by Councillors.
Application awaiting ELDC decision: S/086/01308/23 Land West of, Brackenbury Close, Horncastle-erection of 16no.houses with garages and construction of internal access roads.
069: To receive reports and consider and resolve action on traffic management issues
Community Speed Watch group Cllr Davis updated the meeting about progress. The pole for the speed reactor sign is due to be erected, volunteers are still needed and in response to a question, Cllr Davis informed the meeting that statistics are recorded but not sent to the police. There is some evidence that it is acting as a deterrent to speeding traffic through the village.
Updates from Highways The Chairman discussed the email received from Highways regarding issues raised. The main points were;
LCC will not extend the 30-mph speed limit on the North and South approaches to Roughton which the Council were disappointed with as they felt this would have made a significant improvement to road safety.
Although LCC indicated that gateway entrances to the village would be effective, Roughton PC are not able to purchase these as the cost is prohibitive.
LCC are still in the process of looking at weight restrictions and Roughton PC are keen that they are not forgotten in this process as HGV’s using the village as a cut through is on-going issue. Another concern highlighted by Cllr Perie is the number of HGV’s driving through the village in the early hours of the morning. This is an issue which will be monitored through the coming months.
LCC suggested that the village signs be moved to nearer the speed limit signs to create a visual gateway. This was discussed but it was felt that this was not a viable option as traffic needs to slow down before reaching the speed limit signs.
LCC refused to undertake any future edge lining as it did not meet their policy criteria. The Council were disappointed with this decision as they felt this would have helped with potential future erosion of the verges.
LCC confirmed that remedial work will be undertaken, when the weather allows, on the verges within the village.
The Chair confirmed that he would request bigger 30 mile per hour signs from LCC.
070:Newsletter and information distribution Cllr Roberts presented three examples of the newsletter which were distributed amongst the Councillors. She also distributed an example for Roughton Parish Council which she had produced. After discussion, it was felt that a newsletter would be beneficial as well as publishing information on the website. The Councillors agreed that a simple newsletter be produced and Councillor Roberts volunteered to a draft copy for the meeting in March. This would then incorporate the date of the Annual Parish Meeting.
Action: Clerk to find out number of households in the Parish for the distribution of the newsletter. This will be an agenda item at the next meeting.
071: Correspondence: None
072: Date and time of next meeting: 21/03/2024 at 7.30 p.m.
Meeting closed at 8.38 p.m.