AGM Meeting May 2025

The Annual Meeting of the Parish Council was held the Pool Room at The Royal Oak on Wednesday 14 May 2025 at 7.11 pm.

 

PRESENT:-   Chairman Cllr M Graves

         Cllr Vice-Chairman Cllr A Grist

         Cllr Mrs H Poppleton

         Also Present: 2 MOP’s-Mrs Molloy & Mr Cartwright.

 

1.         Apologies – None.

 

Nominations were invited for the position of Chairman and Cllr Graves indicated he would be happy to continue as Chairman:

 

             Cllr Grist                     PROPOSED that Cllr Graves be elected Chairman

             Cllr Mrs Poppleton     SECONDED and Cllr Graves was elected Chairman.

 

             Cllr Graves in the chair.

 

Nominations were invited for the position of Vice-Chairman and Cllr Grist confirmed he would also be happy to continue as  Vice-Chairman.:

 

Cllr Graves                  PROPOSED that Cllr Grist be elected Vice-Chairman

             Cllr Mrs Poppleton      SECONDED and Cllr Grist was elected Vice-Chairman.

 

The Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 19 March 2025 were agreed and signed.

 

The Committee had read the letter from Mrs Molloy expressing her interest in being co-opted to the Parish Council and it was

 

RESOLVED  to co-opt Mrs Molloy on to Little Cawthorpe Parish Council as a Parish Councillor.

 

The Vice-Chairman advised that he had yew trees, but hard been unable to plant them, due to the unusually hot weather. It was agreed to wait until September to plant. He had also brought stain for the wooden gates and would proceed with that job in due course.

 

The Vice-Chairman reported that Legbourne Village Hall had been redecorated, and they were hoping to access a grant to improve the floor at this venue. The events are the Hall were well supported (yoga, fitness club, etc.), but more volunteers were required to help with fund-raising.

 

The Committee noted that, the pothole on Planting Side had yellow paint around it, so it was hoped that it would soon be filled.

 

6.         Clerk’s Report – Nothing to report.

 

7.         Planning-No Applications Received.

 

ELDC–Electors Update, Clerks & Councils & Open Spaces Mag-Noted.

 

Councillor Mrs Poppleton submitted a letter of resignation to the Meeting. The Committee appreciated Councillor Poppleton’s patience on this matter and accepted the resignation, which it would acknowledge formally. Members thanked Councillor Mrs Poppleton for the dedication and service she had given and valued the knowledge she had brought to the Council over the years.

 

The Clerk presented the year end accounting statements prepared according to proper accounting practices. The Council noted all receipts/payments for the year ending 31st March 2023 and verified the bank reconciliation. The Council considered the Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statements for audit for the financial period 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025 and dates for the period of public rights. The Council expressed their appreciation to the Internal Auditor, who had completed the audit.

 

              It was RESOLVED 

 

                                        a)         to approve the Annual Governance Statement (Minute 9a);

b)         to approve the Accounting Statements for the period (Minute 9b);

c)         dates for the Notice of Period of Exercise of Public Rights were agreed and to meet the Notice of Period of Exercise of Public Rights which commence 03/06/25 until 14/07/25, the appropriate documents were to be held by the Chairman for inspection;

d)        Insurance and Risks Reviews were made; Zurich Insurance premium had remained unchanged, so was accepted for renewal; the following documents were reviewed: Publications, GDPR, Data Protection, Health & Safety & Safeguarding and no amendments were required;

e)        Expenditure & Invoices for Payment

                             Clerk’s Salary              £432.90         R Taylor-Accountant   £100.00

                             Zurich-Insurance         £277.00         HMRC-PAYE              £2.38

                             LIVES-Defib Service   £214.74

                             Income Precept          £5100.00       VAT Refund                £162.32

                                                                    All accounts were received and agreed for payment.

The Committee noted that the Yellow Pages were now fully digital. Should this group or any other group require a grant they would need to apply to the Clerk in the first instance.

 

The Committee had welcomed Mr Cartwright and invited him to speak, he advised that he had started a project to capture in video and booklet format, the history and stories of village life from local parishioners. This was to include school, farming, village life, memories and anecdotes from many of the long-term residents of the village and as a balance it would include newer residents and their thoughts on how the village had adapted to current times. Members were aware that the video posts (Legbourne & Little Cawthorpe Village Voices) Mr Cartwright had already, aired had been warmly received and supported by Parishioners, but the project required support and funding. The project would require funding, which Mr Cartwright could not apply for as an individual and following discussion, the Parish Council

 

RESOLVED  to submit a ELDC Councillors Grant application for funding of £1000 for the Little Cawthorpe Village History Project.

 

The Clerk had requested and completed the application form with the quotes that had been supplied. Receipt of the forms had been acknowledged by the appropriate officer on 14/04/25, and hopefully the project for Decking/improvements to the pond area & Replacement of the Handrail to the Church would be successful.

 

The Chairman had been approached by and spoken with the owner of the Thatched property close to the pond. The Parishioner had expressed a wish to improve the area near the pond and he stated that he would inform the Parish Council in writing of his intentions prior to commencing any work. The Chairman had advised the owner of the boundaries surrounding the pond for clarity purposes and of the Parish Councils’ intentions regarding this area. 

 

The Committee would continue to progress the projects as already discussed in the items above.

 

The Vice-Chairman had been approached by a Parishioner regarding the number of rabbits within the village. The Committee appreciated concerns, but there was no action that a Parish Council could take in respect of this matter. The District Council would probably be the be authority to contact regarding advice on this matter.

 

The next meetings would take place on:

 

   23 July 2025

   17 September 2025

   12 November 2025

    each starting at 7.30 pm.

 

Meeting closed 8.05 pm.