November 2019 Minutes
Minutes of the Hogsthorpe Parish Council meeting
Held on Wednesday 6th November 2019
Present: Cllrs L Wildman (Chairman) M Culley, P Smith, E Carter, M Banks, B Hornby, A Green, V Worley and K Hayes (Clerk)
Also present: County Cllr Colin Davie, and 10 members of the public (8 of whom left after public forum)
Public forum
Residents of 2 properties on Stones Close reported that someone is walking his dog at the back of their property and has stated that he has been given permission to do so by the farmer owner. They were enquiring who the farmer was. Cllr Cullen will take a look and let them know who is the owner.
Resident asked if there was anyone who could do the judging of the Christmas Light competition – Cllr Davie volunteered to come along on the 13th December for a walk-round with other parish councillors.
1. Apologies – None – all present
2. Declarations of interest – None.
3. Approval of notes of meeting
It was unanimously resolved that the notes of the Meeting of 2nd October 2019 be accepted as a true record of the proceedings and were duly signed by the Chairman.
4. Clerk’s report
• The overhanging trees on the High Street have been cut back.
• Cllr Carter and Clerk attended the Corporate Strategy workshop at ELDC looking at ways of making savings on the District budget – suggested that caravans/caravan park owners should be paying council tax.
5. To receive reports from outside bodies & other meeting
Cllr Davie reported:
• In reply to an email from clerk regarding the state of Thames Meadow Drive – an unadopted road – he stated that it needs ELDC to decide what they are going to do about it. Highways have no objection to taking it over but firstly it needs to be put into a good state of repair. His course of action will be to price up the cost of repair and put this forward to ELDC at a meeting he has with them.
• £25 million has been set aside for Skegness and Mablethorpe to improve the areas. The Business Park in Skegness will be opening in February.
• There is now a direct train service between Lincoln and London – fares will be reasonably priced.
• An extra £2.5M is being earmarked for flooding issues in the county.
• Coastal Country Park will be making changes to bring higher market visitors to the area.
• Asked about why the NHS Trust was in special measures, he replied that it needed a complete re-think on the way the service is delivered. The new medical school in Lincoln was over-subscribed so medical staff training could be done more locally.
6. Correspondence
• Letter from CAB Lindsey asking for donation – agreed no donation
• Invite from Victoria Atkins’ office – Cllr Smith wished to go.
• Notification from ELDC re application to reduce the spread of tree at front of school – supported.
7. Financial matters
(a) A draft budget was handed round to all councillors. Clerk explained that this would need to be ratified at the next council meeting in December as the precept notification to ELDC was required in January. It was agreed that an amount of £2,500 should be added for upgrading of the old cemetery path which was almost covered. Cllr Hornby objected to the amount of £5000 earmarked as reserve for the playpark as she believed that it could be better spent on making the entrance to the village more
attractive especially as no villagers had come forward to help in the running of the playpark charity. It was, however, agreed by other councillors that it was necessary to keep the playing fields in good order for the residents and children of the village. The £5K earmarked may not be needed but a contingency was required for any untoward costs. The clerk would amend the budget to include the cemetery path and asked that this be agreed at the next meeting. (b) Payment of accounts was approved for £24.96 to Sid Dennis for churchyard waste disposal, £44.00 to L Wildman (repayment for varnish for church door and wood stain for village seats) and £100 to British Legion for wreaths and donation.
8. Highways and village maintenance
a) Village flooding – A walkround with representatives from Anglian Water, Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board, Highways and LCC flooding officer had taken place to identify the areas of flooding. The outcome was that newer properties which had been built in the village did not have adequate drainage and nothing could be done in retrospect. Regulations since 2010 were now in place to ensure that all new developments would have proper drainage as part of their planning permissions. The four-acre drain was looked into. A flooding meeting was to be held the following week at which the issues would be discussed. Clerk had hoped to get something from flooding officer to put in the newsletter.
b) Highways issues
• Sea Lane street sign replacement was in progress but may take some time
• Breakup of surface of Goodwin Drive had been reported – they had filled in potholes
• Repair to the edging of Langham Road was in progress.
• St Mary’s Close exit – LCC again notified with photographs that the hedge was still too high and visibility onto the A52 was dangerous.
c) A grit bin had been ordered for the end of Langham Lane.
d) Bramble blockage on the footpath – Countryside Access is looking into this.
9. Churchyard
The church door has been re-varnished. Main maintenance work in the churchyard was due to start but had been delayed because of the weather.
10. Planning issues and enforcements
a) Belmont House –Planning permission had been refused on flooding grounds. They were still continuing to work on the property – Planning Enforcement had been informed by both the Parish Council and the Drainage Board.
b) Erection of bungalow,14 Goodwin Drive – permission refused on flooding issues.
c) The Laurels Pond – 20 static caravans. Still on-going, Cllr Hibbert-Greaves has this in hand.
11. Christmas village event planning
The village hall is to charge for the Resident’s free Christmas event (price not yet known). There will need to be some sort of fundraising to raise this money for the village hall instead of for donation to the Playing Fields charity.
12. Newsletter
The Christmas lights competition and the Christmas Party notices are being put in. Will be ready for early December. KH will write an article about what is happening in the village and include a request for more litter pickers (now down to 2). It was noted that two people had not paid for their adverts – KH to chase up.
13. Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held at 6.45 pm at the Village Hall on 4th December 2019.
14. AOB to note for next meeting
The Chairman noted that 3 junior residents had come forward to report grafitti on the village hall wall. It was agreed to drop off a small gift for them to say thankyou.