January 30 2018 - Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Nocton Parish Council held in the Village Hall,
Main Street, Nocton on Tuesday, 30 January 2018 at 7.00 pm
PRESENT: Cllr Ian Goldsworthy (Chair), Cllr Elisabeth Murray (Vice Chair),Cllr MaryAnn Williams, Cllr Michael Kaye, Cllr Graham Jones, Cllr Neil Faulkner.
Also present: Ruth Keillar (Clerk)
Eight members of the Public
118 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
No questions had been received at this time.
119 APOLOGIES AND REASON FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Cllr Jane Kania, DCllrs Money and Kendrick, CCllr Oxby.
120 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ANY ITEM ON THE AGENDA
None received
121 MINUTES
It was proposed by Cllr Williams, seconded by Cllr Murray and it was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on 12 December 2017 were taken as read and signed as correct.
122 REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
a) Local Police
No representatives were in attendance. The Clerk reported that the Police report had been received for the period 12 December 2017 – 30 January 2018: 2 recorded crimes - 18-19/12/17: Theft – Lincoln Road – On 11/01/18 – Theft of Dolly Tub – Filed Undetected. Theft – Nocton Hospital – Between 04/01/18 and 05/01/18 – Theft of a CCTV camera. – Filed Undetected.
b) Village Hall Management Committee
Cllr Williams attended the VHMC meeting of 23 January 2018 and reported that the new Chair is Mr Stephen Whitmore; Mr James Parker and Mr Jim Eagle are also new committee members.
It was agreed that a letter of thanks be sent to the previous Chair.
c) District Councillors – none present
d) County Councillor – Cllr Oxby was not present but had submitted his monthly report (circulated) – available on the website. It was agreed to contact Cllr Oxby to request any updates on the issue of straw on the roads (raised at the last meeting), those Highways matters logged under the new reporting system but not yet addressed and Carillion.
Cllr Faulkner introduced agenda item 9 at this point, requesting that the ownership of the street-lights in the newly adopted part of Nocton Park be investigated. (see minute 127 below).
123 PARISH CLERK
The Parish Council noted the Clerk’s report, which had been circulated previously.
Report items discussed:
Website images: it was agreed that the public be asked to submit photos for publication on the PC website; an item will be included in the next issue of Nocton News with details.
Correspondence received: Card of thanks received from a member of the public regarding help with a query
124 BUDGET AND PRECEPT FOR 2018-2019
Cllr Goldsworthy had previously circulated a detailed budget report and proposed precept.
The report recommended a revenue budget of £24,645 for 2018/19 (an increase of £1,665 over the current financial year) corresponding to a precept of £68.91 for a Band D property – an increase of 3.86% / £2.56 per annum.
It was proposed by Cllr Jones, seconded by Cllr Faulkner and it was RESOLVED that the budget and precept for 2018/19 as set out in the report to the meeting be approved and submitted to NKDC by the required deadline of 02/02/18.
125 NOCTON VIILLAGE HALL – PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT
i. Cllr Kaye gave a verbal report to clarify the current situation regarding the planning application and a number of associated matters. The application, which provides for a new Hall wholly on land owned by the Parish Council, is currently being determined by NKDC. The reasons behind the Parish Council’s decision to proceed with a rebuild, where costs are known, rather than a refurbishment, where costs are unknown and would offer poorer value to the community and future generations, were also noted.
ii. It was noted by the Chair that a rumour regarding possible funding from Beeswax Dyson Farming was untrue.
iii. It was agreed that a letter be sent to Mr Paul Clarke (as owner of the car park and paddock behind the Hall) to take forward his proposal to allow the temporary use of part of his land as a builder’s store, etc and to seek clarification of other aspects of his offer.
iv. It was agreed that the Chair, Cllr Goldsworthy and the Chair of the VHMC, Mr Stephen Whitmore, meet to discuss any details of the application requiring further clarification and to ensure that a strong bond between the PC and VHMC continues.
126 PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND ISSUES
a) The Parish Council considered the following applications and agreed to make no comment:
i. 18/0020/TCA, 1 Wrays Yard - T1 Fir Tree (Smoke Bush) - fell; T2 Pine – fell
ii. 18/0073/FUL resubmission of Village Hall application ref 17/0581/FUL
b) The Parish Council noted the following decisions received: None.
i. 17/1451/HOUS 5 Lincoln Road Nocton – Approved
ii. 17/1432/FUL Cricket Ground Pavilion Cricket Club – Approved
iii. 06/0390/FUL Drier Cottage – Approved
iv. 17/1386/HOUS Letterbox Cottage – Approved
v. 05/1979/LBC - Approved
It was noted that items iii and iv are old applications and had been forwarded to the Clerk by error from NKDC
c) The response from NKDC to the Trees on the Green application for works, ref 17/1740/TCA (TPO not required) was noted.
Cllr Goldsworthy reported that the tree roots of the recently felled trees on the footpath adjacent to the school, will be ground down, at no cost to the PC. It was agreed that a letter of thanks be sent to the contractor who has kindly offered this service.
127 NOCTON PARK DEVELOPMENT – STREET-LIGHTS
Further to Minute 106 (12 December, 2017), it was noted that::
i. the Parish Council is not responsible for meeting the costs associated with the street-lighting on the recently completed Nocton Park Housing Scheme following the Highway’s Authority’s adoption of the estate roads in that there is no agreement in place involving the Parish Council.
ii. in the light of (i) above, it is considered that any grass-cutting or maintenance is similarly not the responsibility of Nocton Parish Council.
128 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN AND LOCAL PLAN
Following the Examiner’s amendments to the Neighbourhood Plan (NP), it is not able to provide the degree of protection from unwanted/unwarranted development within the two villages as was clearly the intention when the Plan was first developed.
A system for the modification of any NP is, however, possible via a new and untested process.
It was proposed by Cllr Murray, seconded by Cllr Goldsworthy and it was RESOLVED that the modification of the NP be undertaken to make the changes required and that the NP Steering Group be reconvened to develop the required amendment to the NP for submission to the local Planning Authority in accordance with the relevant procedures as defined in the Neighbourhood Planning Act, 2017 (the Act). This will involve a six week period of consultation and an independent re-examination of the NP. It was noted that the procedure does not require the holding a further local referendum and it is hoped that the necessary submission to NKDC can be made by the end of April.
A similar proposal is being made by Potterhanworth Parish Council at its January meeting.
129 PROGRESS REPORTS OF PARISH COUNCILLORS
a) Cllr Faulkner reported that he has concerns regarding responsibility for grass-cutting at the entrance to Nocton Park (referring to minute 127). It was agreed that, in addition to the comments at minute 127, a meeting with Highways be requested to clarify this issue.
b) Cllr Williams reported that:
i. light number 16, which has been reported, has not been repaired to date. It was agreed that this be added to the agenda for the proposed meeting with Highways.
ii. The Co-op Community Champions application grant of £646.61 had been collected. A new application is open until 2 February 2018 and it was agreed to complete this.
c) Cllr Jones reported that:
i. the Village Keeper is in need of a winter-weight Hi-Viz jacket. It was proposed by Cllr Jones, seconded by Cllr Goldsworthy and it was RESOLVED that a garment be sourced up to a value of £50.
ii. The lawnmower requires a service and the strimmer requires new blades. It was agreed that this be arranged.
130 NOCTON PARISH COUNCIL – DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
It was noted that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday, 13th March 2018. In the event that urgent business arises before the next scheduled meeting, an Extra-ordinary meeting will be convened.
131 Public Question Session
i. Rats around the Wellhead Road area - large numbers are reported recently and an email has been received regarding this, suggesting that duck-feeding may be the cause. The Parish Council is unable to take action however it is a potential environmental health issue; it was agreed to notify NKDC Environmental Department.
ii. Leaves around the Village Hall notice board – it was asked if the Village Keeper, who is employed by the Parish Council to carry out specific tasks, could include clearing the VH area. As this would mean an increase in costs to the Parish Council which were not included in the budget, it was agreed that the Chair include this in the agenda for the PC/VHMC meeting (see minute 125 iv).
There being no further business the Chair closed the meeting at 8:10pm
Chair………..I Goldsworthy Date………13 March 2018
Nocton Parish Council – 30 January 2018