2026 Minutes

Minutes OF THE Navenby with Skinnand Parish Council Meeting HELD at THE Parish Office at 7.30 PM ON Tuesday 5 May 2026.

Present (Cllrs): Mr M Burt (Chair), Mr C East, Mrs S Munton, Ms M Butler, Mrs J Thompson-Burt (taking minutes)

In attendance: Mrs S Letham RFO and Acting Parish Clerk and (first half) District Cllr Lucille Hagues.

1.         Welcoming Remarks from the Chair.  The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. As the AGM had finished at 1920 hrs it was decided to bring the PC meeting start time forward from the publicised time of 2000 hrs to 1930 hrs, and that the Public session would be delayed in case anybody arrived at 2000 hrs and wished to speak.

2.         Public session. No members of the public joined the meeting.

3.         Apologies for absence and declarations of interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011. To consider any applications for dispensations in relation to disclosable pecuniary and/or prejudicial beneficial interests.

• Apologies received from Cllrs:   Mrs C Hall, Mr D Miller and Mr K Gunning.

• Declaration of interests:                Nil    

4.         To approve and accept the minutes from the Parish Council meeting and to review outstanding actions from previous meetings.  It was proposed by Cllr Thompson-Burt, seconded by Cllr Butler and thereafter agreed that the minutes from the meeting of 7 April 2026 should be accepted as a true record. One Cllr abstained as he had not been present for the previous 3 meetings and all others voted in favour. The minutes were signed by the Chairman.

5.         To consider the financial report and authorise payments (Appendix A). 

• The current account balance as of the meeting date was £66,729.85 and the deposit account was £77,271.52.  A VAT refund of £4853.00 had been received for the financial year 25/26.

• Monies for deposits for the Christmas Fair stalls are starting to be received (for the record we are acting as the repository for this aspect of the fair).

• The Brown and Co bill for a professional assessment of the rental values of various elements of The Venue was £2400 including VAT.

• The RFO was struggling because there is currently only one available signatory for financial approvals. She was waiting for clearance from the bank for Cllrs Munton and Miller to undertake this role.

• After consideration it was proposed by Cllr East, seconded by Cllr Butler and resolved through unanimous vote to accept the financial report.

6.         To consider updates from District/County Councillors. Cllr Hagues had already provided her monthly newsletter via email. She said that work was ongoing regarding the future shape of the Local Government reorganisation, but that details of this could not yet be shared with parish councils.  Cllr Overton did not attend.

7.         To consider Planning Matters.

• Applications. No issues:

• North Lodge.
• 40 High Street.
• Beckett Cottage, Clint Lane.

• Correspondence.

• Withdrawn                   40 Temple Goring.
• Retrospective in part   1 Overton Close - fencing approved.
• Decision (approval)     2 Crossfield Road - approval of single rear extension.

• Tree Conservation.  Nil.

8.         Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) 2025/2026.  Counsellors were informed by the RFO/Acting Clerk that the AGAR is not yet ready for submission as she is still waiting on comments from the auditor. As the AGAR could not be signed off at this meeting, it is essential that the AGAR is completed at the meeting on 2 June to meet the submission deadline.

9.         To consider and approve in retrospect a grant application by the NPFA for £2000.00 to conduct a professional assessment of the level of rent to charge those users who have exclusive access of Venue facilities (e.g. the Parish Council Office).   This report has been completed by Brown and Co as no other company could be found to conduct this work.  It was proposed by Cllr Burt, seconded by Cllr Butler and thereafter agreed that the grant be approved.  All Cllrs voted in favour. 

10.       To consider and approve a grant application by NPFA for £500.00 for a community activity as part of the community event on 28th June 2026.  The grant application stated that the activity would create a permanent record of the day, but as the grant requestor was not present Cllrs were unable to understand what form that would take, so decided to defer this decision until more details could be obtained.  NB (Sec’s note): this grant application has since been withdrawn.

11.       To consider and retrospectively approve a sum of £209.50 to print 1000 copies of a new PC newsletter. 

• As part of the PC’s new engagement strategy, it was decided to trial a hard copy newsletter to every residence in the village, highlighting the Navenby PC’s responsibilities, projects it had completed in financial year 25/26, what it has planned for 26/27, and to advertise vacancies for a RFO, Clerk and Councillors.  In the time available to get this first edition distributed it had not been possible to arrange a ‘print and deliver option’ as costs were either too high or the task was not big enough for a company to be interested. Placing a copy of the newsletter in the Graffoe Link was considered, but as this would then be distributed to all Cliff Villages this was not a viable option. Therefore, the Pelican Trust had been selected for printing only, as they were the cheapest option because of their charitable aims. Cllr East suggested Tucan Print as a future option (to be explored).  It was proposed by Cllr Burt, seconded by Cllr Munton and thereafter agreed that the sum of £209.50 be approved.  All Cllrs voted in favour.

• The 1000 leaflets would be ready within a few days but would require support to distribute them. Cllr Munton undertook to provide a map to help split up delivery areas and monitor where still was to be covered and reminded Cllrs of the need for distributors to be aware of relevant health and safety requirements.  Cllr Burt would ask for support with delivery from the Venue Volunteers.

12.       Risk Register.  No review was undertaken at this meeting.

13.       Updates from Portfolio Holders.  As portfolio holders often had nothing to brief to other Cllrs, as was the case at this meeting, it was decided that this standing agenda item would be removed.  In future, if a portfolio holder had something to raise with Cllrs, they will inform the Clerk and it will be added as a standalone agenda item. 

14.       Date of next meeting.  2 June 2026 at 1900 hrs.

15.       Closure.  The Chairman closed the meeting and thanked all for attending.

Minutes accepted:       Original Signed M J Burt (Chairman) Date: 4th June 2026