Annual Parish Meetings

DRAFT: Minutes of Carlby Village Annual Parish Meeting held on Tuesday, 26 April 2022 at 19:00

in Carlby Village Hall.

In Attendance: Cllr. John Bavister(chairman), Cllrs. Ben Haines, Pete Holland, Ian Dair, Angela Cardew and Sue Robinson, 18 members of the community and Sarah Gresty(Clerk)

Apologies from County Cllr. Charlotte Vernon

Agenda

Cllr. John Bavister (JB), chaired the meeting. welcomed everyone to this open forum annual parish meeting.

1.Reports were read:

a) The Chairman of the Parish Council. Chairs report One Year On… in a year of the Parish Council activities 26th April 2022, Q & A to follow.

PC remote meetings have been stopped and Cllrs have to legally revert back to collective face to face meetings, yet Covid is still lurking so individuals have to make their own decisions on distancing and appropriate safety precautions.

The Glen Ward now has Cllr Penny Robins residing in Corby Glen who was elected following the resignation of Chris Benn. Penny has been to several meetings and is getting to know the council and has taken up a couple of issues to help these to closure. I will come back to these in the report.

The Colsterworth Rural Ward now has Cllr Charlotte Vernon residing in Castle Bytham who was elected due to the loss of Bob Adams who sadly passed away.  This ward has a tremendous number of Parish Councils within, so a heavy work load is in Charlotte’s perspective. We will be firm yet flexible and tolerate in any of our demands placed at her door if County input is required.

The Council has a transparent rolling three-year financial perspective which drives the precept demand, the increased this year from its stable value for the past 4 years is, according to the calculation by SKDC and stated on my Council tax bill band F is 5.6%

The Lincolnshire Carlby web site a year on and fully acquainted by the clerk Sarah, I had a go and it is not the easiest platform to insert information into. Sarah now has this under control thanks very much for this.

The Councils annual targets are continued to be reviewed and followed the updated list can be found on the web site. This year has seen several actions completed or moved forward.

Liz King joined the council bringing the PC to full allocation of 7 seats, sadly she moved out of the village and again we have a seat to fill, which has been fully advertised yet no firm interest todate.

Immense thanks go to Steve Markham a previous Cllr who continues to manage the reactive speed sign and report on the Defibrillator bi monthly. Has replaced parts that are beyond their use by date. The contact pads and battery.

A mobile post office linked to Morton PO now comes to Carlby Village Hall every Friday afternoon. (thanks to the clerk) Started as a trial and continues to such a time it is not used sufficiently enough.

A village biodiversity group has been active and planting trees and rewilding in suitable locations

Poppies have been displayed each year around the village during the remembrance period and thanks this year goes to Elaine and Richard for taking over from Paul Beard who has left the village.

The clerk being neutral was asked to oversee the poll with regard to the dirt cycle track proposed for the playing field, this was a resounding yes more detail reported by the playing field.

Now have a TPO on the False Acacia tree opposite village hall.  Thanks to Ian Dair in arranging this.

Litter Bins in the Village. The PC requested 3 bins to be purchased by the Parish for the replacement of the villages old and small litter bins, this took place last April. The request was rejected and further requests and chasing up was ignored by SKDC. Cllr Robins has made a considerable amount of effort pursuing our rejected and continued requests for the replacement Bins. One year on if these Bins (ever arrive) will be SKDC logoed, be larger and more suitable for the collection of dog waste.

Cllr Robins has also followed up on behalf of Carlby’s planning enforcement request in helping get the ridiculous high fencing reduced that was placed around the two new bungalows at the corner of High St and The Avenue contrary to planning permission.

An interest in the unique Ragstone Walling in Carlby led a suggestion that the remaining properties, that are not Nationally listed, to make up the heritage of the farming past of Carlby. Which could be recognised by Heritage Lincolnshire organisation. With the objective to having these buildings and stone walls as a material planning consideration in any future applications. Several incumbent occupiers were not comfortable with any reference to listing which was miss construed somewhat, a meeting was called to clarify and learn from the Heritage Lincolnshire representative. Following the meeting’s discussions, the PC have reassessed its posture, to re-emphasise the importance of the recognition of these assets to the legacy of the Village in identifying these walls and properties as Material Considerations within the Village Design Statement and Neighbourhood Plan     

The PC once again approached Persimmon Homes with regard to acquiring the grassed land close to the village hall (the POS) in and around the Templeman Drive estate. We had previous stumbled, failed communications with them in 2010 and 2014 all ending in a potential large cost to the PC due to complications around the titles of the land, particularly at the northern end of Templeman. In our latest contact it was found that Persimmon have a new generation of directors that favour actively removing their ownership of left-over land (POS) within housing estates that they construct.

As they are bound to its maintenance in perpetuity, Persimmon Homes were keen to move this on and out of their ownership. It has been proposed to take over all these parcels of land, having given great thought to the implications of gain over ongoing incurred costs to the Parish.

It has now been resolved that the PC will take over this responsibility on the agreement that Persimmon Homes pay our solicitors costs and grant a reasonable maintenance value upon completion of the transfer. At the decree of the PC a management plan for maintenance of the adopted areas will be formed. All interested villagers will be invited to participate. The land titles will be formally registered via the Commons Act 2006 Section 15 within Lincolnshire County Council.

The Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations planning and sign off follows this Parish Meeting, where agreement and sign off will allow the PC to budget for the costs required to support the activities over the 4 days being the 2nd to 5th June. A resolution to grant the requested cost proposals will be taken at the 3rd May meeting.

Proposed Mallard Pass PV farm Carlby PC have made comments and have met with the Rutland MP at her Essendine called meeting (who by the way will become our MP in May due to boundary change). To be able to make comments to the Inspectors who will overview the applications validity you must register as an individual as no considerations will be given to Group, Party, District, County or Parish collective input. That is not to say the effort collated so far has not had an effect.

The defining activity of the PC is to focus on making sure as may individuals register and have an input to the PINS and the official consultation process as possible.

Its no-good complaining if you are not prepared to make an individual representation, nobody can do it for you.

I open up the report for questions before we go to the other village annual reports and on to villager general concerns that can influence the coming year of PC involvement. Read by Cllr. John Bavister. 

a)Steve Markham questioned the new boundaries.  Response: This is being undertaken by SKDC/Rutland County Council to redistributed the areas the MP’s have to administer.   Yet to be confirmed.

b)Pauline Crampin asked for confirmation of the land involved in the Persimmon land transfer.

c)Amanda Pearson asked when the new bins would be installed, especially outside the village hall.  Response: JB confirmed although this has taken a long time to negotiate with SKDC.  The Parish Council are now in a position to place an order to purchase 3 new larger bins, that SKDC will still empty, which will also have the SKDC council logo on them.   This is being resolved upon at 3 May Parish Council meeting. 

b)  Village Hall report.  After the Covid restrictions and lockdowns of the past 2 years, I am pleased to report that all regular groups are back in the hall, with additional Pilates classes now taking place on Monday mornings. One-off event hirings have returned notably the children’s parties with bouncy castles! Since being reinstated from September 2021, our monthly themed pub/quiz nights are still proving popular and it does feel as if we can finally enjoy a sense of normality returning.

As always, repairs and refurbishments of the hall are an ongoing responsibility of the committee and we made good use of the time whilst the hall was closed. In addition to the improvements we carried out last year,

refurbishments and repairs were also carried out in the storeroom and front porch apex boarding.

Looking ahead to 2022, future projects include increasing the loft insulation, replacing neon lighting to LED’s and repairing the extractor fans in the main hall.

We feel sure all groups and hirers will appreciate and benefit from these improvements and I would like to say a big Thank You to our Treasurer, David Nelson for all his hard work on these projects. Thanks also to David Burke for sourcing some replacement chairs and for reducing the accumulated jumble in the back storeroom. 

Platinum pub night. Royal quiz.   Long term agreement for wi fi mobile router. 

Vote of thanks to the village hall committee. Read by Stephen Pearson.

c) Carlby and District WI   The last year has had some ups and downs but the Committee has kept it all together and we have had a good year on the whole.

Our AGM was held on Zoom last year (due to covid, for the record).  Liz McIntosh, the Chair of Lincs South WI, attended and we had a quiz on county towns. Liz congratulated us on being one of the stronger Wi’s, which was heartening.

The May meeting was virtual and Catherine Johnson, one of the Trustees of the charity in Bourne, ‘Don’t Lose Hope’, gave a talk outlining their counselling work, garden, Men’s Shed and gift shop, which was very interesting and inspiring.

June saw another meeting on Zoom when Sue Barton gave a talk titled ‘Looking Good with Colour’,

July was the joint meeting with Witham-on the-Hill and Steve Seabrook, a retired police officer, gave a talk on finding missing persons. Mispers.

August Sue Stevenson gave us a talk on Zoom It was a trip down Memory Lane to a 1950’s childhood, titled ‘Daisies, Dick and the Family Pig’.

September we had an Indian Cooking demonstration by Veronica Hewins, again on Zoom

October saw a return to actual meetings in Carlby Village Hall and the meeting was well attended. Don McGarrigle gave an entertaining talk on their experience of going on the television quiz show ‘Pointless’

In November Sue Hix from Castle Bytham gave a demonstration on preserving lemons to make Christmas gifts.

December meeting should have been our 50th Birthday party and Christmas meal but decision was made to postpone this until March, we got together on Zoom with our Xmas jumpers and a glass of something to wish each other Season’s Greetings.

No meeting in January and in February Jo Gresty came to give us a well attended talk on how to restore an upland peat bog and why it is important to do this.

Finally in March we had our 50th Birthday Party. This was a real success, we all wore our glad rags, the hall looked lovely and the food was amazing. Jennifer Gralka cut the huge cake that Margaret Hawkins made and decorated and talked a little about the inception of our WI 50 years ago.

Somewhere in all that an afternoon tea was held which raised £260 for breast cancer research, which was fantastic. By Sarah Cardew-Secretary.   Read by Clerk.

d) Carlby Playing Fields Committee.  We have had a productive year and are delighted with the improvements we have been able to make to the playing field.

The bike track went from an idea to reality over the last year. Thanks to the parish council for supporting resident votes and providing an independent process to determine if we should go ahead with this project. Also thanks to all those who volunteered to help build the track. It is great to see it being well used and enjoyed by the community and whilst there is some further work on landscaping and signage, it is good to see it operational.

The other major project over the last 12 months was the fundraising for new play equipment. We managed to raise about £4,000 from the crowdfunding in conjunction with Calor Gas and this result meant we were awarded a further £5,000 from Calor as one of the winners in their East Midlands region. In addition, we were successful in obtaining a £5,000 grant from South Kesteven Community Fund and £1,000 from Persimmon Homes. Thanks to Ben Haines & Mike Williams for referring us to these schemes. As part of this project Carlby Playing Field Committee registered for VAT from 1st September 2021. The fund raising, grants, VAT rebate and existing funds enabled us to negotiate for 2 pieces of new play equipment, the original combined climbing / slide unit and a large climbing unit. The total cost (exc VAT) was £18,800 for the equipment and installation. We would like to extend our thanks to the bowls club for the use of their facilities to avoid additional installation costs, especially Roger Shead who kindly opened & closed up the bowls club facilities every day. Since installation at the end of March, the equipment has been well used and received many positive comments. An invite was sent to all crowdfunding donors to a thank you event on Easter Monday. We think these two pieces of equipment finish the playing area and should last for many years.

Following feedback from residents we also removed the boulders from the entrance and replaced with a yew hedge. The boulders were breaking up with sharp edges being created and the hedge is better looking and provides a habitat for wildlife.

We would like to thank Steve Markham for donating a large bench / table to the playing field, it is already getting well used along with the existing picnic bench.

It is good to see the trees we planted coming into blossom this spring and we look forward to these creating shade & fruit in the years to come.

There will be minimal development to the playing field this year due to the funds required to deliver the new play equipment. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the developments made over the last couple of years. By Phil Norman.  Read by Angela Cardew.

e) Carlby Gardeners   Despite Covid restrictions being relaxed, the gardening group has not reinstated its meetings as some members of the group are still not comfortable meeting up. Therefore, it is difficult to predict if the group will continue as meetings usually take place in members’ homes or may be relaunched as a new group. Read by Amanda Pearson.

f) St. Stephen’s Church. 

• Serving the community by continuing church services on zoom and in church when allowed during pandemic. This included Baptisms, Funerals and confirmation lessons and Jam Club
• Because of Covid no fund raising activities achieved, running cost carried by generous congregation.
• Using bequested money we reroofed the leaking north slate and south collyweston aisles.
• Refurbished the cremation memorial plot by 2 volunteers, at own expense and  bench on the north boundary of the church yard.
• Planted more spring bulbs by village volunteers.
• Installed up to date IT systems from church funds.
• Regular grass cutting carried out funded by the Parish,
• wild flower borders planned some trees cut back and gravel path enhanced by village volunteers.
• Tree maintenance and survey done in church yard work required on 2 lime trees by gates.
• Tree planting round the village.
• Continue to negotiate with Peterborough DAC for water connection and WC facilities for last 4years. 
• Thanks Parish Council for the grant, although this did not cover the costs of the grass cutting, went towards these costs. Read by Pauline Crampin

Other Items Discussed  

1. Grants included in the Parish Council precept.  The Playing Fields have received their grant for 2022/23 which is part of a 3 year agreement.   Other grants will be received in November 2022.   Grants are governed by Section 137(f)(a) of the local Government Action 1972 for parishes in England for 2022-23 at £8.82 per electorate.
2. Hugh Nunn said “Carlby have a Grade 1 Parish Church and a fantastic Village hall but a Grade 10 leaning bus shelter.  Giving an poor impression on the village from the users of the main road.   Proposed that the Parish Council research replacement of the 2 bus shelters to improve looks and pride.   Response:  Parish Council would add this to their targets for the coming year  To be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting on 3 May 2022.
3. A member of the public.   Addressed problems of signage within the village especially at Templeman and Fenton Drive.  Also the B1176 crossroads The Give Way signs are missing.    Response:  CPC clerk to contact LCC highways.
4. Steve Markham also added that hedge rows are obscuring road signs.     Response:  Fix my street was explained and encourage to be used by all noticing any highways or other issues.
5. A member of the public mentioned the Footbridge crossing the River Glen between Carlby and Essendine.   Response:  Clerk would report this to RCC and SKDC as it was thought this might be a council boarder.

Meeting closed at 20:07