2018 Meetings - Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of Nocton Parish Council held in the Village Hall, 
Main Street, Nocton on Tuesday, 12 June 2018 at 7.00 p.m.

PRESENT: Cllr Ian Goldsworthy (Chair), Cllr Elisabeth Murray (Vice Chair), Cllr Neil Faulkner, Cllr Michael Kaye, Cllr Jane Kania, and Cllr MaryAnn Williams.

Cllr Goldsworthy was Acting Clerk for this meeting.
Seven members of the Public were also in attendance.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
No questions had been received.

196 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Graham Jones and Ruth Keillar (Parish Clerk)

197 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ANY ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Cllr E. Murray declared an interest in Agenda Item No. 7(a) (ii) (Minute No. 40(b) below).

198 MINUTES
(a) It was proposed by Cllr M. Kaye, seconded by Cllr E. Murray and it was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on 8 May 2018 be agreed as a true record and be signed by the Chair as correct.

(b) It was proposed by Cllr M. Kaye, seconded by Cllr E. Murray and it was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council held on 22 May 2018 be agreed as a true record and be signed by the Chair as correct.

(c) It was proposed by Cllr N. Faulkner, seconded by Cllr M. Kaye and it was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Extra-ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on 22 May 2018 be agreed as a true record and be signed by the Chair as correct.

199 REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
(a) Local Police – No report had been received from the local police.

(b) Village Hall Management Committee – Cllr M. Williams’ report of her attendance at the meeting of the VHMC held on 29 May 2018 was noted.

(c) District Council – No representative present.

(d) County Council – No representative present.

200 PARISH CLERK

The Parish Clerk’s report, which had been circulated previously, was noted.

201 NOCTON VILLAGE HALL – PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT
(a) The Chair reported that the Parish Council was still waiting to learn the outcome of discussions between Simons and the NKDC to agree the most cost-effective way of dealing with the planning conditions regarding the three lime trees.  Until the necessary investigation work had been carried out, it would not be possible to know to what effect this might have on the overall cost of the scheme.  The Parish Council was also waiting for the time-line for the project and in view of the continuing delays and in an attempt to expedite matters, it was agreed that (i) Cllr Kaye contact NKDC to arrange a meeting between representatives of the Parish Council, the Tree Officer and planning officers; and (ii) the Chair contact the Chief Executive of Simons to arrange a meeting between representatives of the Parish Council, the Design Team and Building Contractor.

It was noted that given the current situation, it possible the anticipated project start date of autumn 2018 was now at risk but that the Parish Council would continue to do everything it could to ensure that this target was met.  It would, of course, continue to keep the VHMC, Social Club and other users of the Hall updated as to progress.

(b) It was noted that the following grant applications were being pursued: (i) Armed Forces (£20,000) – Cllr Williams/Parish Clerk would shortly be submitting this bid; (ii) WREN (£100,000) – the bid would be submitted as soon as the PW Loan had been approved; and (iii) National Lottery (£100,000) – the “expression of interest” would shortly be submitted by Cllr Williams/Parish Clerk.  In the event that the Parish Council was advised that funding from this source would not be possible, an “Awards for All” bid of 10,000 would be made.

(c) It was noted that no further progress had been made in identifying a possible “Bid Writer” to assist the Parish Council in making grant applications.  Efforts to find such a person would, however, continue.

(d) In the light of its previous decision to fund the cost of the new Village Hall by way of a Public Works Loan in the maximum sum of £500,000 over a period of fifty years, the Parish Council considered a report comprising a draft completed application form and supporting documentation.  After detailed discussion it was proposed by Cllr. M. Williams, seconded by Cllr. M. Kaye and RESOLVED that the documents as presented be approved and following signature by both the Parish Clerk and Chair submitted to LALC.

(e) It was noted that a reply from the solicitor acting on behalf of the owner of the Village Hall car park as to his client’s approval or otherwise to the plans for the new Hall was still awaited and it was agreed that the Parish Clerk send a further “chaser”.  As such, this matter would not now need to be considered in private session at the conclusion of the public business on the agenda for this evening’s meeting.

202 PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND ISSUES
(a) 18/0744/HOUS 6 Lincoln Road:  It was agreed that in the absence of the Parish Clerk, Cllr M Kaye advise NKDC of the Parish Council’s support for this application.

(b) 18/0719/TPO Coachman’s Cottage, Nocton:  It was noted that there were, in fact, two applications associated with tree works to Coachman’s Cottage; those for trees which were the subject of a TPO and those which were not.  It was agreed to make no comments on this application.

(c) 18/0305/RESM The Shieling The Green Nocton:  It was agreed that having previously made its views known on this application, there would be little point in attending the Planning Sub-committee to make further representations.

203 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN AND LOCAL PLAN
Cllr E Murray reported on her recent attendance at the NKDC Communities and Engagement Scrutiny Panel.

It was noted that the NP Steering Group had met on 7 June 2018 when it had agreed to seek the advice from the Planning Consultant currently assisting Branston in the preparation of its Neighbourhood Plan on the following issues before a final draft of the proposed revision to our NP was considered further:

(i) How to remove the blanket approval for each and every application for up to six houses, bearing in mind that we are required to "promote sustainable development"
(ii) How to avoid development outside the "developed footprint" of the villages (settlement boundary); and
(iii) Do we need to rewrite the Plan or will a modification suffice?

It was noted that Cllr E Murray was still chasing NDKC for its advice on the process to be followed in order to amend the NP.

204 CRICKET CLUB PORTALOOS
It was noted that there had been no response to the notice in Nocton News asking if any resident was interested in purchasing the two “portaloos”.  It was, therefore, agreed that Cllr J Kania advertise the items on eBay and that she use her judgement in setting the price on the basis of similar items currently being offered for sale.  It was noted that the price would need to reflect the cost of servicing the toilets.  Any monies received would be shared equally between the Cricket Club and Parish Council.

205 PROGRESS REPORTS OF PARISH COUNCILLORS
(a) Cllr Williams reported her concerns (noted by other parish councillors) at the increasing amount of straw in Main Street being blown from lorries.  It was agreed to request the Parish Clerk to raise the matter again with Cllr R Oxby who had previously undertaken to seek the views of LCC Highways as to the action which could be taken to deal with the problem.

(b) Cllr M Kaye reported that he was still awaiting a response from NKDC as to the action being taken to ensure that the developer tidied the site at 72a Steamer Point Road and elsewhere now that construction work had been completed.  He would, however, continue to purse the matter with the Planning Enforcement Officers.

(c) Cllr N. Faulkner asked if it would be possible for SID to be sited on Nocton Park Road (where there was a particular problem with speeding traffic) when it was next available to the village.  It was noted that there may be a problem in setting SID to record vehicles travelling at more than 20 mph (being the speed limit along this road) and, as such, he was asked to liaise with Cllr G Jones.

(d) The Chair reported that he had received a number of positive comments from residents regarding the planter at the entrance to the village in Main Street.  It was agreed that he write a letter of appreciation to the two residents who had undertaken to maintain this particular planter at their own expense.

206 NOCTON PARISH COUNCIL – DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was noted that the next meeting of the Parish Council would be held on 10 July, 2018 in the Village Hall at 7.00 p.m.

207 PUBLIC QUESTION SESSION
A member of the public again asked if whether any action could be taken tidy the areas surrounding the Village Hall.  It was noted that it had already been agreed that the Village Keeper would now be responsible for cutting the grassed areas but that if the VHMC so wished, he might also be able to deal with other maintenance, etc work subject to an appropriate charge.  The Chair of the VHMC, who was present at the meeting, agreed to consider the matter with his committee.

208 TO RESOLVE WHETHER TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC AND PRESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING CONFIDENTIAL MATTER. 

It was proposed by Cllr E. Murray, seconded by Cllr M. Kaye and it was RESOLVED to exclude the public and press for consideration of the following confidential matter.

The public and press left the meeting at 8:05 p.m.

209 Village Keeper and Dog Warden

It was proposed by Cllr M Kaye, seconded by Cllr E Murray and it was RESOLVED to (i) increase the holiday entitlement of the Village Keeper in line with his statutory entitlement as detailed in the Parish Clerk’s report; and (ii) to allow him a bank holiday entitlement (where the Parish Council has discretion) calculated pro-rata to his contracted weekly hours.

There being no further business, the Chair closed the meeting at 8:20 p.m.

Chair……I GOLDSWORTHY

Date…….10 JULY 2018