January 2020 Minutes
WITHERN WITH STAIN & TOTHILL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes - 21st January 2020
www.withernstain.uk
Present: Cllr Acklam (Chairman), Cllr Hughes, Cllr Harvey, Cllr Osbourne; 1 member of the public; District Councillor Sandra Harrison; County Councillor Graeme Cullen; Clerk Andrew Claydon
The meeting opened at 19.00 with a public session.
A member of the public indicated that he intended to object to a planning application on land at Home Farm, this having been received by ELDC on the day of this meeting. He was in the process of issuing a Freedom of Information request to ELDC relating to the current application and a previous one at the same site which had been withdrawn in August 2019. He invited members to visit his property which neighboured the site. On a separate issue he asked if the speed sign for the village could be relocated to the eastern end of the village as a number of vehicles entering from the Mablethorpe direction were not slowing down sufficiently when entering Withern. The clerk stated that this would require an application to LCC to use their lighting columns or signs for this purpose. He suggested that, rather than focussing on a single lighting column, the Parish Council identify all columns that they may wish to place the sign, as the admin charge from LCC would be the same for multiple columns as it would for one
113. Apologies – Cllr Jenkinson, Cllr Donner.
114. To receive any declarations of interest not previously disclosed: None
115. To approve the minutes of the meeting of the 17th December 2019 for Chairman’s Signature. Subject to correcting Min 112 to delete reference to Cllr Hughes’ apologies it was RESOLVED to approve minutes. (pJH sTO).
116. Updates from LCC or ELDC. LCC Cllr Cullen informed the meeting that LCC were considering a 3% increase in Council Tax but with some £66k taken out of the Highways / Countryside budget and £150k from Waste Management. There was also a revamp of the FixMyStreet platform being rolled out. In this context Councillor Osbourne mentioned that the Highways Alliance work undertaken on the corner of the A157 had failed to alleviate the flooding issue as the drains had not been unblocked.
ELDC Cllr Harrison outlined a proposed 3.49% rise in the district element of council tax, largely resultant from the withdrawal of government grant. As any increase in business rate income arising from growth can be partially deployed in the district / county, ELDC were looking to improve the local economy to take advantage. She also mentioned that work was still ongoing to investigate the creation of a local public service hub in Horncastle that, if achieved, would potentially see ELDC relocate there from Manby.
117. Financial Payments: it was RESOLVED (pSA sJH) to make the following payments:
A Claydon (Clerks salary / expenses December) £69.24
HMRC £14.60
LALC training charge £ 7.50
118. Correspondence / Clerks Update. It was proving difficult for the potential co-optee to attend scheduled meetings due to work commitments. Members felt that, notwithstanding the impressive skills and experience of the candidate, they needed to be satisfied regarding availability to attend a reasonable proportion of meetings.
The most recent LALC newsletter included reference to nominations to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party (no suggestions were made) and also the availability of funding for Village Halls, which the clerk was asked to pass to the Village Hall secretary.
The registration of the website is confirmed as sitting with the Parish Council and future invoices will be sent by Spanglefish to the clerk. The domain name position is not yet clear and the chairman will make an enquiry about this.
119. Planning. Application reference N/212/02316/19 - Planning Permission - Change of use of the former redundant post office/shop to residential and extensions and alterations to existing house to replace obsolete shop front with a new bay window, a new rear entrance porch, and a new workshop/store on the site of existing garage/store which is to be removed. KINGSBURY HOUSE, MAIN ROAD, WITHERN, LN13 0LD.
There was some discussion about whether the property was in use for commercial purposes; Cllr Osbourne was of the view that there was still, in practice, a considerable amount of dedicated space for book storage and office functions and as such, that he could not support the change of use application. Other members felt that the scale of activity was not great enough to change their view that the building was primarily a dwelling. The matter was put to a vote and it was RESOLVED to support the application. Cllr Osbourne asked that his vote against the resolution be minuted.
Application reference N/212/00025/20 - Listed Building Consent - Conversion of, internal and external alterations to existing garden store to provide an additional guest bedroom. THE MANOR, MAIN ROAD, WITHERN, ALFORD, LN13 0NB
Councillors generally felt this to be a technical issue and would thus defer to ELDC’s specialist view. It was RESOLVED to make no comment (pSA sJH)
120. Litter Pick – an early picking session was deemed desirable and it was agreed to schedule this for Saturday 29th February. The clerk was asked to contact ELDC to arrange pickers etc for the event and the chairman would produce a poster to be put up in the village.
121. Any other Matters for general discussion and/or inclusion in next agenda. Annual Parish meeting (for residents) arrangements were considered. Given the continued interest in defibrillator provision /local availability, councillors felt that this was an item that should be discussed at the APM. A further issue for the APM was the possibility of a neighbourhood watch scheme being established in the Parish.
Community Speedwatch was also mentioned and the clerk was asked to contact the residents who had expressed an interest to attend the March meeting of the Parish Council.
The clerk was awaiting a call back regarding remedial/ cleaning work to the war memorial. He was asked to ascertain the ownership of a bench on the corner of Chalk Lane
122. Next meeting – Tuesday 3rd March 2020 at 7pm. Cllrs Harvey gave her apologies.
Meeting closed at 8.30pm.