2026 Minutes

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON  5th October 2026.

Present: Cllr I Mills; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr S Brigham;  Cllr Collingwood. Not present Cllrs Coomber, Redhead and Baxter.. Also: Borough Councillor J Cantwell and County Councillor P Lock. No members of the public present.

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

068/26  Chairperson’s remarks – The Chairperson, Cllr Mills, opened the meeting at 19.30 and welcomed everyone present.

069/26  To receive apologies and reasons for absence  - Cllrs Coomber and Redhead had sent their apologies and reasons for absence. It was resolved to accept their apologies and reasons for absence.

070/26  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

County Councillor Lock joined the meeting at 19.40.

071/26  Notes of the meeting held on 3.8.26 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.

072/26  Financial matters: a) To resolve to accept the accounts for payment for August and September 2026, to be checked against the invoices and signed by two Councillors at this meeting. b)To review the budget figures for the year to date. c) Bank balance £20807.57 as at 30.9.26. d)  To agree to continue to use Carl Thomas as Internal Auditor for the year 1.4.26 to 31.3.27 at a cost of £150. No interim audit required. e) To receive the checked bank reconciliation for the period 1.4.26 to 30.6.26 from Cllr Baxter. f) to agree a payment of £11.51 for a Wi-Fi keyboard for the clerk.

a)The accounts for payment were checked against the invoices to the lists, confirmed as correct and signed by Cllrs Leggott, Brigham and Collingwood.  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 appoint Carl Thomas as Internal Auditor for the year 26/27. e) The checked bank reconciliation was received from Cllr Baxter prior to the meeting and circulated to all Councillors. It was resolved to accept the Bank reconciliation as correct. f)It was resolved to agree the payment of £11.51 for a Wi-Fi keyboard.  

ACTION:  Clerk to add budget and Bank Reconciliation to the website and confirm the appointment as Internal Auditor to Carl Thomas.

073/26  Planning: Confirmation of response sent to Planning Application ref; B/26/0315 ; Guide Post Farm, Wigtoft Bank, Wigtoft, Boston, PE20 2PZ required by 29.8.26. Standing Order 15b Xviii. Response “no comments” sent. Majority response of no comments received from Cllrs Brigham, Redhead, Coomber and Collingwood.  To confirm recent correspondence about application B/26/0046, Auto Truck Ltd.

The response re application B/26/0315 was confirmed by resolution. The response by a  further email was sent to planning about B/26/0046, giving additional information about continued parking in the vicinity of the business premises. This was confirmed by resolution. Borough Councillor Cantwell offered to speak at the planning meeting on behalf of the Parish Council. It was resolved to accept his offer, with thanks. Both of the above were actioned prior to the meeting underdelgated powers given to the clerk, Standing Order 15 b, xviii.

 074/26 Correspondence received since the August meeting.

27.7.26  From LCC Highways, Asperton Road repairs reported as “In Progress” and on 29.7.26 reported as fixed”.              Emailed to Cllrs 28/7 and 30/7 respectively.

30.7.26 and 25.8.26           LCC Town and Parish Councils Newsletter     Emailed to Cllrs and posted on website 30.7.26

6.8.26    Information from County Cllr Lock about community grant scheme.  Emailed to Cllrs, posted link on website and FB 11.8.26

14.8.26, 28.8.26, 11.9.26 and 25.9.26 LALC enews                                                No action. Cllrs receive their own copy.

 21.9.26 Info from County Cllr Lock about reservoir policy changes survey.          Emailed to Cllrs 25.9.26

22.9.26  Letter from Citizens Advice re request for donation for 2027.  Pending budget planning Nov and Dec meetings.

24.9.26  Notification of Temp traffic restriction Burtoft Lane   Emailed to Cllrs and added to website and FB 24.9.26

28.9.26  Monthly information from County Cllr Lock for sharing. Emailed to Cllrs 29.9.26. Added to website and FB.             

29.9.26  LCC Town and Parish Councils Community Newsletter. Emailed to Cllrs. Added to website and FB 29.9.26 

29.9.26  Email x 2 from planning about delays due to new system and this week’s planning list. Emailed to Cllrs 30.9.26              

** 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

075/26  Councillors’ Reports:

Cllr Leggott – the road on Burtoft Lane North on the bend needs repair work. Cllr Leggott will send details to the clerk.

Cllr Mills – The hedge cutting on XXXXX  has not been completed. Clerk to investigate. A good job has been done on the first half. At our last meeting, a member of the public raised an issue about speeding on XXXXXX. The MOP retrieved the information from Sutterton Parish Council’s data from their Speed Indicator Device. The clerk contacted Sutterton PC for further information. This data does not belong to Wigtoft Parish Council so we are not able to use it to raise an issue with Highways or the police. Borough Councillor Cantwell, who is also a Parish Councillor for Wigtoft, confirmed that the data has been sent to the police.

076/26  Borough and County Councillor’s reports:

County Cllr Lock – I have met with the Police Commissioner. The technology the police use will be improved. The reporting line 101 is not fit for purpose. There is a form on their website to give feedback to improve the process. Local Government reorganisation has been paused. LCC have taken the Government to court about the Beacon Fen Solar Storage (1600 acres) planning application. I have been promoted to be an executive member of economy and investment which covers business, agriculture and IT.

Borough Councillor Cantwell – There is a planning meeting tomorrow to discuss B/26/0046. See previous minute number 073/26 for more information. I have been able to donate £100 to the Bowls Club and the Coffee Morning held in the Village Hall from the funds I have been allocated by Boston Borough Council. The National Scheme of Delegation is changing which will affect how planning applications are dealt with.

077/26  Clerk’s report.

Vat return covering 1.4.26 to 30.6.26 has been submitted and a refund of £321.26 was received on 6.8.26.

£9577 has been received into the bank account from Boston Borough Council on the 24.9.26. As the balance now stands at £20807.57, I will investigate opening an instant access interest bearing account for some of these funds until needed.

I am in the process of arranging read- only 3rd party access to Scribe and the bank account. for the signatories of the bank account.

I have not yet found anyone to undertake the work on the benches. I have emailed the LALC clerk’s group and been given some ideas, which I will action during the next week. I have heard nothing from the contractor about the installation of the sign in the Wildlife Garden. I will chase him again. 

Has the overgrown hedge been cut back on the corner of the Market Place and Asperton Road?

I have attended a training session via zoom about the new planning process. I will send out notes separately.

078/26  To review the playing field inspection undertaken by the clerk on the 14.9.26. 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,  clip for football net and repairs and painting of all benches in the village). To arrange the next playing field/play area inspection by Cllr Brigham in conjunction with the annual inspection report.

079/26  To discuss the Market Place area and old cars parked permanently there and the recent fire in the village. IM

Cllr Mills advised the Council that there is a damaged car parked in the Market Place. As the car has a current MOT and road tax, nothing can be done at the moment. Borough Cllr Cantwell advised Council that LCC own the Market Place area. There is a lay by opposite which is used as a bus stop for the school bus. A caravan is parked there permanently which could be dangerous for pupils alighting the bus. Clerk to contact bus company in the first instance.  The clerk has investigated getting a copy of the report into the fire. The report would costs £xx. This spend is not within the remit of the Parish Council. The clerk obtained the following report copied below via social media. The planning department would need solid evidence that a business is being run from the site of the fire.

XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

080/26  To start the initial discussions about budget planning for 27 – 28. The main detailed planning will take place at the November meeting with completion due by the December 26 meeting.

The clerk reminded Councillors that budget planning will start at the next meeting and be concluded at the December meeting. Councillors should consider any areas that may need additional spend prior to the discussion.

081/26  To adopt a Co-option Policy, an Expenses Policy for employees of the Council and Disciplinary & Grievance Policies for employees of the Council.

The clerk had sent out copies of the above policies for review prior to the meeting. It was resolved to accept and adopt these policies. Clerk to add to website.

082/26  To review and approve the following policies: Health & Safety; Publication Scheme; Social Media and Electronic Communications and Equality and Diversity.

The clerk had sent out copies of the above policies for review prior to the meeting. It was resolved to accept and adopt these policies. Clerk to add to website.

083/26  To review and approve the Privacy Notice and Accessibility Statement for the website.

The Privacy Notices and the Accessibility Statement were reviewed and it was resolved to accept and adopt them. Clerk to add to website.

084/26  To agree a date and time for the Clerk’s annual review in November.

It was resolved that the clerk’s annual review should take place at 18.30 on the 2.11.26 prior to the monthly meeting. Cllrs Mills and Baxter will conduct the review. Cllr Brigham will unlock the Village Hall prior to 18.30.

Meeting closed at 20:50. The next meeting of the Parish Council is on 2.11.26 at 19.00.