August News

New Rendering Sites?

The first planning meeting about the two rendering sites at Skellingthorpe and at Norton Disney is on September 4th at North Kesteven District Council. This meeting is for the District Council who are consultees, so their decision will be to make a recommendation to the County Council Planning, where I also have a seat. Elected councillors will be taking all your representations and making the two separate decisions, one on each application, to give permission, refuse or defer the decision. Secondly, if permission on any one application is granted, it will be with conditions, so your comments on what those should be are also welcome, including any suggestions of access at Skellingthorpe. Please comment on line here:
https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/residents/planning-and-building/planning/planning-applications/planning-online/
• PL/0055/18 – Jerusalem Farm, Skellingthorpe
• PL/0036/18 – Villa Farm, Norton Disney
Or e-mail dev_planningsupport@lincolnshire.gov.uk

Your representations need to go directly to the County Council and a copy to me is useful, so I can better represent your views in the meeting. 01522 782070

The September 4th meeting is held in public at NKDC, Kesteven St, Sleaford NG34 7EF The agenda will be published on Friday 24th August before 4.30pm. People can then book to attend either online or by phone. Places limited by the size of the room. To speak, ring 01529 304807. Since that is on a first come, first served basis, it is best to agree in advance who is the best person for the job, watch the website like a hawk and ring soonest.

Nominate a Local Hero
North Kesteven is inviting nominations now for a good neighbour, community spirit, young achiever, community business, contribution to the environment, the arts, to sport, to health and wellbeing or simply a long- service award. www.nkawards.org or champions@n-kesteven.gov.uk by August 17th

Development in Small Villages
Like most of our villages, Leadenham is counted as a small village in the new Local Plan and is allocated a 15% increase in housing over the 25 years of the plan to 2036. That is 27 dwellings. Development is limited to keep its character and avoid swamping by big housing estates. Permission is already given for 6 dwellings, leaving capacity for 21, four at a time by 2036, according to the Local Plan. Any more than that, requires clear public support. Leadenham has three applications for new housing estates in the pipeline. To comment, please search on “planning on line north Kesteven” or go to “www.planningonline.n-kesteven.gov.uk “
1. Redevelop behind and around the garage 1.1ha – Please comment now Application 18/0972/FUL
2. George Hotel Car Park 0.3ha has a lapsed outline permission for housing, possibly space for seven.
3. Current developer consultation is for outline permission on the green field site in front of the industrial estate.
Outline permission establishes the access and principle of development, but how many and what kind is only decided at the final stage. This would be in the hands of the new owners. 30 as currently wanted, would be a higher density of 32 houses/ha. (For comparison, Top Farm at Navenby has a density of 25.7 dwellings per ha.)
15% of the Community Infrastructure Levy CIL or “roof tax” will come back for local spend, but it is not enough to pay for new facilities. Affordable housing is only given on either 1000m², or 10 houses. The garage proposal is just below this. Infill is unlikely to attract any affordable housing. All this does not include the Station site, nor any empty homes, which count in the max. capacity of 21.

Empty Homes
Stewart James at NKDC is responsible for working with owners to get these occupied. Not only is it better for people locally, but it also attracts a bonus pay-out from the government. 01529 308 297 or emptyhomes@n-kesteven.gov.uk
Quarry near Stapleford: Phase 2
Norton Bottoms Sand and Gravel Quarry has only one access, onto the A46. Breedon Southern Ltd have 7 months left to run on their current 78ha first phase. There are three more sections, totalling 228ha, expected to last 14 years. The whole site is already allocated in the Local Plan, so the principle is already set. We have worked on the conditions. The work will be 100m from nearest dwelling, behind a bund. As we requested locally, the bund will be temporary, have a more gradual slope than usual, and moves the work back slightly from the dwellings as we requested. The sound at the nearest dwellings will be below the maximum 55dB allowed by law. (A typical conversation is 60dB.) Dust and noise is controlled by handling the gravel, wet and with small drop-heights. Sadly, the bridle path highway, Breck’s Lane from Stapleford to the wood will have to be temporarily redirected round the site and restored afterwards. Restoration of the first phase site will begin as soon as it is complete. A network of new permissive paths will be installed around the restored woodland, meadow, lake and farmland.

More Planning
Mushroom Farm, Boundary Lane, North Hykeham
Yet another retrospective application was passed for a storage building, two diesel tanks and a large water tank in case of emergencies. The water tank is outside the site.

Nocton Heath Café
Stirlin Developments have purchased the site and are preparing an application for housing and business units.

Care – What do you think?
Everyone will either need adult care or know someone who needs care. Councils have reduced costs to the point where some care companies have gone bust or handed back the contracts, for lack of profit. Land with permission for a care village at Wellingore is currently for sale. Nationally, we are £3.5bn short by 2025, just to keep the service as the current level.

So how should it be funded?
Already Councils have put up tax and charges, and only provide care that is absaloutley essential and where relatives cannot cope.
You may have seen me on TV this week, helping to launch the national debate. The government’s dicussion Green Paper had not appeared as promised, so the Local Government Association where I am Vice Chairman has taken up the reins. Options include benefits that are not currently means tested; income tax, national insurance or a separate care fund, and you may have other ideas.

Please let us know. www.futureofadultsocialcare.org.uk

Cliff Cluster
The Cliff Cluster is nine Cliff Village Parish Councils working together. They are doing two things:
1. Helping to reduce speeding by purchase of a Speed Indicator Device, and new signs as part of a strategy. 2. We are organising a series of Centenerary events along the Cliff Edge on October 14th 2-5pm

Three Big Centenerary Celebrations:-
RAF, Armistice and Women’s right to vote in Parliament.
Thanks to Liz and Colin East who are researching the local connections with the events. Can you help?
Three Celebrations contin.
Did you know RAF Guy Gibson’s wedding was at the Lion and Royal, Navenby? Local women worked in the munition factories in Lincoln. That was the start of women being seen as able to do jobs outside the home and then after armistice, to vote in Parliament, a hundred years ago.

Previously, we celebrated 100 years of the RAF locally with a baton travelling round the county, arriving at Witham St Hughs for a presentation to the children. Thanks to Mathew Jeffrey for organising it and joining me for an evening in Parliament.

Highways
We have at last some significant improvements, and more are needed.
Please keep saving lives by reporting dangerous potholes.
You can phone 01522 782070 or better, mark the location on the map using the link from the home page of the County Council website, called “Report a Highways Fault”. It is the start point I need to chase them up.

Local Issues, national solutions
We shall continue to have good access to government nationally this year as I was re-elected Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association at the AGM last month. Attended by 1,400 leading councillors and 100 exhibitors, it is a vibrant buzz of ideas and knowledge for us to do the best job possible for our residents. I chaired five sessions, on the rural economy post Brexit, a better system of voting (PR), the vision of Independent councillors and equality for women in politics in this centenary year. The Welsh Local Government Conference was a model of local government refusing to be rail-roaded by ministers into another round of council “re-organisation”.

Some Recent Events

Mark Walsh at the finale of the Navenby Archaeology Group

There was a warm welcome from the Mayor, Lincolnshire Independent Steve Palmer, to a very popular Bike Festival at Sutton on Sea

Cllr Steve Palmer on Mayoral duties welcoming bikers on a rally at Sutton on Sea

Wildlife Watch Pond-dipping and sea-dipping last month. August 18/19th is the camp at Hilltop Farm, Welbourn. Contact me or Jean on 01636 626176.

Wildlife Watch Group of children enjoy pond and sea-dipping at Gibraltar Point

Thanks to the fifty people who made it to the Concert in our Garden to hear the Kesteven Quartet – fabulous! There are two more concerts in 8th/9th September – see the diary of events. Next is the Big Folk Festival in Leadenham on 5th August.