2026 Parish Council Resolved Minutes

Minutes of the Frithville with Westville Parish Council Meeting 
held at Frithville Village Hall on
Tuesday 10th March 2026 commencing at 7.30pm

PRESENT:    Cllr J Portess presiding as Chairman
Cllr N Portess            Cllr J Maidens            Cllr C Roberts    
Cllr A Crawford            Cllr G Petchell            Cllr B Needs
Cllr S Smith
                
LCC Cllr S Matthews (left at 8.20pm)
ELDC Cllr N Jones (arrived at 7.36pm, left at 8.24pm)
        Clerk- S Knowles 
                
PUBLIC FORUM
There were two members of the public in attendance of which the following questions/short statements were made to the Parish Council during the time allocated.

•    Speeding of vehicles along West Fen Drainside. He has spoken with LCC in relation to this. Asked if there could be a speed indicator sign or camera situated in this area along with repeater notification signs depicting that this area is a 30mph zone.
Cllr J Portess informed that the Parish Council have recently purchased a Speed Indicator sign which is to be sited on West Fen Drainside near to the Council houses. Unfortunately, the Parish Council cannot dictate where these are sited, Lincolnshire Road safety Partnership can only allocate the areas.
LCC Cllr Matthews relayed that under The Road Traffic Act 30mph repeater signs cannot be implemented.
•    Asked why no dogs were no allowed in the Playing Field, who decided this and why?
Cllr J Portess relayed that this has been situated there for several years and the clerk informed that it is recommended that dogs should not be allowed in a play area for safety matters.
•    The verge outside the school has been churned up and now has a fence recently erected and is anything going to be done to rectify this.
It was relayed that the school had put the fence up and Cllr J Portess informed that the school was informed several months back that something would need to be done to prevent parking within this vicinity. In respect to rectifying this the land is owned by Witham Fourth Drainage Board and it would be their responsibility to do this, though it is known that they have been working with the school especially in tidying up the  foliage.
•    The tidying up of the foliage was a sore point as the logs etc has been left on site as a “Bug Hotel” but looks more like as if no-one could be bothered to clear the debris away.
•    There seems to be a lot of litter from the boundary of 30mph down to Richardson’s Bridge
•    There also seems to be a lot of fly-tipping in the layby area near to Richardson’s Bridge
LCC Cllr Matthews said that he will review the area with Highways.

1.    REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN
Cllr J Portess welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2.     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND REASONS GIVEN
All Parish Councillors were in attendance. Therefore, there were no apologies for absence to be given.

3.     TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011, AND TO CONSIDER ANY APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATIONS IN RELATION TO DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS
    There were no declarations of interest made.

4.    NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY 13th JANUARY 2026
It was proposed by Cllr N Portess, seconded by Cllr Maidens and resolved to accept these notes as a true and accurate record, of which are to be signed by the Chairman.

5.     REPORT FROM ANY OUTSIDE BODIES
LCC Cllr Matthews relayed the following:
•    During the last County Council meeting the budget was set for the new financial year of an increase of 2.9% of which the 2% goes on Adult Social Services and the remainder on everything else.
•    More money will be allocated to roads. This is a £4m fund, of which £2m for a permanent fixing of potholes with the other £2m for drains.
•    There is to be a Community Councillors Fund of which each County Councillor has been allocated £3000 for projects within their ward. However, there is a £250,000 fund for larger schemes within the county for specific community projects.
•    Asked if there was anything that additionally needed to be viewed with the Highways Officer when they assess the area during their visit:
Cllr Roberts asked if the B roads could be viewed as these seem to be ignored and Westville Road due to subsidence
Cllr N Portess relayed that Sergeants Bridge constantly floods when it rains
Cllr J Portess asked if the Footpaths could be addressed
Cllr Petchell asked if the concrete slab where a previous interactive sign had been situated near Richardson’s Bridge  

ELDC Cllr Jones relayed the following:
•    Gypsy Bridge School has just had approval for no waiting areas
•    Central Government have taken away £1.65m away from funding which some has been redirected to Lincolnshire County Council
•    The next financial years budget has been set with an increase of 2.9%. Which means a Band D property works out to be an increase of £5.13pa of which 62% goes to the drainage board.
•    The District Councillor Grants will continue in the next financial year of which each councillor has £2000.
•    There is also the LF2 Grant with funds of  £10m  will also be available
•    The Local Government reorganisation currently waiting for Central Government to decide what is going to happen

6.     POLICE MATTERS
According to Police.UK website:
During December 2025 two incidents were reported
One incident of Criminal Damage and Arson was reported on or near to Westville Road
One incident of Anti-social behaviour on or near to West Fen Drainside

During January 2026 five incidents were reported
Three incidents were reported on or near to Staunt Road
1 x Criminal Damage and Arson
1 x Possession of weapons
1 x Violence and Sexual Offence

One incident of Vehicle Crime was reported on or near to Westville Road
One incident of Criminal Damage and Arson on or near to West Fen Drainside

7.    FINANCIAL MATTERS
a.    Financial Report
Since the last meeting £1555.44 has been credited to the Community account (£1000 re ELDC Councillor’s Community Grant and £555.44 in regard to VAT Rebate from HMRC) and additionally payments of £8.50 for bank fees have been made, therefore, the balance of the Community account prior to any payments being made is £9,375.14 and the balance of the Reserve account is £11,869.23.

b.    To approve payments to be made

It was proposed by Cllr Petchell, seconded by Cllr Needs and resolved that these payments should be made.

8.    PARISH MATTERS
a.    gov.uk Domain and emails
As part of the Practitioner’s Guide 2025 in association with Assertion 10 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return, every authority must have a generic email account hosted on an authority owned domain of which approval to apply for a .gov.uk domain name must be recorded in your minutes  during one of your official meetings. The clerk had circulated information relating to this and relayed costings of which it was agreed that Frithvillewithwestville-pc.gov.uk would be their suggestion for the domain.

b.    Quotes for Trees along West Fen Drainside
Cllr Portess relayed that he is wating for the arborologist to review the trees along West Fen Drainside and within the Playing Field.

Cllr J Portess relayed that he had recently tidied the Car Park but has notice that has been littering in this area which needs to be cleared.

9.     HIGHWAYS
a.    Parking outside Frithville Primary School
The grievance with the school churning the roadside has caused concern. The headmaster has emailed the Parish Council of which he stipulates the following:
•    They have tried a number of strategies to prevent parents parking on the opposite side of the road to the school; finally fencing the area off to prevent further damage to the curb side and grassed area. This seems to have been successful to a degree, but further work is still needed to ensure that parents park responsibly at drop off and pick up.
•    They have contacted Witham Fourth Drainage Board and they have cleared the area and banks along the drain. The school would like to flatten the area and get some large tyres and make a number of flower features. Not only will this brighten up the front of the school but they will also act as a preventative measure to stop cars from parking on the verge.
•    The school would like to support the village and, in coming weeks, get a group of pupils to work on a community project to make sure our community is kept clean and tidy.
•    Staff will occasionally park in front of the school when they need to be in and out of school during the day but remain committed to make sure staff use the car park as previously agreed.
•    The school have asked taxi drivers to park in the small parking area to the right of the school building, this should ease congestion at pick up and drop off.
•    I have written to parents and highlighted the minimum level of     behaviour that is acceptable in and around the school premises and amongst members of out school community. If residents experience negative behaviour, we ask that they report this to the school but also where appropriate to the Police.

It was agreed to purchase 30mph reflective signs from Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership.

10.    PLANNING
a.    00076/26/FUL - Erection of 3no. linked poultry buildings, an egg packing and storage building, attenuation pond, silos and hardstanding. Demolition of existing poultry buildings - Bank Farm, Main Road, Frithville 
This planning application was being reviewed by the Planning Forum.

b.    Report on any Planning application Information/Decisions
The Following planning applications were approved:
i)    03555/25/FUL – Extension and alterations to existing dwelling to provide additional living accommodation – Ravensworth, West Fen Drainside, Frithville
ii)    03671/25/FUL - Extension to existing dwelling to provide additional living accommodation – Frithville Farmhouse, Hale Lane, Frithville

11.    CORRESPONDENCE
The following correspondence has been received:    
•    LALC e-news 23rd January, 6th & 20th February and 6th March 2026 
•    ELDC Media Release - Halfway milestone reached for Heritage at Risk funded works at Spilsby Sessions House 
•    LCC Town & Parish January and February 2026 newsletter 
•    Have Your Say: National Highways & Transport (NHT) Survey 2026 
•    Launch of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) consultation by LCC 
•    ELDC Town and Parish news - updates from East Lindsey District Council

12.    ANY OTHER MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION ONLY
It was relayed that the Playing Field hedges have been cut.

13.    DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
a.    Date of next meeting
As previously scheduled the next Frithville with Westville Parish Council meeting will be the Annual Meeting on Tuesday 12th May 2026 which will immediately follow the Annual Parish Meeting.

There being no further business the meeting finished at 9.04pm