Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council

Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting (APM) 12th April 2017

Present: 11 members of the public, Cllrs C Martin, S North, R Sheldon, N Williams, Janet Guest Parish Clerk

17.29 Introduction – Cllr Sheldon introduced the purpose of the meeting as being where the Parish Council invites Parishioners to express their opinion on issues in the Parish. There were no votes taken on any issues raised in this meeting.

17.30 Approval of minutes of the APM 18 May 2016 – have been signed at the Parish Council meeting on 6th July 2016

17.31 Matters arising – none

17.32 Open Forum – presentations were made to the meeting by Thorpe on the Hill Scout Group and Lincoln Featherbenders & Flyfishers regarding use of the Parish Lake and these are attached.

Following the presentations members of the Parish raised and discussed the following

1. Parish Lake – following the presentations there were a number of points raised and questions asked

In the scouts presentation it was mentioned that part of the lake for general use would be out of bounds to scouts which the Scouts leaders would enforce when using the area

Will villagers be able to walk round given it’s a parish asset? It is never the intention to keep the parish out if either group are allowed to use it.

Maybe the Parish Council should ask Whisby Nature Park for advice on Public Liability insurance as it is a similar facility

Would the scouts and Fly-fishing have to sign a lease? The Fly-fishing club commented that they would expect to sign a lease and would not start the work until that time.

Explain the amount of time the specific groups would have access to the lake? Fly- fishing commented that it would be as and when but there would only be 2-3 people at any one time. Scouts meet once a week for 2 hrs regularly then foresee once a month for water sports

What toilet facilities would there be? Scouts responded to say they hoped there would be a porta cabin on site with toilets which others could use

The Land Registry documentation have now been received and the Parish Council as the owners of the lake and land. Insurance has been taken out for Parish Councillors and contractors to access the site and not the general public. This is supported by relevant signage on the gate.

The Chair asked if there were any other interested groups in the village other than Scouts, Fly-fishing and parishioners walking round that wanted to express and interest. There was none so the Chair asked if anyone would be interested in attending a meeting to progress use of the lake. 2 came forward from each group of Scouts, Fly-fishing, Parish and Parish Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 1 of 6 Councillors. They will use the Planterior report in the future as it has a lot of good practises to refer to.

It was commented that the transfer of the lake had been started in 1999 and it was good to know that ownership had been transferred to the Parish.

2. Oliver Roper Charity – concerns were raised about the Oliver Roper charity being disbanded and that wider consultation of the parish should take place.

3. Hedges overgrowing village paths bordering the highway – concerns were raised that the paths are difficult to negotiate with buggies etc. and people end up walking on the road. The parishioner who raised this said they would email a letter to the Parish Council regarding the issue

4. Traffic in the Parish – tractors are travelling through the village under the speed limit but if they have large tyres on and / or a trailer it is very frightening. If a car is coming the other way the tractor has to mount the verge, often at speed, to avoid a collision. It is possible to send a letter to farmers asking them to be more respectful when traveling in the village.

If people got the number plate off the tractor, date and time of incident it could be reported to the police.

5. Bulb planting – an appeal to Parishioners for their spare spring bulbs was made. It would be able to use them to plant on Parish verges or plots of land such at the allotment verges. If anyone has any they could bring them along to the Parish Office on a Friday when the Clerk is in.

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 2 of 6 Presentation by Lincoln Featherbenders & Fly fishers

This is a brief statement explaining who we are – how we would like to use the lake – the environmental advantages we would bring to the lake – the contribution we would make to the development and upkeep of the lake – and the long term effects of stocking trout in the lake.

The Lincoln Featherbenders and Flyfishers started over thirty years ago as just a fly tying club, but now has a summer programme of club fly fishing activities. It is very much a local club with four members who live in the village and one who lived, not long ago, in Blacksmiths Cottage. We have 27 members and all but four live in Lincoln or within four miles of the city centre.

For the last seven years we have had a close relationship with the village having all our winter programme of fly tying in either the Bowls Club Pavilion, or for the last three year in this building

We are applying to use the lake as a stocked trout fishery for fly fishing.

It has been explained to me that when LaFarge gave the lake to the village they asked that it be used for ‘Quiet Recreation’. I cannot think of an activity that does not, more perfectly fit this request for quiet recreation.

There are two major divisions of fresh water angling, coarse fishing and fly fishing. Coarse refers to the medieval word for hunting, and coarse fishing, and hare coursing are the last two types of hunting that retain the name. At the last count there were twelve coarse fisheries within ten minutes’ drive of the village. A fly fishery would make Thorpe Lake unique in the area.

We believe that fly fishing would be the perfect activity for this lake.

Coarse fishing relies on bait to catch fish. Worms, maggots, bread paste and often nowadays manufactured power baits. Fly fishing uses flies tied with fur and feathers to represent the natural food that the fish are eating.

The flies we tie represent natural insects. Those that live in the water called aquatic insects and those that are blown onto the water from the land, called terrestrial insects. If there are not a sufficient supply of aquatic and terrestrial insects in the lake the fish will starve. Fly fishers need the natural environment to be abundant and varied. They will never do anything to affect the natural environment and indeed work hard to improve it.

Many coarse fish tend to feed by stirring up the mud on the lake bottom. Trout feed high in the water and on the surface. The water must remain pristine clear and clean for trout. Fly fishermen are as concerned for the natural environment as they are for the fish they catch. With fly fishing the lake would remain a haven for both the aquatic and terrestrial wild life.

The Featherbender and Flyfishers would not expect to be able to fish the water without making a significant contribution to the upkeep of the lake. The Health and Safety Report commissioned by the Council required some immediate development work to be carried out and listed the annual – biannual and monthly maintenance work required. One immediate task was to clear the margins of the self-seeded alders. The Featherbenders would accept responsibility for this initial work. They would also make an annual financial contribution to the Council for maintenance. This would be difficult in the first year since it would cost over £3,000 to stock the water with trout, but in subsequent years the Club could, initially, afford £1,000 per annum.

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 3 of 6 The Angling Trust is the body recognised by the Government to manage angling. One of the services it offers to both its individuals and clubs is a Public Liability Insurance up to £10m. As well as individual members the Club is a member and covered by this insurance.

There is one last consideration. All trout stocked are sterile by law. Rainbow trout’s life span is four to eight years. They will be stocked at two years old. If trout fishing is abandoned on the lake within three years almost all the trout will have died and the lake will be returned to the village in the same conditions as before fly fishing started.

Lincoln 27th (Thorpe-on-the-Hill) Scout Group

If we look at the lake between Eagle Lane and Station Road it does not take a huge amount of imagination to foresee a tremendous parish asset available to, and being used by, a large and varied section of our local community. The Scouts, Cubs and Beavers of the 27th Lincoln Scout Group have shown interest over a number of years as have the local Fly Fishing Club. Both groups have invested considerable time and effort in discussing the project both with their own members and with each other. The PC will also want to make sure the opportunity is there for other parishioners to enjoy the facility. It is understood from discussions with Councillors that there are no restrictive covenants of any kind with the handover by Lafarge.

Our Scout Group would like an area of the lake made safe and marked off to allow training and exercise with kayaks and canoes with reasonable access and preferably a building ; temporary or otherwise ; in which to store the equipment. Boats, paddles, life vests etc. Eventually typical Scouting activities could take place. This safe area would need signage and adequate safety provisions.

The local Fly Fishing Club would need separate areas of the bank cleared and some areas of shrub removed to allow fish to be “landed” and also safe back-casting. Signs and safety provisions would need to be in place. They would probably need to have a small shed for a safety boat and storage of some essential gear.

As a minimum both the areas for fishing and the area for water activities would need a clear pathway coming back to the entrance track and preferably wide enough for a 4x4 in an emergency.

Anyone who has tried to walk round the perimeter will understand that making the whole lake perfect and safe in an idealised concept of what the lake could look like is a mammoth task. It would seem sensible therefore to have marked areas out of bounds for general use, and to concentrate on getting some activities up and running and tackling the neglected areas in a controlled and longer term plan.

Maintenance, without a lot of money being spent, is always going to be an issue however there are tractors big and small that are capable of towing toppers. It would be useful if maintenance was organised with these in mind. In the initial stages paths/roadways could be created and these easily maintained. Most of the lake-side self-seeded plants can be pulled out using a chain and tractor but inevitably a lot of hands-on work will be needed. It will be essential that we don’t get too ambitious with the project at the start... A nucleus of sustainable activity which can expand over time should be the aim. Untamed areas would need to be marked as out of bounds but as more of the lake and area becomes useable more folk will want to lend a hand and be involved and those barriers will move. We believe it will be Important to have an overall management committee and it would be sensible to have representatives of the main bodies involved and a Parish Councillor as the chairman , Our suggestion would be two members from each of the interested groups along with two from the Parish Council.

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 4 of 6 From the 27th Lincoln Scout Group perspective. The area most easily accessible for the scouts would be the south east corner. They would need to tow a trailer loaded with kayaks and gear initially and that would be kept off site until a secure facility was available. The site would need to be made safe before scouting activities could take place. These would include more safety rings as indicated in the Planterior Landscape Services assessment. Removal of lake side alder and self-seeded trees to gain safe access. A buoyed rope marking the safe area of water beyond which will be out of bounds. (This will change as ongoing works progress) Clear and comprehensive signage to cover safe use of water craft and all those near the water’s edge.

The water should be tested for pathogens like Leptospirosis and Weil’s disease. Safety routines agreed to safeguard those enjoying water borne activities. There is a lot of detail in the Planterior report and the Management Committee should insist all is carried out correctly.

The Scout association automatically insures members for activities associated with scouting. Conversations have been held with Unity, the scout insurers, describing the probable scenario and advice sought. Parents and friends who are not members would need an additional cover and that would be provided by Unity at the Scout Groups expense. Our Group is well versed in doing risk assessments and the like as it is a prerequisite of any scouting activity however mundane. There are a number of able bodied volunteers who could be called upon to help with labour and also tractors available when needed.

The Lincoln Featherbenders and Flyfishers will naturally speak for themselves of course but their approach may not be much different. The Scouts would see this as a joint exercise and not be concentrating solely on their own specific project. Tractors trailers toppers whatever would be available for all (controlled by appropriate operators of course)

The Fly fishermen have unparalleled knowledge of lakeside vegetation and shrubs and will be invaluable in creating the sort of wildlife environment we all hope far. They have also expressed an interest in passing on some of their knowledge to our Scout Group and that would be an excellent and valuable community interaction.

The Planterior Assessment is a very useful and comprehensive document and should be used by the Management Committee. It should be widely available to anyone involved so as all have a good understanding of how work should progress.

It would encourage volunteers if the PC would state their commitment to the groups involved and from the 27th Lincoln Scout Group essential that we have something in writing so that we are covered by our insurance for work done by our members and volunteers

Members of the Parish Council ……. It’s time to make a start on the lake otherwise we will lose it and see it going back to nature and becoming a wilderness and a possible source of danger to our youngsters. There is nothing so fascinating to kids as a wild area that no-one goes to and where they can be undisturbed. Nothing is so dangerous as an unmanaged deep water lake.

A management committee with some authority to make decisions or a way of cutting down the wait between council meetings would be good. Even better if that committee can make financial decisions in its own right. Nothing is going to clog up progress like micro management from the PC.

If this doesn’t get off the ground in the very near future those who are interested now will fade away and the council will be left with an even bigger problem of what to do next.

To make it CRYSTAL CLEAR the 27th Lincoln Scout Group would be delighted to help with the Parish Lake project. From the outset we would need a commitment from the Parish Council that if we participate we would have the security of eventual access to the lake for

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 5 of 6 water and scouting activities. On that basis we would be willing to provide volunteers to work on a structured plan overseen by a small management committee. Our suggestion would be two people from each of the groups who show an interest. One of the two from the Parish Council to act as Chairman with the Secretary to come from one of the other groups.

This lake should be a very real asset to the Parish and we look forward to tangible progress in the very near future.

Oliver Chapple, Group Chairman Fran Firth, Group Scout Leader

Lincoln 27th (Thorpe-on-the-Hill) Scout Group

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting. Page 6 of 6