2026 Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON the 19th January 2026.

Present: Cllr I Mills; Cllr S Baxter; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr S Collingwood and Cllr K Redhead; Cllr S Brigham; Cllr S Smith; one member of the public; the clerk.

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 – Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all had a good Christmas.

106/25  To receive apologies and reasons for absence  - none, all Parish Councillors present. Borough Cllr James Cantwell and County Cllr Paul Lock sent their apologies.

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 1.12.25 to be 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 December 2025, to be checked and signed by two Councillors at this meeting. Clerk to present budget figures for the year to date. Bank balance £10156.98 as at 6.1.26. To resolve the purchase of additional minutes for the LALC website Webmaster service at a cost of £54 + £10.80 vat. To  hand over the bank reconciliation for 1.9.25 to 31.12.25 to Cllr Redhead for checking.

The accounts for payment for December were checked against the invoices to the list, confirmed as correct and signed by  Cllrs Smith and Brigham.  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  together with the balance of the bank account at £10156.98.

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

110/66  Planning – none.  

111/25  Correspondence received since the December meeting.

2.12.25                 Email update from National Grid Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire  Emailed to Councillors 3.12.25

12.12.25               Town and Parish Newsletter from LCC           Emailed to Councillors 22.12.25. Posted on website.

28.12.25               Wigtoft News and Views                                                                              Added to website 28.12.25

9.1.26                   Lincs Safety Partnership Event 26.2.26          COST £30                            Emailed to Councillors 18.1.26

12.1.26                 Winter Hub details from Cllr James Cantwell                                             Emailed to Councillors 18.1.26. to be placed on noticeboard and website

14.1.26                 Fix my Street update Burtoft Lane North – action scheduled                   Emailed Councillors 18.1.26

** Cllrs is short for Councillors. **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 Brigham – there are sections of the Christmas Lights which were flashing on and off. Cllr Leggott advised that he has 2 spare 5m lengths which will be inserted next Christmas if necessary.

Cllr Mills – Fishmere Road before Dancers Bank – some garden waste has been fly tipped. Cllr Mills will report this. 

113/25  Borough and County Councillor’s reports – Cllr Cantwell sent his report to the clerk prior to the meeting. For a copy of his report, see the final page of this document.

114/25  Clerk’s report

The Wicksteed playing field annual inspection has not been actioned yet. I will chase this.

I have not received confirmation from the Newsletter yet regarding their receipt of the donation sent for the current financial year. This was picked up in 2024 during the Internal Audit. No further action. 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 a status quo situation. No further action.

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

Awaiting photos from Cllr Mills of the footpath in front of the chicken farm. Awaiting photos from Cllr Baxter re streetlight out.

Awaiting written confirmation from Cllr Mills of the clerk’s new rate of pay and that it is backdated to 1.4.25.

The VAT return for quarter 3 is partially complete and will be submitted by the 20.1.26.

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

Could Councillors please confirm that they are receiving the LALC fortnightly Newsletter and the monthly training bulletin direct from LALC.

Update to the action plan from the Internal Audit. 1. The members’ interest forms have been reviewed. 2. The signing up of the Councillors to their new gov.uk email addresses is underway. As at 11.2.26, 2 Cllrs are now using and 4 have been sent the information to set up. The deadline for completion is 17/2/26. 3. Completed. 4. New IT policy to be reviewed and agreed at the March meeting. 5. VAT – an Amazon business account has been set up so that the vat can be reclaimed. The claimed vat for the current year has been refunded to HMRC. 6. Data input – completed. 7. Contractors Liability Insurance in place and a date set to review. Completed.

115/25  To complete the budget planning process for 1.4.26 to 31.3.27

The clerk presented a draft budget spreadsheet which had been circulated prior to the meeting. Each budget line was discussed and agreed. It was resolved to accept these budget figures. From these figures and considering the projected general reserves of the Parish Council at 31.3.26, it was resolved to request a precept amount from Boston Borough Council of £19154. ACTION: Clerk to send precept request document before the deadline of 30.1.26 and publish the budget details and precept request document on the website.  

116/25  To discuss the request from a resident for a larger “no dog fouling” sign for the path down to the Wildlife Garden.  

An email had been received from a resident asking for the above as instances of dog fouling were increasing. It was resolved to purchase an additional sign and post. ACTION: Clerk to obtain quotes in line with our Financial Regulations and circulate them to Councillors by email.

117/25  To review the play area inspection undertaken by Cllr Baxter in December 25 and to decide if any actions are needed.

Cllr Baxter reported 3 items: slippery surfaces in general; loose handle on the slide; molehills. The handle has been loose for some time and has been classed as low risk at the Annual Inspection. The next report from Wicksteed is due any time. This will be discussed at the next meeting when the report is available.  ACTION: Clerk to report mole hills to the contractor.

118/25  To discuss the dates for the meetings from June 26 to May 27.  

The clerk had previously circulated suggested dates. It was resolved to accept the suggested dates, subject to confirmation from the Village Hall. 

Meeting closed at 20:03. Next meeting 1.3.25 at 19:00. The meeting is preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting at 18:30.