2026 Minutes

Notes from Parish Council Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 26th May 2026 at Belchford Hall.

Present in person: Councillors: I Goodall (IG), J Newby (JN), P Thompson (PT) K Hockham (KH), J Smith (JS), J Fixter (JF), M Brown (MB) & Paul Morris (PM).

Also present: Cllr D Simpson Cllr A McGonigle, the minute-taker, Mr M Rayson and three members of the public.

Apologies from: N Sorenti and P Barnes

Parish Council Annual General Meeting commenced at 8.30 pm

1. Election of Officers and signing of Declaration of Acceptance of Office and DPI

a). Chairman – Mrs J Newby agreed to stand again – Nominated by PM and seconded by JS. Agreed unanimously.

b). Vice Chairman - It was proposed by JN that Ian Goodall and John Smith act as jointly in this role. This was seconded by KH and agreed unanimously.

c). Responsible Finance Officer – Paul Barnes was nominated by JS and seconded by PT. Agreed unanimously.

PB to liaise with Clerk regarding transfer of responsibilities. Action - PB

The Declaration of Acceptance of Office forms and DPIs were completed and signed by those present.

Notes from Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 26th May 2026 held at Belchford Village Hall.

Present in person: Councillors: I Goodall (IG), J Newby (JN), P Thompson (PT) K Hockham (KH), J Smith (JS), J Fixter (JF), M Brown (MB) & Paul Morris (PM).

Also present: Cllr D Simpson Cllr A McGonigle, the minute-taker, Mr M Rayson and three members of the public.

Parish Council meeting commenced at 8.40 pm

1. Apologies for absence and reasons given – P Barnes and N Sorenti have sent apologies, all for personal reasons. The apologies were accepted.

2. Declaration of interests and requests for dispensations - There were none.

3. Chairman’s remarks – JN had no further remarks to make at this point She advised that she would amend the sequence of the agenda to enable the County and District Councillors to leave after they had the opportunity to speak and answer questions.

4. To confirm and sign the minutes of the meetings held in March and April – It was proposed, seconded, voted and RESOLVED unanimously that the official minutes of the last two meetings having been previously circulated and amended were accepted as a true and accurate record of the minutes. The Chairman signed and dated them.

5. Questions to and reports from District and County Councillors -   JN began by asking Cllr McGonnigle whether there had been any progress in revising the definitive rights of way map for the area? Cllr McGonigle responded by acknowledging the long delays, which were caused by a staffing shortfall in the small team responsible for the map. He hoped there would be progress in the next 6 to 9 months.

PT asked about the process of prioritising highway repairs and commented on the state of Lowfield Lane, which had essentially been reduced to a single-track road owing to the deterioration of the road surface at its margins. This was a road carrying up to 1000 vehicles per day but did not seem to have a high priority for repair. Cllr McGonigle responded by referring to the Highways Strategic Asset Plan. The contractor, Balfour Beaty, was at full capacity, so there had to be prioritisation and he referenced the focus on saw-cut repairs as one means to ensure the budget available was being used most effectively.

PT responded by saying that the Lane needed a complete re-build, rather than patchwork repairs. Cllr McGonigle agreed to meet PT and JS on site with Highways Staff, to determine a way forward. Action – PT to liaise with Cllr McGonigle re date of meeting.

PT and JF raised issues regarding the siting of stops for the school bus in both Belchford and Fulletby and whether more appropriate and safer stops could be identified. Cllr agreed to take this matter up with the School Transport Team. Action – JN to re-send earlier email to Cllr McGonigle with details.

Cllr McGonigle advised that Councillors had voted to forgo an 8% increase in their allowances and instead earmark the money for a County Councillor Grant Fund, to which parish councils could apply for projects of community benefit.

Finally, he updated the meeting on local government reorganisation. Potentially we might hear about the proposed way forward by the end of June. If we do not, however, reorganisation is unlikely to happen in this Parliament.

Cllr Simpson reminded parish councillors to look on the East Lindsey website for details of grants available and also reminded those present of the opportunity for residents to apply for grants to assist in meeting the cost of oil heating.

2. To receive reports from the Clerk and Councillors on matters outstanding:

a. Maintenance of Grass Triangle, Fulletby – Action completed – topsoil added.

b. Bus stop for school coaches – see under item 5.

c. Bench on Viking Way – Carry forward to next meeting

d. Defibs – Carry forward to next meeting.

e. Fulletby noticeboard – Ketsby Sawmill are building the new noticeboard. KH agreed to chase. Action - KH

3. To receive an update from the Village Green Committee – James Hallam had circulated a report that would be attached to the minutes.

4. Insurance renewal – JN advised that Clear Insurance had provided a quotation, which at £662 was £3 cheaper than the cost in 2025. To date Zurich and Community First had not responded. The deadline was 18th June and it was agreed to ask the Clerk to chase. It was noted that the renewal process needed to start earlier in future years. Action - Clerk

5. Highways Matters – These had been covered under item 5.

6. Review of all policies, including new IP policy – The IP Policy had been circulated. It was agreed (proposed by IG, seconded by PT). All other policies had simply been updated to show current date and were agreed (proposed by IG, seconded by PT).

7. Community Woodland – JS advised that the pond had been dug and he was now waiting to seal it with clay. JS would advise when this was going to be done in case anyone wished to assist. Action – JS

The trees planted were suffering from drought and were vulnerable to damage from deer. However, it was not intended to fence off the woodland.

A plan is to be drawn up of the planted areas acknowledging where the donations have come from or who has grant funded planting etc.  Action – JS/PT. 

8. To consider correspondence received since the last meeting - None

9. Financial matters –

a. To receive an updated bank reconciliation form – Information had been received.

b. To consider and resolve payments since the last meeting, including village hall hire – It was noted that the last payment made was in February, for the January meeting. It was agreed that payment needed to ne made for the recent planning meeting and the May meeting

c. Annual Governance Statement – This was agreed and signed by the Chair.

As the Annual Internal Audit Report, Accounting Statements and Certificate of Exemption were not available, these items would be carried forward to the next meeting.

10. To agree venue and agenda items for the July 2026 meeting - It was agreed that this would be held on Fulletby Glebe Field if the weather was good enough, otherwise in Fulletby Church.

The following items should be on the agenda:

• Financial matters deferred above
• Community Woodland
• Village Green Committee
• Defib move
• School transport bus stops.

JN agreed to email round and liaise with Nancy Sorenti re newsletter

There being no further business, the Meeting closed at 9.05 pm.

Action List from May Meeting