February 2025 Minutes
Minutes for the Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 20 February 2025 at Great Carlton Village Hall
In the Chair: Cllr P Hill
Present: Cllrs Kade, Seigneury, Marshall and Bennett. Cllr White was co-opted in Item 5.
Parish Clerk: Mrs S Bristow
District Councillor Travis Hesketh (arrived 19:20)
Public Forum: The Chairman of Gayton Parish Meeting spoke about their village poll, with consistency in the 80%+ being opposed to the GDF and wanting the principal authorities to withdraw immediately. The Meeting passed this as a resolution accordingly. The Chairman offered to work together with the Carltons to take action against the proposal; the two Clerks will liaise accordingly. A villager addressed the fibre broadband blackspot and spoke of a Government grant that is available. The Clerk noted that she was in contact with Quickline regarding this topic and would advise in due course.
The meeting was opened at 19:11 and 8 members of the public were in attendance.
1. Apologies: District Cllr Hesketh indicated he would be late. County Cllr D McNally was absent.
2. Declarations of Interest: None
3. Approval of the minutes of the 30 January 2025 meeting: RESOLVED and signed by the Chairman.
4. Chair’s Report:
i. Co-option and Councillor Vacancy update: Noting two vacancies are still on notice, one parishioner had put themselves forward for co-option to the existing vacancy. The existing members were offered the chance to ask a question. After this, the council did not feel any debate was needed and moved on to the vote. Cllr T White was co-opted unanimously, signed her declarations of office and joined the members’ table.
5. Clerk’s Report:
i. General update on day-to-day Council matters: the Clerk noted she now had access to the Lloyds Bank Account for Wind Turbine matters. Paperwork for the Barclay’s Account was completed but Cllr Seigneury noted they needed more paperwork, this time from the Chairman. Cllr Hill will fill in the forms and return them to Cllr Seigneury.
ii. Correspondence not noted in Item 7: None
6. Finance report:
i. HMRC Update: The Clerk noted she had received a PAYE number for the Council and had been able to run payroll to clarify item 6 (ii) (c).
ii. To resolve payments: All payments RESOLVED
a. LALC Subs £97.54 (to be paid on/after 1 April 2025)
b. LALC Training Scheme £122.00 (to be paid on/after 1 April 2025)
c. Clerk’s Wages and HRMC PAYE total £379.25, includes end of January and all of February wages.
d. McAfee Antivirus software £9.00, reimbursed to Clerk
7. Councillor Reports and Matters Arising
i. Highways survey: Councillors will discuss and advise the Clerk prior to the 28 Feb deadline.
ii. M&STC invitations: tabled until the March meeting.
iii. Fire Service visit: The Council accepted the invitation and decided 29 March would be the best date from those offered. The Clerk will coordinate accepting the offer and creating publicity.
iv. Nuclear Free Local Authorities correspondence/offer: Tabled.
As an aside, the Chairman noted having spoken to Leakes regarding the Lt Carlton War Memorial repairs. The cost, inclusive of VAT, is expected to be £888. Once a quotation is received, this will be added to a future agenda to resolve the expenditure.
8. Planning Matters: None
9. Wind Turbine Fund matters: This item will be removed from future agendas to keep the distinction between the two entities.
10. Date of next meeting be discussed and confirmed: the Parish Council meeting will be on 20 March at 19:00 in the Gt Carlton village hall.
There being no additional business, the meeting was closed at 19:48.
Cllr Hesketh gave his update following closure of the meeting: ELDC is preparing to exit the GDF siting process and he is now encouraging LCC to do the same. Additionally, he has written to Lincs Wildlife asking them to reconsider their position on the Community Partnership. He noted attending 6 local NWS events thus far and that his exit polls had overwhelmingly been against the GDF, and that most people attending the events took part. Finally, he noted two GDF related motions have been sponsored by him at ELDC and will be heard at the March full council meeting.