Minutes for November 2023

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DRAFT MINUTES: CORBY GLEN PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday November 8^th 2023 at 7.00pm in the Willoughby Gallery, Corby Glen.

Present: Cllrs Lamming (Chair), Cook, Ellam, Harty, Harwood & Walsingham.

In attendance: Cllrs Hill & Robins, 2 residents, Mrs. S. Woodman (Parish Clerk).

Open Forum:

The resident reported that the litter bin on the Allison Homes development is not being emptied. Clerk to contact Allison Homes. He also requested the Action Log be published on the web site – it already is – and asked for clarification re Community Congress.

Cllr Robins reported that the lights on the Barleycroft – Pridmore footpath are not working, and there is a trip hazard, a ledge, at the Pridmore end. The latter was caused when LCC removed the barrier with no explanation. Cllr Hill to pursue. Clerk to add subject of lights to next agenda.

Cllr Robins also reported that there is an issue with the drains on Swinstead Road opposite Smith’s garage. This was raised during the walkabout. Clerk to contact Anglian Water.

Cllr Walsingham raised the state of the footpaths, especially Morley’s Lane & Church Street. These should be tackled along with road surfaces. Clerk to add to December agenda.

1. Apologies for absence: Cllrs Evans & Shepperson. Reasons given and accepted.
2. District and County Councillors’ Reports: District Cllr’s report attached at Appendix A. Cllr Robins had also discussed with SKDC the state of the St John’s grass area. It was agreed that this is poor and measures proposed to rectify. The clerk had tried to contact Kier & National Grid without success.

Cllr Hill reported that High Street, Morleys’s Lane and the Market Place are all scheduled for resurfacing in Financial Year 2024-25. He clarified the misunderstanding re surface dressing of St John’s Drive – this is preventative maintenance and significantly cheaper than the resurfacing which is needed in other areas.

He explained that flooding had been an issue across the county recently with 400 properties flooded. Cllr Hill recommended monitoring ditches & drainage channels and reporting problems immediately. The resident mentioned the dyke running parallel to Tanners Lane which has already been reported.

3. The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on Wednesday October 11^th 2023 were approved by a majority
   (3 for, 3 abstentions – councillors not in attendance).
4. Councillors’ Declarations of Interest:
5. Review of Action Log:

Actions covered with agenda item.

6. Clerk’s & Chairman’s reports on matters outstanding:

The chairman brought the following item forward:

62/23 Consider filling councillor vacancy by co-option: 3 councillors had met each of the 3 candidates individually. The council went into closed session for discussion. The council then returned to open session. The council voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the councillors who met the candidates that Sally Mardling be co-opted onto Corby Glen Parish Council. Cllr Mardling signed the Acceptance of Office form and was welcomed onto the council.

75/20 Superfast Broadband: Some problems still being experienced.

57/22 Community Congress: Lottery Funding application still in progress.

52/23 CSW: Statistics have been published as requested, but no reaction has been noted. A speed of 60mph was recorded on the A151. The plastic ‘30mph’ signs are broken. It was agreed unanimously that 4 new signs should be purchased – budget £50. Cllr Walsingham to check prices.

51/23 Trees – new / maintenance – update: Cllr Walsingham reported that one of the saplings on Coronation Road needed replacing. He can supply an apple or an amelanchier. Cllr Ellam reported contact with a new resident with green keeping and chain saw expertise. Clerk to contact the resident and request remove epicormic growth. The question of potentially dangerous trees on private land was discussed.

56/23 Walkabout with LCC Highways – report: The report will be circulated to councillors & posted on the web site. LCC Highways confirmed that the Market Place and surroundings are scheduled for resurfacing next year. New white lines could be painted on the Market Place to demarcate parking. An alternative configuration could be used. The chairman asked all councillors to consider ideas. Cllr Walsingham stressed the importance of public consultation / involvement.

31/23 Purchase of a PA system for the Parish Council – update: A PA system has been purchased. The cost before VAT was within the budget of £600.

37/23 Funding for current work streams – update: Cllr Harty is still in the process of applying to the SKDC Community fund. She thinks it unlikely she will meet the deadline of 2 weeks, so may submit to the next round. Cllr Robins offered help & support if needed. Cllr Ellam can source the ‘box’, but it was noted that 3 quotes will be needed.

A new quote for the electricity supply to the Market Place is still needed. Clerk to try a different email – Cllr Walsingham to suggest alternative.

54/23 Identification of ‘at risk’ residents – update: To be included in leaflet.

09/16 Neighbourhood Planning: Cllr Walsingham read out the recent report from the NP Group. The Plan meets the statutory requirements; it is being reviewed by SKDC, but no special problems are envisaged. A referendum in January is possible. Residents to be leafleted – hopefully combined with CGPC leaflet.

7. Matters to be resolved:

58/23 Confirm arrangements for Remembrance Day: The chairman asked for help testing the PA system and transporting it to the Green (a trolley?). Testing Friday at 6.00pm at Cllr Lamming’s house. Saturday leaf clearing 10.00am. Availability of tractor / trailer and ride-on mower confirmed. Donation in place of wreath done. Cllr Lamming to lay wreath. Wreaths to be pegged to the ground – not laid against memorial. Cllr Walsingham to supply tent pegs. Councillors required to wear hi-vis jackets for traffic control. Cllr Cook will remove the poppies from lamp posts next week.

53/23 Agree budget for Christmas Tree, procurement process and risk assessment: Tree to be erected by Sunday Dec 3^rd. Cllr Cook to co-ordinate purchase & erection. A budget of £150 for the tree was agreed unanimously. Cllr Cook to chase risk assessments.

65/23 Consider issues around Christmas Lights and approve appropriate actions: Existing lights to be used this year. Re-consider new lights early next year.

67/23 Consider moving Domain Name retention to a cheaper provider: It was agreed unanimously to move the Domain Name to a cheaper provider. Clerk to notify Web Master.

68/23 Consider draft budget and approve or agree changes: The draft budget was discussed. Councillors to consider and agree at next meeting.

28/23 War Memorial, replace missing letters – update on funding application: Funding application in progress. Cllr Lamming designated as authorised person.

69/23 Consider becoming a National Grid Priority Services Register (PSR) Partner: Deferred to next meeting.

8. Reports from:

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

S23/1091 Nottingham Housing association / Modus Partnerships:
S23/1749 R Lynch Wheelwrights Cottage, High St – Rebuild chimney – Listed Building: No objections
S23/1670 Allison Homes – Variation of Planning Permission S21/1841: Cllr Robins to clarify changes.

Greens Working Group:

07/21 Playground Equipment Maintenance

Replacement of playground equipment to be a high priority for the S106 money. Cllr Robins was asked when this money would become available.

9. 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.

10. Matters to be further discussed at this meeting:
11. 19/22 Use of S106 funds from DWH development / Process for application for S106 Funds: See 07/21 Playground Maintenance.

56/22 Emergency Planning: Deferred

29/23 Leaflet with useful contacts (Anglian Water, Electric board etc.): Deferred

38/23 Issues associated with the new housing estates and how to minimise any disruption:

55/23 Signage in the village: Not covered during walkabout.

57/23 Tubby Asher Memorial Bench: Done

60/23 Parking / car maintenance on pavement: Not discussed.

61/23 Procedure for recording dedications for benches & trees: Not discussed.

63/23 Land ownership investigation: Not discussed.

66/23 Consider issues with current Insurance Policy and agree actions: Deferred.

70/23 Consider the petition from residents to arrange for waste skip/s and agree budget / appropriate action:Clerk to confirm that contents of skips still go to landfill & report back.

71/23 Consider a resident’s request to add the St John’s grass area to the grass cutting schedule: Deferred.

72/23 Agree funding for repairs to flagpole: Deferred.

73/23 Agree response to request for involvement from Bourne Festival of Wheels: Deferred.

12. Next meeting:

The next regular meeting will take place on Wed 14^th December 2023 at 7.00pm in the Willoughby Gallery, Corby Glen.

Meeting closed at 9.08pm.                                                                                                            Mrs. Sue Woodman – Parish Clerk

Action Log 8^th November 2023

Appendix A – District Councillor’s Report:

Greater Lincolnshire Devolution

This is moving ahead rapidly. We understand that the Minister is due to decide shortly whether he is happy with the bid proposed by the three top tier authorities (LCC, N Lincs, and NE Lincs) and if he is, the deal will be announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 22^nd November.

Health care

I’m sure that as community leaders we are all aware of our residents’ concerns with local healthcare services. NHS Lincolnshire is currently carrying out a survey of people’s experiences of using NHS services. They would like to hear from patients and groups from all communities, towns and villages across Lincolnshire to help understand our experiences.

Bins

Purple lidded bin, paper and card households will be delivered in the next few weeks ready for the launch of the change next year. The council is sending more than 68,000 households across the district about how recycling collection are about to change with information packs which should drop through your door any day if you have not received one already.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Concerns

Rightly there is a lot of concern at the possibility of dangerous RAAC in our council housing stock and any other council buildings. Officers have responded quickly to the issue.

The steps being taken by South Kesteven District Council follow Government advice to schools to close due to the safety risks associated with the use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their construction. RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete used in roof, floor, cladding and wall construction in the UK from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980. Experts believe much of the RAAC used in construction projects has exceeded its lifespan of 30 years and could collapse. While the material was used mainly in the construction of office and school buildings, we are checking as a matter of urgency whether it is present in any buildings within our estate.

As part of that, a stock condition on database check has been carried out to identify any of our properties that fall within the scope of the construction type that would be affected. That check shows we have several flat roof dwellings that were built circa 1947 and we understand these to be poured concrete and outside of the general mescals originally identified in relation to RAAC so they are not within the scope. There are some suggestions that RAAC was used as far back as the 1950s and as we have a couple of the properties identified as being built circa 1947. We are conducting further investigations.

While we do not have any concrete roofed buildings within our housing stock, we cannot be 100% sure about alternative uses of RAAC, such as floor finishes; checks on that are being carried out. We are pulling together a list of all blocks with concrete floors for checking and will also revisit non-traditional buildings. This will also give us a better idea of any remedial on required on non-traditional buildings generally. We intend to prioritise this list based on the scope as part of a desktop survey and will not need to check every block, just the type. This will be completed by the Housing Team by the end of next week.

We will be engaging the services of a surveyor as soon as possible and, in line with the Government guidelines, we will carry out a visual structural survey on any properties we cannot definitely rule out as being affected. For any areas where we are uncertain or believe to be RAAC, we will need to engage a consultant with experience of identifying and RAAC. Although we first looked at this last year, we are taking a fresh look to see if there is anything else that comes within the scope following additional information received extending the scope of the possible use of RAAC. These actions provide the reassurance that all the necessary steps are being taken.

The Spinney

On Monday 30^th October ‘the Spinney’ in Little Bytham will close for the play equipment to be replaced. The site will be closed to the public for roughly 6/8 weeks.