2025 - Parish Council Meeting Documents

25/26/029 Welcome and open the meeting.

- The meeting was opened at

- Present: Cllrs Jane Denton, Gill Mahoney (Chair), Alec McNulty, Christine Warby (V Chair; Dermot Daly (Clerk); County Cllr Richard Litchfield; District Councillor Rob Leadenham.

- Chair Report: Welcome to Dermot Daly who is taking over from Jane Bratton – wishing him well in his new position. We will be covering potential flooding issues and the Haworth planning application in this meeting.

25/26/030 Receive and approve any apologies for absence.

- The apologies for Cllr Rachael Yates were noted.

25/26/031 Approve the co-option of up to two Parish Councillors to the Casual Vacancies either from prior applications to the Clerk or from the floor of the meeting.

- There was no interested parties in attendance.

25/26/032 Receive disclosures of interests from Councillors on matters at this meeting and agree any dispensations.

- None.

25/26/033 Suspend Standing Orders (for this item only) and allow for Parishioner Comments and to receive reports from the County and District Councillors.

 

County update:

- Just come from the District councillor surgery at Barrowby – one is being offered for Sedgebrook. Mondays and Thursdays are best days – possibly alternate evenings/daytime. Possibly set up in the New Year.

- Viking Way access rights update: The High Court hearing in Birmingham went very well and the County barrister made a good case. The judge did not make a decision on the day, and it is likely to be two or three weeks before receiving a decision. In the meantime, the Senior Countryside Officer intends to contact the landowner at Thackson’s Well Farm to request removal of the obstructions which have been placed across the lane to the south of the farm.

- Water/Flooding: Received maps, but they are marked confidential.

- Walkaround: Some issues were logged; looking at extension of the path by the Barns; jetting of drains would be done in September but has not happened.

- There have been recent issues with incorrect road closure signage.

 

District update:

- Enforcement has been out to the site on the land adjacent to the A52. Further investigation will be done.

- There are questions over the ownership of the hedge which is obstructing view from School Lane.

- The District Council do not have a five-year development land supply yet. This means that there are many speculative applications coming forward.

- The submissions for the Local Government Review is in the next two weeks. SKDC / NKDC / South Holland (365K population but largest land mass) is the preferred option currently. Either way it was seen that any new structure will have its operational challenges.

 

There were no members of the public.

 

MEETINGS

25/26/034 Approve the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11th September 2025.

- It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes as circulated.

 

PLANNING

25/26/035 Review and agree responses to any last-minute planning applications and report any decisions.

i) S25/1875 - 4 Whattons Close, Sedgebrook, NG32 2EX - To remove three dead branches on a large Chestnut tree that is situated at the rear of property sited partially on our boundary overhanging both our garden and rear public footpath to recreation ground. [Deadline: 07/10/2025]

ii) 25/01033/VAC - Fields OS 6700 6722 And 5200, Muston Lane, Easthorpe - Variation of Conditions 2,3,5,6,9,13,14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24 and 25 attached to Planning Permission 22/00537/FUL (Appeal ref APP/Y2430/W/24/3340258) to allow a revised location for a temporary construction compound; archaeological mitigation; panel micrositing; additional track turning heads; central inverters amended to string inverters; reconfiguration of substation compound.Condition Number(s): Conditions 2,3,5,6,9,13,14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23, 24 and 25 Conditions(s) Removal:Please refer to submission letter Please refer to submission letter [Deadline: 26/11/2025]

- It was decided to not respond on this application.

25/26/036 Receive updates on the Haworth Development and agree any related actions.

- No further actions.

25/26/037 Discuss Hard Standing(s) for Mobile Homes on Land Adjacent to the A52 and agree next actions.

- District Cllr Rob Leadenham is to look into this and report back.

 

GENERAL

25/26/038 Discuss Community Resilience Programme and agree next actions.

- Cllr Rachael Yates is looking into this.

- It was RESOLVED that a working group is put together to formalise the flood management in the village and that as part of its actions it will complete the wider Resilience form. The members will be Cllrs Rachael Yates, Alec McNulty, and Gill Mahoney. Further non-Councillor members are to be identified and will be invited to the working group.

25/26/039 Agree next action on Memorial Bench for the recreation field.

- There was a suggestion to place plaques on the fence as the bench is not suitable. ACTION: The Clerk will investigate the best way of providing the service and associated costs.

25/26/040 Agree painting of the Phone Box.

- No progress at the moment.

25/26/041 Discuss Community Speed Watch and related actions.

- Community Speed Watch (CSW) has recently lost two members, now only five. There have been 3 to 4 hourly sessions per month. 5% of vehicles exceed speed limit. Suspect speeds are higher outside of the monitoring periods.

- It was requested that a new Archer survey be carried out in the latter part of the year. ACTION: Clerk to investigate having the survey as soon possible.

- Investigation will be made into how the 5% above relates to a wider average?

- There will be investigation into whether Section 106 request is applicable for the Harworth planning application S25/1458 – ACTION: Clerk to investigate. This would allow investment in Speed Indicator Device(s) and signage.

 

FINANCE

25/26/042 Present, review, and agree the Period Accounts.

- The Clerk presented the period accounts which were accepted by the Council as circulated.

- Overspend on recreation field is to do with fixing the see-saw and is to be covered by play equipment reserve. ACTION: Clerk to transfer relevant balance to the budget.

25/26/043 Review and approve the Accounts for Payment.

- It was RESOLVED to approve the payments as circulated.

25/26/044 Confirm the bank mandate position.

- It was RESOLVED to add Cllrs Chris Warby and Rachael Yates as authorisers of payments on the bank mandate.

25/26/045 Discuss and agree initial draft of budget for 2026-27.

- The initial draft budget was presented by the Clerk and will be brought to the next meeting to approve and set the precept for 2026-27.

25/26/046 Review interest rate for the deposit account and agree related actions.

- CCLA: Requires an initial investment of £25,000 – it is invested in 40 AAA organisations – the account is linked to Current account (for security) – requests for transfers prior to 11.00am are executed same day – focussed specifically on Public Sector organisations – current yield is 4.08% compared to 1.41% with HSBC Charity Deposit.

- It was RESOLVED to set up an account to replace the HSBC Deposit account.

 

POLICY & PROCEDURE

25/26/047 Adopt new Health & Safety Policy.

- It was RESOLVED to adopt the new policy as circulated.

25/26/048 Adopt new Disciplinary Policy.

- It was RESOLVED to adopt the new policy as circulated.

25/26/049 Adopt new Sickness and Absence Policy.

- It was RESOLVED to adopt the new policy as circulated.

25/26/050 Adopt new IT Policy in support of new Assertion 10 element of External Audit.

- It was RESOLVED to adopt the new policy as circulated.

25/26/051 Agree move of Clerk and Councillor emails to .gov.uk domain in support of new Assertion 10 element of External Audit.

- It was RESOLVED to set up an email service on a .gov.uk domain with Cloud NeXT.

25/26/052 Agree method of management for the Clerk.

- It was RESOLVED to have a light-touch approach with the Clerk emailing absence/sickness by email, and appraisal/salary managed through closed session of full Council meeting.

 

REPORTS (for information only)

25/26/053 Update on highways and footpaths, including update on A52 obstructed view.

- Leaves on road to be reported through FixMyStreet.

25/26/054 Update on preparations to alleviate and reduce impact of flooding.

- Message out to the community to request they use their green bins to gather leaves around their property – ACTION: Cllr Alec McNulty to place on WhatsApp.

- Another option discussed would be for the gardening club to create/use a compost heap – ACTION: Cllr Alec McNulty to talk to them in relation this proposition with an aim to stop drains being blocked and reducing flood risk.

25/26/055 Clerk's report.

- I was reported that a new laptop had been purchased and installed with all relevant systems. This includes the ability to share information through a new Councillor Library. All historical electronic data has been loaded into cloud storage for ease of access. The physical records will take time to review.

- A new "Get flood warnings service" is available on GOV.UK .

- The AWS maps to be printed/laminated for Cllr Gill Mahoney.

- LCC Permit Scheme (LiPS) variation consultation

- no response identified.

- SKDC weekly planning reports will be circulated to all.

 

NEXT MEETING

25/26/056 Consider agenda items for the next meeting on 8th January 2026 commencing at 7.00pm.

- A review of meeting dates covering the annual meetings was completed with relevant dates to be posted on the noticeboard and on the website.

- Remote access to meetings.

- Annual Parish Meeting - identify list of voluntary groups, guest speaker

Close meeting.

- The meeting was closed at 10:43pm.