2024 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a meeting of Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council, held on Monday the 22nd of July commencing at 7pm in the Primary School on Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas.

Present:   D Croyle (Chair), P Barrett, N Watts, L McGuinness, R Jarvis, A Croyle, S Hall, S Chappell, J Mitchell and O McGuinness

District Cllr:   Bryan Alcock

Parishioners:   6

Chairman’s welcome and Public Forum.

There were no public speakers.

20.   To receive and approve apologies for absence.

Apologies had been received from District Cllr Jim Astill.

21.   To receive Declarations of Interest, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 being any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in agenda items not previously recorded on Member’s Register of Interests.

There were none.

22.   To approve the Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held on the 28th of May.

(N Watts arrived at 19:03)

It was resolved to approve the Minutes of the Annual Council meeting and the Chair signed them.

23.   Matters arising from the Minutes, (not included on this Agenda).

There were none.

24.   To receive nominations and resolve by way of a secret ballot, the position of Vice Chair.

JM Nominated Rob Jarvis
AC Seconded the nomination.
LM Nominated Paul Barrett
SC Seconded the nomination.

A vote was taken via secret ballot which resulted in 5 votes for each candidate, therefore the Chair used her deciding vote and it was resolved to appoint Rob Jarvis to the position of Vice Chair of the Council.

a.   Signing of the declaration of Office to be witnessed by the Proper Officer.

AC signed the declaration of office on behalf of RJ and was witnessed by the Clerk.

25.   To receive the Clerk’s report on matters outstanding.

The report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

LM asked about the RBL monies, and the Clerk confirmed that Mr Branton’s aspiration is to give it to the PC but is awaiting authority from the RBL.

DC asked about the planting at the corner of Harrow Road and the Clerk confirmed that she was still awaiting details of the plans to send to SHDC.

ACTION: P Barrett 

RJ stated that there is a parishioner present whose son is a racing driver for Porsche and would like to donate a sum of £20K split between the PC and the GNS.

The PC gave thanks for their generous offer and agreed that a ‘thank you’ plaque would be arranged for a bench somewhere in the village.

26.   To resolve to approve the request from the Good Neighbour Scheme to install a bench by the new defibrillator on New Road. 

As Chair of the GNS, RJ explained that the bench would be sited about a meter away from the new defibrillator on New Road, in the hope that it would be used by the community and become a ‘friendship’ bench.  He confirmed that all costs will be met by the GNS.

RJ proposed

AC seconded

AC added that he also had some slabs that could be placed in front of the bench and the defibrillator to prevent a mud patch

It was resolved to grant permission to site the bench on the PC’s land.

27.   Highways Matters and Community Speed Watch.

a.   To discuss and resolve parking on the green at the top of Harrow Road.

OM stated that it is starting to look untidy, with several cars parking on the grass.

A suggestion was made that some of the green be turned into extra parking spaces.

As the land is not owned by the PC it was resolved to notify the landowner.

ACTION: Raise the issue with SHDC – AC to monitor the situation and send photos to the Clerk.

b.   To discuss and resolve the signage at the top of Campain’s Lane.

The Clerk confirmed that a resolution was made at the PC meeting of the 24th July 2023, to replace the ‘No Parking’ signs with ‘Passing Place’ signs.

ACTION: RJ to get the signs changed.

c.   To receive the report of the CSW 

As Co-ordinator, PB gave a verbal report with details of the last 2 operations where several vehicles were reported for speeding.

28.   Finance Matters: -

a.   To receive the Notes of the Finance Committee and to resolve to approve their recommendations.

A copy of the Notes had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Bus Shelter near Littleworth Playing field.
Recommendation: A temporary bus stop, idea of a Bissel Pole, to enable a bus timetable to be attached. 
RJ stated that there was already a timetable displayed in the bus layby so no need for a Bissel Pole.
Budgeting request for tidying up the village and bus shelters.
Due to a volunteer coming forward for the role of bus shelter cleaner, tidy up of planters and corners of roadsides as well as general tidying of the village. 
Recommendation: Applicant to officially apply for the bus shelter cleaning role.  Payment of £500 pa to be paid quarterly together with expenses of £50 per quarter to cover diesel for example = £175 per quarter. Council can then apply for grant from SHDC on an annual basis making it cost neutral to the PC. 

PB stated that he was not happy with this recommendation, as he has been doing this work voluntarily at a personal cost to himself.  He abruptly left the meeting.

The above recommendation was not resolved and will be brought to the next Council meeting.

b.   To receive Bank Reconciliation and Summary Reports from the RFO 

Bank reconciliations for May and June had been circulated prior to the meeting and the Chair signed both copies.

c.   To approve Invoices for Payment (separate sheet)

The list of payments had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Payments were proposed by RJ

Seconded by AC

It was resolved to approve the payments as listed below.

29.   Planning Matters.

a.   To receive the report of the Planning Committee.

A copy of the report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Reserved matters for Home Farm development have been submitted to include a village hall.

The Hall plans are similar to those that were proposed by the previous developer.

Although the plans are visible on the SHDC Planning portal, the developer intends to keep parishioners informed through the Village News.

b.   To discuss and resolve feedback regarding an affordable housing scheme on a site off Littleworth Drove.

An email with a link to the proposed scheme had been circulated to members prior to the meeting.

The proposed location is by the corner of Campain’s Lane off the Main Road, with a mix of houses and two bungalows equating to approximately 10-12 dwellings.

Development is in flood zone 3 and is outside of the settlement boundary of Deeping St Nicholas as shown in the 2018 local plan.

Flood risk assessment states that dwellings should be 2-storey and the access road will be between the 40 and 50mph speed limits.

After discussion, it was resolved to provide the following feedback: -

1.   The proposed development is in flood zone 3. In the July 2018 housing boundary map, the latest version available, this area is firmly outside the red line, i.e. not available for building on.

2.   A previous development for this and part of the adjacent fields was turned down a few years ago, on the grounds of flooding and drainage, along with concerns around access. 

3.   The enclosed flood risk assessment states that for this level of risk, dwellings should be two-storey, yet it shows what appears to be four bungalows.

4.   Access/egress would be onto a 40mph road within yards of where it changes to a 50mph road at that point - not ideal but maybe a separate issue.

5.   Would the very nature of the development preclude it from being affordable? E.g., 100,00 tonnes of soil was brought to DSN from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, to raise the level of the Caulton’s Field development.

30.   To receive an update from the Playing Fields and Bus Shelters Committee.

A verbal update was given by RJ, the Chair of the Committee.

New plans received from The Playground Experts for each of the play areas were shown.  Proposed to be done in 3 stages St Nicholas, Hop Pole then Littleworth.

Next step is to send out emails to obtain 3D drawings, before going out for consultation.

SC asked whether there could be other items sited in the Hop Pole play area.

RJ clarified that he would be going out to consultation through Facebook to ask for suggestions from the public on what they would like to see in their local park.

Members thanked Rob for all his achievements.

31.   To resolve to approve the proposed changes to Sub-Committees and membership of each.

The Chair had prepared and sent round a copy of her proposed changes prior to the meeting, which included a new Highways and Footpaths Committee.

This would also include the Bus Shelters which would be taken away from the Playing Fields Committee.

Following discussion, it was resolved to approve the changes and membership was agreed as shown in the table below.

32.   To receive reports and updates from members on Community groups and to resolve any requests.

Community Gardening
In Bloom judged Friday the 12th of July. 
Went to Vine House Gardens, the School, Sensory Garden and the planters.
Results will be known in August and publicised in September.
Obelisk has been planted.
The last wooden roadside planter has been replaced and there are plans to replace the small wooden planters which have for now, been repaired.
Thanks to Vine House Farm and Mitchell Engineering who have sponsored 2 of the planters.
GNS
Due to the VHF being very busy through the summer, Chatter Natter moved to the garden of RJ’s home.
3 fundraising events so far: tea and scones, strawberries and cream and ploughman’s last week.
£130 in donations from those 3 events
Defibrillator has been installed along with a Press release with the Parish, District and County Cllrs, volunteers and family of the lady who lost her life.
Press release regarding the resurfacing in St Nicholas Park and thanks to the District Cllrs for their donations.
Neighbourhood Watch
Nothing to report.
FOLS (Friends of Littleworth Station)
Old Station Building – offer from the owner has been withdrawn.
Funding refused, mainly due to no bank account or proof of cashflow.
Signal Box is still ongoing.
Owner is still happy to have the Station Halt and Car Park.

a.   To receive an update from the CTC following the village fete.

Plans at Home Farm – looks like we will be gaining a village hall.
Village Fete was successful, and it stayed dry.
Receipts £484
Tombola took £359 for the GNS with their overall takings being £601.  After costs this left £530.
Expenses £300 band, £160 other costs, £228 Portaloo hire.
£460.46 to be paid to the CTC as part of the PC’s sponsorship of the fete.
Require a new committee/co-ordinator to run the fete next year. AC stressed that whoever took over, would be given a ‘Fete in a Box’ and would have the support of AC and DC.
LM wanted to record a huge vote of thanks to AC and the Chair for co-ordinating the fete for the past 7 years.

33.   Agenda items for the next meeting.

Footpaths and grass verges
Christmas Tree 
Pride of DSN Awards
Annual Parish Meeting
Remembrance Sunday

34.   To confirm the date of the next meeting which has been provisionally set for the 23rd of September.

It was confirmed that the next meeting will be held on Monday the 23rd of September.t 20:45