March 2025 Minutes
Halton Holegate with Halton Fenside Parish Council
Minutes of the full Council meeting held at Halton Holegate Methodist Chapel on Thursday 13th March 2025 commencing at 7pm. These are notes of the meeting until approved as a true and accurate record.
Present:
Cllrs D Sisson (Chair), C Holmes (Vice-Chair), S Andrew, C Clare, C Edwards, and J Vickers; and County Councillor W Bowkett.
Clerk - J Sargent.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
Lincolnshire County Councillor W Bowkett
County Councillor W Bowkett reported that a first meeting of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority took place in Lincoln, with one scheduled in April and another in May which will be the first with the newly elected Mayor. The election for the Combined Authority Mayor and County Councillors is due to take place on 1st May.
Section 19 reports have been completed. Cllr Bowkett advised that the reports are advisory, not compulsory. Cllr Bowkett advised that there are roughly 560 schemes that fall within the County Council’s responsibility. However, whether schemes will be brought forward depends on costs and urgency. The County Council have allocated £1 million towards resilience works for those affected by floods in January 2025.
Cllr Bowkett advised the County Council are continuing to fight against the National Grid’s pylon project and several other NSIP schemes in the county which will likely end up in court.
Cllr Sisson asked about what powers would be handed to Town and Parish Councils following devolution as there seemed to be a lack of information coming forward on this. Cllr Sisson suggested that if more powers are given to Town and Parish Councils, it would require training, expertise, and funding not currently in place. The role of a Parish Councillor would change.
Cllr Bowkett advised that the administrative boundaries of the greater authority had not yet been decided but suggested that it would be likely that additional responsibilities would be transferred to Town and Parish Councils.
East Lindsey District Councillor T Taylor
District Councillor T Taylor provided information via email circulated with Councillors prior to the meeting.
Cllr Sisson thanked Cllr Bowkett for the report and for her service as the County Councillor for the parish. With no further matters, it was resolved unanimously to go into formal session.
69. Chair’s Welcome.
The Chair confirmed the Council was quorate, welcomed all present, and thanked Councillors for their attendance.
70. Apologies.
It was resolved unanimously to accept apologies from Cllr T Robson.
71. Declarations of Interest.
None received.
72. To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 16th January 2025.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes from January as a true and accurate record.
Cllr J Vickers arrived at 7:15pm.
73. Finances:
a. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for January.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration. The Accounts Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
b. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for January.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only. The Bank Reconciliation Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
c. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for February.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration. The Accounts Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
d. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for February.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only. The Bank Reconciliation Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
e. To approve a Schedule of Regular Payments for Financial Year 2025-26.
The Clerk provided a Schedule of Regular Payments for the 2025-26 Financial Year. With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the Schedule of Regular Payments list submitted for consideration. The Schedule of Regular Payments included as an attachment to these minutes.
74. To receive reports from:
a. The Chair
Cllr Sisson circulated a written report prior to the meeting via email.
b. The Clerk
No updates reported by the Clerk.
75. To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, withdrawals, or amendments.
a. To receive an update on the proposed Halton Road Housing Development.
Cllr Sisson advised that at a there had been no formal consultation information since the January meeting, however, advised that Cllr Edwards raised a question with Victoria Atkins MP which ELDC CEO Robert Barlow replied to. The letter confirmed that the planning permission is conditional on providing the infrastructure of development. A copy of the letter to be provided to the Clerk.
Cllr Bowkett reported that if the costs of the proposed health care centre rise, it’s possible it might not go ahead due to Government funding cuts. Cllr Bowkett to try to find out further information and suggested that there are too many stumbling blocks for the development to proceed in the next few years.
b. Application S/072/00105/25 | Planning Permission request for land adjacent to 54, Station Road, Halton Holegate.
The Application S/072/00105/25 requesting planning permission request for land adjacent to 54, Station Road, Halton Holegate was circulated by the Clerk via email. Feedback was provided and submitted to ELDC on 12th February. A copy of the response is included as an attachment to these minutes.
c. NSIP - Ossian Transmission Consultation
Cllr Sisson advised information should have been circulated to all homes on the parish on the project and consultation dates. Cllr Sisson asked Councillors to attend the consultation at Franklin Hall on Saturday 22nd March, from 9:00 to 12:00. Cllr Sisson advised that the proposed power cables from the offshore wind turbine project would come on shore on the Lincolnshire cost and head south through the county. T , as it is not clear if Ossian would use the same cables as those proposed in the Eastern Green Link 3 or 4.
Cllr Sisson expressed concern over the flood risk during the construction phase and thought this should be looked at in detail. Cllr Sisson suggested welcoming the scoping report consultation and request that specific attention is paid to the flood risk during the construction phase but oppose the project due to overexposure, the damage to agricultural land and distribution to the farming industry. The Clerk to submit a response by 22nd March.
76. To receive an update on highways, footpaths, and road closures.
a. Issues to be reported or already reported to fix my street.
Cllr Holmes advised the dykes on the B1195 remain full of rubbish. Cllr Bowkett advised reporting on fixmystreet and if responsibility falls with the landowner, LCC will be able to send enforcement letters.
Cllr Edwards reported meeting LCC’s Footpaths Officer Jonathan Stockdale who advised a tree previously reported would be removed and a bridge across a small stream would be replaced.
There were no updates on the Station Road consultation. Cllr Bowkett to follow up.
77. Village Flood Investigation.
a. To receive a Flood Report Update.
No report update.
b. To receive an update on Lincolnshire County Council’s Section 19 Report
Cllr Sisson confirmed the Section 19 Report is not a compulsory document, only advisory. Halton Holegate’s Section 19 report endorsed the parishes own report. The County Council have promoted a Feasibility Study which may lead to a work scheme being promoted but questions marks remain over funding. Cllr Sisson and Cllr Edwards will be meeting with representatives from the County Council and the 4th District IDB to discuss proposals. The latest edition of the Section 19 report can be made available to Councillors.
Cllr Holmes requested thanks be placed on record to parishioners who attended the meeting in January for coming and sharing information.
78. To consider feedback on proposals to extend the 30mph zone on Ashby Road and Halton Road, to include a gateway feature, for the proposed Gleesons housing development.
Cllr Sisson supported the extension of the 30mph speed limit along Halton Road, however suggested there should be consistency in the speed limit. If this extension was implemented, it would mean after the 30mph zone, there would be a short 50mph zone, then a 40mph zone.
Cllr Bowkett expressed concerns over the inconsistencies in the speed limit this would create on Halton Road and advised LCC would not support this level of inconsistency.
Cllr Sisson suggested welcoming the proposals as well as lowering the 50mph zone to 40mph for better consistency and a safer road. It was resolved unanimously to support the proposals and suggest the extension of 30mph meets the 40pmh zone, removing the 50mphzone completely. The Clerk to submit feedback.
79. To consider a request from a parishioner to ask LCC Highways to reduce speed limit in Halton Fenside from 40mph to 30mph.
The Clerk received a request via email to ask the Parish Council to support a reduction in the speed limit in Halton Fenside from 40mph to 30mph and submit a request to LCC.
Cllr Bowkett advised that this had been requested 3 years ago and was refused. LCC Highways are reluctant to lower speed limits without evidence of accidents. Cllr Bowkett advised a request could be submitted to the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership to investigate; however, they would ask if there was support for this and whether any accidents had occurred.
Cllr Sisson suggested the Clerk respond to the parishioner to ask if there is support in the community, and to provide evidence of support. It was resolved unanimously to respond with a request for further information from the parishioner.
80. To consider amended layout of website.
The Clerk provided an example of the new layout proposed by LALC’s webmaster to make the website more user friendly. The webmaster advised it would take approximately 3 hours to change the layout. The Clerk suggested adding in a line for financial transactions.
Cllr Sisson queried whether the Council had enough time paid for with the webmaster. The Clerk to confirm.
It was resolved unanimously to amend the layout of website as suggested by the webmaster.
81. To review progress with production of a new Emergency Plan.
Cllr Edwards confirmed that the plan has been formally submitted and Steve Eason-Harris from the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum would like to meet with Councillors to improve the plan further. The dates proposed were 19th March, 25th Marh or 9th April. Unfortunately, Councillors were unavailable to attend on the dates suggested. New dates proposed are 22nd April, and 29th April. Cllr Edwards to suggest dates to Steve Eason-Harris after receiving confirmation from Cllr Sisson that the Methodist Chapel is available.
82. To receive an update on the Mid-Year Audit jobs.
The Clerk ran through the list of jobs detailed in the audit report and explained that the list would be completed by the next meeting. A copy of the completed jobs list would be emailed to all Councillors and the internal auditor.
83. To consider agenda items for the next meeting
• Ossian updates.
• Mid-Year Audit Jobs Update.
• 30mph request from the parishioner.
• End of year Accounts
• AGAR
84. To confirm the date of the next meeting as Thursday 8th May 2025 for the Annual Meeting of the Council and Annual Parish Meeting.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 8th May 2025. Cllr Sisson confirmed that the start time for the Annual Paish Meeting would be 6:30pm, with the Annual Meeting of the Council to follow at 7:00pm.
With no further comments, Cllr Sisson closed the meeting at 8:42pm.
Signed…………………………………………………………………………………
Chair of the Council - Cllr D Sisson
Signed………………………………………………………………………………..
Clerk to the Council and RFO - Jack Sargent
Thursday 8th May 2025