January 2026

Meeting Minutes – 28th January 2026

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 26th November 2025 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chair.

5. Flooding Issues

LCC plan of works: whilst most flooding issues in the village seem to have been resolved on occasion some flooding still occurs at the bottom of Church Lane where the drains get overwhelmed with the volume of rainwater coming down Church Lane. This has been reported to LCC. As there is no threat to property LCC won’t do anything immediate to deal with the water as it does drain away in time. There are many sites like this around Lincolnshire and many where there is internal property flooding so these will be prioritised first. If LCC do have some capacity they will then attend to other locations.

6. Solar Farm Proposals

WPC is aware of the following 4 proposals:

• S23/0587 – S24/0360: Church Lane: approved
• S23/2235: ASH Tree Solar Farm: approved
• S24/1040: Pasture Farm, Welby: approved
• S25/0972 – S25/1194: Glebe Farm Solar Farm: Planning permission refused by SKDC on 14 October 2025.

7.   Reducing speeding through Welby

• Speed watch: no sessions have taken place.
• SID: review results to date. SID was moved to the west end of the village. Results will be reviewed once a the unit has recorded for a suitable period (6 months).
• Feasibility of an additional SID unit for Church Lane: 2 smaller units were acquired at a much lower cost. These will be installed in due course.
• Cllr. Mike Priestley will investigate possibility of acquiring “village speed watch area” signs.

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

• Update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters: nil.

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

• A permanent monitoring officer (Mr Graham Kitchen) started on 26 January and the complaint will be revisited. Two key aspects are a full explanation of what support is available to parish councils and the (perceived) lack of support to WPC.
• The new recycling depot in Grantham is on target for completion
• SKDC have submitted proposals as part of the local government reorganization. These differ from LCC’s proposals. Details can be found their respective websites.
• Food recycling is being rolled out and collections will start w/c 13 April.
• Lincolnshire Police’s budget was increased but it is unclear what the increase is to be used for and if this will benefit rural areas.

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: in the process of being repainted.

b. Appropriate way for WPC to show its appreciation to villagers that make a contribution to the village: suitable means to be further investigated.

c. Grass cutting contract with LCC: process has changed and WPC were invited to express interest which was done.

13. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £1,909.03

Since last meeting the following income has been received:

Since last meeting payments made from bank account:

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 18 March 2026 at 19:00 in Wel-But Cottage.

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

Dated:………………………………………………………………..