April 2025 Annual Parish Meeting DRAFT Minutes
ALLINGTON PARISH MEETING
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held in the Village Hall Wednesday 16th April 2025
Present : Cllr Sally Reynolds (Chair)
Cllr Sue Marvin (Vice Chair)
Cllr John Plummer
Cllr Antony Scott
Cllr Chris Baron
Cllr Claire Storer
Cllr Alex Carlyle
Kate Griffin (Parish Clerk)
Cllr Mark Whittington(LCC)
Guest Speakers: Richard Fenwick (LCC Highways)
Andrew Baptie (LCC Flood team)
Groups and Societies present at the meeting:
Allington Gardens Residents Association, Allington News, Allington Craft Club, Allington Social Club, New Age Kurling, Allington Village Hall Management, Playing Fields Fundraisers, Allington WI, Allington Morris, Tai Chi, Biking Vikings, Allington Pilates, Holy Trinity Church, Save A Life.
45 residents attended.
1/ Welcome and Apologies
Cllr Reynolds welcomed everyone to the meeting . Apologies for absence received from Cllr Robert Leadenham and representatives from the Twinning Association and Petanque groups.
2/ Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting Held 10 April 2024
It was resolved to approve the draft notes from the Annual Parish meeting from 10th April 2024. Proposed by Cllr S Marvin and seconded by Cllr Scott. These were previously circulated and agreed by all Councillors and signed as a true record by Cllr Reynolds.
3/ Guest Speakers, Richard Fenwick and Andrew Baptie – Q&A to follow:
Richard Fenwick gave a short presentation of how the Highways team within LCC play a role within the village. He spoke about pot holes, re-surfacing and drainage schemes. Richard also spoke about the highways and flood issues within the village and explained what steps they are currently taking to resolve the recent issues. Richard mentioned the flood problems always experienced at the railway bridge at Sedgebrook and explained this was Network rail owned land with works taking place 30/04/25.
Andrew Baptie spoke about the role his team from LCC have when flooding occurs. He spoke about the many causes of floods, what his team do to investigate the causes and how they try to resolve these issues. He advised that LCC are very aware of the issues residents of Allington experience when flooding occurs and explained how many investigations have been and are currently being undertaken to find the causes.
Both speakers agreed they would keep their presentation fairly brief in order to give residents more opportunity to ask their questions.
There then followed a Q&A session where residents raised various questions and discussions followed regarding the following:
Parking problems around the Peach Lane area
Speeding problems within the village
Flooding of roads and access in /out of the village and contingency plans for future.
Proposed development at Gonerby Lane
The speakers answered the questions and gave advice and feedback promising to look in to some of the issues in more detail and that site visits would be made to monitor traffic issues. Suggestions to resolve the traffic problems were made by residents such as waiting restrictions, lowering speed limits, moving speed limits boundaries, weight limits, speed humps which RF advised would be looked at and considerations made following site visits.
Cllr Reynolds suggested residents send evidence of problems to RF team at LCC.
A resident thanked RF for the work the LCC team has done with regard to the railway bridge and flooding at Sedgebrook and enquired what the contingency plans were should the village be flooded again in the future. Both RF and AB encouraged residents to be involved as a community to engage with the flood team by using the “FixmyStreet” reporting method which is monitored 24/7 and also explained that flood action groups worked very well whereby in the event of floods happening the flood action groups could quickly engage with emergency services to provide sandbags and other barrier methods where appropriate and that a register of vulnerable residents could be kept.
4/ Chairmans Report of the Parish Council 2024/25
Cllr Reynolds thanked the guest speakers for their time and advice.
Cllr Reynolds thanked the residents and societies for their attendance and reminded that is not a Parish Council Meeting and that no business or decisions would be made.
Cllr Reynolds welcomed 2 new councillors since the last APM, Cllr Scott and Cllr Carlyle.
Cllr Reynolds also welcomed the new Parish Clerk, Kate Griffin, and thanked Rebecca Hilton for her hard work as Parish Clerk since the last clerk retired.
The public are always welcome at Parish council meetings and have an opportunity to speak at the public forums beforehand. All minutes from meetings are available afterwards to view on the Parish website.
During 2024/25 the Parish Council assisted residents to downgrade Sewstern Lane which is still ongoing but work in progress.
Planters were installed at the entrances to the village and thanks were given to Allington Petals for keeping these planted and looking lovely.
The Rookery development is nearing completion and the PC will be contacting the developers to repair the damage to the village green before they leave the site along with widening the drop kerb as agreed at the planning stage.
Replacement benches have been provided in the St James churchyard and one awaiting installation at the playing field which was donated by the WI. A picnic table is awaited for the petanque area.
Working with the Playing Fields Fundraisers a new storage shed has been installed at the playing fields. Thanks to the fund raising efforts of the Playing Fields Fund Raisers the shed is now fully paid off.
Cllr Reynolds advised it was time to turn attention to new fundraising and asked if residents had any ideas or suggestions for new projects which would benefit the village to please write to the Parish Clerk.
Cllr Reynolds thanked all the groups and societies and said the village was very fortunate to have so many options.
Cllr Reynolds then invited the clubs to speak.
5/ Reports from Clubs and Societies
ALLINGTON GARDENS RESIDENTS
We arrange the summer fete each year. Last year we raised £630 of which £315 was donated to the Lincoln Blood Bikes. This year our chosen charity is St. Barnabas, and the fete will be held on Sunday 3rd August on the Park Green. There will be a BBQ, live music and lots of fun to be had by all. Please do come along and support us.
ALLINGTON NEWS
Allington News started in 1982 as a single sheet printed in black and white – some 256 issues later it is still going strong – sharing with the residents of Altington news of events, occasions, births, deaths and sometimes a little gossip relating to the Village.
Copies have been kept over the 43 years and the collection from 1982 to 2018 was bound in leather by John Swallow and donated to the paper and Altington to be kept as an historical record of people, places and events that both nationally and locally have affected the residents and the growth of the Village.
We are at present collecting the next set of papers and are hopefully raising funds this year to produce the next binder.
We have a small – dedicated – well behaved – mostly sober team that at present meet up to review the past edition (and note any mistakes) and begin to gather as many varied items of interest for the next edition, but we are only as good as the news you all send to us – so please remember to contact us with any items of interest.
We distribute the paper free of charge to Attington and Sedgebrook by the kind donations of our few advertisers and the
200 Club. This was formed to fund the paper and costs each member £12. per year (,£l issue) there is also a monthly draw on the numbers for cash prizes. We rely on the village to buy tickets to support us.
Annually we ask subscribers to renew their tickets – occasionally some do not wish to continue – others move away and sadly some members die, this always leaves some spare tickets. We have several this year and would be extremety grateful if anyone here could take one (or two) of these. Without this support Altington News would be unable to continue in its present format.
ALLINGTON CRAFT
The Craft Club continues to grow with new members and the types of craft undertaken being added to. And don’t think the afternoon is for ladies only as our male members can show you some spectacular models that they have created. It does not matter what you like to do, just bring something along and join us for friendly chat and refreshments. If you would like to just come along for some company, you will be made very welcome as conversation features heavily and is considered a valuable craft. The group runs on Mondays from 1:30 – 4:00pm excluding Bank Holidays at a cost of £4.
NEW AGE KURLING
Our group continues to prove popular even if our skill does not appear to improve with practice – especially once we stop for refreshments! In the meantime, our popularity goes before us, and we have been entertaining the Balderton and Foston Dementia groups as Kurling is a game which can be played by all abilities. We have had afternoon tea at Colwick Hall, a Christmas lunch at The Recruiting Sergeant and are looking at possibilities for our subsidised summer outing. You will find us in the village hall on Tuesdays from 2:00 – 4:30pm, so why not come and join in the hilarity as we blame the hall floor for our poor range! Everyone will be made very welcome.
ALLINGTON SOCIAL AFTERNOON
The Social Afternoon has been running for many years now and we have a core membership of 14. We have a great supply of board and card games, even if there are two favourites which are played on a weekly basis, that should not put anybody off coming along as there will always be somebody to make up numbers for something different. As the name suggests, the main reason for running the group is the social element with much hilarity emanating during the afternoon. We are awaiting the return of our treasurer from a spell in hospital before we arrange a celebratory meal. Do join us on Friday afternoons between 2:00 and 4:30pm at a cost of £3:50 – though our ‘swear pot’ is growing the funds on a regular basis.
ALLINGTON VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
It’s been another eventful year at the Village Hall with a range of regular activities taking place every day of the week and most weekends. After losing a few regular bookings over the past year, due to the impending rent increases and also poor attendance, two new sessions have just been booked, one weekly for an hour and the other monthly for two hours. Please support the sessions that are held, there are always spaces and some of the organisers run the sessions as part of their income. However, there is still availability during the day on a Wednesday and Thursday. We had a free half page advert courtesy of Village Link advertising the hall as a venue for a few editions, which didn’t produce any new bookings. Unfortunately, advertising doesn’t come cheap to do it on a regular basis.
The bank balance is looking a bit healthier than when I reported last, however this is due to our events co-ordinator and the small group of fundraisers who work incredibly hard month in and month out to keep the hall financially viable. In spite of increasing the rents, while having to be mindful that we remain competitive with other village halls, the bookings still hardly cover the running costs of the hall, hence it is vital that all the events are well supported by the villagers. However, we really need the regular income to increase so that we don’t have to rely on the fundraising money to cover the running costs of the hall, those funds should be a bonus to cover any added expenditure for repairs and renewals, not to keep the hall financially viable. That is something that both I and the rest of the committee feel very strongly about.
The fundraising events during the year have raised a total of £4,768. The events that have taken place over the year include a Caf6, three Coffee Shops, two Quiz Nights, a Race Night and a Concert organised jointly with Holy Trinity Church. October saw the first of the Big Brunches to replace the Caf6s, and it went down so well that three more have followed, and by popular request are set to continue. Plus, the Spring Fair on Saturday raised a total profit of £525. Our next event will be The Winter Singers on Friday 9th May, again this is being run in conjunction with the village church, there are still some tickets available for what should be a very entertaining evening, see Chris tonight.
There was the Macmillan Coffee Morning in September and Julian Withington held another Save-a-Life session in March. With the Christmas party being cancelled due to lack of numbers, it has been decided to do a Christmas Quiz this year instead, especially as the quizzes prove so popular.
The Warm Hubs, for which we received the grant from SHINE, have been running on a Friday since January, with up to 22 people coming along for soup, rolls and a hot drink. They are set to finish at the end of this month.
I have to end my report by repeating the same plea as last year, for more people to join the committee and also help with fundraising. We did welcome two new members, Will Allen and Pauline Bevan, however there are still more members needed, especially younger ones to take up the mantle of managing the hall and raising funds, for when those of us of advancing years retire. We are still needing a secretary and bookings secretary, roles I have been doing on a temporary basis since January, along with chair and publicity co-ordinator. After eight years in the roles of chair and publicity I was hoping to start drawing in my wings not take on extra roles.
The Village Hall AGM is being held on the 28th May at 7.30Pm, and see what we hope to do at your village hall, also if anyone here would like to join the committee or just be available to help raise funds please come along to the AGM and have a word with one of the committee members.
Allington Playing Fields Fund Raising Committee
I am Peter Trundley representing the PFFC who leads with James Lynch supported by treasurer Bernie Norton. The PFC is a team of 20+ volunteers lioving in the village with an objective of raising money for village improvements typically at the playing fields. Within our midst we still have the founding chairman John Slater and more recently John Plummer. John is also liaison with the Parish Council.
As part of our DNA defined our reason for being for the village to have FUN first and foremost , 2nd to create a sense of community and 3rd to hopefully raise money along the way.
We run 3 main events : Allington Big weekend, Bonfire Night and Firworks display and organise the christmas tree & light swtich on.
The tree is picked every year by David Moreton who is a long term Allington and Sedgebrook resident and we beneift from having Chris and Julie Wade on the team who use their farm equipment to get the tree up and down.
The Allington Big Weekend this year will be 4th-6th July. Last year we sug=ffered a bit with the weather so we are hoping for sun this year. We also had a few sound problems on the Saturday night so we have pushed the boat out a PA sound system this year. This year should be bigger and better with more investment in bands and marquee upgrades. This year we have areally good up and ocming local band called Ashan on Friday night and on Saturday night we have a hgihgly recommended covers band called Dynamix. We hope as many of you will come as possible, early bird tickets will be available.
Bonfire night will be on the usual date and Christmas Tree lighting will be Sunday 30th December 2025.
Before I go I have one last thing to cover: We would really like some new younger members to make what we do more relevent for young people in the village. At 53 I think I am the 4th youngest member of the PFF and could do with changing that.
That’s the PFF, thanks for listening.
ALLINGTON WI
I am Margaret Dicken, the current President of Allington WI. We were formed in 1919 making the institute 106 years old this year. Membership numbers remain the same, although visitor numbers have increased due to varied and interesting speakers.
We continue to try and support other village organisations although Morris dancing has proved a step too far for all of us but we do support them by watching their displays.
Our collecting of empty pill blister packs for recycling has been well supported by villagers, thanks should be extended to the V.H. management learn for allowing the V. Hall to be used as a collection point.
Our support of the reintroduction of the produce show was successful as a WI rnernber was the overall winner of the cake section - WI's reputation is safe for another year.
The poppy display around the railings surrounding the Village Cross produced by some WI members in conjunction with the village craft club received numerous complements and we would like to hope that they will have increased by Rernembrance Sunday 2025, this despite Allington being a Thankful or Blessed Village in both World Wars (a village to which everyone returned) n\any villagers have friends and/or family who over the years have served in the Forces in various places and in many capacities and this display was a mark of our respect and thanks.
We look forward to another successful year with varied speakers ranging from silk painting. bedroom to boardroom - a talk by an entrepreneur and a son whose father won a VC. together with trips out to sample coffee and cake at various venues and other places of interest. Visitors are always welcome just see posters around the village and various publications popped through your letter box.
ALLINGTON MORRIS
In a similar vein to last year, Allington Morris continued in the village tradition, with danceouts at the Welby to mark the start and end of our dancing season (May tH August), and pub nights in the local area joined by members of Lincoln and Micklebarrow and New Saint George Morris.
Unfortunately, it became apparent as we started back in the hall last September that age, fitness and health issues would dominate our practice season, As a result of this, the side took the decision to rest until March, in spite of appeals to the village and the local area we have recruited only one new member, We do have a side at enough to start the dancing season as usual outside the Welby on Thursday May 1“, However, sadly, 1 new member is not sufficient to ensure our future which hangs in the balance after 37 years.
If you think you might be interested in dancing or joining the musicians, 2 or 3 new members could make the difference, Please have a word or get in touch through the Allingtononline or Facebook page
TAI CHI
Tai Chi held every Tuesday at 10.00am for an hour.
Our Instructor Rebecca Peacock is a professional Martial Arts Instructor, but our sessions are really for 'Beginners’ and the first half of the class is spent in utilising all body joints in quite soft but repetitive movement, and essentially the correct deep breathing to suit the exercises and routines.
There is a short break between the 'warm-up’ and the second half for those that wish to take refreshment if they so wish.
The second half of the class is learning quite basic but very interesting Tai Chi Martial Art moves, and the whole class is non combative and there is very little physical contact with each other. Everyone learns at their own speed, and repetition.
The class is for exercise and learning a new skill, and at the same time enjoying the camaraderie of fellow learners.
No special dress or uniform is required, but clothing worn must be comfortable and allow for freedom of movement. Soft supple shoes of any kind are fine.
The cost is £7.00 a session, but if you are a regular, then 5 lessons can be purchased for £30.00
The class size is currently about 12+ members, and it is a very friendly small class.
Anyone can join us for a one off taster session
Any questions ? I do not desire to demonstrate any moves !!!!
BIKING VIKINGS
So reporting on a ride that took place nearly a year ago with the 2023 ride taking place in May 2024!!
“Pudsey’s Revenge” took place over the weekend of 18th/ 19th May with 22 riders taking part.
We rode back from Pudsey (Leeds) back via the Trans Pennine trail an overnight at Worksop before riding back through Clumber Park and Newark - just under 100 miles with £5,552.00 raised for the BBC Children in Need appeal
This brought our total over the 30 rides completed since 1991 to £103,917.45!!
The BV will take a break this year although our regular community service “Beer survey” will take place on the usual first Thursday of June (5th June) weather permitting and as usual we’ll be looking for volunteers!!
We’ll also be looking to run a one day ride for a bit of fun on one of the last Sunday’s in September before looking at a return for 2026 – TBC!
ALLINGTON PILATES
Allington Pilates continue to run on a Monday evening 19:00 – 20:00hrs in term time. Our sessions run as a bookable course and we’re currently fully booked with 18 regular participants. We do have a waiting list for those that would like to join us as places become available.
SAVE A LIFE SESSIONS
What would you do if someone stopped breathing? In the UK, 77% of people either don’t know or are unsure of how to perform CPR.
Save an Adult’s life workshops teach local communities what to do in an emergency and equip them with the skills to help adults who have stopped breathing, are choking or have suffered a heart attack and how to use an AED/ Defibrillator. Currently 4 AED’s in the village – Village Hall, Playing field, pub and Allington Gardens.
We’ve held 6 sessions in Allington so far with a total of 69 residents taking up the opportunity to learn these skills – the programme has been rolled out across South Kesteven with a total of 33 sessions run with well over 300 people taking part.
These sessions are delivered on a voluntary basis with the support of my employer, LeisureSK – but the idea to run them did originate over a pint in the Welby Arms!
Previously Mike and Carol as part of the Parish Council were very supportive but this support directly from the council seems to have waned and recent sessions have received pro-active support by Dave Smedley and the Village Hall Committee.
Our next sessions will be taking place in September, October and November. We’ll take bookings from Parish Councils for these sessions from around July. Anyone looking to attend please get in touch with Dave Smedley or the Parish Council.
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH
Following work in the Church it can now provide toilet facilities and an equipped kitchen. Hopefully, these improvements will help to increase numbers attending Sunday services. The monthly coffee mornings are very well supported and contribute greatly to Church funds
VIKING SQUARES
Viking Squares is held every Tuesday 730-10pm . Viking Squares is square dancing but at a walking pace. It is not difficult and is easy to learn. Tea and coffee is served.
ALLINGTON PETANQUE (EMAIL SUBMISSION)
Allington Petanque, based on the playing fields, continues to flourish with another successful year on the improved and extended pistes attracting an increase in people playing. The Allington Petanque league was held from May to September 1ast year with eight teams, from all over the village. There were two new teams last year which is testament to the growing popularity of the game within the village . Allington Petanque presentation night was held in the Aliington Village Hall in November, The winning MPs team were presented with the league trophy. There were over 30 players in attendance, enjoying the evening's food and entertainrnent and looking forward to this year; s league, whieh will be held frorn April to September.
Last year, the Allington Petanque Doubles competition was introduced. it was played on the 29th June which was possibly the hottest day of the year. it was an all day event which attracted 8 teams. This year’s event will be held on the 26th July, which is the four year anniversary of the construction of the pistes on the playing fields.The popularity of the game within Allington has extended beyond the village boundaries. On June 1st we hosted a group from the Foston Explorer Scouts. This was probably the wettest day of the year. About 20 scouts attended , they were very enthusiastic and despite the weather all had an enjoyable evening. Our popularity has also extended to Fernwood petanque club near Newark, who are interested in creating a contact with Ailington. Also Grantham Tennis club have built two new pistes and we hope to establish a link with their petanque club. Allington Petanque started out with the intention of getting everybody in the village playing or at least aware of the faeilities on the playing fields. The playing fields and petanque area are available for the whole village and the more people involved will vindicate the outlay of this Parish Council. Last year the parish council approved the provision of a picnic table at the pistes for spectators, this of course, ean also be used by speetators of any events taking place on the playing fields, and we are eagerly awaiting its arrival.
ALLINGTON TWINNING ASSOCIATION (EMAIL SUBMISSION)
Not much has happened with the Twinning Association this year. Several times I have asked if anyone is interested in being involved but I have had no response. I have said that I can keep it ticking over for now i.e. sending copies of Allington News over to Tuffé and responding to any emails from the Twinning Association.
I have been in touch with the Secretary from the Tuffé Twinning Association, as they did mention a wish to visit this year, but they had to put it on hold. They say they would still like to visit, but that the bus hire is very expensive. So nothing as yet has been arranged.
6/ QUESTIONS AND OPEN FORUM
Cllr Reynolds thanked everyone for their presentations and asked whether anyone had any further questions. None were asked .
7/ CIRCULATE AND REFRESHMENTS
After the meeting everyone circulated for a while and had refershments.
Meeting Closed 930PM