2026 Minutes

BICKER PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 9th April 2026 at 7pm

In the Gedney Room, Bicker Village Hall

Present: 

Cllr Bateson - Chair

Cllr Kelly

Cllr Pell – Vice Chair

Cllr Darren Stevens

Clerk – Alison Delaney

PUBLIC FORUM: 

No members of the press or public attended the public forum

001/26 Chair’s Welcome and Remarks:

The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.

The Chair noted that this was Cllr Pell’s last meeting following her resignation. On behalf of the Parish Council, the Chair thanked Cllr Pell for her service and dedication to the role.

002/26 To receive apologies for absence and acceptance of any reasons given: 

Apologies were received from Cllr Carrott and Cllr Mountain who were on holiday. Cllr Cantwell had a work meeting and Borough Councillor Lock was on holiday. The meeting resolved to accept the reasons for absence.

003/26 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.

There were no other declarations. 

004/26 To receive updates from Borough and County Councillors

Borough Councillor Cantwell had provided the following update to the Clerk in advance of the meeting via email:

Surgery - I held a surgery in Bicker in March which was very well attended. Issues included traffic along Mill Lane and issues with Fen Construction traffic. The next Surgery is on the 25th of April 12-1pm at Algarkirk Village Hall

Pride In Place - A sizeable pot will be announced regarding funds that will be available to Parishes to apply to. This can be used for things with a visual impact such as getting new equipment for the playpark 

Planning – The AGR application was rejected to amend their Construction Management Plan which residents have responded positively to, thank you to the other speakers with me at the meeting.  At the very least it may serve as a warning shot to other projects. Hammond BESS is due to come to the committee in the coming months. 

Bicker Board - I have had confirmation that my idea to set up a CIO is correct and that we cannot claim VAT back on grants given. I am organising a meeting to finalise details on Independent Trustees and we will then apply to set it up. 

005/26 To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies:

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

Bicker Board –The issue around claiming VAT was discussed and this needs to be clarified as to how EE will pay the grants and the VAT. Cllr Kelly’s understanding is that there will be three people on the Board from the PC and a few more people drawn from the residents. Plus a group to provide a Governance overview for the charity. Meeting set for 2nd week of May.

006/26 Notes of the last meeting held on 12th March 2026 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Pell and seconded by Cllr Stevens. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair.

007/26 Clerk’s report on matters outstanding:

Cemetery maintenance – The contractor visited on 5th and 19th March.

Verges and playing field grass cutting: The contractor visited on 13th and 30th March and 9th April.

Allotments: Clerk has issued invoices for 26/27 to all allotment holders. Some monies have already been received. Clerk will chase for any unpaid invoices after the end of April.

Repairs to play equipment – Playscape have given us a provisional date of 30th April to carry out the works on the play equipment. They anticipate it will take 2 days. Clerk will put notices up the week of the 20th to notify residents the equipment will be out of action during that time.

Councillors asked if we needed to lock the area while the works were taking place and how will the company secure the area if we do not lock the playground? At the moment, the gates are fastened open. ACTION: Clerk to check the Risk Assessment and Method Statement provided by the contractor.

Metal sign outside the School Lane entrance to the playground: The metal sign has been received and replaced.

Lancaster Memorial event:

Rev Mark Williams is unavailable, so Rev David Stephenson will be carrying out the service.

Councillors expressed their thanks to Lee and Vicky Foster for volunteering their time to tidy up and mow the area around the memorial. ACTION: Clerk to write them a letter of thanks.

Moving to gov.co.uk email addresses:

Our domain name of bicker-pc@gov.co.uk has been registered with the Cabinet Office.

Clerk will first set up her account and once she has got used to it, set up accounts for Councillors.

Ownership of the cemetery and playing field: Clerk has emailed the contract at BBC provided by Cllr Cantwell but has not received a reply yet.

Councillors asked if we could get a grave marker sign with a stake to secure it, rather than the current one that just stood up and was liable to be moved or knocked over. ACTION: Clerk to purchase a suitable new grave marker.

Clerk mentioned that the cemetery was now almost ¾ full. Councillors agreed the Clerk could offer double plots where caskets could be buried on top of each other (rather than side by side as they were currently) to anyone who enquired about reserving a plot in the future. 

Broken posts on bridge by the post office – reported on FixMyStreet

Broken water hydrant sign on Drury Lane – reported on FixMyStreet

ACTION: Clerk to chase repair to the broken street Light on the corner of Drury Lane and School Lane as well as the High Street sign.

008/26 To Receive Finance Report  

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

b) To review and approve the accounts reconciliation for the year to 31st March 2026. Proposed by Cllr Pell and seconded by Cllr Kelly

c) To receive information on the arrangements for submission of the AGAR 25/26. A document with Key dates and information was submitted to councillors in advance of the meeting. It was agreed that looking at the AGAR decision tree provided by the external auditor, we fell into List 3 – Basic Level Review, so we would complete and sign AGAR Form 3. Councillors agreed that the Internal Audit would be carried out by Sue Inns.

009/26 To Discuss Planning Applications Received Since Last Meeting: None received.

010/26 To Receive Correspondence: None

011/26 To Receive Members Reports:

Councillors enquired about repairs to the white fences in the centre of the village. Councillors would prefer to change them to concrete posts with white composite board. Most of them are rotten and it is probably a waste of money to keep repairing them. The changes could be done in sections. Councillors asked if Highways owned the fences over the foot bridges? Councillors recalled an email a few years ago where a survey was undertaken by Highways and they informed us which they were responsible for. Councillors will see if they can find the email and forward it to the Clerk: ACTION: Clerk to speak to Boston planning Heritage department to see if we can change to concrete posts and composite boards. 

Councillors have been contacted by the organisers of BickerFest which is being held at the Village Hall – 27th June - activities and music at night. The organisers were asking for a donation from the Parish Council to help with the costs of putting the event on. The organisers want the event to happen every year. No charge in the daytime. £5 per person for the evening event. Any money raised will go into the pot for next year. £150 to hire the village hall. ACTION: Clerk to add to the agenda for discussion at the next meeting.

Councillors asked about work on the trees in the park. The contractor has carried out a survey and says that one or two canopies need lifting in the park, they will provide us with a quote. ACTION: Clerk to obtain a quotation from the contractor. 

Councillors asked if the Crab apple trees could to be removed from opposite the chapel as their fruit falls on the pavement and into the park. Action: Clerk to contact Highways.

Councillors noted that the Village Shop and the Post Office are for sale. Councillors hoped that someone will take it on and the village won’t lose the facility.

012/26 Date of next meeting – this was confirmed as Thursday, 14th May 2026 at 7pm.

013/26 Any Other Business: 

There being no further business, the meeting ended at 20.31

Signed:  …………………………………………………

Name: …………………………………………………            Date: …………………………………………………