February 2026 DRAFT Minutes (EOM)
ALLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting held at Allington Village Hall
Wednesday 25th February 2026, 6:15pm
PRESENT
Cllr Reynolds Cllr Marvin
Cllr Baron Cllr Plummer
Cllr Storer Cllr Scott
Cllr Carlyle
Kate Griffin (Clerk & RFO)
One member of the public attended for the public forum.
PUBLIC FORUM: The Public Forum does not form part of the meeting of the Parish Council
A resident attended to query the blue barriers on the Village Green. Cllr Marvin assured the resident these were for the purpose of preventing further damage to the green whilst the grass seeds sow and that the barriers were soon to be replaced by kerbstones by LCC.
As no further residents were present and no other items were raised for discussion Cllr Marvin announced the Parish Council meeting could start at 6:10pm
23/26 Chairman’s Welcome
The Chair welcomed and thanked everyone for attending at short notice.
24/26 Apologies for absence
No apologies to receive.
25/26 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011
To receive declarations of Members interests in relation to agenda items.
To consider request for dispensations from Members.
No declarations were made.
26/26 ALLINGTON PLAYING FIELDS PLAYPARK PROJECT
Discussions were held regarding the recent information that Commercial Play Ltd have advised Cllr Carlyle, unofficially, that they are entering liquidation and will not be able to fulfil the contract. At the time of this meeting an official Liquidator is still to be appointed
Cllr Carlyle gave an update of the latest situation and options were discussed.
It was discussed that as the Parish Council were still awaiting to find who the liquidators are, this could not be resolved at this meeting. It was discussed that the play park could not be left in its present state and therefore it was agreed that in order to meet the funding deadline with UKSPF an alternative contractor was needed urgently to finish the project. It was resolved to continue with the project as planned.
The Clerk confirmed that Galagher Insurers have been advised and made aware of the situation and that legal advice is available should it be required.
The insurers have been advised that the play park area has been made safe and is fenced off for health and safety purposes. There are also signs advising the park is closed until further notice. All safety measures are in place.
Cllr Marvin & Cllr Plummer have met with three companies for quotes. Their quotes and terms of business were discussed and compared and it was resolved to agree that as Abacus Playgrounds were the only company who could meet the UKSPF funding deadline, they would be the preferred option. It was suggested that due diligence background checks be made in to Abacus Playgrounds which Councillors looked immediately at online information available. The Parish Council felt that their company accounts and online reports all signposted reliability with nothing to raise alarm bells.
It was therefore resolved to agree to awarding the contract to Abacus Playgrounds whose quote of £12028.00 + VAT for a ground sub base, an earth blend Wetpour surface around the swing and train area along and concrete pads for the train to be reinstalled. This was proposed by Cllr Carlyle, seconded by Cllr Plummer and agreed by all.
Cllr Marvin proposed that in Cllr Plummers absence, Cllr Carlyle should be the delegated point of contact for Abacus Playgrounds and for Cllr Plummer to keep the Parish Council updated at all times regarding the progress of works.
ACTIONS –
For Cllr Plummer to contact Abacus and confirm acceptance of their quote and to arrange a start date.
For Cllr Plummer/Clerk to discuss 30 day account with Abacus playgrounds.
For Clerk to contact SKDC funding team with an update on progress and completion date.
For Cllr Plummer to contract A Black regarding the return and reinstallation of the train to time with the re-surfacing.
For Clerk to contact ROSPA ( ? ROSPA qualified inspector) to arrange a further safety inspection on completion of the works to ensure safety compliance. The park can NOT reopen without this.
For Clerk to complete Abacus order form and email to Abacus.
For Cllr Carlyle to contact Commercial Play to find out details of Liquidator.
For Clerk to write to the other two contractors advising them of the outcome.
For Clerk to look at updating the Financial Regs to add a due diligence check policy for future projects.
27/26 Date of the next meeting:
18/03/2026
Items for the agenda for the next Parish Council meeting will be considered but were not on this agenda for discussion.
Close of Meeting
19:31