2024 Annual Parish Meeting

MINUTES of the Annual Parish Meeting held at The Village Hall, Cranwell Village at 7 pm on Monday 22nd April 2024.
Present:    Cllr D Graves (in the Chair)
Cllrs D and J Wilson and Cllr J Bloomfield.
Sqd Leader Goodman Matthews and Ian Whitehead RAF Community Development Officer
Sgt Stuart Mumby-Croft and PC Green
Matthew Bentley-Conservation Officer at NKDC
Clerk to the Parish Council and 12 Members of the public Apologies had been received from County Cllr Richard Wright who was unwell.
1.    The Chairman gave his report which is attached to these Minutes.

2.    The RFO gave her Financial Report which is attached to these Minutes.

3.    Ian Whitehead then spoke saying that this was his 3rd APM for CBBL PC. The RAF is trying to break down barriers between them, the village and the school. Some things do take place at the RAF camp which cannot be opened up to the public but some can be. There will bea D-Day Craft event at the Brunei Centre which villagers are able to attend and there will betheusual CranFest which the public can attend - £1 for the afternoon and £5 for the evening. Finally there will be a Veterans Day service at St Michaels Church at 1 pm on 6th June.
Sqd Leader Goodman Matthews then advised that they are recruiting hard at the moment and the trainee unit consists of phases 1, 2 and 3 depending on ability when they join. Graduations are ongoing. We could see more flying activity. The younger personnel on camp are looking to engage with all local communities. Works that are not yet confirmed: where the aircraft park, re-construction is required so there will be heavy plant around. The RAF is trying to rationalise spaces countrywide and RAF
Henlow will berelocating to RAF Cranwell- construction to start early 2025. The training building is to be extended and again, work likely to start early 2025. A member of the public said there must be proper road signage to manage the routes for HGVs into and out of the Camp.

4.    Sgt Mumby-Croft also said this was his 3rd APM for CBBL PC - he then introduced PC
Green as the new Rural Beat Manager. PC Derbyshire is the Beat Manager for Sleaford Town. We live in one of the safest parts of the UK. Scams are the growing area of crime. Patrols around Cranwell include the coffee shop where they can introduce themselves and meet people. They run polls on Next Door but that may change as they are looking at public priorities. The first quarter of this year was mainly romance fraud/scams and the Police liaised with LCC to increase awareness of exploitation of lonely people. A new priority is rural crime awareness egtheft of vehicles, theft of oil and rogue traders. Discovery vehicles are the vehicle of choice at the present time. Cranwell has only had 49 crimes committed in the past year and is considered very low level- usually "behind closed doors" so a domestic situation. Recommend use of Air Tags. Cllr Bloomfield said that the village is very alert as a whole and Facebook is very active. Police advised reporting anything at all online, by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency.
 
5.        Matthew Bentley- NK Conservation Officer then spoke about his role at NKDC and said that he is trying to get round to the 75 Parishes. He is part of NKs Planning Team advising on historic environment and heritage assets. His report is attached to these minutes. However, it should be reiterated that there is a Heritage Grant Scheme where there is a
£25000 p.a. rolling fund available for repair and restoration of historic buildings. A member of the public asked whether Dyson Farming would fall into this category. Another member of the public asked whether, if their home was found to be listed, they would need to inform their Insurers? If the change is like for like this would not be necessary. An Article 4 direction would restrict what people can do without planning permission.

6.    Q&A.
What is the position with regard to RAF Housing-this is constantly reviewed and analysed.
The footpath across the Dyson field is full ofcrops but the path has not been marked out so people are walking anywhere across the field. Chair said he would talk to Dyson about this.
Could a footpath be put in on the opposite side to the existing one, at the 60 mph highway area between RAF and Village? Chair explained that the PC is constantly asking for and pushing for a speed restriction in that area but to no avail.
Is the Dyson development still happening-we believe so but will check. Meeting closed at 8.1o pm when refreshments were made available.
 
Cranwell, Brauncewell & Byard's Leap Annual Parish Meeting
22nd April 2024

Chairman's Report:
Introduction
Good evening, everyone, thank you for coming.
Please can I remind you all to switch your mobile phones on when you leave.
In the event of a fire the muster point is in the car park at the side of the Old School
This evening, we have 4 guest speakers,Councillor Richard Wright, Lincolnshire County Council
Ian Whitehead, Community Development Officer from the RAF,
Sergent Stuart Mumby- Croft and PC Green from Lincolnshire Police, based in Sleaford.
Mathew Bentley, Conservation Officer.
You will have opportunity to ask questions of ourselves and each speaker on conclusion of each presentation.
I would like to thank Maria and June and Lesley for the tea and cakes at the end of the meeting.
Chairmans Report
The Parish has had a busy year, holding a total of 14 meetings and with two major projects and the unwanted flooding of two areas of the Parish as well as all the usual village activities, like hedge and grass cutting.
As most of you know we have had several resignations for various reasons, that I will not dwell upon. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for their support and hard work on behalf of this Parish.
At present we have 4 councillors and two further volunteers who will join us in May. That means we have 3 vacancies, so if anyone feels that they would like to join the Council, please speak to our Parish Clerk Mrs Lesley Francis at the end of the meeting.
I would like to introduce the members of your Parish Council.
Firstly, your Parish Clerk, and RFO. Lesley Francis, who joined the Council six months ago. Lesley will provide the financial statement. A copy of the Parish Accounts can be made available if anyone wishes to view them.
Councillors, Don and June Wilson, who most of you already know and Jason Bloomfield, who has just joined us.
I would like to stress that these are all volunteers who give their time freely for the wellbeing of your Parish.
We have been busy with the normal administration and maintenance of the village, the play area, playing fields and village green etc. also the Liaison with the Local Police and the RAF and Dyson Farming.
I would like to thank Dyson Farming for their continued help and support, particularly during the flooding problem earlier this year.
We still have 2 DMO's (Digital Mapping Orders) in place, and we do keep reminding the County Council, who are still struggling with staffing issues.
The SID's Units are both functioning and have had a significant impact on reducing speeding. Although we do seem to have a few persistent speeders. The speedwatch group has been a little inactive during the winter mainly due to bad weather and ill health. We are always looking for volunteers. The more people we have the more roadside sessions we can organise.
We do now have quite a team, With PC Green, Sarah Daley (RAF Road Safety Team), Cpl Chris Worley (RAF Police) and the speedwatch Group there is a lot of effort trying to reduce speeding.
The pavilion project is now coming to fruition and the cabins will be delivered on 8th May, when the car parks above the old school will be closed off for delivery access.
I would like to thank Ben Wells and Dan Killick of the Junior Football club for all their help during this project.
The Old School and Council Office is now completed and there will be an Open Day on 11th May. The new meeting room can be booked via the Parish Clark.
 
Finally, I would like to thank Ken Wilson, who is stepping down from the Social Club after many years to enjoy his retirement. Likewise, Keith Rogers is also stepping down but will remain as Chair of the Village Hall Committee.
The Parish Council, Village Hall and Social Club Committee work hard together for the wellbeing and benefit of your parish.
 
Responsible Finance Officer's report-April 2024

At 1st April 2023, the start of the financial year, we had £61,956 in the bank and the first payment of the precept at £27,626 made that £89,582; reserves had been set at £67,090 leaving just
£22,492 in general funds at the start of the year.
Looking at our year end (31.3.24) actual costs against budget, we had under-estimated staffing costs by £7,000 (although £3000 of this was refunded to us by HMRC), spent £2,200 on play area repairs not budgeted for, and some £18,000 for the Old School conversion which had not been budgeted for at the start of the financial year 1.4.23. £15,000 was allowed for the Old School duringthe year, when general funds were transferred to reserves. These items, in a nutshell, form the bulk of the difference between budgeted (£67,000) and actual (£94,500) figures for the year to 31.3.24 of £27,500 - a shortfall.
Whilst I believe that this year's budgeting is more accurate, we have no buffer or contingency funds in hand, having kept the precept to a minimum (4% increase on last year). The Parish Council therefore has to keep its spending to an absolute minimum. This current year's budget shows an anticipated spend of £60,480 with additional reserves of £20,492 included in that figure - leaving general operating funds of £40,000. We do have £4,500 to come back in VAT recovery making £44,500. Our operating costs for the year 2023/24 were £46,700 so we have to tighten our belt and there are no contingency funds but if we need to move some funds from Reserves to the General fund this is another option.
I can confirm that there are reserves to cover the cost of the new cabins but to get the cladding, we are reliant on being successful with a grant application we have made. We have also promised the Bowls Club a new green in September and the cost of that is in reserves.
We hope to have income from The Old School but that is an unknown quantity at this time. It is a lovely space for small community groups and hopefully it willget used soon. The Sleaford Standard have done an editorial for us. If any of you know someone that may be interested in using it for training, smallgroup events (crafting, knit and natter, book club etc) then please put them in touch with me.
Finally, the Audit Report is likely to be a qualified report this year. This is because we are supposed to discuss and minute quotations that we have received for any works we carry out or goods we buy and then show the preferred and chosen option as part of the same Minute. This has not happened on one or two occasions throughout the year to 31.3.24 but has now been addressed. I thought it best to be up front about this now as it is likely to appear on the Audit Report that is advertised on our website and noticeboards once the Auditor has signed it off.
 

CONSERVATION OFFICER

The Historic Environment

 
What are 'Heritage Assets'?
''A building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of its heritage interest"
{NPPF Annexe 2).
Designated Heritage Assets- Scheduled Monuments, Listed Buildings (GI, Gil*, GIi}, Registered Parks and Gardens {GIi*, GIi) and Conservation Areas designated under the relevant legislation.
Non-Designated Heritage Assets- Locally designated buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas, historic parks and gardens or other designed landscapes. Commonly know as the 'local list'.
 

Heritage in North Kesteven

Listed Buildings - 1003 List Entries
Conservation Areas - 37, 18 with Conservation Area Appraisals
Scheduled Monuments - 65
Registered Parks and Gardens-
6
Non-designated Heritage
Assets (Local List) - over 2900
 

Heritage in Cranwell Parish

Listed Buildings - 12
Conservation Areas- O
Scheduled Monuments - 3

Heritage in Cranwell Parish
Non-designated Heritage Assets (Local List) - 19 Assets in total
No changes to permitted development

Cranwell (Last revised 1980s)    11
19 & 21 (Manor Farm)    North Road
25 & 27 North road    
(Oxenford Cottage)
29    North Road
31    North Road
Old School House    Old School Lane
2    Old School Lane
4    Old School Lane
6    Old School Lane
Cranwell Cottage, 12 Sleaford Road
38    Sleaford Road
Oxenford Farm    Willow Lane

Brauncewell (Last revised October 1988)    - 8

Church House  Church Lane
Brauncewell Manor House Church Lane and Outbuildings
Lodge Cottage    Long Lane 
Stone Cottage and adjacent cottage, Long Lane 
Paling Cottage, Long Lane
1 - 4 Grange Farm , Long Lane
Hilltop Cottage, Long Lane 
Farm Buildings oppposite    Long Lane
Brauncewell Quarry
 

North Kesteven Heritage Grant Scheme

•    Funding is available to both residential and commercial buildings, and the aim of the scheme is to preserve and enhance the District's built heritage by encouraging the sympathetic repair of historic buildings.
•    A scheme total of £25,000 per year
•    works eligible for grant assistance include the repair, restoration or reinstatement of origina1 windows and doors, brickwork and stonework repairs and repainting, repairs to chimneys and the repair or reinstatement of traditional boundary walls, railings and steps.
•    Grants are available for 80% of the total cost of eligible works for Listed Buildings (to a maximum grant of £3,000)
•    60% of the total cost of eligible works for buildings in a Conservation Area (to a maximum grant of £1,800)
•    50% of the total cost of eligible works for properties included on the Council's 'local list' of non-designatea herita_ge assets or where they meet the criteria for inclusion (to a maximum grant of £1,200).