2022 Annual Parish Meeting

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF SUDBROOKE, HELD ON  THURSDAY 7 APRIL 2022 IN THE VILLAGE HALL, SUDBROOKE

PRESENT: Councillor Peter Heath (Chairman), Christine Myers (Clerk) Bridget Solly (Treasurer), 7 residents, County Councillor Sue Rawlins, District Councillor Bob Waller

1   APPROVAL OF THE NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 7TH APRIL 2022 TO BE  SIGNED AS MINUTES

That the notes be signed as minutes proposed by Councillor Tracey Bowman, seconded by Peter Heath.

2   CHAIRMANS REPORT

The past year has been demanding for the Parish Council. The government removed the permission for Zoom meetings which caused us concern if we were to do our jobs and administer the Parish. The need for social distancing meant our meetings had to be carefully arranged to observe the still in place government guidelines.

Our village faced a new threat in December when an email arrived from the LCC Highways department stating that a consultation was to be held about creating a "quiet way for pedestrians and cyclists" on Church Lane by banning motor vehicles. The notice period was very short and the period for responses only 3 weeks in the run-up to Christmas. The effect of this closure on the village would have been very damaging for the community as the road is a vital link between our village and Nettleham services, i.e. Doctors, Pharmacy, restaurants etc. Our community was galvanised into action with the report widely circulated by Sudbrooke News, a team of residents conducted a petition which was enjoined with the equally concerned resident of Scothern. A total of over 700 signatures were collected and submitted to the Highways department. We were joined by individual residents emailing to oppose this proposal and even our local MP Sir Edward Leigh weighed in with support for the village. It was with some relief that the proposal was withdrawn.

The new Parklands Development proceeds at speed with sales of houses doing well. We try to meet with the development manager to liaise on elements that may affect the village, and have been pleased that some of our councillors are residents in the park. Our deputy Chairman, Cllr. Bob Waller stood down as a parish Councillor having moved out of the village, He still attends our meetings as our elected representative for West Lindsey District Council. Cllr Tracey Bowman has been elected as our new vice Chair bringing with her wealth of experience and enthusiasm.

The current world situation of the war in Ukraine, and the current rapid spread of the Covid variant will bring their own problems for the coming year. Your council is working for you and will do its best as always.

3   Clerks Report

Some normality has now returned for Parish Councils with face to face meetings being allowed from last July.

We have said Goodbye to some retiring Councillors over the last year and welcomed new ones, there not being any problems with recruiting new members in Sudbrooke such as many parishes experience.

Sudbrooke has benefitted from Litter Picks being organised by Chris Chapman, a resident of the village.

The play equipment has continued to be maintained by Ed Morton and although it has been in use for some time the continual maintenance is extending its life. We have been fortunate to receive a grant of £1,000 from the IGas Community fund for the refurbishment of the climbing tower at the village hall site.

The parish website is now managed by the Website Manager appointed by LALC and is a mine of information. Organisations in the village are encouraged to enter some detail – it is a good source of advertising and encouraging new members.

Two seats have been replaced in the village, one being the memorial seat in Northfield Park. It is now becoming customary to replace seats with ones made from recycled materials thus cutting down the maintenance costs of having to have them treated regularly.

The Parish Council has commented on 15 planning applications throughout the year.

4   TREASURERS REPORT

The Parish Council received a Precept (Budget) of £27,640.00. The Council now pay all invoices via BACS – this has ensured that all invoices have been paid in a timely manner over the past year and has ensured that in times of lockdown / Covid payments have been made without the need for cheques to be raised and paperwork to be passed between Councillors.  All payments have been agreed by members of the Council as per our Standing orders and financial regulations.

This year the Council spent just over £7,000 on grass cutting and received a contribution of £1,523 from the County Council.

The Council spent £3,466 on printing and preparing Sudbrooke News with £731 generated in advertising revenue. As in previous years, the Council recognises the importance of the Sudbrooke News and continues to support it financially.

A full copy of the accounts will be available to members of the public in due course as per instructions from the External Auditors.
The Council have lived within their budget this year.

5   REPORTS BY LOCAL COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

A   County Councillor Sue Rawlins

With the arrival of springtime the restrictions and pressures of the Covid pandemic are easing but the challenges left behind will continue for some time. Residents and the County Council will be feeling the burden of additional cost pressures particularly arising from energy prices. The Council has already seen increasing costs and demands for its services over the last decade with a reduction in the Council’s main government grant. The Council continues to lobby the Government that rural authorities like ours have higher costs of delivering services and need a larger share of overall funding.

For the current financial year, the Council will use £2.3 million from its reserves and £3.5 million extra received from business rates and the increased council tax base, together with the additional
£6.4 million from the 2% council tax increase in addition to the 3% council tax increase entirely for adult social care. The Council will spend over £500 million on its services including £200 million for adult social care. The current White Paper on the funding of adult social care will also pose further challenges for local authorities, an area which the officers and members of the Council are currently reviewing.

A major flood and drainage scheme in Scothern will commence shortly. This will bring much needed long-term benefits to the Scothern village but will involve traffic disruption between Sudbrooke and Scothern over the next several months. I would like in advance to thank everyone for their patience during the duration of the scheme.

Footpath maintenance is currently underway in Sudbrooke and the scheduled works will proceed over the coming weeks.

The consultation regarding the closure of Sudbrooke Road to Nettleham to vehicles saw many hundreds of responses to the Council from residents with the result that the proposal will not go ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who attended the local parish meeting, organised the petition and sent in their responses to achieve this outcome.
Following the recent life changing events in Ukraine, Trustees at Lincolnshire Community Foundation felt it only right to launch an appeal to support refugees arriving in Greater Lincolnshire. Money raised will be used to provide essential items, not already covered by national or local government.

We can look forward to a summer of celebrations both locally and nationally for the Queen’s
Platinum Jubilee to honour her long service to our country.

B   District Councillor Bob Waller

It has been a busy year that had been compounded by Covid, resulting in compromise and many meetings being held electronically.

However I believe the service offered by WLDC has been good with all essential services being delivered to the benefit of residents.

As the Ward member of Sudbrooke I have continued to serve on the following additional committees:-

Vice Chair of the Planning Committee
The LCC Pensions Committee. As the only District Councillor on the committee, I attend all meetings as a full voting member and then produce a detailed report for the CEO of WLDC who then distributes it to all District CEO’s in the county.

•   A member of the Central Lincolnshire Local plan Joint Strategic Committee
•   A member of Corporate Police and Resource Committee
•   Standards Committee
•   Lincolnshire Show Committee
•   Transport Working Group
•   Lincoln Flood Management and Emergency Committee
•   Armed Forces Champion for WLDC working to ensure the military covenant for serving personnel and veterans is supported.

I also try to attend Parish Council meetings at Sudbrooke and Scothern and give reports accordingly and also submit articles for both Scothern and Sudbrooke parish magazines.

I shall not be standing for re-election next year.

6   LOCAL ORGANISATION REPORTS

A   Sudbrooke Walking Group – Report submitted by Mike Halliday

We resumed our regular monthly country walks in June last year after a long break following Covid guidance.

We have a core membership of around 12 regular walkers which makes for a viable group size as an obvious attraction is the opportunity to catch up and chat with other members as the miles slip by.

We have a large library of walks varying in distance between 6 and 8 miles and try to add new walks of our own design or borrowed from elsewhere. Members can volunteer to lead a walk if they wish.

Some walks offer splendid views and others may have a historical or military interest.

The walking group was formed in 2007 and is run on informal lines with no rules other than common sense and no subscriptions to pay.

We did our customary coastal walk and this year it started from Sutton on Sea but otherwise our walks can be anywhere from the Wolds to the Trent valley.

We use Sudbrooke News, the parish website and e mail to communicate with members and we meet on the first Saturday of every month at the village hall at 9-30am.

Where travel is necessary members use their own cars. Everyone is welcome to join in these walks.

B   Sudbrooke Village Hall Management Committee - Mrs Gill Rignall

The village hall has remained open subject to Covid rules.

In addition to Preschool regular use by Pilates, kickboxing, coffee club and the quiz has resumed. Private bookings for parties continue to increase. Payment can now be made by bank transfer.

The licensed bar remains an asset. It now stocks real ale from Ferry Ales Brewery. A card reader has been successfully introduced.

Mrs Lindsay Hill was re-elected chair for 2022/23. Councillor Bowman has been welcomed as a Trustee and Parish Council representative and Mr Stuart Hewson is now Treasurer.

Committee members have carried out various maintenance tasks. The front door and folding partition have been replaced.

The sewage disposal system used because of the lack of mains drainage continues to need extensive maintenance and replacement of parts.

Thanks to Business Interruption Grants and good stewardship the hall is in a healthy financial position. The next big expense will be the planned replacement of the heating system.

Since several village organisations have folded the Committee is lacking representative members which increases the workload for the existing members.

A resident very generously upgraded the CCTV and we hope this will deter criminal damage.

An ongoing problem is the abuse of wheelie bins by hall users and residents. Users are informed of how to dispose of rubbish correctly but still contaminate the recycling bins. If a fine results this expense will have to be passed to users. Litter is an ongoing problem in spite of the proximity of the bins.

C   Report from Nick Cornwell-Smith, Group Scout Leader

25th Lincoln (Scothern) Scout Group 2021/22 - Nick.cornwell-smith@lincolnscouts.org.uk

This last year has been overshadowed by COVID-19. During the summer term 2020 all threes section continued to run online Zoom meetings, with the majority of members keeping in touch. We managed to hold a face-to-face meeting at the Sudbrooke Campsite just before the summer holidays.

We returned to face-to-face meetings in September 2021 for all three sections. However due to Akela (Paul M) retiring from Scouting in 2020 we are now operating with fewer adult leaders. In recognition of his service Paul was presented with a weather station for his garden. He was also presented with the Scout Association’s Award of Merit for his long service with the Welton and Scothern groups. Kestrel was also awarded the Award of Merit for her leadership of the Beaver Colony during the pandemic.

With Akela’s departure, we were left in the position of not having any Cub or Scout Section Leaders, resulting in myself running both sections as well as fulfilling my main role of Group Scout Leader. Since the summer holidays, the situation has got slightly better with Laura (Robin) joining us as an Assistant Beaver Scout Leader, and Edward (Kingfisher) becoming an adult and a Section Assistant. Jamie has returned from Uni to come along to help at Cubs and Scouts, supporting myself, Dave (Badger) and Olivia at these meetings.

As we moved in to the 2022 scouting year we returned to some normality with face-to-face meetings but keeping a weather eye on COVID and adjusting our programme and meetings as necessary. Eight Scouts attended a Sleepover in the National Space Centre in Leicester in February and enjoyed a fascinating time looking around the exhibits and learning about space exploration.

Some of our Scouts will be participating in the International Poacher Camp to be held this summer at the Lincolnshire Showground. Beavers and Cubs will be attending for a day’s activities.

Financially we are in a reasonable position and have been able to meet all costs though are reserves have been reduced somewhat. The Executive Committee always considers fund raising, the level of termly fees, and other financial issues to ensure that the Group remains financially viable.

As mentioned previously we still need further adult support who would be willing to take on some form of planning role both with the Sections and/or the Executive Committee.

I have reluctantly taken the decision to step down as Cub and Scout Leader from the end of March 2022. This means that I will no longer be involved in planning and running weekly Cub and Scout meetings. We are therefore in urgent need for new members to join the team to keep both  sections running for the future. So if there is anyone willing and able to be part of that team please contact me as soon as possible to discuss options. I will be continuing as the Group Scout Leader, providing overall management to all three sections.

On behalf of the Group, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Executive Committee and my fellow Leaders/Young Leaders for their support and help in these difficult times. Also, a thank you to all parents for their support and understanding.

D   Sudbrooke Coffee Club – Mrs Gill Rignall

Three people have resurrected the Coffee Club which is held on the second Friday of each month. It is an enjoyable morning and usually a raffle is held.

E   Model Railway Club – Mr Bernard Bartram

The Club currently has six members who visit each other’s homes to build projects – the Club has been named – The ‘Sudbrooke Shunters’.

7   PARISHIONERS ITEMS

A resident raised the closure of Nettleham/Sudbrooke Lane for 22 weeks whilst works were being carried out in Scothern.  County Councillor Sue Rawlins stated that the drainage system in Scothern would be costing in excess of a million pounds and was long overdue for the work to be carried out.  However it was hoped that the Lane would not be permanently closed for 22 weeks but only as required.

Another resident stated that the use of the Lane was increasing with heavy traffic allegedly cutting through Sudbrooke and Nettleham to the A46, thus avoiding the bypass.

The meeting closed at 7.35pm followed by light refreshments.