September 2020 Minutes
MINUTES of the Meeting of DEEPING ST NICHOLAS PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 28th September 2020 at 7:00pm, held via Zoom video conferencing
(Recorded by the Clerk)
Present: William Rodwell (Chairman), David Branton (Vice Chairman), Andy Croyle, Deborah Croyle, Louise McGuinness, Paul Barrett, Ric Chapman and Barry Hopkins
County Cllr Elizabeth Sneath
County & District Cllr Nigel Pepper
District Cllr Bryan Alcock
Winston Brown (Press Officer)
Angela Harrison (Clerk)
In the Chair: David Branton
1. Apologies
Apologies received from:
Charles Sly, Nicholas Watts and District Cllr Jim Astill
It was agreed to accept these apologies
2. Declarations of Interest (in accordance with the LGA 2000)
A and D Croyle - Village Hall Committee (non-pecuniary)
3. Public Speakers (Max 3 mins each)
There were no members of the public present.
A Croyle raised an issue on behalf of a local resident who had expressed concern regarding branches overhanging the pavement. He advised the council that they had now been dealt with.
Residents had also been requested that the CSW team take part in reducing the speeding vehicles down St Nicholas Way.
- P Barrett stated that this was not an authorized site, although he could request to get it authorized through the Lincs Safety Partnership, but would need to recruit more volunteers
Action: P Barrett
4. Minutes of the Parish Meeting held on Monday 27th July 2020
LM - Underneath Littleworth reopening, the date should be 17th of July, not September
Action: Clerk
Proposed: P Barrett
Seconded: D Croyle
With the above amendment, it was resolved to formerly adopt the Minutes and for the Chairman to sign them as a true record.
5. Matters Arising from the Minutes
North Drove Bank - some potholes have been filled in, but roadwork signs have been up for a long time with nothing happening. Road is in an awful condition.
Cllr Pepper offered to look into this matter on behalf of the Parish Council
Action Cllr Pepper
D Branton stated that hare coursing is becoming an issue again within the Parish and advised that any siting should be reported to the Police on 101
6. Formerly Welcome new Cllr for Tongue End Ward
The Chairman formerly welcomed Ric Chapman to the Parish Council and said that he looked forward to working with him regarding any issues within his Ward, especially any ideas he may have regarding a future use for the playing field
7. Resignation of Richard Ivatt
The Chairman stated that Cllr Ivatt resigned due to the way that the new councilor was appointed, even though proper procedures were followed
· The Chairman wished it to be recorded that Richard would be a great loss to the Parish Council and that his father and grandfather also served before him.
We, as a Parish Council, express our grateful thanks to Richard and his family for all their hard work and commitment to the community.
Everyone agreed
1. To discuss vacancy for a Deeping St Nicholas Cllr
The formal process will commence as soon as the Official Notices are received from Democratic Services at SHDC
2 people have already expressed an interest
7:30pm Barry Hopkins joined the meeting
8. Playing Fields
8.1. Wicksteed’s Inspection Report - to discuss actions required
Everyone had received a copy of the Inspector’s report, via email, prior to the meeting
8.1.1. Damaged Swing Seats - St Nicholas Park
B Hopkins reported that the rubber has been ripped off one of the seats in St Nicholas Park and a resident with a small child reported it to him
· He also reported that the swings on the recreation ground off the Main Road, (opposite the entrance to New Road), were in an even worse condition and that some children had started to use them
It was agreed to replace the seats on the swings in the recreation ground and those at St Nicholas Park
Action: W Rodwell
8.1.2. Litter Bin - St Nicholas Park
B Hopkins reported, that the dog poo bin is too small and that cat litter has been put in there again which makes it extremely heavy and difficult to empty. This has been reported to the Council on a number of occasions but nothing has been done
The Clerk stated that she had tried on numerous occasions to get the bin replaced with a larger one and the smaller one recited by the play area down Campain’s Lane. She had also requested that the bins be added to the waste collection rounds, but she had ‘hit a brick wall’ with it
Action: Clerk to try again for a large dual-purpose bin
B Hopkins mentioned that within the enclosed play area of St Nicholas Park there is another litter bin that is not being emptied and that recently, he has been emptying it himself every Sunday
Cllr Alcock advised that the refuse collectors are prohibited from going onto private land, away from the highway e.g. unadopted roads, which would explain why this bin is not being emptied. He said that he would see if he could assist the Clerk in getting the issue resolved
Action: Cllr Alcock
8.2. Tongue End Playing Field
R Chapman said that following on from the Minutes of the PC’s July meeting, he felt that letting out the field could throw up a number of issues:
• Parking could be difficult due to Counter Drain Drove being a very busy road and there being no parking other than roadside
• Use of the park for football could be troublesome as the ground is very uneven due to the weeds
- L McGuinness advised that the last meeting was just ‘testing the water’, to see if the PC would be happy for the field to be used by the football club. However, since that meeting, the Secretary of the football club had been to look at the playing field and decided that it was too small for their use, which is disappointing as they would have sorted out the condition of the field.
R chapman stated that although local views are divisive, the most popular suggestion would be to see the field planted with trees, and wild flowers but as a useable space for recreation
• W Rodwell stated that there was money in the Windfarm which could be applied for and that there was an option to put in a parking area with fencing and turn the rest of the field into a wildlife park
The Chairman suggested that the Playing Field Committee meet onsite with residents, to discuss the way forward
D Croyle added that R Chapman could contact the In-Bloom Committee to get funding for planting
Cllr Sneath stated that she would like to be involved
It was agreed that a meeting of the Playing Fields Committee be set up and to include Cllr Sneath
Action: Clerk
8.3. Hop Pole Playing Field Entrance/Exit
A photograph was shown, of the bricked entrance/exit from the Main Road, to Hop Pole playing field
The Chairman stated that the brick footpath directs pedestrians onto the driveway of the adjacent property and that although the structure has been there for at least 40 years, the new residents of the bungalow wish the structure to be changed in order to prevent people/children walking on their driveway
He asked, “Do we agree to take out the wall in principle?”
A debate was had with regards to the costs and safety issues implicated in removing a part of the wall at the front to make an opening onto the pavement, which resulted in the following:
• The Clerk suggested that a spring-loaded gate could be installed to prevent small children from running straight out onto the busy Main Road
• W Rodwell proposed that we knock the piece of wall out at the front and put a piece of fencing across the opening adjacent to the neighbour’s driveway
It was agreed that the Chairman respond to the Solicitor to say that the Parish Council would be willing to change the entrance/exit to the playing field, but that the costs be split 50/50 with the adjacent property owner
Action: D Branton
9. Placement of a Defibrillator in Tongue End
R Chapman introduced this item, as it had been raised to him by a local paramedic
He stated that there were many options within Tongue End, for a placement and asked whether he could apply for funding from the Windfarm
It was pointed out, that there would need to be an electric supply
Action: R Chapman
A Croyle mentioned that there was a resident in Deeping St Nicholas who ran a campaign to get defibrillators for the village, who may be able to assist R Chapman. He will email both to get them together
Action: A Croyle
10. Traffic Speed Concerns in Tongue End
R Chapman spoke about the following concerns:
• Large HGVs in particular travelling consistently at 40-50 mph
• Vans and cars ending up in ditches
• Children waiting at the side of the road for school buses
• Village setting
He had been in touch with P Barrett with regards to the Community Speed Watch, which he is happy to get involved with
- W Rodwell mentioned that Cllr Sneath had done work in the past to try to check the speeds through the village and that the average came out at 40mph which was not seen as unreasonable on a National Speed Limit road
- Cllr Sneath said that Lincs Road Safety Partnership had assisted Pinchbeck PC with Smiley face signs at £3,000 each, which had been quite effective
As most of the lorries travelling through the village were going to and from the recycling plant, it was suggested that the PC write a letter to the recycling plant at Bourne Road
Action: Clerk
It was also agreed to setup a small residents’ group to work on the issue
Action: R Chapman
11. Finance Report
The Clerk showed reports of the PC’s financial position, which had been circulated via email, prior to the meeting
All outstanding payments were approved
11.1. Outside assistance with new website
The Chairman spoke about the issues faced by the Clerk regarding the PC’s new website and asked the Clerk to explain to those present
• LCC had supplied all PCs with new websites, as the old websites are not compliant with the new Accessibility Laws, which come into force on the 23rd September 2020
• The old websites will be switched off at the end of December, by which time, all data and documents must be transferred onto the new websites
• Although the Clerk is computer-literate, she had attended 2.5 hours of online training through LCC, and found it to be extremely complex and way beyond her remit and capability as a Clerk
• Talk of ‘Widgets’ and ‘Metadata’ and removing all formatting from documents, turning them into Web Pages, then reinserting the formatting, was not only confusing, but would be extremely time-consuming. The thought of having to do this for all the historical data and documents on the old website, in order to put them onto the new one, (and for two Parish Councils), was overwhelming.
• The Clerk’s forum was full of comments about this and the fact that Clerks did not have the time nor the skillset to undertake this work - some were even considering resignation as the only option.
• The Clerk lobbied LALC and the local County Councillor with regards to the situation, but the response received from LCC was that we did not have to use their FREE website, we could buy our own. These would cost in the region of £1,600+
• The Clerk spoke with the Clerk from a nearby Parish Council, who was in the same position. She mentioned another Clerk, whose son had transferred all the data from her two Parish Councils for her and was offering his services to other PCs for £600
• At this point, Angela thought of her own son who had achieved an A* in Computer Science at A-Level and was going to be studying it at University, so she asked him to take a look at it and see what he thought. After a couple of days, she asked him if he’d had a chance to look at it, to which he replied that he’d finished transferring all the data and documents for Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council and had started working on Crowland!
• It took him 15 and a half hours to complete each website, then spent a further 3 hours giving one-to-one training, so that the Clerk now feels confident that she can maintain the website in the future
The Chairman proposed that the Parish Council make a discretionary payment of £300 to the clerk’s son, to thank him for the work he had done
This was seconded by A Croyle
All agreed.
12. New Planning Applications (received since the last meeting)
12.1 H03-0728-20: Bankhouse Farm, The Delph, Pode Hole: Proposed Agricultural Building
No objections
Council support
Action: Clerk
13. Update Regarding the re-opening of Littleworth Station
L McGuinness advised that there was another Zoom meeting scheduled with Sir John Hayes on 9th October, to which the Chairman and Vice Chairman have been invited
Also, the Parish Plan has not been produced yet but someone is working on it
13.1. Signal Box Update
D Branton advised that he had received no response to letters and there had been no-one to speak to on the phone, which has been made more difficult due to Covid-19
He will continue to chase
Action: D Branton
14. To discuss any information which the Chairman may legally bring to the Council’s attention
An issue was raised regarding the gullies and drains along the Main Road being blocked, which is causing flooding
- D Branton stated that he had seen them done during the last 3-4 months
P Barrett advised that on Sunday October 25th there would be a Church Harvest Festival Service - social distancing in place
- The Church would like someone from the farming community to do a reading at the 10 o’clock service
A Croyle mentioned that the huge dip in the road has been dealt with
The Village News will be started up again and distributed by the end of the year
Action: P Barrett
Meeting ended at 8:40pm