Minutes for July 2022

DRAFT MINUTES: CORBY GLEN PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday July 13th 2022 at 7.30pm in the Willoughby Gallery, Corby Glen.

Present: Cllrs Lamming (Chair), Andrew, Cook, Evans, Fowler, Harwood, Silabon & Walsingham.

In attendance: Mrs. S. Woodman (Parish Clerk) & 1 resident.

Open Forum:

Hedges: A resident reported concerns that there are many hedges in the village overhanging footpaths & adjoining property. The chairman reminded him that we are advised to protect nesting birds by not cutting hedges between March & September. The clerk was requested to add the item to the agenda for the September meeting. A reminder to be published in The Link.

Quality of pothole fixes: A resident expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the road surfaces in Corby Glen when compared to less populated villages such as Irnham & Humby where roads have been completely re-surfaced. The resident was requested to check whether the areas of particular concern have been raised on Fix my Street, and to email Cllr Hill (cc the clerk & chairman) to enquire why roads in eg Irnham & Humby have been resurfaced & Corby Glen has not. The clerk was requested to contact Rowan Smith to ask for sight of the plan / schedule for re-surfacing.

Speeding in the village: The resident raised this as a concern and asked about traffic calming measures. Corby Glen already has an active CSW, from which data about the speed of vehicles travelling through the village is being gathered. This evidence could be used in the future. Traffic calming measures have been discussed many times by the council, but always rejected by LCC Highways. Change is unlikely until there is a political will, but the subject can be discussed again with Cllr Hill at a future date.

Village Conference to discuss events: It is hoped to get all village groups and organisations together in September to discuss and co-ordinate village events. Bea Dungarwalla has agreed to advise on available funding but it was considered that this should be a separate meeting. Cllr Harwood’s experience is that this works best when a specific goal has been established. Clerk to compile a list of known village groups & circulate to councillors to ensure completeness in preparation for arranging the meeting.

Footpath verges: Cllr Robins was thanked for his efforts in getting the verges of the footpaths tidied. The meeting had hoped that the tidying would have been extended further.

1. Apologies for absence: Cllr Clink. Reasons noted and accepted.
2. District and County Councillors’ Reports:  Cllr Robins had sent his apologies. His report will be emailed to councillors.
3. The minutes of the annual meeting of the Council held on Wednesday May 11th2022 were approved unanimously. The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday June 8th 2022 were amended to show Cllr Evans was not present, and were then approved as an accurate record by a majority (6 for, 1 against, 1 abstention) and signed by the chairman.
4. Councillors’ Declarations of Interest: None.
5. Review of Action Log:

22/04 Bank Account Signatories: Cllr Harwood has had no communication from the bank. Cllr Lamming to contact the bank again.

13/22 Watering Trees: The chairman thanked Cllr Walsingham for arranging the schedule, and councillors for watering their designated trees. The clerk’s reminders were appreciated. The chairman also expressed her thanks to Mick Franklin for protecting trees from the strimmer. Clerk to write and thank Mr Franklin.

• Clerk’s & Chairman’s reports on matters outstanding:

75/20 Superfast Broadband: Only 53% of those who expressed an interest have followed up with a pledge. 210 households are needed by August 25th to ensure the scheme goes ahead. Otherwise the main village may be left behind whilst the new houses are connected. Cllr Cook had arranged for leaflets & posters to be printed for circulating to all households in the village. The council agreed by a majority (7 for, 1 abstention) to pay for the leaflets.

The shortfall of pledges is felt to be the result of lack of understanding of a complicated situation and caution to take on new commitments in the current financial climate. A more strongly worded message is to be posted on Nextdoor explaining the implications of failing to secure this funding.

Councillors delivering the leaflets may at their discretion knock on doors and try to explain the importance of this for the village – without it, broadband speeds are likely to deteriorate.

The position regarding those renting their homes was raised; also whether there would be a time limit to signing up once the service is in place. Cllr Walsingham has confirmation in writing that no extra charge will be made for connecting those whose premises are a distance from the road.

25/21 Fighting Cocks – Asset of Community Value: Response from SKDC – report produced. Still under consideration.

55/20 Speeding in the village: 2 further volunteers have joined the group. Sessions are being carried out weekly.

09/16 Neighbourhood Planning: The grant application has been successful and the money is in the council’s bank account.

• Matters to be resolved:

15/22 New Web site: It was accepted that the council should more properly have sought 3 quotes before going ahead. However, when this was brought to the council’s attention, work had already been started and so it was too late to rescind. During the previous meeting it was felt that given the instability of the current web site, time was of the essence, and given the potential cost of a new web site, the cost quoted was deemed reasonable.

After reviewing the financial regulations Cllr Fowler highlighted that the council should have requested three quotes for the website.

Work is now progressing well and data from the current web site has been migrated across. It is planned to ‘soft launch’ the web site as soon as the Parish Council part is stable, with a formal launch later. Cllr Harwood suggested taking one organisation as an example to show others the kind of thing anticipated. Sheep Fair was suggested as a possible candidate. The clerk will email Cllr Cook with details of the content expected by the ICO.

• Reports from: 

Planning: to consider planning applications received prior to & after publication of the agenda:

S22/0731 Alison Homes: The site visit had been reassuring and informative. The orchard area is being retained. The developer is not installing kerbs on the Village Hall side of Swinstead Road. A show house is planned on the A151 side of the site, followed by houses close by. Development will then work towards Swinstead Road, where access will be moved to the centre of the frontage. The developer is to be invited to the Community conference in September.

The clerk was asked to request the archaeological reports (and Action Points from the Allison’s site visit) from both Allison Homes & DWH – contact details to be obtained from Cllr Robins.

S21/2303 Miranda Preston – erection of 3 dwellings on site opposite junction Tanners Lane / A151. The application relates to concerns regarding flooding. The Parish Council is not required to comment.

S21/1841 David Wilson Homes Development (199 dwellings) – see above.

Greens Working Group:

27/22 Agree company to undertake annual playground inspection: The clerk had obtained 3 quotes for carrying out the annual inspection of the play equipment. There was an option to accompany the inspector at an additional cost, which other clerks had reported as worthwhile, and the clerk recommended, especially in the light of councillors’ concerns regarding the previous visit. The clerk agreed to email the summary of previous years’ reports to all councillors.

It was agreed unanimously that the clerk should instruct RoSPA to undertake the inspection, and that an accompanied visit will be scheduled. At least one of Cllrs Evans, Cook, Harwood and / or Fowler will be on hand to accompany.

07/21 Playground Equipment Maintenance

It is not known how the stepping post had been broken, but it cannot be re-installed, and no new post is to be purchased at this time.

The clerk was requested to obtain 3 quotes from decorators for sanding down and staining the play equipment & nearby bench/es. Cllr Cook is happy to meet prospective decorators on site and explain what is required. Mr T Kiely will email the clerk contact details of local tradesmen.

• Payments and Accounts

(i) Bank balances – monthly update approved unanimously as set out below.

(ii) Invoices for payment – Councillors resolved unanimously to approve payments as set out in schedule below.

1. 10.   Matters to be further discussed at this meeting:

01/22 Consider replacing Christmas Tree Lights: After discussion, Cllr Cook has established that there is no need to replace the light at this time.

05/22 Reason for new footbridge (rear of St John’s Drive): Still awaiting further feedback from Cllr Hill.

12/22 Consider state of benches, bins, phone box, noticeboards & options to fix: Cllr Evans will remove the broken bench at the bottom of St John’s Drive. In future, benches should be made of material which does not rot – benches made of recycled plastic are available.

The Greens Committee has established that there are 16 benches in the village, although the council’s asset register only lists 10 as belonging to the council. They will undertake a further inspection. Clerk requested to contact LCC & SKDC to determine whether they believe that they own any of the benches.

Phone Box: Cllr Andrew showed the council Liz Partridge’s draft designs for stickers to go in the phone box. Cllr Fowler queried whether planning permission was needed. Clerk to enquire. No one present had asked the resident whose builders broke the glass to arrange for its repair. The chairman will check with Cllr Robins and follow up as necessary.

17/22 Repair of Speed Record Panel on the Green: No progress, despite the chairman’s repeated attempts to contact those responsible.

19/22 Use of S106 funds from DWH development / residents’ consultation: Defer til next meeting.

22/22 Best Kept Village Competition: Not discussed.

25/22 Deer problem/s: To be deferred to next meeting.

26/22 Agree draft road names for future developments: To be deferred to next meeting.

28/22 Communication of planning applications from SKDC: Cllrs agreed that they wish to continue to be informed about planning applications in the area.

29/22 EV Charging in Corby Glen: Cllr Silabon raised the question of the installation of public charging points. She will send out details of options to inform a discussion at the next meeting. She was asked to contact LCC and enquire about any plans they might have.

30/22 Cut around base of lime tree on Village Green: Cllr Fowler had obtained a quote of £60 for cutting down the basal growth. It was agreed unanimously to accept the quote.

31/22 Paint walking person sign on footpath across Market Place and outside Church Street Rooms:
The clerk was requested to ask Rowan Smith about this.

32/22 Refresh paintwork speed limit and slow signs on A151: As per previous item.

33/22 Repaint beacon: To be included in the quote for re-painting the playground equipment.

34/22 Possibility of skip: The reason why the council no longer wished to provide a skip when this was debated previously was explained to Cllr Fowler. He proposed that a skip/s be ordered nevertheless, but in the absence of a seconder, the motion was not taken further.

35/22 Glass in telephone box: See 12/22.

1. Next meeting:

The next regular meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday September 14th 2022 at the Willoughby Gallery.

Meeting closed at 9.31pm.                                                                                                            Mrs. Sue Woodman – Parish Clerk

Footnote: Cllr Fowler has an outstanding issue with these minutes which will be resolved at the next meeting.

Action Log 13th Jujy 2022