January 2019
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting Held at 7.30pm on 03/01/2019 in Little Bytham Village Hall
Present: Mrs S Fraser (Chair), Mrs E Inskip (Clerk), Mr P Inskip, Mr G Lohmann-Bond, Mr J Sharpe, Mr S Smith, Mr C Tye, County Councillor Mr B Adams ,
Apologies: Mrs S Mcfarland
Chair’s Introduction: Cllr Fraser welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Public Forum: County Councillor Adams introduced us to Christopher Benn who may be District Councillor Wilkins replacement and was present at the meeting.
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 08/11/2018 were presented and approved.
Actions from Matters arising from previous minutes:
1. Speed Sign Progress: Cllr Smith has spoken in depth with David Butler and will re submit the required form, even though it has already previously been submitted. The sites for the signs had previously been agreed but as one is to change (on entrance to the village from Castle Bytham) which will require a post being erected, Cllr Smith will get the required approval for this. As soon as the approval is given, the post/brackets can be put up, therefore the Cllr’s agreed that the portable mobile sign with active collecting data should now be purchased with 3 mounting brackets and 1 post. At a later point it can then be decided as to whether 2 more speed signs will be purchased. Cllr’s Fraser & Smith will look at ordering the items via the Road Safety Partnership website. (SS & SF)
2. Bank Statement Update of Details: Cllr Fraser is in the process of sorting this. (SF)
3. Local Plan update: See below as these two points are linked.
4. Neighbourhood Plan: Cllr Lohmann-Bond has looked into how Ketton proceeded with their plan, which started 3-5 years ago and is now a workable document. County Cllr Adams suggested that Skillington was a more comparable village for Little Bytham, the details of which can be found on the web. County Cllr Adams also informed the councillors that there is an officer at SK to promote Neighbourhood plans, namely Roger Ranson. Cllr Fraser will contact Castle Bytham. Cllr Fraser is willing to contribute but is looking for someone to drive it forward for Little Bytham. Cllr Lohmann-Bond will also contribute but equally cannot take a leading role due to the time commitment required. Cllr Fraser will get in touch with Skillington. (SF & GL)
5. Update on planning S18/1636: Cllr’s informed County Cllr Adams about the lack of response from the planning department regarding this. This particular case however has now been agreed, therefore no further action is required. (No further action required)
6. Precept: Clerk Inskip shared the estimate of the expenditure to be incurred in 2019 (details of which are available if required). Fixed expenditure will be £3875. Thus if the precept is kept at last years figure (£4000) this leaves a small contingency of £125 for the year. The bank accounts have money accrued in them earmarked for the speed aware signs, the clean up required in certain areas and the maintenance of the parish room, therefore all Cllr’s agreed with the Clerk that no increase was required of the precept this year and it will be kept at £4000. Clerk Inskip will fill in the required forms and send off. (EI)
7. Winter Self Help & grit bins: Clerk Inskip informed Cllr’s that the requested bin had been applied for and a grit bin will be installed in Glen Close once the new stock of bins has been received. (No further action required)
8. Emergency text alert: This is now operational. Both Clerk Inskip & Cllr Fraser are registered on this and the trial (after an initial hiccup) worked. (No further action required)
9. Junction safety: (Carried over from the last meeting) County Cllr Adams stated that safety mirrors can only be placed on private land and not on County Council land, therefore if a safety mirror was required at the junction from Witham on the Hill the owners of any land there would need to be contacted. This will be monitored. (No further action required at present)
10. Children’s Party: This was a big success for the children of the village and is planned again for next year. Thanks go to all that organised and helped with this. The £142 contributed by LB parish Council was gratefully received.
11. Rural crime & speed Limits in the village: Once the speed awareness signs are in place and the continual collection of data is analysed, the Community Speed Watch can be looked into if required. NB: 25 volunteers was being found to be impractical for this and therefore if a little group can be found they can be trained. (It is worth noting that the Chair of Witham on the Hill, John McCallister is happy to chat about this). The letter received by Little Bytham Parish Councillor from a parishioner was then discussed. The speed changes in that particular area (the road to the School and Spinney) were deemed by all to be ludicrous. Cllr’s agreed that people do 60mph all the way along that stretch, which makes it dangerous for residents pulling out of their drives and for pedestrians walking along the pavement. Cllr’s asked County Cllr Adams what they can do to help get this changed. It was agreed that letters need to be sent regarding this. Cllr Fraser will push this, as this is all we can do. (SF)
12. St Medards Close Sign: This has been sorted (No further action required)
13. Glenside: Clerk Inskip wrote to Glenside about the 1st two meeting dates of the year. (No further action required at present)
Finance (as of 12/12/2018):
Current Account Balance: £7,969.93 (Cheques still to be presented)
Savings Account Balance: £7,641.39
Clerk Inskip explained that these funds would drop substantially once all cheques are presented, the active speed signs are purchased, clean ups done and maintenance on the Parish Rooms looked into.
Planning:
Application No: S18/2090 Applicant: Ms Clare Rasell
Proposal: Outline permission for the erection of a detached dwelling and garage to be occupied in connection with existing horticultural use with approval being sought for access.
Location: Rassell Nurseries , Station Road, Little Bytham, NG33 4RA,
App Type: Outline Planning
Permission Case Officer: Telephone Ext: Email: Abiola Labisi 6632 a.labisi@southkesteven.gov.uk
All Cllrs received the details of this and the consensus was that there was no objection at this stage as it is only outline planning, as long as the hedge is kept intact and as long as it does not set a precedent.
Other Matters:
1. Environment SK: This is a new company set up by SK which can be utilised for quotes for any areas that need tidying up. Cllrs agreed that we would look into this if they are needed. (No further action required at this time)
2. Parish Elections: Clerk Inskip will call Julie Edwards to see what the process for this is, and will feed back at the next meeting. (EI)
3. Training: It was agreed by all Cllr’s that as the fixed fee last year was paid and the training under utilised due to time constraints and distance, no fixed fee would be paid this year, and any training would be paid for as and when undertaken.
4. At the end a note of thanks went to Mr C Johnson for allowing the use of his electricity to erect the new village sign.
Cheques signed (prior to meeting):
1. £20 to S Robinson for the wreath (100390)
2. £579 to G Stubbs for sign installation & wall repair (100391)
3. £142 to H Kieran for the Little Bytham Children’s Party (100392)
Date of Next Meeting: Thursday March 7th at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.