2025-26 Minutes

Potterhanworth Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Potterhanworth Parish Council held at The Pavilion, Queensway, Potterhanworth, LN4 2EA on Monday 18 May 2026.

Present:  Chair:  Sarah Copsey

Councillors:  Georgina Blake, Grant Collier, Lee Davis, John Giles, Sam Ingall and Martin Ott

In attendance:  Mr Eddie Findlay, Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer

No members of the public were in attendance.

At 07:00 pm the current Chair, Cllr Copsey welcomed everybody and opened the meeting.

1.  Election of Chair for the new civic year.  Signing of Acceptance of Office.
Cllr Collier nominated Cllr Copsey to act as Chair for Potterhanworth Parish Council for the new civic year, seconded by Cllr Blake.
There were no other nominations, and Cllr Copsey was happy to be nominated.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to unanimously approve Cllr Copsey to act as Chair for the coming civic year.
Cllr Copsey took the Chair and thanked everyone for their support and completed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Chair.

2.  Election of Vice-Chair for the new civic year.  Signing of Acceptance of Office.
Cllr Ott nominated Cllr Giles to act as Vice-Chair for Potterhanworth Parish Council for the new civic year, seconded by Cllr Copsey.
There were no other nominations.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to unanimously approve Cllr Giles to act as Vice-Chair for the coming civic year.
Cllr Giles completed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Vice-Chair.

3.  To receive apologies for absence and reasons given, i.a.w. Local Government Act 1972, Sch 12, para 40.
All Councillors were present.

4.  To receive declarations of interest and to consider dispensation applications in relation to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
Cllr Copsey declared an interest in minute ref: 10.d. page 2026, as they are a payment recipient.

5.  Notes of the ordinary meeting of the Parish Council held at The Pavilion on Monday 27 April 2026 to be approved as Minutes.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the notes of the ordinary meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 27 April 2026 as Minutes.

Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Davis and approved unanimously.

6.  Adoption of Documents.
a.  Standing Orders (April 2025).
Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the suggested amendment at Standing Order 12.g.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Ott and approved unanimously.

b.  Financial Regulations (April 2025).
c.  Risk Management/Assessment Strategy.
d.  Grants and Donations Policy.
e.  Councillor Co-Option Policy.
f.  Complaints Procedure
Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the Documents listed above b-f.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Giles and approved unanimously.

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7.  Receive a report from the Council Chair.
A date for the first free children’s event in conjunction with funding from Christ Hospital Endowment, which would include hula hoops and megablocks.  The three hour workshop would cost £377 plus VAT.  This would use all the money from Christ Hospital Endowment.  If the event was successful, the Chair might ask Council to consider funding an event later in the year.  The Clerk confirmed that as of today, no monies had been received from Christ Hospital Endowment.  Cllr Ingall suggested approaching The Chequers to see if they would allow for a donation tin to be left with them. 

On Wednesday 13 May 2026, myself, the Clerk, George and Ralph met with National Grid.  It appears that the two distribution boxes need moving off the telegraph pole, one belongs to National Grid, one belongs to the Parish Council.  The main one is for the Pavilion with a tap of it to the Parish Council box which runs the streetlights down the drive.  The boxes have been on the condemned list for ages and National Grid are looking to move their box imminently.  As they will need to dig up the road, we have asked them to select a date alongside us, asking them to coordinate with George, so the work can be done simultaneously.  Council will need to find their own electrician to complete our work - they need to do the final connections to the new DNO cut out.

Contact details for suitably qualified electricians to undertake the Parish Council side of the work had been sought and quotes would be available for the next meeting, with a preferred start date being after the Autumn Festival in mid September.

Annual Parish Meeting was well attended and a pleasure to see so many groups thriving.

8.  Public Forum.  Including reports from the County and District Councillors.
No members of the public, nor County or District Councillors.  Cty Cllr Carrington had sent in apologies for absence.

9.  Receive reports from the Clerk and Councillors in relation to the minutes and other Council matters.
No resolutions may be passed under this item but requests for matters to be placed on the next agenda can be made.

•  1 crime (ASB) showing on Police reports for Potterhanworth for March 2026.

•  LALC Conference is planned for Tuesday 14-Jul-2026, at Epic Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA.  Cost will be £45.00 which includes all refreshments and the buffet lunch.  There will be a varied selection of talking tables on different topics with presenters who will provide an interactive session using discussion, scenarios, case studies, and shared problem solving, from which delegates can attend 5 tables throughout the day.

Councillors

Cllr Giles confirmed that the Pavilion Committee had been informed that the Pavilion might be used as an emergency shelter, if required, as requested by Lincolnshire Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Service.  It was noted that it was being called the Village Hall, when it should be The Pavilion.  The Clerk would pass this information on.

Cllr Davis, when distributing the 40mph stickers for wheelie bins around Potterhanworth Booths, it was requested by residents that the mobile SID unit would occasionally by deployed along Potterhanworth Booths.  Cllr Giles noted this request.

Cllr Ott, in line with minute ref: 13. Page 4-2026.  The hard copy minutes were currently stored at his home.

The small entrance porch, at the Pavilion, now used as a storage area was suggested as a potential location for some fireproof container to safely store the paper copies of the minutes.  Cllr Copsey would look to meet with the Scout Leaders to gain access to the area to see what space was available and to see if the area could be improved with shelving etc.

10.  Financial Matters.
a.  Consider the cost of Parish Council Insurance Renewal with Zurich.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to accept the quote, noting the current Long Term Agreement ends May-2027 and other quotes should be sought prior to this date.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Collier and approved unanimously.

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b.  Consider the quote for Decra Oberon Tiles to cover the roof of the shaded structure near the Pavilion.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the quote from Metrotile Roofing at a cost of no more than £2,000.00 (ex-VAT).
Proposed by Cllr Giles, seconded by Cllr Copsey and approved unanimously.

c.  Approve payments made since the last meeting.

Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the Payments made since the last meeting.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Collier and approved unanimously.

d.  Approve the payments of invoices etc. as listed on the Payments to be Authorised sheet.

Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the Payments to be Authorised.
Proposed by Cllr Collier, seconded by Cllr Giles and approved by a vote of 6 for and 1 abstention.

e.  Approve the bank reconciliation for April 2026.
The Clerk reported that the bank accounts had been reconciled for the month of April 2026.
The Precept of £30,140 had been received into the Unity Trust Bank Account.
The end of month balance was £54,868.83.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation for April 2026.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Collier and approved unanimously.

f.  Review of the budget and consider ring-fencing additional monies for projects.
At the end of FY2025-2026, Council had £27,207.08, with £21,688.83 already set aside for “ring-fenced” projects.  The Precept (£30,140.00) had been received.
The Clerk advised that ‘best practice’ is for a Council to hold approximately 6 months (of Precept amount) as Unmarked Reserves.  Everything else could be “ringfenced”.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to review the ring-fencing issue again, later in the year, but would allocate an additional £1,000.00 to the Insurance budget line to cover the Pavilion Insurance due in August.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Blake and approved unanimously.

11.  Planning Matters.
a.  26/0523/VARCON - Application to vary condition 10 (approved plans) of planning permission 24/0417/FUL - Erection of 1no. dwelling and detached garage (to extend and reposition the proposed garage) at The Old Rectory Station Road Potterhanworth.  Comments required by 04-Jun-2026.
Whilst the Council have no objections to the application, it was disappointed that the work appears to have already been started, before a formal decision had been agreed.

12.  Correspondence.
a.  NKDC Lottery Grant Scheme.  Circulated 12-May-2026.
b.  LALC e-News.  Circulated 12-May-2026.
c.  Central Lincolnshire Local Plan – Consultation on Proposed Updates to Local Validation Lists.  Circulated 12-May-2026.
d.  26/0523/VARCON - Application to vary condition 10 (approved plans) of planning permission 24/0417/FUL - Erection of 1no. dwelling and detached garage (to extend and

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reposition the proposed garage) at The Old Rectory Station Road Potterhanworth.  Comments required by 04-Jun-2026.  Circulated 12-May-2026.
e.  NKDC Register of Interest Forms.  Changes in data displayed on websites.  Circulated 18-May-2026.
f.  LCC Catch-up on the latest Community Resilience Newsletter.  Circulated 18-May-2026.
g.  LCC Highways - Help shape our Highways session at LALC 2026.  Circulated 18-May-2026.

13.  Consider a course of action relating to the digital availability of the historical Minutes created by Mr Wilford.
There were technical issues with the current Potter Times website due to coding, so the Clerk had contacted the Administrator for the LCC supplied Parish Council website with regard to the possibility of uploading the 125 years of historical Minutes created by Mr Wilford.  They had confirmed that website would be unable to support such capacity.
Action:  Council RESOLVED to defer this item to a later date to allow further investigation into future proofing access to the Potter Times website to maintain content relevancy.  Cllr Ott and the Clerk would look to meet with the current website hosts.
Proposed by Cllr Copsey, seconded by Cllr Giles and approved unanimously.

14.  Pavilion/playing field facilities.
a.  Receive an update, if any, on the MUGA works.
Work was still planned to start 01-Jun-2026.
Concerns were raised over the actions of individuals in the way the current fencing was cut open, and the skate park ramps had been removed.  This was not sanctioned by the Parish Council as it had been agreed with the MUGA contractors to remove these when they attended to start work.  These are Parish Council assets, and this work was not sanctioned by the Parish Council.  The surface had been left in such a damaged condition the fencing had had to have a temporary repair and the gates locked to deny access to residents on health and safety grounds.
The self-closure spring on the play area gate was broken.  Cllr Giles would get measurements for a replacement to be ordered.
The Titan floor repair was still outstanding with the contractor waiting for a break in the weather to allow for the existing flooring to be taken up with minimum damage.

15.  Working Group updates.
a.  Receive a report on behalf of the POTCOM Working Group.
The Working Group met on Monday 11-May-2026.
Crafty Potters was being well attended and would be moving to weekend dates for the summer to try and allow access to others.  The next workshops will include lino cutting and candle making.
Potter Plodders had had their first walk at the weekend and again, had been well attended (30 + two dogs), allowing people to meet like-minded walkers they may not have been aware of in the village.
They discussed links with school, with Ami Clark asked to link with the Head.
Live and Local - three shows had been selected, with the favourite being a “comedy string quartet” which was shown as family friendly.
Date for Christmas Fayre and singalong had been set and another possible Christmas event, this year held in the school grounds.
Next Community Cuppa is tomorrow.

16.  Confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting was confirmed as Monday 22 June 2026.

The meeting closed at 8:30 pm.

Signature:  Original Signed

Printed Name:  Cllr John Giles

Date:  22 June 2026

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