DISTRICT COUNCIL

MINUTES of the meeting of RENEWABLE ENERGY LIAISON PANEL held in the Committee Room at the NKDC Offices on Tuesday, 2 July 2013, 11.00 am - 12.15 pm

PRESENT: Councillor Richard Wright - Chairman

Councillor Robert Hipworth Kirkby-la-Thorpe Parish Council Councillor Brian Watson Sleaford Town Council Mike Harrison Eco2 Rhys Clarke Eco2 Philip Roberts NKDC Jade Warren NKDC Anne-Marie Shepherd NKDC Debbie Scott Kirkby-la-Thorpe Parish Council Mrs Shelagh McIntyre Sleaford Town Council Melanie Waddingham Sleaford Town Council Cheryl Cropley NKDC (Secretariat) Lindsay Tomlinson NKDC (Secretariat)

1 Election of Chairman for 2013/14

Councillor R Wright was elected unopposed as Chairman of the Panel for 2013/14.

2 Election of Vice Chairman for 2013/14

Councillor R Hipworth was elected unopposed as Vice Chairman of the Panel for 2013/14.

3 Apologies

Apologies were received from Councillor D Dickinson, David Fisher and David McDonald.

4 Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 April 2013 were approved as a correct record.

5 Matters Arising from the Minutes

The Panel discussed the scoring system for funding applications and issues that had arisen around copyright of the application form. It was agreed that officers would work on developing a new form, with amended wording about the criteria and requirements and that the final version, which would bear no resemblance to the Community Foundation form and would therefore not breach any copyright, would be sent to the Chairman of the Panel for approval.

6 Public Art Installation

NKDC’s Leisure and Cultural Services Manager updated the Panel on the project to commission a public art installation at the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant.

Arts NK had been commissioned to prepare a brief for the piece working closely with Eco 2, North Kesteven District Council and members of the Sleaford Energy Liaison Panel. The draft brief for the project was discussed by the Panel and agreed that a sub group comprising representatives from Kirkby-la-Thorpe Parish Council, Eco2, Mike Lock and Nick Jones be set up to agree the shortlisted schemes. It was hoped that the artwork would be installed in time for the plant becoming operational in January 2014.

7 Apprenticeships

As part of the Eco2 Wellbeing agreement, £75,000 had been allocated for an apprenticeship programme to be administered by College. The aim of this money is to fund a number of apprenticeships within the construction phase of the Renewable Energy Plant.

To date, two apprentices had been taken on in construction by Carters who were involved in the redevelopment of the swimming pool in Sleaford. These were both partly funded by the Eco2 fund and by Carters themselves and due to the significant contribution from Carters the amount allocated for these apprentices from the Eco2 fund had been £20,000 in total, demonstrating excellent value for money.

It was not proposed that the remaining £55,000 allocated for the Eco2 apprenticeship scheme should be used to fund three further apprenticeships within the construction sector.

Three contractors had been identified and all three apprenticeships would be placed on NKDC housing projects for the duration of their apprenticeship. The Panel considered a number of options for the management of these apprenticeships and agreed that the preferred option was for the apprentices to be employed by Grantham College.

The Panel agreed to approve: 1. The transfer of £55,000 to Grantham Collage to facilitate 3 apprenticeships within the construction sector. 2. The transfer of £7,500 to Grantham Collage to administer the apprenticeship programme.

8 Funding Applications

(i) Sleaford CAB Sleaford Citizens Advice Bureau had requested funding of £19,955 to help support clients with the move towards online access for Universal Credit.

Decision: The Panel refused the application on the grounds that it did not comply with the agreed criteria. However, the Panel asked that the applicants be informed that a revised application, in line with the criteria, would be welcomed.

(ii) Sleaford and District Civic Trust Sleaford and District Civic Trust had requested funding of £8,000 to commission a contemporary structure to commemorate a local Sleaford hero, Les Gostick.

Decision: The application was rejected on the grounds that it did not fulfil the agreed criteria in that no consultation had been undertaken within the local community.

(iii) Sleaford Concert Band Sleaford Concert Band had requested £8,000 to purchase fifty new uniforms for band members.

Decision: The application was rejected on the grounds that it did not fulfil the agreed criteria in respect of their being any value for the wider community.

(iv) Spires & Steeples Challenge 2013 Leisure in the Community had requested £2,500 to purchase gazebos for use during the Spires and Steeples Challenge.

Decision: The application was rejected on the grounds that it did not meet the agreed criteria as the applicant was not based in Sleaford or Kirkby-la- Thorpe, nor did the event benefit either of those two communities.

(v) Services Committee, Sleaford Town Council Sleaford Town Council had requested funding of £6,400 to purchase two timber clad compost toilets for two allotment sites in Sleaford.

Decision: The application was rejected as the Panel wished to first see details of the funding provided for the project by Seaford Town Council. The Panel therefore recommended that a revised application be submitted.

(vi) ArtsNK Zygote Festival ArtsNK/Leisure in the Community had requested £3,000 towards the cost of the Zygote Arts Festival to be held in Sleaford during October 2013.

Decision: The Panel approved the application, with the condition that funding would be released once appropriate invoices had been supplied to NKDC.

9 Eco2 Public Footpath Fund

The Panel noted that following discussions with Kirkby la Thorpe Parish Council and officers at both NKDC and LCC it had been agreed with Eco2 that a one-off contribution would be made by Eco2 towards a major highway improvement scheme between the site on Boston Road and the A17 overbridge to the east.

The scheme involved removing an existing sub-standard concrete footway and replacing it with a shared use footway/cycleway between the access to the site and the A17 overbridge at Kirkby la Thorpe. An approvals report had been signed by the Chairman of the Panel on 16 May 2013 and submitted to Glennmont. Confirmation had been received on 21 June 2013 that the funds had been received by NKDC on behalf of County Highways.

10 Press & Publicity Update

Mike Harrison advised the Panel that there had been some publicity about the apprenticeship scheme in the local press.

The Panel discussed the shop premises that were being used to promote and advise on the redevelopment of Sleaford swimming pool and suggested that Panel members could attend to give information about the community fund and the work of the Panel.

11 Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Panel would be held at 11.00am on Tuesday 8 October 2013 at the NKDC offices.

12 Any Other Business

Cllr B Watson asked if an application for funding had been received from the organisers of the Sleaford Carnival. Officers advised that no application had yet been submitted.