May 2026

Meeting Minutes – 13th May 2026

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 18th March 2026 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chair.

5.   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 the unit has recorded for a suitable period (6 months). It appears the data covering the last 6 months was corrupted and lost. Once a suitable new period has completed the data will be reviewed.
• Additional SID unit for Church Lane: 2 smaller units were acquired at a much lower cost. These will be installed in the near future.

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

• Update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters:
  • Glebe Farm solar farm: the applicant has lodged an appeal.
  • Houblon Arms: development plans are being considered although there is significant local opposition to the pub being converted.

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

SKDC’s AGM takes place at 2pm on Thursday 21 May at the Council Chamber, as always an opportunity at the beginning of the proceedings for the general public to attend and speak. On the same day the waste depot will be officially opened in the morning and Councillors are invited to attend. The food waste service is up and running and participation is up to a healthy 60%, and SKDC is the first authority in Lincolnshire to implement the scheme. The weights should have now settled so future collections should be more efficient and stable. Any issues can be reported on the SKDC website, www.southkesteven.gov.uk/foodwaste.

The SKDC CCTV suite, based at Grantham Police Station, & staff recently received a prestigious award at the National CCTV Conference for best CCTV, and efficiently work in conjunction with Lincolnshire Police, using 70 cameras in total, engaging in over 900 incidents a month.

Nothing new to report about LGR but final decision will come from Central Government before the Summer recess in July as to the chosen areas, SKDC first choice, South Kesteven, North Kesteven & South Holland.

Whilst Fly tipping continues to blight our towns and countryside, positive news of secured convictions by SKDC’s Public Protection Team in conjunction with Lincs Police successfully pursued the prosecution of two brothers guilty of a number of fly tipping offences across the district and neighbouring North Kesteven, the two brothers Anthony & James admitted ten counts of fly tipping, when they appeared at Lincoln Crown Court. Anthony Doherty was sentenced to 37 weeks custody suspended, 100 hrs of unpaid work and his brother James, 51 weeks custody suspended for 18 months and must complete 150 hours of Community work. Incidents of fly-tipping must be reported at https://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/flytipping.

7. Correspondences

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

8. Planning Applications: 

Planning applications to consider with the following planning applications received:

9. Highways

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

10. Village Matters

a. park bench near bus stop: in the process of being repainted and is nearing completion.

b. Appropriate way for WPC to show its appreciation to villagers that make a contribution to the village.

c. Grass cutting contract update: no update.

d. Bus shelter grant: too expensive to repair and exceeds the grant limit. As there is no danger no further action to be taken.

e. Grantham Running Club intend to organize a run around 5 July on Church Lane with around 70 people expected to attend. This will probably last a few hours during which Church lane will be closed to traffic. Full details to be confirmed.

11. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £3,660.90.

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.

12. 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.

13. Decide next meeting of the parish council.

The next ordinary meeting as well as the AGM of Welby Parish Council will take place on Wednesday 15 July 2026 at 19:00 in the Church. As the Chair will not be able to attend the meeting will be chaired by the Vice-Chair.

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

Dated:………………………………………………………………..