North Carlton Parish Meeting
Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 20th March 2019
Present:
Nigel Key Chairperson (Duly re-elected)
Jo Nilsson Deputy Chairperson (Elected)
Micheál Feeney Secretary (Elected)
Cllr. Jackie Brockway Sue Key
Duncan Peck Dave Ramsay
Eric Nicholson Celia Rowntree
Nick Jewitt Sue Jewitt
Colin Norden Margaret Broster
Peter Broster Sarah Bagnall
Eric Nicholson Lesley Milson
Audrey Ellis Chris Elliss
Keith Hanson
Apologies
Cllr. Revd. David Cotton
Steve Marris
Ethel Feeney
Mats Nilsson
Carolyn Knight
PCSO Glenn Patchett
- AGM 2017 Minutes
Amendments: “£90k of repairs been made so far this year” amended to “90,000 potholes..”
“Medical School – investment by West Lindsey” amended to “..investment by the County”
Proposed as a true and accurate record by Nick Jewitt Seconded – Duncan Peck
- Definition and Roles of Parish Meeting and Officers
Nigel Key explained the differences between a Parish Meeting and Parish Council. The powers of a Parish meeting are not as wide. The Meeting may not own property, sue, or be sued. Anyone on the electoral register of the parish is entitled to speak at the meeting, on any matter, whereas at a Parish Council members of the public may only speak at the Chairman’s discretion.
The Chairman of the Parish Meeting is understood to be responsible for chairing the meeting and can make representation to the local and district authority regarding matters affecting the village.
The Vice Chair deputises in the absence of the Chairman and assists the chairman in matters concerning the village.
The Secretary takes minutes at the AGM and deals with publicising and responding to correspondence.
- Appointment of Officers
Nigel Key Chairperson
Jo Nilsson Deputy Chairperson
Micheal Feeney Secretary (Jo and Micheal having reversed their roles)
Proposed en bloc: Peter Broster Seconded: Eric Nicholson
- Police Report –
Presented by Nigel Key in absence of PCSO Glenn Patchett.
There had been an attempted theft of a trailer about 3 weeks prior to the AGM from Keith Hanson’s property by two men who had apparently been touting for window cleaning business. Keith had been informed by the Police in Gainsborough that no further action will be taken.
Nigel advised vigilance with regard to rural crime. There are fewer police patrols. Garage doors should be kept locked.
Eric Nicholson questioned the effect of the “No Cold Calling” notices at the approaches to the village. Nigel clarified that these are not legally enforceable.
Colin Norden asked if more police patrols would be possible. Nigel explained that due to limited funding from central government there are not enough police officers available. Lincoln and Gainsborough have to be prioritised. Multiple redundancies have taken place.
Only 3 police officers on duty in West Lindsey after 11pm.
Another £3.5m and 50 officers are due to be cut in the next 12 months.
- Council report – Councillor Jackie Brockway
The county council have made protests regarding the level of police funding and reduction in number of officers. The council agrees there is a relationship between the lack of officers and crime levels. Noted that funding for PCSO’s has been stopped. Further lobbying of Marc Jones, Police & Crime Commissioner, will be needed.
With regard to highways, there have been significant repairs carried out. West Lindsey is in the top two districts in the country for the quality of repairs. Contracts are going out for Highways with a budget of £400m for the next 5 years. Very few companies are capable of bidding for this level of work.
Now is the time for getting potholes repaired. There is just a short window for this. Jackie reminded the meeting of the correct process for reporting potholes which is through the Lincolnshire County Council website, https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/transport-and-roads/highways-maintenance/potholes or telephone 01522 782070.
There are planned improvement works at the A46 and A15 roundabouts on the bypass providing for extra lanes to filter traffic. Currently these junctions are not fit for purpose with relation to traffic volumes.
The current Head of Paid Services in the county council is Debbie Barnes OBE. She was previously appointed by the government to sort out Rotherham in the wake of the child abuse scandal. The council will not be appointing a chief executive as this would result in the need for redundancies.
Jackie discussed the position regarding the traveller site on Broxholme Lane. They had applied for a certificate of Lawfulness. However they had not provided accurate documentation to support this. Despite this, West Lindsey had passed the application before the consultation period had ended. Councillors had supported the Broxholme residents who had been successful at judicial review in having the application rejected. So far this has cost £10k to the taxpayer. West Lindsey are intent on accepting the application when it is resubmitted. Likely that it will go to judicial review again.
There has been a request for the speed limit on the B1398 to be reduced from 60 to 50mph. This is ongoing. Nigel Key noted that many cars go off on the bends on this road but on investigation in each case the accident has been due to driver error.
- Road Quality
Jackie had already given an update. Nigel mentioned the housing development in Saxilby on Sturton Road. We can expect an increase in traffic through North Carlton when this is finished. Jackie stated that 133 new homes were being built.
- Septic Tank Law Changes 2020
Leslie Milson gave a presentation on regulations regarding discharge from septic tanks and treatment plants. The effluent must be clean enough to be discharged into surface water. Septic tanks must be upgraded to this standard by January 2020 or sooner if the property is sold or if the plant is found to cause pollution. A large percentage of systems in the village are polluting the watercourse. Leslie has had quotes in the region of £7-10k for installation of an Environment Agency approved system. There was concern that some of the more modern systems may actually increase pollution. The biggest problem is at the western end of the village where there is discharge to the dyke from the communal plant serving Somersby Court and Newport Farm which is owned by Anglian Water, as well as from the treatment plants in Old Hall Paddocks.
Jo Nilsson stated that the discharge still fails EA standards despite Anglian Water vesting their treatment plant nearly every 2 weeks and the Old Hall Paddocks residents maintaining their plants.
Celia Rowntree recalled there had been a foul smell from the dyke at that end of the village even before those houses were built.
Nigel said that the plant in Somersby Court was adopted by Anglian Water in 2010. It was not functioning properly.
Jackie stated she had inspected the dyke at the western end of the village. It was smelling very badly. This dyke has riparian ownership, meaning that properties with a boundary against this dyke have responsibility for it. West Lindsey can enforce this, however she has spoken to Debbie, who has also visited the site who will see whether Highways can get involved with this problem. She suggested a project to map the location of dykes and septic tanks, if it is a problem affecting the whole village. It was suggested the University geography department might be interested. Volunteers would be needed. The question was what agencies the information would need to be provided to.
Chris Elliss stated that some septic tanks in the village discharge into a drainage field, which is not recommended in our village due to the heavy clay soil.
- Communication / E newsletter & Springline
Sarah Bagnall reported that Village Venture is no longer being distributed in our area as the inclusion of North and South Carlton and Burton in the distribution had failed to increase revenue for the magazine.It is however available online: http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Brattleby/section.asp?catId=32712
Discussion followed around the Springline monthly newsletter delivered to the village. Do we need to distribute a hard copy? Does everyone read it? Would people be happy to have an e mail version in view of the workload in distributing it / paper wastage? Nigel believes only one or two residents are not on e-mail. Suggestion that a few hard copies could be left in the church porch.
Audrey Elliss asked about passing on information re the Springline Good Neighbour Scheme.
This group can help for example with lifts to doctor / dentist; fetching prescriptions & library books; shopping / errands; providing company for those living alone; social outings for the housebound; sitting with someone who is ill, to provide a break for a full-time carer; walking the dog for someone who is ill; help with small things like watering plants; in general things that good neighbours do for each other. The group can be contacted at 07724 626719 or by e mail sgnshelp@gmail.com, leaving your name, address, phone number and brief details of any help that you or a neighbour may need. Other details are available on the website www.springlinegns.org.uk
A reminder that there is a village Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/373615173144178/
There are 15 members to date. The group is restricted to residents of the village. Contact Jo Nilsson or Micheal Feeney if you would like to be added, or request via the link above.
- West Lindsey Spring Clean
Noted that West Lindsey will assist with bags etc for residents taking part in village clean up. Jo Nilsson has publicised dates of village clean-up in the past. Views were invited on whether we should have organised clean-up days. The preference was for residents to do a clean-up near their properties on an ad hoc basis, as and when they can.
Jo proposed a vote of thanks to those who maintain the churchyard – Eric Nicholson, Richard Betts and Duncan Peck.
- Fundraising St Luke’s
We had a very successful fundraiser at the church last year. The date of the next Pie n’ Peas Quiz Night is proposed as Friday 4th October. This will be confirmed in the next village newsletter.
Other fundraising ideas and events are welcome. Please contact the Parish meeting officers to help publicise any events.
Noted that the church bank balance is declining. The contributions to the church lights are probably insufficient to fund them. Suggestion raised that LED lights would be cheaper to run. Jackie Brockway suggested that applications for grants could be submitted to West Lindsey through our local councillors, after the forthcoming council election.
- Any Other Business
Duncan Peck noted that the Woodlands Edge development falls within North Carlton Parish and that there was a potential to include these residents in the future and consider forming a Parish Council. Noted that this would involve a lot of work.
Suggestion that Riseholme College which forms part of Bishop Burton College, also falls within our parish. Jo Nilsson undertook to contact the vice principal to see if they would consider contributions towards fundraising for St Luke’s.
It was confirmed that Cheney House is not yet housing residents due to a shortage of quality care workers in the area.
Meeting closed at 8.45pm