2025 Rauceby PC Minutes of Meetings

DRAFT Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
Minutes from the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 19 November 2025 at 7.30 pm at The Village Hall, South Rauceby. 

Present:      Cllrs S Enstone (in the Chair), M Froggatt, B Balderston, G Hall, District Cllr J Clarke, LCC Cllr R Wright and the Clerk, Mr I Grady.

Public speaking time:  No members of the public were present. 
1. Apologies for absence were given: Apologies were received from Cllrs J Hoare, J Malloch, G Enstone, M Ireland, P Ireland and District Cllr A Hagues.
2. To receive any Declarations of Interest: None received. 
3. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: none. 
4. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2025: Unanimously approved; the Chairman signed the minutes.
5. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters if any: 
LCC, NKDC: Both councillors described the progress being made in the Local Government Reform as it impacts NKDC. Suggested proposals by NKDC are to be submitted to LCC by the end of November when the proposals for the whole of Lincolnshire will be submitted to Parliament. It is expected that the end dates for the national project will slip further. 
Police: Nothing reported. 
6. Planning Applications Received from NKDC (This may include plans received since the agenda was circulated):
i. 25/1242/TPO| T2 - Lime - Fell and remove| Snowdrop Cottage Tom Lane North Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QW. Response before 28/10/25 (GH, SE, MI: no objections) Response submitted 20/10/25. Decided by NKDC: TPO works approved.
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting
ii. 25/0544/FUL| Erection of 2 No. dwellings| Land to the rear of 57 Main Street South Rauceby Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QQ. Objections were raised by the Planning Sub-Committee of RPC who consequently did not support the application. (Submission to NKDC completed on 30/06/25.) Decided by NKDC: Approved. 
7. Matters Arising and New Business: Notified to Clerk prior to meeting
i. RPC Representation on the Village Hall Committee
The Village Hall Committee has approached the Parish Council to nominate a council representative to sit on the VHC. This would entail attending at least 6 meetings per year (in addition to the 6 meetings of the PC). The Chairman proposed that he be nominated as the PC trustee   i.e. the permanent representative, and that VHC meeting attendance be rotated among the councillors to avoid overloading individuals. This proposal was voted on and there was unanimous agreement for it to be adopted. 
ii. Maintenance of Village entrance sheep signs 
The paint contractor has completed the work and the signs look the better for the refreshing! The PC passed its compliments to Cllr Malloch for carrying out the successful organisation of the project.
iii. Speed Monitoring and Traffic Safety:
The purchase of the speed monitoring device has been made and the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) has been notified that they can proceed with the installation. We have been told that as the job is small, they will carry out the work when they next have work in our area.
iv. Emergency plan for the Village 
Cllr G Hall explained that the first meeting of the Community Emergency Response Team (aka CERT) took place in October and this laid the foundation for the development of the Plan. Progress has been made:
* A first draft of the Plan has been submitted to LCC
* The school and church have been invited to act as second points of refuge (the Village Hall being the primary point) in the event that residential properties have to be evacuated. The school has agreed to their participation; the church is yet to respond.
* Some neighbouring PCs (Ancaster and Cranwell) have agreed to pool resources with us in the development of the Plan.
* The Village Newsletter has been notified of the initiative, requesting volunteers to help bring the Plan into fruition and to test the procedures at a later stage when the Plan is up and running.
* The next meeting is to be scheduled for some time this December or in January 2026.
v. War Memorial condition 
Quotes from specialist monument masons have been difficult to obtain, there being an apparent lack of interest from the two local companies contacted. Cllr G Hall has researched this issue and he is able to carry out the cleaning operation himself, being sensitive to the age and condition of the monument. It was agreed that he should carry out the operation as time permits.
Action (Nov 1): Cllr G Hall
vi. On-line banking arrangements with Lloyds
After scrutinising the Rauceby PC Financial Regulations it is confirmed that the procedure proposed and agreed in the last meeting meets the requirements of the Regulations:
In order to preserve the integrity of the Council s financial procedures it was proposed that the clerk notifies the signatories of each pending transaction and when at least three agreements to pay have been received, the clerk will go ahead with the transfer. 
It was further noted that where an expenditure has been pre-agreed in a PC meeting (such as the purchase of new equipment or service), further agreement by the PC (or sufficient signatories) is still required to pay, on invoice, for that service/purchase.
This procedure was acknowledged and confirmed by the PC.
vii. Quote for repairing bus shelter roof
The Chairman has commenced looking for quotations for the job. There may be an issue about the need for Planning Permission as the bus shelter is located in a Conservation Area. Cllr S Enstone is checking on this and Cllr R Wright stated he will help in this matter from the LCC point of view. 
Action (Nov 2): Cllr S Enstone
viii. Tree management policy
A draft tree management policy has been drawn up by the Chairman. The final version is nearly complete.
Action (Sept 6): Cllr S Enstone
ix. Parish Email Address
There has been feedback from other small PCs in Lincolnshire and generally there is concern that adopting the Gov.uk email address is actually causing more grief (in terms of expense and over-complication, considering the small size of the Parishes) than benefit. It was agreed that our position at the last meeting still holds: 
It was considered that until the splitting of the Lincolnshire political areas is complete (when a different rule-set may result) we should not change our email address. 
x. Proposed Dates of meetings for 2027
To enable councillors  forward planning, the draft dates for meetings in 2027 was presented for information. The dates will be finalised by the PC later in 2026.
19h30 Wednesday, 20 January 2027
19h30 Wednesday, 17 March 2027
19h00 Wednesday, 19 May 2027 (including Open Meeting)
19h30 Wednesday, 21 July 2027
19h30 Wednesday, 15 September 2027
19h30 Wednesday, 17 November 2027

8. Update on Outstanding Matters
i. Actions from the last meeting: 

9. Financial Matters: 
i. The financial report was approved and signed off by the Chairman. 
The accumulated Parish Council fund (comprising Current and Savings accounts) stands at  £18,232.49 at 29 October 2025.
ii. This month s payments were approved:
* Lloyds Bank fees (3 sets):  £6.25,  £4.25,  £4.25
* HMRC (PAYE): GDPR
* Rauceby Village Hall (Hire for meetings):  £20.00
* I Grady (fees): GDPR
* I Grady (expenses: RBL Wreath)  £20.00
* St Peter s Church (Donation Churchyard maintenance for 2024):  £600.00
The council had overlooked the donation for churchyard maintenance in 2024 and decided to include it in this year s donation 
* St Peter s Church (Donation Churchyard maintenance for 2025):  £600.00
* Handfords (sheep sign painting):  £381.00
* Stuart Clegg Associates (payroll management):  £28.80
* J Earl Gardens (grass cutting etc):  £280.00
* G Hall (expenses: Village Hall rental for CERT meeting):  £20.00
* Citizen s Advice Mid-Lincolnshire (Donation):  £100.00
iii. The Savings Account stands at  £10,000 at 29 October 2025 which was invested with Lloyds Bank for a year at a rate of 2.34% (Interest will be added at the end of the savings period).
iv. Some expenses have arisen regarding the development of the Emergency Plan. It was agreed that the PC would pay these costs until (or if) an alternative external source of funds can be found. Costs are likely to continue but are not likely to be extensive. Cllr Hall has agreed to follow this up at LCC.
Action (Nov 3): Cllr G Hall
10. Any other business: Any matters which have arisen after the agenda was published. 
i. In respect of the deferred matter (below) regarding EV charging points, Cllr J Clarke noted that there is a new government initiative to enable the construction of pavement channels without the need for planning permission to allow householders without off-road parking facilities to charge electrical vehicles without causing pavement traffic impediment. It is not yet clear how the system will work.
ii. With reference to Action Item Sept (9) in the above table, there was a second instance of the shell of a vehicle that had been dumped in the front garden of one of the local authority houses. Cllr A Hagues of NKDC has been contacted but has not yet replied. Cllr R Wright of LLC requested that he also be notified (Done), so that he could raise this with those responsible in NKDC (no feedback as yet).
11. Date of Next Meeting: The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, 21 January 2026 at the Rauceby Village Hall starting at 19h30.
12. The meeting closed at 8.55pm

Deferred matters which have been raised in previous meetings and which may be considered further at a future date:
* S Rauceby Well refurbishment: deferred until more appropriate.
* Watching brief on requirement for EV charging points for the public and for residents who do not have off-road parking facilities (from March 2024).
* Council s new duty to prevent sexual harassment: when more information becomes available about how compliance is to be managed the Clerk will prepare a policy document for adoption by the PC (from March 2024). 
* The Council shall keep a watching brief on the progress of the Rauceby Foundation re-wilding project at the plot of land on Main Street ear-marked for a public leisure area (from May 2024).