May 2026 Draft Minutes
FALDINGWORTH PARISH COUNCIL email
Clerk@faldingworthparish.gov.uk website
https://faldingworth.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL FALDINGWORTH PARISH MEETING
Memorial Hall Faldingworth Wednesday 20 May 2026
PRESENT: Cllr. Waine (Chair), Cllr. Green (Vice-Chair), D Whelan (Clerk) Cllr. Dickinson, Cllr. Land, Cllr. Bradbury, Cllr. Taylor
APOLOGIES: Apologies were received from Cllr. P Sandford and they were accepted.
Eight (8) members of the public were present
APM26/27 - 0501 Minutes of Previous meeting
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 21 May 2025 were approved and signed.
APM26/27 - 0502 Matters arising
There were no matters arising that were reported.
APM26/27 - 0503 Chairperson’s Report
The Faldingworth Parish Council coopted a new Councillor Barry Buck, but unfortunately due to the time restraints of a new job, he found had to resign. This vacancy resulted in a further cooption, and Adrian Taylor was duly coopted on to the Council
The courses provided by LALC to enable Councillors to receive the appropriate training in their council roles and other activities has been updated. It is requested that all Councillors who have not attended The Good Councillor’s Guide do so.
The Faldingworth Parish Council has adopted a number of policies including
• Updated Standing Orders
• Updated Financial Regulations
• Updated Code of Conduct
• Updated Policy of Risk Management
Faldingworth Parish Council’s attempts to utilise the Gov.UK email address for internal communication has proved inadequate. This is due to the difficulty some Councillors have gaining access to the site and its difficult and slow response.
Cllr Philip Sandford completed the Social Media Course and has been give administration rights by the Parish Clerk so Social Media could be centralised
The Faldingworth Parish Council’s WhatsApp Group has been set up by Cllr P Sandford as an easy method of communication between Councillors, but it cannot and is not, used for any Council resolutions, or other decisions.
The Faldingworth Parish Council’s Facebook page was set by the Parish Clerk, who give Councilor’s administration rights, subject to the guidance of the Scheme of Publication Policy. The intention of the page was to improve communication given to the parishioners, and supplement the information already provided by the Council Notice Boards and the Faldingworth Parish website.
Unfortunately a parishioner objected to the way the facebook page had been set up. This led to a number of emails to the Council that caused upset to Councillors and the Parish Clerk. A Councillor found it necessary to resign over the issue and while the Faldingworth Parish Council accepts valid criticism, there is a line between criticism and harassment. The Councillor reconsidered his position and was coopted back on to the Council. The Parish Clerk having on numerous occasions shown that the facebook page conformed to WLDC, LLAC and all other council requirements, refused further communication with the parishioner on this particular subject.
A resident suggested the requirement for a Faldingworth Neighbourhood Plan. The Parish Council agreed to support the plan if sufficient residents agreed to partake in the work involved in its generation.
A 2025 Village Clean Up was arranged for the 7th June, but as only Councillors attended, it was canceled, readvertised, and held on the 14th June. Again there was a disappointing attendance and it was decided to hold the event earlier in 2026. The 2026 Village Clean Up was held on 11th April and was well advertised with free drinks and cakes, while Councillor Adrian Taylor kindly provided free easter eggs for the children, and the Clean Up was a great success.
The Parish Council again received complaints about the bushes infringing on the pavement by the main estate. It is now complicated by the fact that some of the bushes have now taken root on the Highways Authorities land The Parish Council will report this to the Highways Authorities, but otherwise the problem can only be brought to the attention of the householders on whose land the bushes grow.
The Parish Council received a complaint regarding the footpath between Hutton Way and the council houses. The Parish Clerk raised the issue with the relevant authority.
The bench on the village green is in poor condition and the Clerk will contact LLC regarding its ownership.
The bench in front of the Limes has suffered irreparable damage and it will be moved by Cllr David Dickinson.
The bench half-way down Spridlington Road has rotten timber and the Clerk will seek a quote for the timber replacement. Both this bench and the one located at the Pinfold have considerable weed grow beneath them. Cllr Adrian Taylor has sprayed a pet-friendly weed killer at both locations.
The fence adjacent to the Pinfold is in poor condition and the clerk will obtain a quote for its repair or replacement.
On the play area the ditch adjacent to the new estate is overgrown and it is hoped it can be cleared by Councillors. The ditch behind the tall metal fence is completely overgrown and the Clerk will obtain a quote for grown clearance when the bird nesting season is over.
The defibrillator located on the front wall of the Village Hall is out of commission due to a flat battery. The current model of defibrillator is no longer in production and problems are been experienced in obtaining a replacement battery. If a new battery cannot be obtained it is the Council’s intention to buy a new defibrillator.
The Parish Council-owned fence between the Village Hall Car park and Limes was in need of repainting. Appropriate painting materials work purchased and the fence repainted by volunteers consisting of the Parish Clerk, Cllrs Bradbury, Green and Waine.
A Remembrance Day Wreath and a number of larger poppies were purchased by Faldingworth Parish Council. The larger poppies were displayed by being fitted to a number of lampposts cross the village. This work was kindly caried out by Cllr. Sandford. The Remembrance Wreath after the Remembrance Service at Faldingworth Church was laid by the Parish Chair at the Soldier silhouette, located by the gate to Kisimul’s Blythe House.
One of the main activities of the year has been addressing the concerns of the parishioners regarding the speed of traffic through the village. The Parish Clerk has continued to attempted to arrange a meeting with a West Lindsey District Council Councillor, but without success. Cllr Land has taken over the main role in fitting and maintaining the speed cameras and the Parish Council thanks him for his efforts.
The information provided by the solar powered speed indicator on the triangle has an issue with regard to downloading its data. Cllr. Sandford has kindly taken over this issue and it is hoped it will be resolved shortly.
Due to the continuing concerns regarding the speed of traffic through the village, it was agreed to purchase two further solar powered speed indicators. A meeting was held between Cllr Land and the Highways Authority and the location of the speed indicators agreed. This included the purchase and installation of three new support posts. The location of the post are on the High Steet, almost opposite the Coach and Horses Pub. On Spridlington Road by Manor Farm and the relocation of the existing speed indicator on the village green, to Lincoln Road in the 40mph zone, just before the Bus Stop. The Speed indicators have been received and should be fitted in the near future.
Although they are very expensive at around £4000 each, careful management of the Council’s budget has made this purchase possible and it is hoped they will be effective in reducing vehicles speed.
A village speed watch was organized by Cllrs. Land and Sandford, unfortunately, they could not gather the required number of parishioners to undergo Speed Awareness Training. The information booklet regarding the requirements of setting up Speed Awareness Monitoring have been included in the Parish Council Facebook page by Cllr Philip Sandford and he will act as the focal point for any interested residents. If the required number of parishioners are interested, the Faldingworth Parish Council have agreed to purchase the speed indictor camera and equipment required to undertaken this work, as soon as the Speed Watch is established.
APM26/27 - 0504 Clerk's Report
As with last year, this year’s activities have been characterised by acting on a very comprehensive audit by Carl Thomas in May 2025. This involved updating a number of policies and procedures. There are a couple of items outstanding which are included in planning for 2026/2027. This includes Financial Regulations which will be addressed in the July meeting. The filing system is now very systematic and clear and up to date and we now have four running years of comprehensive documentation.
Our move onto GOV.UK has been challenging, and for the year under assessment we were advised by LALC that only the Clerk needed to be using GOV.UK and that Councillors would need to comply in the next year.
We have moved our current account to Unity Trust Bank and are now working with online banking which is more secure and cheaper. HSBC have closed our investment account holding the Section 106 monies, and the cheque has been paid into Unity Trust Bank. We will need to decide how to invest this internally
This financial year we spent ££14 757,69 from our current account and we earned £485,30
interest on our Section 106 investment. We closed the financial year on ££8 451,06
in our current account and £31 901,20 in our Section 106 account (Investment).
We are still outstanding a VAT claim from 2024/2025 and this is under investigation between myself and HMRC.
APM26/27 - 0505 Public Comment
There was no public comment raised.
Next Meeting 19th May 2027