2022 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Denton Parish Council

All Parish Councillors were summoned to attend a Parish Council Meeting

Monday 17 July 2022 at 19:30 (7:30pm)

Denton Village Hall

This Meeting was recorded

PCM 2022-07 - Minutes

Serial                             Discussion/Action/Resolution

1          Welcome Address – Council Chair

Cllr Bellamy welcomed all present, with special thanks to Cllr Charlotte Vernon LCC.

2          Record of those in attendance.

Parish Council: Cllrs; S. Bellamy (SB) Chair, V. Aldred (VA) Vice-Chair, S. Turtle (ST), C. Taylor (CT), R. Leadenham (RL), J. McCloskey, Parish Clerk (JM), J. Newman Community Cleaner (JN).

County and District Councils: LCC, Cllr C. Vernon (CV)

Public: No members of the public were in attendance

3          Parish Councillor Apologies.

Apologies have been received from Cllrs P. Gibbins and A. Leadenham.

Resolution: Apologies and circumstances accepted.

4          Minutes of Previous Meeting.

The resolution to approve minutes of the Parish Council meeting PCM 2022-06 held Monday 13 June 2022 was passed.

5          Parish Councillor: Declaration of Pecuniary Interest.

Resolution: It was noted that no Declarations Of Pecuniary Interests in agenda items were made.

6          Public Forum.

Although no members of the public were present, concerns have been regarding recent events at Belvoir Castle and the increase in HGV vehicles through the village despite the 7.5 Tonne weight restriction.

It was a matter of great concern that there had been misrepresentation that Denton Parish council had been contacted regarding the recent event by the organisers. This was incorrect. Only the Leicestershire Parishes had been contacted and non in Lincolnshire.

With regards the amount of traffic over the event weekend, the SID recorded a total of 2257 (normal vehicle movements would be circa 800).

Resolution: SB would write to the CEO regarding the matter and request that for future events at the castle Denton Parish Council be informed and that suitable traffic planning put in place.

7          Items from District and County Councillors as necessary.

CV gave an update on county matters, including:

i. Tree Planting

Lincolnshire want to see 750,000 trees planted around the county over the next few years.

ii. Electric Vehicle Charging Point Plan

Five local authorities, led by Lincolnshire County Council and Midlands Connect, have submitted a joint bid as part of the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Pilot which would deliver an  extra 101 standard and 8 rapid charging points across Lincolnshire.

iii. Updating the Minerals and Waste Local Plan

Lincolnshire County Council has begun the process of updating the statutory  Minerals and Waste Local Plan..

iv. Fixmystreet – Please do continue to report concerns regarding potholes, or damage to the roads via this website.

Comment: ST asked for it to be noted by CV that a number of faults reported on FMS had been logged as completed when this was not in fact the case. CV would look into the matter.

v. Saltby Application – Still no date for the Melton Planning committee meeting.

vi. Belvoir Castle – Residents concerned about the HGV traffic of the recent Forbidden Forest event. CEO of Belvoir contacted regarding this and future events

vii. Grantham Bid for Great British Railways HQ

Grantham not one of 6 shortlisted for consideration.

Viii. Collection amnesty for unwanted medical equipment extended across recycling centres

Unwanted medical equipment, perching stools, bed sticks and commodes, as well as smaller items like crutches or rollators can now be taken to Grantham Recycling Centre to be given to the NHS and reused.

8          Parish Clerk: Updates.

a. Waste Bin request Hungate Rd to Park Lane.

The Clerk had contacted SKDC regarding installation of a general waste bin for the Hungate Road/ Park Lane path.

SKDC advised that this would be at a cost to the Parish Council, as the waste bins provided in the village were sufficient..

Discussion: The council discussed whether additional bins were a necessity if better use of the existing bins could be encouraged. It was felt at this time the present number of bins were sufficient for the size of the village and cost for installation and emptying could not be justified therefore no additional bins would be requested.

Resolution: No further Action. Item Closed

b. Waste Bin – A607 Layby.

See Item 9.

c. Complaints/Concerns received:

i. Grass cutting 7am Thu 16 June at Village Hall.  Anonymous complaint received by text message. Complainant advised council would look into the matter.

Resolution: VA/RL to investigate.

ii. Traffic concerns Belvoir Castle Events. Mr R Pape.

See item 6.

9          Parish Community Cleaner Reports.

The monthly reports were welcomed and JN asked if there were any issues of concern.

i. The A607 layby continues to be used by HGV’s overnight resulting in waste of a personal nature in addition to the normal litter expected. When asked if and extra bin would ease any problems, JN felt this would not be the case.

Similar problems with overnight HGV’s had been experienced at Long Bennington on the A1 and to stop this, a parking restriction had been put in place.

Resolution: Possibility of LCC Highways putting similar restrictions in place to be looked into.

ii. Dog Waste remains a problem within the village and incidents have been noted on the village  WhatsApp group.

The council considered possible remedial action including where individuals were known, should they be approached regarding cleaning up and if unable to due to infirmity, should assistance be offered.

Resolution: At present no individuals should be approached, but an information flyer for distribution around the community to promote better awareness of dog owners responsibilities for cleaning up after their animals be drafted to remind all of their responsibilities.

iii. JN asked again if SKDC would consider providing bio degradable waste sacks.

Resolution: Clerk would again contact SKDC street services.

10        Parish Council: General Update and Discussion.

a. SID and Road Safety.

The data from the village SID has been analysed from the 1 January to June this year and shows a total of 126k vehicle movements through the village with an average of 0.75% exceeding the speed limit. This equates to 950 vehicles over the period. The highest recorded speed was one vehicle at 85 mph between 12:00 and 13:00.

Vehicle movements logged through the village during events at Belvoir Castle were:

Caravan Club – 1116.

Open Air Cinema – 1088.

Dog Festival – 1368

Forbidden Forest – 2257

Normal Weekend average – 880.

Plans are underway to have a number of traffic calming measures discussed with LCC Highways in the form of virtual chicanes and road surface speed roundels.

The Parish Council is also looking to purchase a second SID and install gated signage at key entry/exit points to the village, although due to costs this will be a long term project.

Traffic management through the village should be a joint project between Denton Parish Council and LCC Highways.

Proposal(s):

1. A second SID to be purchased to provide better information in support of request to LCC Highways and Lincs Police for further traffic calming measures.

2. Long term project with  2 gates per year to be acquired and installed at approved locations due to costs involved.

Resolution(s).

1. SID acquisition approved. Purchase to be made and details/invoices passed RFO to allocate funding and process.

2. Quotes for gates to be sourced and RFO to include in future budget projections.

b. Defibrillator training.

CHT found to be expensive and would only provide defibrillator training. Alternative training provider found and will include defibrillator, CPR and first aid for larger groups without charge.

Action: Community WhatsApp group to determine interest and take up.

c. Phone Kiosk Tile Project.

Aluminium floor panel sourced and will be cut to size prior to sending to PBT for printing the children’s designs. Once complete will be installed in the phone kiosk.

d. Denton Lodge Hedge and Footway.

Hedge cut to clear footway.

Item Closed:

11         Village Hall Status.

Updating, improving and bringing the village hall facilities up to standard are progressing well.

Tea room to be established.

Bookings steadily increasing.           

12         Play area Project.

Documents for the transfer of the playground from SKDC to the Parish Council are currently with the solicitors acting on behalf of the council. This has been provided by Macfarlanes LLP on a Pro Bono basis, for which the Parish Council are most grateful.

Donation of £100 from Denton Farming expected.

Action: Clerk to contact Parish Council insurers for advice on future requirements and changes required to the policy. RoSPA inspection and Risk Assessment to be carried out.

13         Finance and Accounts

a. RFO Report FY 2022 – 2023 . AP03

Resolution to approve accounts reconciliation for: FY 2022/23 Period: AP03- 1 to 30 June 2022

b. Period Transaction Record

c. Forecast Committed, uncommitted and Reserve Funds

Councillor Query.

The level of playground reserve was queried as this was thought to have been set at £5000 or 10% of the expected project cost at an earlier meeting.

RFO Response.

Original reserve was set at £2000. At the Parish Council meeting of the 14 March 2022, the RFO/Clerk advised increasing the ring fenced precept budget from £2000 to £3000 to take into account expected costs and grants.

It was agreed that the budget for the playground be increased to £3000 with the contingency reserve reduced to £2000 to offset. (PCM 2022-02 Minute References 12 and 13.3.c refer)

Resolution to approve and sign off accounts.

Resolution Passed: All transactions properly authorised and accounted for. Forecast of Income and Expenditure noted.

Notes:

1. Money donated and collected from sale of jubilee mugs paid into Denton account and ring fenced for playground funds.

2. Authorised Parish Council expenses incurred in support of Jubilee weekend activities.

14         Planning Applications.

a. New Applications:

Nil to date

b. Application Decisions:

Nil to date

c. Other planning matters.

i. Issues regarding Saltby Airfield planning application and impact on surrounding villages.

Cllrs Bellamy and Turtle have attended meetings regarding this issue and all objections have been raised and submitted to Melton Borough Council (MBC), Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) Highways and South Kesteven District Council (SKDC).The response from both LCC Highways and SKDC has been negative, with no  issues with the application, either from the traffic or environmental prospects. Copies of reports have been requested regarding investigation of the intended routes and how the judgment that there are no issues arrived at. To date no further information has been received.LCC Highways and SKDC have been provided with photographic evidence of the unsuitability of the roads and infrastructure and the potential damage to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).Cllrs Bellamy and Turtle will be attending future meetings and update the Parish Council accordingly.Denton Parish Council are disappointed in the apparent lack of interest and involvement by LCC Highways, SKDC and the executives within these authorities for the absence of their support for their own constituents and communities.They also expressed disappointment with the organisation responsible for SSSI due to their apparent lack of engagement, due it was said to staff shortage and excess workloads.

Resolution: Parish Council to continue to support the objections and provide detailed supporting evidence in support of the objections to Melton Borough Council Planning Committee.

15         New Business for Next Meeting: Review outstanding business.

Meeting schedule confirmed

16         Meeting Close and Next Meeting.

Cllr Bellamy thanked all those for attending and confirmed the next meeting will take place on:

Monday 10 October 2022

19:30 (7:30) pm

Denton Village Hall

Members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend the meeting and any questions or queries for the next meeting may be passed to the Parish Clerk at the email address below.

17        Closed Session. Staff In Confidence

Not Required.

 J.McCloskey

Parish Clerk

E-mail: dentonparishclerk@gmail.com

Minutes Action:

Minutes from the Parish Council meeting of the 17 July 2022, PCM 2022-07, to be approved and minuted at the Parish Council meeting PCM 2022-08 of the 10 October 2022, Minute Reference:

PCM 2022-08 Item 4.