2026 Minutes

Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir

Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held at Woolsthorpe Social Club

Monday 13 July 2026 at 7.00pm

PRESENT

            Cllr McCallion

            Cllr. A. Hill

            Cllr. P. Hill

            Cllr. A. Ryland

            Julie Gillies Clerk & RFO

            GUESTS

            Cllr. R. Litchfield

            S. Turtle, VPG representative

            3 residents

203/26   To Receive Apologies for Absence and Resolve to Accept the Reasons Given

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr. Price and Cllr. Leadenham.

204/26   To Receive Declarations Of Pecuniary Interest In Accordance With The Localism Act 2011

No declarations of Members interests in relation to agenda items.

205/26   To receive the resignation of Cllr. Bunn

Councillors noted and approved the resignation of Cllr. Bunn.

SKDC has been informed and the required notification was displayed on the noticeboard.

Public Forum – To Resolve to suspend standing orders for a maximum of 15 minutes to allow members of the public to make comment.

The meeting adjourned at 19.03

A resident reported an obstructed footpath and was advised to report the issue via FixMyStreet.

Concerns were raised about the lack of advance notice and signage for the East and West Midlands Regional Championship (Knipton Race). The Chair has contacted British Cycling, and the organisers apologised that notification to the Local Authority and Police had not been passed on to the Parish Council. Councillors noted residents’ concerns.

The meeting re-convened at 19.15

206/26   To receive and approve the Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting held on 12th May 2026 and the Extraordinary Parish Council meeting held on 22nd June 2026.

The minutes of both meetings were approved and signed by the Chair as true and accurate records of the meeting.

207/26   Finance

a. It was resolved to accept the bank reconciliation, payments and monies received and to approve the following invoices for payment:

Woolsthorpe Parochial Church Council – Grant - £400.00

RoSPA – Annual Playground Inspection - £83.00

Belina Boyer – Internal Audit - £85.00

Stacey Woodard – May and June grounds maintenance - £110.00

Staff salaries, PAYE and HP subscription

b. It was resolved to receive 2026/27 budget to actual.

c. It was resolved to accept the quote of £319.66 from Wicksteed for the toddler swing.

d. It was resolved to accept the quote from X2Connect of £107.84 (VAT £17.97) for the items to repair the telephone kiosk.

ACTION: Cllr. McCallion volunteered to collect the items to save the delivery charge.

e. Pictures and descriptions of replacement bus shelters were circulated. Following discussion it was agreed that the Denbigh bus shelter was the preferred option at a cost of approximately £12,500.

A grant of £3,500 had been secured from Lincolnshire County Council.

AGREED: that further funding applications would be submitted.

ACTION: Cllr. McCallion and Cllr. A. Hill to submit funding applications.

f. Quotes for repairs to the play equipment and the provision of additional bark were received. Following discussion regarding the health and safety implications of Councillors carrying out the repairs themselves, it was agreed to contact the preferred supplier to obtain an updated quotation.

Quotations for replacement hoops were also considered.

It was noted that the gate post needed replacement.

AGREED: to purchase replacement hoops from Amazon at a cost of £25.00 and to replace the gate post.

ACTION: Cllr. McCallion to contact the supplier for an updated quotation for the playground repairs, apply for funding and purchase the fixings for the hoops.

ACTION: Cllr. P. Hill to replace the gate post.

g. Direct Debit payments to HMRC and the ICO were reviewed, and it was agreed that they should continue. The Parish Council do not make any payments by standing order.

h. The asset register had been reviewed as per the internal auditor recommendations.

The asset register will be updated and added to the Parish Council website and Facebook.

208/26   To receive a report from the District Councillor

              Cllr. Leadenham had been unable to attend the meeting so no report was available.

209/26   To receive a report from the County Councillor

              Cllr. Litchfield will pursue the drainage matter and provide an update.

Recent pothole repairs were noted and it was also noted that hedges at the crossroads had been cut back.

Cllr. Litchfield advised that each County Councillor had been allocated £3,000 through the Councillor Community Grant Fund to support projects within local parishes. Parish Councils can submit schemes for consideration through a straightforward approval process.

Information was also given on the Strategic Fund for larger scale projects, with applications closing on 27th February 2027.

ACTION: Cllr. McCallion to submit the funding applications.

210/26   To receive a report from the Village Hall & Social Club

A building inspection had taken place but the report was awaited and will be reported to the next meeting.

211/26   Planning

a. To receive planning applications

Nothing to report.

b. To receive planning decisions

S26/0808 – Mill Farm, Sedgebrook Road

Conversion of Barn to dwelling

Approval granted

212/26   Playground

The playground inspection will be carried out by RoSPA during August.

213/26   Village Maintenance

              ACTION: Cllr. A. Hill to renovate the bench and the letterbox.

214/26   VPG

Discussion took place on the Forbidden Forest and correspondence from residents regarding the noise was noted.

It was reported that the event had been better organised this year and the organisers had engaged with the various meetings held. A Sub-Sag meeting had been attended, although details could not yet be reported pending the VPG meeting. The notes from the meeting scheduled for 28th July would be circulated when available.

It was noted that next year’s event will be reduced to three days over the late May Bank Holiday weekend and concerns were raised that, despite the shorter event, similar attendee numbers were expected, which could impact traffic management.

              It was reported that final attendance figures were not yet available.

215/26   Community Speed Group

Eight sessions had been carried out over two days, monitoring approximately 3,000 vehicles and recording 29 speeding offences. All results had been submitted to the Police.

Cllr. Leadenham had offered to provide a further training session to encourage additional volunteers.

It was agreed that further speed watch sessions should be undertaken, including during the forthcoming Land Rover event to maximise impact. Suggestions included conducting sessions for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, potentially using two teams.

ACTION: Cllr. McCallion to liaise with Cllr. Leadenham regarding collaboration with neighbouring Parish Speed Watch Groups.

216/26   Emergency Plan

              A template was awaited by Cllr. Leadenham.

              Other Parishes have been contacted for a template but none had been supplied.

217/26   Risk Assessment

              The current risk assessment was circulated and would be discussed at the next meeting.

              ACTION: Councillors to inform the Clerk of any amendments.

218/26   Correspondence received and circulated

              Councillor Community Grant Fund

              Local Government Re-organisation Parish Council briefings – Councillors to attend and report back.

              Belvoir Ward Group of Parishes Briefing.

219/26   Any Other Business

a. Defibrillator

Quotations for a replacement defibrillator had been received, including a proposal from Life is Life, a defibrillator charity. The package, costing £1,578 plus £35 delivery, includes a defibrillator with a five-year battery guarantee, pads, an information board, a cabinet for installation in the telephone box, a community information session and leaflets.

It was agreed that an unlocked cabinet would be preferred.

A 24/7 monitoring service for five years and an annual support package, including replacement pads, battery and refresher training, were also offered.

It was noted that the current defibrillator battery is valid until 2028 and the pads until 2027, unless used.

Installation costs were not included in the quotation.

It was advised that grant funding may be available through the Rotary Club and therefore, consideration of the purchase was therefore deferred until the September meeting to allow time for grant applications.

ACTION: The Rotary Club to be contacted for possible funding and insurance cover to be confirmed.

b. Councillor Surgery

After discussion it was agreed to hold the first Councillor Surgery before the next Parish Council meeting on 21st September 2026 at 6pm.

ACTION: To publicise the surgery on social media, the website and the noticeboard.

220/26   Dates of future meetings

29th July 2026 @ 7pm (Extraordinary meeting)

21st September 2026 @ 7pm

16th November 2026 @ 7pm

14th December 2026 @ 7pm (budget meeting)

18th January 2027 @ 7pm

22nd March 2027 @ 7pm

24th May 2027 @ 7pm

12th July 2027 @ 7pm

There being no further business the meeting closed at 20.38.