Minutes 2023-24

Draft Minutes of Lt Bytham PC Meeting 2nd of November 2023 7.30pm in the Village Hall

1. Public Forum (15 minutes maximum) Seven members of the public attended the Forum. Alan Harvey, Editor of the Glenside News gave a presentation for the publication explaining how they raise funds for the magazine, he advised that they have a shortfall each year of approximately 20% which equates to approximately £1500 each year. Alan asked the PC if they would be able to contribute towards the shortfall. The Chair advised the Councillors will discuss this under agenda item 8.

Peter Beyer, Chairman of LB Village Hall gave a presentation of the plans the committee have for the Village Hall refurbishment, including redecoration, installation of solar panels etc. Peter explained, the PC historically make a contribution of £1000 each year toward the running cost of the Village Hall. The Chair thanked Peter for his presentation and advised, the Councillors will discuss this under agenda item 9.

2. Apologies for Absence Apologies were received from Cllr Carr and Cllr Hoyles.
3. To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the 2011 Local Government Act. – personal or prejudicial interest in any items for discussion. None.
4. Draft Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 31st August 2023 to be approved as the Minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously.
5. Matters arising: The Clerk confirmed he has taken delivery of a new Dog Waist bin; this will be sited at the entrance of Church Lane.
5. Councillors’ and Clerk’s reports:

5.1 County and District Councillors’ Reports. SKDC Cllr Penny Robins provided an update, a precis of which is below. 

5.2 Councillors Reports. None.

6.0 Financial Matters

6.1 Financial report: position at bank. The Clerk provided a statement of the accounts to date, these were accepted.

6.2 To resolve to pay the following: Chubb Fire, £108.00. Glasdon Ltd £307.62 Dog Waist Bin, J Kirkham £200 Removal of Shrubs from Parish Room and E Hodgson £19. New Keys for Parish Room.

7.0 Defibrillator. Cllr Hodgson provided an update on the Village Defibrillator, she advised that the unit is in the process of being correctly registered, also that a training session will be held in The Village Hall, the date to be advised, all residents interested in attending will be most welcome.

8.0 Glenside News. Following on from his presentation in the public forum, the Councillors agreed a contribution of £700 in support of the Glenside News. This was proposed by Cllr Snithand seconded by Cllr Hodgson. To be reviewed again next year.

9.0 Village Hall Funding. Following on from Peter Beyer’s presentation, the Councillors agreed an annual contribution of £1000 per year. Having provided a contribution of £750 earlier thisyear, the Clerk will forward the balance of £250. This was proposed by Cllr Hodgson and seconded by Cllr Sharpe.

10.0 Planning applications –

10.1 S23/1440, Mr H Coups, change of use and building works necessary to convert an agricultural barn to 3 x smaller dwellinghouses and 2 x larger dwellinghouses, (Application withdrawn).

10.2 S23/1829, Mr and Mrs Hodgkin, Submission of details reserved by Condition 4 (Sustainable Buildings) and 5

(Materials) of planning permission S23/0764, 1 New Estate, Little Bytham, Lincolnshire, NG33 4QL. (No action from PC).

10.3 S23/1883, Mr James Hodgkin, Discharge of conditions in relation to conditions 4 (surface and foul water rainage), 5 (biodiversity mitigation) and 6 (contamination) of S21/1710

(Outline planning permission - for the erection of eight dwellings (all matters reserved). Land To The West Of St Medards Close, Little Bytham, Grantham, NG44 4RX. (No action from PC).

10.4 S23/1902, Mr James Hodgkin, Application for reserved matters relating to layout, scale, appearance, landscaping and access, for the erection of 8 dwellings following outline planning permission S21/1710, Land To The West Of St Medards Close, Little Bytham, Grantham, NG44 4RX. (Received after publication of the agenda. Circulated the PC. No action from the PC).

11.0 Correspondence –

11.1 The Clerk read a card of thanks from the organisers of the Childrens Xmas Party for the PC donation.

11.2 Email received from Mr Oliver Davey, on behalf of Gareth Davies MP, regarding a response from Anglian Water. They assured Gareth that they have checked with the local water recycling Treatment Manager and can confirm there have been no issues with compliance in the area and that their site status is currently compliant (as of 1st August).
 
Their team visited the area at the end of July to investigate the Council’s concerns and were unable to find any issues with the River Glen running through Little Bytham, after checking at several points and around the pumping station and emergency overflow point which comes off the foul system around Station Road.

Not happy with this response, Cllr Smith asked the Clerk to request Anglian Water provide evidence of their findings.

11.3 Email received from Mr C Johnson, regarding his concerns about the shrubs at the Parish Room. The Clerk confirmed Cllr Sharpe has now delt with the removal of the shrubs.

12.0 AOB None.

13.0 Date of next Meeting – Thursday 4th January 2024.

Website: https://little-bytham.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/

Possible Lincolnshire Devolution Deal

In September all seven Lincolnshire District Council leaders met together to discuss this. We have still not yet seen a draft document but are aware that intense talks are going on between LCC and the two unitary authorities (N Lincs & NE Lincs) and the Government with a view to a formal bid being submitted in the autumn.

The leaders agreed unanimously to push back on three issues:

• The secrecy behind the bid preparation

• The lack of representation for districts on the proposed combined mayoral authority

• A concern that the bid will not be ambitious enough in the levels of additional funding it is seeking from government.

The final draft bid will be considered by us at a full council meeting at the earliest opportunity and it will go out for residents to vote on this in due course. 

Our Housing

This week SKDC submitted the formal request to be taken out of special measures by the Housing Regulator. This follows a lot of dedicated work by our housing team over many months. We should hear the outcome of our request in 4 to 8 weeks. It was emphasised that we as a Council have learnt a lot during the journey to take us out of special measures and that experience and that momentum will not be lost.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Concerns

Rightly there is a lot of concern at the possibility of dangerous RAAC in our council housing stock and any other council buildings. Officers have responded quickly on the issue.

The steps being taken by South Kesteven District Council following Government advice to schools to close due to safety risks associated with the use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their construction RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete used in roof, floor, cladding and wall construction in the UK from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980. Experts believe much of the RAAC used in construction projects has exceeded its lifespan of 30 years and could collapse. While the material was used mainly in the construction of office and school buildings we are checking as a matter of urgency whether it is present in any buildings within our estate. As part of that a stock condition on database check has been carried out to identify any of our properties that fall within the scope of the construction type that would be affected. That check shows we have several flat roof domes dwellings that were built circa 1947 and we understand these to be poured concrete and outside of the general mescals originally identified in relation to RAAC so they are not within the scope. There are some suggestions that RAAC was used as far back as the 1950s and as we have a couple of the properties identified as being built circa 1947 as void we are conducting further investigations. While we do not have any concrete roofed buildings within our housing stock and we cannot be 100% sure about alternative uses of RAAC, such as floor finishes, checks on that are being carried out. We are pulling together a list of all blocks with concrete floors for checking and will also revisit non-traditional buildings. This will also give us a better idea of any remedial on required on nontraditional buildings generally. We intend to prioritise this list based on the scope as part of a desktop survey and will not need to check every block, just the type. This will be completed by the Housing Team by the end of next week. We will be engaging the services of a surveyor as soon as possible and, in line with the Government guidelines, we will carry out a visual structural survey on any properties we cannot definitely rule out as being affected. Any areas where we are uncertain or believe to be RAAC we will need to engage a consultant with experience of identifying and RAAC. Although we first looked at this last year we are taking a fresh look to see if there is anything else that comes within the scope following additional information received extending the scope of the possible use of RAAC. These actions provide the reassurance that all steps are being taken too establish whether we do have any buildings in which RAAC is present. They are also in line with advice from the Regulator of Social Housing.Further updates will follow.

The Community Awards took place at the Corn Exchange in Bourne, in which our local heros were recognised including young inspirational person and community champion to name a few.  Also included was the best kept village awards which are for the first year are being incorporated in this event.

Bins

Purple lidded bin, paper and card households will be delivered  in the next few weeks ready for the launch of the change next year. The council is sending more than 68,000 households across the district about how recycling collection are about to change with information packs which should drop through your door any day if you have not received one already.

Spinney

Monday 30th October the Spinney in Little Bytham will close for the play equipment to be replaces. The site will be closed for roughly 6/8 weeks to the public.