Stamford Mercury – Monthly Report from Ketton
The monthly FullCouncil Meeting of Ketton Parish Council was held remotely on Wednesday, 17th February, due to the current Corvid-19 situation. All parish council meeting will be held remotely for the foreseeable future, until we are advised by the government that physical meetings can resume. Provision has been made for members of the public to participate in virtual council meetings and they will be able to view and hear the meetings, but will be only be able to speak during Public Questions time.
The virtual meeting was attended by thirteencouncillors,County Councillors Brown &Payne&the Clerk.
There were eight members of the public present.
C.Cllr Gordon Brown & Cllr Dave Phillips informed the council and public present at the meeting that in partnership with Openreach, Ketton is about to become one of the best-connected rural communities in the UK, partially funded by the Government Local Full Fibre initiative, RCC and Gigabit Vouchers scheme. Later in 2021, every home and business in the village of Ketton will have access to ultra-reliable, ultrafast Gigabit broadband, giving them all speeds from 100 Mbps up to 910 Mbps – a minimum of 5 times faster than the current average download speed in the village.
Following the laying of fibre late last year from the Stamford telephone exchange to KSCC and the Library as part of the Rutland County Council Local Full Fibre Network programme to connect public buildings, funded mainly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it will be possible for homes in the village to be connected to ultrafast broadband. The fibre will follow the existing cable routings underground and overhead via telegraph poles.
An application has been made through the Parish Council to Openreach asking them to provide a cost for the installation to every postcode in the village. We expect that with a good take-up by individuals and businesses in the village, each installation should be at no cost to householders, other than the standard ISP charges. This will be achieved through the use of the Rural Government Gigabit Voucher scheme which will offset the costs by £1500 for each household and £3500 for each business that connects to fibre, where their existing speeds are below 100 Mbps (meaning that all households in Ketton would be eligible for these contributions.
Once we know the costs involved, Openreach will seek to obtain pledges from sufficient individuals and businesses to meet 130% of the proposed cost. This is to allow for up to 30% not following through on their pledge. Openreach will provide an online application form for this process.
Having achieved the 130% Openreach will then proceed with the installation to home and businesses.
The scheme’s significant advantage is that residents are free to subscribe to Fibre services from a wide range of suppliers, including popular broadband providers like BT, Zen, TalkTalk, Sky and EE. Residents will need to commitment to subscribe to a service that delivers at least a doubling of speeds than the service currently being received. This is for 12 months, and subscribers are free to take any service with any speed after this.
FTTP services are very affordable, so residents do not need to worry that they are committing to an expensive service; they’ll likely pay less with FTTP than they do now, for a service that is faster and more reliable.
The parish council is forming a working group, led by Cllr Dave Phillips, which will also include residents, & will report monthly to the full council. Cllrs & the working group will shortly start circulating information about the project & gathering names & addresses of residents & businesses who would like to express an interest in installing full fibre broadband into their properties.
Cllr S.Rogers informed the meeting that Phil Greaves died recently, after a long illness. Phil worked for the parish council for over 5 years as a handyman & made a valuable contribution to the maintenance of Hall Close, the cemetery, WhitebreadCopse& the village. Our condolences go to his wife Mary & family. He will be sadly missed by many friends, colleagues and residents.
Police report
PC Peter Icke sent an area crime report for the past month, dated 15 February. During the last month there has been reported in the Rutland South Beat:
The theft of an Ifor William trailer from a farm building; one incident of hare coursing – a vehicle was seized by the police; Tinwell A1 bridge – a number of reports were received where youths were throwing snowballs/ice at passing vehicles, causing damage to a lorry windscreen and other near misses; one theft reported of heating oil; one motor vehicle stolen from a driveway; Ketton and Edith Weston – 2 x theft of parts from Land Rover Defender’s (doors and bonnet) & 2 thefts of vehicle number plates were reported.
January was a fairly quiet month, but February has seen a theft of a motor vehicle from a driveway in Tixover and thefts of vehicle parts from Land Rover Defender’s, which the police are looking into. There has also been a theft of heating oil (this appears to be an isolated incident at this time). The police will also be monitoring and putting in extra patrols for the thefts and the sudden increase (due to snow) in anti-social behaviour around the A1 Bridge’s and engage with youths to make them aware of how serious their actions are. The police would like to thank residents for continuing to observe the Covid-19 regulations as we have gone up through the Tiers to our present movement restrictions. Thankfully the police have not had to attend as many breaches as other areas and that is down to Rutland resident’s continuous co-operation. The joint Rutland North and Rutland South priority will remain as rural crime in relation to burglaries, car crime and theft from farms. The police want to remind residents that the usual Modus Operandi is entry by forcing rear garden doors or windows, as these areas are isolated and out of sight. Please make sure all doors are locked whether you’re in or not, windows are locked and secure and look at your security measures on any lockups, garages, sheds or outbuilding. If you can make it difficult for anyone to get into the rear garden, even better as this is the preferred point of entry for burglars. Preferred items for criminals to steal are jewellery and cash, so please keep these safe. Try and park your vehicle in a well-lit area, & manoeuvre your van to make it difficult to open any side or rear doors. The police are running a vehicle enforcement campaign throughout Rutland for speed and anti-social driving & will be out in villages and towns with the speed laser gun. They will update Twitter and Facebook with the results. The police will continue to work closely with the local residents and will alert residents as soon as a crime is reported. The police current operations are Op Vitality for rural crime with extra officers on patrol and Op Vulpine for proactive Covid-19 breaches and crime. If anything suspicious is seen, please report it through either 999 or 101.
Neighbourhood Link is a free email messaging service from Leicestershire Police, Neighbourhood Watch and other partner organisations, providing news and updates on policing matters that are relevant to residents.
Residents can sign up and receive email alerts about policing activity and initiatives in our local area as well as crime prevention advice and information. They will also have the opportunity to reply directly to our neighbourhood team and provide feedback via surveys.
https://www.neighbourhoodlink.co.uk/#signup-section
C.Cllr Karen Payne confirmed that RCC is waiting for a start date from their contractor for the installation of yellow lines to restrict parking on the High Street & Church Road. RCC will be taking action to alleviate flooding incidences on Luffenham Road, by cutting grips & carrying out remedial work on kerb stones.
C.Cllr Gordon Brown confirmed that enhancements to the cyclepath/footway on the A6121, near
Chater Lodge and the installation of a new footpath on Geeston road will be completed in the new financial year.
Cllr Cade inform cllrs that an overflowing drain on The Crescent this week, was a direct result of near by residents flushing wet wipes down their toilets, which blocked the drain. Workmen had to remove a bin bag of wipes to clear the drain.
The Highways & Open Space Committee thanked Adam Cade for researching outdoor gym equipment for the play area in Hall Close & obtaining quotes. Adam has created an online survey to gather residents’ views on the current facilities in Hall Close & proposed new equipment, the response has been good & is providing very useful feedback. The Committee agreed that funding of up to £15k will be sought for the proposed refurbishment, which should include a replacement basket swing & possibly a new slide to replace the large green plastic slide & additional seating. The quotes received for outdoor fitness equipment, will be assessed, before making a recommendation to be approved by Full Council. Cllrs approved in principle installing the equipment between the MGGA & junior play area.
Full Council agreed in principle to the proposed installation of outdoor fitness equipment & to allocate £1000 from council reserves towards the funding bid. Cllr Warrington explained to Cllrs that 11% match funding is required towards the funding bid.
Flooding recently occurred on Steadfold Lane/Stamford Road, which was alleviated by the quick actions of our Flood Warden Ronnie Burt, who personally cut grips into the Steadfold Road grass verges to help drain water. Ronnie is liaising with C.Cllr Gordon Brown, who stated that RCC Highways will carry out further work on the grips all the way up Steadfold Lane to minimise the water coming down the road. This will have a twofold impact in that less water will end up at the bottom, but also less silt as well which has been causing the problem with the drain in the lay-by. RCC will also clean the gulleys on Stamford Road and the adjoining landowner has agreed to clear their ditch.Cllrs thanked Ronnie for his excellent work, we are very lucky to have a Flood Warden in Ketton and all appreciates Ronnie’s efforts to ensure our safety.
The NHS offers an online service which includes ordering repeat prescriptions, contacting a GP or emergency dentist, managing long term conditions and monitoring physical and mental well beinghttps://www.nhs.uk/health-at-home/
https://ket2tin.wixsite.com/kettinnpKetton Green Spaces Group https://kettongreen.wixsite.com/kett/projects has received permission from landowners Hanson, and from Trustees KSCC for tree planting, coppicing and other tree management activities at KSCC. So, if you want some winter outdoor activity, do contact the group via its website.
You can sign up for a monthly ‘Your Rutland’ e newsletter by registering on Rutland County Council’s website www.rutland.gov.uk
The Whitebread Trust is a charity for the support of individuals and organisations within the parish of Ketton. Applications for support should be addressed to the Chairman of the trust, Glenis Southern, via the Parish Clerk kettonpc@btinternet.com
Dates for your diary:
C.Cllrs Karen Payne & Gordon Brown would like to remind residents that they hold a monthly surgery. This is currently being held remotely. The next surgery will be on Saturday March 6th,10am to 11am: by Zoom – please contact Gordon, Gbrown@rutland.gov.uk or Karen, Kpayne@rutland.gov.uk to book a slot.CouncillorJames Robinson from Ketton Parish Council will also be available to answer questions and provide assistance.
Sunday March 21st: Census Day (the census takes place every 10 years and the results help local councils to decide how to spend on services. In 2011, our response rate in Rutland was 94%!)
Ketton Parish Office is in Stocks Hill (Tel 01780722451), email (kettonpc@btinternet.com) and is open Wed and Thurs 9am to 4pm.