Minutes and Agendas 2025

HELPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL 

helpringhamparishcouncil@gmail.com 

helpringham.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk 

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APPROVED - FINAL MINUTES FOR MEETING HELD ON 12th MARCH 2025 

PRESENT: 

Councillors: Geoff Hotchkin (Chairman), Julie Frizzell (Vice-Chair), George Frizzell, Rob Spencer, Mark Robinson, Chris Taylor. 

Clerk/RFO: Judy Pittock 

NOT PRESENT: 

Cllr Will Watts, County Councillor Andrew Key, District Councillor Russell Jackson 

TEN MINUTE PUBLIC FORUM 

No members of the public were present. 

1.0 WELCOME REMARKS BY THE CHAIRMAN 

The Chairman welcomed the councillors to the meeting. 

2.0 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 

Apologies for absence were received from Will Watts (work commitments) and it was resolved to accept these. 

3.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS 

Cllrs Rob Spencer and Mark Robinson declared an interest in item 10.3. 

4.0 SIGNING OF THE MINUTES 

It was resolved to accept the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 12th February 2025 as a true and correct minutes of the meeting. 

5.0 REPORT FROM COUNTY and DISTRICT COUNCILLORS 

District Council Russell Jackson had submitted a report and this is attached. 

6.0 CLERK’S REPORT 

It was resolved that Cllr Mark Robinson would approach Neil Yarwood re further refurbishment of the village noticeboard. 

7.0 FINANCE 

7.1 It was resolved to accept the bank reconciliation from 1/4/24 to 12/3/25 and actual v budget figures to date. These are attached. 

7.2 It was resolved to approve payments presented at the meeting totalling £1,043.20, noting the additional payment for Hall Hire which was received after the Agenda was published, and note receipts since 12/2/25. 

Receipts since 12/2/25: £120.00 inv054 

7.3 It was noted that the following Direct Debit payment had been made since 12/2/25: 

7.4 After some discussion it was resolved to purchase the following items from the Royal British Legion Industries to commemorate the VE Day 80th anniversary, total including shipping at VAT £235.99: 

1 x ‘Unknown Tommy’ statue £175.00 

12 x lamp post signs £57.00 

It was agreed that Cllr Julie Frizzell would purchase these on behalf of the Parish Council and would be reimbursed accordingly. 

7.5 It was resolved that the clerk should use cloud storage for all council documents and that the current 15gb included with the email app should be sufficient. 

7.6 It was resolved that the clerk should apply for a Parish Council account with Unity bank and initiate moving all funds currently held with Lloyds bank to this. This should allow online banking to be set up more easily so that payments can be moved to BACS transfers rather than cheques which will save money on stamps and stationery. 

7.7 Insurance – to discuss the Pre Renewal Questionnaire from Gallagher Insurance. It was agreed to carry this over to the April meeting. 

8. INTERNAL AUDIT 

8.1 It was noted that the audit had been an Interim Audit and that a final one would be carried out after 31st March 2025. It was resolved that a request is made to the auditor that the final process be carried out face-to-face rather than online so that the clerk has support at this time. This resolution included the booking of the meeting room in the Memorial Hall for this purpose. 

• It was resolved that the clerk should purchase the necessary Land Registry documents for Land Registry for Sheep Dip and Pinfold land. 
• Cllr George Frizzell confirmed that the Website Accessibility Statement had now been reviewed and updated accordingly. • Risk Management Register 
• Complaints Procedure 
• Equality and Diversity Policy (HR) 
• HR Procedure 
• Publication Scheme 
• Recording and Filming Meetings Protocol 
• Training and Development Policy 
• Antibullying and Harassment Policy 

8.2 It was resolved to adopt the additional policies recommended following the Internal Audit. However it was agreed to Minute that the majority of these are either included in the Standing Orders, the clerk’s Contract of Employment or have just had a change of name. 

8.3 It was resolved that the following GDPR policies had been reviewed and adopted at the meeting held on 8th May 2024 but that the Parish Council website had not been updated. This has now been corrected. 

• Record Retention Schedule 
• Data Breach Policy 
• Process for dealing with a Subject Access Request 

8.4 To discuss the purchasing of gov.uk email addresses for all councillors. It was agreed that this would be carried over to the April 2025 meeting and that the clerk would produce appropriate guidelines about the issue for the councillors to consider. 

8.5 It was resolved that the clerk would produce a confirmation of receipt signature sheet for all current Councillor Guides and that this would be added to the Agenda for the meeting to be held in May’ 

9.0 STAFF MATTERS 

9.1 The clerk’s appraisal had been held prior to the meeting. The clerk left the room at 8.29pm whilst councillors discussed her annual appraisal. She returned at 8.44pm 

9.2 It was resolved that the current Clerk/RFO job description was still appropriate and it was adopted. 

9.3 It was noted that the Clerk’s H&S of staff workstation and PC Equipment – Display Screen Equipment document had been completed.

10.0 PLANNING APPLICATIONS 

10.1 25/0193/TCA – Trees maintenance at various locations around the village. As this application referred to the tree maintenance that the Parish Council will authorising to be carried out, no observations were made. However the Clerk will write to the PCC to advise them of the work that will be done in the High Street cemetery. 

10.2 Application by Ossian Offshore Windfarm Ltd for an Order granting Development Consent for the Ossian Transmission Infrastructure (the proposed development) https://national-infrastructure -consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ This was noted but no observations were made. 

10.3 E/800299 - Planning Enforcement Notice re Covered seating area at Public House, 2 The Green, Helpringham. Cllrs Rob Spencer and Mark Robinson left the room whilst this was discussed. It was noted that NKDC have issued an Enforcement Notice on a valued community asset that was installed during covid, and the council expressed disappointment at this, especially as the planning department has not taken action over other planning issues in the village that were more negatively impactful to the wider community. The clerk will write to the Enforcement Officer accordingly. 

11.0 CEMETERY 

11.1 It was resolved to accept the Job Description for the Role of Cemetery Officer (audit requirement) and this will now be published on the Parish Council website. 

11.2 It was resolved to authorize Cllr George Frizzell to act as Cemetery Officer for Helpringham Parish Council and have unrestricted powers to inspect and manage the Hale Road and High Street Cemeteries and issue orders, instructions and directions as required for the correct and efficient management on these cemeteries (see Standing Order 2 number 24). 

11.3 Cemetery Officer Cllr G. Frizzell reported that there had been no interments during the previous month. There had been one memorial request for plot I7 and the invoice had been sent out for this. Cllr Frizzell also requested the authority to ask CJP Garden Services to level plot I7 at a cost not exceeding £25.00 and it was resolved that this should be done.

12.0 HIGHWAY MATTERS 

To discuss the following Highways matters plus any other issues that of concern: 

12.1 B1394 Helpringham to Little Hale – LCC Highways have confirmed that they will continue to monitor the road but do not consider that it is a current hazard to road users. They will be liaising with the Environment Agency about any reparation works as the bank to the beck will require underpinning when the road is finally substantially repaired. 

12.2 Vicarage Lane – it was noted that LCC Highways will be patching the road this year and it will be surface dressed in 2026/27. 

12.3 The relevant LCC department are currently investigating the application for double yellow lines at Highgate junction 

12.4 It was noted that South Drove was closed for patching work on 12/3/25. 

12.5 It was noted that the roadside guardrail on North Drove had been repaired. 

The state of the road through Burton Pedwardine to the A17 was raised. LCC Highways had previously stated that full repairs to this were in their short-term plan. The clerk will write to LCC Highways to see if they have scheduled this work. 

13.0 EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND CONTINGENCY PLANS 

13.1 Village Resilience Plan (currently at draft stage) – ongoing. 

14.0 PARISH CLUSTER GROUP 

14.1 Discussion was held about the Parish Council’s involvement with other local Parishes, between the A17, A52 and A15, to enable greater awareness of wider local issues such as planning in areas close to our Parish. This may be referred to in future as the ‘Parish Cluster Group’. Our commitment remains strong towards this collaboration. Matter ongoing. 

15.0 MATTERS AFFECTING THE VILLAGE/CORRESPONDENCE 

15.1 The following general correspondence that had been received was discussed as required: 

24/2/25 Fly tipping on George Street – parishioners are reminded that any fly tipping, plus many other issues, can be reported on FixMyStreet. 

25/2/25 Invitation to attend North Kesteven Parish and Town Council Forum 10/4/25 – Cllr Geoff Hotchkin stated that he should be able to attend this. 

26/2/25 NKDC – Central Lincolnshire Authority Design Code – Stage 2 Consultation 

27/2/25 Street numbering – notification of new numbering scheme for Stonebridge House, 9 The Green, Helpringham, Sleaford NG34 0RJ 

16.0 Date and time of the next meeting 9th April 2025. 

The meeting closed at 9.22pm.