16 July 2024 - Estate Management & Planning Committee
Ruskington Parish Council
Minutes of an Estate Management and Planning Committee meeting held on Tuesday 16 July 2025 at the Parish Office at 12.45pm.
Present: Cllr M Trolley (Chairman of Committee), Cllr D Conway, Cllr O Ditch,
Also in attendance: Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council), Kirsty Sinclair (RFO)
No members of the public or press were present.
The Chairman opened the meeting 12.45pm.
1. To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.
Cllr Tomlinson had been unable to attend the meeting and had sent valid apologies.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept the apologies from Cllr Tomlinson. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.
2. To receive declarations of interest and consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.
None were declared.
3. To receive an update on the renovation of the parish office and agree the next steps.
The Clerk updated the Committee on the work that remained outstanding (please see Appendix A). The Clerk had asked the contractor for an update, and this was awaited. At the extra-ordinary meeting held on 16 July 2024 at 12 noon, a quote for the floor coverings had been approved.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to ask the renovation contractor to complete the outstanding work that did not require the flooring to be laid or the kitchen to be installed. (Please see Appendix B). The painting of the wooden porch and its new roof were to be removed from the list of work required as the wood was rotten in several places. A replacement porch to be considered at a later date if required. Proposed by Cllr Trolley, seconded by Cllr Conway and approved unanimously.
4. To consider a meeting with Mundy’s to discuss the leasing of the office units.
NALC’s Legal Topic Note 48 “The Differences between Leases and Licenses” and Legal Topic Note 49 “Business Tenancies” had been circulated prior to the meeting and were discussed.
Action: The Clerk to invite Mundy’s to a meeting in mid-late August to discuss the lease/ licence options and agree what was most suitable for use. The Committee would meet as a working party prior to the meeting, and information and recommendations would be available for the Council to consider at its meeting on 10 September 2024.
5. To consider the next steps in the pavilion renovation, including the heating for the hot water for the sinks and showers in the changing rooms and pavilion, and applying for funding as appropriate.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED that the Clerk would apply for the change of use planning permission required following pre-planning advice from NKDC. An on-site meeting to be held with the electrician who had installed the solar panels to be arranged so that options for heating the hot water in the changing rooms from the solar panels could be agreed, with a view to heating the hot water in the pavilion in the future. The Clerk and/or RFO to apply for funding for the hot water system as appropriate. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.
6. To consider any planning applications received since the ordinary meeting on 9 July 2024.
One application had been received since the last Council meeting.
Planning Application Reference: 24/0726/HOUS
Proposal: Proposed roof alterations, including raising of the roof height, to facilitate additional first floor habitable accommodation, creation of front verandah, demolition of car port and raising of the ground floor finished floor levels.
Location: 50 Manor Street Ruskington Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 9ER
Action: The Committee required a formal flood report before Council could comment on the application.
The Chairman close the meeting at 1.54pm.
Appendix A: List of renovation work outstanding as of 16 July 2024.
Contractor to complete:
- Tiles around sink in bathroom
- Hot water for kitchen and bathroom sinks
- Install a Lincat in kitchen
- Tiles above kitchen worktops
- Porch -decorate and replace the roof (?)
- Ensure office door closes properly
- Door handles (only have catches so doors very hard to open)
- Check fire alarms and remove dust covers
- Replace trucking in upstairs parish office as promised (the silicone looks as bad as the trunking did before)
- Arrange for fire safety check
- Arrange for a building regulation inspection
- Cut down the pipe from the former toilet on the drive
- Snagging – replace trunking in the committee room, as promised, as the silicone repairs are not acceptable.
Council to complete:
- Fit the kitchen
- Install blinds for all windows
- Find cause and treat damp patches that keep appearing
- Clear a pathway from the office to the garden through the yard
- Arrange the fire safety check if the contractor were not doing this
- Repair or replace office drive (FY2025-2026)
- Due to the wood being very rotten in places, painting the porch and supplying a new roof has been removed from the list of works required.
Appendix B: Work for the renovation contractor to complete before the flooring is laid and the kitchen is fitted.
- Urgent - check fire alarms and remove dust covers
- Ensure the front office door closes properly
- Fit door handles to all new doors (they only have catches for the locks so the doors very hard to open)
- Arrange for fire safety check
- Arrange for building regs inspection
- Cut down the pipe on the office drive, from the former toilet
- Snagging – replace trunking in the committee room as promised as the silicone “repair” has not alleviated the problem of the untidy work.
- Cap and remove/ cut down to floor level redundant pipe work in the kitchen, the cupboard in the kitchen and where the sink was in a former upstairs bedroom.