Minutes of meeting October 2025
Kettlethorpe Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 14th October 2025
in Kettlethorpe Village Hall
PRESENT:
Cllr R Elliott,
Cllr C McGowan
Cllr R Barnard
Cllr P Bussoopun
Cllr T O’Callaghan (Chair)
Mr G Cleworth, Clerk
APOLOGIES:
Cllr C Turner
D/Cllr R Pilgrim
Mr Christopher Smith was co-opted as a Councillor, proposed by Cllr R Elliott and seconded by Cllr R Barnard. Cllr Smith completed the documentation relating to becoming a councillor.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 9h September 2025 were agreed as a correct record.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Cemetery
D/Cllr as acting Clerk of Fenton PC had advised the Clerk that the Council had decided to accept the option whereby residents of Fenton & Torksey Lock will be entitled to reserve burial plots as currently available to residents of Kettlethorpe and Laughterton. Fenton PC will pay 50% of the cost of cutting the cemetery grass. Residents of Fenton and Torksey Lock will pay the tariff applicable to residents of Kettlethorpe and Laughterton, subject to the 50% surcharge for non-residents.
The Clerk will appropriately amend the cemetery brochure.
Speeding
It was felt that we should keep and make available records of police attendance to monitor speeds. The Clerk asked that councillors advise him when the police are present and when this ends. This will then be minuted.
The Clerk had received a reply from LCC Highways only late on the day of the meeting about the mechanics of installing speed signs and related matters. He will distribute this round councillors. His own investigations revealed that a typical cost for speed signs is around £4000 each.
Village Hall
Cllr Elliott reported on the cluster meeting also attended by Mr A Straw. Mr Straw mentioned that he had discovered a parcel of deeds relating to the trust which owns the Village Hall. He felt that this would be worth investigation regarding the number of trustees and trustee liability insurance. The Clerk will look at these and report to Mr Straw and the next meeting.
Flower troughs
There had been no progress with Zena’s Nosh cafe. Cllr Barnard will check. Cllr O’Callaghan will enquire regarding assistance if it is decided to repair the planters.
Jubilee Park
RoSPA safety report:
It was decided not to take action on the decaying fence framing until further decay occurs.
There had been no progress on the repair to damaged areas of wet pour tarmac.
There had been no progress on the faulty big gate padlock. Cllr Barnard will obtain a replacement.
Arrangements were made for the laying of a Remembrance Day wreath.
Christmas events
lights switch on:
Newton-on-Trent Scool had made their own arrangements for Christmas and were not interested in participating with us. Mr J Kyme had been booked for providing the music and will be asked if he can provide a small number of carols for any children attending plus adults to sign. Mr P Lawrence will be asked If he will act as Santa. Cllr O’Callaghan will ask Kettlethorpe United Charities if they would be prepared to assist with the cost of selection boxes.
D/Cllr Pilgrim will be asked if he will judge the window decorating competition.
December 2025 meeting
The Clerk had booked the room for 2nd December
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence for September/October to date had been circulated to all councillors
PLANNING
WLDC reference WL/2025/00960
There was a sizeable attendance at the meeting from residents of both Fenton and Kettlethorpe. There were many issues regarding this latest application relating to Oak Tree Meadows, Kettlethorpe Road, Fenton, which were outlined to the Council. There was particular concern on the submission of the application and attempts for the site to be certified by the Caravan Club. There was also concern that development of the site would endanger wildlife.
Given the history of this development going back a number of years, the residents felt that the owner could not be trusted and asked for a representative from WLDC enforcement should be asked to attend the next Council meeting to explain the rationale behind their decisions.
There was an outline of previous attempts by Kettlethorpe PC to resolve this issue.
The Clerk will submit comments to the WLDC planning website in as strong terms as possible.
The Clerk had had a conversation with D/Cllr Pilgrim whose advice in the light of previous experience was that as many individual residents as possible should submit opposition to the application to WLDC enforcement. He circulated the email address of the Senior Planning Enforcement Officer to the attenders.
FINANCE
The payment of the following invoices for April were agreed by the Council:
already paid: All Round Gardens £262 x 2; F5 Computing £42.88; Clerk re Remembrance Day wreath £29.46; LALC re purchase of minutes work on website £64.80
Clerk – PAYE AND SALARY for September
Accounts to the end of September:
income £13027.45; expenditure £8749.58; balance £14964.63
These were agreed and accepted by the meeting
The Clerk had processed the back dated salary increase with the September payments.
The Clerk had received a Purchase Order from LCC in respect of their contribution to our grass cutting costs for 2025. He had submitted an invoice and the payment of £1222.72 had arrived that day. This will be reflected in the October month end figures.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
Cllr Turner had distributed copies of her draft Social Media policy to all councillors and it was decided to adopt this without amendment.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next Meeting will take place in Kettlethorpe Village Hall on 11th November 2025 at 7pm.
The Chair closed the meeting at 9pm.