2026 Minutes

BICKER PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 19th February 2026 at 7pm

In the Gedney Room, Bicker Village Hall

Present: 

Cllr Bateson - Chair

Cllr Kelly

Cllr Pell – Vice Chair

County Cllr Lock

Clerk – Alison Delaney

PUBLIC FORUM: 

A resident attended the public forum. The resident noted that the broken bridge at Cemetery Road had been reported on FixMyStreet.  They wondered if it could be repaired with a similar one to that used at Fore Lane/Back Lane which was a metal/scaffolding type one. Councillors agreed but were aware that the white bridges were part of the village’s conservation area. Action: Clerk to ask Highways if a more substantial repair was possible.

The resident reported that the Back Lane road has sunk because of HGV traffic. It has been added to FixMyStreet and the Council have looked at it, but no action has been taken yet.

The resident gave an update since the minutes of the last meeting. Bicker Fen Action Group (BFAG) has been in touch with National Grid about the potential number of connections on the Fen. An organisation called NESO (National Energy System Operator), has indicated 20 connections via a supergrid transformer, which would need a massive expansion of the existing sub-station. National Grid have been very helpful and told BFAG that projects we have heard of may end up in other places. The AGR connection is delayed. Was due September but the contractor has gone into liquidation so is now not likely to happen until July 2027. The original planning officer at Boston BC has now left. Someone who used to work at South Holland has taken over. The resident has spoken to them and suggested they contact Cllrs Cantwell and Lock for more background. 

In relation to the temporary construction access signs mentioned in the previous minutes. BFAG asked for the signs at all entrances off the A52 and A17. A company called Avarix are responsible for the traffic management plan. If you wish to report an issue, you can contact NGET Community Relations. Avarix are supposed to check the signs are in place every Friday. This does not seem to be happening. 

BFAG had a meeting with LCC Fire Department. There is currently no civil fire plan for the energy estate. BFAG will make a request for an individual and collective plan. 

County Cllr Lock commented that Beacon Fen and Little Hale Fen expansions overlap each other. Raised this with NGET. Planning is required at national level. Beyond the scope of Parish and Borough Councils.

119/25 Chair’s Welcome and Remarks:

The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.

120/25 To receive apologies for absence and acceptance of any reasons given: 

APOLOGIES - were received from Cllrs Cantwell and Carrott who were unwell and Cllr Mountain who had a family event. The meeting resolved to accept the reasons for absence. 

121/25 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 Cantwell – Full time Employment APMG International, member of the Conservative and Unionist Party, Director of Black Sluice Drainage Board.

There were no other declarations. 

122/25 To receive updates from Borough and County Councillors

County Councillor Lock provided the following update:

Positive discussions with the new manager of Highways.

Highways are now providing weekly reports and have KPI’s

Weather has been an issue. There will be some additional funding for Highways in the budget tomorrow.

Full Council meeting taking place tomorrow which will be live streamed if anyone wants to watch it. Significant savings being made.

More detail will be provided tomorrow about “Pot Hole Pro” which is a new machine that can deal more easily with potholes.

Cllr Bateson asked County Councillor Lock who we would speak to about getting the speed limit on the A52 at Bicker reduced from 60mph to 40mph?. There are four main junctions into Bicker and three opposite off the A52, all in a short space of road that is not wide enough for cars and HGV’s to pass if you are waiting to turn into the junctions. Articulated lorries are regularly using the JDM junction and then we have the Turners yard further up near the roundabout. Cllr Lock suggested we put in a request to get it re-surveyed, sending it to him and he will copy in the new Highways manager. 

123/25 To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies:

Village Hall – Cllr Kelly reported that the committee had not met since the last report.

Bicker United Charity – No representative from the charity was available to provide an update.  However, Cllr Kelly had been at the latest meeting and reported that the Charity were planning on doing the same with the Christmas gift as they had done last year. They had received 10 complaints. They had saved £1,000 which they will use to fund extra summer activities for village children.  The Charity meets 4 times a year.

Councillors requested that an agenda item be added at this point for the Developer Fund charity being set up. Cllr Kelly reported that she, Cllr Cantwell and Cllr Carrott had met and will meet again on 27th February to agree the aims and objectives. Three PC members would be on the committee with four other representatives not linked to the village or the PC. We also need a governance group who oversee the governance of the charity. It was agreed that the name of the new charity would be The Bicker Board.

124/25 Notes of the last meeting held on 8th January 2026 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Pell, seconded by Cllr Kelly. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair. 

125/25 Clerk’s report on matters outstanding:

Clerk had received an invoice for £480 from Kirton PC for the cost of the laptop she was using. Cllrs agreed they should pay but thought they had already contributed to half the cost of the Clerk’s laptop a few years ago. Action: Clerk to check the minutes and let the Chair and Vice chair know so they could approve the payment. 

Clerk had received two quotes for streetlight repairs from BCC each for £350 plus VAT. One at Church Road and one at Gauntlet Road. Cllrs said they did not want the streetlights repaired but want them automatically replaced with LED lights when they go wrong. The quotations were both for LED replacements so were approved by Councillors.

126/25 To Receive Finance Report  

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

127/25 To Discuss Planning Applications Received Since Last Meeting: None received.

128/25 Lancaster Memorial event – update on arrangements:  The reception after the memorial service was being held at the Village Hall this year. Councillors agreed to increase the donation for the refreshments to £150 as it was felt that £100 was no longer sufficient to maintain the homemade quality of the refreshments. Proposed by Cllr Bateson, seconded by Cllr Pell.

Councillors approved the posters which will go up on the village noticeboard. Proposed by Cllr Pell and seconded by Cllr Bateson.

The Lincolnshire Air Recovery Group had been working on an information sign for the Memorial site. The draft was approved by Councillors with the comments that the background might be faded slightly and the red wording changed to another colour, so it was more visible. Action: Clerk to pass those comments on to the LARG.

LARG would like to provide a QR code to put on the sign which directed people to information on the PC’s website. There is information there already, but LARG have provided updated information to the Clerk. Councillors approved this. Action: Clerk to liaise with LARG to get the information linked.

129/25 AGAR Assertion 10 – Digital and Data Compliance: Clerk had distributed the LALC briefing note about this to Councillors in advance of the meeting. It was agreed that the PC adopted the model IT Policy, which was signed by the Chair.

It was also agreed that in order to comply with Assertion 10, the PC would pay for its own .gov domain and web addresses. The format would be clerk@bickerpc.gov.uk and then cbateson@bickerpc.gov.uk etc. for Councillors. Action: Clerk to investigate the cost and bring information back to the next meeting.

130/25 Emergency Plan: Risk Assessment: The clerk had completed this as far as she could and circulated in advance of the meeting for comments, which were:

Surface flooding – low risk from the Forty Foot drain

Link the Civil Emergencies document to this form

No risk of road flooding in the village

Add the locations of the grit bins, Church, garages, BT box, war memorial, Drury Lane

No major issues in the last 5 years

First Aid kits – located at Village Hall, Emergency Group First Responder in Morley Lane, JDM and the Red Lion

Other industry in the area – petrol station at Bicker Bar, Supreme Hotel and Turners

131/25 To Receive Correspondence: None

132/25 To Receive Members Reports:

Cllr Pell said she was happy to continue to have a key to two of the village notice boards after she resigned to support villagers putting notices in them.

The High Street sign was first reported damaged in May 25, please can it be put back.

Action: Clerk to ask the Methodist Chapel not to park on the grass outside the playing field, as we pay for it to be maintained. 

133/25 Date of next meeting – this was confirmed as Thursday, 12th March 2026 at 7pm.

134/25 Any Other Business: 

There being no further business, the meeting ended at 20.50

Signed:  …………………………………………………

Name: …………………………………………………

Date: …………………………………………………