May 2023 Minutes
Belton And Manthorpe Parish Council
Chairman - Councilor Simon Syddall, 5-6 Washdyke Lane, Belton Ng32 2lt
Clerk - Chris. Morgan, 10 Manchester Way, Grantham Ng31 8rr
Tel. 07758762811
Minutes of the Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council Meeting held on 17th May 2023 at 7.30pm in the Old School House, Belton.
Present Cllrs S. Syddall, (Chair) Cllrs S Thompson, R. Hallam, E. Farley, J Ashford, A Charity. M.Simpson
In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer). – Lincs CC Ray Wootten
Chairman’s Remarks. The Chair, Cllr Syddall, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He then addressed the meeting stating that 2022/2023 had been a relatively quiet year as far as the Parish Council was concerned SS picked out a number of highlights for the year, as he reviewed the Parish Council’s work. There had been a vast improvement in communication with the National Trust, in particular Ian Cooper, for which we are all grateful SS continues to meet informally with Ian 5 – 6 times a year. The completion on the sale of Constables Field was now finalised, and a well-managed process by David Carter of Dysons, for which we are grateful. This has achieved further funds for the P.C. to put towards the extension of the Manthorpe Burial Ground, when needed. Disappointingly there had been no further progress on the Community Speed Watch initiative, this was particularly so because of the recent accidents on the A 607 at Belton and the speed complaints that are received there. An interesting and informative meeting had taken place with Chief Superintendent John McGovern of the Lincolnshire Police, the local area commander in June. At the February meeting Ian Cooper had outlined the National Trust Plans, for upgrading the car parking at Belton House and putting in a one-way traffic system to improve pedestrian safety. The one-way proposal was later withdrawn due to heavy opposition from Belton Lane residents. It is a shame that the Belton Lane residents are happy that Belton Village and the A 607 junction, at which there has been at least one recent fatal collision, take 100% of the traffic and they are not prepared to take 50% of it. In closing SS thanked his fellow Councillors for their support and service and to the Clerk for doing a good job on administration.
1) Apologies for Absence – Ian Cooper (National Trust)
2) Declarations of Interest – Nothing declared by anyone, and there were no matters on the agenda where any councilors present had any pecuniary interest to declare.
3) Minutes of the last meeting held 15th February 2023 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by MS seconded by AC and the minutes, were, duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk. – Matters arising – All covered by agenda items.
4) Update from National Trust – Mr. Ian Cooper the Belton House General Manager, was not able to attend the meeting and he had sent his apologies. He had had a personal meeting the Chair Cllr Syddall, and Cllr Syddall updated the meeting on his discussions. - There are a number of projects that the NT are embarking on this year, mainly around accessibility matters, these include the Car Park and the Stable Yard where cobbles will be removed, to improve access for those with mobility issues and parents with push chairs etc. Belmont Tower project to encompass car parking and further tree protection work there. The Mansion Roof programme is a multi-million-pound project and this work will not take place until the other projects are completed.. Belton House is now classed as a “Treasure House” by the NT it is one of only 11 in the Country. ST wanted to give thanks to IC re the Playground work it was a vast improvement for the village.
5) Finance. –CM had circulated a Financial report prior to the meeting, along with the spread sheet outlining Income and Expenditure there were no queries from councilor’s (Finance Report attached). RESOLVED, to accept the report and agree to the payments that had been made. Prop. AC seconded ST. CM then spoke about and explained to those present the Annual Governance Statement and went through the relevant figures.
6) 6.1 – Resolved – Certificate of Exemption was approved
6.2 Resolved The Annual Governance Statement 2022/2023 (Section 1) had been circulated to those present and was unanimously approved
6.3 Resolved – The Accounting Statement 2022/23 had been circulated (Section 2) as well as the relevant bank reconciliation’s and the variance explanations and these were unanimously approved.
6.4 Resolved – The amount of monies in the account, from the sale of Constables Field (£82,700) and the previous £37k in the account, was fully discussed and approved that this is for the purchase of land to extend the Burial Ground, and are to be ring fenced for this purpose. This would be reviewed again in 2024.
7) Allotments – SS had put this on the Agenda as a result of communication from a local resident asking if the PC had any allotments. A general discussion took place with all those present. The P.C. do not have any land that they own, other than the burial ground, that could accommodate allotments. This was the first time that this had been brought up, and at the present time it was felt that there was not a local need for allotments. CM had spoken to the resident prior to the meeting, explaining the current situation. RESOLVEd – No further action at the present time.
8) Speed Concerns A 607 Manthorpe -CM gave a verbal update re his communication with LCC and the Road Safety Partnership, the RSP manager responsible for this had been invited to attend the meeting, but was away on leave. A lengthy discussion then followed, including the recent speed related collisions there and of general excessive speed there. Speed calming measures and the provision of a Pedestrian Crossing were also discussed. LCC Councilor – Ray Wootten will liaise further with the Highways Authority.
9) Manthorpe Burial Ground. CM spoke to the meeting on this, explaining that a boundary fence, between the PC’s Burial Ground and St John’s Church Cemetery had been previously discussed. It had then been agreed that once the Church Hall re building had taken place this would be looked at again by P.C. CM had obtained two quotes for the work. A full discussion took place on the merits of the two quotes. RESOLVED. A) Proposed EV seconded MS that the work should be carried out – unanimous decision. B) Proposed JA seconded MS that the work should be awarded to David Phillips. (D.Phillips Fencing) CM to progress this
10) Constable Field CM updated the meeting on the Sale of this. This was now finalized and the monies were in the bank and the Solicitors and Estate agents had been paid for their work. RESOLVED – The monies from the sale would go toward the extension of the Burial Ground when needed.
11) Planning applications since the last meeting. CM had circulated a paper re all the applications since the last meeting. Most were straight forward and there were no objections, however planning application S23/0785 re the request by Alison Homes/Larkfleet to remove Condition 24 re the Planning App S15/3189 did cause concern from all the Councilors, who felt that this was completely inappropriate. A full discussion by all present then took place. Resolved – P.C. objected strongly to this. AC and CM to compile a letter of objection and forward to SKDC Planning.
12) Any Urgent Business – None had been highlighted.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.37pm
13) Date and Time of Next Meeting- Wednesday 16th August 2023, at 7.30pm at The Manthorpe Church Hall