2026 May Minutes
BICKER PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council meeting
held on Thursday, 13th May 2026 at 7pm In the Gedney Room, Bicker Village Hall
Present:
Cllr Bateson - Chair
Cllr Carrott
Cllr Kelly
Cllr Mountain
Cllr Stevens
County Councillor Lock
Clerk – Alison Delaney
PUBLIC FORUM:
No members of the press or public attended the public forum.
014/26 Chair’s Welcome and Remarks:
The meeting started at 7.15pm following the Annual Parish Meeting (see separate note of that meeting).
The Chair welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending.
015/26 Appointment of Chair and signing of Declaration of Office
Cllr Bateson was thanked by all Councillors present for his excellent service as Chair for the previous year. He was nominated to continue as the Chair by Cllr Carrott, seconded by Cllr Mountain. The meeting resolved that Cllr Bateson become Chair for a further year until the May 2027 meeting. Cllr Bateson accepted and signed the Declaration of Office.
016/26 Appointment of Vice-Chair and signing of Declaration of Office
Councillors thanked Cllr Pell for her excellent service as Vice Chair last year. Cllr Kelly was nominated by Cllr Bateson, seconded by Cllr Mountain. The meeting resolved that Cllr Kelly become Vice Chair for a further year until the May 2027 meeting. Cllr Kelly accepted and signed the Declaration of Office.
017/26 To receive apologies for absence and acceptance of any reasons given:
Apologies were received from Cllr Cantwell who was in another meeting. The meeting resolved to accept the reason for absence.
018/26 To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011:
Councillor Carrott – Member of Bicker Windfarm Trust and Trustee of Bicker United Charity
Councillor Mountain – Parish Council representative on Bicker United Charity
Councillor Kelly – Parish Council representative on Village Hall Committee and Member of Bicker United Charity.
There were no other declarations.
019/26 To nominate representatives on external bodies: It was resolved to continue with the same representatives as previously:
Bicker United Charity – Cllr Mountain
Bicker Village Hall Committee – Cllr Kelly
The Bicker Board – Cllr Cantwell
020/26 To receive updates from Borough and County Councillors
County Councillor Lock reported as follows:
Had a tour of the A17 roadworks last week.
Was a serious accident on the roadworks.
Ahead of schedule. High technology machines being used.
Road planings has caused issues before but that has been resolved.
Going deep with the repairs as they do on all major roads. No top finish on it yet.
Widening of the junctions for safety. Councillors considered the Mill Lake B1181 junction was slightly worse and narrower.
ACTION: County Cllr Lock to find out if it has been narrowed or whether the deep curb will make lorries go wider. Councillors said they were hoping for a central reservation, but it does not look like that would happen.
County Cllr Lock confirmed the local highways team will do any bits that have been left.
Councillors asked about rubbish in the layby. County Cllr Lock thinks that will be a work in progress and will be cleared at the end.
There had been some challenges in Wigtoft with lorries going down the lanes, rather than via the official diversion.
Councillors asked about residents who have had quite bad wheel damage from potholes. Have put claims in, some knocked back, some still ongoing. County Cllr Lock said he has asked Highways for the statistics on claims made and claims paid. Report on FIxMyStreet and it will be done as they have doubled the pothole gangs. Separate matter is the quality of the repairs. Balfour Beatty the main contractor for Lincolnshire have bought a pothole pro repair machine. Have a portal that shows where all the issues are logged and KPI’s. More money into drain clearance, so report those on FixMyStreet as well.
LCC are challenging the government by a judicial review process on the planning approval for the largest solar farm in Springwell which they hope will have a ripple effect on other applications. If they are successful, they will have to restart the whole process.
Local Government Reorganisation – hoping for an update from the Government in July. LCC Chief Executive has met with Government representatives. Will have district elections next year if we don’t get a decision before then.
County Councillor Lock now has responsibility for adult social care. NHS reforms coming through to move care back into communities.
School Lane parking consultation – County Councillor Lock has agreed for that to happen. Traffic Regulation Order consultation for proposed no waiting areas at any time at School Lane Bicker. Will consult with residents/businesses for their input. No timescale for when this will happen.
Full council meeting on Friday, 22nd May at 10.30 – is streamed in LCC’s live YouTube channel.
021/26 Notes of the last Annual Parish Meeting held on 8th May 2025 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Kelly and seconded by Cllr Mountain. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair.
022/26 Notes of the last Parish Council meeting held on 9th April 2026 were accepted and approved as the Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Stevens and seconded by Cllr Kelly. The Minutes were signed as a true copy by the Chair.
023/26 Clerk’s report on matters outstanding:
Cemetery maintenance – The contractor visited on 1st and 21st April.
Verges and playing field grass cutting: The contractor visited on 9th and 24th April.
Allotments: Clerk has issued invoices for 26/27 to all allotment holders. Two outstanding payments remain. Clerk has emailed them to chase.
Repairs to play equipment – The contractor attended for a few hours on 30th April but were unable to complete the works because of material supply issues. ACTION: Clerk to confirm a date for completion of the works.
Broken swing – the cross rail on the swing has broken. For safety, the swing seats were removed, so it could not be used. Clerk has obtained three quotations for replacement, which were circulated in advance of the meeting. Councillors considered the quotations and resolved to proceed with removing the existing swings and installing 4 new swings in a different area using Playscape as the contractor. Proposed by Cllr Mountain and seconded by Cllr Kelly. ACTION: Clerk to place the order with the contractor, obtain an installation date and confirm the length of the warranty.
Lancaster Memorial event: this was not as well attended as in previous years but was still a good turnout. The refreshments afterwards in the village hall were excellent.
The daughter of John Colgrave, a Bicker resident, donated £270 in his memory to the Lancaster Memorial account. At the memorial event, she expressed a desire for the money to be used for something specific, rather than for something like refreshments at the event. Councillors resolved that the donation pay for the new plaques on the memorial - £172.74 (which had already been paid for by Dave Stubley, Lincs Aircraft Recovery Group). Proposed by Cllr Carrott, seconded by Cllr Stevenson. ACTION: Clerk to notify John Colgrave’s daughter and reimburse the amount to Dave Stubley.
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 this week and once she has got used to it, set up accounts for Councillors.
Ownership of the cemetery and playing field: Clerk has emailed the contact at BBC provided by Cllr Cantwell but has not received a reply yet. Clerk has chased.
024/26 To Receive the Finance Report
a) To approve April and May payments: The Schedule of Payments for Approval at the May meeting was approved. Proposed and signed by Cllr Carrott. Seconded and signed by Cllr Mountain.
b) To review and approve the draft AGAR:
- Councillors reviewed and accepted the internal audit report on page 3.
- Councillors received and approved the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1) at page 4.
- Councillors received and approved the Annual Governance and Accountability Return Accounting Statements (Section 2) at page 5.
- Councillors noted the Clerk had set the Exercise of Public Rights to run from 3rd June 2026 to 14th July 20265. Councillors agreed that if any person interested wished to inspect the accounting records for the previous financial year, the Clerk would arrange to meet them at the Village Hall.
- Councillors reviewed and approved the additional information necessary for the submission of the AGAR. Namely, the Bank Reconciliation; bank balances, Explanation of Variances; Confirmation of the Dates of the Period for the Exercise of Public Rights and the statement regarding Assertion 10.
- The AGAR having been approved by the meeting, the Chair and Clerk signed the Annual Governance Statement (page 4), and the Chair signed the AGAR at (Section 2 – Accounting Statements) on page 5.
- ACTION: Clerk to return the AGAR to PKF Littlejohn LLP and add a copy to the Parish Council website. Clerk to date and publish the Exercise of Public Rights document on the Parish notice boards and on the Parish Council website.
025/26 To Discuss Planning Applications Received Since Last Meeting: None for discussion.
026/26 To Receive Correspondence:
i) Elan City – Speed indicator Signs – warranty extension offer: Councillors reported the feeling from residents is that the signs have made a difference. Councillors discussed whether they wanted to turn them round at some point, it was agreed that they were more useful as traffic was coming into the village. Given the considerable cost, it was resolved that we would not take up the offer of the warranty extension.
ii) Bickerfest – request for a donation. Councillors considered this event did benefit the majority of the Parish. Councillors were aware that the organisers would be charging for tickets for the musical event in the evening and that any profit made would be put towards an event next year. Councillors resolve to pay for the hire of the village hall - £150 and donate £100 for the daytime activities. Proposed by Cllr Carrott, seconded by Cllr Mountain. ACTION: Clerk to notify the organisers and make the payments.
027/26 To agree Future Parish Council meeting dates: It was resolved that these would take place at 7pm as follows:
11th June 2026
9th July 2026
13th August 2026
September – No meeting
8th October 2026
12th November 2026
December – No meeting
14th January 2027
11th February 2027
11th March 2027
028/26 To Receive Members Reports: There were no reports from members.
029/26 Date of next meeting – this was confirmed as Thursday, 11th June 2026 at 7pm.
030/26 Any Other Business:
There being no further business, the meeting ended at 20.55.
Signed: …………………………………………………
Name: …………………………………………………
Date: …………………………………………………