Draft Minutes -31 July 2025
Minutes of the meeting held Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 7pm in the Parish Rooms
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 as he is on holiday
b) LCC Divison Member. Cllr Nick Hastings was not in attendance.
07/25-1 Record of Members Present and Apologies
Present: Cllr Gillian Pollard (GP) (Chair), Cllr Mervyn Counter (MC) (Vice-Chair), Cllr Anne McCready (AM), Cllr T Coultas (TC), Cllr Nicky Gulley Brown (NGB), Cllr Terry Aldridge (TA) and Cllr Ian Appleby (IA)
Also present: Mrs Nadine Must (Parish Clerk/RFO)
Apologies accepted: Cllr Lesley Jackson (LJ) and Cllr Edward Mossop (ELDC)
07/25-2 To receive any Declarations of Interest on any item on the agenda. Cllrs NGB and IA declared their interests on agenda items 07/25-5 relating to Parish Rooms issues
07/25-3 Minutes from 29 May 2025. It was resolved that the draft minutes from the meeting were accurate and was duly signed by the Chair.
P: TC; S: MC, All in favour
07/25-4 Council Matters
a) Chair’s Remarks. The Chair had no further reports to make.
b) Clerk’s Report. The Clerk’s report was noted.
c) Communications Received. This was noted.
d) Council Logo. The Council resolved to shelve this idea unless a volunteer is found to create a design free of charge to the Council.
e) Gardening Contract. Two quotations were considered and the Council resolved to accept the quote from Building Internals Garden on the proviso that the charge per hour were two people inclusive and each session was no longer than four hours. The contract will be reviewed at the end of October.
P: NGB; S: MC, Passed
f) Lincolnshire Police Briefing Sessions. The Vice Chair volunteered to represent the parish council at the briefings starting on the 23rd September 2025. Cllr MC will send an email for any questions to be put forward/submitted by the deadline date of 15th September.
g) Stage 2 Consultation National Grid Upgrade. The Council resolved to submit its objection to the upgrade endorsing the statement made by the ELDC Council Leader.
P: TC; S: MC, All in favour
h) Dedicated Gov.uk email address for Parish Council to comply with Assertion 10 for AGAR 2025/26. The Council agreed to take up the offer from Parish Online for a free GOV.UK mailbox for the parish council clerk. The Council did not agree to purchase the same for parish councillors.
P: MC; S: AM, All in favour
07/25-5 Parish Rooms
a) Deed of Release of Restrictive Covenant. There is no decision yet from the Methodist Trustees. Cllr NGB has emailed the local Methodist branch for support. It was also agreed to request the ELDC Ward Member to follow up.
b) ELIF Funding application. The unsuccessful bid for funding was noted but was hopeful that a re-submission will be supported if and when the Awards for All funding is approved.
c) Awards for All funding application. No update has been received.
07/25-6 Finance and Budgets
a) Bank Mandate Changes. Cllrs NGB and TC volunteered to be added to the bank signatories. Parish Clerk to action.
b) Payments. The Council accepted payments for July 2025 detailed below.
|
 |
P: MC; S: IA, All in favour
c) Latest Receipts and Payments Monitoring. All receipts and payments were reconciled with the bank statements. Spend against budget were noted.
d) AGAR FY 2024/25. Initial acknowledgement of exemption certificate had been received but a final notification is still awaited.
07/25-7 Community Amenities and Groups
a) Covenham Reservoir Steps DMMO application. Cllr LJ provided a newspaper cutting dating back to July 2007 featuring the Reservoir Steps as part of the walking trail. The Council agreed to use this cutting as evidence to submit to Lincolnshire County Council as proof that the steps had been in use for a long time.
b) St Bartholomew Church. The diseased tree needs attention and is a safety concern. It was resolved to ask the ELDC Tree Officer to urgently inspect and recommend action. The Council will engage a tree surgeon if ELDC has not responded in two weeks’ time. It was also noted that the bench in the churchyard had been vandalised. Cllr IA will get a resident to check and provide a quote.
07/25-8 ELDC/LCC Services
a) Grange Lane drains. No update received from LCC.
b) Dog bin. This has been installed on the LCC footpath opposite Grange Lane. ELDC weekly collection in place. The Council thanked the Vice Chair for taking delivery and installing the bin.
c) Rotted bridge footpath between Grange Lane and Birketts Lane. The Vice Chair reported that the footbridge has been replaced with a culvert crossing but it was unclear if the works had been completed. No handrail had been reinstated. The Clerk to ask the Footpath Officer for an update.
d) Pear Tree Lane request for speed restriction and wight limit. The Council will send the resident’s request to the LCC Division Member for his consideration. The request to grit the road during severe weather conditions is still awaited.
07/25-9 Planning Matters
a) update on applications. The planning application for the Parish Rooms had been approved but there was an issue with Building Regulations.
b) Applications for consideration. None considered.
07/25-10 Date of Next Meeting – Thursday, 2 October 2025, 7pm Parish Rooms
The meeting closed at 8:25pm.