January 2026 Minutes
Kettlethorpe Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday13th January 2026
in Kettlethorpe Village Hall
PRESENT:
Cllr C Turner (Chair)
Cllr R Elliott,
Cllr C McGowan
Cllr R Barnard
Cllr P Bussoopun
Cllr C Smith
Mr G Cleworth, Clerk
D/Cllr R Pilgrim
APOLOGIES:
Cllr T O’Callaghan
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd December 2025 had been circulated to all councillors and were agreed.as a correct record.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Speeding
The Clerk had made enquiries as to the whereabouts of the old battery powered sign known as ‘Smiley Sid’, but had made no progress. Given the likely condition of the equipment, it was decided not to continue to locate the equipment.
The Clerk will had prepared the draft email mentioned in previous Minutes. This was agreed and will be sent to all the potential funding sources previously provided.
There had been no progress on the monitoring of Police attendance in the village.
Village Hall
Cllr Elliott had spoken to Mr Straw, who has undertaken to provide something shortly. He will chase this.
The Clerk advised the meeting that the invoice for the hire of the hall had not been received for some considerable time. D/Cllr Pilgrim confirmed that the same was true for Fenton PC.
Jubilee Park
RoSPA safety report:
Cllr Barnard had emailed the contractor for a quotation, but had no reply. It was decided to defer this until February before chasing. This will enable the quote to be agreed in time for improved weather conditions in Spring.
Christmas events
lights switch on:
It was felt that this had been a very good occasion. The Clerk was asked to write to Messrs Kyne and Lawrence to thank them for their efforts. D/Cllr Pilgrim was also thanked for judging the lights and outdoor decorations competition.
Cllr Smith had acquired some baubles for the Christmas tree at a cost of £36. This was agreed.
Village survey / walk around / spring clean
Cllr Smith had produced a proforma which had been circulated and was discussed. Suggestions for additions and amendments will be discussed at the February meeting.
It was felt useful to circulate a newsletter before distributing the survey across the villages.The Chair will draw up a proforma.
In an attempt to improve the communication between the council and the residents, it was decided to publicise forthcoming meetings on Facebook.
It was decided to have a permanent agenda item to discuss if any Facebook posts are needed.
New unitary authority
There was nothing new to report and this will be omitted from future agendas.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence for November/December to date had been circulated to all councillors
PLANNING
WLDC reference WL/2025/00960
Cllrs Turner and Elliott had attended the WLDC Planning Committee at their meeting on 10th December and the findings were discussed. It was decided to post an update on Facebook and the Chair will draw this up.
To clarify details on future applications, the Clerk was instructed to print off a paper copy. Cllr Bussoopun offered to print these off in A3 format.
FINANCE
The payment of the following invoices for December were agreed by the Council:
already paid: F5 Computing £42.88 monthly; reimburse Clerk re printer ink £53.98; Cllr Barnard re rope for hanging Christmas tree decorations £10.50; Cllr O’Callaghan re selection boxes £108.90
not yet paid: Kettlethorpe PCC request for contribution towards the Church grass cutting costs £575.67; LALC re subs £174.86. These were agreed.
Clerk – PAYE AND SALARY for December
Accounts to the end of December:
income £14478.15; expenditure £11382.78; balance £13782.13
These were agreed and accepted by the meeting
The precept for 2026/27 was set at £13,500
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
(a) It was decided that the payment to Kettlethorpe PCC will be deferred until the start of the new financial year.
D/Cllr Pilgrim in his role as acting Clerk to Fenton PC advised that they had also received a request and that there was some queries to address relating to the continuing payments to the Church.
It was decided that in order to reduce the burden on the two Parish Councils, the PCC should be asked to seek three fresh quotes from different suppliers, and provide them to us for inspection. It was understood that Fenton P are making a similar request. The Clerk will advise Mrs Gilbert.
(b) The Clerk advised the meeting that the return to AGAR will require a new policy covering data protection. He will look into this and draw up a draft for agreement at the next meeting.
(c) The condition of Westmoor Lane had been brought up by a resident. Cllr Elliott had spoken to her. He had also looked at the lane, which had had some repairs, but there were still parts in a poor condition. As this is a green lane, there is nothing further the Council can do, as responsibility for the repair of the road lies with the landowners on each side. The resident had advised that in previous cases, the Parish Council had approached the landowners on her behalf, but none of the Councillors could remember this.
(d) Cllr Elliott had been advised that new parts for the defibrillator were no longer available and it will need to replaced by May 2027. Funding for this will be on the February agenda.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next Meeting will take place in Kettlethorpe Village Hall on 10th February 2026 at 7pm.
The Chair closed the meeting at 8.55pm.