Minutes of Annual Meeting with parishioners 11 May 2026
Fotherby Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Fotherby Parish Council with Parishioners held on Monday 11 May 2026 commencing at 7:00pm in St Mary’s Church.
Present: Councillors Mansfield, Sutton, Ensell & Hunter
In attendance: V Davies (Clerk), Cllr N Hastings
2 Parishioners were in attendance.
1.APOLOGIES: were received from Cllr Christina Chen
2. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING HELD ON 14 MAY 2025
Minutes were checked and agreed to be a true and correct record of the meeting. Minutes were proposed by Cllr Sutton and seconded by Cllr Ensell. All in favour for the minutes to be signed by Cllr Mansfield.
3. PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE
Cllr Mansfield reported the following: -
I really believe that Fotherby is a superb place to live. Throughout the year the Parish Council have attempted to consistently respond to the needs of the community and involve a range of outside agencies wherever necessary and possible.
The village and immediate areas are kept in a very tidy, litter free state. Our dedicated team of litter collectors have not only kept our roads and lanes in an excellent litter free condition but also have superb communication with East Lindsey District Council who have supported us by tackling fly tipping incidents in and around the village. Our grateful thanks go to all who are involved in removing this waste from our streets and we would also hope it sends a positive message to all those who wish to abuse our environment by not responsibly disposing of their own rubbish.
As a council we feel we actively share valuable information with villagers through a central notice board and sponsorship of Fotherby Keyhole, a valuable source of information. More recently, we made the decision to post all local planning applications on the Fotherby Community Facebook page to further inform residents of any developments.
Two individuals, our District Councillor, Edward Mossop and County Councillor, Nick Hastings have proved to be excellent support and a link for us throughout the year and, for that, we are extremely grateful.
Fotherby has many villagers who willingly give their time to maintain a friendly and helpful pride in our community. Members of Fotherby Jubilee Committee, St. Mary’s Church Council, Fotherby Alms houses Committee, Pop-In volunteers, Fotherby Church Mice, those who have adopted our Bus Shelters and certainly all those who have proved to be excellent neighbours, running errands, shopping and just finding time to share to help one another. The spirit within the village is excellent.
Fotherby Parish Council consists of 5 volunteer members who meet monthly to attempt to ensure the general tasks of the village are completed both successfully and within our budget. Should you wish to become a councillor, we have 2 vacancies and we ask you contact our clerk to discover more about the role.
A big thank you must go Viv, our clerk, who regularly supplies us with bedtime reading and keeps on top of our day to day running issues.
We are grateful to the volunteer working parties who visit Fotherby Common to keep that area in a good condition and this year we hope to finalise the thinning and felling project, when we complete the final phase of our grant application.
Naturally, there will be issues that do not get solved swiftly and we have been diligently dealing with flooding problems for some time now. However, we are determined to sort these so that villagers do not have to endure flooding following medium to heavy rainfall. In April 2025, we published our first Flood Record on the Parish website which captures historic areas of flood risk together with the many reports that villagers have made to the various flood agencies. We actively encourage all villagers to report flooding events to both the Parish Council and flooding agencies using forms now available on the Parish website and we are developing stronger links with Anglian Water to work towards lessening the risk of foul water spills and loss of service to some villagers. Lessening flood risk against changing weather patterns is, by nature, a long-term strategy needing multi-agency support but where progress this year has been far more positive than before. We ask that you remain patient while we continue to play our part in supporting other agencies to help protect our homes and the local environment and thank those villagers who continue to help keep this issue in focus.
Residents exiting Church Lane had their view restricted by parked cars and so yellow lines around that junction has eased the problem somewhat. Parking restrictions have also been added to the Old Post Office bus stop. Speeding through our community is another area the Council regularly discusses to make movement for everyone, within the village safer.
At the request of villagers, we have also pursued issues with potholes, dangerous trees, planning queries, grit bins, dog poo bins, street lighting and manhole covers, to name but a few.
All these have been considered and acted upon during 2025 - 2026
As Fotherby Parish Council, we consider ourselves to be a very approachable and transparent group. At each of our meetings we hold an Open Forum as the first item on the agenda, where you can attend and ask questions, offer opinions and keep us aware of issues of which we may be unaware.
I genuinely believe we are a thoughtful, caring council who are eager to ensure that Fotherby residents are well represented and provided for. We look forward to continuing good relationships with everyone throughout the forthcoming twelve months and thank you for your ongoing support.
Cllr Mansfield reported that ELDC had swept the gutters at Whyte Lodge and expressed thanks from the Parish Council.
4. FINANCIAL MATTERS
The clerk reported that the carry forward is £6,881.83. There is a high level of internal control, and all expenditure is closely monitored by the parish council against the budgeted expenditure.
5. MATTERS RAISED BY ELECTORS
A parishioner suggested that parish council documentation be highlighted on Fotherby Facebook. This would be considered. Cllr Mansfield would include the Annual Report to Parishioners.
The meeting closed at 7:16pm.
Signed ………………………………………… Dated ……………………………….