Annual Report from the Parish Council
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Here is the report for Digby Parish Councils activities over the last year.
We started the year with a full quota of 7 councillors, as 3 new members were co-opted onto the council in April which was a great improvement after going down to only 4 members for a while. We also employed a new litter picker as Mike Whittle had decided to stand down after many years of carrying out the task and we are very grateful for all he did in keeping the village clear of litter.
During the first months of the financial year the Dug Out on the playing field was refurbished after the wind had blown the roof off the previous year and the football club provided the man power to paint it and the goal posts. A project to improve the accessibility into the playing field was also actioned once the ground dried up and the road within the field was extended to help prevent areas of the field being poached when vehicles kept driving to miss the wet boggy patches at the entrance. The cost of this was kept down by a kind donation of stone from Dysons farms.
The recent flooding at the time was high on our agenda and a meeting was held with LCC Flood Officer and partners responsible for water ways in Lincolnshire in May, but as the Section 19 reports were still being collated on the flooding in the area, it was agreed the action to be carried out in and around Digby would be known once the results of the reports were published. It was estimated this would be by August. Unfortunately, this was extended to November. Then once the partners had viewed the document, we were finally granted a further meeting with them in February this year. The results of the Section 19 reports have shown investigations are to be carried out to try to reduce the amount of water entering the village from the north west, so a drone is to be flown over the village to map the topography so it can be seen what intervention, if any can be carried out. We are awaiting a date for this to happen. Also, a depth gauge is to be fitted in the Beck so the rate can be monitored and the information used for future plans. The LCC Flood team are also planning a public information session where they will bring information of flood protection for households to be viewed, plans of riparian ownership etc . We are just waiting for them to confirm the date of this event. During this period Anglian Water carried out a survey of the drains either side of the Beck and repaired several water leaks around the village.
The riparian dyke, known as Greendyke, has been a topic of much discussion particularly after the flooding of the village, even though everyone along its route has been informed about their responsibility to keep it clear and dug out, only a few have completed this task regularly, so it was agreed that for the protection of the Hurn area this dyke needs to be kept maintained and so the Parish Council authorised this work.
It is hoped all this will go towards protecting homes in the area. We are also pleased to confirm the Digby Community Emergency Plan team are now up and running. The emergency plan was finally signed off by the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum during this year.
From the last Annual meeting, a request for a Speed Indicator was made and discussed at the following council meeting. The cost, which would be over £3,000 plus the installation and running costs were considered but felt as the indicators do not record vehicle details only speed, whereas the Community Speed Watch, which the council had only just invested in, can record these details and pass them to the police for action and is mobile so can cover all areas of the village, it was decided it would be prudent to wait and see if the Community Speed Watch resulted in speed reduction in the village.
The parish council are consultees on planning applications for Digby and we have spent almost a year dealing with NKDC planning with regard to the 35 dwellings planned for land off Station Road, obviously our biggest concern was the effects of flooding to other areas of the village if this site was built upon. Although the planning authority have approved the application many conditions relating to the water run off etc, have been implemented, and work to the Rowston water treatment plant will be needed.
We recently successfully registered the Red Lion as an Asset of Community Value with North Kesteven District Council after concerns were raised by members of the public.
We have also taken part in the debates regarding the proposed solar farms that have been planned in the local area and members of the council will be attending the planned consultation being headed by the Governments Planning Inspectorate scheduled in May.
Another long standing issue has been the repairs to the Fen Road and this was finally re-surfaced this year, after much lobbying, and is a great improvement.
Naturally, as well as these major tasks, the routine maintenance of the village has taken place and this year it has included repainting the metal bus shelter and improvements to the village hall garden, including regular checks on the serviceability of the lights. The defibrillator is part of our routine inspection and has had new replacement pads this year and a new section of footpath has been requested for Lincoln Road, from Church Lane junction towards the playing field pedestrian entrance. The Street light requested for Lincoln Road near the bus stop was refused again by LCC, but we will keep trying to get one installed in the area on safety grounds.
The latest project we are initiating, is to replace the play equipment in the playing field that is coming to the end of its life, a working group has been formed, a survey has been completed to find out the type of equipment that would be of interest and several companies are currently putting forward designs. Because of the cost, it is planned to complete the work in 2 stages, the infants equipment to be replaced first, followed by the junior equipment. Once the designs are finalised, a public session will be arranged for the village to choose which scheme is preferred. Fund raising will need to take place because even with grants a percentage needs to be funded from the village to prove the commitment from the community is there.
We hope you will all support this project.
If there are any other projects that you feel will help keep Digby vibrant then, please let us know, obviously there is not an endless pot of money and the council only meet monthly so that’s 12 meetings a year, but with planning and commitment from the village it may be something that can be considered in the future
These are just some of the areas covered by the parish council over this last year, if you are interested in any other of our activities then please google Digby Parish Council and all our minutes are on the website, and that’s the end of the report for 2024-25.
Any Questions.