2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council

Chairman - Councillor Katy Gibson. 32, Low Road, Manthorpe, NG31 8NQ.

Tel 01476 563958

Clerk - Chris. Morgan, 10 Manchester Way, Grantham NG31 8RR

Tel. 07758762811

 Draft Minutes of the Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council Meeting held on 27th November 2019, at the Old School Room Belton at 7.30pm

Present Cllrs S. Syddall,( Chair) S Thompson, C Thornton, J. Ashford, M.Morris, J.Bishop, R.Hallam County Cllr Ray Wotten

In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer).

.

1) Chairman’s Remarks. Cllr Syddall opened the meeting and welcomed everyone present, Cllr Syddall went on to say that to date the Parish Council had, had a successful year with matters ending successfully, re Speed Limits on A607, Manthorpe village and the Defibrillator project. All these matters were to make life better for the local community, which is the prime objective of the Parish Council

2) Apologies for Absence – Apologies Cllr. Ian Stokes.

3) Declarations of Interest – Cllr Syddall, spoke about Item 5 on the Agenda and the fact that as he was a National Trust tenant, he would stand down as chair for this item and not take any involvement in the debate/discussion.

4) Minutes of the last meeting held 28th August 2019 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by C.T. seconded S.T. and the minutes were duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk.

5) Belton Liaison Comm. At This point Cllr Syddall stood down as Chair and Cllr Morris, took over by resolution of the meeting, A discussion took place re the NT failing to supply the Minutes of the last meeting, despite a number of requests. As such the next meeting had not been planned. C.T. spoke about the Christmas event being held at Belton House and his disappointment that NT had not corresponded adequately with Belton villagers re this. There was concern about Noise pollution, light pollution and the effect on wildlife. A lengthy discussion took place, with all those in attendance taking part, the consensus was that relationships between NT and Belton residents was now quite poor and the worse it had been for a number of years. Resolved – Any local residents who had any concerns re the Christmas event, would be advised to contact SKDC Environmental Dept . and make the appropriate comments/complaints to them as the Noise and Light pollution is their responsibility. A similar discussion took place re the Biomass Plant, and again any resident who had concerns should contact SKDC. JB to draft a letter on behalf of P.C. to send to SKDC outlining the P.C. concerns. It appears to all present that NT are completely disregarding the feelings and view of Belton residents. MM then stood down as Chair and taken over by the elected Chair Cllr Syddall.

6) Planning applications since the last meeting. – There had been a number of planning applications since the last meeting, the majority of which the Parish Council did not have any comments to make. It was noted that the previous issues with 9 High Rd Manthorpe and 20 Low Road Manthorpe, were still ongoing and as such the P.C. were waiting the results from SKDC Planning re these issues. The process was ongoing and the responsibility of SKDC.

7) Manthorpe village – JB spoke about blocked drains on Low Road, outside no 32, rain water not draining away properly, RW offered to report this to LCC and to try and get Highways manager to visit area with him. It was also reported that the street sign, name plate, on Low Road was defective with the name plate falling off the back plate. Suggested that this be reported to SKDC Cllr Ian Stokes and ask him to follow up.

8) Reactive Speed camera. C.T. gave an update on the reactive speed camera, and of data that had been received. All the relevant data is available to all the councilors via “Dropbox.” The speed limit had been reduced and the data showed that over the two week period of checking 73,000 vehicles had travelled into Grantham and 81,000 in the opposite direction. Discussion took place re the erection of “white gates” on the entrance to villages and the research was that this initiative also reduced the speed of vehicles travelling into villages. Contact to be made with the Clerk at Ancaster P.C. as they had just gone through this process. CT stated that the reactive camera would be moved this week back to Belton for the Christmas period

9) Community Speed Watch – CM reported and updated those present on this initiative. The leaflet drop to all properties had been completed this had only resulted in 3 volunteers coming forward to volunteer for the CSW initiative. CM had been in regular contact with Barkston and Syston P.C. and they had 7 volunteers. Resolved – To progress this initiative with Barkston and Syston P.C. to arrange the training and purchase the equipment. Everything to be on a 50/50 basis.

10) Burial Ground –MM gave an update on the recent “use” of the burial ground, and the fact that all the relevant info. was now on the P.C. website. Once the building work at St John’s had been completed consideration to be given to the erection of new fencing and signage. There was still a rough sleeper in the St Johns section of the burial ground.

11) Barkston Heath Lane. – SS spoke to the meeting re three letters that had been received from residents about the excessive use of Barkston Heath Lane by very large vehicles, and these were ripping up the verges, and were inconsiderate and causing a hazard to horse riders using the village. The letters requested that consideration be given for the P.C. to support a 7.5 ton limit on this road (except for access) Cllr RW to liaise with Highways Manager

12) Accounts. CM updated the meeting re the accounts and circulated the Income/Expenditure since the last meeting. Movement on the accounts had been minimal, (see below) Resolved Accounts accepted by the members, and approval given to pay 1 outstanding invoices 1) DR Sharpe re the grounds maintenance of the Burial ground. Action CM to pay the invoice.

There has been no unexpected expenditure since the last Meeting, please see below details of income and expenditure since the last meeting.

The Belton and Manthorpe Finance Policy, is part of the “model polices” that have been adopted from LALC and approved by the Council. It was confirmed by the meeting that the monies in the savings account were to be used for the extension of the Burial Ground when needed.

CM asked about the precept for 2020 and the recommendation from the meeting was to be the rate of inflation which is 1.8%

Resolved CM to progress this

13) Correspondence –CM updated the meeting on correspondence received since the last meeting, the vast majority was via email which had been forwarded to the Cllrs, and CM had updated Cllr Thompson personally, as appropriate. He informed the meeting of an approach from EnvironmentSK asking to be considered for any grounds maintenance work that was needed by the P.C. A short discussion ensued. Resolved CM and MM to meet with EnvironmentSK at the Burial Ground to get the relevant quote re the annual work required. CM also to make contact with the present contractors and ask them to quote for the required ground work in 2020

14) Date and Time of Future Meetings.

Dates of future meetings agreed as:

Wednesday 19th February 2020 Manthorpe Playgroup Hall at 7.30pm

Wednesday 29th May 2020 Belton, Old School House, at 7pm to include the Annual Parish Meeting and the

Annual Parish Council Meeting.