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Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in the
1. Introduction by the Chairman, explaining change in format of agenda, of which there were extra copies for members of the public. Any discussion on the new format can take place later. 2. OPEN FORUM 2.1 Police Report. In the absence of any Police Officers, Councillor Routledge
informed the meeting that P.C. Richard Parker may not be returning to the
village and the Community Officer has left to become a fully trained officer.
The nearest Police presence is Washingborough, P.C. Julie Kelly. In the
past month a wall at the doctors’ surgery in Drury Street has been
damaged, and yellow paint has been used in several incidents. Also youths
have been riding motor cycles illegally on fields and footpaths. New notices
are being put up with contact numbers for Policing concerns. It was agreed
the Parish Council (PC) needs to register its concern at the lack of a
police presence in the village. 2.2 No members of public attended meeting. 3. COUNCIL MEETING 3.1 Apologies for absence: 3.2 To receive declarations of interest: None 3.3. Minutes of the meeting held on 25th January 2005 3.4 Matters arising not on the agenda: None 3.5 Matters outstanding: 3.5.1 Street lighting – Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) Highways
Department have been made aware of the problem of the dark area caused
by the trees, and the Divisional Highways Manager needs to be contacted.
Matter still outstanding. 3.5.2 Floodlighting at the War Memorial – it was agreed Councillor
Mrs. Parker should ask another electrician in the village to quote for
the work, as Rod Renfrew has suffered an accident and will be unable to
work for some time. 3.5.3 Litter bins - still outstanding. It was agreed
the Clerk should contact Peter Garrick. 3.5.4 Skateboard Park - nothing to report. Councillor Mrs. Routledge will
pass on information to Councillor Harrison concerning a Police Officer
at Nettleham Police centre who is willing to talk about skateboard parks. 3.5.5 Fayre and Feast – no meeting yet. 3.5.6 Station Road hedge – top still needs cutting. Councillor Chambers
is chasing this. 3.5.7 New seat in Shiregate Play Park – after some discussion it
was agreed to put the seat at the top of Lincoln Road, as originally planned,
facing in a northwesterly direction. LCC Highways department will need
to be contacted, and possibly the residents of the corner house. 3.5.8 Fen Lane Railway Bridge hedge – Councillor Mrs. Honisett has received a letter from Network Rail saying the matter is in hand. 3.5.9 Children’s Playground equipment – still not mended.
Councillor Rose offered to make enquiries about repairer. 3.5.10 Zebra Crossing – white reflective bands will be painted on uprights, and the white bands on the road are still legal. 3.5.11 Fen Lane/Tanvats – various parts of Fen Lane will be repaired.
The bad section will be done up to Tanvats turn, and down to Tanvats itself.
The Chairman had asked for the section beyond the Tanvats turn. The problem
of the turning area at Tanvats had been discussed, but LCC Highways do
not own any land for a turning circle. The “No HGVs” sign is
only informative. It was agreed the Chairman will write formally to Mr.
Brian Creasey asking if he would like to donate the piece of land. 3.5.12 Chance to Share and related issues – the Chairman is still
waiting to hear from HBS after their meeting, and there were various issues
they needed to check. If the new pavilion is built the Chance to Share
scheme becomes obsolete. Relations between the school and the football
community have been strained. The school has planted a hedge along the
new fence, and areas of trees, without the permission of the PC. The Chairman
has written to the head teacher, asking why the trees have been planted
on PC land. The playing field grass is cut by LCC in lieu of rent. It was
felt the Terms and Conditions need to be reviewed from time to time. The
situation with the swimming pool needs to be resolved, as the pool is clearly
on PC land according to the map held by HBS. The Forward Planning Sub-committee
need to look at all the agreements, as there is a difference between what
has been common practice and legal documents. 3.5.13 Dog fouling – the dog warden had been upset by comments made
by the PC which has been reported in the press. The Chairman and Vice Chairman
will arrange a meeting with the dog warden. It was agreed that the dog
warden contract be renewed for one year. On hearing the report from the
dog warden, it was agreed to try to get the message across to children
walking dogs that they must clean up any mess the dog makes. 3.5.14 Outside light on pavilion – nothing to report. 3.5.15 Sewer infrastructure open meeting – it was agreed to invite
Anglian Water to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting. The Head of Planning
at North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) has written to Anglian Water
to register a protest from that department, and copies were sent to Ofwat,
the Environment Agency, and Douglas Hogg MP. The developer of the proposed
houses to be built on gardens at the rear of Lincoln Road is hoping to
put in soakaways, to get round the problem. Councillor Mrs. Webb has had
a meeting with Anglian Water representatives, who are very worried about
the situation in Metheringham. 3.5.16 Public Notice board – to erect this to the left of the Post
Office door, and to erect a sign for the Village Hall Car Park, it was
agreed to spend the sum of £1,453.18. Condensation is occurring in
the War Memorial notice board, and the backcloth is fading. These faults
will be reported back to Allen Signs. 3.5.17 Tree problems on Lincoln Road – Councillor Chambers is trying
to do something about this, and it has been mentioned to LCC Highways,
but nothing has happened yet. 3.5.18 Drury Street and gritting of bus routes – still outstanding. 3.5.19 Village Hall management issues – the Chairman has written,
asking for an informal meeting with their Chairman, Secretary and treasurer.
The situation needs to be resolved, as the PC is the owner of the hall,
and minutes of Management Committee meetings should be available to councillors. 3.5.20 New framework for local plan – no councillors had commented, and Councillor Rose explained the time scale for implementation. 3.5.21 Grant for Village Hall Car Park – this is an outstanding
item, as the Clerk has not explained why he did not apply for this grant. 3.5.22 Shiregate Play Park – the Chairman had spoken to the NKDC
solicitor, who said the contract cannot be changed, but the Chairman disagreed,
voicing the opinion that it can be changed if all parties want it. To reduce
the cost of securing the play park, the solicitor had suggested local volunteers
be sought, but the responsibility should not be passed to them. The Anti
Social Behaviour Team (ASBT) believe the equipment should be moved, and
it was agreed to ask the Clerk if he had received a report from ASBT. 3.6.1 Village Car Park landscaping. Puddles form on the surface of the
car park, and it was agreed to ask the Clerk to investigate the original
specification. Councillor Mrs. Parker will look for landscape gardener
to plant shrubs inside the wall, and to get suggestions for screening for
the property to the east of the car park. As the pantiles keep getting
damaged perhaps a domed top to the boundary wall would be possible. Councillor
Waddington asked where it was proposed to mark out parking for disabled
users of the car park. In reply to his question about the gates, Councillor
Waddington was informed the main gates will remain, and the side gate is
locked when the hall is not in use. 3.6.2 New pavilion and changing rooms. There has been one objection to the planning application. 3.6.3 Village Cross. It was agreed to ask the Clerk if he has been in
touch with ArtsNK recently. As several people in the village had been interested
the PC needs to keep this going. At a recent meeting with LCC Highways,
they had mentioned a traffic calming scheme which would have involved moving
the Cross from its present site. The PC are strongly against this suggestion. 3.6.4 Annual Parish Meeting. It was agreed to ask a representative from
Anglian Water and Sgt Jones of the ASBT to speak, and for local groups
to mount displays to advertise themselves. The date of April 13th may need
to change to accommodate the speakers, and this can be advertised in the
MACLA magazine. 3.7 Sub committees: 3.71 Playing Field – hedges have been cut, and the post replaced at the entrance to the car park. 3.7 Correspondence: 3.8.1 Letter from LCC about REAL bus. 3.9 Planning – to consider planning applications 3.9.1 N/39/0074/05 Conversion of former cottages to 3 one-bedroomed dwellings,
and including the parking and turning facilities and alterations to 18
High Street to facilitate its use as a shop with flat over 3.9.2 N/39/0073/05 Replace timber door and window with UPVC 3.9.3 N/39/0157/05 Extensions to Yew Tree Cottage, 2 High Street 3.9.4 With regard to the letter from Nick Harding, it was agreed that
the circumstances have changed since planning permission was granted, and
the Clerk is to write to this effect, stating the PC will still object
to the current application. 3.10 Financial matters: 3.10.1 To consider accounts for payment: 3.10.2 To receive a report from the RFO on the Parish finances 3.11 Reports from representatives on outside bodies: 3.11.1 No report 3.12 Any other business: 3.12.1 The Clerk to be asked if there has been any correspondence about
the removal of the telephone from Sots Hole. 3.12.2 Both sets of raised bus stops were discussed. Councillor Mrs. Parker declared an interest in the bus stop opposite the Station entrance. LCC Highways have been in touch with Blankney Estates, who have no problem with the suggestion. The other sites are in the High Street outside and opposite the Co-op. It was agreed these would be improvements, especially if it stopped people parking on the bus stops. 3.12.3 The Chairman reported that work will be carried out on the School Safety Zone. 3.12.4 Strong opposition was voiced by councillors to the new entrance
at the library, especially as this is sited in the Conservation Area of
the village. It was agreed that a letter be sent to Lincolnshire County
Council. 3.13 Date of next meeting – Tuesday 29th March 2005 3.14 Venue for next meeting – Metheringham Village Hall |
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