January 2025 Minutes
STICKFORD PARISH COUNCIL
PARISH COUNCIL STATUTORY MEETING at STICKFORD Community Centre Tuesday 14th January 2025 @ 7.30pm
DRAFT MINUTES
No. of Residents present 7
Official attendees read Y for attending, N for non-attendance
Chairman Councillor Mrs Lesley Reeson Y
ELDC Councillor Mr Terry Taylor Y
Vice Chairman Councillor Mr John Howlett Y
Lincs C C Councillor Mrs Wendy Bowkett Y
Councillor Mr Clive Kingswood Y
Parish Clerk Mrs Nicki George Y
Councillor Mrs Pam Bryant Y
Councillor Mr Tony French Y
Councillor vacancy
Councillor vacancy
1. The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all present.
2. Apologies for absence - none
3. There were no declaration of interest
4. Residents’ issues:
a) A resident reported that badgers are active along Catchwater Bank. They are not affecting the culvert but have blocked a dyke. Clerk to contact Environment Agency as potential flood risk.
b) A resident reported that the sluice is working on Catchwater Bank, after a lump of wood was removed.
c) A resident requested that the grit bin be filled on the corner of Hagnaby Road and Hagnaby Lane. The clerk will report the issue on Fix My Street.
d) A resident reported that the parking situation along Hagnaby Road has not improved since the letters were hand delivered back in September. Cllr Bowkett, LCC, will investigate this issue and report it to Highways as accidents are now occurring and near misses. Possibly look to have double yellow lines in that area. The resident with the van continues to park near to the junction of Hagnaby Lane obscuring vision of the junction after receiving the letter and speaking with the Chairman. The van is a National Grid van and the clerk has been asked to write a letter to National Grid informing them of this dangerous parking situation of one of their vans.
e) A resident reported that Evergreens Miniature Railway along Keal Bank is in breach of planning permissions granted in 2017. It is much more of a commercial enterprise now than hobbyists. More commercial vehicles and cars drive along Keal Bank. A lot more noise. Health & Safety issues. Selling of food in a canteen. Portable toilets are not emptied weekly. Cllr Taylor, ELDC, will investigate.
f) A resident reported bank slippage along Keal Bank, by Stickford Lodge. Clerk to report to Witham Fourth.
Cllr Kingswood arrived at 19.52, as the public forum was ending.
5. ELDC Report
2025/26 Garden Waste collections are now open online
Residents can now renew or subscribe online for garden waste collections for the 2025/26 season for an annual fee of £52.50, this small increase is due to inflationary pressures which impacts us all.
Please note these offers are not open to East Lindsey District Council employees or elected members.
Telephone payments do not open until 20 January 2025.
Residents who subscribe will receive a letter with full details, collection calendar and a sticker for their bin(s).
For more information on this service, please visit www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/greenwaste
Upcoming digital inclusivity sessions with Lincs Digital
Lincs Digital have announced extra sessions in the East Lindsey area to help residents get online and access essential services more easily. The sessions promise one-on-one assistance, tips for staying safe online, as well as fun and interactive learning.
Farmers Markets continue around the district. For more details see ELDC website
Updating the Vital and Viable Spilsby Action Plan. For more details see ELDC website
The clerk reports that the road sweepers have been around the village and cleared storm/autumn debris off the roads.
Councillor Community Grants are still available for the current year. The clerk is to apply for funds to supply more sand bags for the village.
Cllr Taylor reports that devolvement is still going ahead and it will mean changes to parishes in 2027.
Cllr Taylor left the meeting at 20:01
6. LCC Report
Cllr Wendy Bowkett 07917494478 Cllrw.bowkett@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Lincolnshire county council are asking for your views on their recent decision to set the council tax for next year at 2.99 % increase. The consultation is now live and you can access it by searching. budgetconsultation@lincolnshire.gov.uk
The net budget for next year is £690 million, the settlement was £20million less than last year.
The consultation sets out 3 different figures, 2.99%, 3.99% and 4.99%. Government would like us to go for the highest figure but councillors feel that is too much for residents to find when things are tough already.
Last Monday 6th Jan, saw another storm hit us, 65mm of rain fell in a short period of time all over Lincolnshire. This caused many flooding events over the whole of the county. 100 properties have already been reported to county council of flooding and we are expecting more.
In Stickford we had issues with drains filling up on Hagnaby Lane and the Cul de sac. Anglian water have been out to both and I will be getting updates on Monday when the next meeting of the Mags group.
A reminder that the sixth round of the household support fund finishes March 2025 application forms are now live, households in financial hardship can apply for a voucher to help with food, clothes or other essentials. Contact hsf@lincolnshireecf.co.uk or phone 01529 572575.
Section 19’s are due to be released soon.
7. Lincolnshire Police Report – Zoom meeting due 16.1.25 has been cancelled
8. Approval of Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on 10/12/2024
Proposed : Cllr John Howlett Seconded : Cllr Clive Kingswood
9. Matters Arising from previous meeting
a) The parish clerk laptop has had the annual AVG security update.
b) A thank you card has been sent to Leanne, the bugler at Remembrance Service last November.
c) Emergency/Resilience Planning meeting is to be held next Tuesday, 21st January 2025 in the Community Centre. All key holders of the sand bins and councillors.
10. Finance Report
a) Authority for Payment:
1) £ 48.00 ECBS laptop annual AVG security
2) £173.22 LALC annual subscription
All payments approved by all Councillors.
b) Bank Balances to end of December 2024 :
Current account £8,622.38 (after all cheques to date have been cashed)
Savings account £8,302.69 (including quarterly interest credit)
Wayleave cheque has been received - £128.05.
All councillors agreed to the purchase of a new laptop for the clerk out of the contingency fund as it needs to be purchased as soon as possible. Clerk has obtained 3 quotes for a Dell Inspiron 15 i3 12th Gen Processor 8 Gig Ram 256 Gig M2 SSD Hard Drive Windows 11 Home 15.6 Inch Screen. All are around £300 so agreed to purchase via ECBS at £299 + VAT, as they give a good support service to the clerk. All councillors discussed and agreed to pay a one-off fee for Professional MS office option at £249 rather than Ms Office 365 Single User (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Publisher and Access) £59.99 inc VAT per year. In the long run it is more cost effective.
11. Precept – second discussion
The Chairman read out all the items on the proposed Precept for 2025/26. All councillors agreed not to grant the Charity Trustees request for a Grant of £1200 per year for a monthly bus to Horncastle for residents as not value for money. All councillors discussed the purchase of Speed Awareness signs for the village. It was agreed to include £100 in the Precept to join the Road Safety Partnership to enable the purchase of such signs at a discounted price and to also consider the subject again for next year’s Precept. All agreed on the figures and authorised the clerk to submit a request for £3672.00 for the 2025/2026 Precept.
12. Clerks Report including update of Standing Orders
All councillors have been sent by email ahead of the meeting a copy of the current Standing Orders along with the format that LALC have as a template on their website. All councillors have checked the Standing Orders and agree that no changes are required but request that the clerk updates them into the LALC format.
The Chairman has asked that the clerk emails one policy per month to all the councillors to read and consider ahead of the next meeting, thus meaning that at least 2 policies can be updated at each meeting throughout the year.
The Financial Regulations are the next to be updated at the next meeting in March.
13. Allotments Update
Allotment 17 : The clerk has sent a letter by hand requesting for a date for the tenancy to end but to date no response. The clerk will endeavour to contact the tenant again to request this information to enable it to be advertised.
The clerk is chasing 2 of the other tenants who have not yet returned their signed New Agreements from 1.10.24.
14. War Memorial Clock – annual maintenance payment
After discussion it was agreed by all councillors to issue a cheque for £150 + vat to Time Assured for an annual maintenance agreement, as this money is being donated by a resident.
15. Planning – discuss planning applications.
No new applications and no updates or changes to ongoing applications showing on the portal.
16. Correspondence received for this meeting – not covered on the agenda
1) Email received from a resident commenting on the state of pavements giving access to bus stops on A16 from Church Road (Boston side).. Cllr Bowkett, LCC, to investigate and follow up.
Also requesting details on how to get access to the sand bins & bags. The clerk has replied giving contact details of the councillors and clerk and asking if this resident would be willing to be a key holder and they agreed.
17. Other Business – matters for next Agenda
1. Resilience/Emergency Plan update following meeting held on 21.1.25
2. Update of Financial Regulations
3. Road Safety Partnership update
4. Mower service
Date and time of next meeting: 11th March 2025 at 7.30pm
Meeting closed at 20.59pm