FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 7 JULY 2025 AT 7.30 PM IN ST. MARY’S CHURCH
Present: Cllr Steve Mansfield (Chair), Cllr Kevin Ensell, Cllr Lee Sutton, Cllr Christina Chen (from 19.50)
In attendance: Mrs. Viv Davies (Clerk), ELDC Cllr E Mossop, LCC Cllr N Hastings
2 residents were present.
OPEN FORUM:
No Items were raised.
79/20205 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Tim Hunter, Cllr Neil Tomlin. Cllr Hastings was welcomed to his first FPC meeting.
80/2025 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – TO BE STATED IN ANY PROPOSITION
There were no declarations of interest.
81/2025 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 2.6.25
Cllr Sutton proposed, seconded Cllr Mansfield approval of the minutes of 2 June 2025. Cllr Mansfield signed the minutes
82/2025 CLERKS UPDATE
The clerk had researched costs for migrating to a gov.uk email account.
Cloud next sales.
Gov.uk domain name - £50 + VAT per year
Email hosting - £49.99 + VAT per year
They were are also offering a £100 + VAT discount on the first payment, effectively making the first year free.
NET Nerd
Gov.uk domain name - £20 plus VAT per year
Email Hosting £49.99 plus VAT per year.
As this item did not require our immediate attention, it was deferred until we discuss the 2026/2027 budget later this year.
83/2025 MATTERS ARISING FROM ACTION PLAN/MINUTES
Cllr Ensell has updated the Action Plan. There were no other actions outstanding. Following a comment by Cllr Mossop, the chairman explained that in a reply from Steve Ross about clearing a dyke and creating several culverts in the verge, in the north east corner of Allenby Close, he has written to a landowner, who had agreed to complete this task following harvest this year. It was agreed to remind Steve Ross, after harvest, should the work not have been completed. The work formed part of the village flood strategy to reduce impact of surfacer water flooding on the roadway in this area.
84/2025 PLANNING APPLICATIONS.
Cllr Mansfield had attended a meeting regarding the proposal to erect pylons from Grimsby to Walpole. He did not feel the consultation fully answered any questions asked to date. It seemed to be manned by very young, qualified individuals who seem to sidestep most questions instead referring visitors to large and lengthy documentation. Cllr Mansfield had previously sent an objection, on behalf of Fotherby Parish Council and would resubmit a further objection.
85/2025 FINANCE
Cllr Mansfield had verified the bank reconciliation. Cllrs noted the financial reports. Proposed Cllr Mansfield, seconded Cllr Sutton approval of the cheques below.
Chq No
1461 V Davies Clerk Salary £341.76
1462 V Davies Clerk Expenses + £25.41
Reimburse
1463 Bush Landscaping Mowing £600.00
1464 WAVE Allotment Water £31.29
9.5.25 Lloyds Bank Bank Charges £7.09
9.6.25 Lloyds Bank Bank Charges £7.25
Balances
Treasurers Account £6,176.22 of which £209.78 relates to ring fenced account for
Fotherby Common ( 20.6.25)
Business Bank £2,564.76 (9.5.25)
Income
86/2025 FLOOD RISK ITEMS
There were no reports received in the past month. Members were reminded that important information or incidents would be gathered and added to our Fotherby Flood Plan documents where necessary on an annual basis when documents are reviewed.
87/2025 FOTHERBY COMMON:
Discussion took place regarding the next stage of felling at the Common. Contractors would be sought. Members were informed of a complaint by a villager where a child had come into contact with wet paint on a bench at Fotherby Common. The bench had been inspected and the villager informed that it was one presented and owned by Grimsby Wanderlust walking group. They had painted preservative onto the bench but no warning sign of this was evident at the time. The Council decided that no further action was needed.
Road at Fotherby Top
After seeking legal guidance from Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (LALC) and receiving an unambiguous response on 25 June 2025 to "avoid repairs, " it is with great regret that the Fotherby Parish Council must cease all attempts to find funding for the road leading to Fotherby Common. After several years of working with Highways to ascertain responsibility for this stretch of track, numerous unsuccessful applications to various council funding rounds and tireless work by villagers, Fotherby Parish Council have been directed to
1. erect suitable signs disclaiming responsibility to avoid any risks of liability,
2. "avoid repairs," and to carry out a few other administrative checks.
The stretch of road in question is deemed to have an easement which allows anyone access to Fotherby Common, a public space, without assigning ownership to any entity (including the FPC). The easement by nature runs with the land in perpetuity and survives any transfer, sale, gift, or other type of conveyance, and cannot be extinguished by contract or writing. The clerk would write to inform the relevant landowners affected by this decision.
76/2025 LITTER STRATEGY & FLY TIPPING UPDATE
Litter picking continues. Thanks were offered to Cllr Ensel, Mrs Ensell and several other villagers who spend time picking litter voluntarily to make the village clean and very presentable. As the stock of litter signs has been exhausted, a small batch of litter signs would be ordered. ACTION Cllr Ensell
Councillors noted that following advice from LCC Highways Team, the only way to erect a gate at Short Lane West would be via a Public Spaces Protection Order. Cllr Mossop was asked to help provide a suitable contact within ELDC to help and support the creation of this Order. ACTION Cllr Mossop
77/2025 VILLAGE ASSETS
ALLOTMENTS
Allotment No.1 remained vacant. Work was needed to clear the allotment to enable the allotment to be used and this had commenced. Once this task had been completed, Cllr Mansfield would contact a resident from North Elkington who had shown interest. There were no other issues with allotments. Members felt that all plots where in a tidy and productive condition at present.
78/2025 AOB
Discussion took place regarding the progress of the Traffic Road Order in the centre of Fotherby, where it had been agreed to place yellow lines around the junction of Church Lane and Main Road, Fotherby. Also, yellow lines would be placed in front of the Bus Shelter in that area and a blue line along the length of the bus stopping area on Main Road, in that area. Cllr Mansfield would chase up LCC Highways to obtain a timeframe for completion of works.
Discussion also took place regarding the offer by LCC Highways to provide improved 30 MPH signs on the roadside and also placed upon the carriageway, previously explained by Alex Hall, our former County Councillor. Cllr Hastings confirmed that he had a meeting with Highways later this week and kindly offered to chase this up, to discover if this was still happening. He would also ask about positioning of warning signs to indicate horse riders in the village which had been raised as a concern. He was thanked for this. It was noted that in support of both improvements in signage, a traffic survey had been done in recent years confirming the extent of speeding motorists within the village boundary and that data can be available for LCC decision makers.
79/2025 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 4 August 2025 at 7.30pm