2 August 2023 - DRAFT Operations Committee
Ruskington Parish Council
Minutes of an Operations Committee meeting held on Wednesday 2 August 2023 at the Parish Office at 7pm.
Present: Cllr O Ditch (Chairman of Committee), Cllr Bain, Cllr S Cotter, Cllr G Cox, Cllr L Tomlinson, Cllr M Trolley, Cllr A Jennings
Also in attendance: Mrs Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council), Mr Andrew Doughty – Environment Caretaker for Ruskington Parish Council
No members of the public were present.
The Chairman opened the meeting at 7pm.
1. To receive and accept apologies for absence.
All committee members were present.
3. Receive declarations of interest and consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.
None were declared at this time.
At 7.03pm Cllr Bain joined the meeting.
The Chairman asked the Committee if agenda items 4 and 4.1 could be considered in advance of agenda item 3 to allow the Environment Caretaker to take part in the discussion on the Emergency Plan.
Action: Council unanimously RESOLVED to consider agenda 4 and 4.1 before item 3.
At 7.08 pm. Cllr Tomlinson joined the meeting.
3. To review the Emergency Plan and agree recommendations for the Council to consider.
The Emergency Plan had been reviewed. There were various versions, and all were out of date. Mr Doughty has undertaken activities with the Environment Agency to raise awareness of flooding for the houses most at risk in Ruskington and would be taking part in this activity again on 8 August 2023. Mr Doughty held detailed lists of the contents of the emergency plan boxes and lists of useful contacts for equipment, venues, and businesses.
3.1. To consider a committee or working party for the Emergency Plan.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to set up a working party to rewrite the Emergency Plan using the latest template available from the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum.
3.2. To recommend members for the Emergency Plan committee or working party.
Action: Cllr Ditch and Mr Doughty were appointed to the working party. Cllr Jennings had previously volunteered to be part of the committee. Other volunteers to be recruited.
3.3. To recommend a lead councillor for the Emergency Plan.
Action: The Committee unanimously approved Cllr Ditch as the lead councillor the Emergency Plan.
Mr Doughty left the meeting.
4. To review the concepts and proposals for Parkfield Pavilion and agree any changes for recommending to Council at its next meeting on 12 September 2023.
Cllrs Cox, Ditch and Tomlinson had reviewed the proposals in detail and created a design for the Committee to review. This was based on Proposal 3, designed by the Lincoln University students.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that Proposal 3 with the agreed amendments be recommended to Council. The RFO was to check the funding criteria to ascertain if a community café could be rented as a business. The Clerk to obtain quotes for the development of the proposal into a technical drawing suitable for a planning application. To include asking the University of Lincoln for a quote.
4.1. Amount of funding to apply for.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to recommend to Council that £100,000 of funding be applied for, based on the costs of the work required for the agreed proposal.
5. To review the following byelaws and agree any amendments for recommending to Council:
a. Parkfield playing field
b. Horseshoe Hollow
Action: The byelaws to be reviewed in detail and updated as required.
5.1. To consider creating byelaws for Elmtree play area.
Action: All the play areas were to be included within the updated byelaws.
5.2. To consider a working party to review and update the byelaws.
5.3. To appoint members to a working party to review and update the byelaws.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED for Cllr Cox to review and update the byelaws for Council to consider.
6. To consider the following regarding the village entrance signs
a. Exact locations on the B1188 allowing consent to be obtained from LCC Highways.
b. Size of the signs
b. Materials to be used
c. Design
Action: This was deferred until information from sign-making companies was available.
6.2. To agree the expenditure for two signs for recommending to Council at its next meeting.
Action: This was deferred until information and costs were available.
7. To consider the planning application 23/0756/VARCON
Proposal: Application to vary conditions 2 (approved plans), 3 (materials) and 13
(occupancy) and removal of condition 14 (register of occupancy) attached to planning
permission 19/1378/FUL (allowed under appeal ref: APP/R250/W/20/3250667) - Change of
Use of land at Priory Lakes for creation of Holiday Park including stationing of 35 lodges
and one unit for office /reception - to allow for residential occupancy for persons over 50
Location: Priory Lakes Priory Road Sleaford Ruskington NG34 9DL
Cllr Trolley presented an overview of the planning history for this application, and it was discussed in detail.
Action: The Committee did not support this application for the following reasons: The area of land lay outside the village curtilage and was not allocated in the current Central Lincolnshire Local Plan for development. Other comments included the unsuitability of the location for older people’s housing due to its isolation from the village and amenities. The previous safety concerns of an increased amount of traffic on a single-track road and lack of a pavement and street lighting remained valid. Council considered a self-contained holiday park to be a preferred option.
8. To review the CCTV at Parkfield playing field and consider ways this can be improved.
Information had been circulated prior to the meeting. Cllr Cox and the Clerk were meeting with Global Vision on 3 August 2023 at 2pm at Parkfield playing fields and the Village Hall to review the CCTV cameras and the areas they covered.
9. To agree a date for the next committee meeting.
A meeting in October to be arranged, if required.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.31pm.