Burning issues at parish council

Looking to stop unleashed dogs attacking others in Holbeach Bank and evicting allotment holders whose bonfire smoke effects visibility on the A17 are measures Holbeach Parish Council are considering.

The authority heard both were issues that needed addressing at its most recent meeting last week.

The council is looking to put up a sign at Holbeach Bank Playing Fields after the members were told there had been reports of dogs attacking others.

Coun Rachel Flood told the meeting that as there was currently no sign up telling people to keep dogs on leads, this was the first step needed to help stop the problem.

“We’ve had two incidents recently with other dogs being attacked,” she said. “No-one has made a formal complaint but people are a bit nervous about it.

“I can’t do anything down there such as alert the dog warden as nothing states you have to keep your dog on a lead.”

Holbeach Parish Council is also looking in to changing its allotment policy so it can evict any plot holders it finds to have lit a bonfire on the site, the smoke from which has been reported to cause problems on the A17.

The meeting heard the authority would look into whether it could enforce the action if sufficient evidence was provided of a specific plot holder having carried out the burning of waste more than once.

Council chair Stephen Johnson, said: “There’s an Issue there were people have lit a bonfire there it blows across the A17 and it’s a massive hazard of smoke.

“Imagine if there’s an accident as a result.

“I think there has to be substantial evidence, a photo or video or something, but it’s something we can look in to.”

* Elsewhere Holbeach Parish Council has also mooted reducing the number of councillors it has from 18 to 16 and potentially became a town council instead.

The meeting heard that only 11 of the positions on the council are currently filled and that based on government guidelines of how many councillors should be had per electorate, the authority could have just 16 seats.

The changes wouldn’t be able to be brought in until the 2023 elections at the earliest.

The move to a town council was mooted by Coun Sophie Hutchinson.

She told the council’s sub PR and IT Committee meeting that Holbeach’s “size and complexity” were more similar to town than parish councils.

“It wouldn’t change the way we’re run at all,” she said. “It will just be the name and the way the public and other authorities perceive us.

“The name of a town council represents better how we are run now, our complexity and our size than a parish council does.”

At the full council meeting several councillors expressed concerns at the idea.

“I don’t like the name because it doesn’t encompass our parish,” said Coun Sam Favell. “If we were to do this to get my vote it would have to have a name that pulled the villages in as well.”

Coun Flood responded: “You’re saying there’s no expense to changing the name but we’d need to change signage and uniforms so there is an expense.

“With the villages, it doesn’t matter what you call the council, we cover everything in the parish.”