July 2025 DRAFT Minutes
MINUTES OF COLEBY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON Wednesday 2nd July 2025 AT THE VILLAGE HALL RECTORY ROAD COLEBY
20.83 Public Forum:
A resident raised the issue of continual parking on the Rectory Road High Street junction. It was thought that the car concerned belonged to a member of staff at the school. It is parked so close to the junction that anyone travelling along Rectory Road towards High Street is on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend. It is an accident waiting to happen. An accident did occur in similar circumstances about 15 years ago when a car collided with a bus coming round the bend from High Street. Clerk to write to school and request staff park in playing field if no room in school car park. If does not improve do standard polite letter to put on windscreen and if all else fails involve local police.
A resident thanked the Parish Council for all the work that has been done to oppose the BESS application on Hill Rise Coleby.
A resident raised an issue with collection of the brown bins as his had not been collected. District Councillor Lance Pennell suggested checking your collections dates on the NKDC online bin collection tab where you can print a schedule specific to your address. If it should have been yesterday the resident was advised to phone NKDC.
20.84 Declarations of Interest: None
20.85 Present and Apologies: Councillor Alan Vivian (Vice Chair), Councillor Theresa Brewer, Councillor Jens Pedersen, Councillor Harriet Earnshaw, County Councillor Ian Carrington, District Councillor Lance Pennell and Sue Makinson-Sanders (Clerk)
Apologies from Councillor Robert Hall, Councillor Andrew Long, Councillor Quent Stott, District Councillor Matthew Cooper and District Councillor Leigh Sanders
20.86 Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 6th May 2025: Councillor Jens Pedersen proposed and Councillor Harriet Earnshaw seconded. Councillors approved the Minutes
20.87 Approval of Minutes of Extraordinary Meeting held on 28th May 2025: Councillor Jens Pedersen proposed and Councillor Theresa Brewer seconded. Councillors approved the Minutes
20.88 Clerks Reports: Agenda sent to all on mailing list and posted on website and noticeboard
a) Neighbourhood Plan Update: End of year report on Grant has been completed and there is £518.00 to refund to groundwork UK from the grant as the VAT on the consultant’s fees cannot be covered as the Parish Council can reclaim this. The documents are now ready for Pre Submission Consultation. Steve Kemp to provide guidance on consultation process.
b) Annual Village Clean Up Day: This took place on the 7th June with a good group of volunteers who were able to tidy around the churchyard and clean the bus shelters before being rained off. Thanks go to all who turned out to help.
c) Parish Council Email: The clerk reported the issues with the email in that it is an old account and has been prone to dropping people off the mailing list as well as apparently having a limit on the number of emails per day. Cllr Pedersen confirmed that it sends emails in batches if there are a lot being sent and this can cause problems. It would be preferable to retain the same email address as this is well known. Cllr Pedersen to assist the clerk with backing up old emails to relieve pressure on the account. If this fails to solve the problem then a new email can be obtained.
d) Coleby Village Website: This is now operational and will combine village information from the Parish Council and the Village Hall. It can be used toa advertise events and it is hoped that bookings for the Village Hall will be possible on the site in the future.
20.89 Finance Report:
a) Payments to be made:
|
Item |
Payee |
Amount |
Vat |
Total |
|
Water Lowfields Cemetery July 2025 |
Anglian Water (Wave) |
£9.00 |
0.00 |
£9.00 |
|
Water Lowfields Cemetery August 2025 |
Anglian Water (Wave) |
£9.00 |
0.00 |
£9.00 |
|
Coleby Village Hall Hire 28th May EOM |
Coleby Village Hall Committee |
£28.00 |
0.00 |
£28.00 |
|
Coleby Village Hall Hire 4th June Residents Meeting |
Coleby Village Hall Committee |
£28.00 |
0.00 |
£28.00 |
|
Coleby Village Hall Hire 18th June Residents Meeting |
Coleby Village Hall Committee |
£28.00 |
0.00 |
£28.00 |
|
Coleby Village Hall Hire 2nd July PCM |
Coleby Village Hall Committee |
£28.00 |
0.00 |
£28.00 |
|
Inc in Insurance Cover Cemetery Walls |
Zurich Insurance |
£131.17 |
0.00 |
£131.17 |
|
Clerk’s Salary July 2025 |
S Makinson-Sanders |
£289.90 |
0.00 |
£289.90 |
|
Clerk’s Salary August 2025 |
S Makinson-Sanders |
£289.90 |
0.00 |
£289.90 |
|
HMRC PAYE July 2025 |
HMRC |
£59.80 |
0.00 |
£59.80 |
|
HMRC PAYE June 2025 |
HMRC |
£59.80 |
0.00 |
£59.80 |
|
Grasscutting June 2025 |
Bdg mowing contractors |
£380.00 |
£76.00 |
£456.00 |
|
Grasscutting July 2025 |
Bdg mowing contractors |
£380.00 |
£76.00 |
£456.00 |
|
Historic Towns & Village Forum Annual Renewal membership |
HTVF |
£30.00 |
0.00 |
£30.00 |
|
Planning Consultant’s Fees BESS Resposne |
Knights |
£2500.00 |
£437.50 |
£2937.50 |
|
Consultants Fee Heritage Impact Assessment BESS |
Guy Taylor Assoc |
£2400.00 |
£480.00 |
£2880.00 |
|
Consultants Fee Land Impact Review BESS |
Influence |
£4863.59 |
£972.72 |
£5836.31 |
|
Litter Picking x 3 months Apr/May/June 2025 |
D West (for Macy) |
£90.00 |
0.00 |
£90.00 |
b) Payments Received:
Donations to Parish Council funds: £10118.64
c) Payments due:
None
d) Balance held at Co-Operative Bank as at 02.07.25: £31731.95
Payments approved…………………………………………………………………………… 2nd July 2025
20.90 Planning:
a) The Bell Inn Far Lane Coleby- Appeal granted for change of use to single dwelling
b) Planning Application construct a detached garage/gymnasium, outdoor pool and greenhouse
Manor Farm, Heath Road -approved
c) Tree Works Cottage by the Green Hill Rise – approved
d) Tree Works 10 Dovecote Lane – approved
e) Tree Works 12 Dovecote Lane – pending
f) Tree Works 1 High Street – pending
g) Tree Works All saints Church – pending
h) Tree Works 4 rectory Road – pending
i) Planning Application Battery Energy Storage System Hill Rise Coleby – pending see item 20.96 below
20.91 Police Reports:
a) Police: There is to be a Police Briefing on teams. Cllr Pedersen would like to attend
b) Neighbourhood Watch: usual scam warnings. Nothing further to report.
20.92 County & District Councillor Reports:
County Councillor Ian Carrington
The new administration at the County Council is settling in and the Council is now run by Reform. Cllr Carrington is pressing the new ruling body to make decisions on the flood issues and the recommendations which came out of Storm Henk and Storm Barbet. Whilst Coleby Village may not be affected by flooding there is flood risk in near the village and this is important.
Prior to the election the County Council were working out the cost of getting resource in to Planning to deal with the National Strategic Infrastructure Projects, solar farms, wind farms and BESS applications. £750.000 was proposed for external resource on planning as most of this can be clawed back from developers. The County Council will buy in expertise. It is anticipated that there are more applications down the road. NKDC is also buying in expertise to deal with these applications. A recent Appeal was decided by the Inspector appointed by the secretary of State and a project in the Vale of Glamorgan was allowed because of the great weight attached to renewable energy. National grid has designated Lincolnshire as a hub for infrastructure due to its central geographic location. Councillor Carrington said that Lincolnshire was an attractive option for developers due to its high sunshine and long summer days and that many felt as if the area is under siege. There are concerns about connections to the grid as these are not subject to planning applications at present and there is the prospect of pylons instead of undergrounding. Loss of good farmland is also an issue.
The issue of funding for the North Hykeham relief Road has been raised with the new County Council administration and the leader of the County Council has given assurances that this is still backed by the Council.
Returning to the issue of resources for Planning and expertise in the area this is difficult as no one wants to work here. There should be 4 senior planners at the County |Council, currently there is one. There are resources in the private sector but many of these are working for developers, and the demand is causing a shortage for local councils.
District Councillor Lance Pennell reported that following the Annual meeting of the District Council Cllr Chris Goldson is now the Chairman with Cllr Christine Collard as Vice Chair. The Chairmans’ annual charity is The Hollies Animal Rehoming Trust. At Annual Council a new Reform Group was notified, and the new political situation means some committee representation is affected.
NKDC is conducting an electoral canvas for the electorate. Anyone with enduring postal votes will have to resubmit the request for ongoing postal votes as they are not indefinite and the government is attempting to cut voter fraud.
Bin collections may have changed as some of the roads are too narrow if there are parked cars. The council has purchased smaller bin lorries for these areas. If you have had a letter or email your bins collections will be changing. Check on the NKDC website for your collection days/dates. Food Waste collections will start in March 2026. The cost is being covered by the government.
There are two current consultations: Licensing Policy, which is a routine 5 yearly renewal and Sleaford navigation Trust seeking permission to cruise between the Hub in Sleaford and Cogglesford Mill.
VJ Day Celebrations on the 27th August - Grant funding up to £500 available for events.
District
Councillor Pennell advised the process for the Planning Committee Meeting is that an agenda is issued and it is necessary to register within a specified time if an objector (one only), a member of the Parish Council or one person from the applicant wishes to speak before the Planning Committee. Visual Aids may be used to support the points the speaker is making. The public and Parish Council can comment at any time should there be additional documentation or amendments to the application made. These will appear on the Planning website.
20.93 Cemeteries:
a) Lowfields Cemetery: Councillors approved a Memorial design for Eileen Knowles.
b) Far Lane Cemetery: Councillors approved extending the Council Insurance cover to cover up to £50,000 of wall repairs for the Far Lane Cemetery at a cost of £131.17.
20.94 Reports from Village Organisations:
a) All Saints Church: Quotes are being obtained for the works required under the recent Quinquennial report.
b) Village Hall: Cllr Jens Pedersen is taking over the role of Treasurer for the Village Hall. Car Boots are in progress and are successful. The pub organised charity football match between ad Tempest team and a Lion and Royal team raised £1000 for charity using the hall facilities. Clerk to provide VHC with contact details for school as there had been a clash of events at the hall and parking had become an issue.
c) Coleby School: Nothing to report.
20.95 Correspondence: None
20.96 Nat Power UK Battery Energy Storage System:
i) Approval of Parish Council Response to Planning Application Battery Energy Storage System Hill Rise Coleby: The Parish Council has received a draft response from Knights to the Planning application and further reports from a Land Impact Assessment Expert and a Heritage Impact Assessment. Amendments to the response prepared by Knights on behalf of the Parish Council were proposed and approved by all Councillors. Subject to amendments this can now be submitted to the Planning Officer. Councillors also approved the reports prepared by Influence and Guy Taylor Associates to be submitted with the Parish Council’s response.
ii) Update: 454 comments had been received on the NKDC Planning Portal from the public, 435 objections 1 in support and 18 neutral. A representative of the Parish Council, one objector and one person representing the applicant may speak for 5 minutes at the Planning Committee Meeting, which may be in the autumn, although a definite date is not yet known. The MOD has responded to the application in what would appear to be a standard nonspecific response. The Parish Council has raised its concerns about this with the Station Commander at RAF Waddington.
Meeting closed 8.50pm
Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 2nd September 2025 at 7.30pm