August 2019 Minutes
Deeping St James Parish Council
The Institute, 38 Church Street, Deeping St James, Peterborough PE6 8HD
E-mail: clerk.dsjpc@btconnect.com
Tel: 01778 343266
//parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/deepingstjames
Parish Clerk: Julie Fortnum
The minutes of the meeting of Deeping St James Parish Council held on Thursday 29 August 2019 at 7.30 pm at The Institute.
Present: Parish Councillors Blessett, Bowell, Dilks (District), Fox, Gilbert, Green, Hall, Halls, Hardy, Hosking, Kornfeld, Shinkins-Hoppe, Stevens (District), Thomas (District) and County Councillor Dobson.
The Minutes were taken by the Parish Clerk
Open Forum
Report from Lincolnshire County Councillor Councillor Dobson advised that he had driven around the Parish and confirmed that several potholes had been repaired including some of those on Linchfield Road and it was the intention of the County Council to return to do more. Repair of the potholes had been delayed as Wainfleet flood had been the priority recently with 72 homes being affected however new coastal defences were now in place. Councillor Hall asked Councillor Dobson to support him in requesting the County Council extend the 30MPH speed limit on Station Road and the Clerk was asked to send an email to Councillor Dobson with the details. Councillor Dilks also asked for Councillor Dobson’s support with agenda item 57.20 if the Parish Council resolves to support the proposal.
Reports from South Kesteven District Councillors Councillor Thomas advised that she had spoken to the relevant Officer at the District Council about organising a public event to explain recycling and requested that the Clerk adds the item to the next Events Committee agenda on 5 September 2019 to agree a date and a venue. Councillor Stevens had circulated a written report to all Councillors prior to the meeting from which she highlighted that culture and visitor economy meetings were taking place at alternative venues then the District Council and that it was the intention to move festivals activities taking place in current towns to other locations in the District. She also advised that the Big Clean team had completed work within the Parish recently.
Councillor Dilks mentioned the resignation of the Leader and a new Leader was to be named at a meeting on 2 September 2019. He also mentioned that the District Council Auditors report had recently been published and they had deferred the value for money sign off. Councillor Stevens advised that the District Councils Finance Officer had provided a full explanation of the current position which was secure and she had shared this within the report she had circulated prior to this meeting.
Councillor Dobson left the meeting.
49.20 To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies had been received and were accepted from Councillor Boreham.
50.20 To receive notifications of interest and consider requests for dispensations, if any.
Agenda item 54.20 - Councillor Dilks as he is member of South Kesteven District Council’s Development Control Committee.
51.20 To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 25 July 2019.
These were approved and signed after Councillor Kornfeld’s name was added to the list of Parish Councillor’s who had attended the Rose and Sweet pea Show.
52.20 Clerks Report
A letter was issued to both the Police and Crime Commissioner and The Chief Inspection of Lincolnshire Police about increasing crime figures and Policing levels in DSJ – awaiting replies.
The CPT have visited twice since the last meeting and continued work in the Cemetery (the groups have been small - 3 individuals including Supervisors on both occasions).
A road closure request has been sent to LCC Highways for Church Street on 10 November 2019 to allow a Remembrance Parade to take place in DSJ – confirmation has yet to be received.
A meeting has been arranged for a site inspection in respect of the installation of a replacement Springer at Jubilee Park and completion of repair work following the independent operational play equipment inspection.
The play- scheme held from 29 July 2019 to 9 August 2019 at Madcaps in Market Deeping Community Primary School was successful with positive feedback being received from a number of carers and discussions are already commencing about the scheme in Summer 2020.
Six teenagers cleared grass and washed headstones in the Cemetery on the morning of Thursday 15 August 2019 as part of the National Citizens Service.
There has been 1 interment of cremated remains and 1 burial in August 2019.
After advising them of the issues encountered on the annual footpath walks LCC Country side access have confirmed that letters have been sent to landowners advising of their responsibility to maintain access to public rights of way and repairs to bridges have been arranged.
53.20 To consider financial matters
1. To approve accounts for payment – It was proposed seconded and Resolved that payments totalling £7598.68 should be made
2. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the finance and general purposes committee held on Thursday 22 August 2019 - Councillor Bowell introduced the minutes of the meeting from which there were 6 recommendations.
It was recommended that the minute number 15.20 ‘To receive a report of matters arising from the minutes not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda’ from not just this committees future agendas but all other committees future agendas as it had been removed from the full council to avoid items being discussed and decisions made on items that were not on the agenda.
Resolved
Minute number 19.20 - It was recommended that the Council accept the strategic plan as a working document to be added to and amended over time. Resolved
Minute number 21.20 – It was recommended that the credit card limit should be increased from £250 to £500 (per transaction/per month) Resolved
Minute number 16.20 – It was recommended that the following proposals were approved
a) Further investigate setting up a council email address. Resolved
b) Further investigate setting up a secure shared drive to access parish council documentation. Resolved
c) Seek reassurance that each Councillor has a security application installed on their devices. It was agreed that this should return to the finance and general purposes committee to clarify the level of security required.
d) To lease/purchase a device for a Councillor to use who does not have access to their own device. It was agreed to amend this recommendation to further investigate this. Resolved
Minute number 24.20 – Councillor Bowell asked all members for assurance that they had read this minute and understood it.
54.20 To consider planning matters
1. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the planning committee held on Thursday 22 August 2019 – Councillor Blessett introduced the minutes of this meeting from which there were 2 recommendations S19/0443 It is recommended that the Council send the comments agreed at the planning and transport committee. It was Resolved that the following comments should be forwarded to the planning authority:
The proposal to place 76 dwellings on the eastern half of this development is an overdevelopment leading to the following constraints – In the original discussions with the parish council the developers promised to provide a parking space for each bedroom i.e. 2 parking spaces for 2-bedroom houses and so on.
This quantum of development does not allow for this and moreover constrains mostly tandem parking arrangements which are known to be problematic from other recent developments in the parish. This has resulted in chaotic on street parking, creating obstruction on important through routes and restricting access for emergency vehicles.
This number of dwellings also constrains the width of the proposed cycle paths running NE and SW to a mere 1.5m. The NS cycle path crosses the primary access to the development which has clear dangers. More-over the cycle path comes to a halt in the SE corner and no thought has been given to linking it up to existing cycle paths.
The proposed EW cycle / pedestrian footpath at a mere 2m wide would appear inadequate for such joint usage. Greater thought should be given to pedestrian access throughout the whole development.
A telegraph pole with ‘guide’ cables has now been located on the POS which reduces the size of what is already quite a small area.
There is nothing in the proposal whatsoever about the energy efficiency measures for example the use of solar panels, triple glazing and so on.
The ‘feature square’ in the centre of the development is a good idea but this particular proposal appears to be far too small to be of any relevance. Finally the construction of the eastern part of this development must surely have negative impact on the future construction of the western sector at a later date.
For all of these reasons the parish council would wish to object to the proposed development.’
Councillor Blessett referred to minute number 31.20 advising that he intends to look further at the cost of relocating the current bus shelters versus purchasing new ones and return with to the Council with options
2. To consider the following planning applications
S19/1443
Mrs Copland
Construction of a drop kerb
99 Horsegate DSJ
It was Resolved to approve this application with no comments
55.20 To receive and agree the Council’s response to correspondence received since the last meeting.
Interservefls
(Probation Service)
Confirmation that the community payback team will only be visiting once a month from Tuesday 13 August 2019 for the foreseeable future
Noted
Unity Trust Bank Changes to current account fees from 1 October 2019
Noted
Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal
Thank you for the donation to mark D Day which along with £62.47 raised from the sale of crosses £184.53 from the sale of pin badges and a donation from Market Deeping Town Council took the total to £347 – boosting the overall Appeal too over £20000 locally for the first time.
Noted
Peterborough Highway Services
Paperwork regarding the creation of the public footpath order
- Northborough - Welland Bridge
Noted
Resident Raising concerns about the problems experienced by the Deepings Youth Group and use of The Cross School
As the Parish Council are not directly responsible for the Deepings Youth Group and the Cross School it was agreed to obtain permission from the resident to forward his concerns to the owner of the building.
Resident Raising concerns about a tree within the Cemetery protected by a preservation order which is overhanging their boundary
Councillors Blessett and Dilks agreed to contact the resident and arrange to visit to assess the situation and report by to the Parish Council.
South Kesteven District Council street naming and numbering
The developers of the Springfield development off Linchfield Road have asked SKDC to approach the Parish Council for suggestions for street names as they are keen to allocate postal addresses to the site as soon as possible. At present four road names are required.
It was agreed to suggest that the streets should be named after former Doctors from the community – Heywood, Marshall, Lamb and Tweedie
56.20 To receive and consider minutes and recommendations of committees, reports from advisory committees, members reports from external bodies, members reports of meetings, seminars, training and events attended on the Council’s behalf:
1. The Raft Race event was held on Sunday 4 August 2019 on the River Welland and Bridge Street Deeping St James and High Street Market Deeping and was started by Councillor Gilbert and the gazebo was staffed by Councillors Blessett and Gilbert along with Sally Jackson and Henry Clark from the Northern Footpath group.
2. The Induction of the Revd. Mark Williams was held on Wednesday 7 August 2019 at The Priory Church Deeping St James and attended by Councillors Bowell, Gilbert, Hall, Halls, Hardy and Thomas.
3. Security update Woody Heights - Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe advised that quotations had been received for the work to install the concrete bases, secure cabinets and electricity supplies at Woody Heights and at Jubilee Park and the CCTV at Woody Heights and she was arranging meetings with all the relevant contractors to agree timescales for completion
4. The Allotment BBQ was held on 18 August 2019 at Hall Meadow Road allotment site and was attended by Councillors Bowell, Gilbert, Hall and Hardy
57.20 To consider campaigning for traffic calming or other suitable road safety measures on Church Street, Deeping St James
Councillor Dilks introduced this item and said that he had recently visited a local resident following a recent car accident which had damaged their property on Church Street. He proposed that the Parish Council contact LCC Highways requesting a meeting at the site to consider what road safety improvement options would be appropriate especially taking into account that a further six residential dwellings are being built near the accident site. Resolved
58.20 To obtain permission for the Chairman and Clerk to investigate, for clarification purposes, the ownership of and lease agreements relating to the land off Spalding Road/Linchfield Road which is currently used as the school field/sports playing field and incorporates the rugby club, bowling club and SKDC astro-turf
Councillor Gilbert introduced this proposal and requested permission to seek legal advice if required. Resolved.
He also advised that the District Council had invited the Parish Council County Council and the Deepings School Academy to a meeting on Monday 9 September 2019.
59.20 To consider the renewal of the Staysafe app and whether to include Securitas.
The Clerk advised that the annual renewal of the lone worker app and alarm was due on 28 September 2019 and that the application had not been used as regularly recently as it had been when it was first installed because the individuals registered to receive the hourly checkins and any alarms raised were not always compatible with the employees working hours. This could be overcome by including 24/7 remote security offered by Securitas in the contract. Councillor Hosking pointed out that the Parish Council does have a duty of care to its employees so some cover should continue. Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe proposed that this contract should be allowed to lapse and that the Staffing sub-committee should investigate options. Resolved
60.20 Parish pump – items for information or inclusion on future agendas.
Councillor Hardy mentioned that a new home needed to be found for the bags of salt provided by LCC Highways last winter which had temporarily been stored in the Priory Hall car park.
Councillor Green advised that he would be setting up the Parish Council’s Gazebo on Bridge Street for the Duck Race at 10am on Sunday 1 September 2019.
Councillor Hall asked the Clerk to write to County Councillor Dobson requesting his support in extending the 30MPH speed limit on Station Road.
Councillor Dilks advised that he along with Councillor Thomas had represented the Parish Council at the Funeral of the late Ray Auger former Parish and District Councillor.
Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe asked if the Clerk could contact the Environment Agency to ask if the reeds between the footbridge on Bridge Street and Low Locks could be cut back
Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe also mentioned that the recent NALC newsletter had advised that it was annual tree planting Day on 30 November 2019 (to mark the signing of the Charter for Trees Woods and People) and free trees were available from the Woodland Trust. It was agreed that an agenda item should be added to the events committee and allotments footpaths and open spaces committee agendas to agree what type of event to hold and the location for planting.
Meeting finished at 9.40pm