August 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 16th August 2023 at 7.30pm in the Church Hall, St John’s Church Manthorpe.
Present Cllrs S. Syddall, (Chair) Cllrs S Thompson, R. Hallam, A Charity. Simpson
In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer). – Ian Reilly and George Wilkinson from Alison Homes and 3 members of the public (all were Parish Councilors from Great Gonerby Parish Council
Chairman’s Remarks. The Chair, Cllr Syddall, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He then addressed the meeting stating that since the last meeting in May, things had been quiet and there had only been 3 Planning Applications that we had been notified of. He thanked the representatives from Alison Homes for attending.
1) Apologies for Absence – Cllrs -Eve Farley, Jenna Ashford, - LCC Cllr Ray Wootten and 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 17th May 2023 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by ST seconded by MS and the minutes, were, duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk. – Matters arising – All covered by agenda items.
4) Alison Homes Development. Ian Reilly, Alison Homes head of group planning was in attendance and the Chair invited IR to address those present. IR updated the meeting re the history of the Planning App and his disappointment at the lack of engagement previously IR was keen to remedy this and become fully engaged with the P.C. and other stakeholders, and he thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the meeting. Hard copy maps were distributed to those present and IR went through the pages explaining what each represented. Phase 1 of the development would be 158 properties (of the total 484). His concerns were over the relevant accesses, at Belton Lane /A607, Belton Lane/Newark Hill Great Gonerby, and the Longcliffe Road access. A general discussion took place by all present, with the Chair allowing a Q & A session. IR explained the current position with LCC and the Belton Lane/Newark Hill junction, he reiterated that he believed that work at this junction would not prevent the development going ahead. IR stated that he favoured a traffic light junction at junction Belton Lane /A607 and that he would progress this with Alison Homes and with LCC. IR also felt that it would be useful for a working group to be set up with members from Alison Homes, Belton and Manthorpe P.C. Great Gonerby PC, as well as SKDC Councilors and LCC. At the conclusion of this session the Chair thanked IR for his openness and transparency and looked forward to working together in the future. It was recognized that development was needed, but as a P.C. we needed to ensure that our communities views were listened to and that we should work together to reach the best and safest solutions for the communities we represent. At 8.35 the Q & A session was completed and IR, was invited to attend the next Great Gonerby Parish Council Meeting on 4th September and Belton and Manthorpe P.C were also invited to attend. IR and the 3 members of the public then left the meeting.
5) 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 given an update to 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, the work here was progressing well, work on the Stable Yard where cobbles will be removed, to improve access for those with mobility issues and parents with push chairs etc. would continue after the car park was finished. IC is trying to manage the issues raised with the car park work and members of the public parking in Belton village – there had been some dangerous parking here. Belmont Tower project to encompass car parking and further tree protection work there has had to be postponed until 2024. 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. The Christmas light programme planning is well under way and the positive changes implemented last year will again be in place for this year.
6) 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.
7) 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 had declined the invitation. However the Archer Speed check results had been received from the LRSP and a general discussion took place re the speed issues and the relevant figures. CM stated that he had, had communication from a couple of members of the public in Manthorpe who were interested in the Community Speed Watch initiative and he was trying to arrange the relevant training for this.
8) 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 erected and the invoice paid. A discussion then took place about a Notice Board for the Burial Ground. CM had done some work on this and the relevant quotes were discussed. RESOLVED CM to progress this and a budget of £1500 agreed to pay for the Notice Board
9) 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, there were only 3 since the last meeting and nothing contentious.
10) Any Urgent Business – None had been highlighted.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.58pm
11) Date and Time of Next Meeting- Wednesday 29th November 2023, at 7.30pm at The Old School House, Belton.