August 2024 Minutes
Belton And Manthorpe Parish Council
Chairman - Councilor Adrian Charity, 26, Low Road, Manthorpe. NG31 8NQ
Clerk - Chris. Morgan, 10 Manchester Way, Grantham Ng31 8rr
Tel. 07758762811
Minutes of the Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council Meeting held on 27th August 2024 at 7.30pm in the Old School House, Belton
Present Cllrs A Charity, (Chair) Cllrs S Thompson S. Syddall, M.Simpson, J Ashford, R Hallam
In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer). Robert Mansel, 2 members of public, Georgina Mcrae (Alison Homes)
Chairman’s Remarks. The Chair, Cllr Charity, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He went on to say that there had been only a small amount of activity in the P.C. around Planning Applications, most of which were not an issue to the P.C. There had also been amendments to the Planning Applications from Alison Homes and Low Carbon (Ash Tree Solar Farm). These would continue to be monitored by the P.C. but the amendments submitted had been fairly ”routine” and not an issue to the P.C.
1) Apologies for Absence – Cllr Ian Stokes.
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 May 2024 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by ST seconded by RH and the minutes, were, duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk. – Matters arising – All covered by agenda items.
4) Co Option. Cllr Charity introduced this item. A vacancy had occurred due to the resignation of Cllr Farley. The relevant notices had been displayed, no election had been requested. The P.C. were now entitled to go down the co option route. Again the notices had been displayed, only one person (Robert Mansel) had shown an interest and he had submitted a CV. Proposed by ST seconded by SS that Robert Mansel should be co opted onto the PC. Unanimously agreed by all Cllrs. RESOLVED – Robert Mansel Co Opted on to the P.C. as a Councilor for the Belton Ward.
5) Update re Alison Homes – Georgina McCrae (Alison Homes) gave a verbal update to the meeting re the current situation. It had been approved by SKDC planning the amendment to the initial application re the access in/out from Longcliffe Rd. This would no longer be a vehicular access, and only for pedestrians and cyclists. Ground work on the site would commence in the next few weeks and the enabling work would take a few months. The would be a Site Manager appointed within the next 8 weeks and they would be the first point of contact for any site issues. The Traffic Management plan for the site was still to be finalized, but it would be a “left in” and “right out” only, from Belton Lane. Traffic lights at the Belton Lane/A607 junction would be completed before any occupation of any properties. It was also anticipated that a speed limit of 40mph would be imposed on Belton Lane. Vehicular traffic on to the site would be restricted, on weekdays 7.30am – 6pm and 8.30 – 1pm on a Saturday. Further consultation would take place between the P.C. and Alison Homes re the extension of the P.C. Burial Ground.
6) Belton Liaison Comm/National Trust –Ian Cooper was not at the meeting and no update had been received. It was noted that the driveway had been completed, which would hopefully improve the traffic flow and the resurfacing of the car park and Belmont Tower was to be completed. CM to contact Ian Cooper to ask for a written update on currenwork/projects.
7) Road Safety Concerns/Speed Watch - CM updated the meeting about the recent communications with LCC over road safety matters. The training for the speed watch volunteers was to take place the following evening (28th August). This did take place and 6 volunteers were trained and were now just waiting the approval from the LRSP to start the checks. The Chair thanked the volunteers for their commitment to the initiative.
8) Public Footpath/Hedge Issues Manthorpe - A general discussion took place by all present. CM updated the meeting stating that the path side of the relevant hedge had now been cut by the P.C. ground maintenance person and free passage along the footpath was now easier. The cutting of the hedge on the other side by the new owners had been seen as necessary by them to allow access to their property. It was noted that hedges of this type should not be cut/trimmed between march and 31st July because of bird’s nesting and it was hoped that the owners would bear this in mind next year. The public footpath along Buttercup Meadow had been discussed under Item 5 and GC had promised to speak to her grounds maintenance staff re this to try and resolve. CM reported that it had also been reported to LCC vis Fix My Street and they had also responded stating that if it was their responsibility they would ensure that the footpath was made passable, The actual ownership of Buttercup Meadow was also discussed, but the actual owners were not known, it was believed to still belong to the construction company who built the houses there. CM to research to try and resolve.
9) Ash Tree Solar Farm . CM read out an email from Low Carbon, summarising – Low Carbon had amended their initial plans re the cable routing which appeared to be more sensible, and less disruptive to the residents of Londonthorpe.
10) Finance – CM had circulated a paper inc the spreadsheet re the income and expenses since the last meeting. It was unanimously agreed to ratify the relevant payments out (as per the financial report). ST wanted to thank the Clerk for all the work he had put in to ensure the finances were dealt with in an expeditious, and efficient manner
11) Planning Applications since the last meeting – All the planning applications received from SKDC had been circulated, there was nothing contentious, and a lot of the applications had been round tree maintenance.
12) Any Urgent Business – CM reported that nothing had been notified. ST informed the meeting that a collection had been taken, after the last meeting for the previous Cllr – Eve Farley. A gift had been purchased and given to Eve who was appreciative of the kind gesture.
There being no other business the meeting was closed at 8.55pm
Date and Time of Next Meeting – 7.30 pm 19th November 2024 at the Church Hall St John’s Church Manthorpe.