April 2025 DRAFT Minutes
SOUTH HYKEHAM ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 10th April 2025 6.30PM
Minutes of the Annual Parish meeting of South Hykeham Parish Council on Wednesday 10th April 2025, at 6.30pm at South Hykeham CP school..
Clerk of the meeting: Carolyn Wilkinson
Chairman: Cllr Pam Whittaker Chair of South Hykeham Parish Council
Present: Parish Councillors: Mrs P Whittaker (Chairman), D Rowson (Vice Chair), P Driffill, S Roe, N Southam. County Councillor A Briggs, Headteacher J Richardson South Hykeham Community Primary School, Bruce Wakeling and trustees of South Hykeham Village Hall Committee, Flying Officer Kris McMullan RAF Waddington, father and carers of George Tempest and Mc Donalds volunteer litterpicking team. Reverend Collins of St Michaels and All Angels Church and 2 other parishioners.
Cllr Mrs Whittaker thanked everyone for attending and advised that they were welcome to stay for the full council meeting which follows this meeting.
1. Apologies for absence. Apologies had been received from the Local Police Beat Team, District Councillors M Lofts NKDC, SHPC Cllrs Mrs L Graham.
2. Annual presentation of Community Awards.
a) Community Award. Cllr Mrs Whittaker presented South Hykeham McDonalds volunteer litterpickers with the Community Award.
b) Achievement Award. Cllr Mrs Whittaker presented George Tempest with the Achievement Award in the company of his family and friends and carers who take part in the volunteer litterpicks with him.
3.. Presentation by Cllr Alan Briggs on his year in office as Right Worshipful the Mayor of Lincoln. Cllr Briggs gave a very interesting and entertaining talk on his year as the Mayor of Lincoln. He had been very busy with many engagements and invitations to attend events and services.
4. Update on the Hykeham Neighbourhood Plan review. Meetings are ongoing and evidence and information gathering is underway. It is a light touch review to see if the Plan meets with the revised National Planning Policy Framework and the policies within the Local Plan. Funding to complete the project has been applied for in order to engage the services of the consultant and for any detailed plans or revisions that need to be undertaken.
5. Clerk’s notes of the Annual Parish meeting held on Weds 10th April 2024 to be adopted as the minutes of that meeting. Proposed Cllr Rowson seconded by Cllr Driffill that the clerk’s notes of the meeting held on Wed 10th April 2024 were a true record and should be adopted as the minutes of the last Annual Parish Meeting. Unanimously approved by those who had been present at that meeting.
6. Police Report. In the absence of the Police Beat Team there was no report.
7. Reports.
a) South Hykeham Parish Council Annual Report. Cllr Pam Whittaker gave the Parish Council report. The Parish Council continues to carry out voluntary litterpicks alternate months on the second Saturday and which are subject to clement weather conditions. The next litterpick is scheduled to coincide with the Great Keep Britain Tidy Spring Clean and all are invited to join with councillors and parishioners to help keep the Parish litter free within the 30 mph speed limit. Litterbin locations are reviewed annually and new locations are identified and are installed subject to permission being granted by the landowner or LCC Highways. Two new benches have been provided for Newark Road and Meadow Lane and the bus shelter on Newark Road at Thorpe Lane is due to be replaced.
There has been no further progress in gaining permission to complete the final stage between Grandfield Way and Ascot Way and the matter currently rests with the Rights of Way Team as the path needs to be slightly rerouted and conversations are currently taking place to resolve this. Due to the complexity of this matter the completion of the final section is likely to be a long-term project.
The Parish Council looks forward to another busy year and invites Parishioners to approach them with suggestions for ideas for new initiatives or facilities that they would like to see in South Hykeham. Suggestions can be put forward to the Parish Council for consideration by contacting the Clerk on 07762 318013 or by mail southhykehampc@gmail.com or in person at a Parish Council meeting or at one of the consultation events that members of the council attend. They will be having a stand at the annual South Hykeham dog show and would welcome a visit from parishioners to put forward their suggestions or to sign up as a volunteer litterpicker. Invitations to the D Day Operation Warlord service were extended to those present and also to the annual Armistice Day Service.
b) District Councillors’ reports. Written reports from the District Councillors had been circulated in advance and there were some hard copies available to take away this evening.
c) County Councillors’ reports. Cllr Briggs gave his report and invited parishioners questions and advised he was always willing to assist in matters that related to his role as a County Councillor. Cllr Roe also gave his report and advised that the County Council had secured additional funding for Childrens Services and there were plans for new places to accommodate youngsters in the County so there are closer to their family ties. Again he is always willing to assist in parishioners concerns over LCC matters.
d) Village Organisations’ reports. South Hykeham Community Primary School – the Headteacher John Richardson gave a report on the school’s activities during the year. The children have worked very hard throughout and are a credit to the school. They had attended a number of events and had once again attended and taken an active part in the Annual Armistice Day Service.
South Hykeham Village Hall reported bookings continue to grow. The cost is kept as low as possible in order to encourage its continued use. The hall has been maintained as required and work is constantly being undertaken to to improve the general appearance and facilities as well. There is a varied and well supported programme of events that regularly take place during the year with occasional private hire bookings too. A schedule of events is on the Parish noticeboards.
St Michael and All Angels Reverend Collins gave his report. The church is having some building work carried out and will have water connected and a WC installed. He reported on the Remembrance Service that had taken place in November and other activities that the Church has facilitated. He is very concerned about loneliness and isolation in the area and is looking at ways to try and address this through breakfast clubs and warm spaces. Enquiries have taken place with Paul Drury of the Armed Forces Covenant who has attended some of our Parish Council meeting and the plan is to look at some joint working with Paul in order to facilitate this.
Presentation by Flying Officer Kris McMullan RAF Waddington. Flying Officer McMullan gave a brief overview of his role and how he endeavours to engage with parishes to keep them informed of activities on the camp. He has attended a number of the events hosted by the Parish Council and is willing to continue to forge a good working relationship within the community. He advised that there will be further Cobra Warrior exercises taking place in the forthcoming year. The Red Arrows will be carrying out some training for the forthcoming display season in Greece. He advised that RAF Waddington now has a public website. He advised that there will be events to mark D day Operation Overlord. Rev Collins asked if there might be resources in their museum that could be accessed for our event to mark the day. Flying Officer Mc|Mullan will get in touch to make enquiries on our behalf. He left the meeting at this point.
8. South Hykeham Parish Council’s 10 Year Strategy update. The Parish Council meets with the Headteacher, Reverend Collins and Flying Officer McMullan to look at ideas and initiatives suggested by parishioners but is also pro-active in presenting ideas to the Parish Council for consideration and funding. The 10 Year Strategy is due to be reviewed and the pupils of South Hykeham Community Primary school have done some excellent work on suggesting improvements and initiatives for the Council to consider to continue to make the village a pleasant place to live and work.
9. Parish Council Grants and Donations 2024/25. Forms were available for potential applicants to take away with them this evening. The Parish Council operates a grants and donations scheme to offer some financial support on application to community organisations within the village and others that provide valuable advice and support to South Hykeham Parishioners. For details of the Grants and Donations Policy and application forms/notes please contact the Clerk or the forms may be downloaded from the website. A grant of £200 was awarded to LIVES for their very important work to save lives.
10. Finance Report 2024/25. The Parish Council has been given full approval by the external auditors for the way it manages the finances and complies with all financial regulations and requirements set in statute. The accounts were available for this evening but are not audited yet as the financial year has only just ended.
11. Parishioner’s Open Forum and Questions. As there were no members of the Public present there were no matters to be discussed.
The meeting closed at 6.57pm.
Chairman’s signature...................................................................................................Date......................................