December 2023

Meeting Minutes – 6th December 2023

19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church

Present

Cllr Michael Priestley  (Chairman)                  Cllr James Pask (Vice-Chairman)       

Cllr Gill Ikin                                                      Cllr Alan Gilbert                      Cllr Martin Hill (LCC)

Cllr Richard Cleaver Leader of SKDC  

In Attendance 

Roel van Aken (Clerk)

Apologies

1. Apologies for Absence

Cllr Sarah Trotter (SKDC)        Cllr Jonathan Fisher

2. Confirmation of eligibility, quorum and Declaration of interest

All councilors present are eligible, the meeting was quorate and no declaration of interests declared.

Alan Gilbert was co-opted unanimously as councillor.

3. Public Representations

The public were allowed to be in attendance, but on this occasion no parishioners attended.

4. Minutes of previous meeting

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting dated 4th October 2023 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chair.

5. meeting with Cllr Richard Cleaver Leader of South Kesteven District Council

Opportunity for Cllr Richard Cleaver to appreciate the large rural areas within SKDC and better understand local issues.

1. relationship between a coalition council and Parish Councils

SKDC aims to encourage a better dialogue between it and local parish councils as that is in everybody’s interest.

SKDC also intends to make more funding available to local parish councils for specific projects or initiatives. Presentation sessions will be held on how to apply for these funds.

2. funding whilst we are still in the grip of inflation / cost rises and the impact on service provision

SKDC’s budget is in a good position and almost balanced. Ony a small draw-down on reserves is anticipated. No major services are at risk.

3. any support SKDC can provide wrt the recent flooding issues we experienced

There are many organisations with specific responsibilities for flooding issues. Within SKDC’s remit is the provision of sandbags which were delivered during the last flooding event.

SKDC’s Health & Safety Officer is also closely linked into LRF (Lincolnshire Resilience Forum) which is the overarching organization dealing with emergencies in Lincolnshire.

4. proliferation of solar farm proposals

There is very limited scope to respond to these applications as they are governed by national planning rules.

6. 2024-25 Parish Precept

The annual Parish Precept for next financial year was set at £1,650.00.

7. HSBC Bank Account Mandate

The meeting authorized the clerk to update the mandate for the parish council bank account due to several councillors retiring and new councillors joining.

8. Flooding Issues

Ivy Farm has very kindly offered when the weather and ground conditions allow (probably in the spring) the storm water ditches at the east end of the village will be cleaned out. The same applies to the pond near the spring in Holden’s land as well as the ditch that flows from the spring to the road at the west end of the village. Currently the ground is too water-logged to support any heavy machinery.

Welby Parish Council has been engaging with the proper authorities to determine courses of action to assist with the flood water situation now (and hopefully) into the future:

1. the drain to the Swallowhole was formally assessed by LCC and is now booked for jetting, this should resolve outfall issues.

2. we are currently reporting various main street drains through FMS, for jetting or other remedial work.

3. we continue to keep the issue live and updated on the website, for any updates this is where we advise parishioners to visit.

LRF (Lincolnshire Resilience Forum) - Community Emergency Planning: Cllrs James Pask, Gill Ikin and the clerk attended. WPC will be creating a simple village plan and linking this into LRF. Clerk to draft an initial plan for review. Also a summary of relevant organisations and emergency numbers will be published on the website and notice boards.

9. Solar Farm Proposals

WPC is aware of the following 3 proposals:

• S23/0587: Side Barn, Church Lane – proposed site is between Church Lane and High Dyke: currently only a Request for an EIA Screening Opinion for the installation and operation of solar farm with associated infrastructure. Archeological excavations have taken place and the land has been restored. Only a few bits of Roman pot but nothing of any significance was found.

• S23/2235: ASH Tree Solar Farm - Land North Of Welby: this proposal seems to be the most advanced and concerns land between Londonthorpe and Barkston Heath airfield on the other side of High Dyke so strictly speaking not within the boundaries of Welby Parish. Currently only a Request for an EIA Screening Opinion. Further details are available from the project’s website at: https://www.ashtreesolarfarm.co.uk/

• S23/1845: Pasture Farm, Ermine Street, Welby, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 3LU - Island Green Power. This seems to be closest to the village on this side of High Dyke and north-west of Welby. Currently only a Request for an EIA Screening Opinion.

WPC is aware of another proposed solar farm on the other side of the A52 near Ropsley.

As was explained by the Leader of SKDC the scope for comment is very limited as these are governed by national planning rules.

10.   a) Reducing speeding through Welby

• Speed watch: to receive an update from the speed watch team.

One session has taken place at the west end of the village. Results showed that around 25% of cars exceeded the speed limit.

• SID: review results to date:

SID results from the Church Lane location will be reviewed in the next meeting when the monitoring period is completed.

11. County and District Councillor Reports (if Councillors present at meeting)

• Update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters:

LCC are working on addressing all flooding incidents and reviewing how future responses can be improved. LCC will also be reinstating the annual clearance of storm water drains.

More money will be made available to be spent on highway maintenance. Whilst perhaps counter-intuitive the data shows that the actual condition of roads is improving in Lincolnshire.

Devolution proposal for the whole of Lincolnshire: a public consultation will be held for a period of 2 months. Whilst it will require the position of mayor for the whole of Lincolnshire needs to be created it also provides for substantial additional funding for Lincolnshire from central government. In addition it provides LCC with better and more direct access to central government hopefully resulting in faster responses to local issues and concerns.

• Update from the District Councillor Sarah Trotter on South Kesteven District Council matters was provided via email:

Greater Lincolnshire Devolution: Last week in a full county council meeting at Lincoln on Friday,  the County Council approved the Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal and so this will now move to an 8-week public consultation stage.

Grantham Christmas Fayre and Lights Switch-on: This was a highly successful event with thousands of people packing the town centre and having a great time throughout the day.

Policing Matters: The Police and Crime Commissioner is carrying out a policing survey which can be completed online. Cllr Trotter is a member of the Police & Crime Panel and Chief Constable Chris Haward will be retiring soon, so cllr. Trotter will be involved in a part of the process to recruit a replacement.

Housing Repairs Issues: Cllr. Trotter is actively involved with a number of Housing issues on her Ward, particularly with heating issues, therefore she asks if any Council tenants have issues and struggling to get resolved with the Council within Welby, please contact her either by phone 07500 705508 or email her on sarah.trotter@southkesteven.gov.uk

Solar Farms Applications within the area: Following visits to Belton Woods by both cllr. Trotter and members of Welby Parish Council Committee in relation to the Ash Farm Solar Farm Application, another planning application was received by the planning department – S23/2199.

Mallard Pass Solar, Nr Essendine, Stamford Farm Planning Application: Whilst not near Welby, for information purposes details of this huge Solar Farm being planned near Stamford are included here to give a flavour of the process involved. The 6-month examination period for the Mallard Pass Solar Farm closed on 16th November 2023. There were some changes to the scheme and draft development consent order during the examination period, including a higher biodiversity net gain (65% habitat units and 36% for hedgerow units) and a now proposed 60-year time limited consent period.

However, SKDC maintained its position that whilst the proposed development would make a positive contribution to reducing carbon emissions during its operational life, there would undoubtably be adverse impacts that need to be balanced against the benefits of the scheme. The main concerns of the Council regarding the operational phase of the development were highlighted as:

• The loss of agricultural land, including high quality Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land, both in isolation and cumulatively for a 60-year period.
• The scale and significance of the impact on the landscape and visual amenity of the area.
• The impacts on Public Rights of Way, their recreational value and consequential negative impacts on the visitor economy.

This was in-line with the concluding position of both Lincolnshire County Council and Rutland County Council.

The Examining Authority now has three months to write a report and recommendation to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), as to whether the application should be granted or not. Following that time, the Secretary of State also has 3-moths to reach a decision. As such, a decision is expected in mid-May 2024.

12. Correspondences

To receive a report from The Clerk on relevant correspondences received and action taken since last meeting.

13. Planning Applications: 

Planning applications to consider with the following planning applications received:

14. Highways

Update from The Clerk on highway faults including those reported by WPC to LCC Highways and SKDC.

15. Village Matters

a. Repairs to bench and village sign:

     * village sign: metal post needs sanding down and repainting

     * park bench near bus stop: will need repainting at some point in the future.

b. Trees on village green: Western Power has trimmed the branches that were growing into the power lines.

c. White Gates and Road Signs at the east-end have been cleaned.

16. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £3,240.46.

Since last meeting the following income has been received:

Since last meeting payments made from bank account:

Cheques raised during meeting:

The Chairman signed off Cashbooks as a true record after agreement from Councilors that both bank statement and cash books were accurate.

13. Urgent business

To consider any urgent business.

Please note if it is “urgent” only because it was not notified in time to appear on the agenda, it should be left till the next meeting. If it is genuinely “urgent”, that is it was too late for the agenda and it will be too late for action if left till the next ordinary meeting The Chairman and The Clerk need to decide whether an additional meeting should be called or actioned during this meeting.

14. Decide next meeting of the parish council.

The next ordinary meeting of Welby Parish Council will take place on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at 19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church.

Signed: ……………………………………………………………..   Chairman

Dated:………………………………………………………………..