2025 Minutes

 

ALLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held at Allington Village Hall

Wednesday 26th November 2025

 

Present: Councillor Marvin

Councillor Reynolds

Councillor Carlyle

Councillor Baron

Cllr Plummer

Kate Griffin (Clerk/RFO)

 

Residents. 2 representatives from the PFFR

1 co-option vacancy candidate – Ruth Scott

 

PUBLIC FORUM: The Public Forum does not form part of the meeting of the Parish Council

A discussion took place following the recent successful Allington Bonfire event by the Playing Field Fund Raisers. The impromptu inspection by SKDC was discussed and that lessons had been learnt for future events regarding health and safety. It was discussed that all the issues raised by the inspector were addressed on the night and the event successfully took place. Cllr Reynolds commented that the PFFR were to be congratulated for resolving the issue and Cllr Marvin commented that they acted quickly to ensure the event could take place. Overall, the village feedback was very good and a great night.

81/25 WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Cllr Marvin welcomed everyone and gave thanks for turning out on such a cold night. Apologies were received from Cllr Storer, District Cllr Leadenham and County Cllr Litchfield for reasons previously given and accepted by the Parish Council.

82/25 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011

No declarations of Members interest in relation to agenda items

83/25. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

It was resolved to approve the notes of the Parish Council Meeting of October 22nd 2025, signed as minutes by the Chair as a true record of the meeting. Previously circulated to all members of the council. It was resolved to accept the notes as minutes.

84/25. CLERKS CORRESPONDENCE REPORT

Correspondence received and circulated to all Councillors by email since the last meeting in October:

Emails from residents regarding dog fouling.

Email from Cllr Leadenham about Belvoir Ward Group of Parishes meeting.

Email from Cllr Litchfield advising the date of the Cllr surgery at Allington Village Hall.

Email from a resident regarding dog behaviour on the play park.

Email from Allington Manor requesting car parking on Nov 8 & 9.

Email update on local parish partnership group from Cllr Davey of Gt Gonerby parish council.

Email from Webmaster advising only 30 minutes of his time left.

Email from Lincs County Council confirming recent FixMyStreet request on Gonerby Lane is completed.

Email from Cllr Litchfield update regarding Viking Way

Email from resident applying for co-option vacancy.

Email from Kimberley Pickett, Community resilience officer, containing latest newsletter.

Email from Cllr Leadenham regarding a Police and Crime commissioners survey.

Email quote from SIS pitches regarding the MUGA.

Email quote from P Hempsteads for winter work

Email quote from D Couture for painting the bus shelter.

Emails from treasurer of Village Hall containing village hall accounts.

Email from local business regarding the litter on Lowfields Lane

CLERK TO ACTION: Clerk to check other FixMyStreet tickets still awaiting to be resolved.

*Cllr Carlyle confirmed that email confirmation had been received but not yet sent to the clerk from Commercial Play regarding the quote for the playground resurfacing. The Chair suggested it was discussed in place of the District and County Cllr report due to their absence. 

 

85/25 DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT

APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM BOTH COUNCILLORS

Due to both District and County Cllrs absence The Chair motioned an opportunity for a quick discussion following the clerk’s correspondence regarding an update on the Playground. Cllr Carlyle advised that the project manager had changed but a revised quote had been received showing a slight increase from £12.5K to £13k. Cllr Plummer confirmed the new swing parts were still required. Cllr Plummer commented that the contract was awarded for their good customer service therefore Cllr Carlyle agreed to chase them for the work to commence as soon as possible. It was resolved to agree to a surface colour of “Earth Blend”. It was resolved to accept the revised quote for the work to go ahead.

ACTIONS: Cllr Carlyle to contact the company to confirm the quote and ask for the work to commence to the agreed time frame with completion by Feb 2026 as per the funding requirement.

Clerk to confirm what will be in the PFFR ringfenced account AFTER the playground project has been paid for.

 

86/25. CLERKS FINANCE REPORT

The accounts for payment were checked against the invoices and the lists and signed by Cllrs Marvin and Reynolds. It was resolved to agree the payments for November as per Financial Regulations 6.10 

It was resolved to approve payment of the following:

Village Hall usage 22/10/2026 - £36.00

Works carried out to playing field tree, Manor Trees - £100

Training day for Chair - £42.00

PE Hempsteads Nov grass cutting invoice 7 of 8 - £457.50

Reimburse playing field caretaker for playing field expenses – dog poo bags £16.12,

Paper towels for toilet block £20.90

Village caretaker 6 hours over time October 2025 for work on PF car park posts DPC

Parish Clerk over time for October 2025- 6 hours

Invoice from TWS Joinery for agreed bus shelter work £ 574.37

Midland Skip Hire (ABF clearance) £444.00 (£370 + £74 vat)

 

It was resolved to approve the following invoices already paid due to time constraints as per Financial Regulations 6.9iii:

EDF energy October usage £18.18

 

Income received since last meeting: 

Playing field fund raisers, balance payment of ABW profit via Paypal £311.09

SKDC community cleaning fund £463.32

Playing field fund raisers – return of float monies £600

HMRC VAT reclaim quarter Jul- Sep £434.38

Playing field fund raisers, Allington Bonfire Night 2025 – £5291.31 

(Made up as follows:  reimburse fireworks £1937.51 + reimburse skip hire £370 + profit paid in £2983.80)

Easy Fundraising £18.18

Savings account bank account interest £25.88

 

Bank statement checking and balance check was undertaken and statements signed by Cllr Carlyle as per Financial Regulations 2.6

Bank balance as of 21st November 2025:

Current Account : £42,671.24

Savings Account : £20870.49

The 2026/27 Budget and precept was discussed and forthcoming expected costs/ unexpected costs were considered. Discussions took place to consider such costs as the aging village equipment, some of which is reaching its lifespan, and in need of repair including the MUGA, the bus shelter, the playing field toilets. There are also village trees which will require attention and the costs for an election of officers to consider along with salary increases following the latest budget. It was agreed to consider an initial increase in the precept of 5 %, to be reviewed again and finalised in January for submission to SKDC, after the RFO has taken the above in to account and a final budget amount agreed.

 

The winter work quote from Hempsteads was discussed and it was resolved to accept the quote for 25/26 for the hedges for £360 + VAT.

CLERK TO ACTION: Clerk to make relevant payments of outstanding invoices.

Clerk to inform Hempsteads to proceed with winter work. 

RFO to re-assess budget figures taking the above in to consideration ready for approval at the next meeting.

87/25. TO RECEIVE PLANNING REPORT (previously circulated to councillors)

S25/1886 – application for tree reduction

S25/1995 – application for tree removal and reduction

S25/1256 – refusal of planning permission resident to appeal to Secretary of State

S25/2124 – Tree reduction

S25/1362 – approval for work on trees

 

88/25 TO RECEIVE CLERKS REPORT

Since the last meeting the following actions have taken place:

Andrew Black has been emailed regarding painting the play park equipment, he has agreed to complete the work which will take place in the Spring of 2026.

Further to matters raised at the last Public Forum a letter was sent to a local business regarding the situation with litter on Lowfields Lane who have responded positively and have reminded their employees and visitors of their environmental policy.

Questions were also raised about a possible solar farm planning application which Cllr Marvin investigated and confirmed no application is currently being considered. Potholes were also reported to Lincs Highways. A letter was also sent to the residents to update them on these matters.

The joiner has commenced the repairs to the community bus shelter.

National Grid have been contacted to organise the supply for the Christmas tree lights.

Social media posts have been circulated reminding residents about dog fouling and dog behaviour.

 

 

 

89/25 HARWORTHS UPDATE

Cllr Baron reported that he had attended the recent meeting of the Belvoir Ward of Parishes with Cllr Storer. Cllr Baron commented that there were currently no further updates regarding the Harworth development. Discussions took place regarding the ongoing traffic issues in the village when diversions were in place to the A1/A52 and during flooding and how this is an indicator of the additional traffic flow were the Harworth application to be approved. It was discussed about large vehicles getting stuck at the bridge at Sedgebrook and unable to turn around and questions were raised whether more/ better signage was required to warn drivers at a point before it is too late to turn round. It was queried whether there was a fixed date the application for the Harworth development had to be decided by and Cllr Baron advised that major developments do not have a fixed date due to the number of things to consider and be negotiated.

CLERK TO ACTION: To write to LCC highways and make them aware of the issues regarding large vehicles and ask whether better signage regarding the height and weight restrictions are required.

 

90/25 BUS SHELTER

The joiner has started the repairs to the woodwork and completed works to the base including the benches and bottom edges of the panels, however the roof is worse than first thought and is rotten. Cllr Marvin confirmed she had met with the joiner who advised the original roof was bespoke made and that the whole thing would need to come off and be repaired/replaced. The Parish Councillors asked for the joiner to clarify his quote if the work undertaken so far does not now include the roof as originally quoted. 

It was discussed and agreed that the planned painting and treatment of the woodwork is to be put on hold until the spring after which the roof may be completed. It was agreed to defer the decision about the quotes for the required treatment work until the Jan/Feb meeting.

CLERK TO ACTION:  Clerk to contact TWS joinery to ask for clarification of the invoice for the work to date as the job is now not as first quoted.

 

91/25 MUGA

Cllr Plummer reported that he had a very successful meeting with Bingham Ground Services whose quotes have been circulated to the Parish Council. It was agreed that the quotes were very favourable and that the quotes for general maintenance were for “per visit” and not a set number per year which would be useful to allow for more flexibility regarding cleaning as and when required. 

Cllr Plummer to action – to contact Simon Bingham and clarify what is included in the general cleaning and maintenance quote of £1100 + vat with a view to discussing again in January to clean in the Spring ready for usage next year as it has not been done in 2025.

 

92/25. EMERGENCY PLAN 

Cllr Reynolds gave feedback on the initial zoom meeting with Kimberly Pickett of the Community resilience Team. Cllr Reynolds commented that it was initially mainly to consider who to call in an emergency and therefore a need to establish who would be interested in getting involved. Cllr Marvin suggested opening this to the village groups to see who would be interested. The CRT have offered to help with this to create emergency packs and an action plan, so a date for the next meeting would be arranged to discuss the next steps.  

CLERK TO ACTION: To arrange further meeting with Kimberly Pickett (Community Resilience Officer) at SKDC to include interested parties. 

 

 

 

93/25. HEDGES AND TREES

Cllr Carlyle gave a report of a personal close incident with a vehicle on Foston Lane which highlighted the danger of overhanging trees and bushes and asked whether there was more the Parish Council could do as there were many other parts of the village that are overgrown and blocking footpaths forcing pedestrians on to the road. 

 

Cllr Marvin confirmed that she is due to meet County Cllr Litchfield for a “walk around” of the village to inspect and raise awareness of such issues and she would mention this to him.

CLERK TO ACTION: Clerk to send polite letter to residents.

 

94/25. PF/EVENTS COMMITTEE

A discussion took place regarding options to form a joint committee to make the relationship with the PFFR and PC more transparent and compliant with legal audit processes. Cllr Carlyle explained the idea to create a Terms of reference for the committee which could potentially include a couple of members each from the PC and PFFR to meet and work together on events as a joint committee. This would provide the PC with the process it needs to remain compliant with regards to the movement of monies. The Chair invited comments from the PFFR who suggested this would need more discussions to get agreement from the PFFR committee. Cllr Marvin asked the PFFR if they would agree to a meeting in the New Year to sit down together to hear the proposals in more detail before any decisions were reached, to form a joint committee that would authorise arrangements between the PFFR and PC before any PFFR ringfenced monies are spent, in order to protect both parties.

CLERK TO ACTION:  Clerk to arrange a meeting for January.

 

95/25. TO RESOLVE TO ADOPT CO-OPTION POLICY 2025

The Co-option policy for 2025 was previously circulated to all Councillors for review.

It was resolved to accept the policy for Co-option.

 

96/25 VACANCY FOR A PARISH COUNCILLOR

In accordance with the adopted Council co-option policy the Council considered the co-option applicant. The Chair invited Ruth Scott to join the meeting to give a short presentation about herself and there followed a Q&A session. The Council voted unanimously in line with the adopted co-option procedure and Ruth Scott was welcomed to the Council by the Chair.

The Clerk asked Ruth to sign the DPI and DAO forms and gave a handout pack containing the council code of conduct, a copy of the standing orders and financial regulations also advising copies of the Good Councillors guide would be emailed.

 

97/25. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING

Finalise budget for 2026/27

Update Harworth Development

To consider bus shelter painting quotes

To discuss the MUGA outcome

To discuss the proposed PFFR/Events committee further

Emergency Plan

 

98/25. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

14th January 2026

 

CLLR MARVIN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 9:35PM