Minutes 2026

Present: Cllr Lucy Robb, Cllr Hannah Weston Smith, Cllr Martin Smith, Cllr Robert Broadbent, Cllr Christopher Clark, Cllr Kathy Farley

Also Present: Nicky Bush and Clare Proudfoot (Clerk)

Public Forum: Six members of the public

 

Meeting started 7.00 pm Cllr Martin Smith asked if anyone objected to the meeting being recorded. No objections were received. Public Forum A resident asked about flooding. Cllr Martin Smith confirmed that the Council is moving forward with the flood action group, Project Groundwater. The project is an early alert system. The Council is working with Cllr Turner from SKDC who is part of Billingborough Flood Committee. Cllr Martin Smith confirmed that flooding was on the agenda and would be covered in more detail later in the meeting. A resident raised a question regarding yellow lines outside the village hall. Concerns raised that drivers park on either side of the road and this presents issues for emergency service vehicles gaining access. Cllr Christopher Clark confirmed that enquires had been made by the Council through the County Council Highways department. An officer from the Highways department has visited and reported that yellow lines are not necessary.

 

26/322 Chair’s remarks. Cllr Martin Smith welcomed everyone and introduced the new Clerk Clare Proudfoot.

 

26/323 Apologies for absence and reasons given. Cllr David Simpson gave apologies. It was resolved to accept the apologies.

 

26/324 To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. None

 

26/325 Draft minutes of the meeting held on 20-11-25 to be confirmed and signed as minutes. It was resolved to accept the above notes as minutes. They were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

 

26/326 Project Groundwater This is a new community flood resilience project, Groundwater Greater Lincolnshire, hosted by Lincolnshire County Council. Telemetry devices will be installed that monitor local water course levels. Cllr Kathy Farley had an appointment with the UD Live representative in December 2025. Initially it will consist of a small testing group of Cllr Kathy Farley and Cllr Martin Smith. First alert test will take place on 16 January 2026. Going forward UD live will provide an information session to the community. This will enable the community to sign up and receive flood alerts too. At the session residents will be able to register for free alarms, ask questions and share local knowledge about past floods. Cllr Martin Smith suggested that the UD Live community session might be useful to coincide with a Parish Council meeting potentially an hour before. Cllr Martin Smith proposed that the flood signs are relocated to the back of the village hall where they would be more accessible. Position of telemetry devices in the village: -

 

26/327 Financial matters: Accounts for payment and budget figures, including report, up to 09.01.26. Date Source of Income Total Amount 06/01/2026 National Grid Wayleave 3.45 09/12/2025 Interest 6.30 Interest Total 9.75 Date Purpose of Expenditure Total Amount Amount Excl VAT Non recoverable VAT Recoverable VAT Method 29/11/2025 John Kirby - Football Pitch cut 120.00 120.00 Bacs 02/12/25 22/11/2025 Valda - Electricity Nov 25 2.53 2.41 0.12 DD 02/12/25 10/11/2025 Bank charges November 25 4.75 4.75 DD 19/12/25 30/11/2025 Branch Bross - Gas Bottles Pavilion 250.51 241.91 8.60 Bacs 06/01/26 06/12/2025 N Bush - Currys Business - Laptop 339.00 282.50 56.50 Bacs 06/01/26 09/12/2025 Wave Water bill 16.70 16.70 DD 24/12/25 22/12/2025 VALDA - Electricity Dec 105.85 100.81 5.04 DD 01/01/26 13/12/2025 JK Cutting Services - Tree Works 390.00 390.00 Bacs 06/01/26 29/12/2025 JK Cutting Services - Grass Cutting 50.00 50.00 Bacs 06/01/26 30/12/2025 JK Cutting Services - Grass Cutting 135.00 135.00 Bacs 06/01/26 31/12/2025 Clerk PAYE 598.70 598.70 31/01/2026 Clerk payroll 651.11 651.11 15/01/2026 C Hasset Litter Picking Dec/Jan 169.00 169.00 07/01/2026 Victoria Clark - Mid Year Internal Audit 70.00 70.00 15/01/2026 Folkingham Village Hall Hire 30.00 30.00 09/01/2026 N. Bush - Microsoft subscription 104.99 104.99 Total 3038.14 2967.88 0.00 70.26 Bank Balances Lloyds Treasurers account £2,743.77 Lloyds Savings account £14,824.06 Natwest account £991.25 It was resolved to accept the accounts for payment and to pay Cllr Martin Smith’s expenses of £10.00 for the Christmas Tree Festival, Christmas Tree £14.99 and Christmas Lights £77.91 Clare Proudfoot now has access to Lloyds online and Nicky Bush can now be removed from the bank account. The actual expenditure was reviewed against the budget to date with 114% income and 126% spending. These are both over budget in part due to the grant and expenditure for the play area benches. The Pavillion is over budget, however money was previously ringfenced in anticipation of this It was resolved to pay the Clerk’s salary on a monthly basis rather than every other month. It was resolved to spread the payment of the outgoing Clerk’s additional Fifty-Three hours, over the remainder of the financial year. Bank reconciliation was checked and signed by Cllr Lucy Robb Action: Clerk to make outstanding payments, remove Nicky Bush from Banking.

 

26/328 Planning: S25/2192 Reinstate wrought iron railings – The Greyhound House. Granted S25/2001 Fell Norway Spruce Tree – 1-3 Market Place. Granted Planning Decisions S25/1881 – Remedial work, retrospective permission for internal works and side extension – 16 and 18 Market Place S25/0024 – Proposed glamping site – 7 Bourne Road, Folkingham Action: None

 

26/329 Correspondence SKDC Correspondence Email - Weekly planning Lincs County Council Email - Newsletter Community Connector Email - Newsletters SKDC Email - Local Reorganisation Nov 25 Greater Lincolnshire Email - Local Reorganisation Lincs County Council Email - Feedback survey SKDC Email - Commemorative Events Spring 2026 UDlive Email - Flood water sensors Lincs County Council Email - Community Flood Resilience works Email - Temp Traffic Regulation Order Lincs County Council Lincs County Council Email - Fostering Opportunities Lloyds Bank Email – Interest rate changes John Kirby Email – Branches marketplace SKDC Email – Food Waste Disposal Lincs County Council Email – LCC initial budget proposals Action: None.

 

26/330 Clerks report. New Clerk Clerks Report Handover has begun and banking set up underway Manor House Tree works Permission now granted, John Kirby notified New Councillor Now received paperwork through and have registered with SKDC Clerk Reported that the grit bin in the village needs refilling, reported through fixmystreet Action: Clerk to follow up action for re-instating the grit bin on Greenfields Lane in the village. Clerk to report flooding on West Street through fixmystreet.

 

26/331 Updates from LCC/SKDC None

 

26/332 Pavilion/CCTV Cllr Christopher Clark has a meeting arranged on Monday 19 January to look at the Pavilion with Cllr David Simpson. Cllr David Simpson is taking over as representative for the Pavilion on the Parish Council. The Pavilion has been refurbished and Ropsley Football Team are regularly booking the building and playing fields for practice and matches. The use of the Pavilion by the football team is running well and no adverse comments received. The Pavilion still requires some further work and the aim is to open it up for all to book for events. The Pavilion website is set up and the booking system and website will go live soon. Concerns raised regarding dog fouling and CCTV system. The CCTV system needs reinstating. However, it is very difficult even with CCTV footage to be able to tackle the issue. Resolved to use Facebook page to raise the issue of dog fouling again and report issues through to the Clerk. Resolved to ask Ropsley Football club to supply photographs when they are using the facilities which can be used with permission by the Parish Council to publicise the facilities. Cllr Lucy Robb advised that repairs are required to the gutter and slabs, a contractor has been contacted to progress. Action: Clerk to finalise Pavilion website and booking system. Cllr Martin Smith to use Facebook post to raise issues regarding dog fouling in the play area. Cllr Martin Smith will look at the gutter repair for the Pavilion.

 

26/333 Playing field/Allotments Allotment invoices issued for 2026. Plot 10 has given notice of their tenancy and will be handing back the key. Correspondence received from Sports England to register sports facilities. Cllr David Simpson to progress the response to Sports England for the Parish.

 

26/334 Agree Tender for grass cutting Clerk clarified the requirements for the Tender document. It was resolved that the Play Area and Sports Field will be kept separate from the verges and extra cuts for the Football Club use will be kept separate for budgeting purposes.

 

26/335 Highways Cllr Martin Smith has been working with Cllr Martin Hill with a view to put bollards in near the ford to prevent through traffic. Damage has been caused to the ford from larger vehicles cutting the corners accessing down from Greenfields Lane. The matter is still in progress and the bollards would not be permanent but the type that can be moved. Cllr Martin Smith that the other ongoing Highway matter was in relation to the marketplace. Discussions are taking place with Cllr Martin Hill and Highways over narrowing the carriageway in the middle of the marketplace opposite where the care home is to provide a safer crossing place. The discussions include widening the verges either side, narrow the carriageway and have a crossing in the middle. This could be combined with resurfacing of the car parking areas and installing bollards to prevent cars going out of the car park straight onto the junction which is deemed dangerous. Cllr Martin Smith has a meeting to progress the discussions with Cllr Martin Hill and Highways in January. Cllr Martin Smith advised that there is a new guide available online called “Create Streets”, which seeks to align highway improvements with conservation areas. The aim is to make the roads better, safer and in line with conservation areas. Action: Clerk to ask Lincolnshire County Council when the Traffic Regulation Order for the speed reduction in the village is likely to take place.

 

26/336 Neighbourhood Plan The Neighbourhood Plan which was commenced a while ago will start to progress now the new Clerk is in post. The plan provides the Parish with legal protection particularly around planning matters and housing development, as well as protecting land. A consultation has already taken place for the village in terms of having a Neighbourhood Plan. The next stage would be registering with South Kesteven District Council that a Neighbourhood Plan is under development. The Parish would work with the District Council on any recommendations and then ultimately there would be a referendum on the plan.

 

26/337 Audit Report and .gov.uk emails Victoria Clark carried out the Audit. Two items were noted, firstly the Cyber Security Policy requirement that only came out in November 2025 which is when the audit took place. The outgoing Clerk has already started work on the policy using the model policy on the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils’ (LALC) website. The second item is the requirement for .gov.uk email domains. This is part of AGR (Annual Governance Report) Assertion 10. It was resolved to obtain quotes for the .gov email domains and set the Clerk and all Cllrs up with the emails at the same time. Action: Clerk to progress

 

26/338 Telephone box Cllr Kathy Farley suggested that consultation for the use of the telephone box is posted on Facebook. Action: Cllr Kathy Farley to provide the consultation information to Cllr Martin Smith to post on Facebook.

 

26/339 Other village matters. Cllr Christopher Clark confirmed that the village hall has a strong committee and the committee will be actively recruiting for more volunteers. Cllr Martin Smith thanked Nicky Bush the outgoing Clerk, for all her hard work and turning around the Clerk role when she came into post.

 

Meeting Closed 8.25 pm Date of next meeting: 19 March 2026, 7.00 pm