Report to MDTC Full Council 14^th December 2016
from South Kesteven District Councillor Ashley Baxter

SKDC Full Council
The meeting took place at 2pm on 17^th of November and was attended by 41 of the 56 Councillors. It was possibly the most friendly meeting I have attended so far though perhaps not the most interesting.

• There was a secret ballot regarding the Grantham BID (See below)
• A revised gambling policy was adopted by the Council.
• Once again we discussed whether or not to pray during council meetings. This time the Council decided it was better to have corporate prayers before the meeting rather than during the meeting (which has been my own opinion throughout the 14 months that the matter has been in debate).

Grantham BID

There was a secret ballot regarding the Grantham BID (Business Improvement District). It was later revealed that Councillors overwhelmingly supported the BID (by 35 votes to 6) and in the public ballot of businesses there was also a majority in favour (189 votes to 164). Unfortunately, the votes are weighted according to ratable value and the overall result was ‘no’ (£7.639,050 in favour and £7,639,650 against). A losing margin of 0.004%! As a result the Council has spent £27,500 and all it has in return is ‘egg on its face’.

SKDC Communities PDG

A meeting took place on 18^th November. It discussed Housing and Safeguarding policies as well as the possibility of sharing ‘front of house’ space with DWP and other government services. During this debate I drew attention to the stark difference between the SKDC services available to residents in Grantham and the unloved, minimalist facilities provided in the Deepings.

 Devolution
I am pleased to report that the idea of a directly elected mayor for Greater Lincolnshire appears to have been firmly defeated. Unfortunately, due to the intransigence of the DCLG, this means devolution of any kind for Lincolnshire has now been kicked into the long grass.

Deepings Community Trust AGM

As Treasurer of DCT I was pleased to present a report to the Community Centre AGM. The first since the merger of the DCT with the Friends of Deepings Library. The finances are currently quite healthy due to robust management of the centre and some very generous donations to the Trust not least from the Deepings Raft Race committee.

Christmas Market

As mentioned to Cllr Collins informally last week, I am preparing an on-line survey for the raft race. It seems to make sense to ask similar questions regarding the Christmas Market in the same survey and share the feedback with Cllr Collins, the Clerk and the Market Team. Please let me have any thoughts on this by Friday otherwise I will assume it is OK to proceed.

I am happy to continue supporting the Christmas market as a volunteer on the day, but unfortunately due to time constraints and other commitments I am reluctant to join a Christmas Market working party. My suggestions for improving the market remain the same as I was suggesting for at least three years on the Town Council:

• Change the start time to Noon and the finish time to 7pm.
• Increase the number of stalls
• Involve New River Retail to encourage footfall through the precinct
• Involve local businesses e.g. through sponsorship of the stage or adverts in a programme.
• Delay the lights switch-on until it is actually dark, e.g. 5pm or 6pm.

Election

For the avoidance of doubt, I am pleased to reiterate my intention to contest the new County Council seat of ‘Deepings West and Rural’. Thanks to our joint campaign earlier in the year, the seat includes the vast majority of homes in Market Deeping. If elected I will do my best to represent the views and interests of local residents to County Council meetings.

Happy Christmas

May I take this opportunity to wish all Town Councillors and Town Council staff a very peaceful Christmas and a happy and productive New Year.

As ever, if anyone needs any more information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Cllr Ashley Baxter
Independent District Councillor
for Market and West Deeping

Report to MDTC Full Council 9th November 2016

–Development Control 18th October–
I was pleased to join Cllr Redshaw, Cllr Brookes and other members of the public in requesting the Development Control ctte refer the Larkfleet Plans until they have been radically revised to take into account the view of the Town Council and the local population. I believe the slightly revised plans will be considered by SKDC next Tuesday 15th November.-

Report to MDTC Full Council 12^th October 2016
from South Kesteven District Councillor Ashley Baxter

SKDC Full Council
The meeting took place at 2pm on 22^nd of September was attended by 46 of the 56 Councillors although only 30 remained to the end at 5.36pm.
The first hour was mostly concerned with the ‘temporary’ overnight closure of Grantham Hospital. An unfortunate situation over which SKDC has no authority and little influence.
The second hour was a presentation about the Grantham BID (Business Improvement District) which was purely for information and no vote was required.
At about 5pm, after a very brief debate, the meeting approved a proposal to galvanise links with the  Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough Local Economic Partnership (GCGP LEP). This is far more useful to people in the Deepings than the Lincolnshire LEP which SKDC is also involved in.
Finally, Members’ open questions included one from me asking about progress (or lack of it) towards devolution.

Full details are available at http://moderngov.southkesteven.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=261&MId=3317

SKDC Communities PDG (Car Park working party)
Following my comments at the PDG meeting on 1^st September, an additional working party was held on 22^nd September to review a revised draft of the SKDC car parking strategy. The most important, in fact the only small but welcome change was the removal of the reference to the potential disposal of Halfleet car park.

Shareholder Committee 3^rd Oct

This meeting concerned the Council’s plans to form a Local Authority Controlled Company to enable it to do works outside the normal remit of a local authority and hopefully to make profits to offset the Council Tax requirement.

Devolution
The dismal response rate and lack of enthusiasm for an elected mayor in the recent consultation has put a ‘bump in the road’ to devolution. DCLG appears to be insisting on elected mayors as a pre-requisite for devolving control of finances from London to Lincolnshire. Unfortunately the consultation showed almost no support for a mayor. All councils are supposed to respond to the government by November. LCC and SKDC are planning extraordinary meetings during October to discuss their responses even though nothing appears to have changed since the last extraordinary meeting.

Library AGM
At the AGM of the Friends of Deepings Library I stood down from the committee having been involved since the Save the Library campaign was launched in response to the County Council cuts. Thanks to the commitment of the Deepings community including the Town and Parish Councils the library is now the busiest community library in Lincolnshire with over 6,000 members and loaning over 2,000 books a month.

Polling stations
A consultation on polling stations is currently being undertaken by SKDC. It concludes on 14^th October. It recommends the use of the Scout hut as a polling station for the new Swine’s Meadow ward of Market Deeping.

Deepings Business Awards
I attended this event on Sept 30^th as a member of the business club. It was brilliant. Really well put together and a celebration of the vibrant Deepings business community.

As ever, if anyone needs any more information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Report to MDTC Full Council 14^th September 2016
from South Kesteven District Councillor Ashley Baxter

What lovely weather we’ve had this summer. I hope you’ve all been able to enjoy at least some of it.

SKDC Full Council
There has been no meeting since June. The next will be Thursday 22^nd of September. The agenda has not yet been released.

Devolution
The consultation on a ‘combined mayoral authority for Greater Lincolnshire’ closed on August 6^th. I would like to thank the Market Deeping Town Council and local residents for responding. I have been arguing against an elected mayor throughout out and during the summer I set up a Facebook page and appeared on Radio Lincolnshire and Lincs FM to criticise the proposals.
The consultation turnout was a pathetic 0.5% of people and organisations across the county which is fewer than 4,500. In South Kesteven, only 571 people responded of whom 61% disagreed with the idea of a Mayoral Combined Authority. Lincs County Council and SKDC are now trying to interpret what they have called a ‘mixed response’ to an elected mayor (I would call it a rejection).
An extraordinary SKDC full council meeting on the devolution issue is being scheduled for Oct 24^th, by which time hopefully the Government will have been able to offer a compromise.

Boundary Review
I am pleased to say that the Local Government Boundary Commission has published its final recommendations for the Deepings. The Commission appears to have accepted the argument put forward by the Town and Parish Councils and myself that the ward boundary should follow the established boundary between Deeping St James and Market Deeping Parishes. The new Deepings wards will be called ‘Deepings East’ and ‘Deepings West and Rural’. A few Market Deeping households end up in Deepings East which means the Town Council will now have two wards, the smaller of which will be called ‘Swine’s Meadow’ (not sure about the apostrophe)!

Communities PDG
This meeting took place on 1^st September and was mainly about housing, car parking and polling districts.
On housing, it was agreed to set up a workshop session during October concerning the Council’s housing strategies.
On car parking, a proposed SKDC car parking strategy was presented and was roundly criticised by several members, not least myself. One of the recommendations was to dispose of the Halfleet public access car park near Coronation Hall. I argued vehemently that it would be unjustified to remove the only SKDC managed public car park in the Deepings. It was proposed and agreed that the car parking working group should have a further meeting and this will take place next week.
On polling stations it was mentioned that the new Swines Meadow ward of Market Deeping will need a new polling station. I suggested the Market Deeping Scout and Guide hut and have passed on the contact details to SKDC.

Rainbow Parking
I am pleased the Council is planning to discuss the New River Retail parking proposals. This has sparked some debate on Facebook, the gist of which appears to be that shoppers will tolerate the 4- hour enforcement (if long-stay is available) but are very upset about the idea of any kind of pay and display.

Photocopying charges
I note the Council is paying photocopying charges of around £800/year. I can recommend a supplier who specialises in smaller organisations and whose charges would be much less (£240/year or 1p/copy whichever is the higher). I will pass on the details to the Clerk.

Emergency Meeting
Apologies for not having attended nor sent a report to your Emergency Full Council meeting in August. I was not aware that it was taking place. It did not appear to be on the Council website or FaceBook page. Could I please request that I might be copied in to the summons or e-mailed regarding any future emergency meetings of the Council?

Wildflowers and play equipment
I was interested to read in your July minutes that Cllr Stephenson wanted more information and that Cllr Broughton had received complaints about the wildflower area. I would welcome any feedback on the scheme and would encourage Councillors to get in touch with me if they have reservations, feedback or constructive criticism.
Meanwhile, as stated last month, I intend to combine the consultation about potential wildflower areas around the town with a consultation about play equipment in the Deepings. This will hopefully be accommodated within the forthcoming Neighbourhood Plan consultation on leisure facilities and activities.

Local Plan
The local plan process continues with a SKDC Members briefing at Grantham tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Deepings Neighbourhood planning process is also making good progress.

As ever, if anyone needs any more information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Here is my monthly District Councillor’s report presented to Market Deeping Town Council on 13th July, 2016.  (I sent apologies to the meeting. My daughter was cramming for a violin exam and I was her chauffeur!).

SKDC Full Council (16^th June)

A lot of this meeting was devoted to prayers or rather discussion of how and when to pray at Council meetings. It also discussed the Council’s corporate plan 2016-2020. I commented that the plan has very few specific mentions of the Deepings.

The meeting was also the first time for many years that Councillors have been allowed to ask open questions of the Executive. I was honoured to ask the first question which was to Cllr Terl Bryant and concerned the Deepings Library. Supplementary questions are not allowed but I was pleased that Cllr Dilks and Cllr Judy Stephens later asked questions of Cllr Bob Adams on the same topic.

Shareholder Committee Training (4^th July)

The Council plans to form a Local Authority Controlled Company later this year. Initially the remit will concern the purchase, letting, sale, refurbishment and perhaps building of social housing. Once established it may diversify into other areas in order to generate profits to subsidise local services.

Communities PDG (7^th July)

This meeting concerned the forthcoming review of the Council’s Housing Strategy and other closely related issues.

Devolution

I am campaigning against the proposal for an elected mayor which would be unaccountable, impractical and expensive. I have so far voiced this opinion at SKDC, on Facebook, three local newspapers, BBC Radio Lincolnshire and of course via the current LCC consultation on the issue which continues til August 8^th.

http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/no-mayor-no-deal-for-county-1-7459404

Wildflowers and play equipment

Following e-mail exchanges with District Council colleagues, Cllr Nick Neilson has suggested we extend the consultation about establishing wildflower areas around the town. I think this might usefully be combined with a consultation about play equipment in the Deepings. I suggested this to MDTC planning and highways last week who suggested it be accommodated within the forthcoming Neighbourhood Plan consultation on Leisure facilities. I agree with this proposal as it will reduce the number of consultations and hopefully improve overall participation.

Local Plan

A local plan stakeholder consultation will take place at the community centre next Tuesday 19^th July. All are welcome. It is an opportunity to affect which sites in the District are earmarked for development.

As ever, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Here is my monthly District Councillor’s report presented to Market Deeping Towb Council on Wednesday 8^th June. If anyone has questions please let me know.

Communities PDG (12^th May)

At this meeting I asked what SKDC is doing to support volunteers. The brief answer was in two parts. Firstly SKDC some funding to LCVS and CAB.. Secondly, SKDC has allocated £300k for community organisations and projects of which about £125k has so far been committed.

I also proposed some Council meetings should be held occasionally outside of Grantham. This proposal was lost on the Chair’s casting vote.

Full minutes of the meeting are on SKDC website: http://moderngov.southkesteven.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=493&MId=3291

Extraordinary Council Meeting re Devolution (26^th May)

A depleted Full Council met to discuss supporting a consultation on the creation of a Combined Mayoral Authority for Greater Lincolnshire. Only one person offered any support for the concept of an elected mayor for Lincolnshire but this is the only devolution option currently being offered by Whitehall. Several Councillors, including me and some Conservatives, argued that it would be wrong to pay for a consultation on an model of governance that we know most people don’t want, i.e. an extra new tier of government and an elected mayor exercising power from Cleethorpes down to the Deepings. After a long discussion the Council voted by 23 votes to 15 in favour of the consultation.

Full details are here: http://moderngov.southkesteven.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=261&MId=3383

Newsletter

I have recently published a newsletter summarising some of the issues and highlights of the eleven months since I was elected to SKDC. A copy is here: https://electionleaflets.org/leaflets/13595/  Many thanks to all of you for the support and guidance you have offered during the last year.

The next SKDC Full Council meeting will be in Grantham on 16^th June.

Here is my monthly District Councillor’s report presented to Market Deeping Town Council on Wed 11^th May.

SKDC Annual Council Meeting

Cllr Judy Smith was elected unanimously to the Chair. Cllr Jacky Smith was elected Vice-Chair.

Committees were also elected. I have been returned to the Communities Policy Development Group (PDG) and will also join the Shareholder Committee of the Council’s ‘Local Authority Controlled Company’ if and when it is created.

My personal highlight of the meeting was the successful proposal to allow, for a trial period, Councillors to ask questions of each other as part of the Council meeting. It is ridiculous that this has not previously been permitted and I am glad the Council has changed its view on the issue since I first raised it back in July 2014.

The Communities PDG is currently completing a review of SKDC car parks. Market Deeping town centre was considered ‘out of scope’ but comments have been made regarding the only SKDC car park in Market Deeping (up on Halfleet beyond the Coronation Hall). It is has been mooted that this might eventually be released for development although there would be an issue concerning Public Rights of Way.

I have proposed two issues for consideration at forthcoming Communities PDG. Firstly, that the Council consider what further actions it can take to support volunteer activities across the District. Secondly, to propose that each of the Council’s committees meet at least once a year elsewhere than Grantham. This would hopefully increase the council’s accessibility, profile and in some cases educate Councillors about unfamiliar parts of the District.

Planning and Highways

I issued a press release concerning the dangerous Blenheim Road corner. This resulted in increased local awareness although it is unlikely to solve the problem of people driving too fast on a slippery road.
In response to Cllr Brookes comments about a footpath on the Persimmon estate I have raised the issue with the SKDC planning enforcement team.
I attended a meeting of the ‘Deepings First’ neighbourhood planning group but I am sure Cllr Shelton and others will report to you regarding that meeting.
I attended a Local Plan briefing for SKDC Councillors which outlined which sites have been offered as site allocations. There are nine in the Deepings which cover a very large area including the show ground on Millfield and the land behind Tesco. The Local Plan process will decide which sites are acceptable for development.

Deepings Neighbourhood Policing Forum

I attended the public session of the forum and raised the issue of the Blenheim Road corner. It is apparently not permitted for the police to conduct speed checks at that place nor for the Council to use its interactive speed sign. Comments were also made about the recent spate of burglaries and crime in the Crowson Way area of DSJ.

Deepings EU Referendum Hustings

I was pleased to organise and to Chair a debate concerning the forthcoming EU referendum at the Deepings school on Thursday 5^th May. This was promoted by the Deepings Business Club and involved speakers from different sides of the issue including John Hayes MP and Kat Boettge of the Green Party. Around a hundred people attended and most seem to have enjoyed it.

If anyone has questions please let me know. These reports are replicated on my Facebook page.

Here is my monthly District Councillor’s report presented to Market Deeping Full Council on Wed 13^th April.

Domino’s Application

After discussion with the Town Council and local residents, I had asked that planning permission S16/0108 be considered by the Development Control committee rather than decided by officers. I also set up an on-line petition which was signed by 718 people before the committee met. Along with Town Councillors Pauline Redshaw and David Shelton and a local resident I made a presentation to the committee explaining why 23 Market Place is an inappropriate site for a hot food takeaway. Unfortunately, after unhelpful comments from the Chairman (Cllr Martin Wilkins) including his view that the Deepings is a ‘dormitory area’, the Committee decided by majority vote to accept officers recommendations and approve the application.

On the positive side, the approval came with lots of conditions concerning bin storage, delivery hours, paint colour etc. The Chairman also insisted that any subsequent signage must be brought to the committee.

SKDC Communities PDG (10^th March)

This committee discussed communal rooms in sheltered housing schemes as well as Council housing allocations criteria. I raised concerns were raised about the age to which young people would be expected to share bedrooms. Officers explained that the proposed age of 21 was in line with statutory overcrowding legislation.

Local Planning Process

I attended a meeting concerning the Neighbourhood Planning process. I am sure Cllrs Shelton and Brookes will update MDTC on this. I also submitted a response to the SKDC local planning officers regarding the proposed percentage allocation of new-build dwellings in the Deepings (I said it should be lower).

If anyone has questions please let me know. These reports are replicated on my Facebook page.

Here is my monthly report as presented to MDTC Full Council on 9th March 2016.

 SKDC Full Council (29^th February)

Last month’s SKDC Full Council meeting was chaotic to say the least.

The principal item on the agenda was the Budget. Due to relentless austerity cuts inflicted by the Conservative government, local authority budges across the country are being pared to the bone. South Kesteven is no exception. This year’s budget had to plug a £300,000 gap left as a result of the County withdrawing recycling credits from the District. The likely increase in the SKDC bill will be less than £5 per annum for a ‘Band D’ household. This is in addition to increases in taxes paid for County Council, Police and Town Council services.

The Independent Councillors approached the Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Bob Adams, with a list of potential amendments to the budget but all but one of these rejected out of hand. The surviving proposal was to allocate a budget of £20,000 towards a literary festival in the Deepings. After all, Stamford Georgian Festival gets £70,000 every two years and Gravity Fields in Grantham gets far more than that. Cllr Bob Adams made it plain to the Council that he would not firmly commit to a Deepings Festival but would be happy to talk to Independent Councillors about the aspiration.

Later in the meeting the Council was supposed to discuss a motion I had proposed on Public Service services, outsourcing and transparency. Before any debate took place on the motion, the aforementioned Bob Adams proposed an amendment deleting the entire text and replacing it with his own words. This new motion was subjected to a number of proposed amendments before being defeated eventually after much confusion and filibustering. It was also bizarrely suggested that my original motion (to consider retaining services in-house) was a veiled attack on Officers of the Council. It most certainly was not.

The whole afternoon was a shocking illustration of the way the Tory ruling group continues to shutdown meaningful debate in the Council chamber.

Local Plan seminar (22^nd February)

I attended a local plan seminar which suggested the Deeping need to find room for an additional 1700 houses (on top of those already built and/or approved). The consultation process over the next six months or so will be critical in terms of taking the opportunities and limiting the damage possible from development plans.

Deepings Library

The library that LCC were expecting to close down goes from strength to strength. A disabled toilet is being fitted on the Ground Floor. I don’t expect say any more about the library in these monthly reports.

Wildlife

Despite the consultation, meetings, reports and e-mails, the Glendale contractor ‘accidentally’ mowed the entire field where we have been planning wildflower verges idea on Tattershall Drive. This may turn out to be a blessing in disguise as (surely?) they won’t make the same mistake twice and the grass should get a bi-annual cut in any case. The designated areas have now been clearly marked out.

Pizza Petition

Hopefully most of you have seen and signed the online petition I have set up to oppose the application for a ‘hot food’ takeaway and delivery business in the heart of the conservation area. It now has almost 500 signatures and has certainly raised awareness of the application.

Communities PDG (10^th March)

I am planning to attend a meeting at Grantham tomorrow about sheltered housing communal facilities among other things. The agenda is here.

Highways

I have lobbied the County Council over the dangerous bend on Blenheim Way. The County Council continue to deny there is any problem there other than careless driving.

Boundary Changes

The final result of the LGBCE boundary consultation is due for publication on 17^th May this year.

If anyone has questions please let me know. These reports are replicated on my Facebook page.

Here is my monthly report presented to MDTC Full Council on 10th February 2016. If anyone has questions please let me know.

SKDC Full Council (21^st January)

Last month’s SKDC Full Council meeting was, on the whole, a shocking waste of everyone’s time. Firstly, we had a 10 minute diversion from the agenda for a presentation about the SKDC Coat of Arms (http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/lincs.html) . This was followed by a presentation from the barracks just outside Grantham which was broadly a repeat of a similar presentation last year. We then had a presentation about the restoration of the Grantham canal, the first 10 minutes or so celebrating the Droitwich canal. Then followed a nail-biting debate about whether cabinet member portfolio-holders should be renamed “Executive members”.

Thankfully more positive actions are resulting from work outside of the meetings including a regular conflab between the Chief Executive and the Independent group.

Next month’s meeting (29^th Feb) should be more productive as it will discuss next year’s budget. I have submitted a number of budget proposals via the Independent group for negotiation before the publication of the budget including: a) diverting some of the budget for Grantham Gravity Fields festival down to the Deepings for a festival of our own (possibly literary festival); b) modest financial support for local business clubs; c) A limited budget for support with insurance costs for community events (limited to £200/event). Don’t hold your breath!

Communities PDG (14^th January)

This sub-committee of SKDC discussed enforcement priorities for the Council. It was agreed that the Council’s first priority should be the obligations which impact on human health, e.g. HSE inspections, pest control etc. Taking people to court is very long-winded and expensive which is made even more difficult by RIPA (the law governing the use of covert techniques by public authorities). On the positive side the SKDC website for reporting fly-tipping, dog muck etc is now mobile friendly and even easier to use.

Deepings Library

Apart from my continuing involvement in the administration of FoDL particularly with regard to ensuring LCC keep their promises, I was also delighted to be one of the 1000+ attendees at the re-opening of the library on 30^th January. VICTORY! It was a great event despite LCC, true to form, failing to deliver the basic essentials promised. Specifically, the computers were unavailable because they were subject to lockdown, along with the rest of LCC IT infrastructure due to a cyber-attack. One can only speculate as to how far the cyber-attack is due to the ineptitude of the infamous Serco who are also failing to most of their other targets for LCC back-office functions.

Wildlife

On hearing the great news that MDTC Amenities and Open Spaces committee have approved the wildflower verges idea on Tattershall, I have contacted SKDC who will now advise the contractors to go ahead with the scheme.

Planning and Highways

I attended most of the MDTC Planning meeting. There are three significant planning applications that I encourage all Councillors (and others) to comment upon: 1) Conversion of Towngate Inn site; 2) 240 house application on land North of Towngate; and 3) Conversion of HSBC to a takeaway pizza joint. Comments can be made to SKDC directly http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8170.

Boundary Changes

I thank the Town Council for putting so much time and thought into the response to the LGBCE boundary consultation. I have personally submitted a similar representation. We can only hope they listen to common sense rather than needlessly splitting the town down the middle.

I wish all Councillors a fruitful Ash Wednesday and a thoughtful Lent. I hope to bump into some of you at the Lent lunches being run each Saturday by the churches around the Deepings.