2025 August Minutes
BICKER PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 14th August 2025 at 7pm
In the Gedney Room, Bicker Village Hall
Present:
Cllr Bateson - Chair
Cllr Kelly
Cllr Pell – Vice Chair
Cllr Carrott
Clerk – Alison Delaney
Borough Councillor Cantwell
PUBLIC FORUM:
No members of the press or public attended the public forum, so the Parish Council meeting began at 7.05pm
56/25 Chair’s Welcome and Remarks:
The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.
57/25 Co-option to the Office of Councillor for Bicker Parish Council
The resident who had expressed an interest in becoming a Councillor was not able to attend the meeting. They can attend the next one in October, so it was agreed the item would be deferred until then.
58/25 To receive apologies for absence and acceptance of any reasons given:
APOLOGIES - were received from Cllr Brown who was unwell and Cllr Mountain who was on holiday. The meeting resolved to accept the reasons for absence.
59/25 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011:
Councillor Carrott – Bicker United Charity and Bicker Windfarm Trust
Councillor Kelly – Parish Council representative on Village Hall Committee and Member of Bicker United Charity.
60/25 To receive updates from Borough and County Councillors
Borough Councillor Cantwell reported the following:
The emergency group would be doing risk walks in Bicker and Wigtoft in September. Swineshead and Frampton want to join the group.
The group has an emergency bag if Bicker want one. A Bicker resident has expressed an interest in being part of the group and they are coming along to the next group meeting. If the resident did want to be become involved, they would feed into the Parish Council and the Parish Council would need to sign off on the emergency plan. ACTION: Clerk to add the item to the agenda for the next meeting in October.
Lancaster Memorial upgrade – Cllr Cantwell will send details of the two signs to Councillors for their comments.
Councillor grant scheme - £400 to each village. Please let Cllr Cantwell know if we have any groups that are suitable.
Following mass resignations at Fosdyke PC, Cllr Cantwell is the Councillor until elections can take place. Kirton have also had 4 resignations this week.
Local Government reorganisation would mean 7-12 councillors as opposed to 30 now. Boston, South Holland and North Kesteven would merge.
Cllr Cantwell left the meeting at 7.22pm
61/25 To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies:
The Village Hall Committee had met since the last meeting but there was nothing relevant to the Parish Council to report.
The Bicker United Charity has not met since the last meeting.
62/25 Notes of the last meeting held on 10th July 2025 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Carrott, seconded by Cllr Kelly. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair.
63/25 Clerk’s report on matters outstanding:
FixMyStreet report – Graffitti on Playground and School Signs in School Lane. Update received on 05.06.25 – COMPLETED. However, Clerk checked and nothing has changed, so has reported the issue again on 10.06.25. Update: Notified on 26.06.25 that the issue is not LCC but BCC, so Clerk reported the issue to BCC, no response as yet.
FixMyStreet reports – white railings broken at 3 locations (Morley Lane, Donington Road and Fore Lane). Updated 27.04.25 – SCHEDULED. 19.06.25 – status changed to FIXED for Donington Road. 07.07.25 Clerk has requested updates on the other two locations.
FixMyStreet report – broken drain on High Street that carries water into the dyke. First reported on 02.05.25. Update on 08.06.25 – work issued to one of their delivery gangs. Clerk requested a progress update on 06.07.25.
FixMyStreet – Mill Lane Junction with A52 overgrown trees and bushes affecting visibility. 25.07.25 – work is scheduled. 05.08.25 – FIXED
FixMyStreet – 3 x roadsigns on A52 obscured by trees and bushes - 28.07.25 – work is scheduled. 05.08.25 - FIXED
FixMyStreet – tree outside The Cottage, School Lane – 28.07.25 – work is scheduled.
FixMyStreet report – Marsh House, North Drove. Clerk asked Cllr Lock for support as verge had been fixed, but not the drain. Response he received from LCC:
I’ve looked into the background of this one. The original report (ref 2839216) was raised in March, and our Highway Officer visited the site on 24 March. An order was raised to repair the verge, and that work was completed in May.
There was also a reference to a damaged drain, but no asset was recorded at that location in our system, and nothing obvious was found during the initial inspection.
Following the more recent enquiry (ref 2849592), we reviewed historic records and older imagery. A 2009 Street View image suggests there may once have been a gully at that location, although it appears to have been out of use for some time and disconnected from any drainage system.
A job was raised to investigate further, and the team has since attended to dispose of the broken gully frame and make the area safe. As the gully is no longer in use, we do not have plans to reinstate the gully connection.
AGAR – Exercise of Public Rights – the period for inspection of the accounts ended on 25th July 2025. No requests from residents to view the accounts were received. The closure letter from the external auditor is usually received in September/October. Email query received from the external auditor about the increase in value of the PC’s assets. Clerk replied with an explanation.
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.
30mph speed limit – 10.04.25 - Clerk emailed the Housing Association and asked them to either remove the straight pedestrian access from Bishop Way or put a metal barrier across it, so children are slowed down if they run out of it. 28.07.25 - Lincs Rural Housing Association confirmed that the work to remove the straight pedestrian access has been completed.
Mobile library – will be at the Village Hall on 29th August from 13.30-14.00 and once a month after. Notices have been put up on the PC noticeboards and on the website. Clerk has asked the Methodist Church to put a notice up on their board as well.
Cemetery grass cutting – Contractor attended on 11th and 25th July Chair and Vice Chair were unable to meet the contractor when he was at the cemetery.
Other grass cutting in the village: Since the last meeting, they have carried out grass cutting of verges and the playing field on 24th July and 14th August.
Cemetery tap and paving around the war memorial – Tap quote approved at June meeting. Waiting for a date for the work to begin. Clerk left voicemail 07.08.25. Spoke to contractor on 12.08.25. Tap will be done in August and war memorial in September.
Fen Park School – 04.08.25 Clerk has emailed the interim headteacher, again requesting payment of the £500 donation
EE Developer Contribution Fund – EE responded to Clerk’s email of 4th August to say that she was not leaving and their in-house legal adviser, is getting the documentation together. EE asked for a copy of our constitution. Clerk sent them the Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.
Lancaster memorial bank account – 06.08.25 - Clerk received an email from Lloyds Bank to complete an online registration to gain access to the account. Clerk has completed the registration and is awaiting confirmation from Lloyds.
Email from residents: 07.08.25 – clerk has emailed planning case officer Lewis Humphreys at Boston Borough Council to regarding their enforcement of Planning Condition 7. Reply received from BCC on 08.08.25 and circulated to Councillors.
Vacant allotments – Clerk has received a copy of allotment renter’s vehicle Insurance for his tractor. This includes unlimited cover in respect of any claims by a third party for personal injury and £20,000 for property damage.
Clerk has agreed that the allotment renter will plough the 3 ½ vacant allotments once a month from March to October starting in August, then leave them over the winter months.
64/25 To Receive Finance Report
a) To approve July and August payments: The Schedule of payments for approval at the August meeting was approved. Proposed and signed by Cllr Pell. Seconded and signed by Cllr Carrott.
Councillors noted that the branches of a tree in the park had snapped last week, and the Chair had asked a local contractor to deal with it immediately, as it was a health and safety issue. ACTION: Clerk to request an invoice from the contractor.
65/25 Quotation for repairing/repainting the safety fences and pump in the village
Councillors felt that as the quotation received was quite high, we needed to get some other quotes for comparison. ACTION: Clerk to source another two quotes. Clerk to also ask BCC Conservation team if we can use different materials e.g. composite plastic replacement panels?
66/25 Renewal of insurance
Councillors considered the quotation from the new supplier. Clerk had compared it to the current supplier and there were some additions needed. Clerk had requested these. The renewal quote from the existing supplier had been requested but not received at the time of the meeting. ACTION: Once received, Clerk to email the amended quote from the new supplier to Councillors, as well as the renewal quote from the current supplier so that councillors can decide which one to go with. Renewal date is 1st October 2025.
67/25 To Discuss Planning Applications Received Since Last Meeting: None received.
68/25 To Receive Correspondence: There was no correspondence to discuss at this meeting.
69/25 To Receive Members Reports:
Bench: Councillors noted that the bench near the village pump was looking very old. ACTION: Clerk to obtain a quotation for a replacement.
Cemetery – Councillors felt that the contractor was not strimming around the gravestones every visit. ACTION: Clerk to have a conversation with them about this and, if more time is needed, to get a quote for the work.
Contacting the Clerk: Councillors asked how residents or councillors would be able to contact the Clerk in an emergency. ACTION: It was agreed that, as the Clerk worked 7 hours a week, she would leave her mobile phone switched on but silent from 9am until 7pm each weekday, with a voicemail saying she would get back to them as soon as she could but giving the Chair’s number if the matter is urgent.
Councillors noted that the Supreme Hotel on the A17 roundabout was looking very untidy. ACTION: Clerk to speak to them about their sign falling down and tidying up their car park.
Councillors wondered whether the cemetery and playing field were registered in the Parish Council’s name. The Clerk confirmed she did not have any paperwork to that effect. ACTION: Clerk to find out how much it would cost to carry out a search to find out if the land was registered to anyone and if it was not, how much it would cost to register it in the PC’s name?
70/25 Date of next meeting – this was confirmed as Thursday, 9th October, there being no meeting in September.
71/25 Any Other Business: Clerk had received an enquiry from a resident about the criteria for the Parish Council to undertake grass cutting in the village. Councillors were not aware of a criteria, as such. A decision had been taken by Council members quite a few years ago that the Parish Council would undertake to keep the entrances to the village and the amenity areas cut, as LCC only carried out cutting three times during the year.
There being no further business, the meeting ended at 8.37pm.
Signed: …………………………………………………
Name: …………………………………………………
Date: …………………………………………………