2019 Parish Council Meeting Documents

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on
8.00 pm on Thursday 16th May 2019 in Sedgebrook Social Club

Present: Chairman Gwynfor Preece of Sedgebrook Parish Council together with County Councillor Mark Whittington, Doctor Caroline Johnson MP, Councillor Richard Davies, Mrs J Bratton (Parish Clerk) and 24 members of the public.

1 Chairman’s Welcome – The Chairman was pleased to see a cross-section of the public present at the meeting.

2 Apologies: Apologies were received from PCSO Barbara Mooney, District Councillor Hannah Westropp, District Councillor Pamela Bosworth and Susan Ashby (Twinning Association).

3 To approve the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 10th May 2018 - The minutes were approved by the meeting.

4 Any Matters Arising from those minutes - none.

5 Chairman’s Report – The Parish Council have had a very busy year. Numerous planning applications were received from house extensions to the planned retail village at Gonerby Moor – the Parish Council had given the planning authority their concerns of more traffic using the village as a cut through from the A52 to the A1. A traffic survey had been completed and more than 2000 cars a day travelled through the village. The Parish Council now has its own speed radar gun and a team of volunteers trained to operate it. Cllr Gill Mahoney was thanked for her part in obtaining the substantial grant – there was a lot of hard work and time-consuming applications to obtain it. Along with monies, which were ring-fenced from the precept, most of the play equipment has been replaced (apart from the slide). The Parish Council plan to complete the renovation by replacing the goal post this year and would like to hear from the villagers what they would like the next project within the recreation field to be.
It was reported that in two or three years the tree on The Green will need replacing due to the drainage issues. The Parish Council will be asking what the village would like to be done ie replacing the tree with something similar or something different.
The Chairman thanked all the councillors for the extraordinary amount of time and effort which they have voluntarily given without which the council would cease to function. He thanked the Clerk for her knowledge of procedures and processes which the Councillors are required to follow. There are still two spaces available on the Parish Council for anyone wishing to make a positive difference to the village.

6 Councillor Richard Davies (Executive Councillor – Highways, Transport & IT) – responsible for the highways covering 5500 miles of road in Lincolnshire to maintain with only 40 miles which are dual carriageways which come under the responsibility of Highways England. 4000 emergency repairs were completed. In 2009, the funding for Lincolnshire County Council was £1.6 billion and now it is £900 M with ¾ of it being spent on the vulnerable and children. The money does not go far. Highways are moving from reactive road to a proactive road service. 100,000 potholes a year have been repaired. He explained that you get to a tipping point of a road in dire condition. A small amount of money is used on preventative repairs rather than repairing afterwards. There has been an increase in pothole repairs and resurfacing being completed. Tar and chip costs £2 a square metre which extends the life of a road by 7 – 10 years. He was aware of the pothole problem on Allington Road. Highways have already done recycled road repairs using new materials. They are also trying out putting white lines on the edges of roads so that cars do not go over the edge of the road. The Grantham Southern Relief Road is costing £82 M to build. The second phase begins linking the A1 across to Somerby Hill. The roundabout on Somerby Hill will have to be moved. Cllr Mahoney asked about the junction from Barrowby Road to the A1 south and the new bypass - she
was concerned about queues of traffic on the bridge and stopping the traffic flow from west to east on the A52. Cllr Davies explained that money they will receive from the developers of the new homes will be used to put in a roundabout. The A1/from Stamford to Newark is the most dangerous section of road. Most of the accidents actually relate to shunt accidents and not junctions. While the HS2 railway is being constructed it was pointed out that the traffic on the M1 will be diverted up the A1. Highways do not do active speed measures because of the noise if you live close-by. However, it was noted that speed cushions work well. Village gateway signage and also road paint markings are being piloted. A cyclist was concerned with the stones on the road and Cllr Davies stated that Highways were actually using recycled materials. They are doing first time fixes with hot box materials and, on the following year, it is surface dressed.

7 Report from Doctor Caroline Johnson MP – Most of MP’s time currently is spent on Brexit. Grantham Hospital – services had been withdrawn last year due to a lack of Doctors. Dr Caroline Johnson MP gave the good news that the services will be reinstated to a 24-hour service very soon. A consultation period is required. It will be an Urgent Treatment Centre rather than an A & E as the terms of reference are out-dated. It will give a slightly different service but, for the most part, it isn’t going to have an effect on the patient. In fact, it should improve life, patient care over day and night. Grantham’s ambulance service last year was not performing as it needed to. They have been trying to get ambulance crews out of the hospital and back onto the road and this year it has worked.

Concern was raised with the new ring road and increased population. The MP stated that there is a national shortage of doctors in some services. The salary of doctors is exactly the same in Lincolnshire or Hertfordshire. Normally doctors continue to practice in the places where they have trained. There is a new medical school for 95 students at Lincoln – it takes 5 years to train a Doctor. With regards to the two new shopping developments, these are private sectors and the MP has received neither positive or negative correspondence relating to these centres – it is up to the District Council and the Planning authority. A resident was concerned about the NHS direct line and the advice given to call out an ambulance. The resident was asked to write to the MP direct and put exactly what was put into the online service and she will then write to the people who write the protocols. Parking at the hospital is a huge issue and parking charges have been removed at the moment. Any problems if receipts weren’t kept and charges made, parishioners were requested to send in copy receipts to the MP if they have paid and she will deal with it on their behalf. With the difficulty in obtaining appointments with doctors with more people requiring to be seen, there are new online services available through the NHS. Doctors are managing the issue in different ways so that you can speak with a Doctor via a phone that same day. The MP said that if anyone had any problems with the “111” service or doctors, to write to her. The County Councillor Mark Whittington reported that Nurse Practitioners are highly trained nurses and are taking the pressure from doctors. Pharmacists will give advice on taking prescription drugs to save a visit to the doctor.

8 County Councillor Mark Whittington – his report from last year detailed the financial pressures the County Council faces. The Spending Review is on-going and early in the autumn we will get an indication of the available amount for the next few years and hope to obtain a new arrangement for a fairer share of funding for Lincolnshire. In 2010, adult social care took 40% of the total council bill – this has now increased to 65% as there are more elderly needing care and children who are needing extensive packages of care. The new “blue light” central control building in South Park Lincoln is nearing completion which will bring together the emergency services who will share a common control room.

Climate change – there is a carbon nitrate plan and by 2030 the council will reduce the emissions by 2/3rds in the business of District councils. The new council was elected on the 2 May 2019: of the 56 Councillors, 40 are Conservative, 11 are Independent, 3 are Labour and 2 are Liberals.

9 District Council Report – on behalf of the District Councillors, the County Councillor gave a report - the Local Plan for development and housing - South Kesteven are going to build 625 new housing a year across the whole of South Kesteven between now and 2036. South Kesteven are looking at building/refurbishing four leisure centres in the area with Grantham’s Leisure Centre to be refurbished. There is a need to build more social housing.

The Vice Chairman brought up the issue with the planning system whereby the infrastructure is put in place following the actual developments. The MP stated that in the government’s review more houses are required as the supply and demand is going through the roof. The review will look at the best way to build the right houses in the right places. There is a need to make sure the contracts are water-tight initially, so the developments need to be well thought out. You need the services and need smaller houses and to curb the executive houses. The government also demand making affordable housing as well. Need to plan – if the demand is there for family houses then we must build more family houses. The MP would like to see private plots being purchased within a large development so that the houses do not look the same. The “services” need looking at together with schools and how they are going to expand ie need to look at how many children will require spaces. There will be 14 000 new houses in Grantham so the population will be predictable, and the District Council are looking at the Local Plan which will be looking ahead to 2036 and will identify the main areas where development should take place and those areas which need to be protected from change – it is now at the consultation stage.

10 Short Reports from village organisations and Invitation to the public to raise any matters of interest

10.1 Twinning Association – a Facebook page has been started to enable the two villages to communicate with each other, post pictures, articles etc and parishioners are welcome to join. Tuffé have several families who are interested in an exchange and they could host up to 30 people if we visited. They are looking to visit us from Wednesday 20 May to Sunday 24 May 2020. The Twinning Association are trying to gauge how many visitors they could accommodate. If anyone could be a host or know of anyone who would be interested, please contact the Association.

10.2 Play Area/Community Speed Watch – Councillor Gill Mahoney

10.2.1 Cllr Gill Mahoney reported on the new improved play area – a grant of £18536.75 had been received from WREN. The Parish Council contributed £9000 of which £3000 was from Allington & Sedgebrook Pre-School which had closed. £300 was received from Grantham Rotary through the Swimarathon which gave the total cost of £27536.75. Lady Caroline “opened” the new play area last October and refreshments were served at the Social Club

10.2.2 Sedgebrook is now part of Lincolnshire Road Safety partnership. Extra 30 mph signs are displayed on posts and 30 mph stickers on refuse bins. A trained group of villagers have a rota to man the Community Speed Watch stations around the village. The aim is to educate drivers to keep within the speed limit. The group are attending a further course on the 28th June.

10.3 Golden Jubilee Committee (Sam Wade) – the Committee intend to retain a balance of £1500 left over from the fund which was raised on the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. The current balance is £1430.78. They have ring-fenced a small amount money within the current balance from the toddler group which closed in 2007 – this is available should somebody wish to start the group up again. Further money has been ring-fenced (not included in the £1430.78) which was donated from Tracey Cullington in memory of her late husband Tim towards the Christmas Tree Fund; new lights had also been donated from the Green family for the tree. The tree is now self-funding (from donations and egg sales at the Old Grammar School) until the young trees being grown in the wood at Abbey Farm have grown tall enough. The Golden Jubilee Committee have purchased a new flag for the village. The Committee are working with the Parochial Church Council to hold a Barn Dance on Saturday 15th June in aid of St Laurence Church with a Ceilidh band and hog roast. Sam Wade thanked those on the Parish Council, Parochial Church Council, Social Club Committee and especially the out-going Chairman of the Parish Council – both Gwyn and Kate Preece have both been actively involved with village life since they first moved here.

10.4 Concern was raised from a villager about dogs who were fouling the area close to the play equipment – it was noted that Allington have a fence with a small access space where the dogs are being tied up. The Chairman explained the matter had been on the agenda of the last Parish Council Meeting. Thanks were also expressed from the villager for the hard work of the Parish Council in obtaining the play equipment.

10.5 A resident expressed concern about the A52 access, the speed and various road issues.

10.6 Leanne Barr, Head Teacher of Allington with Sedgebrook Primary School – after a poll, 100% of the children said they were happy, safe and looked after at the school. There is a low turn-over of school staff. The children have excelled in gymnastics - 65% of the school children take part. Music has improved over the past 6 months – the children are learning to read music and play the recorder. The School Council have supported The British Legion this year – last year it was the Alzheimer’s Society. The children are going to experience what it is like to be homeless and one evening they will be staying put outside until 7.30 pm with cardboard and sleeping bags. Grantham Passage will be giving them a talk – the experience will enable the children to become socially aware. The school has an Eco-Committee and there is a School Development Plan to stop using any single use plastic. Money has been raised for i-Pads and computer equipment. The school has been supported by The Thorold Trust, so the children now have more library books. One of the highlights in the school calendar is the annual pilgrimage from Allington to Sedgebrook Church at Easter – the children are made very welcome there. There is an intake of 16 pupils per year and currently 18 pupils from Sedgebrook attend the school; most children who apply for places are being accepted into the school within the local community.

10.7 The Reverend Harriet Orridge (St Lawrence Church) – The Reverend Orridge thanked the parishioners for their help and support for the church - the church clock winders and bell chimers, flower arrangers, and those who look after the church linen and brass. Organist Bob Tuffnell and Reader Janet Rogers give so much time to maintain services on a voluntary basis. Jenny Stuart has now been licensed into the Lincoln Diocese. The church has been open daily from 10 am to 4 pm. The church has to have an official check on the building every 5 years. The cemetery is almost full, and it is now being extended. The church is hosting the 200 club this year which will help with the running costs. They are sourcing grants to install a disabled toilet and kitchen servery and, at the same time, will cover the interior of the church during spring to autumn when the bats create a problem. Afternoon teas raised over £200 for the Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Support. This year Dove Cottage Hospice is being supported. A village museum in the Markham Chapel is
to be officially opened on Sunday 11th August. A Scarecrow Festival will be held on the 14th and 15th September as part of the Lincolnshire Heritage Weekend.

10.8 Shaun McBride – Social Club Chairman – there have been a lot of changes to the Social Club and the look of the club. The Committee have worked hard on the fabric of the building with much more community involvement. There have been Gin tasting nights and there is a new barbecue. You do not have to be a member to come to the Club. They no longer employ bar staff – the Committee share a rota. The club is open on a Friday night, Sunday lunch and also on a Monday night. There are 67 paid up members and they would welcome more people to the Club. Alan Cook gave details of the activities in the Social Club: Monday: Rainbows/Brownies, Tuesdays: Heidi’s exercise night, Wednesdays: Pilates (with Alice Tranningham), Thursdays: Line dancing and Fridays: Bar open. The Committee are refurbishing the toilets and sorting out disabled facilities. They are also looking at a new kitchen server area.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their time and closed the meeting at 8.55 pm and this was followed by cheese and wine.