March 2025 DRAFT Minutes
MINUTES OF THE SILK WILLOUGHBY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL ON THURSDAY 20 MARCH 2025 AT 7.00PM
Present: Cllr Roberts (Chair)
Cllrs Thackray, Bell, K Wright, and J Wright
In Attendance: County Cllr A Hagues, 2 parishioners and Denise Gascoyne Parish Clerk
Public Forum:
A parishioner was concerned with the turn from London Road/Bypass junction. It was very badly lit and in the dark or fog difficult to see exactly where the junction was. County Cllr Hagues agreed to report this to highways.
The meeting began at 7.05pm
1.Chair’s Welcome. Cllr Roberts welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2.Apologies for Absence. None.
3.Declarations of Interest. None.
4.To approve and accept as a true record the notes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on 30 January 2025. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved that the notes of the meeting held on 30 January 2025 be accepted as a true record. These were signed by the Chair.
5.Report from County Cllr Hagues/District Cllr Jackson.
a. County Cllr Hagues had heard nothing further on repainting roundels.
b. County Cllr Hagues had heard nothing further on S19 Flooding investigations.
County Cllr Hagues reported that NKDC had opted for North Kesteven, South Kesteven, South Holland and Rutland as one of the three new unitary councils to replace the existing 10 councils in Greater Lincolnshire. LCC would vote on 21 March 2025.
He also reported that Lincolnshire County Council elections, alongside elections for the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire will be held on 01 May 2025.
b. District Cllr Jackson had sent his apologies, but he sent his report which had been circulated to all Cllrs. He did also confirm no CIL monies was due to the Parish Counc
6.Chair Update.
a. A quotation had been received from Time Assured of £3300 for the addition of an automatic regulation module to the recent church clock upgrade. Cllrs discussed this fully and felt that as the clock had only recently been upgraded, there should be some sort of warranty. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: the Clerk look back to see when the upgrade took place and report back to the next parish council meeting.
b.LCC had forwarded the grass cutting schedule for the parish council. More areas had been added to the scope of work. The contractor had been asked to give his price for the contract. With the additional areas to be cut the cost had increased from £2100 per year to £2977.50 per year. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to accept the updated price for the grass cutting.
7. Parish Clerk Update.
a. Co-option Application Form had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to accept the Co-option application form and this would be put on the website.
b. A Funding Request form had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the Funding Request form.
c. The Clerk confirmed Cllr Bell had checked the defibrillator, and this had been submitted to ‘The Circuit.’
8.Finance.
a. The Bank Reconciliations and Cashbook to 31 January and 28 February had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to accept the Bank Reconciliations and Cashbook to 31 January and 28 February and these were signed by the Chair.
b. A Retrospective Approval List with payments being made on 03.02.25 and 05.02.25 had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the Retrospective Approval List and accept the following payments had been made.
Chq,100329 Tidy Garden & Grounds Grass Cutting £140.00
Chq.100330 Cancelled
Chq.100331 Silk Willoughby Village Hall Hire charges £90.00
c. The Approval List for cheque payments had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the Approval List and Cllrs Thackray and Wright signed the following cheques.
Chq.100332 D Gascoyne Staff payments £483.00
Chq.100333 Cathedral Stationery Toner £358.22
Chq.100334 L.A.L.C Internal Audit £198.00
Chq.100335 Sills & Betteridge lpp Solicitor Fees £600.00
d. The Clerk gave an updated bank position after all cheques had been paid of £549.96 in the current account. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: that no further payments would be made until the next financial year.
e. LALC and the Clerk had a zoom meeting for the Internal Audit Report. This had been circulated to all Cllrs. The Clerk had replied to LALC with answers to any questions posed. A further zoom meeting was to take place on 09 April.
f. One of the Investment accounts would mature in April. The Chair informed councillors of the rates
• Investment for 3 months 3.79%
• Investment for 4 months 3.86%
• Investment for 6 months 3.80%
These were discussed fully along with the position of the Church clock. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to investigate opening an immediate access savings account and deposit £10,000. The remaining monies in this account to be invested for 4 months with an interest rate of 3.86%.
g. The amended budget had been circulated to all Cllrs showing a Precept of £6000.00 (approx.12.5% increase) the increase was due mainly to grass cutting costs. The Clerk confirmed the Precept had been applied for.
h.A donation had been requested from Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: not to donate to the Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire.
9.Village Hall
a. The Chair of the village hall had sent a hall-lettings update. Only two groups prior to closure of the village hall had decided not to return. There were 3 groups pending and additional bookings for one off events. The Parish Council thanked the Chair of the village hall.
Pending issues included the Post Office Rent and a hall caretaker/handyman.
It was felt that the Parish Council and the Village Hall now had a good working relationship.
b. The issue with the upstairs room had still not been resolved. The resident had requested to rent it for 6 months with a view to buying it. The Chair of the village hall said nothing could be done without the agreement of the Charity Commission. She had written to them and awaiting a reply to see what the next steps were.
10.Correspondence.
a. LALC e-news – circulated to all Cllrs.
b. Trees for Communities – closing date 17.02.25
c. NKDC Parish and Town Council February 2025 newsletter – circulated to all Cllrs.
d. Central Lincolnshire Design Code stage 2 Consultation 26.02.25 to 09.04.25 – circulated to Cllr Roberts
e. LCC Town and Parish Council update February 2025 – circulated to all Cllrs.
f. NKDC Parish and Town Council Forum 10.04.25 10.00am-12.00pm NKDC Offices – circulated to Cllr Roberts.
g. Parish Online – forwarded to Cllr Roberts
h. Keep Britain Tidy – The Great British Clean-Up – forwarded to Cllr Roberts
i. Clerks and Councils direct – passed to Cllr Roberts
j. The Clerk – passed to Cllrs Roberts
k. Have your say on the draft public rights of way improvement plan – consultation closed 10.03.25.
11.Planning.
a. 24/1261 Planning approval reserved matters erection of 3 detached properties with garaging. Land to the South Of School Lane. FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
b.23/1419 Planning application installation of solar farm comprising ground mounted Solar PV panels for temporary period of 50years land formed by two parcels of land on the Eastern and Western side of Mareham Lane between the villages of Scredington and Silk Willoughby. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to make no comments on this application.
12.Training.
a. LALC Training Bulletin – circulated to Cllr Roberts
13.Date of Next Meeting.
a. To confirm the date of the next meetings – Annual Meeting, AGM and Parish Council Meeting as 29 May 2025 at 6.00pm
14. To resolve to exclude the media, press and members of the public from the meeting in accordance with S.1(2) Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of business about to be transacted regarding staffing matters.
The Chair confirmed that any dealings with the former clerk will be dealt with by a solicitor.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.30pm