May 2025 DRAFT Minutes (Annual Parish Council Meeting)
Allington Parish Council
Minutes of Annual Parish Council Meeting held at
Allington Village Hall
14 May 2025 7:15pm
Present
Cllr Reynolds
Cllr Baron
Cllr Storer
Cllr Plummer
Cllr Carlyle arrived at 19.25pm
Kate Griffin RFO and Clerk
Cllr Leadenham (SKDC)
Cllr Litchfield (LCC)
5 residents
1. ELECTION OF CHAIR FOR 2025/26
Cllr Reynolds advised she would be looking to step down as Chair but would remain in the position until September when the Parish Council would hopefully be back to a full quorum.
Cllr Plummer proposed Cllr Reynolds to be re-elected as Chair until September.
This was seconded by Cllr Baron and voted for unanimously.
It was resolved that Cllr Reynolds would continue as Chair until September.
2. ELECTION OF VICE CHAIR & SIGNING OF DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE FOR 2025/26.
Due to the absence of the current Vice Chair it was agreed that the current vice would remain in place until the September meeting.
3. PUBLIC FORUM
Residents spoke about the proposed music festival at Arena UK and their objections.
A resident spoke about the speed cameras and it was agreed that the Clerk would follow this up with neighbouring Parish Councils and feed back to the council.
A resident spoke about the Village Hall and possible donations from the Parish Council. It was agreed that a meeting may be required between the Parish Council and the Village Hall and that the clerk should make arrangements for this.
The village hall caretaker advised that an electrician would be visiting the village hall to inspect in order to quote a price to install a replacement IED box.
4. APOLOGIES: TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND REASONS GIVEN
Cllr Marvin sent her apologies, reason previously given and accepted by the council.
5. TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011
No Declarations were made.
6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
It was resolved to accept the Clerk’s notes of the Extraordinary Parish Council Meeting of April 8th 2025 as a true record of the meeting. These were previously circulated and seen by all councillors.
7. ANNUAL PROCEDURES
The Clerk had reviewed the new versions of the financial regulations and circulated to all councillors for review prior to the meeting. It was resolved to adopt the new 2025 version of the Financial Regulations.
Cllr Reynolds requested that the wording on the Standing Orders section 4 was amended to remove “advisory groups” as these were since replaced with “Committees”.
Action: For clerk to amend Standing orders to be reviewed at the next meeting in July and to upload the Financial Regulations to the website.
The following policies were reviewed (previously circulated) and it was resolved to accept the following:
The Code of Conduct.
Equality and Diversity Policy.
The grants and donations policy.
The GDPR Policy.
Publication Scheme.
Action: Clerk to update website.
The following policies were reviewed (previously circulated) and it was resolved to defer until the next meeting due to amendments which are required:
Environmental and sustainability Policy.
Risk Assessment Policy.
Risk Management Policy.
Social Media Policy.
Communications Policy.
Asset Register.
Action: Councillors to amend where appropriate and defer until the meeting in June for adoption,
Members agreed for the HR Committee:
Cllr Marvin, Cllr Storer, Cllr Carlyle.
Members agreed for the Playing Field Committee:
Cllr Plummer, Cllr Marvin.
Members agreed for the Planning Committee:
Cllr Baron, Cllr Marvin.
8. CLERKS REPORT
Correspondence
The Clerk reported on all correspondence received since the last meeting:
Emails received from several residents regarding proposed Haworths Development.
Email received from Allington Manor regarding car park usage at Playing Fields.
Email from Councillor Leadenham regarding Flood Group event.
Email from Councillor Leadenham regarding community speedwatch.
Email of introduction from new Councillor Litchfield.
Email from resident regarding Allington PC Facebook page.
Email from resident regarding Highways update on Peach Lane.
Email renewal quote from insurance company
Email from Smiths Construction enquiring about decision of MUGA maintenance.
Email from PFFC requesting clerk to order marquee replacement parts using PFFC funds
Email received from Councillor Scott resigning from the council.
Finance
The Clerk reported on the following financial matters:
Invoices and payments and monies received:
Invoice from LALC for Internal Audit £264
Invoice from Village Hall for meeting hire 12MAR25 £25
Receipts from Davd Smedley (Village Caretaker) for materials for bench installation for reimbursement £33.65
Invoice from Marmax for picnic bench for petanque area £573.60(revised)
Invoice from Hempstead for grass cutting 1st payment £457.50 month 1 of 8
Time sheet for Playing fields caretaker 3 ½ hours overtime for work on PF posts installation
Time sheet for Parish Clerk overtime to process internal audit
Invoice from SKDC for Lottery Licence annual fee £20
Receipts from Councillor Plummer for materials for playing fields car park posts £129.70
Payments received in:
Payments from Allington Manor for car parking. 2 X£25
Remittance advice for payment from SKDC for community cleaning £463.32
Remittance advice for payment from from SKDC for precept £15050.00
Payments already paid in advance of meeting due to time constraints but require signatures for approval:
Over time for Village Caretaker 5 ½ hours worked on bench installation in March 2025
EDF energy £164.49
Gala Tents marquee order for PFFC (ringfenced) (as previously agreed) £1828.89
Tax Payment to HMRC £141.40
It was resolved to approve the invoices due for payment which were signed by Cllr Reynolds and Cllr Storer with the exception of the Marmax picnic bench which was put on hold due to discussion needed regarding to allocation of funds.
It was resolved to approve the invoices prepaid due to time constraints, these were signed by Cllr Reynolds and Cllr Storer.
It was resolved to approve payment of overtime in March and April by the Parish Clerk ( due to additional work required for the audit ) and it was resolved to approve payment of overtime in April by the Playing Fields caretaker ( Fence post installation).
It was resolved to approve the re-imbursement of receipts submitted by Cllr Plummer for materials for playing field car park posts.
The clerk explained that due to lack of time and understanding regarding all the bank account reports needed , the end of year / Q4 figures were not all available in time for the meeting. The Clerk read out and circulated the end of Q4 bank statements and balances which were agreed by the councillors.
It was reviewed and resolved that the end of Q4 and full end of year bank reconciliation would be reviewed at the next meeting in June.
It was discussed that the bank signatories/mandate requires an update to approve signatories for 2025/26. HSBC have advised that this needs to be done online.
Currently Cllrs Reynolds, Marvin and Plummer remain on the mandate.
Action: For Clerk to establish with bank how this is updated and report back to councillors.
9. District/County Councillors report:
Cllr Litchfield introduced himself as the new Cllr for LCC following the recent elections. He informed that he is resident in Foston and runs his own business bringing life experience to his role. He acknowledged that he was aware of the flooding and highways challenges within Allington and that he was looking forward to working together with Cllrs Whittington and Leadenham on behalf of the village.
Cllr Leadenham informed of a flood group event if anyone from the council wished to attend.
Cllr Leadenham also spoke about the planned changes in council structure and how this would affect SKDC. He advised there were meetings about this which he recommended representatives of the Parish Council should attend on June 17th 2025 and June 23rd 2025.
Cllr Leadenham also spoke about speedwatch schemes , traffic and the proposed Haworths development.
He advised that an “Archer Survey” could be carried out by the Lincs Road Partnership and would investigate arranging this for Allington. He recommended at meeting with Gonerby Parish Council to discuss the proposed development
Action: Clerk to email Gt Gonerby to arrange a meeting.
10. INSURANCE:
The insurance policy is due for renewal at the end of May.
It was resolved to accept the current quote of £1592.59 on this occasion due to lack of time available to obtain three quotes and that going forward 3 separate quotes would be obtained next year 2026/27 as per the requirement of the internal audit/financial regs.
Cllr Baron raised concerns regarding the value of the “shed” and whether there was adequate cover within the policy in the event of a claim.
It was resolved that the clerk would contact the insurance company to discuss this clause and the level of cover before the policy was finalised and the level of cover could be discussed at the next meeting if adjustments were needed.
Action: For clerk to enquire about a valuation of the shed, if required, prior to renewing the policy
11. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
BUS SHELTER
Maintenance update
ALLINGTON MANOR
Car parking arrangements and fees
MUGA
To discuss and approve ongoing maintenance plan as per quote from Smiths construction for 2025/26 – previously circulated.
OUTCOME OF HAWORTHS/RESIDENTS DEVELOPMENT MEETING
To discuss outcome of recent residents meetings held April 16th and May 21st.
PFFC
Update
12. SCHEDULING OF INTERIM ORDINARY MEETING
It was agreed to resolve to hold an interim meeting in addition to the published meetings solely in order to approve the end of year financial matters, adopt policies requiring amendments, sign the AGAR and approve the internal audit. The date of June 11th was agreed.
13. DATES OF THE NEXT MEETINGS:
June 11th ( Interim to approve end of year and agar)
July 9th 2025
Sept 10th 2025
Nov 12th 2025
Jan 14th 2026
Additional dates proposed and agreed:
March 11th 2026
April 15th 2026 (APM)
May 13th 2026 (APCM)
Meeting closed 20:42