September 2021 Minutes

Minutes of Stow Parish Council Meeting Monday 6 September 2021 7pm held in Stow Minster Chancel

Present: Cllr Duncan, Cllr Justham, Cllr Martinson, Cllr Turner, Cllr Read, Cllr Hewitt

In attendance: Mrs L Gibbs, Clerk

Public Question Time

There were no members of the public present.

169.  Apologies for Absence

Cllr Taylor sent apologies due to harvesting.

170. Declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and any dispensations that may arise

There were no declarations of interest on the items on the agenda.

171. Minutes of previous meeting of Monday 12 July 2021

It was proposed by Cllr Read and seconded by Cllr Martinson to accept the minutes of Parish Council Meeting as a true copy of the meeting, subject to an amendment to Item 165, which should not be in red. It was Resolved All in favour

172. Matters arising from Minutes of Monday 12 July 2021

The Council thanked Mike and Sue Middleton for their hard work on refurbishment of the benches and the addition of the flower planters.

Sturton Parish Council Chair has agreed that the heritage assets document from the Neighbourhood Plan can be used for the Heritage Assets Framework, which is being led by Mel Banham on behalf of the two councils.

173. To agree Accounts from last meeting

12 July 2021 – 6th September

Receipts

Dorothy Lee Internment £80.00

Elizabeth and Robert Harrison Grave reservations £100.00

Bank Balance as of 6 September 2021 £21,474.29 of which £500 is ring fenced for the play park and £10000 grant from West Lindsey is ring fenced for the new play equipment.

The accounts were accepted and proposed by Cllr Justham and seconded by Cllr Turner. It was Resolved all in favour to accept the accounts.

174. To agree funding for village Christmas Tree.

It was proposed by Cllr Justham and seconded by Cllr Turner to grant up to £100 for the Village Christmas Tree and Resolved

175. To agree to precept in the next financial year for the funding to progress with applying for Land Registry for the Parish Land.

The Clerk has received an estimate of approximately £1500 from a solicitor for the above.

The Council agreed that this was a lot of money to spend and asked the Clerk to see if LALC or West Lindsey could help.  Also the Clerk was asked to find out what the land registry fees would be before the next meeting when the precept will be decided.

176. To discuss the Transparency code for Smaller Authorities

The Clerk explained that the all Councils must adhere to the code.  Stow does this with the exception of posting what land is owned by the Council, and the Clerk issued the Council with a spreadsheet of the land assets.

It was proposed by Cllr Read and seconded by Cllr Martinson to accept the land assets register.

All in Favour and Resolved

177. Update on Sturton and Stow Neighbourhood Plan

Cllr Duncan informed the Council that the plan has now been submitted to West Lindsey and the consultation under Regulation 16 will run until the 22.10.21.

178. Update on play park and to discuss Rospa play park inspection.

Cllr Martinson will contact Hayley this week and ask them to remove the old piece of equipment, including, if they can, the concrete, and let the Clerk and Cllr Justham know when this will be carried out so that the Clerk can confirm installation of the new piece of equipment.

Cllr Justham – agreed to check the land once the unit had been removed and to confirm with the Clerk if it is ready to install the new piece of equipment.

Cllr Martinson agreed that once the old unit is out he will complete the works to move the soil and brush to the dyke.

The play area inspection showed that the old bench is now dangerous and Cllr Martinson will remove it.

Clerk to organise a sign to advise no kite flying in the park.

Clerk to contact Northern Powergrid to see if the power lines could be removed from the park.

Clerk to look for a handyman or contractor to carry out the necessary small works to repair the play equipment.

The Council discussed Stow Recreation Fund (SRF) proposal for an accessible roundabout for the play park, but felt that as the play park already had a roundabout then a different piece of equipment would be preferable, although a roundabout would be acceptable and there is space. Clerk to contact SRF.

179. Update on meetings with Highways and Acis.

Cllr Read gave an update on highways issues and a meeting held with the residents of St Mary’s Crescent and South Drive.

The Parish Council are trying to renovate the area and an open meeting was held on the 7th August to consult residents. The meeting was well attended and positive.

The results from the meeting raised five points:

- Parking

- The state of the roads

- The state of the verges

- Rats

- Dog poo in private garden

The suggestions made for resolving the issues were noted by the Parish Council.

Cllr Read has written a newsletter summarising the meeting which will be distributed to the residents within the next few days to encourage people who could not attend the meeting to put their ideas forward.

ACIS, who also attended the meeting, will soon organise a Clearance Day for residents to dispose of their rubbish. This will hopefully help resolve the rat problem, and also will lead to tidier gardens.

The accessible crossing on the B1242 has been moved and the Church Road pot hole repairs are scheduled for 20 – 22 October. The action tracking spreadsheet for Highways work has been updated to reflect this and some smaller items.

The jetting of the drains on Church Road found one blocked and the Clerk is chasing the investigation of possible inter-connection of the sweet and sour drains.

The drain east of the Cemetery has been jetted and cleared. The section west of the Cemetery currently does not drain as the pipe beneath the entrance path which links the two sections is blocked. Cllrs Martinson and Hewett will clear the blocked pipe when the weather becomes a little wetter.

Clerk to investigate whether a sign can be put up by Highways to warn drivers of the play park as the cars often go too fast along Stow Park Road in both directions, and children using the play park sometimes also play in the street by the Cross Keys pub.

180. Update on the next issue of Stow Bugle

The September issue has been distributed the next issue will be end of October.

181. Update on Cemetery

Tim Waudby has cut the tops of the hedges in the spare part of the Cemetery; the Council sent their thanks to him.

The Councillors will rod the drains at the Cemetery gate when the area has dried up.

Lincolnshire County Council Highways have jetted the top drains.

182. Update on Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership speed watch warden volunteers

Sturton Parish Council have said that they are happy to share sessions if Stow can get more people interested.

Clerk has e mailed the people who said they would be happy to train as volunteers to see if they are still interested.

Cllr Justham suggested that the co-ordinator from Sturton could be asked to come and talk to the Council about how the system works.

Clerk to find out the cost of the equipment.

183.Update on Planning Applications

143141 Change of use High Field Farm Granted

143133 Planning application for change of use of land to residential and erection of a garage in connection with prior approval 142482 granted 30 May 2021. Granted

143127 Application for the installation of a ground mounted Solar PV system, Tarn Howes, Ingham Road Granted

184. Meeting ended 9.00 Next Meeting Monday 22 November 2021        

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as the official minutes of Council proceedings until they are approved and signed at the next meeting.