November 2020 Minutes
Belton And Manthorpe Parish Council
Chairman - Councillor Simon Syddall, 5-6 Washdyke Lane, Belton Ng32 2lt
Clerk - Chris. Morgan, 10 Manchester Way, Grantham Ng31 8rr
Tel. 07758762811
Draft Minutes of the Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council Meeting held on 26th November 2020 by means of a Zoom, video conference due to Covid 19 restrictions at 7.30pm
Present Cllrs S. Syddall, ( Chair) S Thompson, C Thornton, J. Ashford, J. Bishop, R. Hallam, M Morris, County Cllr Ray Wootten and Cllr Ian Stokes
In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer). - Although this was a video conference, the details of the meeting had been published for members of the public to join if they wish, no one had requested this.
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- Chairman’s Remarks. Cllr Syddall opened the meeting and welcomed everyone present, stating that it was pleasing to see that everyone had coped with the technology. It looked like this type of meeting may be required for some time to come, and although it was not ideal it is what we have to do. County Cllr RW stated that it was the same for Lincs. C.C. and the flexibility to attend from anywhere was good, and in fact LCC had saved £4.5mill by using Zoom for their meetings
- Apologies for Absence – None. – All present
- Declarations of Interest – Nothing declared by anyone, this was to be a reduced Agenda meeting due to Covid 19, and there were no matters on the Agenda where anyone present had any pecuniary interest to declare
- Minutes of the last meeting held 26th August 2020 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by J.B seconded S.T. and the minutes, would be, duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk. – Matters arising – R.W. updated the meeting re the issues on A607, he had contacted Highways and was awaiting a response
- Finance. CM had circulated a Financial report prior to the meeting, there were no queries on this and it was RESOLVED, to accept the report and agree to the payments that had been made. Proposed by S.S. seconded by S.T. and all in agreement. C.M. spoke to the meeting re the use of Zoom and a general discussion took place re the merits of Zoom and Microsoft Teams was also discussed. RESOLVED C.M. to follow up from the next meeting with a monthly account, with Zoom.
- Planning Applications since the last meeting. CM had circulated a report on all the planning applications since the last meeting. The vast majority were straight forward and had required no comment or objection. S.S. commented on the approval of the works at Dial Cottage, Belton and at the disappoint of the P.C. that their request to impose conditions re vehicular access and parking had not been incorporated in the approval. Cllr I.S. stated that he had spoken at the relevant meeting asking for the same, but this was not agreed. S.S. thanked Cllr I.S. for his support at the meeting. J.B. spoke about the recent notification re the Historical content / Historical Record to be completed re the works at 20 Low Road, Manthorpe and felt that what had been produce was not entirely accurate or comprehensive enough. RESOLVED J.B. to liaise with local historian Ann Bramley and submit futher information to SKDC for the Historical Record.
- Any Other URGENT Business. RW commented that he was very disappointed at the outcome new Covid Tier 3 for the area, and the impact it would have on local businesses, especially Hospitality. S.S. agreed and he supported the stance taken by the leader of L.C.C. Martin Hill re having more local Tiers. J.B. stated that work was still going on at the Manor Farm House and although the P.C. had queried this previously re the Planning approval with S.K.D.C. Planning, the P.C. had not been informed about any enforcement at the property. M.M. reiterated disappointment re the Tier 3 decision and asked if anyone was aware of any Parishioners being infected. No one knew of any specific person, but JA dis state that there had been a number of cases at Cliffe Dale school on the Manthorpe estate. R.W. stated he would circulate a report he had received from L.C.C. re infections (This has now been done) C.T. Spoke about the slippage of meetings between National Trust (Belton House) and the villages at Belton. Especially around the Biomass issues and the Light Festival at Belton House. S.T. stated that she had a pre-arranged meeting with Nicholas Sainsbury-Bow (from National Trust) and she would mention these items to him) C.T. also stated that he was concerned re the speeding of vehicles through the villages of Belton and with the lockdown speeds had dramatically increased. R.W. stated that info from the Lincs Police was that 40% of vehicles are exceeding the national speed limit and 60% the 30mph limits. C.M. updated the meeting re the Community Speed Watch initiative, but at the moment due to Covid the LRSP had stated that these checks by volunteers, are not permitted. Further training is required and this will be arranged by LRSP asap, but no time frame as yet. S.S. reported that he had had a meeting with Ian Cooper from National Trust with the following matters discussed: 1. Christmas lights. Is going ahead for now, but that may change.
It is considerably scaled back. Obviously no indoor type hospitality. No fire pits behind the Orangery.
May not have the courtyard fair ground. Ticket sales ceiling is lower to keep numbers/crowding down, but already 50% ahead of 2019 at the same point.
The main point raised was noise - of generators and of (especially) fairground. There are going to be no generators, along the northern boundary (the ones, which caused noise nuisance, last year). All the generators will be smaller, more efficient ones and will be in the Dell, between the Gatehouse and Stables.
The route has also been changed. Out to the Orangery as before, going north of the Mirror Pond, but then dropping down to the cross roads in the paths, no laser shows here, before going down to the Ha-Ha and back along statue walk to the east lawn, finally to the Dutch Garden and end. A lot lower level lights.
If the fairground does go ahead, then the point around speakers pointing away from the village - especially Towthorpe, is taken on board.
Tickets will be free to Belton residents - 4 per household on 26th and 29th November. 2. Biomass. I reported we still had quite major issues around emissions, which range from very bad to not noticeable depending on prevailing wind. I asked if the testing, for which the results would be shared, had been done. Ian advised NRG were on site Monday. They had experienced numerous issues, not least a deliberate sabotage (apparently, a workbench and tools had been thrown into the hopper, causing the auger to seize) and had installed CCTV around the site. It was working OK at present. Other Cllr present also related to their negative experiences of the Biomass boiler re very unpleasant smalls
3. Future of Old School. Unsure at this time.
4. Education and the future of Belton House. The Trust is nearing the end of its 'Reset' Programme. They still have 70% of team furloughed and at Belton, a lot of those won't be coming back, as they have been made redundant. This has caused huge distress. They have to face the fact that they have to drastically cut overhead and because of Covid restrictions cannot use their people for education, but are engaging in 'Partnership', meaning schools etc still come in, but the teaching is by their teachers (same bubble), who themselves have been trained virtually by NT - central, rather than local. Things like the Discovery Centre and Ride cannot open by law.
Since the meeting it was disappointing to have learnt that generators had been installed along the N.E. Boundary, and there is photographic evidence of this. And the noise from the generators could also be heard at a number of houses in the village.
All business being concluded the meeting closed at 20.40hrs. – The usual Christmas pleasantries being exchanged by everyone.
Dates of next meeting –To be held on Thursday 18th February 2020, dependant on the Covid 19 restrictions, could be another Video Conference or if allowed an actual meeting