DEEPINGS LOCAL FORUM MINUTES MONDAY 29 TH JANUARY 2007, 7.00P.M. WEST DEEPING VILLAGE HALL, KING STREET, WEST DEEPING PRESENT Councillor Paul Carpenter South Kesteven District Council – Chairman LCC Councillors: Councillor P Dilks SKDC Councillors: Councillor R Auger Councillor M Exton Councillor R Howard Councillor K Joynson Councillor A Moore Town/Parish Councillors: M Brebner - Tallington Parish Council (Clerk) D Hetherington – Clerk/Chairman Barholm and Stowe Parish Meeting Councillor P Naylor – Langtoft Parish Council Councillor P Roffe – Langtoft Parish Council Councillor R Sorrell – Tallington Parish Council Councillor J Stowe – West Deeping Parish Council (Chairman) SKDC officers: Ian Yates – Strategic Director Paul Morrison – Scrutiny Officer Sally Marshall – Corporate Head of Finance and Resources Others in attendance: R Cory – Lincolnshire Free Press 17 members of the public 1. Introduction, welcome and apologies for absence Councillor Paul Carpenter welcomed everybody to the meeting, especially the Chairman of West Deeping Parish Council. Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Trollope-Bellew, Councillor Linda Colbourn (Chair of Baston Parish Council) and Councillor Tom Webster (SKDC). 2. Public open forum (i) Questions were asked in relation to the crossings over the East Coast Main Line, principally at Tallington, Lolham, Maxey, Woodcroft and Helpston, although it was 1 recognised that some of these were out of county. The narrowness of many country lanes, the increase in road traffic, especially commuters travelling to and from Peterborough in peak hours, and the notable increase in rail traffic on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) particularly by GNER, Hull Trains, Grand Central, and the freight companies (EWS, Freightliner, and GB Railfreight) had all resulted in an intolerable situation particularly at the road crossing at Tallington. In the view of local residents, what was needed was a road bridge over the ECML at Tallington. During peak hours this crossing was closed to road traffic 70% of the time and the situation was getting worse. Phil Dilks on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council commented that there was cross party support at the county on this issue, recognising a problem that existed at Tallington and elsewhere. The forum agreed that unless there was a joint effort no progress would be made on this issue, the Market Deeping bypass had not improved the situation and King Street in West Deeping had become a rat run for commuter traffic. Reference was also made to the growing problem of road safety in King Street and other local back roads; there would be a fatality before too long. The forum RECOMMENDED that the secretary would write to all public agencies, the local MPs and Network Rail requesting that there be a joint approach to solving this matter as soon as possible. (ii) Members of the public complained that copies of SK Today were never received in West Deeping. Copies of the latest issue were distributed by Mr Morrison to the public and the Chairman indicated that the Council was aware that there were distribution problems and it was doing everything possible to resolve these. 90% of properties in South Kesteven did receive their copies of SK Today. (iii) A question was asked in relation to car parking in Stamford, Market Deeping and Bourne and the fact that there were no traffic wardens in the area. Councillor Exton confirmed that the Council was looking at decriminalisation of the four main areas but the matter was largely in the hands of Lincolnshire County Council. At the moment any parking infringements were a matter for the police to enforce. (iv) The Secretary of West Deeping Village Hall referred to the fact that the Diocese of Lincoln was trying to take control of the village hall. This had been attempted before in 1986 and had been resisted. Any assistance that could be given would be appreciated. Local residents feared that if the village hall did pass into the hands of the Diocese of Lincoln it could be sold off for residential or other development. 3. Minutes of last meeting The minutes of the meeting held on 20 th September 2006 were approved as a correct record subject to the following:- Minute 5 – Twin bin rollout – amend fourth and fifth bullet points to read: 2 • “People not able to manoeuvre their bins would be able to register with an assisted collection scheme. The collection crew would then collect and return the bin from where it was stored for people who have requested the assistance; • When recycling rates are measured at each household, these will be done as a percentage of a household’s total waste and so there will be no disadvantage or advantage to larger or smaller households; • All recyclables were to be put back in the one silver bin, compost waste should not be put in the black bin.” The last paragraph to be amended to read: “The bin would not be emptied as the chip activated the bin and emptying equipment. If the bin was stolen it would be replaced by the District Council. If it was subsequently found the chip would identify its origin.” 4. Updates from the last meeting (i) Mr Morrison reported that the question relating to lorries and weight restrictions through Langtoft had been referred to the County Council. A reply had been received and this was reported as follows:- “We surveyed the Langtoft junction recently. The results show only 9 vehicles, over a 12 hour period, have crossed from the eastern side of the crossroads to the west. These figures would not support any further investigations into a lorry ban, however we have written to all of the quarry operators asking them to be mindful of there being alternative routes to use in the area. In general we would not normally think about implementing a ban until lorries approached 10% of the total traffic using a road. However even then local village bans would normally only result in a worsening of conditions in adjacent communities due to displaced lorries. We did investigate the feasibility of introducing an area wide ban in this area and carried out extensive surveys to assess its effects. This showed that about 90% of lorries would be unaffected as they had legitimate business in the area and would be exempt from any ban. The area under consideration was bounded by the A15, A16, A151 and A6121. It was decided that the considerable cost of signing would not be cost effective”. The representatives of Langtoft Parish Council did not agree with the comments of the County Council on this matter and would be taking it further. (ii) With regard to the future of Deepings Leisure Centre, Councillor Auger updated the forum on the situation. Improvements had been made to the Deepings Leisure Centre and further major items had been recommended for inclusion within the SKDC budget. A further report would be made when the budget situation became known. (iii) Councillor Auger updated the forum on the latest position with regard to the twin- bin rollout. The rollout was going to plan, although there had been a slight delay in delivering bins before Christmas. This had been due to the scanning equipment breaking down, it was hoped that deliveries would be back on schedule by the end of January 2007. Three of eleven rounds had now been delivered and the fourth round was currently in the process of being rolled out. 3 (iv) A member of the public asked why bring sites were always full, Councillor Auger replied that they filled up very quickly, especially at weekends and on Bank Holidays. They were a victim of their own success. (v) As requested at the last meeting, the SKDC Principal Economic Development Officer, Nick Vass, updated the forum on economic activity within the district. He referred to the Northfield project, the creation of new units of office space and business skills training in the Deepings area. 5. Membership No nominations for membership had been received. 6. Budget proposals for 2007/08 The District Council’s Corporate Head of Finance and Resources, Sally Marshall, gave a presentation on the District Council’s budget process and proposals for the likely level of expenditure and council tax in 2007/8. She outlined the pressures facing the Council and the priorities that needed to be financed. As part of the budget process all service plans had been scrutinised and bids for increased funding would only be accepted where a business case could be made and the bid related to one of the Council’s priorities. Now that this process was almost completed the Council was consulting on its proposals and this meeting formed part of that consultation. Residents could also make comments on line via the SKDC website. The Council was required to make 2.5% Gershon savings by the Government, of which 1.4% had to be cashable and this was explained. The Council received £6.7 million from fees and charges, whilst Council tax currently generated £5.5 million for the District Council. For 2007/8, the Council was looking at a total spend of £15.137 million, which would require a 4.9% increase in the level of council tax, this equated to 10p per week for a band D property. South Kesteven District Council levied the 5 th lowest council tax in the country, whilst Lincolnshire County Council was the lowest spending county council in the country. The Forum was consulted on whether they supported the proposed 4.9% increase in council tax or whether they would prefer a lower figure, such as 2.5% (which would leave no money for investment in the Council’s priorities) or 0% (which would necessitate cuts in services).