2024 Annual Parish Meeting

UNAPPROVED NOTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF SUDBROOKE HELD IN THE SUDBROOKE VILLAGE HALL ON THURSDAY 18 APRIL 2024

Present:  Councillor Peter Heath (Chairman),

Mrs Chrstine Myers (Clerk), Mrs Bridget Solly (Treasurer) 9  residents

1   APPROVAL OF THE NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 4 APRIL 2023 TO BE SIGNED AS MINUTES

That the notes be signed as minutes proposed by Councillor Mrs Sandra Layton, seconded by Councillor Paul Fido.

2   CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 

Another year seems to have flown by with changes seen on the Parish Council

Firstly we said good bye to Cllr Bob Waller who stood down this year and also moved out of the parish but we thank him for the excellent work as out district Councillor and wish him well. The election has given us Cllr Baptiste Velan as our new representative. Cllr Velan is no stranger to public office and we look forward to working together to promote the wellbeing of our village.

During the year we gained a new representative on the Parish Council, Mrs Pauline Loven. Mrs Loven is a long term resident of the village and has made a great start in helping to sort out a potential flooding problem in the village. Unfortunately we have had to say goodbye to Cllr Dave Scott for personal reasons. Cllr Scott was able to add his considerable experience to sorting through the revisions to our Neighbourhood Plan and will be sadly missed. If any member of the Parish would like to join us we would welcome new members.

The review of the Neighbourhood Plan is almost complete and will be offered up for public scrutiny shortly. The changes to Local government will be included in the revised plan. The greatest change will be in the planning law and could leave the village vulnerable to further development but currently we are at capacity for our size as a medium village. 

The big event of the year was the coronation of King Charles III. The event was a local, low key celebration with a “bring your own” picnic and with competitions for all to enter.  The weather held sunny and a great day was had by all.

The winter has been one of the wettest in living memory and highlighted potential flooding risks. Gardens in Park Close were flooded but fortunately the water did not enter the houses that back onto the beck in that area. The parish Council was able to offer support to the residents at risk by providing “Aqua Sacks” to block the water. We also were able to offer some of the sacks to Fiskerton PC where a breach of the dyke along the Witham threatened the village.

Our annual Christmas tree lighting was the most successful to date and we were able to offer drinks and mince without charge thanks to the generosity of local businesses and people.

3   CLERKS REPORT – MRS CHRISTINE MYERS

Events – Both the Coronation Event and Christmas Tree Switch on were very well supported and enjoyed by a large number of residents.  The Coronation Event was funded from monies from the previous years cancelled Sports event and the children enjoyed the Bouncey Castle, Ice creams and pizzas.

The Christmas Tree switch on had funds donated by our District Councillor, Baptiste Velan, the mince pies from our very friendly Arvind at the Village shop and Nettleham Coop and the mulled wine from the Parklands developers. 
Thanks to these funds there was no charge for mince pies or mulled wine, but donations given and the raffle made a total of £294.65 which will go towards this years event.

Play equipment – Our play equipment at both the Village Hall and Northfield Park sites continues to be inspected regularly by a Councillor on a weekly basis and a qualified Inspector on a monthly basis.  This picks up on any maintenance items that need dealing with and can be acted on quickly, therefore keeping the equipment in good condition.  Last year it was all painted by local decorate Dave Lenton through a grant from the IGas Community Fund.

Plants and flowers in the village – Councillor Paul Fido is continuing to plant flowers and plants around the village, making it more attractive.

The Parish Council comments on Planning applications throughout the year – 24 since April last year.  I say comment as this is all they are and it is then up to the Planning Department of West Lindsey District Council whether they take into account those comments when determining an application.

Bridget Solly and I work closely together on the administration of the Council, Bridget taking care of the finances.  It continues to be a busy, friendly team working together for the benefit of residents of the village and we consider ourselves fortunate to be its employees.

4   TREASURES REPORT

The Council received a Precept (Budget) of £32,480.  The Council have worked hard to ensure that invoices have been paid in a timely manner during the year using BACS payments for all invoices this year, with 2 being placed on Direct Debit.  All payments have been agreed by members of the Council as per our Standing orders and financial regulations.  

This year the Council spent £6,946 on grass cutting and received a contribution of £1,719 from the County Council – our net spend on grass cutting was £5,227.

The Council spent £3,683 on printing and preparing Sudbrooke News with £629 generated in advertising revenue, which is slightly up from last year.  As in previous years, the Council recognises the importance of the Sudbrooke News and continues to support it financially – although it is now a bi-monthly newsletter due to increasing printing costs.

The Clerk has been very successful in applying for grants this year.  The Council received a grant of £1,374 from IGAS for painting some of the play equipment.  The Council also received a grant of £4,875 from Groundwork UK which has covered the cost of works done on the Neighbourhood Plan. 

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 COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT – Cllr. Sue Rawlins, Welton Rural Division, Lincolnshire County Council

The County Council discussed its 2024/2025 budget at the Full Council meeting on 23rd February 2024. It was noted that the County Council are in a much better financial position than many similar local authorities, but we must not be complacent as we are likely to face funding restrictions and increasing demand. We have made the case to Government for multi-year settlements to give us more certainty.   An additional £8.4m of social care funding for one year was allocated by the Government for social care after a national campaign from the country’s county councils. The County Council will be contributing to the Government’s discussions by the Summer recess regarding local authority plans and best practice.   

The Council expects to spend £650m in 2024/2025 on frontline services - with the largest area of spending being in Adult Social Care - and there are no plans to cut services. A commitment to three years of funding at £300K for 2024/2025 to the County’s Citizen’s Advice Service has been made and rising annually in line with the National Minimum Wage. The Highways spend for 2024/2025 is £48.8m on revenue costs and £80.6m on capital projects, with £4m for the North Hykeham relief road. Roundabout works at Nettleham will improve connectivity to the national network whilst reducing congestion.

As part of the £2 million project, the following improvements are being carried out along Newland in Lincoln:

•   Full reconstruction of the carriageway along Newland, between Mint Street and Carholme Road junction – along with part of Wigford Way, Mint Lane and Lucy Tower Street.
•   Replacing the traffic signals at the Lucy Tower Street/Newland junction and at the Carholme Road / Brayford Way junction.
•   Replacing kerbs and footways that have started to deteriorate.
•   Repair work to the county council’s highways drainage system.

Your Parish Council and I have requested a pedestrian crossing on the A158 to improve road safety. LCC Highway's officers are due to undertake a site survey this Summer. A forward programme brief has been submitted and logged by the Highway’s officers.

Members of the Parish Council and I met with the Area’s Highway’s Manager to discuss the maintenance of the footpath on the A158 with a view to trimming back the encroaching grass verge and widening the usable footpath as a result.

Regarding the Government’s proposals for Scampton, West Lindsey District Council is to hold a Full Council Meeting under exempt papers to update councillors on the current situation next week.

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR BAPTISTE VELAN - This month, I have dealt with various inquiries from residents. For instance, one resident complained about noise pollution, and I am glad to say that we were able to resolve the issue. Additionally, I supported a shop owner with a complaint made against them.

For all other inquiries, I have forwarded them to officers at WLDC.

Last Tuesday, I attended Scothern PC, and last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the coffee club in Sudbrooke where I discussed matters with multiple residents.

Today, I responded to the Clerk and Councillors regarding a planning application, I explained that the planning application was successfully appealed and gave further advice . Also, I replied to a funding support request from two residents who run a preschool group at the village hall. Although they were not available to join tonight, I invited them and signposted them to my Councillor Initiative Fund.

6    LOCAL ORGANISATION REPORTS

25th Lincoln (Scothern) Scout Group

 

Skip aka Nick Cornwell-Smith
Group Scout Leader (GSL)
25th Lincoln (Scothern) Scout Group

It only seems a short time ago that we were dealing with Christmas related activities, but now spring has sprung, tents are being readied, stoves cleaned – all in preparation for the spring and summer term activities.

During 2023 we managed to get back to normal meetings, more or less, with all three sections meeting again following temporary suspension of some meetings due to a lack of adult leaders.

We are now in a position of having two leaders, Ed and Cara running Beavers. Cubs is being run by Tim with help from Brian and Scarlett, and Scouts by Tim, Tom and Cara. Both Cubs and Scouts could do with more adults to help run the programme and hopefully be willing to become full leaders. Please consider helping your local Scout Group. Volunteering is good for your mental health, looks good on your c.v. and helps your community.

Without such volunteers, we cannot operate the group and may have to cancel meetings and possibly close sections. We have had the same core leadership team for many years and we are all getting older. We now have a younger team (well most of them are younger!) and hope to keep them for a while but we do need to consider succession planning. 

If you are not comfortable working with children (or just want a break from them!) how about joining our Trustee Board. We already have the key roles of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer in place so we just need a few more parent members. We meet around 3-4 times a years to support the running of the sections from a finance and governance perspective. Please feel free to speak to myself or any of the other Trustee Board members, now or later.

Currently we have 12 Beavers, 18 Cubs and 9 Scouts in the Group which have participated in various activities in and around Scothern and Sudbrooke. November saw our presence at the Remembrance Services at both villages, litter picking in Scothern, assisting the Sudbrooke Christmas Tree Lighting and Carols, hikes across to Watts Wood, Beavers camping at Sudbrooke and visits to the Lincoln Fire Station.

During the summer term we hope, weather permitting, to do more activities outdoors including visits to the Sudbrooke Scout Campsite, evening hikes, clearing Sudbrooke Churchyard. Some will be attending the Lincoln District Camp at the end of May.

Our next major event will be attending the annual St. George’s Day Parade and Service at Lincoln Cathedral on Sunday 21st April. With representation from across the District this is the largest parade in Lincoln.

If your child is interested in joining, at whatever age or gender, please feel free to contact me, Nick Cornwell-Smith to discuss opportunities. Similarly, as adults, whether you have children in scouting, or were a scout or guide yourself, and you feel that you have something to offer our Group, please get in contact. 

Sudbrooke Walking Group – Mike Halliday

We managed 11 out of a possible 12 walks in the year. The cancelled walk was due to very poor ground conditions.

Our membership has increased this year with some welcome additions from the Parklands development and we now have the potential of up to 20 walkers although 12-14 walkers is the usual turnout.

We have a large library of walks varying in distance from 6 to 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 of Lincolnshire’s remarkable countryside and others may have a historical or military interest.

To make the most of an enjoyable social occasion, the majority of walkers like to enjoy a late lunch together at a café or garden centre restaurant near our walk location.

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.

Our customary summer coastal walk was from Cleethorpes Pier to the yacht club via the Fitties done in brilliant sunshine.  Our walks can otherwise range from the Wolds to the Trent valley.

We use Sudbrooke News, the Parish website and e mail to communicate with walkers and we meet at the village hall on the first Saturday of every month at 9-30am. Where travel is necessary members use their own cars.

Everyone is welcome to join the walks.

Sudbrooke Village Hall – Mrs Gill Rignall

We have a good, if small, team on the Management Committee.

Over the last few years several village organisations have closed for various reasons. As all village organisations can have a place on the Management Committee this means that the Committee is much reduced. This makes it very difficult to organise any events and to keep up with maintenance and administration.

The input of the representative members is much appreciated.

The AGM was held in March. The Committee and officers were-elected.

Officers: Chair-Mrs L Hill, Vice Chair-Mrs E Chapman, Bar manager-Mr P Rignall,

Secretary-Mrs G Rignall, Treasurer-Mr S Hewson, Mrs Tracey Bowman-Parish Council representative, Mrs L Hutchinson-Preschool, Mrs I Everitt-Coffee Club 

A new Booking Secretary, Mrs S King, has been appointed. There will be a transitional period. The e mail address and telephone number for bookings remain the same.

The hall is currently financially secure. Maintenance is ongoing with a new boiler planned for this year.

The quiz nights continue to be successful.

We have a page on the Parish website and a Facebook page.

Coffee Club

Coffee club meets on the second Friday every month at 1030am in the Bramham Lounge.

Attendance has picked up to pre Covid levels.  We have refreshments, chat, a raffle and, occasionally, a speaker.  The coffee mornings are greatly enjoyed and new residents are joining in. We have occasional visits from our District Councillor and PCSO.

It is a chance to meet old friends and make new ones.

7   TO CONSIDER ANY POINTS THAT PARISHIONERS MAY WISH TO MAKE

Two residents expressed their concerns about safety crossing the A158 at the junction of Scothern Lane/Wragby Road.  It was pointed out that the County Council would be conducting a survey in August of this year to ascertain if the location met the criteria for a crossing.

A resident had asked that the road surface around Two Corners on Church Lane be given attention by the County Councillor.  Agreed that this would be an agenda item for the next Parish Council meeting.

A resident commented on the poor surface of the footpath between Elm Drive and Northfield Park and that it had gradually become narrower.  This would be discussed at a future Parish Council meeting.

A comment was made that could the green shields at the entrance to The Parklands now be removed?  It was pointed out that these were newt screens and newts were gathered from this area and placed in the pond.

A resident commented on the tidiness of the new sign for the Post Office sited at the junction of Holme Drive, funded by the Postmaster, and the friendly staff within the Post Office.

A request was made for a further dog bin to be sited on West Drive.  A request would be made to WLDC Streets Team

The meeting concluded at 8.20pm and light refreshments were served.