Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Thursday, 30 July 2026, 7pm at The Parish Rooms, Covenham

Public Forum

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

Report from Outside Bodies.  

a) ELDC Ward Member Cllr Edward Mossop sent his apologies but provided a short report which was read out at the meeting.

i. Lincolnshire is going to be carved up into two Unitary Authorities; one based on an enlarged Lincoln city and the rest as rural Lincolnshire.

ii. A new shadow authority for the two Councils will be elected next May (2027) but ELDC will continue to run its services until May 2028 and the shadow authority will then take over all services formerly run by both ELDC and Lincolnshire County Council.

iii. Cllr Mossop will retire as a Councillor in May 2028.

b) LCC Division Member. Cllr Nick Hastings reported

i. Dealing with Anglian Water with regard to the Tetney Lock gates to be properly maintained and opened on a regular basis to ensure they are in working order and will continue to push for the Covenham Reservoir Steps on the south side to be reinstated.

ii. The Local Government Reorganisation decision was not well received at LCC. An election for a Shadow Authority will be held in May 2027.

iii. He will address with Highways issues of road closure signs not being removed when works have been completed or misleading access signs.

iv. County Councillors now have a £3k grant available to support projects in their divisions.  Cllr NH has allocated funding to the Parish Council and the Parish Clerk will be informed in due course.

v. There has been no update on the volunteer scheme to help with the Headstone laying task group.

LCC Cllr NH left at 7:20 pm.

07/26-1 Record of Members Present and Apologies

Present: Cllr Gillian German(GG) (Chair), Cllr Mervyn Counter (MC) (Vice Chair) Cllr Anne McCready (AM), Cllr Nicky Gulley Brown (NGB), Cllr Tony Coultas (TC), Cllr Lesley Jackson (LJ), Cllr Angela Aylett (AA) and Cllr Terry Aldridge (TA)

Also present: Councillor Nick Hastings (LCC) and Mrs Nadine Must (Parish Clerk/RFO)

Apologies accepted: Councillor Edward Mossop (ELDC)

Absent: Cllr Ian Appleby (IA)

07/26-2 To receive any Declarations of Interest on any item on the agenda. Cllr NGB and Cllr LJ declared their interests on agenda items relating to the Parish Rooms.

07/26-3 Minutes from 28 May 2026. It was resolved that the draft minutes from the meeting were accurate and was duly signed by the Chair.

P: AA; S: TC, Passed

07/26-4 Council Matters

a) Chair’s Remarks.

i. Attended the St Barts Sketching Event, which formed part of Knowledge Share Week.

ii. The dog poo posters had disappeared but have since been replaced. Hopefully, they will remain in place and not be removed again.

iii. The Perspex soldier was removed from its position but was later found and reinstated.

iv. Thanks were expressed to Cllr NGB for all her hard work managing the accessible toilet build.

b) Stage 2 Consultation EGL5.   Cllr TC reported that the June event was more a roadshow rather than a consultation.  The organisers did not welcome group discussions and did not update on their proposals based on the feedback from previous consultations.  The Council resolved to respond to the Consultation based on the template prepared by Lincolnshire Against Needless Destruction (LAND).  The Clerk to adapt and submit.

P: MC; S: AM, All in Favour

c) Clerk’s Report.  The Clerk’s report was noted.

d) Communications Received.  This was noted.

i. Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Proposed Submission Version Regulation 19 consultation.  The Council did not have any comments and agreed not to send any feedback.

ii. Dead Tree along Main Road/end of Grange Lane. The Parish Clerk reported that there has been no reply from the owner despite sending an email and leaving a voicemail message.  Cllr NGB volunteered to speak to the owner who was going to attend a CVV event at the weekend. 

07/26-5 Parish Rooms

a) Accessible Toilet.  Cllr NGB reported that construction work has been done and the remaining works are to fit the toilets and flooring which are expected to be completed by first week of August.

The unveiling event on 27th August at 2 pm was discussed and it was resolved to provide tea/coffee, cakes and savoury and put an invite on the CVV newsletter to residents.  Cllr NGB to organise.  The Parish Clerk will check with the funders if the press/media need to be invited to promote the event.  

b) Defibrillator.  The recent check on the AED showed that the pads will expire in August and the battery was running on half.  Cllr NGB will contact Steve Rack to get replacement pads.  LIVES who provided the battery in 2023 stated that there should not be any concern on the battery status and it should last another two years.

07/26-6 Finance and Budgets

a) HMRC mileage rate.   The Council agreed the new tax free mileage rate of £0.55 per mile backdated to 6th April 2026.

P: MC; S: NGB, Passed

b) Payments.  The Council approved the following payments.

P: AA; S: NGB, Passed

Payments and receipts in between meetings were noted.

c) Latest Receipts and Payments and Bank Statements Monitoring. Expenses against budgets were reviewed and it was noted that the spend on gardening services for St Mary’s Church was already over the budget.  However, the Council acknowledged that the site is now much improved and is now regularly maintained.

07/26-7 Community Amenities and Groups

a) Covenham Reservoir Steps.  This item was discussed during the LCC session with Cllr NH and update provided.  The Council disputed Anglian Water’s assumption that the steps were only seldom used.

b) St Mary’s Church Tree Felling.  There was no agreement on who is responsible for the Willow tree that needs to be cut down.  It was agreed that Cllr AM will report this on FixmyStreet to establish if LCC is responsible.

P: AM; S: GG, All in favour

c) Additional Speed Indicator Device.  The Council agreed that speeding in the parish is still a significant concern and the Vice Chair reported that there may be a case for purchasing a hand-held speeding device through the Community Speed Watch Campaign but will require a number of volunteers to be trained to operate.  The Vice Chair will report back at the next meeting with a comprehensive report of costs and alternative options.

d) Dog bin at Birkett’s Lane.  It was reported that the concrete base has been dislodged.  The Parish Clerk to report to ELDC for repair.

e) Speed Sign on Main Road, north end.  Cllr TC reported that the 30mph speed sign has been damaged.  This should be reported to FixmyStreet.

f) The Plough property.  It was noted that one of the windows was open and a videocam showed a man peering through.  This was reported to the Police.

g) Anti-social behaviour.  The Parish Council has received reports from residents regarding incidents of intimidating behaviour involving groups of teenagers towards other young people within the village. Cllr AA volunteered to speak to her neighbourhood police contact to discuss any actions to be taken.

07/26-8    ELDC/LCC Services

a) Update on Streetlight reconnection by cemetery.  This has been fixed.

07/26-9 Planning Matters

a) Update on applications.  00595/26/FUL| Sunnyside, Grange Lane Covenham St Bartholomew was approved.

b) Applications considered.

(i) 00889/26/FUL Planning Permission - Change of use, conversion of and extensions and alterations to existing agricultural building to provide a dwelling and erection of walling and vehicular access gates to a maximum height of 2.5m. Land West of Bluebell Grange Newbridge Lane Covenham St Mary. 

It was RESOLVED to submit the following observations:

Height of the proposed wall – The proposed wall appears to exceed the height permitted under planning regulations.

Impact on the character of the rural lane – The proposed wall would introduce a prominent built feature that has the potential to adversely affect the open and rural character of the lane. Consideration should be given to the visual impact of the development and whether it preserves or enhances the existing character of the area.

Archaeological and ecological surveys – Given the location and nature of the site, it is considered that appropriate archaeological and ecological assessments should be completed before any planning decision is made. The Local Planning Authority should be satisfied that the proposal would not result in unacceptable impacts on heritage assets or protected species and habitats.

Works started prior to determination – It has been noted that works appear to have started on site before planning permission has been granted.  While this is a separate enforcement matter, East Lindsey District Council may wish to consider and investigate the extent of the works being undertaken and whether any breach of planning control has occurred.

P: MC; S: AA, All in favour

c) Haith Farm’s new drive access with dropped kerb.  No further update received from ELDC Enforcement Team investigation

Closed Session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed in relation to the following matters:

07/26-10  Parish Clerk Performance Appraisal FY2025/26.  The Parish Council agreed that the comments from the previous year’s appraisal remain unchanged.  The Parish Clerk to populate the form and submit for signing at the next meeting.

P: MC; S: TC, Passed

End of closed session.

07/26-11 Date of Next Meeting – Thursday, 24 September 2026, 7 pm in the Parish Rooms.

a) The Chair may not be able to attend as travelling back from holiday.  The Vice Chair will assume chairmanship and deal with any matters prior to the meeting while the Chair is away.

b) Agenda item for next meeting – To consider an Emergency Plan and complete the template provided by Lincolnshire Community Resilience Team.

The meeting closed at 8:45 pm.