Draft Minutes - 27 November 2025
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
b) LCC Division Member. Cllr Nick Hastings reported the following:
i. Grange Lane. No update. He will check with Highways on works for action.
ii. Guard rail along footbath between Grange Lane and Birkett’s Lane has been installed.
iii. Covenham Reservoir Steps. The steps have eroded and the gravel and wood rails no longer exists. He urged anyone who has used the steps for over 20 years to send their recollections to use as evidence.
iv. Pear Tree Lane. See Minute Reference 11/25-8c)
Cllr Hastings left at 7:15pm.
11/25-1 Record of Members Present and Apologies
Present: Cllr Gillian German (GG) (Chair), Cllr Mervyn Counter (MC) (Vice-Chair), Cllr Anne McCready (AM), Cllr Lesley Jackson (LJ), Cllr Nicky Gulley Brown (NGB) and Cllr Ian Appleby (IA)
Also present: Cllr Nick Hastings (LCC) and Mrs Nadine Must (Parish Clerk/RFO)
Apologies accepted: Cllr T Coultas (TC) and Cllr Edward Mossop (ELDC)
Absent: Cllr Terry Aldridge (TA)
11/25-2 To receive any Declarations of Interest on any item on the agenda. Cllrs NGB and IA declared their interests on agenda items 11/25-5 relating to the Parish Rooms.
11/25-3 Minutes from 2 October 2025. It was resolved that the draft minutes from the meeting were accurate and was duly signed by the Chair.
P: IA; S: NGB, All in favour
11/25-4 Council Matters
a) Chair’s Remarks. The Chair gave an annual review of her own personal circumstances and what has been achieved to date by the Parish Council and Covenham Village Volunteers (CVV).
i. She has changed her last name to reflect her recent marriage and all relevant Council documents have now been updated.
ii. The Parish Rooms is now a comfortable and fit for purpose community asset thanks to all the hard work of CVV.
iii. She thanked all councillors for their continued hard work and dedication to get things done.
iv. She thanked both ELDC and LCC Councillors for their support. Bollards have been installed outside Ambleside property, the flooding on Grange Lane is work in progress, the hand rails along the footpath between Birkett’s Lane and Grange Lane have been replaced.
v. A new dog waste bin near Grange Lane has been installed paid for by CVV. More speed limit signs have been installed in both villages.
vi. The annual Remembrance Sunday was held on 9th November including a two-minute silence. Poppy wreaths from the Parish Council and CVV were laid including some personal little crosses. Refreshments followed in the Parish Rooms provided by CVV. Messages of thanks for the respectful service were received afterwards.
vii. A tree in St Barts Churchyard had fallen down onto the neighbouring property but no damage nor injuries sustained. Clearing the debris is the Parish Council’s responsibility and works to clear the area has been arranged. The cost will be taken from the Contingency fund in the budget.
viii. A recent accident on the A16 which diverted the traffic along St Barts were a concern. Vehicles were speeding and not following the 30mph speed limit. This will be reported to LCC to ensure that adequate measures are enforced to prevent road traffic incidents in the village.
ix. She wished everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year as this was the last meeting of the year.
b) Clerk’s Report. The Clerk’s report was noted. The property owner where the salt grit will be put has given permission. Cllr TC has completed the assets information for the Public Rights of Way survey. The Chair will check for a possible siting for the convex mirror.
c) Communications Received. This was noted.
i. LCC Permit Scheme (LiPS) Variation Proposal. The Council agreed that costs of permits be increased to cover the operating costs.
P: MC; S: NGB, All in favour
d) Parish Newsletter. It was resolved not to publish a newsletter for December. The CVV Newsletter which is coming out in mid-January will have a few pages dedicated for parish council news including the paid for adverts still within contract. The Chair will write her report and send to Cllr NGB for inclusion and the Clerk will forward the adverts. The Parish Council will only pay for the number of pages used.
P: LJ; S: AM, All in favour
11/25-5 Parish Rooms
a) Deed of Release of Restrictive Covenant. The Council noted receipt of original deeds signed by the Methodist Trustees. Cllr AM and MC counter-signed the deeds.
b) ELIF Funding application. The decision on the application has not been received but was expected for the end of the month.
c) Christmas Tree. Cllr IA volunteered to buy the Christmas Tree and the Vice Chair will check if he has a spare base to use.
11/25-6 Finance and Budgets
a) Purchase of Outbuilding. The Council agreed to pay the buyer in full the purchase price of £1,500 rather than in two instalments. The Title Deeds document for signing was discussed and completion date will be arranged soon.
P: IA; S: MC, All in favour
b) Payments. The Council accepted payments for November 2025 detailed below.
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P: MC; S: IA, All in favour
c) Latest Receipts and Payments Monitoring. These were noted including spend against budget.
d) Budget and Precept for FY2026/27. It was resolved to accept the budget presented by the Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer. However, the four options proposed for the precept requirement were considered but deemed inadequate to have a balanced budget. It was therefore proposed, seconded and voted to submit a precept of £10,386 which is the difference between the estimated budget expenditure of £11,946 and expected receipts of £1,560.
Approved budget 1
P: NGB; S: IA, All in favour
11/25-7 Community Amenities and Groups
a) Covenham Reservoir Steps DMMO application. The Chair reported that she has received 10 emails as evidence and still awaiting some more from other residents who agreed to provide some photos. The Clerk to check with LCC if emails can be counted as evidence instead of using the official form.
b) St Bartholomew Church. Works on the diseased tree is still work in progress. LCC had issued a temporary traffic regulation order.
11/25-8 ELDC/LCC Services
a) Grange Lane drains. Temporary traffic restriction was sent for end October but no works carried out. Cllr Hastings will get update from Highways.
b) Guard rail on culverted footpath between Grange Lane and Birketts Lane. Completed.
c) Pear Tree Lane. Highways has agreed to reduce the speed limit to 50mph but weight restriction will not be imposed. Gritting the road during winter was also not approved.
11/25-9 Planning Matters
a) update on applications. None.
b) Applications for consideration. None considered.
11/25-10 Date of Next Meeting – Thursday, 29 January 2026, 7pm Parish Rooms
Agenda Items for consideration at the next meeting:
a) Gardening contract for St Mary’s Churchyard
b) Tree inspection for St Barts Churchyard and St Mary’s Churchyard
The meeting closed at 8:22pm.