2021 Minutes

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Minutes of the meeting of Sutton Bridge Parish Council held 7pm Tuesday, 30 March 2021 via remote attendance.

Present: Cllr Simon Booth (chairman), Cllr Anne Scarlett (vice-chair), Cllr Michael Booth, Cllr Chris Brewis, Cllr Kim Davies, Cllr Ray Perkins, Cllr Dave Summers, Cllr Terry York, Mr Robert Smith (Clerk), Mrs Karen Croxford (Admin. Assistant.), Mr Simon Chamberlayne (Enso Energy), Mr Peter Elms (Alpaca Communications), 3 Members of the Public.

Absent: all members were present

Cllr S Booth greeted everyone present and informed them that the meeting would be recorded. 

21.053. No apologies were received.

21.054. There were no declarations of interest.

21.055. A presentation was given by Alpaca Communications and Enso Energy on a proposed solar farm on land south of Gunthorpe Road. A similar scheme had recently been granted planning permission at Walpole Bank. As the land straddled the county boundary, the company had submitted a screening opinion request to both South Holland District Council and King’s Lynn Borough Council for the Gunthorpe Road site, and a presentation would be made next month to Walpole Parish Council. The site was being looked at as there was a grid connection opportunity at the Walpole National Grid sub-station. Several ecology surveys and a feasibility study were underway. Due to COVID-19, the traditional consultation process could not be followed, so events and information were to be posted online. The Parish Council would be a statutory consultee and would be fully informed as to when and how the formal consultation process would progress.

The following questions were raised by councillors:

1. Were there any real agricultural benefits of having grazing sheep on the site? The Walpole Bank Scheme had a planning condition to provide a sheep grazing management plan. 

2. What measures were in place to decommission the site after the 35 years lifespan? – As a tenant, the company would have a legal obligation to decommission and restore the site at the end of its lifespan. Typically, an amount was taken from funds generated by the project and put into a bond to ensure money was in place for decommissioning in case of insolvency.

3. A query was raised about the boundary lines to the neighbouring parishes – this would be checked.

4. What was the total acreage of the site? – this information would be looked up and reported back.

5. What security would be provided? – The site would be protected with deer fencing and remotely monitored cameras with motion sensors.

The Chairman thanked the company for the presentation.

Mr Chamberlayne & Mr Elms left the meeting at 19:23pm 

21.056. There was no public participation.

21.057. It was resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held 23 February 2021.

21.058. Police matters:

01. With Covid -19 restrictions lifting, it was resolved to reinstate the temporary covid-19 signage in the Memorial Park.

02. It was resolved to send a letter to the local Police team informing them of the Parish Council’s concerns over children’s safety on riding scooters along the pavement – copy to be sent to Westmere Primary School.

21.059. Chairman’s report

See appendix 1. 

21.060. Clerk’s report

01. The website had been updated.

02. Planning applications comments had been submitted as resolved.

03. The update in Unity Trust bank signatories had been confirmed.

04. Works for the drain covers in the carpark and for the pavilion drain had been ordered.

05. Bus stop refurbishment work had been authorised.

06. The Parish Council had been registered as a lower tier waste carrier.

07. Fly tipping on Wright’s Lane to be reported.

08. It was resolved to purchase litter picking equipment on behalf of Sutton Bridge Wombles, this would be reimbursed by Cllr Brewis & Booth from their district budgets.

09. The internal audit was ongoing.

10. The Clerk and Cllr Brewis attended two virtual meetings of Mutual Gain World Café.

21.061. To receive reports from District & County Councillors

01. Cllr M Booth reported:

i Thanks were expressed to Sutton Bridge Wombles for undertaking a wonderful job collecting litter around the village. This should be encouraged to keep the village clean and from their district budgets Cllr Brewis and Cllr Booth would purchase some litter picking equipment for the group.  

ii Contractors had been working on untidy sites in the district, it was hoped that Sutton Bridge sites would not wait too long.

iii The back of the industrial units at Railway Lane North had now been cleared.

iv Thanks were conveyed to all volunteers working through the pandemic throughout the district. 

02. Cllr Brewis reported.

i TSB Bank in long Sutton had unfortunately closed despite everyone’s best efforts to keep it open. However, it was hoped that one day a week in the Market House, Long Sutton would be held to deal with account matters.

ii A new urgent treatment centre would open at Johnson Community Hospital in Spalding.

iii Spalding train station would be benefitting from more consistent services between Peterborough and Lincoln that would run later throughout the day.

iv Cllr Brewis was in complete agreement with all comments that had been given by the Chairman and fellow Councillor M Booth.

v Thanks to Marc Jones the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire for selecting Sutton Bridge for the Mutual Gain project, he hoped that support would be forthcoming from members and the Public. 

21.062. Financial matters

01. It was resolved to approve payments to 30 March 2021 as below. Cllr Scarlett & Cllr York agreed to authorise on-line bank payments.

 02. Delegated expenditure £40.00 for tree works in the Memorial Park.

03. The following receipts were noted: bank Interest £60.28; agency fees for LCC picnic site £1,092.50; Garden of Rest fees £960.00. Late receipt from LCC £1,450.00 for the bus stop refurbishment.

04. It was resolved to approve grant request from St Matthew’s Church for the extension of the ongoing churchyard maintenance agreement (LGA 1972 s.214) for the next three years @ £2,750.00.

05. It was resolved to adopt the Council’s annual investment strategy for 2021-22 as circulated. 

21.063. Recent correspondence

01. It was resolved not to permit fly tipping signs on Parish Council land.

02. Student Cross remote Palm Sunday service was noted.

03. Keep Britain Tidy – The Great British Spring Clean 2021 details would be posted on the website and details provided to Sutton Bridge Wombles. It was resolved for the Parish Council to purchase litter picking equipment for the SB Wombles which would then be reimbursed by Cllrs Brewis & Booth from their district budgets.

04. It was resolved to post on the website details from Sutton Bridge Players, amateur dramatics group.

05. Derogatory comments had been made against the Council on social media and in the press by Messrs Brandon-King, Clery, and Middleton. The following responses were noted:

i Cllr M Booth stated that along with Chris Brandon-King, who was chairman of the Parish Council at the time, he had not been in favour of the marina. However, democracy had prevailed, and the Parish Council had voted to support the project. Cllr Booth recalled Robert Middleton, being strongly in support of the scheme and stating that other councillors should not be making objections. Cllr Booth added that the marina was now in place and efforts needed to concentrate on making it work.

ii Cllr M Booth noted that Mr Clery had made no apology to the chairman following the dismissal of Mr Clery’s complaint against the chairman by the District’s Monitoring Officer. 

iii Cllr M Booth stated that he would deliver leaflets on behalf of Cllr Brewis and himself to explain the situation, and this would also be reported in the press. 

iv Cllr Brewis commented that the money spent on the marina was not s106 money as claimed, rather planning clause release money. This had to be spent then, or it would have been returned to the power station. There were no proposals for a new Sports Pavilion at that time, which was during the chairmanship of Mr Brandon-King.

v The clerk reported that criticisms made against the Parish Council on social media implied that the Parish Council could have used a [2014] planning application on land at the back of the hotel to exert pressure on the Bridge Hotel’s owners to commit to improvement works to the hotel. However, the land at the rear of the hotel was removed from the title of the Bridge Hotel in 2006 and was sold off separately. There had been no ownership, or planning link, between the two parcels of land since 2006. [In any event, the Parish Council had objected to this planning application at the time but was overruled by the District Council.]

vi The clerk contradicted another of the statements made on social media, in that he had not produced a draft lease for a new football pavilion with Mr Clery, who was then chairman of the football club. As authorised by the Parish Council, on 14 August 2018 the clerk had attended, as an observer, a meeting between Mr Clery and his solicitor. At the meeting Mr Clery instructed his solicitor to draw up a lease. The clerk was not involved in the subsequent drafting of the lease. The draft lease drawn up by Mr Clery was considered in detail by the Parish Council at an extraordinary meeting held 16 October 2018 [minute ref 199.18], when it was rejected in its entirety.

21.064. The following planning applications were considered:

01. H18-0191-21: off Wharf Street. Dwelling. It was resolved to support application noting observations.

Cllr Brewis abstained from voting due to being a member of SHDC Planning Committee.

21.065. To following District Council planning decisions were noted:

01. H18-1126-20: Land to the south of Centenary Way. Change of use from agricultural land to solar farm and construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) development with capacity of up to 49.9mw with associated infrastructure and landscaping. Approved.

02. H18-0091-21: Arrochar Chalk Lane. Proposed rear single storey extension. Approved.

03. H18-0074-21: Ponderosa, Chalk Lane.  Two single storey extensions and front porch. Approved.

04. H18-0185-21: 22 Allenby’s Chase, PE12 9SY. Single Storey Rear Extension. Approved

05. H18-0125-21: 25 Railway Lane North, PE12 9LP. Extension to existing garage including upper floor with velux windows. Approved

06. H18-0109-21: Boud Minerals & Polymers, West Bank Road.  PE12 9QH. Proposed canopy for storage purposes. Approved.

21.066. Highways & footways

01. Update on outstanding matters.

i Highways had been contacted to reinstate the missing bollards in the build outs along the Bridge Road with matching bollards.

ii Streetlight not working in Royal Close reported.

02. To report any new matters

i It was resolved to write to highways informing them that Avenue Farm Road & Sluice Road needed urgent attention. 

ii Cllr Perkins reported a van parked on Bridge Road obstructing drivers view of the junction at Allenby’s Chase, it was resolved to write a polite letter to the company asking if the vehicle could be moved to a more suitable location.

iii Overfilled dog waste bins had been reported. 

21.067. Committee and Working Party Reports

01. The draft minutes of a meeting of the pavilion committee were duly received. The clerk reported that plans of a pavilion recently built by a Norfolk Parish Council had been circulated to members, and that that feedback on the building’s design had been positive. The next step was to contact the relevant parish clerk for further information, that would help move the project forward.

02. The draft minutes of a meeting of the open spaces working party were duly received. It was resolved to obtain three quotes to replace all high-risk equipment in the children’s play area, replace all the grass with suitable play surfaces, replace all fencing in the play area and a further quotation for an ongoing service contract.

03. It was resolved to book play inspection training for members and the outside operative.

04. The open spaces committee had resolved that the soon to be refurbished bus shelter should be painted black.

05. The allotment working party had inspected all the garden allotments. A BBQ which had been dumped would be removed by the outside operative. A fallen tree blocking the pathway would be removed by Cllr York. Cllr Brewis thanked members on the working party for their help with the inspection and Cllr York for his help in this matter.

21.068. There were no outside body representative reports.

21.069. As recommended by the personnel committee, it was resolved to defer consideration of any plans for the return to face to face meetings until the next Council meeting scheduled for 27 April 2021. 

21.070. There were no requests from members for items to be included on the agenda of a future meeting.

21.071. It was resolved to move into closed session on the grounds of confidentiality in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 s.1(2).    

 3 members of the public left the meeting at 20.41pm.

21.072. To consider quotes for the upkeep and maintenance of Parish Council assets. [confidential, as matters relate to commercial negotiations] 

01. It was resolved to accept quote of £140 for legionella remedial works in the sports pavilion. 

21.073. To report on and to consider staffing & administration matters. [confidential as matters relate to conditions of employment, pending grievance or disciplinary proceedings, or other personal matters].

01. Receipt of the draft minutes of the last personnel committee meeting were noted.

02. It was reported that the outside litter picker had given one month’s notice of leaving his post as he had accepted a full-time position elsewhere. Another candidate interviewed at the same time had now been appointed to commence 26 April 2021. It was resolved to thank the outside operative for all his work and pass on the Council’s best wishes for the future. 

03. It was resolved to approve the clerk’s appraisal.

04. It was resolved to approve the admin assistant’s appraisal.

05. It was resolved that staff would remain on the current NJC pay scales, and that as and when the national pay award was agreed, this would be implemented from 01 April 2021. The outside operative’s pay was not due for review until April 2022.

06. It was resolved that staff should continue to work from home. This would be reviewed as necessary, in line with government guidelines.

There being no further business, the meeting was declared closed at 20.50pm.

 Appendix 1

Chairman’s report March 2021

Simon Booth

Good evening all.

Welcome to the March meeting of the parish council,

Firstly, I would like to thank the newly formed Sutton Bridge Wombles for all their efforts around the village and also a thanks to those who are not affiliated to this group but are still litter picking where they see that it needs attending to.

Secondly and on a more serious matter, I am angered by the posts on social media and in the press today, these are blatant lies and mis information produced by three of our residents. This matter is to be discussed under late correspondence where these matters will be addressed individually, I can only assume that these posts are to anger people into standing for election on the parish council by bringing it into disrepute.

We have worked on the council with a reduced compliment for the past year due to the fact that 10 residents have insisted that the council should have an election to decide its new members of which it seems that none of the original 10 are willing to stand and the Sutton Bridge 3 are now trying desperate means to fulfil the councils complement. 

One of the charges of the Sutton Bridge 3 is that this council is controlled by a small group and the rest follow along, and that new blood is needed, this could not be further from the truth, we have a wide diverse council where matters are debated and decided on.  At this point I would like to thank all councillors for their efforts and their support over my chairmanship.

Another suggestion via trial by facebook is that one of the 3 should mentor a candidate but be warned any serving councillor has to abide by the councillors code to which the Sutton Bridge 3 shows little regard to in their latest exploit.

To all those people wishing to stand for the Sutton Bridge Council election I welcome your nomination, but please if voted on, come to the council with an open mind and to do your best for Sutton Bridge and Wingland as we have all signed up to do,

Thankyou.