May 2025

Meeting Minutes – 6th May 2025

19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church

Present

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

Cllr Gill Ikin                                                      Cllr Jonathan Fisher

Cllr Alan Gilbert                                              Cllr Martin Hill (LCC)

In Attendance 

Roel van Aken (Clerk)

1. Apologies for Absence

Cllr Sarah Trotter (SKDC)

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 12th March 2025 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chair.

5. Flooding Issues

• LCC plan of works: no further update. Cllr. Mike Priestley will follow up again.

• Welby Emergency Plan: a review session took place on 5 March at LFR in Lincoln. The final document was signed off. The Emergency Box will be located in the Church. The weather station has been fully set up and configured now. It will be relocated to its final position soon.

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: approved by SKDC.

7.   Reducing speeding through Welby

• Speed watch: one session took place during the period that High Dyke was closed. A very large number of through traffic was recorded but the number of cars exceeding the speed limit was still around 10%.

• SID:
  • solar upgrade: completed and operational
  • poles near the Lucerne, Bus Stop and the Village Pond have been extended so that it is now possible to also mount the solar panel on top.
  • review of results at Ivy Farm position. Anecdotal evidence shows that drivers do take notice and slow down when they encounter the SID. Some very significant excess speeds were recorded in both directions. These will be forwarded to the Road Safety Partnership.

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

• Update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters: big changes are taking place at LCC due to the recent election results. Cllr. Martin Hill will follow up wrt the planned drainage works and the village green fence issues.

• Update from the District Councillor Sarah Trotter on South Kesteven District Council matters: no update available.

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. Fallen tree Walnut Cottage: trees have been cleared from the village green – fence still awaiting repairs.

c. Red Lane dog litter bin: Sara has stopped with her service. An alternative has been found and has been implemented.

d. Tree near bus stop: may need some pruning as it is growing into the phonelines. WPC will keep monitoring the situation for now.

e. Gordon Holdon memorial: was installed at the pub entrance.

13. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £2,965.18.

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 9 July 2025 at 19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church.

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

Dated:………………………………………………………………..