Minutes 2018/19

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting Held at 7.30pm on 08/11/2018 in Little Bytham Village Hall

Present: Mrs S Fraser (Chair), Mrs E Inskip (Clerk), Mr P Inskip, Mr G Lohmann-Bond, Mrs S Mcfarland, Mr J Sharpe, Mr S Smith, Mr C Tye, District Councillor Mr M Wilkins,

Apologies: County Councillor Mr B Adams

Chair’s Introduction: Cllr Fraser welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Public Forum: Two members of the public were welcomed to the meeting to talk about the Little Bytham’s Children’s Party. The Village Hall Committee have kindly agreed to contribute £200 and the ladies planning the party were requesting a contribution of approximately £150 from the Parish Council to cover the presents for the children. It was agreed that as this was already on our agenda a discussion would take place and the ladies would be contacted that evening with the decision.

The members of the public were thanked for joining and left the meeting.

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 06/09/2018 were presented and approved.

Actions from Matters arising from previous minutes:

1. Speed Sign Progress: Cllr Smith agreed to chase this up as a matter of urgency with Cllr Adams and David Mitchell to try and make this happen ASAP. Cllr Smith will also re submit the new location on entry into the village from Castle Bytham. Cllr Sharpe has 2 large speed reminder signs and it was agreed by all Cllrs that more can be purchased. (SS, JS)

2. Bank Statement Update of Details: Cllr Fraser will ensure this happens. Clerk Inskip passed on a letter from the bank that had been received requesting certain information. This information was printed off and passed to Cllr Fraser to produce for the bank at the same time as sorting the address change. (SF)

3. Local Plan: Cllr Wilkins stated that the SKDC plan is required by the 24th January and County will sort this. The discussion with other villages on this is ongoing. (SF)

4. Village Noticeboard and Wall: The noticeboard has now been delivered and the builder will erect this at the end of the month. No Further Action Required.

5. Neighbourhood Plan: There was a meeting in Castle Bytham at the time of the Parish Council Meeting, therefore no Cllr’s were able to attend. Cllr Fraser had mentioned it to several other people. Cllr Wilkins advised that it would be be advisable to have someone from the Parish Council involved in this. There is a strict process involved. The plan does have legal weight behind it but does need to be in line with the NPPA & the local plan. Cllr Fraser asked if anyone was able to take this forward. Cllr Lohmann-Bond asked what the time commitment would be and stated that he would be interested in doing this dependent on time. (GL)

Finance (as of 12/10/2018):

Current Account Balance: £9,721.93

Savings Account Balance: £7,637.58

Clerk Inskip explained that these funds would drop substantially once the new noticeboard is paid for and the active speed signs purchased.

Planning:

1 application for planning in Little Bytham of which all Councillors are aware: S18/1636

Decision notices for S18/0752 and S18/0751 have been sent to all Cllrs by email.

NB: S18/0752 was discussed in the meeting on 03/05/2018 however S18/0751 application details were never received by Little Bytham Parish Council. As there were no objections to S18/0752 it can be inferred that there would have been no objections to the lawful development certification applied for in S18/0751 for an existing structure (in existence for 4 years).

Other Matters:

1. Update on Planning Application S18/1636: Due to time constraints an extra meeting was held by councillor’s on 16/10/2018 to discuss this Planning Application. Several questions were raised and Cllr Fraser spoke directly to the applicant to seek clarity on these.

• The height of the roof is unknown, if it is to be single storey then there would be no objection.

• The existing access would need to be confirmed and providing planning and highways are happy again there would be no objection.

• The applicant clarified that no trees will be felled.

• Confirmation that there is to be no lighting.

Cllr Fraser has sent the required form in to the planners stating these comments.

There was a concern that the council were not given the full 4 week consultation period and the lack of signage in Little Bytham regarding the proposed planning. Cllr Wilkins confirmed that it is a 3 week time frame not 4 weeks. Further more it is worth noting that the signage although not a statutory requirement is something that is and will continue to be done. Cllr Wilkins also informed the PC that if more time is needed on a planning application then it needs to be asked for.

2. Precept: All Cllr’s agreed that Clerk Inskip will look into this to discuss at the next meeting, which is before the 18th January deadline. (EI)

3. Winter Self Help: Clerk Inskip has written to the required people regarding the Winter Self Help project and getting 2 tonnes of salt delivered to Little Bytham as discussed at the extra meeting (again due to time constraints). Cllr Sharpe is to be our Snow Warden and all the required details and maps have been emailed accordingly. We will await to hear if this request is successful. Clerk Inskip discussed the possibility that Little Bytham could request new grit bins if needed. Cllr’s agreed that one should be requested for Glen Close. Clerk Inskip will request this. (EI)

4. Emergency Text Alert: Clerk Inskip will respond to this. Clerk Inskip will become the primary contact and Cllr Fraser the secondary contact. This will then tie in with our emergency plan. (EI)

5. Junction Safety: Mirror at the junction from Witham into Little Bytham: Pulling out of the junction can be problematic and dangerous. Cllr Lohmann- Bond also mentioned that Station Road was also an issue. The problem with a mirror however is where it is sited. It was suggested that this is mentioned to Cllr Adams at the next meeting. (Carried Forward)

6. Planning notification issues: These had already been discussed when talking about the planning application (see notes above). No further Action.

7. Children’s Party Contribution: The Cllr’s voted on this and it was agreed that Little Bytham Parish Council would give a contribution. Cllr Fraser will let the ladies know and ask for all receipts for our accounts. (SF)

8. Community Champions: These are schemes run by supermarkets to give monetary support for certain local groups. Clerk Inskip has forwarded all the information to the Church and Spinney, which was gratefully received by both. Clerk Inskip will re send to all Cllr’s so they can forward to anyone else (eg Village Hall).

9. Glenside: Clerk Inskip will contact the Glenside to get the 1st two dates of meetings in 2019 entered into the magazine. (EI)

10. St Medards Sign: The posts have rotted and subsequently the sign has fallen down. Cllr Inskip will report it. (PI)

11. Rural Crime: Cllr Lohmann-Bond recently attended a meeting regarding this and was able to update us. (Details are in the Glenside). He also expressed concerns about speeding in the village, stating that the speed limits need to be reviewed, especially bringing the limit in the village down from 30 to 20mph. Cllr Wilkins stated that this is a county matter and that there is a process to follow. Cllrs agreed that the active speed signs are of utmost importance to get the data required. Cllr Adams will need to be spoken to about this. (GL)

12. Community Led Housing Project: Cllr Fraser attended a meeting on this and updated the other Cllr’s accordingly.

13. Wreath: Cllrs agreed that the Parish Council will fund the commemoration wreath again this year. Cllr Mcfarland will write the card for this.

14. Water treatment plant: Cllr Inskip highlighted that he had spoken to Anglian Water on behalf of residents as there had been a period of pungent odour, Anglican Water responded quickly.

15. The Big Clean Success: Cllr Inskip reported 3 areas of priority for the Big Clean and these have been dealt with and done very well.

Cheques signed:

£1752 cheque for the new Parish Noticeboard was signed.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday January 3rd at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.