FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL.
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON WEDNESDAY 14 MAY 2025 AT 7.07 IN ST. MARY’S CHURCH
Present: Cllr Steve Mansfield (Chair), Cllr Kevin Ensell, Cllr Tim Hunter, Cllr Lee Sutton,
In attendance: Mrs. Viv Davies (Clerk),
3 residents were present.
56/2025 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
Proposed Cllr Ensell seconded Cllr Sutton to elect Cllr Mansfield as Chairman – Cllr Mansfield accepted the office
57/2025 ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN
Proposed Cllr Mansfield seconded Cllr Sutton and agreed by all councillors to elect Cllr Hunter as Vice Chairman. Cllr Hunter accepted the office
OPEN FORUM:
No items were raised.
On behalf of Fotherby Parish Council, Cllr Mansfield thanked Mr. Pointon for his diligent work, taking time to discover much information and finer details for the Fotherby Flood Plan documents. All documents are finalized and published on the FPC website including the residents flood reporting form.
58/20205 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from ELDC Cllr E Mossop, LCC Cllr N Hastings, Cllr Neil Tomlin
and Cllr Christina Chen. The parish council accepted the apologies.
59/2025 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – TO BE STATED IN ANY PROPOSITION
There were no declarations of interest.
60/2025 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 7.4.25
Cllr Ensell proposed, seconded Cllr Hunter approval of the minutes of 7 April 2025. Cllr Mansfield signed the minutes
61/2025 CLERKS UPDATE
Insurance Renewal
The quote from the current insurers (Clear) is £454.41 compared to a quote of £264 from Zurich. It was confirmed that through our current insurers (Clear), FPC is not tied into a long-term arrangement. Zurich has confirmed that the SID would be covered as an asset within the £28,000 overall asset valuation. (asset register purchase price £19 899) estimated replacement £18,390. A decision was made to renew the policy using Zurich as this quotation was around £100 less than the budget allowed.
Correspondence has been received regarding the Mobile Library Service which is no longer available at Fotherby due to lack of use by residents. Cllr Mansfield confirmed that efforts had been made to publicise the service via Keyhole and with notices in the parish noticeboard and bus shelters and that Fotherby House had their own arrangements for books to be available.
The Clerk will investigate the costs to purchase and maintain gov.uk email addresses and will report back to our next meeting. It was noted again that this item had not been budgeted for in 2025-26 budget year.
A letter had been sent to Lincolnshire County Council Highways requesting a gated road at the top of Short Lane. Again, this stretch of carriageway had become an issue with regular litter left by parked cars mostly at weekends. A response had been received advising the parish council LCC would not gate up the road as it is not a matter of public safety. However, LCC advised of a possible route for gating up and that this should be discussed with ELDC. This action would be taken.
62/2025 MATTERS ARISING FROM ACTION PLAN/MINUTES
Cllr Ensell had updated the Action Plan. There were no other actions outstanding
63/2025 PLANNING APPLICATIONS.
There were no applications.
64/2025 FINANCE
Cllr Mansfield had verified the bank reconciliation. Cllrs noted the financial reports. Proposed Cllr Hunter, seconded Cllr Ensell approval of the cheques below.
Chq No
1452 Parish Magazine Printing Keyhole £122.43
1453 J Cooper Internal Audit £54.99
1454 V Davies Clerk Salary £291.96
1455 V Davies Clerk Expenses + £25.41
Reimburse
1456 Bush Landscaping Mowing £600.00
1457 Zurich Insurance Insurance £264.00
Balances
Treasurers Account £3,693.71 of which £209.78 relates to ring fenced account for
Fotherby Common ( 6.3.25)
Business Bank £2,560.80 (9.3.25)
Income
Lloyds Bank Interest £2.24 9.2.25
Lloyds Bank Interest £1.96 9.3.25
Allotment Income £30.00 31.3.25
The Parish council noted the carry forward 31.3.25 - £6223.14
28/2025 ANNUAL RETURN 2024-2025
a)To note the Annual Financial Report. 2024 – 2025
Cllrs noted the Annual Financial Report. Proposed Cllr Sutton Seconded Cllr Ensell and unanimously agreed by all Cllrs to approve the Annual Financial Report.
b) To note the annual Bank Reconciliation 2024 – 2025
Proposed Cllr Sutton seconded Cllr Hunter and unanimously agreed by all Cllrs to approve the Annual Bank Reconciliation.
c) To Execute Certificate of Exemption 2024 – 2025
The Parish Council declared itself as exempt from exempt from a limited assurance review under Section 9 of the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015. Proposed Cllr Sutton Seconded Cllr Mansfield and unanimously agreed by all Cllrs. The Certificate of Exemption was signed by the Chairman and the Clerk.
d) To Execute review of effectiveness of internal audit 2024 – 2025
Cllrs considered the internal audit. Proposed Cllr Ensell seconded Cllr Hunter and unanimously approved by all Cllrs to approve the Internal Audit Report.
e) To Execute Annual Governance Statement 2024 – 2025
The Council as a whole considered the effectiveness of the system of internal control and prepared the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1 of the Annual Return). Proposed Cllr Mansfield seconded Cllr Sutton and approved by all Cllrs to approve the Annual Governance Statement.
Resolution
The council approved the annual Governance Statement which would be signed by Cllr Mansfield and the clerk on behalf of the Council.
The council approved the annual Governance Statement which would be signed by Cllr Mansfield and the clerk on behalf of the Council.
f) To Approve Accounting Statements 2024 - 2025
The council as a whole considered the accounting statements (Section 2 Accounting Statements 2024/24). Proposed Cllr Mansfield seconded Cllr Ensell and approved by all Cllrs the approval of the Accounting Statement.
Resolution:
The Parish Council approved the Accounting Statement. The statement was signed by the Chairman and clerk.
g) To Execute the Notice of Public Rights 2024 – 2025
Cllrs resolved that the dates that the public could exercise their rights to view the accounts would be Monday Tuesday 3 June 2025 to Monday 14 July 2025
h) To note the Variances 2024-25
Cllrs noted the variances and the explanations for the variances between the income and expenditure for 2024-2025 compared to 2023-2024. Proposed Cllr Mansfield seconded Cllr Hunter and approved by all councillors to approve the variances.
i) Summary of Income 2024-2025
Cllrs noted the summary of income.
50/2025 FLOOD RISK ITEMS
The Chairman explained that the completed flooding documentation had now been published on the Fotherby Parish council website. The documentation had also been shared with a wider range of external stakeholders. There had been a lot of very positive feedback received and an enquiry from another village requesting to share the information.
Fotherby Flood Record – a record with photos of recent flood events around the village to share with outside agencies including the Planning Department ELDC
Fotherby Flood Plan – a simple two-page plan to confirm actions and collaborative steps that can be taken during flood events to help mitigate any impacts and details of routine maintenance activities to help reduce flood risks for residents
Resident reporting form – guidance for individual residents to report flooding issues affected the community
The number of flood report forms received by FPC during the month would henceforth be a standing agenda item. The published flood documentation will be updated annually at year end taking account of any flood events over the autumn and winter season
51/2025 PLANNING APPLICATION
(Fotherby –Louth Road) (Prohibition of Waiting) amendment order 20 Bus stop clearway
The parish council noted that the LCC proposed to paint a blue line at the bus stop in the centre of the village. This action would enable cars to drop off but not to park at that point between the hours of 7am – 8pm Monday to Saturday. Double yellow lines would continue from the Bus Stop northwards to the corner of the Old Post Office and from the Main Road, down Church Lane for a short distance and from the top of Church Lane along the Main Road heading northwards and southwards for a short distance to keep that junction visibility clear. The Parish Council has a copy of the LCC plan. The parish council approved the application. The Clerk would contact LCC to advise them that we had no objections.
52/2025 FOTHERBY COMMON:
There was no update. It was questioned whether the spraying of the hemlock on the Common had been completed by Bush. The Clerk will investigate.
53/2025 LITTER STRATEGY & FLY TIPPING UPDATE
There had been an incident of suspected cannabis farm debris left in a ditch near Little Grimsby in the ditch. The fly tipping team investigated, and the debris was promptly removed. Thanks were given to the ELDC teams for their prompt help and support here.
54/2025 VILLAGE ASSETS
ALLOTMENTS
Allotment no 1 remained vacant. Cllr Mansfield would advertise the allotment in the Keyhole. Payments and signed agreements had been received for all other allotments. It was noted and welcomed that all the occupied allotments were being very well tended.
FOTHERBY TOP ROAD
The poor condition of this stretch of road alongside Fotherby Common was discussed. Cllr Mansfield had heard that Mr. Pridgeon had shared some ideas for potentially improving the condition using his own resources. Cllr Mansfield would contact Mr Pridgeon to discuss what he had in mind before we progressed with any further action.
55/2025 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The condition of the garden around the Dock was discussed. Cllr Ensell noted that an allowance of £400 was in the budget allowing for around 16 hours spread during the growing season April-Sept to keep the area clean and tidy. Cllr Mansfield would ask a local villager before exploring Fotherby Facebook for a suitable applicant.
56/2025 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 2 June 2025 at 7.30pm