2026 Minutes

Minutes of Meeting of

Bishop Norton with Atterby Parish Council

Meeting held on 09/03/2026 at 7.30pm at Bishop Norton Village Hall

1. Present: Cllr P Thody (Acting as Chair), Cllr J Suggit, Cllr S Freeman, Cllr T Dean, Cllr A Panton, Cllr R Townsend (Acting as Clerk).  Cllr S Bunny was also in attendance

                There were   2 members of the public in attendance.

2. Apologies: Received from Cllr Guy

 

Cllr Thody opened the meeting by thanking Cllr Townsend for stepping in as Acting Clerk, while a new clerk is being sought.

 

3. Declarations of Interest: Cllr Suggit & Councillor Freeman re allotments; Cllr Freeman re play park, Cllr Dean re grass cutting.

 

4. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising: Cllrs read and agreed the minutes from the January meeting. Cllr Suggit has positioned 10 signs (reminding residents to clear up their dogs’ poo) and in general there seems to have been a reduction in the amount of dog waste on paths etc. 

Although the PC agreed payment for grass cutting services (Ian Moore Contracting IMC)for 26/27, Cllr Townsend enquired if a three-year contract was possible.  IMC has agreed and Cllr Townsend will ask for quote for the May meeting. The Minutes were signed as accurate by the Vice Chair.

 

5. Reports by Ward/County Councillors: 

Cllr Bunny reported an odour complaint from Snitterby: he talked to the Public Health department who said it was an Environment Department issue. Anyone experiencing issues should report these as soon as possible (details in the March Triangle). 

There is a proposed new digester plant at Glentham and although the information says there will be minimal odour as they won’t be moving foodstuffs, they WILL be moving slurry! (Cllr Suggit will attend the proposed digester open evening and feedback to PC.)

Riseholme University are doing work on using digestate as pellets: if WLDC goes ahead with Scampton then they will look at promoting this. 

Highways – the weather is causing pothole repairs to breakdown and LCC are looking at a different sort of road repair for bigger areas that are having much longer lasting results.

Local gov reform – each council (except WLDC) put in a model that they wanted – proposals for Lincolnshire are out for consultation with the closing date of 26th March.  Cllr Bunny circulated a questionnaire to PCs for comment and explained the different models with pros and cons. (Cllr Thody agreed that the PC would complete the questionnaire. Clerk to circulate the questionnaire to councillors for comment and response)

The County Council will remain as is for service continuity. It is likely that there will be less representation by councillors but an increase in the role of Parish Councils. 

 

Local government changes may cause resources and assets to be moved with current agreements being moved from authority to authority. This is last year that WLDC and the County Council will have control over projects over £100k. They are looking to release funds over next year before this – half to Gainsborough the rest to be spread around the authority. Mental health money is being redirected to children’s services.

 

 

Re road sign email on south approach to village– they will see about moving the post and changing the sign.

Cllr Thody thanked Cllr Bunny for his report. Cllr Bunny had to leave early to attend another meeting.

 

6. Public Question Time: Nothing that wasn’t already on agenda.

 

7. Correspondence: 

 

The Clerk read out a letter from Mrs P Varney of Bishop Norton asking if the PC might consider installing a new bus shelter on Main Street.  Cllr Suggit commented that it might be an asset for people as they get older although the location might be an issue. The school and public bus stops are all in different places around the village so this would need to be a consideration. He also suggested that funding might be possible if there was Section 106b money from the proposed new development on Main Street. Cllr Panton highlighted the possibility of funding up to £3000 from the recent LCC Bus Shelter Grant Scheme. Cost would play a major factor and many examples of bus shelter cost up to £15,000 however a basic example is about £3000. The Chair suggested further investigation by contacting Snitterby who have installed a new bus shelter in recent years. Cllr Freeman suggested that if it’s around £3000 then the PC should consider it. (Clerk to contact Snitterby PC for further details and to respond to Mrs Varney)

 

The Clerk read out a letter from Claire Green from Glentham who is interested in setting up an U11s football team and renting the village football pitch. The team would use the pitch from October to March and would also need to have access to the village hall. Issues arising from the proposal are: insurance, purchasing smaller goals, purchasing a white line marker, field maintenance and a necessity for a firm commitment from the applicant. All the councillors present were in favour of the proposal in principle, but we would need more details. The Clerk had asked for quotes for white lining (£180 +VAT) and repainting the goalposts (£150+VAT) however the County Council Volunteering Scheme is running again and it was suggested that we apply to them to get the posts painted for free. (Clerk to respond to Claire Green and see about applying to the CVS)

 

8. Report by Acting RFO: Because there is no RFO in place, the Acting Clerk has complied an Inc/Exp sheet from 13/01/2026 to 01/03/2026. This and a copy of the most recent bank statement was agreed and signed by the Vice Chair. Cllr Dean asked for clarification of some points on the previous RFO report – these questions were answered by the Acting Clerk. 

 

9. Assertion 10: 

 

This was introduced in 2025 and requires PCs in England to affirm compliance with digital and data protection regulations, specifically the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.It mandates secure, council-owned IT systems, data audits and web accessibility to strengthen governanace, cybersecurity and public trust. To meet this requirement, the PC must purchase its own domain name – using   .gov.uk in its email addresses and councillors can no longer correspond on PC business through their personal email addresses. The PC also needs to adopt an IT policy. To achieve this the clerk has contacted a company called Cloud Next who can furnish the required domain name and email addresses. The costs were discussed and agreed as acceptable. The proposed IT policy (courtesy of LALC) was also adopted. (The clerk to contact Cloud Next and get the emails etc organised and to ensure other aspects are covered)

 

Cllr Suggit expressed a serious concern that Cllrs don’t have individual laptops/iPad for PC business and correspondence. Cllr Thody asked if he would contact the relevant authority about this while she would contact a GDPR specialist to ensure that we understand this correctly. (Clerk to send Ass 10 and GDPR requirements etc to Cllr Thody)

 

 

10. Planning Application WL/2025/01227 – Cllr Townsend had spoken to the planning officer regarding the planning amendment. A response to the same had already been circulated to the councillors prior to the meeting. Cllr Suggit requested a small addition to the response regarding maintenance and liability, which was read out to and agreed by Cllrs. Mr R Haines (member of public) also asked it the PC could include additions regarding wildlife windows overlooking the bungalows opposite. This was agreed. (Clerk to amend response and send to WLDC planning department before 12/03/2026.) 

 

11. Play Park equipment:

 

A member of the public had reported that a protective cap from the top of the Rotaweb had been found on the floor and reported it to Cllr Townsend, who contacted the installers; they confirmed that it was NOT a safety concern. They ordered and installed a replacement part. 

The clerk has emailed Wicksteed regarding reimbursement of costs incurred while issues arising from the initial installation were rectified. The cost of hiring the safety barriers was £150.

(Clerk to chase this up if no response)

 

12. Allotment Ditch/Stone Pit Lane Ditch Clearance: 

 

The bottom section of ditches by the allotment have been cleared.  

 

13. Community Resilience: 

Cllr Suggit brought the Community Resilience box for storage in the village hall. Items to be replaced include high visibility jackets (previous supply given out to planter volunteers) and battery run items to be checked and replaced as necessary. Checklist to be created and kept in box.

(Clerk to complete checklist, check batteries and purchase more glo jackets)

 

14. Any other business: 

A councillor reported that there are serious car parking issues at end of Eastfield: this includes issues with cars too near junctions, parked in the wrong direction and business vans (which appear to be continuously connected to electric cables) permanently parked on the verge and not being used, preventing the grass cutting contractors from completing their work for which the PC pays. A combination of these issues recently caused a serious bottle neck situation and concerns have been raised as to if an emergency vehicle would be able get down the road. The PC has been asked to look into the matter and check the legality. (Cllr Townsend said that she would investigate and report back).

 

15. Items for next meeting: 

Bus shelter, Football Pitch, Parking in Eastfield, Local Gov reform response, Planning on Main St, Planning for Glentham digester, Assertion 10 & GDPR, email addresses and  Website, new clerk and amendment of bank mandate, updating policies, grass cutting contract update

 

16. Date of next meeting: 11th May – APM – 7pm – refreshments to be served. AGPCM at 7.30pm (Clerk to put advert in Triangle inviting public) The meeting was now closed to the public at 9pm

 

17. Closed session: Cllr Thody informed the PC that 3 applications for the position of clerk had been received but only one had relevant experience and she will organise interviews for all three applicants. Cllr Thody also asked the PC to approve expenses incurred for Cllr Townsend, who has been Acting Clerk. All councillors agreed. Meeting closed – 09:10 hrs.

Chair person signed……………………………………………………………Dated……………………………………………….