10th November 2025
Minutes of meeting of Huttoft Parish Council held on Monday 10th November 2025 at Huttoft Village Hall commencing at 7:00pm
PRESENT: Cllrs. P Lapczuk (Chair), R Walker, C Meaker, R Ward, N Sylvester and V Lee
IN ATTENDANCE: M Rudd (Clerk), Cllrs G Marsh and S Devereux (ELDC), Cllr M Beecham (LCC) and 5 members of the public
4909. WELCOME:
Cllr Lapczuk welcomed Councillors and members of the public to the meeting.
4910. APOLOGIES:
Cllr R Ganney (Huttoft Parish Council).
4911. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
A resident raised concerns about some trees on Alford Road that needed some pruning. The Clerk will report on FixMyStreet.
4912. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS:
None.
4913. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 8TH SEPTEMBER 2025 TO BE APPROVED:
Proposed, Seconded & RESOLVED that the minutes, having been circulated and read, were approved and signed by the Chair.
4914. CLERKS REPORT ON OUTSTANDING MATTERS:
None.
4915. FINANCIAL MATTERS:
(a) Payments for Approval:
Clerks Salary (8 Sept – 9 November) - £549.16
Huttoft Village Hall Hire (April – Sept) - £60.00
SCIS UK Ltd – Annual Domain Name Subscription - £84.00
SCIS UK Ltd – Gov.uk email - £7.92
HP Printing Costs - £12.98
P Lapczuk – Reimbursement Grass cutting fuel / oil - £129.21
Equipment Temporary Secure Storage (17 May – 30 Sept) - £274.00
Chandlers Spilsby – Honda Leaf Blower (GRASSroots Grant) - £360.00
Equipment Permanent Secure Storage (10 Sept – 31 March) (GRASSroots Grant) - £530.00
Screwfix – 2x High Security Padlocks (GRASSroots Grant) – £92.28
Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED to approve payments.
(b) To note the Financial Monitoring Report and Bank Reconciliation to 31 October 2025 and to authorise the Treasurer to sign the report:
Noted by Councillors and signed by Chair (in absence of Treasurer)
(c) To note the completion of the re-enrolment and re-declaration of compliance on behalf of the Parish Council with the Pension Regulator with effect from 30 September 2025:
Noted by Councillors.
4916. TO APPROVE CHANGES TO THE ‘CHAIRS ALLOWANCE’ AND IMPLEMENT ‘COUNCILLOR MILEAGE’ EXPENSES WITH EFFECT FROM 1 DECEMBER 2025:
Cllr Lapczuk took Councillors through the proposed changes. Proposals to remove the annual ‘Chairs Allowance’ with immediate effect and replace with a Councillors mileage expenses rate that will only be payable for pre-agreed travel to external meetings / general travel on behalf of the Parish Council. The rate of mileage payable would be the official HMRC mileage rate applicable on the date of travel. The change would take effect from 1 December 2025. The Clerk will update the Parish Council Financial Regulations to note the changes and submit to the next formal Parish Council meeting for approval.
Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED to implement the changes with effect from 1 December 2025.
4917. PLANNING MATTERS:
None.
4918. TO APPROVE PURCHASE OF LINCOLNSHIRE ROAD SAFETY PARTNERSHIP ’30 MPH’ PASSIVE SPEED SIGNS:
Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED to purchase 2x speed signs.
4919. TO APPROVE THE FOLLOWING PARISH COUNCIL POLICIES:
(a) IT Policy (New)
(b) Social Media & Electronic Communications Policy
(c) Complaints Procedure
Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED to approve the policies.
4920. TO REVIEW THE GRASS CUTTING CONTRACT FOR 2025/26 AND DISCUSS THE GRASS CUTTING CONTRACT FOR 2025/26:
Cllr Lapczuk updated Councillors on the changes made following the termination of the contractor in August 2025. New Council-owned equipment had been purchased and maintenance of the grass had been carried out by Council personnel at no cost to the Parish Council. This has saved the Council around £1,200.
A new tender document is being prepared that includes a detailed specification of all works to be untaken, timings and equipment to be used. This includes Huttoft Playing Field. The tender process will begin in January 2026 and work commencing in April 2026.
4921. TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVE BODIES:
(a) ELDC – Cllr G Marsh noted that the proposals under the local government reorganisation had now been completed with a final decision to be made in Summer 2026. Cllr Marsh encouraged take up of the various ELIF Grants that are currently available.
Cllr S Devereux advised that she would be holding her annual Christmas Day meet-up at the Corn Exchange, Alford between 11:00am-1:00pm. All are welcome.
(b) LCC – No report.
(c) Friends of St Margarets Close – a grant of £3,000 had be received to replace the heaters in the Church. Work will commence once approval has been received from the Diocese heating advisor.
(d) Huttoft Village Hall – Cllr C Meaker advised that the AGM and Extraordinary General Meeting of the Huttoft Village Hall Association had not been able to find a new Chair. Cllr Meaker advised that he had taken advice and the appointment of a Chair wasn’t necessary under the Constitution and the Association will now be run under a management committee. A new Secretary has been appointed.
Cllr Meaker advised that further applications had been made for grant funding.
4922. HUTTOFT PLAYING FIELD:
(a) General Update – the grass had been cut 15 times. Trees donated by the Woodland Trust are to be planted in the playing field. Some signage and the old cycle stand are to be removed. A serious incident with the pedestrian gate not closing had occurred, so the rubber wrapped around the gate lock has been removed to ensure the gate closes properly. Planned changes, funded by the GRASSroots Grant, to the playing field are on-going.
(b) Financial Monitoring Report – report to 31 October 2025 noted by Councillors.
4923. HUTTOFT CAR TERRACE:
Cllr Walker took Councillors through his report. Overall, things have run smoothly over the last few weeks. APCOA are continuing to monitor the car parks. Damage to Sea Lane is to be report via FixMyStreet. Concerns raised about the junction Sea Lane / Roman Bank due to speeding traffic.
4924. ANY OTHER MATTERS:
Cllr Sylvester raised concerns regarding the state of the A52 north of the village and will send details to Cllr Beecham (LCC). Concerns had been logged with Anglian Water regarding recent work on the new footpath.
Cllr Lee noted that the new Village Hall FaceBook page had been launched and a poll was on-going seeking residents opinions of future ideas.
Cllr Meaker asked if the Parish Council had had any recent correspondence from National Grid regarding the various proposed projects. The Clerk said “no”. Cllr Meaker stated he had, as a landowner, and surveying with due to commence again shortly.
Cllr Walker noted that LCC were clamping down on “kite fighting” and he had been asked to monitor the Car Terrace and report any concerns to LCC.
4925. DATE OF NEXT MEETING:
Monday 12th January 2026 – Parish Council Meeting at 7pm in the Village Hall.
4926. THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING CLOSED AT 8:17pm