Belchford and Fulletby Parish Council is an active and forward-thinking parish council located in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has 10 members; 7 representing Belchford and 3 Fulletby. It holds bimonthly meetings, each beginning with a public forum at which residents are encouraged to express their views.
Belchford and Fulletby Parish Council takes planning seriously. It works hard to preserve the traditional character of the villages including their historic architecture, layout, housing density, views of the surrounding countryside and the dark skies environment. It is currently in the advanced stages of preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan which, once incorporated into local planning law, will make the parishes two of the smallest in England to have an NDP.
The parish council works tirelessly to lobby both Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council to improve the roads that cross the parishes and to reduce speeding. Our speed awareness campaign was recently featured on BBC Look North.
Belchford and Fulletby Parish Council strives to improve facilities within the parishes. In recent years it has achieved the following:
1. Purchased a 2 acre field in Belchford on which it has established Belchford and Fulletby Village Green which is available to villagers and visitors alike. Events are held regularly on the village green.
2. Leased a 4 acre field on the boundary between Belchford and Fulletby parishes on which it has established Hayes Furlong Wood, a mixed deciduous wood with an orchard. A natural observatory has been installed in the wood, taking advantage of the dark skies environment.
3. Secured approx. £24,000 in grant funding in 2002 to reopen the Blue Bell Inn in Belchford which had been closed for 18 months and was threatened with being turned in to a residential property.
4. Installed bus shelters in both Belchford and Fulletby. These are principally used by our school children, but also form popular shelters and picnic spots for the many walkers and cyclists who enjoy the numerous Public Rights of Way that cross the parishes, including the long-distance Viking Way.
5. Successfully campaigned for the installation of copper to cabinet broadband which was installed in both villages in 2004. In 2012 this was upgraded to fibre to cabinet broadband with maximum download speed of approx. 65mB/second. The parish council is currently attempting to secure funding for ultrafast fibre to premises broadband.
6. Designed and commissioned hand-painted cast iron village entrance signs.
7. Purchased hand-crafted traditional oak noticeboards for each village.
8. Reinstated traditional Lincolnshire black and white striped signposts across the parishes.
9. Maintained local footpaths such as Ings Lane in Belchford which has recently been reopened after many years of neglect.
10. Funded and distributed sacks of potatoes to all residents during the first 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.
Projects undertaken by our parish council have been made possible due to generous grant funding, community fund raising and the hard work of both parish councillors and village residents alike.
Each summer the parish council holds a lane-letting auction upholding the tradition of letting grazing rights to the roadside grass verges in the parishes dating back to the Enclosures Acts of the 18th and 19th Century’s. Moneys raised are used for charitable causes in Belchford and Fulletby.
Annual Parish Meeting held outside Belchford Church in May 2023
Traditional oak bus shelter installed in Fulletby
Hand-painted village entrance sign
Council initiative to reopen Ings Lane in Belchford
Hand-crafted oak noticeboard installed in Fulletby
Traditional Lincolnshire signpost
Speed awareness campaign featured on BBC Look North
Council potato for all initiative during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown
Lane letting auction held outside the Blue Bell Inn in June 2023