Meeting 2026

Minutes of the General Meeting of Rippingale Parish Council, held in the Village Hall on Monday 13th April 2026
Present: Cllr B Ross(Chair), Cllr T Creek (Vice Chair), Cllr D Warcup, Cllr A Lumb, Cllr Lambord, Cllr Earl, County Cllr M Hill and Clerk L Davies.

Chairman’s Opening remarks
    
Public Questions, Comments or Representations.  Members of the public should email the Clerk with questions, comments or representations prior to the meeting to enable research and preparation of the appropriate response, which may otherwise be deferred to the next meeting.
Formal Meeting Agenda
1.    To receive Apologies for Absence and approve Reasons Given.  
District Cllr K Abel Sent his apologies due to a prior commitment.
2.    To receive any new Declarations of Interest.
Cllr Warcup raised that the development at 30 East Street is affect long term friends, therefore will abstain from any decisions.
3.    To approve the Minutes of the last Parish Council Meeting held on 9th March 2026.
Need to 5. Add Gyles Teasdale name, amend meaning regarding the 5 gulleys on East Street. 6f – needs indentation bringing into line 9 A This was agreed to move the project forward and to make payment. 10F was rejected by the PC,10G & 11c indentation needs to be uniformed. 13b State payments approved.
4.    To Consider the cooption of B Simmons to the council.
It was agreed to coopt B Simmons to the parish council. 
5.    To received Cllr resignations – Moved to closed session

Matters arising from previous minutes (not raised elsewhere in this Agenda)
6.    To discuss and review the need to move over to a .GOV emails to come in line with Assertion 10 on the AGAR 2026/2027
Clerk has found that it maybe possible that the clerk’s email is moved to the Gov email to meet with the compliance. Clerk to look into.

External & Community Group Updates: 
7.    County & District Council Reports – as available
Cllr Hill that the drains on East Street will be cleansed, the road will be shut in May for the work to commence. Thou this request was started in the October; this isn’t a prompt response. 

The Fen Road, he has had several complaints regarding the state of the road and the number of potholes, he has raised it with highways, they actioned repairs on approx. 3 pot holes and stated was complete. Cllr Hill has taken up with the Highways manager.

Cllr Ross raised regarding the recent line painting in the village, but the following areas have not been completed Dovecote & Sckinns, both are difficult junctions and require care.

The Tip at Bourne is now for Lincolnshire residents only, which means there has been an influx of usage and causing delays & over filling. 

Food Waste has now started. 

Cllr Earl raised the possibility of East Street becoming a “quiet Lane” due to the use by walkers, therefore reducing the speed limit to 30pmh. Cllr Hill to look into.
8.    Community Groups & Organisations – 
a.    Village Hall Management Committee – No report submitted
b.    Hospital Car Scheme – Nothing new to report, slow up take will readvertise in the newsletter.
c.    RGAG – points later on the agenda. But would like a £50 donation to create a wild flower garden. PC agreed to make the donation.
d.    PCC No report received
e.    Police Update – No update
f.    Feast Committee – Cllr Lambord is looking at making changes the constitution as it was last revised in 2020. Clerk to send a word document to help with the editing. As meeting has been successful. Will send draft to council for approval. 
Cllr Lambord has been collecting and creating a village events calendar. This is nearly ready for publishing. Will circulate once complete, then can be published online & in the newsletter. Clerk to add to the agenda.
g.    Jubilee Playing Field / Youth Engagement Initiative – See 11a

Parish Matters:
9.    Newsletter To discuss and review printing quotations
Editor is happy with current format, there was no major cost saving, so the newsletter shall remain with Warners, unless things change. NFA. Resolved.
10.    Jubilee Playing Field
a.    To receive an update the SKDC Prosperity Fund grant 
Cllr Earl has had very positive conversations regarding the changes, have to ensure that the new building/container must continue with the same facilities as the original proposal to satisfy SKDC. Which is all possible, Cllr Earl has a meeting on the 15th April to discuss what planning application would be require, if any. To ensure that the PC meets all requirements. Had a builder look at the possibility of refurbishing the existing structure. This was not viable, so the container is the best way forward. The PC are looking for volunteers to work through what is stored in the current building, to keep what is useful and to skip the unwanted items. Cllr Earl has also been working towards the disconnection of services. Will provide an update for the next meeting.
b.    To receive an update on the Tesco Community Grant balance
Information has been sent to Tesco no response. Clerk to send a chaser. 
c.    To discuss and discuss annual playground inspection for insurance purposes. Quotes to have been previously circulated.
Play ground inspection has been requested, awaiting date.
11.    Allotments. 

a.    To discuss the Allotment Water Supply moving away from mains connection to rain harvesting. Phase 2 as per circulated.
As per previous discussed this was agreed and approved at the last meeting. Resolved
b.    To discuss rabbit control, RGAG have the opportunity to use ferret pest control.
As agreed at the last meeting, this was approved. RGAG are aware, but the person they were going to use currently doesn’t have a ferret. Resolved
c.    To agree standard letter/email to be sent when in breach of the tenancy agreement. 
The previously circulated draft letters were approved for use on a tenancy breach. Resolved. 

12.    Planning: To receive and consider planning applications:
a.    S25/1695 Conversion of barn to 10 dwelling houses at Manor Farm – Approved
b.    S25/1685 -30 East Street - Application for reserved matters relating to access, appearance, layout, landscaping and scale - Withdrawn
c.    S25/1654 Class Q Barn Farm: Conversion of a poultry shed into 5 dwellings– Approved
d.    S25/1705 Land to the rear of 16-22 High St - outline planning application for 5 dwellings - confirm submission status Approved
e.    S25/1476 – 2 houses at 83 Station Street (Little Farm) – Awaiting Decision
f.    To Discuss request from developer of 13 East St site to lay pipe work across the JPF to main surface water drain from development at 13 East Street. Resolved as per previous meeting.
g.    S24/1278 & S25/1272 and the steps taken towards formal complaint with SKDC. 
Cllr Lumb is going to represent RPC at the planning committee om the 17th April, as Cllr Abel has called to the committee in regards to planning S25/1283. Also still not heard anything from SKDC planning team in regards to outstanding planning applications. 

Other Matters
13.    
a.    To receive an update on National Grid proposal for a pylon route South of Rippingale (WMEL)
This is an ongoing, nothing new to report.
b.    To receive an update on the meeting between the VHMC & RPC.
Positive meeting between both parties, the VHMC are speaking with the Charity Commission to resolve the query on the difference between the trustee and community representative. 
c.    To receive an update on the flooding and the emergence volunteer group. 
Cllr Creek met with Peter Gillies, The Network Manager for Anglian Water a few weeks ago, having highlighted that the flood mitigation measures in Doctors Lane did not seem to be working and that the sandbagging of the Drain in East Street had resulted in a very messy situation. They looked at both areas, and Cllr Creek, again went through the issues that the parish experience. Cllr Creek did learn that the manhole that bubbles at the junction of Station Street and East Street, is only fed from the village and the Barn Farm dwellings. One of the Manhole covers that bubbles, on the corner of East Street is fed by the village and Aslackby. The Manhole Cover that bubbles in Doctors Lane is fed by the village and Kirkby Underwood. Peter advised that; To reduce the risk of flooding, a number of practical mitigation measures have been put in place:
• Sealed and flood resistant covers have been installed on key manholes along Doctors Lane. These are designed to stop water escaping onto the road or towards the nearby watercourse when sewer levels rise.
• At a property at the lower end of Doctors Lane (Down Hall), a non return valve has been fitted. This helps prevent sewer flows from backing up into the property during high level events. • Sealing work has also been carried out below certain manholes to reduce the amount of groundwater getting into the sewer system, which can add unnecessary flow during wet weather. •These actions are aimed at reducing risk, particularly during heavy rain, and helping protect both properties and the local environment. Ongoing position Doctors Lane is also part of a wider area that Anglian Water continue to monitor as part of the Dunsby catchment. Further investigations have taken place across the catchment to better understand where excess water is entering the system. Some longer term improvements have been identified, but these are subject to further assessment and funding decisions. In the meantime, the measures already installed are intended to provide practical protection based on what they know about the area. It was discussed getting technicians in the area to see what further might be done. Cllr Creek explained that there have been at the end of a funding queue for quite some time, however communication is key and that would ensure that we keep the dialogue flowing.

Gulleys on East Street
The Gullies in East Street will be cleared and jetted on 11th and 12th of May, which is bordering on farcical. As previously reported, the blockage of these gullies was first reported in early autumn. LCC closed this as no further action stating that the street was due its annual cleanse at the end of the year. 2 more reports were made during winter. The last one is open with ‘good news’ that a team been tasked with clearing the gullies. To find out that the annual cleanse was not scheduled for the end of the year, but in late Spring is totally unacceptable in my view. The gullies were blocked during most of Autumn, all of Winter and most of Spring, which would have thought, would have been the key time for them to be operational. Cllr Creek thinks that LCC have let the residents of Rippingale down, with this issue.

d.    To receive an update on the VE80 funding.
No further information requested. Resolved.
 

Financial Matters:
14.    Bank Accounts 
a.    To receive an update on the JPFT funds transfer to a new bank.
To discuss in closed session
b.    To discuss insurance for Trustees on JPFT – as the current cover is not considered to be adequate to protect against the potential risks of managing a public space"
Ongoing Clerk to chase amounts.
15.    Financial Reports:
a.    To receive an update of the Expenditure in Period

b.    To Approve payments 
Routine payments such as clerk salary, newsletter & village hall hire. Grass cutting was in line with tender. Were all approved for payment
c.    To Discuss and review the AGAR for 2025/2026. 
Clerk is working towards creating the document. Just finalising end of year.

Close Session
16.    To discuss the Allotment orchard maintenance 
17.    Human Resources 
a. To Consider a review of Parish Clerk employment documentation. 
o    Job description
o    Appraisal process - Performance objective setting
o    Training expectations
o    Changes to terms of contact (changes would exclude core contract terms including hours, pay scale, notice period, place of work base unless there was explicit agreement with the incumbent employee)

Public Responses. Items for next meeting and issues/points arising from discussion for future discussion.

Next meeting:   11th May 2026 Annual Parish Meeting at 7.00pm in Rippingale Village Hall 

Laura Davies - Parish Clerk