September 2024
Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting held 04 September 2024 at 19:00 at The Oliver Roper Village Hall
24.09.01 Councillor Bindley chaired and welcomed everyone to the meeting and reminded everyone of the Standing Orders relating to the public time.
24.09.02 Public time
i. A member of the public raised questions regarding the section on the Clerk’s report regarding the positioning of the fence between the playground and the adjoining property and submitted a site layout plan. The query was regarding the ownership of the fence and the member of the public stated that it was their fence on their land.
The Chair directed that a written response be provided to this query.
ii. A member of the public raised concerns regarding the proposed relocation of the playground gate and produced a petition signed by neighbouring residents stating that the proposed position would be on a blind corner from the perspective of vehicles driving out of West Field Lane and could lead to impaired vision of any child running out onto West Field Lane from the park.
The Chair advised that the item was on the agenda to be discussed in the meeting and that the resident’s concerns would be taken into consideration.
iii. A member of the public raised concerns regarding photo’s being taken of their property by a member of the Parish Council. The member of the public was assured that any photographs taken by the Parish Council were of the Parish Council fencing.
iv. A member of the public raised concerns regarding the cost of the village hall renovations.
The Chair advised that this was being addressed in the further correspondence section of the meeting.
v. A member of the public asked the Parish Council how many accidents have occurred whilst the playground gate has been in its current location.
The Chair responded that there had been no accidents.
vi. A member of the public raised concerns about the lack of recent information from the District and County Councils regarding the proposed solar farm.
The District and County Councillors present advised that everything was very quiet at the moment and that comments cannot be made about applications that have yet to be received.
The member of the public asked if the Parish Council would be mindful of the lack of information currently available from the District and Council Councils and stressed that the proposal ought to be a regular feature of any newsletters.
vii. A member of the public reported the overgrown hedges/trees on Station Road making it difficult for pedestrians to stick to the pavements and asked if traffic calming measures could also be considered.
Action Parish Clerk
24.09.03 District/County Council Updates
County Councillor Briggs advised that he had received correspondence regarding vehicles causing difficulties whilst parked on Fosse Lane on the corner near the Church and the garage but unfortunately, as the vehicles were parked legally, there was nothing the County Council could do to alleviate the issue. He added that he would take another look at the problem during office hours.
Councillor Briggs also advised that he had received a request from a resident asking that the 30mph speed limit on Fosse Lane be extended but had been advised that data results have shown that the reduction is not necessary.
District Councillor Elliot advised that the new bus schedules have been released but were not clear and that he had raised a query regarding this.
District Councillor Overton asked the Parish Council if they had received any complaints regarding the Lost Village Festival and was advised that no complaints had been received.
Formal Session Commenced at 19:30
24.09.04 Parish Council – Members, present, apologies for absence, declarations of interest, declarations of gifts/hospitality, training.
1. Membership: Cllrs Mark Bindley (Chair), Jason Bramford, Zoe Ives, Nick Lyons (Vice Chair), Charlotte Owen, Bob Sheldon MBE, Neville Williams.
2. Present: 1.Councillors (Cllrs) Mark Bindley, Jason Bramford, Zoe Ives, Nick Lyons, Charlotte Owen, Bob Sheldon MBE. Kerrie Vickers (parish clerk)
3. Apologies: Councillor Williams
4. Declaration of interest: none
5. Declaration of gifts and hospitality over £25: None
24.09.05 - The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 10 July 2024 were unanimously agreed as a true record by the members and signed by the Chair.
24.09.06 - To consider whether the Council will move any items on the agenda to the closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 as per Standing Order 7h.
No items were proposed, and it was resolved to discuss all items in the open session.
24.09.07 Financial matters – The previously circulated items of payment and income were authorised and noted. Appendix A
24.09.08 Budget Position - The financial report for this financial year to date was noted with no queries. Appendix B.
24.09.09 – The quarterly internal finance report was noted and available to view on the website here.
24.09.10. – The Clerk advised that she had received notification about an error on form Section 2 Box 9 of the AGAR where a figure had been transposed. This has now been rectified and the form signed and available to view on the website here.
24.09.11 . Discuss and review the Parish Clerk report on ongoing/outstanding actions. Appendix C
24.09.12 . Hall Bookings. Following the renovations, the Clerk has asked the Parish Council for additional guidance on the hall bookings and the following points were agreed.
i. The Oliver Roper Village Hall exists for community benefit
ii.The Parish Council expects that, charges for hall will be set at a level to at least ensure that the hall does not run at a loss and require a subsidy from the precept.
iii. The charge for ‘all others’ will be raised to £15 per hour for all new bookings.
vi.The listed criteria for deciding whether a booking should be accepted were agreed as presented.
v. In general, all bookings will be accepted unless the Clerk identifies a reason to refuse them, using the balance
between the benefits and drawbacks identified in the accepted list. The Clerk will consult with the Chair and
Vice-Chair as and when she feels it to be necessary.
vi. The Clerk will always take a significant security deposit against any party booking or any other booking which
has the potential to create extra costs.
vii. The Clerk will accept bookings from non-residents up to a maximum of three calendar months from the date of
receiving the booking request.
viii. The Clerk will report back to the Parish Council at each meeting regarding any problems / issues raised in relation to the ORVH bookings.
24.09.13 – Communications within the PC.
The Parish Councillors discussed the current practices, and it was agreed that when councillors are asked for a response by email, a period of 5 working days will be allowed before a null response is recorded from any individual Councillor, and any consequent decision or action is taken. The Scheme of Delegation is not affected by this decision and stands as agreed.
The question of who on the Parish Council along with the Clerk should have access to the TOTH parish email account was debated and will be decided at the next meeting.
24.09.14 Planning Applications
The following planning decisions were considered.
24/0831/FUL. Addition of 5 caravan or tent spaces to existing campground. Railway Inn, Station Road. TOTH – no comments.
The following planning decisions were noted.
i. 24/0582/PNREN. Installation of roof mounted 30.89kwp solar PV array comprising of 71 panels. Whisby
Natural World Moor Lane Thorpe on The Hill - it was resolved to confirm that prior approval not required.
ii. 24/0270/HOUS. Erection of garden room extension and extension to site boundary. The Barn, Jubilee Farm,
Middle Lane – it was resolved to approve the application.
24.09.15 – To receive and consider correspondence received that has not been circulated to the wider Parish or is not on the agenda.
i. Correspondence has been received from a resident regarding enlisting the help of the school to create traffic calming posters. The resident was put in touch with Councillor Briggs at County Council.
ii. Correspondence has been received from a resident regarding the cost of the village hall renovation and felt it excessive.
The Parish Council advised that a lengthy tender process had taken place for the renovations and the work consisted of far more than a 27 square metre extension as indicated in the correspondence.
24.09.16- Verbal updates from portfolio holders
Councillor Bramford advised that he had observed that the tennis courts were getting more use of late.
24.09.17 – Future meeting dates
Parish Council Meetings
16 October 2024, 4 December 2024
15 January 2025, 5 March 2025, 16 April 2025, 28 May 2025, 9 July 2025, 3 September 2025, 15 October 2025, 3 December 2025.
Lake Committee Meeting
23 October 2024
24.09.18– Meeting concluded at 8.56pm
Appendix A, B and C can be viewed on the PDF version or in an alternate format by contacting the clerk at clerk@thorpeonthehillparishcouncil.gov.uk
Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Parish Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting.