2026 Rauceby PC Minutes of Meetings

DRAFT Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
Minutes from the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 15 July 2026 at 7.30 pm at The Village Hall, South Rauceby. 

Present:      Cllrs S Enstone (in the Chair), J Malloch, G Enstone, J Hoare, M Ireland, P Ireland, G Hall; Cllrs A Hagues and J Clarke of NKDC, Cllr R Wright of LLC and the Clerk, Mr I Grady. 

Public speaking time:  No members of the public were present. 
1. Election of Vice-Chairman: Cllr M. Ireland signed the Vice-Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office before the commencement of the meeting.
2. Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Cllrs B Balderston and M Froggatt.
3. To receive any Declarations of Interest: there were none. 
4. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: One item (12, below) was considered to require discussion in closed session, however as there were no members of the public present it was decided not to make such a resolution. 
5. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2026: Unanimously approved; the Chairman signed the minutes.
6. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters if any: A summary report about recent NKDC activities by Cllr J Clarke was presented to the meeting.
7. Planning Applications Received from NKDC (This may include plans received since the agenda was circulated):
i. 26/0702/FUL| Erection of air scrubber systems on poultry units 2 and 3, ancillary agricultural chemical store and roof mounted solar PV panels on unit 3 (retrospective)|Boiling Wells Farm Grantham Road Greylees Sleaford Lincolnshire NG34 8QX. Respond by 09/07/26: No objections by Planning Sub-committee. Responded to NKDC 06/07/26.
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting
ii. 26/0535/HOUS| Single storey rear extension, increased roof height and addition of dormer window to create first floor bedrooms and re-roofing of garage to single pitch| 20 Southgate Spinneys, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QF. Comments required by 04/06/26. No objections by full Council Meeting (May). Responded to NKDC 28/05/2026. Application approved by NKDC.
iii. 26/0427/HOUS| Erection of single storey rear extension, single storey rear link extension to outbuildings and internal & external alterations| Ivy House, Tom Lane, North Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QW. No objections by Planning Sub-committee. Application approved by NKDC. 
iv. 25/1478/FUL| Proposed change of use of land from agricultural to use as a cattery and erection of a new cattery and garage. | Land to the Rear Of 72 Main Street, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QQ. Respond by 22/01/26 No objections by full Council Meeting (March) but with several comments. Responded to NKDC with comments on 22/01/2026. Application approved by NKDC.
8. Matters Arising and New Business: Notified to Clerk prior to meeting
i. Anti-litter campaign. Cllr M Ireland agreed to obtain photographs of the anti-littering signs he has seen in the vicinity. Cllr R Wright also volunteered to find out what signs were available from LCC. Based on what is found, it was agreed to defer a decision until the next meeting. 
Action (July 1): Cllr M Ireland
ii. Litter-picking equipment. A new “litter-picking” road sign has been purchased. Cllr G Enstone considers that at the moment no further supplies of litter picking equipment are required. 
iii. Emergency Plan progress report. Cllr G Hall reported that a broad table-top exercise involving several CERT Emergency Plans across the county is being planned. (The date for this was supplied after the meeting: Tuesday 29 September 18h00 – 20h00 at NKDC Offices.)
In addition, a Community Resilience Conference hosted by the Lincoln Resilience Forum is also to be held. (The date for this was supplied after the meeting:  Wednesday 07 October 09h00 – 16h00 at Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa. Cllr Hall will be attending.)
iv. CVS Volunteering scheme Cllr S Enstone has notified LCC of our interest in the scheme. Cllr Wright confirmed that given that we had not heard from LCC, we should assume that our application had not been successful.
v. Additional speed camera on A17 Cllr S Enstone has notified Cllr R Wright (of LCC) of the issue raised by the car wash owner on the A17. Cllr R Wright informed the PC that a new camera will not be installed as the vehicular accident/death rate is not sufficiently bad to warrant the expense. Cllr Enstone has already notified the car wash owner.
vi. Road drain clearing on A17 Cllr S Enstone has notified Cllr R Wright (of LCC) of the issue. Cllr Wright advised the PC that the concerned party should put a request into “FixMyStreet” to clear the drain. Cllr Enstone has already notified the car wash owner and will also contact FixMyStreet.
Action (July 2.): Chair
vii. Dog waste pavement fouling (reported in March meeting) it was decided that installing a new dog waste bin on the bend of Main Street, near the Old Post Office was not necessary at this stage. The clerk was requested to obtain a number of dog fouling awareness signs to be spread around the village.
Action (July 3): Clerk
viii. Matters arising from the Open Meeting that may need following up. There were none.
ix. Proposed 30 mph limit in North Rauceby. The PC received an email from LCC notifying us of a proposed reduction of the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph in North Rauceby. After consideration the Council resolved to object to the change for two principal reasons:
a) The available speed-survey evidence does not appear to demonstrate a significant speeding problem. A survey carried out in June 2025 along Main Street, North Rauceby, recorded an average speed of 27.9 mph, an 85th-percentile speed of 32.6 mph, and only 0.8% of vehicles exceeding the existing 40 mph limit. These figures suggest that most drivers are already travelling at or close to 30 mph and that a formal reduction may provide limited additional safety benefit.
b) The Council is concerned about the potential effect on roadside parking. North Rauceby has a number of bends and restricted sight-lines, and poorly positioned parked vehicles can create a more immediate safety risk than vehicle speed. We understand that reducing the limit to 30 mph would remove the general requirement for most vehicles parked on the road at night to display parking lights, although it would not override the normal rules concerning obstruction, dangerous parking or parking on bends.
The Council is concerned that the speed limit change could consequently encourage additional or longer-duration roadside parking. Before proceeding, we would therefore ask the County Council to undertake and share a specific assessment of the likely parking and visibility implications, including whether complementary parking restrictions would be required at the bends and other locations with restricted sight-lines. In light of the survey results and these concerns, Rauceby Parish Council does not support the proposed speed limit reduction in its current form
x. Van parking on Main Street. It has been reported that a white trades van is frequently parked at the blind bend near the Buttercross monument. This is a hazard. It was resolved that the Chairman contact the owners of the van (Rentokil) for them to seek better parking arrangements.
Action (July 4): Chair
xi. Report back of any issues of interest from the recent NKDC forum. The Chairman reported back summarising the programme of the recent NKDC Forum. Subjects included an update of the status of Local Government Re-Organisation, Biodiversity and Community Led Environmental Initiatives and an Overview on Project Groundwater.
xii. Discussion on how to encourage a greater public attendance at the annual Open Meeting. It was resolved to defer this discussion for another meeting.
9. Update on Outstanding Matters

i. Actions from the last meeting: 

10. Financial Matters: 
i. The financial report was approved and signed off by the Chairman.
ii. This month’s payments were approved:
Lloyds Bank fees: £4.25 (2 off)
J Earl Gardens: £305.00
I Grady (expenses: litter-picking sign + support frame, replenish first aid kit): £75.67 
I Grady (fees): GDPR
HMRC (PAYE): GDPR
iii. The Accumulated Parish Council Fund (comprising Cheque and Savings accounts) stands at £22139.85 at 30 June 2026.
iv. The Savings Account stands at zero at 15 July 2026. Now that we know there will be no significant call on our funds for the bus shelter repairs (because we have obtained a grant from LCC), the decision was taken to reinvest £10,000 in the Lloyds Savings Account.
Action (July 5): Clerk
v. Feedback of the Exercise of Public Rights concerning last year’s accounts. The notice advertising that the Exercise had commenced was posted for the specified time at the specified locations. There were no responses. 
11. Any other business: None raised.
12. Grass cutting (etc). The contractor who cuts the grass around the village road margins and generally keeps the place tidy has requested an increase in his fees from £35 to £40 per visit. After discussion it was unanimously agreed to accept this increase.
13. Date of Next Meeting: The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, 16 September 2026 at the Rauceby Village Hall starting at 19h30.
14. The meeting closed at 21h00

Reminders: 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).