Minutes, 10 May 23
NOTES of the Marston Parish Council meeting held at Hougham and Marston Village Hall
on 10th May 2023 at 7.18 pm.
Present: Cllr P. Cartwright (in the Chair), Cllrs S. Brown, R. Duckett, K. O’Sullivan, C Stephens, S. Vickers and A. Watson also Dist Cllr P Wood and Cty Cllr A Maughan.
Chairman welcomed all present and introduced Alex Maughan as our County Councillor.
Dist Cllr Paul Wood gave his report: - Chair introduced Cllr Wood and congratulated him on his re-election and thanked him for his help over the past four years. SKDC is “hung” as they only have 24 Conservative candidates and need 28. They are trying to form alliances and is it feared there is a fractious 4 years ahead.
Cty Cllr Alex Maughan – LCC will be releasing £9 million of earmarked reserves that are no longer required and this will be used for development across the County. There will be investment into the rights of way. Highways data for the months September to December 2022 showed that they had hit their targets for call outs at between 96% and 99% which was very encouraging. Trading Standards are seeing a rise in illegal vapes being sold to under 18s especially in Grantham and Boston. Secondary school applications saw 86% of children get their first choice.
23/24-1: Co-options: There were 2 parishioners present who were eligible for co-option and who had submitted resumes. They were invited to join the Council and duly signed their Declarations of Acceptance of Office.
23/24-2: Declarations of Pecuniary Interest – there were none.
23/24-3: Minutes of the last meeting – the Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd March were read and approved, and it was resolved that the Chairman sign them.
23/24-4: School Safety Zone and Highways – The yellow lines on School Lane and Stonepit Lane have been re-done. The parking bay on School Lane has a temporary surface and this will be put to a permanent surface during the summer school holidays. There is no update on the dropped kerb on Main Street and it has not been attended to. The Toll Bar Road flooding scheme is still awaiting a program date. The triangular piece of land at Bridge Street is owned by a parishioner – Clerk to write and confirm that it is his land and enclosing both maps. The owner of the land at the junction of Toll Bar Road and the A1 wants to buy the field next door. The old A1 has been stopped up and ownership passes to the adjacent landowner. Owners are using the wrong entrance on to the land and encroaching on land that is not in their ownership. Clerk to write to Phil Jordan advising of said encroachment.
23/24-5: Electricity sub-station: Chair had met a lady from SKDC who agreed that the hedge at Kerrs Crescent will be cut once the birds stop nesting – likely to be August/September. Chair is trying to get a start date from National Grid, for the moving of the sub-station.
23/24-6: Planning:
S22/0780 – new dwelling at Church Walk Cottage – refused.
S23/0101 – Certificate of Lawfulness for no limitations at Wagtail Fisheries – refused.
S23/0106 – Raising boundary railing at School – pending consideration.
S23/0118 – Re-submission of S21/2165 – new dwelling south of Dove House – refused.
S23/0476 – Change of use for 14 touring pitches at Wagtail Country Park – pending consideration.
S23/0597 – elevational changes at Toll Bar Road site – pending consideration.
LCC/PL/0016/23 – amendments at Gonerby Moor land – comments but no objection as such
23/24-7: Community Cleaner – he has started mowing again.
23/24-8: SIDs – The grant monies have been received and payment made to Elan City. Thanks to Andrew Barradell and helpers for erecting the new SIDs. The battery for the redundant SID was £191 in November 2020. Councillors felt that 2/3 of that cost would be a reasonable amount to charge Hough on the Hill PC – Clerk to advise them (£126) and enquire as to a delivery address.
23/24-9: Amenity Area – the walkways need cutting on a regular basis, strimming is needed around the benches, and the branches need removing from the river. Chair will speak to our Community Cleaner.
23/24-10: Toll Bar Road drainage odour: This is much improved. The two month period originally allowed is now up – Clerk to remind Anglian Water that they should be doing another log.
23/24-11: Insurance – two quotes had been received – one was from Gallaghers recommending Hiscox and the other was from Zurich. There was only a small difference in premium and as Zurich are better known it was decided to accept their quote and take up a 3 year Agreement at a cost of £393.39 per year.
23/24-12: Finance:
(i) It was resolved to sign the bank reconciliations at 28.2.23, 31.3.23 and 30.4.23.
(ii) It was resolved to sign the AGAR Certificate of Exemption.
(iii) It was resolved to sign the AGAR Annual Governance Statement.
(iv) It was resolved to sign the AGAR Accounting Statement for 2022/2023.
Clerk asked if it was agreed to purchase two bottles of wine for the Internal Auditor as she does not charge for doing the work. Agreed unanimously.
23/24-13: Urgent matters for discussion – A check was made as to bank signatories and as there are 4 this was felt to be adequate. The Emergency Plan has been updated and will be sent to LCC – this matter should be a regular item on the Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting. A person from The Ramblers had asked about ownership of a small piece of land between two footpaths at Mill Lane – Cllr Watson will investigate. A question was raised as to responsibility for keeping Bridleways walkable – Cllr Maughan said if we sent a photo and details of the relevant bridleway, he will contact the LCC Countryside Officer. Cllr Duckett would like to attend Councillor training on 3.7.23.
23/24-14: Date of next meeting: 5th July 2023.
Meeting closed at 8.30 pm.