2025 - Minutes

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Held in the Hub   Main Street Nocton

on Tuesday 11th February 2025 at 7.00pm

MEMBERSHIP:

Chair:​​ Councillor Andy Hone; Vice-chair: ​Councillor George McDonnell

Councillors:​ Paul Browne, Richard Robinson, Richard Marshall, (2 vacancies) 

Clerk: ​​John Money RFO: Gordon Roe

Attendance:

Chair:​​ Councillor Andy Hone; Vice-chair: ​Councillor George McDonnell; Cllr’s, Richard Robinson, Richard Marshall

b

Report from Ben Wills of 360 Rural representing LEDA Properties (the land owner) - Update on Nocton Hall and Hospital site

Ben Wills spoke of how anything that is associated with the Old Hall was a slow process. While the Grade II listing remains in place, it has been updated as the Hall being in a ruinous state, he said now the prospect of rebuilding it had gone, the way forward was to manage it as a ruin.

 A new fence line is proposed (to replace the current brightly painted fencing) which will require planning consent. This fence around the Hall will be similar to the ones around schools and green in colour.   Further work to remove ground cover will take place in the Autumn after the nesting season.

A felling license has been applied for and gained, from 8 to 10 m from the roadway you can now see clearly. The NKDC tree officer has been involved.  The TPO plan will be updated so at the moment it is a big tidy up job.

Regarding the Hospital site, The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan does not list it as an ex MOD site, or a Brownfield Site within the meaning of the word and neither is it on the brownfield register. 

After a question from a member of the public regarding future access to the developed old hospital site Ben answered about the entrances and what to expect, there being three points of access: Woodland Drive, Hall Drive and Kormaksar Drive, which would restrict the amount of possible development. He also discussed the possibility of holiday let like lodges being the way forward.

Public Forum: the question of council membership was raised.

County Councillors' report:

Councillor Ian Carrington gave his apologies for the last meeting and said he did arrive, but by the time he got there from his planning meeting the building was closed. 

He went on to speak about the county council budget and a proposed 3% rise in council tax. He spoke about Metro Mayor and council reorganisation in the large rural area of Lincolnshire, he said he thought it would be challenging. He also said that there was £1.89 million required to fill the gap in the funding to run the county council. 

He also spoke about flooding and the proposed Lincoln bypass spoke. Briefly about the proposed solar farms in Lincolnshire, there being 15 NSIPS, plus BESS battery installation. He also spoke about the 30 mph limit and the footpath to Dunston. Cllr  Carrington answered questions on the road surface in the village, especially Main Street and was informed that it was 20 to 25 years since it was last done. Surely Nocton‘s priority should be as high as anyone else’s in the area was stated.

District Councillor’s report:

Councillor Dave Perry spoke about the recent retirement of the chief executive of North Kesteven District Council Ian Fytche and a new CEO was in place. He also spoke about them creating energy efficient homes and the NK lottery grand scheme.

Agenda Items:

1. Apologies for Absence:  Apologies were received from Cllr Paul Browne, with no reasons given.

2. Declarations of Interest: None.

3. Minutes: Draft minutes from the full council meeting held on the 14th of January 2025 - It was resolved that the Chair should sign the minutes as authorised. 

4. Matters arising from previous meetings:The Chair informed the meeting that he had acquired a quotation of £300 to automatically activate the lights in the hub toilet. 

5. Chairs report: The Chair informed the meeting that he was so close to getting the Ripon Arms cellar floor done and was sure it would be achieved in the very near future. The LALC membership had been confirmed. They had been an issue with some illegal use of Sky in the lounge but that had been resolved.

6. The Hub Managers report: The Hub Manager had nothing to report this month.

7. The Parish Clerks report: The Parish Clerk informed the meeting that all the correspondence was up-to-date and he was working on getting some more information on the 30 mph radar integration speed signs. Also informed the meeting that he had circulated the NKDC lottery fund information that Councillor Parry had spoken about. He asked members if they thought it was a good idea for him to produce a written report each month to be circulated with the agenda, all thought it a good idea. - Action Clerk.

8. Springwell Solar Farm: the proposal of this NSIP 1400 ha solar farm with BEES storage some 4 miles to the south of the village of Nocton. It was agreed that the solar farm would have an indirect detrimental effect on the village and the parish in general. After a long debate it was resolved that the Clerk makes a detailed objection to the proposal and this objection is circulated to members and duly submitted to the Planning inspectorate.

9. Insulation and dado rail installation - Hub. Volunteers: It was agreed to form a working party to install the new insulation in the roof space as soon as possible this could also be combined with fixing the Dado rail around the  Events Hall. Action Chair and all members.

10. To agree the meeting dates for 2025/6. It was agreed to carry on holding the majority of the meetings on the second Tuesday of the month but from time to time these dates would be altered to accommodate people on holiday and with work commitments. Action Chair and Clerk.

11. Planning Matters: the Clerk informed members that the new oil tank and fuel line installation at Nocton Primary School had been approved by the county council planning department.

12. Financial Matters: the bank balances were noted. It was resolved that the RFO pay all the outstanding invoices for the month of January 2025. The Chair duly signed the authorisation.

13.Date of the Next Meeting:  11/03/2025.

14. Public Forum: it was agreed the Clerk should send an email thanking Ellie Baker (LCC) for getting the manhole cover fitted in the Hub car park.  It was agreed to publish NPC’s statement regarding Springwell Solar Farm (item 8) as part of the minutes.  Planning for plot 72a was questioned with no answer available.

The Chair closed the meeting at 8:28 pm, thanked all present for coming and wished everyone a safe journey home.

NPC’s submitted statement regarding Springwell Solar Farm:

While Nocton Parish Council support the production of green energy (we have installed 20 PV panels on our Village Hub). We do however have significant concerns about the proposed Springwell Solar Farm development, some 4 miles south of the parish of Nocton.

 While the proposal will not have a direct impact on this settlement, it will indirectly affect our residents. and visitors to the parish 

The proposal covers approximately 1,400 ha of prime agricultural land, on and adjacent to the Lincoln Heath. The loss of this vital food production is a significant issue considering the country only produces 60% of the food it consumes. All of the land within the proposal has the benefit of a crop irrigation system The concerned land being classified as best and most versatile, Grades 2, 3a with some 3B. When there are other indifferent lands available, together with some 240,000 ha of industrial roofs that have not got panels fixed to them it seems a dreadful waste of good agricultural land.

When these large solar arrays are erected, they will deprive 75% of the land from sunlight, rainwater will be directed into rivelets that will form between the panels. Laying this land into an unnatural fallow state for 40 years could have such a detrimental effect that it may not be able to be remediated to its original state, only time will tell, because this is an experiment.  it’s not been done before on the this scale in this country previously/

The visual impact of a large solar array such as is planned will have a detrimental impact on the Vista across the Lincoln Heath. Such a concentration of panels will have an off putting effect when people come - not only to visit this parish from say the south of England, but also when they come to view properties for sale. 

This proposal will also have a negative effect on local wildlife and ecosystems, as they will disrupt the natural habitat of of the wildlife.. The panels can kill insects and other small creatures as a result of the solar radiation. Migrating wading birds have been known to crash into the panels, especially at night thinking that the shimmering glare is water.. Noise and light pollution is another detrimental feature of these solar farms that not only affects wildlife but people who live and travel by them.

Many of the visitors to our parish use the public rights of way especially around Blankney where these PROW‘s are going to be nothing more than corridors between glass panels, we do believe it will have an adverse effect on the tourist industry in our area 

The miles and miles of shimmering cornfields and other green crops you see across the Lincoln Heath are going to be obliterated by these solar panels, arable fields and grasslands have a pleasing and calming effect on peoples mental health. This incongruous addition to the landscape must only have a detrimental effect to peoples general welfare. We are also concerned regarding the pollution of the Lincolnshire limestone aquifer which lays some 20 m below the surface of the land that is going to be affected. PV panels contain many carcinogenic materials such as: lead, cadmium and silver, if the panels begin to delaminate overtime, these heavy metals mixed with acid rain will not only contaminate the soil but percolate down into the aquifer.

We note there are three BESS installations proposed on the Lincoln Heath, one associated with Springwell. These lithium battery storage facilities are susceptible to getting on fire due to overheating, a lithium fire is unable to be put out as it will burn underwater by self generating oxygen. We believe that copious amounts of water that are used in the event of a fire - to contain its spread and have a dousing effect, our concern is that this dilute of lithium chloride and the other chemicals involved will also leach down into the aquifer, unless of course all of the BESS installations are properly bonded, but at this time it is not planned to do so.

During the construction phase, the amount of traffic that will be prevalent on our already overloaded Road system both locally in our parish and generally around the district will cause an enormous amount of congestion and issues.

Therefore, this Parish Council believes that the proposed application does not conform with the following government planning policies:

NPPF paragraphs 183 and 187

NPS EN1

NPS EN3