2025 Parish Council Meeting Minutes

THESE ARE DRAFT NOTES OF THE MEETING AND WILL BE RATIFIED AT THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING

DRAFT Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 2 September at St. Peter's Church, Louth Road, South Somercotes

Present:                            Chair                                Cllr Paul Rickett (appointed)

                                            Vice-Chair                      Cllr Edward Mossop (appointed)

                                                                                      Cllr Daniel McNally (appointed)

Also Present:                    Clerk                               Mrs Binal Sawjani                 

                                            Members of Public      20 members of the Public

                                             District/County             Cllr Bayleigh Robinson

Item 0525/19 Welcome to the meeting: Chair opened meeting at 18.00 and welcomed the public. As the councillors have been appointed by the local authority it was decide that roles needed to be assigned. Proposed, seconded, and RESOLVED that Cllr Ricketts would Chair, Cllr Mossop would take position of vice-chair.

Meeting opened to the public: The session was RESOLVED to be extended as long as was needed to allow all parishioners to have their say.

• Opened with why do we need a parish council? Explained that the council was there to serve the village and have been represented in tertiary government hierarchy.
• Burial ground – parishioners feels that the grass cutting has been severe, and council will review this and report back at the next meeting.
• Jubilee field – has been mowed. This was undertaken by local farmer as a favour to the parish and landowner. Council will review and report back at the next meeting. Discuss in parish matters below for resolution.
• Remembrance day – request was made by parishioner to purchase a wreath and would the council reimburse cost of £15 for Remembrance day. Agreed to add to the agenda.

Meeting commence 18.42

Chair invited Cllr Ricketts to speak:

Nothing to report

Chair invited Cllr Robinson to speak:

• Introduced himself to the parishioners; has taken a lead on highways, mending potholes in the area and looking at materials that can last longer for the roads when repairing. Looking at hedgerows that need cutting back due as they cover signs and cleaning signs so that motorists can see clearly. His promise is to look at every road in the ward. Chair invited

Cllr McNally to speak:

• Councillor community grants available if any social club, playing arears or field would like to apply, application will be welcomed. Locally sister parishes have been successful in awarded the grant.
• East Lindsey does not have enough housing for the local area. This is an ongoing issue, and an ongoing consultation is being undertaken.

Item 0525/20 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and to consider any requests for dispensations: None

Item 0525/21 Apologies for absence: None

Item 0525/22 To approve the draft notes as minutes of the last meeting held on the 13 May and 26 June 2025: RESOLVED to adopt and sign the notes as accurate minutes, and they were dated and signed by the Chair.

Item 0525/23 Training:  Training available to all Staff and elected Members and clerk recommends councillors to view training schedule.

Item 0525/24 Parish Matters:

1. Grass cutting Jubilee Field – much discussion about the field and should the parish council maintain the field? Since the council dissolved and no events had been scheduled the owner of the field that had rented the field to the parish organised a local farmer to mow the field. After much discussion it was proposed that Cllr McNally will speak to the owner and get his view for the next meeting
2. Graveyard – after much discussion and summarise the view from the parishioners Cllr Mossop will provide a plan to with a parishioners to create nature area and reduce cutting of the grass and undertake a wobble test.
3. Bank account authorisation – the bank account needs to take former councillors of the bank account. It was proposed, seconded, and RESOLVED that Cllr McNally will become the authorised signatory, and Mr Baker would remain as signatory for continuity.
4. Container in church – much discussion shows that the parishioners want use of the items in the unit it was decided that the two parishioners that hold keys to the church would have access to the key code.

Item 0525/25 Correspondence: To receive and dispose of correspondence received since the last meeting..

• Information form Community emergency planning team form the Local Resilience Forums. They are designed to help communities be prepared for major emergencies or incidents that may occur across the UK. The forum exists across the entire country and are made up of expert partner organisations working together from the public and private sectors within defined regions aligned with Police Force areas. In Lincolnshire, the boundary of responsibility covers a total of 2,292 miles and a population of over 750,000. The forum is looking for local volunteers to head up the team for your community. Post on the website and social media. More info About - Lincolnshire Resilience Forum
• A survey from the local government asking parishioners views on Shaping the future of Greater Lincolnshire Have your say on the future of local government in Lincolnshire. Shaping the future of Greater Lincolnshire | Let's Talk Lincolnshire  Last year, the Government announced plans to replace 'two-tier' councils in England such as borough, city, county, and district with new unitary councils. Information available on website and noticeboard
• Due to the resignations of councillors at the last meeting the Co-op Notices have been posted onto the website – no parishioner has made enquiries.
• Confirmation of both Defibs in the village are registered and have been reviewed and the clerk has access to the account. To access the defibs is to call 999 and they will talk you through the process.
• Correspondance from an individual has come from a neighbouring parish regarding a parish matter pertaining to that village – no action is needed and clerk wanted to ensure that council was aware.

Item 0525/26 Date of next meeting:  26 November 2025 at 7pm.

Item 0525/27 Financial matters:

1. To note bank balances on bank statements as of April 2025 £10,738.00
2. To note income: £51.00
3. To authorise the signing of orders for payment for previous months

Meeting ended 19.42