January 18 2024 - Minutes
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL OF FENTON & TORKSEY LOCK,
held on Thursday 18 January 2024, 7pm, at Kettlethorpe Village Hall.
PRESENT: Cllr G. Newton (Chair), Cllr D Buck, Cllr I B Smith.
Also present: Ruth Keillar (Clerk).
*DCllr R Pilgrim part meeting.
Chairman’s opening remarks.
The Chairman welcomed all present.
The Parish Council Engagement Session for Gainsborough Rural South hosted by Lincolnshire Police was held on 14 December 2023 on Teams. The Charman attended, representing the parish council. The Chairman reported that following the presentation a short Q&A session was held. All questions raised were matters relating to speeding through our parishes and attendance by police at pc meetings. The presentation leader, Inspector Mike Head, responded to these concerns by firstly suggesting that a similar session to this could be held in the future whereby all members of the LRSP could attend and Parish Councillors could raise any concerns directly with Partners. This, I believe, was accepted by all present as a positive step to improve communication and identify and discuss specific problems.
Hike Head secondly advised parishes to contact the LRSP directly to request the attendance of the Mobile speed camera unit for areas of concern. The Chairman contacted LSRP by email on 18/12/23 requesting the attendance of the mobile unit in Fenton & Torksey Lock. LSRP responded as follows (edit): “As you are aware the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership are responsible for casualty reduction; we are not an enforcement agency. The only type of enforcement available to us is the use of Safety Cameras.
The Government, Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Police are committed to ensuring that the process for deploying speed cameras is transparent and that cameras are only used at locations where they can make a demonstrable reduction in speed related casualties. The site selection process has to comply with the criteria set out by the Department for Transport. This criterion includes locations where there are a history of speed related injury collisions supported by evidence of a high degree of non-compliance with the speed limit. In that respect Lincolnshire Police through the Road Safety Partnership adheres to the site selection criteria set out by the Department for Transport to ensure that the process is completely transparent and that cameras are only used as a casualty reduction measure.
In order to ascertain if an area meets the DfT criteria, the Road Safety Partnership conduct traffic speed and volume surveys. We undertook surveys in Torksey and Fenton in 2022. The survey was reviewed by the Highways Engineering Manager and myself, taking into account collision data, and the locations did not meet the criteria for safety camera enforcement. This data was shared with the parish council.
I note that the speed limit in Fenton has subsequently been reduced and as such I will arrange for a new survey to be conducted to look at the flow of traffic. I am pleased to still be able to report no injury collisions in the area.”
With regard to police attendance at pc meetings it was advised that attendance was no longer possible as available resources were focussed on their primary duty of crime prevention.
The Chairman advised that due to health-related matters, he would not be attending pc meetings for the foreseeable future and would advise the council of his current duties that will need to be undertaken by other council members in addition to the appointment of a new Chairman.
1023. Apologies. To receive apologies and reasons for absence.
Apologies had been received from Cllr P Jenkinson and Cllr A Woods, reasons accepted.
1024. Declarations of Interest. To receive Declarations of Interest on any item on the Agenda.
Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any point during the meeting.
No Declarations of Interest received.
1025. Public forum. To suspend the meeting to allow no more than 15 minutes of public forum.
No members of public were present.
1026. Notes of the Parish Council meeting:
Notes of the Parish Council meeting held on 16 November 2023 to be approved and signed as minutes.
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr I B Smith and unanimously RESOLVED to approve the notes of the Parish Council meeting held on 16 November 2023 and these were duly signed as minutes.
1027. Crime reports. To receive reports from Police with crime information.
Police crime reporting procedures have been changed.
Parishioners can access the area crime map at the following link(https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/lincolnshire-police/gainsborough-rural-south/?tab=crimemap)
As these maps are interactive, the district can be explored and users can focus in on local areas and get the data for any hot-spots.
From these the PC can report crime events in the parish although general details of the crimes are not available from the data.
For November 2023
Fenton – 1 Public Order
Torksey Lock – 1 Violence
1028. Planning Matters.
Planning Applications
Updated as of 12 January 2023
24 August 2023
APPLICATION REFERENCE NO: 147067
PROPOSAL: Planning application for change of use of building to a day respite care facility and community use.
LOCATION: Trenton Lodge Lincoln Road Fenton Lincoln LN1 2EN
APPLICATION TYPE: Full Planning Application
APPLICATION CATEGORY: Change of Use
Current status: A further Flood Risk Assessment has been submitted on 12/12/23.
1029. Speedwatch. To receive any updates regarding the Speedwatch scheme and to consider any action.
Activities in Fenton remain suspended pending more volunteers coming forward to join that team.
Activities in Torksey Lock have been curtailed by non-availability of team members.
Cllr I B Smith is in contact with CSW Admin regarding training of more volunteers.
1030. Parish Newsletter. To receive any updates regarding the A4 news-sheet bulletin.
The news bulletin/meeting summary was produced by Cllr. Jenkins on 16/11/23 and published on parish outlets. Due to Cllr P Jenkinson being absent, Cllr I B Smith volunteered to produce the next News Bulletin
1031. Training. To consider Training arrangements for Cllrs. To receive any feedback on training attended.
No Cllr training had been attended since the last meeting. As requested, Cllr A Woods had been sent a printed version of the Training Bulletin by post.
1032. Clerks report
a) Police crime stats are now being delivered in a new format, link added to PC website. Gainsborough Rural South | Police.uk (www.police.uk).
b) Community Beat Officer, PC 991 Samantha Key, introduction email received 03/01/24, circulated to all 04/01/24.
c) WLDC Standards volunteer vacancy notice received and circulated to all 14/01/24.
d) Pension regulator information updated and re-declaration completed, confirmation letter received 05/01/24.
e) Website analytics are available to view on the PC website HERE
1033. Financial Matters.
a) To approve the Statement of accounts and bank reconciliations to date.
The RFO reported balances as at 17/01/2024:
a) Lloyds Current Account (49206968) £3,205.43
b) Lloyds Bus Savings A/C (55156860) £16,372.61
Interest accrued December/January (£35.51)
c) Equals Account (31615978) £135.56
Total £19,713.60
Payments received, included in balances: NIL
Payments received, excluded from balances: NIL
Transfers:
04/01/2023 - From Current Account (49206968) to Equals A/C (31615978) £179.00
To note any approved payments made between 11/11/2023 – 17/01/2024:
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr I B Smith and it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the statement of accounts and bank reconciliation as at 18/01/2024.
To approve additional accounts for payment 18/01/2024:
Equals Account top up to £200.00 £64.44
Donation to LIVES (as budgeted) £50.00
Donation to CAB (as budgeted) £50.00
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr I B Smith and it was unanimously RESOLVED to approve the above payment of £64.44 and to defer the donations to LIVES and CAB until a request was received from these bodies.
To note expenditure against budget:
b) To discuss, agree and complete the Precept Request for 2024/25 for submission to WLDC by Friday 26 January 2024.
The Chairman issued revision B of the precept estimate for, comment, on 4 January 2024. No comments were received. No change to the previously submitted estimate request was proposed.
The final precept was set at £7000 (against a budget of £9159), representing a 13.11% increase against 2023/24.
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr I B Smith and it was unanimously RESOLVED to proceed to submit the final precept to WLDC on the above basis.
The final precept was completed and signed off; The Clerk will submit the estimate to WLDC by 26 January 2024.
1034. Highways matters
a) Footpath maintenance - Torksey Lock.
b) New Footpath - Torksey Lock.
c) Enhanced crossing of A156 - Torksey Lock.
d) Permission to site a bench in Torksey Lock.
Permission granted. See letter from Highways dated 7/12/23, by email.
e) Traffic calming measures on Maltkiln Road, Fenton.
With the exception of item d above, there were no further updates to those reported at the last meeting.
1035. Parish Speed Limits.
A156, Fenton – Speed limit reduction from 40 to 30mph and extend speed limit zone to include Leys Cottage and relocate the existing Fenton village sign to the same point. Chairman to provide update.
The Chairman reported that all the work has been completed.
The item can be removed from future agendas.
1036. Card Police Figures
To consider the purchase of out-door card-cutout police figures as a deterrent to speeding and to agree responsibilities and system for deployment.
Following discussion, “Cut-out Cops” with speed guns were the preferred option. 2 per parish. Cost for 4 is £66 each + £9.95 Delivery +Vat. Funds to be transferred from the CIL in the deposit account.
It was proposed by Cllr G. Newton, seconded by Cllr I B Smith and it was unanimously RESOLVED to purchase 4 “Cut-out Cops”, speed gun version.
The Clerk will arrange to order the items. Delivery to be made to Cllr G Newton unless otherwise advised at the time.
It was suggested that 2 figures be placed alongside each of the outbound carriageways in Fenton, and in Torksey Lock, 1 figure on the inbound carriageway on the A1133 and 1 figure on the outbound carriageway approaching Little London.
It was agreed that Cllr D Buck and Cllr I B Smith would control and deploy the figures as necessary as a “Surprise” feature and not for continuous use.
1037. Notice Board at Fenton.
It was noted that the posts had been found to be in urgent near of repair. A contractor has been approached to carry out the works, with materials procured by Cllr G Newton
Posts and post-crete have been procured. (on Equals card) Invoice handed to Clerk.
1038. Parish Project
Bus shelters x 2 on opposite sides of the A156 near the defibrillator station.
To receive any updates and to agree any further action.
Cllr D Buck gave a verbal report, supported by correspondence and documentation which he had undertaken.
a) LCC Highways had visited the 3 sites and provided illustrated documents of the proposed sites and the location which could be approved for the installation of the shelters.
b) Highways had confirmed that the proposed shelter design was suitable for the 3 locations.
c) Re-location of the dog-waste at Lincoln Road, Fenton, had been considered, and approved, with Highways supplying a new pole once the shelter was installed.
d) Stagecoach, the bus company using the routes concerned, had been informed and confirmed that there were no issues regarding the proposed shelters. They request that they be informed when a start date is known, so that drivers can be fore warned.
e) Three quotes had been received and considered. The preferable quote included the purchase, delivery and installation of the shelter. The supplier information suggested that the area would be made good ready for use, however it was agreed that Cllr D Buck double-check this, to avoid any unexpected extra works following installation.
f) Grants were available from LCC Bus Shelter Scheme, at maximum of £3,000 per shelter.
Grants were available from the Community Development Grant, details of which were discussed. It was noted that any shortfall would be made by the PC, using funds within the Lloyds Bus Savings A/C (55156860).
Action required:
g) Cllr D Buck to secure sign off approval by LCC Highways for the installation of 3 bus shelters
h) Clerk to complete grant application forms in liaison with Cllr D Buck.
i) Cllr D Buck to check regarding area to be ‘made good’ following installation (see 1038 e above).
j) Following confirmation that grant funding has been secured, the order can be placed.
The council agreed that Cllr Buck had delivered an excellent presentation and thanked him for his
considerable efforts in achieving considerable progress of the project in a short space of time.
DCllr R Pilgrim joined the meeting at this stage, 20:02)
1039. Flooding Incident due to pump failure at Torksey Lock.
Both pumps failed at the Torksey Lock pumping station on or around 27/12/23. Successive severe storm events brought heavy rain to the area on 27/12/23, 28/12/23 and 2/1/24. River Trent rose to record levels and the dyke system running to the Torksey Lock pumps backed up because the main pumps had failed and were unable to drain the dykes and the temporary pumps were unable to cope. The dykes continued to back up and they overflowed and flooded areas adjacent to them. One area very badly affected was the Trenton Lodge caravan site. The owner of that site is of the view that the flooding would have been avoided had the main pumps not failed and that the failure was due to bad management of the responsible consortium by failing to properly maintain the main pumps.
The caravan site owner has sent a letter of complaint to the consortium seeking recompense for damage to caravans, infrastructure and business loss.
The parish council supports the caravan site owner’s complaint.
1040. Vote of thanks to Chair, Cllr G Newton.
Cllr I B Smith proposed a vote of thanks to Chair, Cllr G Newton, for the valuable contribution he had made
to the Parish Council and the community, during his long service to date. This was endorsed by all present.
1041. Any urgent items for discussion
Matters can be raised and may become future agenda items. Items will only be taken if notified to the
Chairman 24 hours prior to the meeting.
Urgent repairs had been required to the replace the supports on Fenton’s notice board. Materials purchased by Cllr G Newton, on Equals card, £64.44. The Invoice was handed over to the Clerk. See Financial Report minute 1033 regarding payments and Equals Account top up of £64.44 to £200.00.
1042. Date of next meetings.
Due to the non-availability of the Chairman and the Clerk for the next scheduled meeting on 21/03/24, it was proposed that the next meeting be held on 18 April 2024 - Annual Parish Meeting – To be followed by the Regular Meeting. This was agreed.
Regular Meetings – July 18, Sept 19, and Nov 21.
Annual Parish Meeting – April 18, to be followed by the Regular Meeting.
Annual Meeting of the Parish Council – May 16, to include the Regular meeting.
As there was no further business, the Chair declared the meeting closed at 20:25
Any discussion after close of meeting is not noted.
Signed (Vice-Chair / Acting Chair).....A. WOODS....................................Date...........................24/04/2024..........................
255/2024