DRAFT minutes July 26
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 6th July 2026.
As the minutes are DRAFT only, they are subject to change until the are signed at the next meeting.
Present: Cllr I Mills; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr S Brigham and the clerk. Not present, Cllrs Baxter, Redhead and Collingwood. Also: Borough Councillor J Cantwell; County Councillor P Lock; prospective new Parish Councillor, Linda Coomber and one member of the public.
Public Forum – none. (The Public Forum does not form part of the meeting of the Parish Council)
036/26 Chairperson’s remarks – The Chairperson, Cllr Mills, opened the meeting at 19.30 and welcomed everyone present.
037/26 To resolve to move into closed session to discuss the appointment of a new Parish Councillor
At 19.32, it was resolved to move into closed session. Cllrs Cantwell and Lock, the member of the public and Ms Coomber left the room. Following a brief discussion, it was resolved to offer the position of Councillor for Wigtoft Parish to Linda Coomber. At 19.35, the 4 people who had left the room, returned. Cllr Mills advised Linda that the Parish Council would be very happy to welcome her as a new Councillor, which she accepted.
038/26 To complete an acceptance of office by the new Councillor.
The acceptance of office form was signed by Linda Coomber and countersigned by the clerk. Cllr Coomber joined the meeting as a Councillor. She handed the completed Declaration of Pecuniary Interests and Local Choice interests forms to the clerk who will forward a copy to Boston Borough Council to add to their website.
039/26 To receive apologies and reasons for absence - Cllrs Baxter and Redhead had sent their apologies and reasons for absence. It was resolved to accept their apologies and reasons for absence.
040/26 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.
041/26 Notes of the meetings held on 11.5.26 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.
042/26 Financial matters: a) To resolve to accept the accounts for payment up to for May and June 2026, to be checked and signed by two Councillors at this meeting. b)To review the budget figures for the year to date. c) Bank balance £13941.31 as at 30.6.26. d) to resolve to pay the annual fee of £49.99 + vat to Cloud Next for the Home Hosting of our gov.uk emails and the gov.uk domain annual fee of £50 + vat (first year free). e) HMRC have revised the mileage rates for the first time since 2011. (The tax-free amount at which mileage can be reimbursed for the first 10,000 mileage claimed, has increased from 45p per mile to 55p per mile).To be eligible for mileage, this should be stated in the employee’s contract and the council will need to resolve to pay the new rate (backdated as required).
a)The accounts for payment were checked against the invoices to the lists, confirmed as correct and signed by Cllrs Leggott and Brigham for both months. It was resolved to agree the payments. b)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 along with item c) the balance of the bank account at 30.6.26, £13941.31. d) It was resolved to agree to make the payments of £49.99 + vat and £50 + vat for the gov.uk email addresses annual fees. e) It was resolved to pay the new mileage rate of 55p per mile and to advise the clerk in writing.
ACTION: Clerk to add budget to website.
043/26 Planning – none.
044/26 Correspondence received since the May meeting.
15.5.26 Email from LCC Towns and Parishes news re this year’s LALC event request from Highways to help shape their session. Emailed to Councillors for response 22.5.26.
12.6.26 LCC email for Councillors re monthly topic “Flood Risk” info only. Emailed to Councillor
16.6.26 LCC School Organisation Team consultation survey re Donington Cowley Primary School Emailed to Councillors 19.6.26
15.6.26 LCC re updating the Minerals and Waste Local Plan consultation. Emailed to Councillors 19.6.26
** 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
045/26 Councillors’ Reports:
Cllr Mills – Asperton Road is a rat run at the moment due to the road works on the A17. Heavy lorries using the road from as early as 3am. This road is not suitable for HGV’s. The surface o this road is terrible. County Cllr Lock advised that the A17 rad works should be finished in about 3 weeks. He also commented that, if a “no HGVs” sign were to be placed at each end of Asperton Road, it would be difficult to enforce. Clerk to report issues with the road surface via Fix My Street.
046/26 Borough and County Councillor’s reports:
County Cllr Lock – LCC is working on producing an app which will give live info on progress with items raised. The new County Councillor grant scheme will be live soon. I will have £3k to distribute between 3 parishes. Ther is no further nes on Local Government reorganisation. LCC have linked the Minerals and Waste policy to the plans for the building of pylons. I am looking to set up a Facebook page to share relevant information.
Borough Councillor Cantwell – I reiterate the comments about Asperton Road and the water leak. Boston Borough Council “Pride of Place£ applications are now open.
047/26 Clerk’s report.
Insurance policy renewed 25.5.26. Confirmation received. Certificates will be uploaded to the website and posted on the noticeboard.
Official confirmation of receipt of certificate of exemption for the external audit received from PKF Littlejohn 17.6.26. A resolution was passed to acknowledge receipt of this document. Clerk added to website.
Confirmation of receipt of the £200 donation to Wigtoft Newsletter received 15.6.26.
Cllr Brigham has been added to the bank mandate as a signatory but with the wrong access level. I am in the process of amending this. Ex Cllr Smith has been removed from the bank account. Once Cllr Brigham has the required level, I will arrange for read-only access to online banking and Scribe for all signatories as agreed at the last meeting.
Mr. Smart from Smart Gardens has informed me that he is unable to quote for the bench repairs and painting.
I have sent out an update to Councillors from LCC about the overhanging trees in Church Road.
I have prepared but not yet sent a letter about the overgrown hedge on the corner of the Market Place and Asperton Road. Further enquiries are to be made to obtain correspondence details of the owner.
048/26 An update on any activities in the Playing field/play area and Wildlife Garden (fence repair, installation of sign in Wildlife Garden. cleaning of both gates and other items in the playing field, application of green mould and algae killer and repairs and painting of all benches in the village). An update about the flyer sent out in respect of scooters being driven in the playing field. To arrange the next playing field/play area inspection by Cllr Redhead in conjunction with the annual inspection report.
The “no dog fouling” sign has not yet been erected. The hole in the wire fence has not been repaired yet. The new sign for the playing field has been secured to the gate. The mould and algae will be treated when the weather conditions are right. The large sign just inside the gate has been cleaned. The area around the 3 benches in the Wildlife Garden has been strimmed. Thank you to Cllr Collingwood for putting the sign on the gate and to Cllr Brigham for cleaning the sign and strimming the benches. It was resolved that the clerk should try and obtain a quote to erect the sign, the work on the benches and ask the contractor to strim around the 3 benches in the Wildlife Garden when the paths are cut. The clerk will send out the playing field inspection forms to Cllr Redhead.
049/26 To discuss the new information received about declarations of interest and to hand out new forms for completion.
A new form has been received from Boston Borough Council to replace the current Local Choice Interests form. BBC also advise that Parish Councillor addresses will not be added to their website. Should any Councillor wish to have their address added, please let the clerk know. As the DPI and LCI forms are due for an annual review, the clerk issued Parish Councillors present with the 2 blank forms for completion. She requested that they are completed and returned at the August meeting. The clerk will email the forms to Cllrs Collingwood, Redhead and Baxter.
050/26 To hand out the GDPR security compliance checklist for completion by Councillors.
The forms were handed to the Parish Councillors present. They are to be completed and returned to the clerk at the next meeting. Clerk to email forms to Cllrs Baxter, Collingwood and Redhead for completion and return at the next meeting.
051/26 To discuss the litter accumulating in the dyke on Church Road reported by Cllr Redhead and a member of the Litter Picking Group.
Cllr Redhead met with a member of the Litter Picking Group. Concerns about the amount of litter accumulating in the dyke were raised. This was discussed by the Councillors. It was noted that this issue was raised at the Annual Parish Meeting in March 25 and the Parish Council’s response has not changed. The issue will be reported on Fix My Street. The group has been advised of this and the clerk will update them in due course. Although the Litter Picking Group are independent of the Parish Council, the Parish Council strongly reiterate that the Litter Pickers should not be attempting to retrieve rubbish where it would be a Health and Safety risk to individuals. As Cllr Redhead was not at the meeting, the clerk will ensure she is kept fully informed.
Meeting closed at 20:30. The next meeting of the Parish Council is on 3.8.26 at 19.30.