May 2025 Minutes Annual Parish Meeting
Grasby Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held 21 May 2025, at the Grasby Village Hall.
Present: Cllr R. Bennett, Cllr J Brown, Cllr C Mead, Cllr S Riley, Cllr P Grimes and District Cllr P Morris.
2 members of the public were in attendance.
1. The minutes of the meeting held 15 May 2024 on were signed as a true and accurate record.
2. The Chairman presented his yearly report as follows:
I would like to welcome everyone to the Grasby Annual Parish Meeting 2025, thank you for attending. The last annual meeting was held on 15 May 2024, when I also presented the Chairman's report. The last 12 months have again been active for the Parish Council and I want to summarise the various activities that have taken place:
Councillors
For the first time in a few years there have been no changes to the make-up of the Parish Council over the last 12 months, there are currently a total of 6 serving councilors:
Cllr John Harris (Vice Chair), Cllr Janet Brown, Cllr Peter Grimes, Cllr Chris Meade Cllr Steve Riley and myself, Cllr R Bennett.
We still have space for an additional councillor, anyone over the age of 18 can apply join the council and it would be great to see a younger member of the community involved.
Parish Clerk
We are extremely grateful to Charlotte Wright the parish clerk, who, as always, has been proactive and efficient throughout the period. Charlotte keeps us up to speed on all kinds of matters and has ensured that we are up to date with our financial, governance and other policies. {Unfortunately, Charlotte is absent this evening, we send her and her family our best wishes}.
District & County Councillors
I would also like to thank on behalf of the PC: Cllr Peter Morris - our West Lindsey District Councillor and Cllr Tom Smith - who has been our Lincolnshire County Councillor for the last few years but unfortunately lost his seat at the election held recently on 1 May. We thank them for the help and guidance, that they have provided. Both Peter and Tom have been extremely supportive during the last year and haveregularly attended our meetings, we hope that our newly elected County Councillor will show the same dedication and support to our community as Tom Smith has given us.
Routine Parish Council Meetings
During the 2024/25 year 7 formal meetings were held, the full Minutes of each meeting are available for all to read on the Parish Council website: https://grasby.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/:
15 May 2024 - Grasby Annual Parish Meeting and Parish Council Annual Meeting.
17 July 2024
18 September 2024
20 November 2024
15 January 2025
19 March 2025
30 April 2025 - extra meeting to discuss GSONP Aspirations. The main matters dealt with during the year include:
A1084
The purchase of a second reactive speed sign which has been installed facing the west bound carriageway, on the Caistor side of the Cross Keys pub. The two reactive speed signs are helping to reduce the speed of vehicles using this section of road.
Highways
Parking in the village continues to be congested at school drop-off and pick-up times, and this can lead to irresponsible parking. We have worked with LCC Highways to introduce a bus stand and prohibit waiting on areas of Vicarage Lane and Main Street between 8am-4pm Mondays to Fridays. However, due to the current school role a taxi people carrier is only required for transporting children to and from school. As such it cannot legally use the bus stand therefore an alternative arrangement is now being sought in conjunction with LCC Highways and the school.
Village Maintenance
The annual grass cutting contract was carried out by Dave Williams and his son, Andrew, of North Kelsey Moor, they continue to do an excellent job and the village is looking tidy. There was no price increase for this year's work.
Planning
We have made comments to WLDC on several planning applications, the majority of which have been uncontentious extensions this year.
Grasby Searby and Owmby Neighbourhood Plan (GSONP)
Great progress has been made by the GSNOP Steering Group over the last 12 months ably led by Chris Mead in the Chair with Steve Riley as secretary and Janet Brown as treasurer. The Steering Group has 8 active members, although anyone is welcome at any of the meetings, and has continued to meet roughly every two weeks throughout the year. The Steering Group acts independently of the PC but ultimately the funding comes via the PC which is the sponsor of the plan, a MoU between the two was signed back in 2023. Funding for the 24/25 year was received from Locality which has enabled planning consultant, Helen Metcalfe, in conjunction with the Steering Group to continue to develop the draft GSONP following the various consultations with the community which have included a 'call for sites' sent to landowners and open events held in the Village Hall on 26 June 2024 and 23 April 2025, together with ongoing social media and email correspondence. A Site Assessment was carried out by consultants AECOM following the Development Design Codes and Guidance document and Housing Needs Assessment which they completed in 2024 with direct funding from Locality. I am pleased to report that today the draft GSONP has reached its Pre-Submission 'Regulation 14' stage where it is sent out for further consultation and comment. This period runs from today Wednesday 21 May to Sunday 6 July. A further leaflet drop has taken place today to all residents in Grasby confirming that we are now at the stage and asking for feedback, in addition a further open drop-in session will take place in the Village Hall between 3pm and 9pm on Monday, 2 June. The draft plan together with its annexes is an impressive document and should stand the communities in good stead throughout the plan period until 2040. With a fair wind the plan should go forward to a public referendum before the end of the calendar year. The Steering Group have all worked hard on this project giving up their spare time on a voluntary basis, but particular thanks must go to Chris for his dedication, technical ability and calm determination in driving the plan forward.
Website
The Parish Council has had a website, which lies within the Lincolnshire Parish Councils webpages, for many years. However, I think that it is fair to say it has been somewhat under resourced, that was until Steve Riley stepped into the breach and took over the running of the site which has now been completely re-worked and now provides a valuable resource for residents and to those wanting to know more about the village. It also contains a separate page for the GSONP, including all relevant and up-to-date documents, along with meeting minutes and agendas. Although the website is somewhat restricted by underlaying JADU software, it is a huge improvement, so thanks to Steve for all his work in pushing this forward and for the ongoing administration of the site.
Precept and Funding
Each year GPC applies for a precept (essentially fund.ing) from WLDC to cover the running of the PC's activities and for other identified expenditure. It is worth noting that the PC provides grants out of the precept to several local amenities including the village hall committee (to at least cover their insurance) and the repair and servicing of the church clock.
Financial Diligence
The GPC accounts are kept by the Charlotte Wright who is the responsible financial officer, as well as the Clerk. The accounts are sent off to a local accountant for internal audit each year.
Thanks
Once again, my thanks go to all the Councillors who have served on the Parish Council during the year and who have been an enormous help to me particularly as we are all volunteers and have busy lives and commitments. And of course, to Charlotte, our Clerk who has guided us throughout this year. It is much appreciated.
3. To receive a report of Parish Council finances from the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO).
The chairman presented the annual finances to the parish council as the RFO was not present. The total annual income for 2024/2025 was £16,191 and the total annual expenditure £18,615 therefore giving a deficit of £2,423 for the year, with a cash balance at 31 March 2025 of £23,532. An internal audit has been undertaken by Cassels Accountants who confirmed the finances are run in the correct manner but raised an issue regarding overpayment of PAYE to HMRC of £106, which has now been corrected. Various questions were raised regarding the income & expenditure account and these will be deferred to the RFO at the next scheduled Parish Council meeting on 16 July 2025.
4. Open Meeting
2 members of the public were present and raised highways issues as follows:-
i) The poor surface of the pavement/footpath on Station Road between Canty Nook and Wilmore Lane. The surface is now very uneven as the tarmac surface continues to deteriorate.
ii) The blocked highway gulley/drain outside 22-24 Station Road. During periods of heavy rainfall water pours out of the gully onto the road surface, the blockage therefore needs to be removed by high pressure jetting.
iii) Excessive speed of vehicles entering the village 30mph limit from the south on Station Road, enforcement and calming required.
The chairman confirmed that i) and ii) will be taken up with LCC Highways and via Fix My Street. With regard to iii) the Parish Council is considering the purchase of a reactive speed warning sign at this location, however it would be prudent for an 'Archer Traffic Analysis Survey' to be carried out prior to this investment and therefore a request will be sent to LCC to see if this is possible to arrange.