The Minutes of the meeting of Ashwell Parish Council held at 7pm on Tuesday 6 September 2022 in Ashwell Village Hall.
Present were: Chair, Sue Ellis; Tony Graveling; Brian Farr ; Val Harvey; Stan Davey; Ward Councillor June Fox. Clerk was Sally Harnett.
1 There was no apology for absence.
2 Val Harvey declared an Interest in the item of Village Hall updates
3 The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.
4 Matters Arising from the last meeting.
Mobile Post Office for Ashwell. It was decided to get solid numbers of residents who would be interested, as the post office have requested, due to Ashwell being smaller than its usual villages for visiting. A leaflet to be distributed to every household explaining that the mobile post office provides the same service as a post office counter, including banking. SE to action this.
Telephone kiosk. The new K6 kiosk has been installed in the original place though with some changes to the slabbing to ease the movement of cars passing the kiosk. The power is about to be installed by Western Power, the biggest problem has been that it is an unmetered supply. The defibrillator will be installed on 07/09/2022. This matter has taken 11 months to complete since the accidental demolition of the original kiosk, a listed building, and Brian Farr, Val Harvey and Tony Graveling were thanked for their efforts.
Memorial poppies on village benches. Prices will be researched from the Royal British Legion and others.
Jubilee trees on verges. Verges in Ashwell are mostly not wide enough, except out towards Oakham or on the Teigh Road. Enquiries will be made concerning costs, and Stuart Kidd at RCC will be approached for advice.
Coronation bench. The bench commemorating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II has been removed for restoration. It could be reinstated by the firm of Overwrought in Uppingham. It will be secured to a concrete raft, with extra strengthening for the raft. Stan Davey was thanked for his hard work in improving the bench, assisted by Sue Ellis.
The invitation by the Lord Lieutenant, Sarah Furness, to the church service in Oakham Parish Church to commemorate military, voluntary and emergency services was attended by Mr and Mrs Stan Davey. It was reported to be excellent, with a full to standing room congregation.
5 Finance report by Tony Graveling
The present balance stands at £12.070.87. The cost of re-installing the defibrillator in the telephone kiosk is £250 plus VAT. A further invoice for £46.80 is due to be paid for new defibrillator pads.
Stan Davey has obtained a quote of £485 + VAT from Overwrought in Uppingham to refurbish the Coronation seat near Croft Lane. A justification for the work has been made. A quotation from J & M Fabrications for the work amounted to £708.
Resolution: To proceed with the seat refurbishment and accept the quotation from Overwrought of £485 + VAT.
Proposed by Val Harvey, seconded by Sue Ellis, passed unanimously.
Ashwell Village Hall committee has requested a donation towards purchasing and installing an external defibrillator at the Village Hall. £1500 would cover half the cost of the defibrillator, plus £1000 towards the audio visual equipment.
Resolution: To donate £2500 to Ashwell Village Hall:
Proposed by Tony Graveling, seconded by Sue Ellis and passed unanimously.
The remainder of the Community Infrastructure Levy amounting to £771.51 can be used in the monies donated.
APC has been advised that the External Auditor for the financial years 2022-2027 will shortly be appointed. PC can opt to use the appointed auditor, or opt out and pay for another auditor. It was decided to continue with the sector-led auditor as in previous years.
The clerk, Sally Harnett, was thanked for all her work and wages of £280.83 for 23 hours work since 24May2022 were paid. Also Statutory Holiday pay for 2021-2022 of £159.95 was paid.
Resolution: to appoint a further bank signatory, Stan Davey,
Proposed by Tony Graveling, seconded by Brian Farr and passed unanimously.
Tony Graveling was thanked by the Ashwell Parish Council for all his work.
6 Planning.
A letter had been received from a resident complaining about the state of the plot of land opposite 1 Langham Road. The resident had been advised to contact RCC direct, and had informed that a planning officer had visited, but he had said there may not be any authority to enforce clearing up. It was suggested that the complainant could write directly to the owner and again to the council, especially if rats infest the plot.
Solar farm at Exton. The proposed farm is close to the historically important Barnsdale Avenue, formally named the Queen of Bohemia’s Drive, later the Princess Elizabeth Drive in honour of the daughter of King James 1, the drive is not listed. A public presentation has been held at Exton Village Hall. There are dwellings immediately adjacent to the site which is owned by the Exton Estate.
Questions raised concern the height of the panels, possibly 11 feet, the noise, and fire risk, as these panels have to be left to burn out unattended.
All residents of Rutland can make a response to this and to the proposed Mallard Pass Solar Farm at Essendine, it was decided that individual comments and response would make more impact at this stage of both Rutland Solar Farms.
Ashwell South on the Rutland Local Plan maps. APC contacted RCC to insist there was no such area. The reply was that now that the previous Local Plan had been cancelled and a new Local Plan was being put together, RCC would bear in mind the complaint. It was decided to keep up the pressure to have this changed as it would more than double the size of Ashwell if pushed through.
The Options from RCC document had been examined by APC, it was decided that individual comments on line would be best, in the past too much time had been spent by unpaid volunteers preparing responses to RCC, only to be ignored. The closing date was due in less than 2 weeks.
7 Highways. There was some discussion on the new bus timetables. There has been a significant reduction in the number of buses on the R1 route through Ashwell, and very few that connect with the R9 route to Stamford. This would mean less sustainability for Ashwell, when more is needed. Ward Councillor June Fox said she would raise the matter at the Transport Scrutiny meeting at RCC.
Footpath near to Ashwell Hall Stables Lane. This continues to be in a poor state. It was reported on FixMyStreet by APC and residents, resulting in a contractor scraping off the top surface layer, leaving a very uneven remaining surface. A resident has reported a recent fall on this length of footpath. There is concern that worse could happen. The sides are overgrown with grass, with now only a narrow strip between. APC has asked many times over the years for the grass edge to be cut back to a proper width. At present pedestrians are often forced to walk on the grass surrounding, and pushchairs and invalids buggies cannot easily be used here.
It will be reported in FixMyStreet yet again, and a letter written to RCC.
The Oakham Road ditch between Water Lane and no.20 is still clogged with vegetation, this should be cleared to avoid flooding.
Road surface conditions on the bends on Cottesmore Road in the village are still in a poor state, this will be reported on FixMyStreet.
There are cracks in the single track road from Ashwell to Langham, also many cracks and dips in the crescent area of Langham Road.
It was decided to press for RCC to again inspect the flooding areas near to the kiosk in Cottesmore Road and in Brookdene opposite Swallows Dene. Photos will be supplied to RCC of the flooding. Councillor Fox reported that it had been decided at RCC that the repairs would be too costly to proceed.
8 Public forum. There were no members of the public present.
9 Correspondence.
Amy Crawford from Healthwatch has offered to come to a parish council meeting to explain the work of Healthwatch NHS. It was decided that a decision could be made at the December meeting of APC for a visit in the Spring.
9a adoption of new Code of Conduct.
Resolution: To adopt the new Code of Conduct.
Proposed by Sue Ellis, seconded by Brian Farr and passed unanimously.
10 Any other business. Items for discussion at the next meeting.
Councillor Fox would like to hold surgeries during half an hour before the next meeting, 6Dec. Enquiry will be made to Village Hall booking secretary.
Councillor Fox suggested that Ashwell might open the village hall as a warm meeting place for residents, as home heating costs were predicted to rise severely. This will be forwarded to the Committee of the Village Hall.
Proposal: Sue Ellis to be Chair of the next meeting. Proposed by Val Harvey, seconded by Stan Davey and passed unanimously.
- Dates for future meetings. Tuesday 6 Dec 2022. Tue 7 Mar 2023. (Election Year for Parish Councils – date of election 4 May 2023). Tue 23 May 2023. Tue 5 Sep 2023. Tues 5 Dec 2023.