Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all Members to the last meeting, of the current Civic Year, of Full Council.

Welcomes were also extended to the Officers and Members of the Public who were in attendance.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 March 2018

(a)       Minutes of Meeting held on 5 March 2018

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 5 March 2018 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

No Declarations of Interest were made.

Setting out current position of previously agreed actions as at 28 March 2018.

The Monitoring Officer noted that all items due for completion were showing black, as having been completed.

The two remaining green items, were not yet due for completion but were on track to be completed within their respective due dates.

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising be noted.

i)             Chairman of Council

ii)            Leader of the Council

iii)           Head of Paid Service

i)       Chairman

The Chairman addressed Council advising it had been a fairly busy, but enjoyable period, again snow had seen some events being cancelled or postponed.

Over recent weeks she had had the pleasure of attending a number of Events, Civic Services and exhibitions making note of the following: -

·           Market Rasen Town Council’s Civic Service held on 25 March.

·            It had been an enormous privilege to attend a celebration of Mr and Mrs Foster’s 70^th Wedding Anniversary.

·          The Bastion of the Air exhibition at RAF Scampton which recognised 100 years of the RAF and included displays of British and German planes, uniforms, equipment and other items from across the era, and was well worth a visit.

The Chairman had also hosted a number of events herself including a Flag Raising Event for Commonwealth Day, at the Guildhall, for which she expressed thanks to those Councillors who had attended.

The Chairman had also had the pleasure of hosting an afternoon tea for 8 special couples, from across the District, who were celebrating their 60^th Wedding Anniversaries. This had been a most pleasurable afternoon.  

The Chairman concluded her announcements by making reference to the upcoming Annual Community Awards Evening, which she would be hosting on 23 April and which was expected to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

ii)      Leader of Council

The Leader addressed Council and advised that on 22 March he had attended the Lincolnshire Pension Fund Committee. The new Coast to Coast group was now established with the new appointments completed to take the twelve member authorities combined fund of £45bn into a new era of investment.

The Lincolnshire fund had grown by £85.3m to £2,246m over the last quarter to 31st Dec. 2017. The Coast to Coast fund now valued at £45 billion was estimated to cost each member authority £420,000 in the first year.

This new arrangement was expected to yield a £2m saving ongoing annually, equating to a saving of £166,000 per annum per member authority on average.

At the Meeting the Committee had heard guidance from Committee Advisor, Peter Jones with regard to expectations in respect of interest rate rises, contributing factors, Bank of England predictions, and status of markets

The funding of the Lincolnshire pension fund was considered to be progressing well, with approximately 84% of commitments now funded.

The Leader had also held a meeting with Stagecoach to discuss present usage and future strategy to include the growth areas for the town and district.

A lead economic development meeting had been held at Hemswell Cliff including a tour of the Anaerobic Digestive plant. The Leader had been very impressed with the Plant, especially to see the inclusion of a gas terminal, established as part of the plant, and which would eventually be supplying gas into the national grid.

Finally, last Friday, the Leader had attended a meeting of the Lincolnshire Leaders and Chief Executives, accompanied by the Executive Director, Eve Fawcett Moralee.  This group regularly met to discuss a range  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

West Lindsey District Council was presented with a Petition on Friday 23 February 2018.

The Petition is entitled “Help Save the Bowls Hall” and contained over 400 signatures at that date.

The Petition asks the Council to: -

“Reconsider the closure of the purpose built Bowls Hall which gives so many residents of Gainsborough and the surrounding district the chance to continue their hobby providing exercise mentally and physically, competitiveness ,a social life, comradery and friendship that the Bowls Club provides”.

This matter will be debated, in accordance with the agreed Petition Scheme.

“West Lindsey District Council had been presented with a Petition on Friday 23 February 2018.

The Petition was entitled “Help Save the Bowls Hall” and contained over 400 signatures at that date.

The Petition asked the Council to: -

“Reconsider the closure of the purpose built Bowls Hall which gives so many residents of Gainsborough and the surrounding district the chance to continue their hobby providing exercise mentally and physically, competitiveness, a social life, camaraderie and friendship that the Bowls Club provides”.

The Chairman advised that the matter would now be debated, in accordance with the agreed Petition Scheme and therefore she welcomed Lead Petitioner, Mr Roy Enever to the meeting and invited him to make his five minute address to Members.

Mr Enever made the following Statement to Council: -

“I am here today on behalf of the West Lindsey Bowls Club, to present a statement in support of the petitions provided to the Council regarding their decision to close the Bowls Hall at the Leisure Centre.

The Bowls Hall has operated at the Leisure Centre since 1990, during which time the Bowls Club has provided its Members with competition, social and emotional well-being and, because of this, it has survived!  It provides neutral costs to the Council and satisfies the primary principal which Members agreed to in a new contract.

Members have been misled on sustainability, value for money to taxpayers, usage residency and availability of sites prior to voting on the closure on the Bowls Hall. The Bowls Hall has been used and survived for the last 27 years.  It is used all year round, with one of the three rinks being available for public use sessions at all times.  70% of bowls users reside in the District with an age range from 50-90 including many severely disabled users.

There is overwhelming local support from local tax-payers and the Council do not own or control another Indoor Bowls facility.  Bowls would be ranked top of any sports participation list, if the list was changed to those aged 65 years and over. Has there been an audit of all activities at the Leisure Centre to see what’s going on there?  Do not under estimate the value of social and emotional well-being for Bowls Club Members. We fit in the age bracket, where over a third undergo a severe “later life crisis”  including mental health illnesses ranging from anxiety to dementia, diabetes, loneliness often manifesting as agoraphobia and physical health problems, especially in the bones, joints and muscles. 

We are tackling these likely disadvantages proactively. We are a fully functioning community.  We keep ourselves healthy, engage in competition and teach and learn new skills through our membership. We save the National Health Service vital resources by supporting each other, engaging socially, sharing experiences, looking out for one another and sharing a common purpose.  Our life has value and should not be frittered away on some money saving exercise. 

We have been excluded from any dialogue in your decision to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

No questions had been received from members of the public.

Councillor Chris Darcel submitted the following question to the meeting: -

1)           Question to Cllr Jeff Summers, Leader of the Council

“I am most grateful for your enthusiastic support for the Neighbourhood Plans in general and the help you have given me in sorting out problems that I’ve had in making sure the Fiskerton plan is a fair reflection of local opinion.

My question is simple, what is going on and what did both you and the Council Champion for Neighbourhood Planning say to the Neighbourhood Plan Group that persuaded them to withdraw their plan from the West Lindsey website when you met them in February this year?

I would also like to know, following this intervention, what will happen now with the Neighbourhood Plan? Will there be a full and fair consultation on any revised proposals, where residents can be fully involved in the process? Will the process start again with a blank sheet of paper or will it be simply a restating of previous proposals?

I make this last point as some residents consider that the process up till now has lacked the full involvement of the community and transparency as required by the rules and regulations that govern neighbourhood planning and I would like to know whether you and the Council Champion for Neighbourhood Planning were given any assurance on these matters at this meeting.”

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Jeff Summers, responded as follows: -

“Thank you for your question Councillor Darcel.

As the Leader of our Council I feel it is incumbent of me to ensure wherever possible all business across the District is conducted in a fair and equitable manner.

It appeared there were some issues with the Fiskerton Neighbourhood Plan (NP) as it was very slow in it’s progress. As you are aware you have raised issues with myself and others regarding the emerging document and the way in which it was being produced.

In fact, I took your comments seriously and invited you to spend two hours one Saturday morning scrutinising the process after which you were unable to present to me any form of evidence which suggested the plan was not a true and accurate reflection of the community or that the process was flawed.

Councillor England and I visited the NP Chairman and Parish Council Chairman for an update on their Plan’s preparation. Councillor England and I simply discussed the options and legal requirements needed to fulfil their obligations to produce a Plan within all the statutory guidelines.

The decision to withdraw the NP was entirely that of the Working Group and the Parish Council. Neither of us were involved in that.

Your second question regarding what happens next? Our understanding is that the Group will work with their consultant to produce a compliant document and once completed they will submit the Plan to a statutory Regulation 14 six week public consultation during which all members of the community and a range of statutory external bodies, including WLDC will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

1)      “Chairman

          This Council notes that the provision of the Gainsborough Indoor Bowls Centre has benefited thousands of residents over the past 27 years.

          This Council recognises that sport and leisure provide huge benefits towards good physical and mental health amongst our residents and supports better health and wellbeing especially for the elderly.

          This Council agrees with medical research that availability to social activities help reduce social isolation and reduces pressures on important services such as the NHS and Social Care.

          This Council supports that access to sport and leisure should be for all age groups.

          The Council recognises the huge amount of public support against the proposed closure of the Indoor Bowls Centre.

          I therefore move that this Council resolves:

1) That this council temporary suspends the decision to close the Gainsborough Indoor Bowls Centre.

2) To ask the Lead Officers to carry out a further consultation process with all key stakeholders.

3) To request that officers look at a further options appraisal which includes retaining the Indoor Bowls Centre at the West Lindsey Leisure Centre.

4) To request that officers provide a further report to the relevant policy committee as soon as possible. “

Cllr Trevor Young

2)      “Chairman.

The junction of Thorndyke Way and Corringham Road (A631) is unsafe, there have been 7 serious accidents in the last few years. This junction is in the top 5 priority highway safety schemes, but Lincolnshire County Council are unable to confirm when and how they will rectify this.

Instead Lincolnshire County Council have raised objections in response to a planning application for the Northern Neighbourhood citing highway safety at this junction as an issue.

The creation of this new neighbourhood is an integral part of delivering the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. The County Council cannot use existing highway safety concerns as the basis to objecting to planned growth as the junction is already dangerous and contributes significantly to accidents on these roads and should be made safer as a matter of urgency.

Furthermore WLDC are already funding a strategic traffic model to support this growth and to develop a business case to the Department of Transport to support its’ delivery.

            Chairman

1.    I propose that with the full support of this Council I write to Lincolnshire County Council and require them to agree a scheme of works, funding strategy, implementation plan and timetable to address the current highway safety issues at this junction as a matter urgency.

2.    I propose that this Council works with our partners on the Central Lincolnshire Strategic Group to address the issues at this junction in the context of delivering the growth and the 5 year housing land supply across the area.

I so move”

Councillor Jeff Summers

Councillor Trevor Young submitted the following Motion: -

“Chairman

          This Council notes that the provision of the Gainsborough Indoor Bowls Centre has benefited thousands of residents over the past 27 years.

          This Council recognises that sport and leisure provide huge benefits towards good physical and mental health amongst our residents and supports better health and wellbeing especially for the elderly.

          This Council agrees with medical research that availability to social activities help reduce social isolation and reduces pressures on important services such as the NHS and Social Care.

          This Council supports that access to sport and leisure should be for all age groups.

          The Council recognises the huge amount of public support against the proposed closure of the Indoor Bowls Centre.

          I therefore move that this Council resolves:

1) That this council temporary suspends the decision to close the Gainsborough Indoor Bowls Centre.

2) To ask the Lead Officers to carry out a further consultation process with all key stakeholders.

3) To request that officers look at a further options appraisal which includes retaining the Indoor Bowls Centre at the West Lindsey Leisure Centre.

4) To request that officers provide a further report to the relevant policy committee as soon as possible. “

Councillor Trevor Young”

The motion was duly seconded by Councillor David Cotton and debate ensued.

In reference to aspect 1) of the motion, a Councillor acknowledged the significant impact this would have on the agreed budget and therefore sought indication from Officers as to whether it would in fact be lawful to enact such.

The Leader of the Council addressed the meeting and made the following statement in response to the Motion:-

“Councillor Young thank you for motion. I have to say that I am fully in support of a number of points which you have raised

This Council does indeed recognise the benefits delivered by engaging in sports and leisure.  As part of the proposals the leisure service will be greatly enhanced and in addition to the proposed changes at West Lindsey Leisure Centre, a new leisure facility will be provided in Market Rasen and an outreach service created to cover the whole District.

The new district wide outreach service will take activities out to communities, providing them with both exercise and social opportunities.  Currently a large percentage of the West Lindsey population have no access to the leisure service.

Across the leisure service as a whole the new contract will provide enhanced opportunities across all ages and areas of the community.  This will include having the necessary equipment to enhance use by children and young people, residents over 60 and also disabled residents.

I recognise that there is public concern about the proposed changes however the bowls hall is a vast space which is currently under-utilised and has been for a number of years. Furthermore the usage has continued to decrease over recent years.

This area will be transformed into a health and wellbeing hub which will not only provide traditional leisure and sporting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.