April 2024 minutes
The Parish Council meeting was held on Monday 8th April 2024 at 7.00pm in the Jubilee Hall, High Street, Heighington.
Present:
Councillor Buckley-Jones
Councillor Catlow
Councillor Catterson
Councillor Craig
Councillor Farrington (arrived at 7:02pm)
Councillor George
Councillor Rushby (Vice Chair)
Councillor Sockell (Chair)
Councillor Sowerby
Councillor Trafford
Councillor Watkinson
Clerk – Elaine Atkin
NKDC Councillor Reece Harrington
NKDC Councillor Carola Goodwin (arrived 7:11pm)
NKDC & LCC Councillor Ian Carrington (arrived 7:26pm)
Absent: None
There were 2 members of the public present.
Public participation
There were no comments.
248/M/23 To receive apologies for absence, these having been submitted to the Clerk prior to the meeting
Apologies for absence had been received from the RFO and from NKDC Cllr Goodwin, who would be late.
249/M/23 To receive Declarations of Interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and receive Requests for Dispensations
There were none.
250/M/23 To approve the draft notes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 11th March 2024 and for these to be signed as the agreed minutes
It was proposed by Cllr Rushby, seconded by Cllr George and resolved to approve the Parish Council minutes. The minutes were duly signed.
251/M/23 To receive reports from County and District Councillors (for information only)
NKDC Cllr Harrington gave an update. In summary:
a. The main Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire office has now moved into the NKDC Sleaford offices.
Cllr Farrington arrived (7:02pm)
b. NKDC have now taken over the Carre Arms hotel in Sleaford. It will continue as a venue available for the public.
c. NKDC are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
d. Christine Collard won the Heckington Rural by-election.
e. Heckington Digital Hub will be reopening.
A number of questions were raised which were intended for LCC & NKDC Cllr Carrington and Cllr Harrington was asked to pass these on:
a. Cllr Carrington was supposed to have a walkaround with the Highways portfolio holder – can we have an update please?
b. Can we have an update on flood resilience?
c. Parishioners are asking for an update on the school flooding works.
d. We’d like to flag up ongoing parking issues in the village. Cllr Sowerby mentioned that it’s possible to report poor parking via a LCC form and asked if we can publicise this to parishioners.
NKDC Cllr Goodwin arrived (7:11pm)
e. Cllr Buckley-Jones raised a query regarding the suggestion the old village hall would be knocked down and whether this could provide additional parking to alleviate some of the parking issues. Cllr George confirmed that the brewery was due to take a proposal regarding the old village hall to their next board meeting.
252/M/23 To note the list of correspondence and meetings since the February council meeting
This was noted.
Financial matters:
253/M/23 To note overtime worked in February and paid in March
The overtime report was noted.
Planning Matters and Tree Works:
254/M/23 To (re)confirm the way council comments on planning applications, including applications which require a response between meetings
Planning applications are considered at Full Council meetings. As per Standing Orders, there are several options for dealing with any planning applications which come in between meetings, and which have a closing date for comment which is prior to the next scheduled meeting. These are:
a. Ask NKDC for an extension to the deadline so that the application can be considered at the next scheduled meeting. This will be at the discretion of NKDC.
b. Call an extraordinary Full Council meeting to discuss the application.
c. Under delegated powers, the clerk can circulate the application around all councillors, collate the comments received, and submit them to NKDC. In the event there is a discrepancy in the comments, the clerk will try and obtain a consensus from councillors offline and word the application response accordingly.
It was proposed by Cllr Sockell, seconded by Cllr Watkinson and resolved for the method of commenting on applications due between meetings (as above) to be dependent on the size of application and whether it is likely to be contentious with parishioners. In the event that option c (collation of comments offline) is chosen, all councillors will be expected to respond to the clerk, even if they have no comments to make.
255/M/23 To consider tree works applications received from NKDC (including those considered between meetings)
None received.
256/M/23 To note tree decision notices from NKDC
a. 24/0178/TPO. T1 – Larch – fell. T2 – Pine – fell. 36 Kenyon Close, Heighington, LN4 1GJ. TPO works refused.
b. 24/0243/TCA. T1 – Weeping Willox (Salix Babylonica) – Remove lower limb pictured with decay, cut back to trunk. Cut back upper limb to allow access for crane to replace sluice gates in the stream/beck. – The Water Mill, Mill Lane, Heighington, LN4 1RQ. TPO not required.
Decisions were noted.
257/M/23 To note the planning applications received from NKDC for consideration (including those considered between meetings).
a. 24/0293/HOUS. Removal of existing conservatory and erection of two story extension and 2nd floor side extension. Little Grange, Potterhanworth Road, Heighington.
This application was considered offline due to timescales and the parish council submitted the following objection:
We believe that the plans are incorrect and need to be redrawn correctly.
The site plan is incorrect in that the back of the current house forms the boundary between "Little Grange" and "Monmouth House". To someone who does not know that, they may assume that the proposed extensions fit nicely within the plot, whereas this is not the case. As the site plan is incorrect about the rear boundary, does the applicant actually own the small parcel of land that abuts into the rear garden of "Whitegates Cottage", the immediate neighbour in Back Lane that is shown on the plans?
Because the site plans need to be amended to the correct land ownership, we think that this proposal will overextend the build area within the site. The size of the proposed extension replacing the conservatory will be significantly over the build line of the houses along that part of Back Lane. The new roof line will be significantly higher than now and will potentially increase the shade areas of the gardens of the houses behind it (on the High Steet).
The picture of the stone boundary wall to the east in the Design and Heritage statement is actually the Potterhanworth Road wall of "Monmouth House" and not "Little Grange". This document does not state how the actual garden wall of "Little Grange" will be retained or if the ornamental pillars to the garden gate on the boundary wall with Potterhanworth Road will be kept. Even though "Little Grange" is not a listed building it is in the village Conservation Area and these gate post pillars are a decorative feature of the wall and an established part of the built environment. The parish council would want these to be kept.
There is no indication of how the additional drainage will be dealt with – via soakaways or existing sewerage system. Or what any hard standing material will be used. Any hard standing needs to be able to cope with drainage.
We are concerned about the impact on other residents or users of Back Lane whilst any building works is ongoing. At “Little Grange”, Back Lane is a one-way system and very narrow, with no room for builders’ vehicles to park.
b. 24/0347/HOUS. Erection of garden shed. Woodbine Cottage, Chapel Lane, Heighington.
It was proposed by Cllr Rushby, seconded by Cllr George and resolved that there were no comments.
258/M/23 To note planning decision notices from NKDC
a. 23/1036/HOUS. Application to discharge condition 3 (Materials details and design) of planning permission 23/1036/HOUS – erection of 1.5 storey rear extension and alterations and new front boundary wall with driveway gates. 17 High Street, Heighington, LN4 1RG. Application approved.
The decision was noted.
259/M/23 To review the website accessibility statement
It was proposed by Cllr Catlow, seconded by Cllr Farrington and resolved to approve the website accessibility statement.
260/M/23 To agree the Full Council meeting schedule for 2024-25
It was proposed by Cllr Catterson, seconded by Cllr Rushby and resolved to approve the meeting schedule for 2024-25. The meeting in August will only be held if there is urgent business.
261/M/23 To agree allocation of councillor inspection areas
LCC & NKDC Cllr Carrington arrived (7:26pm).
The list of inspection areas around the village was reviewed, and areas allocated to all councillors. Councillors are encouraged to inspect their areas monthly and report any issues found. This was proposed by Cllr Sowerby, seconded by Cllr Catterson and resolved.
262/M/23 To review the Station Road Fire Risk Assessment report and agree actions required
The actions from the Station Road Fire Risk Assessment report were reviewed. It was proposed by Cllr Watkinson, seconded by Cllr Trafford and resolved to focus on the most urgent items first and for costs to be brought to the May meeting.
263/M/23 To receive the latest update regarding Chafer bugs (and moles) on council land (standing agenda item)
Cllr Trafford gave a verbal update. There does not appear to be any bird damage at Station Road and the grubs are likely to emerge in May or June as per their lifecycle. The molehills at Potterhanworth Road will be rolled and flattened as part of the usual maintenance.
At this point the chair asked LCC & NKDC Cllr Carrington if he would like to provide his update (as per item 251/M/23).
Cllr Carrington provided the following update:
a. LCC have approved the devolution proposal. In year 1 this means that £2.2m will be available to NKDC for capital spend. Clarified that devolution will not affect the responsibilities of the current authorities i.e. district or parish.
b. The LCC flooding enquiry is underway. Cllr Carrington is part of the Storm Impact Group. Meetings are being held in May, all the evidence will be reviewed from June onwards, with the report expected in September. There has been no date set yet for a meeting with the parish council and affected residents. LCC are working alongside engineers looking at future-proofing the school and Cllr Carrington will try and get an update.
c. Cllr Carrington has his ‘ward walk’ with the LCC Highways portfolio holder on 29 April. Issues being looked at include the requirement for proper resurfacing of the High Street, the Pitts Road junction. The chair asked that this also looked at parking issues on the High Street in the vicinity of the flagpole. A walkaround is to be organised with Cllr Carrington and the chair and clerk to look at the parking issues (this has now arranged for 23 April).
d. The chair raised an issue whereby residents are confused with the element on the council tax bill which states a 12.3% rise in parish lighting. Complaints have been raised from parishioners who assume this is something the parish council has raised, when it’s not. Cllr Carrington agreed to speak to NKDC regarding the wording of this item and also to get an explanation of the reasons for the increase.
The meeting closed at 7:59 pm.
Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as the official minutes of Council proceedings until they are approved and signed at the next meeting.
Item 5 - Correspondence and meetings