January 2025

Meeting Minutes – 15th January 2025

19:00 in Wel-But Cottage

Present

Cllr Michael Priestley  (Chairman)                  Cllr James Pask (Vice-Chairman)       

Cllr Gill Ikin                                                      Cllr Jonathan Fisher

Cllr Alan Gilbert                                              Cllr Sarah Trotter (SKDC)

In Attendance 

Roel van Aken (Clerk)

1. Apologies for Absence

Cllr Martin Hill (LCC)

2. Confirmation of eligibility, quorum and Declaration of interest

All councilors present are eligible, the meeting was quorate and no declaration of interests declared.

3. Public Representations

The public were allowed to be in attendance, but on this occasion no parishioners attended.

4. Minutes of previous meeting

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting dated 13th November 2024 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chair.

5. Flooding Issues

• LCC plan of works: system coped reasonable well during the recent downpour. A big thank-you to all the villagers who kept drains clear of leaves. The planned future improvements, which include 2 new manholes, repairing a collapsed drain, drilling out roots as well as some other repairs, are expected to take place in the new financial year.

• Welby Emergency Plan: a final session was planned for Wednesday 8 January in Lincoln however, due to flooding in the county this had to be postponed to a future date yet tbd.

6. Solar Farm Proposals

WPC is aware of the following 3 proposals:

• S23/0587 – S24/0360: Church Lane: planning permission refused but appeal had been lodged. Planning permission was approved on 15 January 2025 by an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.
• S23/2235: ASH Tree Solar Farm: planning permission refused.
• S24/1040: Pasture Farm, Welby: awaiting decision by SKDC. This is expected to be considered by the SKDC Planning Committee in February.

7.   Reducing speeding through Welby

• Speed watch: no sessions have taken place.

• SID:

          * no results to review.

          * solar upgrade complete but additional brackets are needed for installation. These are being sourced.

          * Due to the solar upgrade, the periodic moving around the various locations has become more involved so consideration will be given to keep the SID longer in each location.

• Siting of SID on Church Lane:

          * Due to the solar upgrade this needs further investigation to make sure it can be installed properly without causing obstructions.

          * 30 Mph sign that had been installed on the pole has gone missing.

8. County and District Councillor Reports (if Councillors present at meeting)

• Update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters: no update available.

• Update from the District Councillor Sarah Trotter on South Kesteven District Council matters:

          * Welby Solar Farm on Church Lane was approved by an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.

          * there has been significant flooding around the county incl. Grantham.

          * devolution is moving ahead  but impact / details as yet unknown.

9. Correspondences

To receive a report from The Clerk on relevant correspondences received and action taken since last meeting.

10. Planning Applications: 

Planning applications to consider with the following planning applications received:

11. Highways

Update from The Clerk on highway faults including those reported by WPC to LCC Highways and SKDC.

12. Village Matters

a. park bench near bus stop: will need repainting at some point in the future.

b. Village Green tree canopy: another tree trimming will be necessary. A quote has been obtained and the majority of the work took place on 17 December. Some additional pruning will be required now that National Grid have finished their upgrading work.

c. Lilac bush on Blacksmiths’ Lane: was pruned back.

d. Fallen tree Walnut Cottage: Clerk to contact the tenant’s agent. There is also a need to establish the exact boundary with the village green as other trees may be in danger of coming down.

13. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £2,675.46.

Since last meeting the following income has been received:

Since last meeting payments made from bank account:

Cheques raised during meeting:

The Chairman signed off Cashbooks as a true record after agreement from Councillors that both bank statement and cash books were accurate.

14. Urgent business

To consider any urgent business.

Please note if it is “urgent” only because it was not notified in time to appear on the agenda, it should be left till the next meeting. If it is genuinely “urgent”, that is it was too late for the agenda and it will be too late for action if left till the next ordinary meeting The Chairman and The Clerk need to decide whether an additional meeting should be called or actioned during this meeting.

15. Decide next meeting of the parish council.

The next ordinary meeting of Welby Parish Council will take place on Wednesday 12th March 2025 at 19:00 – venue to be confirmed (due to possible inclement weather).

Signed: ……………………………………………………………..   Chair

Dated:………………………………………………………………..