September 2021 Minutes

Aslackby Parish Council Meetings

Minutes from meeting held on 06th Sept 2021

Present:

Parish Councillors      

Cllr Brian Wilkinson (BW)
Cllr Katie Long (KL)
Cllr Malcolm Dodds (MD) – arrived late
Cllr John Pickard

James Leach – Clerk (JL)

District Councillors

County Councillors   
      
Press       

James Leach       

1   Apologies – Cllr Rachel Stevenson (RS), Cllr R Miller (RM)

Absent – County Cllr Martin Hill (MH)   

2   The Chairman welcomed all present.    

3   8 members of the public were present. –  Vince Arden (VA) Ken Mellors (KM) Alison Ray (AR), Mick Bradley (MB), Bob Calvert (BC), Kate Marshall (KM) and Sue Roberts (SR)   

3a   The Chairman asked members of the public if they would like to speak at this point:

KM came forward as the spokesperson. KM gave an outline of issues that he and his neighbours were currently having with No5 Council Houses, which is situated opposite their access, where by No5 was parking up to 3 vehicles on the grass verge and exit/access bay. The issue is that this bay was part of a section 106 agreement whereby this area must be left clear at all times to allow safe entry and exit from Mr Mellors and his neighbours’ properties. drive to their properties. Mr Mellors has contacted SKDC, LCC Highways and the Police with regards this matter and had been informed that it was nothing to do with them, despite the fact that SKDC Planning and LCC Highways insisted that Seal Homes, who built the properties, put the Section 106, which is legally binding, in place before any properties could be built. Mr Mellors wife had asked the lady at No5 Council Houses to move the vehicles and had received some verbal abuse. She had also put a note on the windscreen asking for the vehicles to be moved, without success. This is obviously now a safety issue as the properties concerned now do not have safe access and exit form their drive and the road is too narrow to allow safe passage of large farm vehicles along Aveland Way. The Police have said that as there are no double yellow lines on the highway, they are powerless to act but they will speak with the Leader of LCC to gain further information. No response has yet been received. JL said he had a copy of all KM’s emails if they wished to view them.

A discussion was had re alternatives, once question was why the lady in question could not park at the back of her own property. BW stated that she did not have vehicular access to the back of her property however it would be worth pursuing SKDC Housing re this. A comment was made however that when this was suggested to the occupant at No5 she said she did not want to do this. Another suggestion was whether SKDC could create a proper parking area at the front of the property to allow sufficient parking. 

BW asked if the residents had contacted their local MP Dr Peter Moseley regarding the issues. At this point BC lost his temper and stated that the PC was not taking the issue seriously especially and it was a serious danger, especially when farm traffic used the road and whenever the had approached the lady at No5 they had been told to “F*** Off”. BC expressly asked for this point to be minuted.

BW asked if the access/exit point had been officially been adopted by LCC Highways. AR said that they had and there was a distinct curb line at the bottom of their drive showing where the driveway ended and the highway began and it could clearly be seen that the bay formed part of the highway.

All parties asked if the PC could contact SKDC re parking behind No5 or in the front garden and LCC Highways to see if double yellow lines could be put in the bay or chevrons to prevent anybody parking there. Also, the PC was asked if they could find out from SKDC what their responsibility was for providing safe and adequate parking for their council tenants? They also asked that the PC put a letter through the door of No 5 asking her to move her vehicles.

JL said he would do these requests and send a copy to KM and AR. He and JP will compose a letter for the resident of No5 and post it through her letter box. JL will also take photos of the offending vehicles and send them to LCC Highways and SKDC.

Action: JL/JP

KM asked JL if he could email him the email addresses of MH and Dr Peter Moseley. JL said he would do this. 

Action: JL

JP asked the members of the public if they were happy with this proposal and they said they were.

At this point all of the members of the public, except AR, MB, SR and KM, left the meeting.

KM and SR were then asked to speak about their proposals for the unused BT Phone Box. JL explained that the PC could purchase the phone box for £1.00 but if they were looking to change the use of the phone box, they would need to submit a change of use planning application. KM questioned this but JL said he had spoken to both Historic England and SKDC Planning and both had stated that, as it was a Listed Building, this was the case. BW stated that if the application came through the PC, we would get it at half the normal price, approx. £250. JL also confirmed that there would be no additional cost to the PC insurance.

KM and SR said that their proposal was to turn it into an exchange bookstore and that KM had a carpenter who would put the shelves in.

JL asked the PC if this was acceptable and it was accepted that the PC would pay the planning fee and complete the application and contact BT to advise that the PC wished to purchase the phone box. JL will contact the relevant parties and supply updates as and when they were available.

Action: JL

The above was proposed by JP and seconded by KL.

BW asked JL to contact BT to check that the phone box would stay where it was as another PC had purchased their phone box and then were told they had to move it to a different site which involved additional cost. JL said he would do this before he continued with the purchase. JL said he would also ask for an update on getting the phone box painted. He also stressed that in future it would have to remain Pillar Box red, however a local resident, who wished to remain anonymous had said they would donate any paint required.

Action: JL

MB asked if there was a possibility to get the phone box to be de-listed. JL said he would contact Heritage England and check.   

Action: JL

4   Declarations of Interest – None. 
   
5   Minutes of the Last Meeting – Proposed by KL and seconded by JP. 
   
6   Matters Arising

All matters from the last meeting, except those listed below, had been dealt with and would be noted under the relevant headings below.

•   The previous two Chairman’s reports had still not been put on the new website. JL will do this before the next meeting.

Action: JL

•   BW still had not repaired the sunken grave in the Cemetery.
•   BW said he had no update re the drug dealing in the close and JL stated that he had received no more complaints. They will keep an eye on the situation and address as necessary.

Action: BW/JL

•   BW had still not been able to speak with MH re the numerous outstanding Highways issues as he had been noticeably absent from meetings and the village. He will speak to Martin as soon as he could.

Action: BW

•   There was no update re the missing Aslackby sign on the A15 as MH had not attended any of the recent meetings, JL will put this on the Agenda for the next meeting, in the hope that MH would attend.

Action: JL

•   JL and JP had not yet reviewed the list of Policies sent by LALC but will endeavour to do this before the next meeting.

Action: JL/JP

•   JL said he had not yet asked Peter Langford to include a sentence about Graby and Laughton on the website but will do this before the next meeting.

Action: JL

7   Planning

A number of Planning applications and decisions had been received since the last meeting. JL had already been sent these to all Parish Councillors and action taken where necessary. See below for details: -

S21/1386 – 12/082021 – Mr Colin Pay – Single Story side extension. No objections had been raised.
S21/1526 – 23/08/2021 – Mr Tom Shaw – discharging of foul and surface water from proposed development at The Dovecote. There were no objections to this application, however BW and MD said that some mention should be made to the layout and the fact that there were a number of springs on this land and in heavy rain the ground became saturated. JL said he would put this down as part of his response.

Action: JL

JL gave an update on the issue re parking that was raised at the last meeting concerning the two new houses that had been built opposite the Church. He had contacted both LCC Highways and SKDC Planning and had received a reply from both to say, that unless it became an issue there was nothing that they could comment on at present as all issues would have been considered during the planning process. The only advice that they could give was to keep an eye on the situation and if it became an issue the PC should raise it with Leader of the County Council MH.

JL said he had received a notification from SKDC Planning to say that now COVID restrictions had been lifted they were now visiting sites. On a recent visit to the 2 new cottages opposite the Church they had seen that they had been in the wrong place and not in line with the agreed planning permission. He had been advised that they were being investigated and that if they had been built in the wrong place a new planning application would need to be submitted for the new location. The PC would be involved as normal by the Planning Process. The Developers had been contacted to facilitate this.
   
8   Cemetery

There have been no internments since the last meeting. 

No update was available from MD re the Cemetery hedge as he did not attend the meeting until later. JL will put this on the Agenda for the next meeting.
   
Action: JL

9   Neighbourhood Watch

No incidents, apart from the parking issues mentioned in Section 3a had been reported since the last meeting.    

10   Highways

A number of Highways issues were still outstanding and unfortunately BW and JL had been unable to speak with County Councillor MH to get an update. The most urgent outstanding issues are still listed below:

•   Clearing gulleys and inspection chambers on the A15. These had still not been done and with the recent heavy rain’s floodwater had again poured into the village. BW said MH had been asked about this on numerous occasion both at PC meetings and whilst he was out and about and MH had promised to look into this. BW will try and catch MH and remind him.

Action: BW

•   Clearing out the gulleys at the new head walls just as you leave the village towards Low Park – this is the landowner’s responsibility. MH said this was not the case and he will have a word with Highways about getting them cleared. See above BW to check with MH.

Action: BW

•   Response from Highways re possibility of putting up speed signs “Children playing” – still outstanding. JL will approach Highways again, especially in view of the new concerns re parking at the new pair of semi-detached homes being built opposite the Church.

Action: JL

•   Water on grass bank opposite Moorfiled Farm – still in progress, also new telegraph pole had been erected due the blocked and overflowing drain it had gone rotten.
•   The Laughton junction near Temple Farm had been repaired and the incident closed but on inspection no work had been done at all and it was still in the same state. He will update the Fix My Street App to this effect and see what happened. 
•   The state of Laughton Road was still a concern. The state of the road was so bad now that cars and lorries were now coming through the village rather than via Laughton. He will speak with MH when he next saw him to find out why these pot holes etc had not been fixed. BW said he would also challenge MH if he saw him.

Action: JL/BW

•   Missing Aslackby sign on A15, still awaiting feedback from MH on this. BW to chaise.

JL said he had received a notification of a road closure on Aveland Way. This will take place from 11/10/2021 to 13/10/2021 to connect a water supply near the Dovecote. No other information was available but a diversion would be in place.

JL said that the potholes on Laughton Road were still outstanding. He said he had again reported approx 20 pot hole issues on Laughton Road, which were reported last year only to be told that it was not a priority by highways. One of the potholes was that deep that he could stand his push bike upright in it without it falling over. He has been hoping that MH would have attended the meeting to discuss these issues but alas he had not attended. The only hope was that these issues were fixed before the diversion mentioned above was put in place.

JL gave an update on the issue re parking that was raised at the last meeting concerning the two new houses that had been built opposite the Church. He had contacted both LCC Highways and SKDC Planning and had received a reply from both to say, that unless it became an issue there was nothing that they could comment on at present as all issues would have been considered during the planning process. The only advice that they could give was to keep an eye on the situation and if it became an issue the PC should raise it with Leader of the County Council MH.

JL said that the hedge by the Ford had now been cut, however BW said that the hedge near the entrance to Temple Farm was now so wide that brambles were encroaching on to the road. JL said he would send an email to the land agent to get this resolved.

Action: JL

JL said he had now spoken to BDG Mowing Contractors re the 2 footpaths in the village. He had now agreed that BDG will cut these as and when required. He said he had received a number of thanks since they had been cut. AR also thanked JL for getting them cut.

JL said he had now reported the trees on the green via Fix My Street and had received a reply to say they were currently being investigated.

JL said he had been approached to see whether the speed limit on the A15 could be reduced as there had been a number of accidents in the past 6 months, one involving a motorcyclist. He had approached Highways but was told that any recommendation to reduce the speed limit would need to go through MH and the Road Safety Partnership. JL said he would look into this further and report back at the next meeting.

Action: JL

JL also stated he had received no further correspondence from Highways concerning moving the 30mph sign outside the factory from the junction with Temple Road to just before the Cemetery. This was a 60mph road up to the junction and MH had backed it being moved last year but nothing had happened. JL said he would contact Highways for an update and report back at the next meeting.

JL said he had received a notification of a road closure on Aveland Way. This will take place from 11/10/2021 to 13/10/2021 to connect a water supply near the Dovecote. No other information was available but a diversion would be in place.
   
11   Finance

The latest balance in the cheque account was £ 627.40

JL said he had received a number of Invoices since the last meeting which he had now paid.

•   LALC Training - £27.00
•   Grass Cutting - £200.00

JP said he had now completed the VAT return. JL said he had no up to date balance from the Savings Account so could not confirm whether the refund had been paid in to the account. He will do this before the next meeting.
 
JL said he had not yet received his wage details from CTS Accountancy Services so he was unable to complete the Clerks wages. This will be carried over to the next meeting.

Action: JL

JL said he had agreed for BDG to maintain the footpaths in future, see previous notes, and that this would be at a cost of £40-£50 per cut.

JL said he had now received the purchase order for the grass cutting refund from LCC Highways. He will get this completed and sent off prior to the next meeting however no refund was usually received until October.

Action: JL

JL said he had now informed LALC that Aslackby & Laughton PC would like to accept the proposed charges for the Website maintenance. Theses would be £15.00 per month and could be included in next year’s Precept.

JL said he had received an email from DE Accounting Services to offer their services for payroll etc. JL had responded to say it was not something we needed at present.

12   Correspondence

All correspondence had been dealt with via email since the last meeting in October. The only needing attention are listed below:

•   JL had forwarded an email from Democratic Services with regards the PC vacancy. Due to the lack of attendees at the meeting it was agreed that this would be carried over to the next meeting when a discussion would be had about co-opting someone onto the PC.

Action: JL

•   JL had issued an email concerning the possibility of obtaining free trees for planting from LCC as part of a grant they had applied for. He had received a number of requests from residents and would send these off by the end of the week. KL and AR asked for the forms to be sent to them as they were also interested. JL said he would do this. The PC decided there was not anywhere where they could take advantage of this offer. JL said he had received an email from RM to say he was not in favour however JL explained that there would be not future impact on the PC as the trees will be planted on private land and it was the landowner’s responsibility to plant an maintain them.

Action: JL

13   SKDC Update/Neighbourhood Plan

No one was available from SKDC to give an update.
   
14   Lincolnshire County Council Update

No one was available from SKDC to give an update.

15   A.O.B

BW said that he would order the next village skip for the 23rd October. JL will print off the slips and pass to BW who will distribute them around the village.

Action: JL/BW

MB asked a question re the positioning of the defibrillator. BW & JL explained why it had been placed at the factory. MB said that a number of people in the village did not know of its existence & whether training had been given. BW said that training had been given when it was first installed and that anyone wishing to use it would be talked through the process by a phone operator. KL suggested that it would be a good idea to put a note out to all residents to explain where the defibrillator was and what they should do if the need arose to use it. JP also said that people in the factory knew how to use it and he would have no issue if someone called the factory for assistance and would be happy to send someone down with the defibrillator if required. JL will do a slip and pas to BW to hand out with the skip slips.   

Action: JL

16   Date of next meeting Monday 25th October 2021 – 7.00 pm at the Village Hall. Meeting closed at 20.17pm