2025 Minutes

BICKER PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 13th November 2025 at 7pm

In the Gedney Room, Bicker Village Hall

Present: 

Cllr Bateson - Chair

Cllr Carrott

Cllr Kelly

Cllr Pell – Vice Chair

Clerk – Alison Delaney

Borough Councillor Cantwell

Borough Councillor Daish

County Councillor Lock

PUBLIC FORUM: 

The meeting began at 7pm. 

Two residents attended the public forum. They said the structure of the roads in the area was deteriorating massively because of the construction traffic. If you do not have a 4x4 it is almost impossible to drive along some of the roads. Borough Councillor Daish said the main contractor has an obligation to keep the roads clear and it is illegal to put mud on the road. ACTION: The residents were advised to report the issues on FixMyStreet and to also let the Clerk have photographs and details of the issues, so she could report as well.

The resident said the Bicker Fen Action Group (BFAG) had raised some issues about the current and planned energy developments with their MP and the Mayor of Lincolnshire. No one has sufficient power to do anything. Leader of the Council, Sean Matthews, has told the resident he will push for a judicial inquiry. BFAG have put in objections. They feel they have got the support of 80% of residents in the local area (approximately 30 residents). Cllr Lock commented that rather than one objection from the Action Group, lots of different objections from individual residents might look better. BFAG are requesting a tech register to report whenever energy companies request a connection with NESO. At the moment, this information does not show up on a local authority search (so someone moving into the area would not be aware). BFAG are trying to get legislation in place that requires NESO to declare all the connections. The resident said there was no information on the decommissioning and dismantling of these types of energy projects. Which could have far reaching implications for public health and decreased yield of agricultural land with no evidence that it will be returned to the quality it was in 40 years.

The resident said Lincs Fire carry out assessments on individual developments and on all the collective sites. Their plan is that if it catches fire, they will let it burn. This will produce dangerous gases and run off contamination onto the land. 

The resident said they would be sending a letter to all MP’s in Lincolnshire asking them to attend a cross party meeting about the developments. The resident feels there is a need for a regulatory authority in the same way as there is for the nuclear industry. 

Bicker Fen Action Group now consider they have done all they can and are not going any further. They feel they have opened all the doors they can. The current Government in London are not willing to do anything about the applications. 

The Public Forum ended at 7.20pm

87/25 Chair’s Welcome and Remarks:

The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.

88/25 To receive apologies for absence and acceptance of any reasons given: 

APOLOGIES - were received from Cllr Mountain who had a work event to attend. The meeting resolved to accept the reason for absence. 

89/25 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011:

Councillor Kelly – Parish Council representative on Village Hall Committee and Member of Bicker United Charity.

Councillor Carrott – Bicker United Charity and Bicker Windfarm Trust

Borough Councillor Cantwell – has sent his Declarations of Interest to the Clerk and wanted to add that he was now on the Black Sluice Drainage Board.

90/25 To receive updates from Borough and County Councillors

Borough Councillor Cantwell reported the following:

He has managed to establish a rota for street cleaning in the five villages. Parishes will be told when their streets will be cleaned by Highways. 

He will be attending the Bicker Fen Traffic Management Group meeting in December.

He and Cllr Brown will be holding their surgery in Bicker Village Hall this Saturday between 12-1pm.

£200 from their fund has been approved towards the new bench in Bicker.

He has sent information board options for the Lancaster Memorial. ACTION: Councillors to let him know their preference.

He is meeting the new police panel next week, along with local leaders and businesses.

He has been elected as the Vice Chair to the Audit and Governance Committee and is going to donate his salary to the ward. Half to Scott House and half to the village halls and churches who are running winter warmth groups.

County Councillor Lock reported as follows:

He attended a meeting at Grantham about the new Beacon Fen application, which contains some significant changes – expanded substation, high tower. The contractor wants to build a new haul road that is straight and they will screen it. The road will be there forever. The inspectors on the call did a good job of challenging it. Paul will draft a response and is aware that other Council officers are challenging the application – Heritage, roads and fire. He is aware that there has been a 36% increase in construction traffic in the area recently. Paul urged the PC to object wherever they can about the damage to the roads and increased traffic. The Council are exploring their options in relation to a judicial review, but that would only be once the application had been passed. Conversations are starting to happen between departments and Paul is adding challenge to comments wherever he can.  It appeared it was mainly residents who lived further out of the village, often on the haulage routes, who were raising objections. Councillors considered their time would be well spent trying to get money from the developers to put towards improvements in Bicker. 

Councillor Lock had not heard back from Highways as to whether they had carried out their survey in School Lane. A discussion was had about where the school employees might park in the village, possibly the pub or the village hall but if they had events on there, then that would not be suitable, and employees were unlikely to want to park some way away and walk into the school. Requesting zig-zag lines outside the school would just push the issue into the neighbouring roads. 

91/25 To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies:

The representatives reported that there was nothing of relevance from the meetings of the Village Hall and Bicker United Charity.

92/25 Notes of the last meeting held on 9th October 2025 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Pell, seconded by Cllr Cantwell. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair. 

93/25 Clerk’s report on matters outstanding:

FixMyStreet report – 11.10.25 Clerk reported overgrown hedge at junction of Morley Road and School Lane. Completed on 21.10.25

FixMyStreet report – 10.11.25 Clerk reported water collecting on the bridge opposite the Post Office. 

FixMyStreet report – 21.10.25 Clerk has requested that LCC fills up the green salt bins near BT telephone box, war memorial, at the junction of Donington Road and Drury Lane and on the verge outside St Swithin’s Church. 

School Lane parking situation – resident reported reduced visibility and a potential accident black spot on FixMyStreet, was told they needed to contact the PC about a Traffic Regulation Order to impose parking restrictions. Clerk forwarded the information to Cllr Lock who emailed Highways, they have agreed to check on the situation in September when the school starts up. Clerk has notified the resident. Awaiting update from Councillor Lock as to whether the Highways assessment has taken place, he has chased for a response.

Cemetery grass cutting – Since the last meeting, the contractor attended on 2nd, 16th and 17th October. Strimming, cutting back the shrubs along the path and the roadway was completed. Clerk has requested and received a quotation for 2026. ACTION: Clerk to check with contractor how many times the “Trimming back shrubs along pathway” and “Pruning trees along front wall” will be done. Is it Autumn and Spring or as and when we consider it is needed?

Verges and Playing Field: Since the last meeting, the contractor has carried out grass cutting of verges and the playing field on 17th October and 5th November. This will be the last visit until March 2026. October invoice received on 05.11.25.

Cemetery tap, paving around the war memorial and pump bench – Work on war memorial paving was completed on 04.11.25. Councillors commented that it looked very good. ACTION: Clerk to write to the contractor to thank them for the work. Work on tap and bench by the pump has not been started yet. Bench has been ordered from Glasden. Clerk applied to the Councillor Grant Scheme and was successful in receiving £200 towards the bench.

EE Developer Contribution Fund –06.10.25 – Clerk received verbal advice from LALC which was given to Councillors in detail. A discussion was held at the meeting and Councillors decided to investigate setting up a charity as the vehicle to manage the fund to ensure that it all went to local causes. The charity would need to have an allowance to pay for the administration of the fund. Cllrs Carrott, Kelly and Cantwell were interested in being part of the charity. Proposed by Cllr Pell, Seconded by Councillor Bateson. ACTION: Clerk to speak to EE to find out if setting up a charity is an option for the fund.  Item to be added to the agenda for discussion again in January.

Lancaster memorial bank account – Clerk has yet to speak to the bank about changing this account to a savings one but hopes to be able to do so before the next PC meeting.

Allotments: Resident wants to take on half an allotment plot. Clerk has agreed which one this will be and has sent them the necessary paperwork and invoice. 

Resignation: Following David Brown’s resignation. BBC Electoral Services advertised the vacancy. No requests to hold an election were received from residents, so the PC can go ahead and co-opt someone onto the Council.

Bicker Conservation Area – Clerk has emailed and left a voicemail for the Heritage Department at BCC planning to ask about the white posts. Clerk has not yet had any responses to request for quotations for their repair and repainting. Clerk has chased BBC and quotations but not received any responses. Contractor who has recently worked on other projects has said they will provide a quotation.

Supreme Hotel: 31.10.25 Clerk spoke to the manager, who said they had arranged for a contractor to collect the rubbish in the car park in the next few weeks. They were still looking for someone to take the broken sign away. Agreed that Clerk would call back in a couple of weeks to check on progress. Clerk drove past on 09.11.25 and rubbish was still there. ACTION: Clerk to chase again

94/25 To Receive Finance Report  

a) To approve October and November payments: The Schedule of payments for approval at the November meeting was approved. Proposed and signed by Cllr Carrott. Seconded and signed by Cllr Kelly.

b) To consider the budget spend for 2025/26: Councillors asked how much reserve we were allowed to have. Cllr Cantwell believed it was 2 year’s precept (which would be £79,560) so we were within that. Cllrs could see that we were on track with income and expenditure in relation to previous years and had sufficient funds accumulated to make the playground repairs. Councillors had no further questions on the budget. ACTION: Clerk to prepare a budget forecast for the January meeting, so the precept amount could be signed off.

94/25 To Discuss Planning Applications Received Since Last Meeting: None received. However, Councillors did have a question about two applications that had been received after the agenda had been created:

B/23/0300/CD1 – AGR Solar Limited. Application to discharge condition C4. Councillors asked for clarity from BBC as to what the application was for as it was not clear from the application form. ACTION: Cllr Lock said he would try and obtain this for Councillors.

B/25/0433 – Councillors were not clear what this application was trying to achieve? ACTION: Clerk to obtain more information from BBC and circulate to Councillors.

96/25 Annual Play Inspection Report Quotation for repairs: Clerk has received a further quotation for the repairs, which is much higher at £29,000. ACTION: Clerk to speak to the company who gave the original quotation to see if it was still valid and to find out if there was a possibility of a discount if the work was done in the Spring with half the payment made in 25/26 financial year and half in 26/27 financial year.

97/25 Emergency Group: Councillors agreed that Bicker Parish would join the group and Cllr Cantwell would be the PC’s representative on the group. Proposed by Cllr Kelly and seconded by Cllr Carrott.

Cllr Cantwell left the meeting at 20.38

98/25 Adoption of LALC Model Standing Orders: The draft document had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting. Councillors agreed to adopt this version. Proposed by Cllr Pell and seconded by Cllr Kelly. ACTION: Clerk to add the document to the website.

99/25 Adoption of LALC Model Safeguarding Policy: The draft document had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting. Councillors agreed to adopt this version. Councillors appointed the Clerk as the Lead Officer for Safeguarding. Proposed by Cllr Pell and seconded by Cllr Carrott. ACTION: Clerk to add the document to the website.

100/25 To Receive Correspondence: None

101/25 To Receive Members Reports:

Councillors reported that the drain was blocked outside the park in School Lane. ACTION: Clerk to report on FixMyStreet

Councillors reported that the “dogs on lead” sign outside the School Lane entrance to the park was still missing, as was the High Street sign. ACTION: Clerk to deal with

Councillors reported that the road surface on Lowgate Avenue had deteriorated further. ACTION: Clerk to take some photographs and report on FixMyStreet

Councillors asked if we could obtain a quotation for tree works in the Spring in the Playing Field and Cemetery. ACTION: Clerk to obtain.

102/25 Date of next meeting – this was confirmed as Thursday, 8th January 2026. There will not be a meeting in December.

103/25 Any Other Business: 

There being no further business, the meeting ended at 20.50.

Signed:  …………………………………………………

Name: …………………………………………………

Date: …………………………………………………