May 2019

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting Held at 8pm on 09/05/2019 in Little Bytham Village Hall

Present: Mrs S Fraser (Chair), Mrs E Inskip (Clerk), Mr P Inskip, Mr G Lohmann-Bond, M, County Councillor Mr B Adams, District Councillor Mr C Benn

Apologies: Mrs S Mcfarland, Mr S Smith

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

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 07/03/2019 were presented and approved.

Actions from Matters arising from previous minutes:

1. Speed Sign Progress: As discussed at the AGM, this is in progress and Cllr Adams will check at what stage we are at, so that eventually the parish council can purchase the three SID’s. (BA)

2. Rural crime & speed Limits in the village: Cllr Lohmann-Bond will continue to report any concerns he is made aware of regarding crime in Little Bytham & surrounding areas. If Cllr Lohmann-Bond cannot attend the next meeting he will inform Cllr Fraser and she will attend. (GL, SF)

3. Potholes: The condition of the roads in Little Bytham continues to be a concern. Cllr Adams stated that the potholes no longer have to be 40mm depth, but that someone investigates those reported and deems if they are dangerous or not. Cllr Adams will talk with the appropriate department about the councils concerns regarding the disrepair of the roads in and around Little Bytham. (BA)

4. Traffic Regulation Orders: This is to be carried forward and Cllr Adams will look into this. Clerk Inskip will forward the email she received to Cllr Adams. (BA, EI)

5. Anglian Water: It was confirmed in a fairly generic letter received by Cllr Fraser from Anglian Water that Little Bytham, Castle Bytham, Creeton, Swayfield, Counthorpe and Swinstead all feed into the water treatment plant in Little Bytham. Cllr Adams will put forward on behalf of Little Bytham any concerns we have at a meeting he is due to attend on Wednesday. Clerk Inskip will write the concerns down and email them to Cllr Adams. Cllr Benn also suggested that some of the pipes in the village may be lead pipes and therefore Little Bytham should get the water tested for lead content. Cllr Fraser will write to Anglian Water with regards to this. Cllr Fraser will also discuss with residents of Little Bytham any issues that they are having with Anglian Water. (EI, BA, SF)

Finance (as of 12/04/2019):

Current Account Balance: £10,079.84

Savings Account Balance: £7,645.20

Planning:

Application No: S19/0234

Clerk Inskip stated that as to date we had received nothing from planning regarding the questions raised by the council regarding this application (Reference 1527409). Cllr Benn confirmed that there has been no movement on this application due to looking in to the acoustic bund being removed and the potential noise problem this creates.

Other Matters:

1. Placement of passive speed signs and wheelie bin stickers: We now have possession of the 6 passive signs and Clerk Inskip & Cllr Inskip will look into the locations for these around the village. Clerk Inskip has also purchased the required plastic ties to erect the signs. It was agreed that there should be 2 around each of the entrance areas to the village. Clerk Inskip will try and gain approval for these to be erected. The wheelie bin stickers are also now in our possession and Cllr’s will distribute four stickers per house (every other house) to houses on the roadside in Cllr’s allotted areas according to the Emergency plan. These stickers are to be placed on each side of the Black and Grey bins so that traffic will see them from both directions. (EI & All Cllr’s)

2. Clustering & Neighbourhood Plan: It was decided that Little Bytham would stand alone and not join with other local councils in order to ensure that Little Bytham’s interests were always put first, thus enabling Little Bytham to keep control of our own issues. Cllr Benn suggested that Cllr Fraser look at Carlby’s plan and he stated that people at SKDC can help to formulate a neighbourhood plan. Cllr Fraser will look into this and contact SKDC. It was also suggested that even if Little Bytham goes alone, conversations with surrounding areas should still be kept going. (SS)

3. Footway leading to school: Cllr Inskip stated that he felt the footway was dangerous for families walking to the Spinney and to the school. The hedge way is so overgrown and the land has slipped onto the pavement making it only suitable for 1 person to walk along. Cllr Benn will look into this for the council to see whose responsibility the hedge is and find out if it can be maintained. Cllr Benn will also take pictures to show the problem. Cllr Lohmann-Bond mentioned the Big Clean and stated that more time was needed in certain areas of the village. Cllr’s agreed that the Big Clean initiative was doing a good job, but as highlighted in the path to the school, definitely more time was needed in certain areas in the village. (CB)

Cheques signed:

1. £500 contribution for the church gardening to Little Bytham PCC as agreed at the last meeting.

2. £100 cheque to Lincolnshire CC for the purchase of wheelie bin stickers for the village as agreed with all Cllr’s via email.

3. £204.67 cheque to Zurich Municipal for annual insurance.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday July 4th 2019 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.