Minutes 2023

MINUTES

MEETING POTTERHANWORTH PARISH COUNCIL 27 NOVEMBER 2023

In Attendance   -              Cllr Sardeson

                                         Cllr Ott

                                         Cllr Clarke

Also in Attendance -       NKDC Cllr Turner

1.         Chairman opened meeting by noting it was a small band of only four in attendance.

2.         Apologies having been received from Cllr Copsey, Cllr Nightingale and Clerk.

3.         No declaration of interest to report.

4.         Draft notes from meeting of 30 October 2023 are duly approved as Minutes.

5.         Reports from outside bodies –

    a.     Nothing to report in our area on the Police.uk website.

    b.     Report from Lincolnshire County Councillor Carrington attached.

    c.     NKDC Cllr Turner was thanked for attending and asked if he had anything to report on.  He informed that the main thing that had been taking up a lot of time

            and debate in Chambers at the moment was Devolution.  And as he understood it, the possibility of the convergence of 10 county councils becoming a

            Greater Lincolnshire along traditional boundaries and under one Mayor, the election for which would be sometime in May 2025.

            Cllr Clarke asked if Parish Councils would be affected.  In answer Cllr Turner said he would forward links towards various areas of information, and would report back

            further in the New Year.

            Clerk to contact Cllr Turner for the links and distribute.                                                                                                                                                                                                 LB

6.         Public Open Forum

    a.     Cllr Clarke informed that the overgrown hedge blocking the pathway past the unoccupied bungalow on Moor Lane had been cleared back and what a good job

            had been done.  Chair informed he had spoken to neighbours both sides and can only assume that word had got back to the owner of the bungalow, who now lives

            in Foster’s Close, and thanked Cllr Clarke for her comments.

    b.     Cllr Ott asked if more information could be had regarding the Bardney Causeway closure/resurfacing.  Was it due to happen next year, did we have dates, was it a                     NS

            full closure or in sections?  Chair to speak with his contact at Highways for any information.

7.         Matters from previous minutes –

    a.     PCSO reduction in numbers - it was noted that the engagement session on the 7th was an online meeting.  Concern was raised that this was simply a public relations

            exercise and not a genuine consultation but we should be grateful for the opportunity to attend.

    b.     Pavilion WiFi - Cllr Clarke reported on progress having had meetings with the supplier Andrew Seymore whom she had been put in touch with by Stuart Wallace. 

            It would cost £41.95 per month.  No installation cost.  £253.40 to pay for the year.  The Beer Fest Committee had confirmed they would provide £250.00. 

            Chair confirmed he was happy to sign the contract.  Cllr Clarke would be the main contact and would communicate with the Clerk as an invoice would need

            to be raised.  The Beef Fest Committee would need to pay £250 to the PC then Clerk to organise the DD on the PC bank account.                                                                        AC/LB

    c,     Cllr Ott asked who would control the Safety Provisions and passwords.  Cllr Clarke said as she would be the main contact, this would fall to her and she would liaise

            with the providers.

    d.     Potter on the Move update – Cllr Clarke informed she had created a Facebook post regarding needing an additional Parish Councillor and also asking for Volunteers

            to help in the Community with the Hot Pot and the Scouts.  She made comment that if as many people as possible could visit the page and ‘like’ the post, then it would

            become more visible to a larger audience.

    e.    Pergola and Raised Beds – Cllr Clarke has offered to liaise with Cllr Copsey to see if she had received the quotes from the contacts george and Keith of the

           Pavilion Committee had made.

    f.     Chair informed he had been contacted by a Mr Keith Richardson who had offered to help with the required hedge cutting round the new playpark at a cost of £150. 

           Though considerably cheaper than the Continental quote, he would wait till Battles had used their machine on the bulk of the hedge at the back, which is due to happen

           at the end of the year, before arranging a date for Mr Richardson to start.

    g.    Date for Grant/Budget Meeting – Chair said as there were so few of them in attendance, he would send round an email to arrange this date.

8.         Financial Matters

    a.     Cllr Ott raised a concern as to why the full invoice from Hags had appeared on the Account Summary, rather than just the sum we had paid.  Chair said he would                      NS/LB

            liaise with Clerk, and as the ‘snip’ he had copied to distribute at meeting had not produced the layout correctly he would ask Clark to resend the November Account

            Summary to Councillors.

    b.     Cllr Clarke asked about the location of the Smart Meter and Chair informed of its location and the whereabouts of the key.  Cllr Clarke wished to double check the amounts

            we were being billed for.  Chair did inform that if this particular smart meter did work, then it must be the only one in Potterhanworth!  Cllr Clarke with liaise with Clerk.             AC/LB

    c.     Chair informed on the great progress of the Hot Pot since it had started up again.  We do want Emily to continue to run it, however she has not yet given an indication

            as to how much she would want to continue to do so.  Cllr Copsey to liaise.                                                                                                                                                            SC

    d.     Cllr Ott asked about the Chequers and whether there was still the threat of closure.  Chair was happy to report that since the start of the new Chef, they have been

            really busy again to the point that it was sometimes not possible to get a booking, which undermines the claim by the owner that this is not a viable site.   This was

            in stark contrast to the Wagon and Horses in Branston, which has now closed, a pub it was noted, owned by the same gentleman.

    e.     Cllr Turner commented that it was disappointing that Branston had lost its pub and prior to that its post office.  The Branston community had to rely on a pop-up post

            office on a Thursday afternoon in the Church Hall.

9.         Nothing to report for either Correspondence, Planning Matters or Monthly Risk Assessment.

10.       Next Parish Council – following Christmas break will be Monday, 29th January 2024.

Latest News December

From Cllr Ian Carrington

2023 Devolution

You’ll have seen headlines about proposals for devolution in Greater Lincolnshire. There has been a lot of misinformation about this, sadly some if it intentional.  So, to be clear, this is NOT about local government reorganization. Existing parish, district and county or unitary councils would stay in place with the same democratic mandates. And existing funding streams, including levelling up funds, would continue.

What would change would be the introduction of a Greater Lincolnshire elected mayor, clearer communication with central government and greater Lincolnshire control over key aspects such as transport, skills and the economy. Plus £24 million per year extra investment in capital and skills programmes for 30 years (£720 million in total), and £28 million extra in Year One for capital schemes with £2.2 million earmarked for North Kesteven. I don’t think the scheme is perfect – I don’t see the need for an elected mayor. But if the price of the extra funds is a mayor, then I am not going to rush to say no to some serious new money for Lincolnshire. Our county has not enjoyed fair funding in the past, and this is a way to help re-set that balance and have more control over our own budget and our own futures.

I voted at the County Council in support of a public consultation on the proposal, so what do you think? More details can be found on the LCC website at Devolution – Lincolnshire County Council where there will be a link to the consultation from 4th December to 29th January.

Floods

I’ve spent a huge amount of time this past month on the aftermath of the Storm Babet floods. In addition to discussions at the LCC Environment & Economy Committee which I chair, I was a substitute member and acting vice chairman of the Flood & Water Management Committee when it met to launch a deep and thorough inquiry into what happened and how we can improve what we do. It will be rigorous, honest, constructive and self-critical.

It's crystal clear to me that we have a new pattern of weather, with four ‘1 in 100 year’ events in just the past two decades.  So, I believe we need to be looking not only at better ways of doing what we already do, but at new and innovative ways of planning for flood events. That means honest evaluation and cooperation between all levels of local government, water and drainage authorities and national government.

To that end I brought together our two local Internal Drainage Boards and local MP Dr Caroline Johnson to make sure our Westminster representative had first-hand knowledge of the immense pressures on drainage systems in our area.

And along with my LCC and NKDC colleague Cllr Lindsey Cawrey I held a public meeting for all those affected by the flooding with LCC officers, the Environment Agency and drainage boards in attendance. Most parishes in my patch were affected, but Heighington and Washingborough were hit especially hard. A primary school flooded out, homes flooded out, farmland turned into Lake Washingborough and disruption to the roads.

Heighington (and parts of Washingborough) also suffer from ground water flooding, the most difficult and challenging form of flood risk to deal with.  So, I’ve arranged for expert LCC officers to visit the villages and affected homes and include these communities in LCC’s ground water flooding programme which is seeking solutions.

And I’m bringing together our county council experts with Heighington primary school staff to look in detail and what can be done for a building which has flooded several times in recent memory. In truth it should not have been built on that site. But it was built, and it’s our job to try and protect it and to try to stop the disruption to the children it serves and their families. None of this is easy – in fact some of it is very difficult indeed. But that just means we must try harder. If any parish council wants to raise local issues with me, or provide information or experiences which would be useful to the inquiry, please get in touch.

Preparing for the next time

Without pre-judging the LCC inquiry, there’s one thing I’m already convinced of: we need to maximise the involvement of parish councils and local communities in planning for future flooding. Some parish councils already have emergency plans, some don’t. I’m asking every parish council to have an up-to-date emergency plan Especially if any part of the parish is at risk of flooding. If need be, just do that bit! There’s plenty of help available. For advice and a template plan check out the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum’s Resilient Communities Programme - Lincolnshire Resilience Forum. And Lincolnshire County Council offers further advice for parishes and community groups – just email LincsEP@lincolnshire.gov.uk .

Listening to the parishes in my patch and fellow county councillors across wider Lincolnshire it’s clear that having an up-to-date emergency plan local people to implement it made a real difference during Storm Babet. Not everything worked as it should have done, including communications with such groups from LCC and other authorities, and we need to learn lessons from that.

But as the Resilience Forum’s own website asks: ‘no electricity, no telephone, no utilities, nowhere to go…what to do?’. Well, the answer begins by having well informed, well prepared and empowered local people in place in their communities.

Winter Weather

Winter has well and truly arrived, with ice and snow marking the beginning of December. Lincolnshire County Council maintains over 5,500 miles of roads, and gritting crews cover an extensive network with salting and (when necessary) snow plough runs. This service overs all A and B roads, and also routes to main villages, schools and hospitals. For more details see Winter road management – View gritting routes - Lincolnshire County Council. And for a really useful zoomable map showing every gritting route, click on Location Centre 4.7.1 and zoom in to your part of the county. When the gritting operation is active you can find regular updates on X/Twitter – just search for @LincsCC_roads.

Energy projects

As a member of the planning committees at both LCC and NKDC I must be careful not to pre-judge any individual planning application. But I remain extremely watchful about some major potential schemes, some of which would be decided by central Government and some locally. Let me be clear – we need clean renewable energy. But in looking at sites for new generating capacity we need to be very careful about the impact on local people, local communities, local countryside and local roads. I will continue to work closely with residents’ groups, parish councils and planners to scrutinize schemes which come forward very, very closely indeed.

Lincolnshire rated 'good' for adult social care services

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reported on its pilot assessment of LCC’s adult social care services. The report is one of five pilot local authority assessments of how councils meet their care act duties. Earlier this year, the CQC was given new responsibilities to assess how local authorities meet these duties, with Lincolnshire volunteering to be part of the first wave of pilot assessments.

The great news is we have been rated as providing a ‘good standard’ of support for adult social care. The assessment process allowed us to showcase what we do here in Lincolnshire inspectors have highlighted much good practice. This includes not just meeting people’s immediate care needs, but LCC’s focus on preventative healthcare and improving the quality of life of people living in Lincolnshire. They recognised our commitment to promoting people’s independence and encouraging them to develop their own skills, so they can maintain their independence and therefore have less need to call for formal care and support.

The CQC can see that we are taking issues of local inequalities and geographical challenges very seriously, with strategies in place to ensure all people in our communities have access to the care they need. It’s especially good that they highlight LCC’s workforce as committed to understanding people’s needs, reflected in what people told them. And our commitment to promoting people’s independence and the diverse range of services managed by a strong leadership team has also been recognised. Highways As ever, if you see anything which needs attention, please report it via https://www.fixmystreet.com or the LCC website at https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/faults-maintenance

Eligible people urged to get ‘winter strong’ and book covid-19 vaccinations before the deadline

Eligible people who wish to take up the offer of a covid-19 vaccination are being urged to do so whilst they still can before Friday 15 December.

GP practices and community pharmacies across Lincolnshire are continuing to offer both covid-19 and flu vaccinations. Appointments can either be booked direct with your GP practice or using the National Booking Service, or calling 119. For a list of the community pharmacies and a map showing their location, visit NHS Lincolnshire ICB’s 'grab a jab' webpage.

Rural business grant

The Rural Business Grant supports rural businesses to invest in sustainable growth. It’s part of the Government’s Levelling Up program and is administered by North Kesteven District Council. Applications are currently open – the minimum grant is £5,000 and match funding is required. If you think you – or someone you know – might benefit, you can find more details here: Rural England Prosperity Fund business grant | North Kesteven District Council (n-kesteven.gov.uk) Business advice And for business advice and assistance (for small or large businesses, rural or urban) see Business NK – North Kesteven | The place to invest | The place to grow and sign up to the free business NK newsletter.

Lincolnshire County Council also has a business advice service – see details at Business advice service – Lincolnshire County Council and there’s further help at the Business Lincolnshire website https://www.businesslincolnshire.com.

And finally… May I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!

Cllr IAN CARRINGTON

Potterhanworth & Coleby Division,

LCC Chairman,

Environment & Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee,

LCC Heighington, Washingborough & Canwick Ward,

NKDC Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Housing, NKDC

Email: cllri.carrington@lincolnshire.gov.uk

Email: cllr_ian_carrington@n-kesteven.gov.uk

Facebook: Councillor Ian Carrington

X (Formerly Twitter): @CllrCarrington