2025 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON the 1st December 2025

Present: Cllr I Mills; Cllr S Baxter; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr S Collingwood and Cllr K Redhead.

Public Forum – none. (The Public Forum does not form part of the meeting of the Parish Council)

The Chairperson, Cllr Mills, opened the meeting at 19.00 and welcomed everyone present.

105/25  Chairperson’s remarks – Thanks to Cllr Leggott for the work he has done  on the Christmas Lights and the goal nets in the playing field.

106/25  To receive apologies and reasons for absence – apologies and reasons for absence were received from Cllrs Smith and Collingwood. It was resolved to accept their apologies and reasons for absence.

107/25  To receive declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011 – being any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest not previously recorded on Member’s Register of Interests – none.

108/25  Notes of the meetings held on 6.10.25 confirmed and signed as minutes.

The above notes were agreed and signed as minutes by the Chair, Cllr Mills. It was resolved to accept the notes as minutes.

109/25  Financial matters: To resolve to accept the accounts for payment for November 2025, to be checked and signed by two Councillors at this meeting. Clerk to present budget figures for the year to date. Bank balance £11869.19 as at 25.11.25. To receive and resolve to accept the checked bank reconciliation to 30.9.25 from Cllr Brigham. To discuss and agree any action regarding AVG Anti Track and VPN add-ons to the existing AVG Internet protection software.

The accounts for payment for November were checked against the invoices to the list, confirmed as correct and signed by  Cllrs Redhead and Baxter.  It was resolved to agree the payments. The clerk had circulated the budget figures up to date for the current financial year to the Councillors prior to the meeting. The clerk advised that there was nothing new to comment on or explain for the current year to date. It was resolved to accept the budget figures year to date as an accurate copy of the Parish Council’s receipts and payments  and the balance of the bank account at £11869.19. Cllr Brigham, who was not present at the meeting, had sent the checked bank reconciliation. It was resolved to accept the bank reconciliation to 30.9.25.  The clerk advised Council that the AVG VPN add on started as a free trial and AVG should have advised before the free trial was up. This didn’t happen and the charge of £66.66 plus vat of £13.33 for a one year subscription was debited to the Council’s bank account. The AVG anti track is on a free trial until December but the clerk felt it was not beneficial to pay for this service. It was resolved not to continue with the anti-track after the free trial and to retrospectively agree to the payment of £66.66 + vat £13.33 for the VPN. . Clerk to diarise for next year for Council to decide if they wish to continue with the VPN add on.  

ACTION: Clerk to make payments and add budget to website.

110/66  EN0210007  Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire - EIA Scoping and Consultation and Regulation 11 Notification

Following a discussion, it was resolved unanimously that there were no comments to make about the above. Clerk to advise Planning Inspectorate.

 111/25 Correspondence received since the November meeting.

20.11.25               Email from Alarmline Security Ltd for Wigtoft Village Hall.       Advised sender to send direct to Village Hall Committee.          

19.11.25               Email from Lincs Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Service re continued use of Village Hall as a rest centre.  Forwarded to Cllrs Brigham and Smith as they are on the Village Hall Committee  

19.11.25,12.11.25, 5.11.25              Summary of the previous week’s social media posts from BBC.                Forwarded to Councillors.

18.11.25               Community Resilience Newsletter                                                              Forwarded to Councillors

13.11.25               UKSPF Grassroots Grant Funding notice of decline of funding request for new fitness equipment in the playing field.        Forwarded to Councillors. Forwarded information for Newsletter.

12.11.25               Anglian Water funding opportunity to improve water environment.      Forwarded to Councillors.

10.11.25               LCC permit consultation                                                                               Forwarded to Councillors.

5.11.25                 I Dig Trees funding opportunity                                                                   Emailed to Councillors. Submitted application for a Hawthorn Hedge pack for the Wildlife Garden but due to overwhelming number of applications, the application is now closed.

5.11.25                 LCC Highways notice of temporary traffic restriction Hoffleet Stow 15.12.25 to 19.12.25. Emailed to Councillors. Posted to website and Facebook.

**NALC is short for National Association of Local Councils.    **LALC is short for Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils. **BBC is short for Boston Borough Council.    ** LCC is short for Lincolnshire County Council. **FB is short for Facebook

112/25  Councillors’ Reports:

Cllr Redhead – a resident had voiced concerns about lorries parked on the side of the road. The clerk reminded Council that this has been discussed in full in a previous meeting and unless the law has been breached, there is nothing that can be done. A further concern was that the resident was not consulted about money spent. Parish Councillors are elected to make decisions within the law about how money if spent. Full information is published for transparency within the minutes and other documents on the Parish Council website. Residents are reminded that they are welcome to attend Parish Council meetings and may speak within the public forum if they have any questions. Residents can also contact the Parish Clerk who can add an item to the agenda for discussion. Cllr Redhead had a query about the trees on Wigtoft Road. The clerk advised that an update has been provided on this topic in a previous meeting and the County Council are dealing with it.

Cllr Baxter – street light out outside the Vicarage. He will send photos and the clerk will add to “Fix my Street”.

Cllr Mills – will report issues about Fishmere End on “Fix my Street” – to be confirmed. PLEASE CONFIRM MORE DETAIL ON THIS.

Cllr Leggott – there are issues with the surface of Burtoft Lane North. Will send photos to the clerk who will report on “Fix my Street”.

113/25  Borough and County Councillor’s reports – none present.

114/25  Clerk’s report

The Wicksteed playing field annual inspection has not been actioned yet.

I have not received confirmation from the Newsletter yet regarding their receipt of the donation sent.  

The gov.uk email domain and email addresses – I have set up the email address for the Parish Council/clerk. It is clerk@wigtoft-pc.gov.uk. Please use this for any new emails you send me. The Councillors email addresses are set up and the relevant information will be passed on in due course. I am going to be working with Tony Shaw, the Webmaster for LALC who is going to help me find the best way to set these up to make access as simple as possible.

Could I have an update on the goal nets please?

National Grid – trees in playing field. I chased a reply and someone rang me. They couldn’t tell me when they would let us have the information and I have heard no more. I will chase it again.  No further contact has been made. This is still  status quo situation.

Cllr Brigham has reported the damaged road surface on Asperton Road via Fix My Street.

Awaiting photos from Cllr Mills about the footpath in front of the chicken farm.

Awaiting posters and leaflets from Borough Councillor Cantwell to help recruit residents on to the Five Villages Emergency Group.

114/25  To resolve to move into closed session to discuss the clerk’s annual performance review and confirm any actions to be taken.

It was resolved to move into closed session. The clerk left the room at 19:20.

Cllr Mills reviewed the clerk’s appraisal. It was resolved to increase the hourly rate of pay by £1. The monthly payment for clerk use of home as office and the mileage rate for travel is to remain the same.

The Chairperson, Cllr Mills, reopened the meeting at 19:25 and the clerk returned to the room. Cllr Mills confirmed that the Council are very pleased with the clerk’s performance and advised the clerk of the pay increase. The clerk requested confirmation in writing. ACTION: Cllr Mills to confirm the above to the clerk in writing.

115/25  To discuss changing the February meeting date from the 2.2.26 to the 19.1.26 to allow time to complete the Precept request before the deadline. No meeting in January at present

It was resolved to change the meeting scheduled for 2.2.26 to 19.1.26. Clerk to amend details on website and advise the relevant interested parties.

116/25  To start the budget planning process for 1.4.265to 31.3.27.

The clerk had prepared a spreadsheet showing spend for each budget line ytd and projected spending up to 31.3.26. Each reporting line was discussed. The clerk had not received all quotes/financial information requested from 3rd partis. It was resolved to review fully at the meeting on the 19.1.26 and resolve a figure to claim for the annual precept from Boston Borough Council. The clerk advised Council that the reserves need to be considered carefully in this process as our general reserve is lower each year. Parish Councils are recommended to have the equivalent of 1 years spend as a general reserve. The clerk also requested that Councillors consider carefully any additional spend outside of the regular monthly spend prior to the budget being set e.g. any spend on the play area/playing field, tree work and capital purchases prior to the next meeting.

117/25  To review the Internal Audit feedback and to agree to any actions to be taken

The clerk read out each item on the list and the actions were recorded on the list. It was resolved to agree to the actions listed and post a copy of the report and actions on the Parish Council’s website.

118/25  To confirm receipt of a copy of the confirmation of public liability insurance and employer liability insurance from T N Sneath & Sons grass maintenance contractors used by the Parish Council. To confirm that sight of similar documents must be obtained from any business undertaking work for the Parish Council in the future.

This is an item that was raised by the Internal Auditor. The clerk circulated a copy of the above and it was resolved that this document is in order and a similar confirmation will be requested for any future contractors used.

119/25  To review the Play Area inspection undertaken by Cllr Baxter in November and decide if any actions are needed.

Cllr Baxter advised  Council that he had not had time to do the November check. It was resolved that Cllr Baxter would do the December check as early in the month as possible. STEVE, PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ME.

120/25  To ratify the agreement to spend £66.65 plus vat to replace 2  x 5m lengths of the Christmas lights purchased in October 23 which have failed which was resolved by a majority by email in line with Financial Regulation 6.8 (v).

It was resolved to ratify this agreement to spend..

121/25  To review the Councillors Disclosable Pecuniary Interests  and registration of Local Choice Interest forms.

The Councillors reviewed their forms and all confirmed that no changes are needed. The clerk reminded Councillors that it is their responsibility to keep these forms up to date and accurate.

Meeting closed at 20.00.  Next meeting is on the 19.1.26 at 19.00 at the Village Hall.