2026 Minutes

Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council

Minutes of the meeting held 8th April 2026 at 19:00 at The Oliver Roper Village Hall

26.04.01 Councillor Lyons welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Councillor Lyons thanked Councillor Ives and the Parish Clerk for their recent work regarding the recruitment for the caretaker role.

Councillor Lyons went on to say that on behalf of the Parish Council, he would like to express his sincere thanks to John Burdon for his work as caretaker in recent years. John's helpful, flexible, reliable, and diligent approach was greatly appreciated by all the users of the hall.

26.04.02 Public Time.  3 Members of the public in attendance.

A question was raised about the status of the request for a seat to be put at the end of Clay Lane.  Councillor Sheldon advised that he has not managed to contact the landowner and would do at his earliest convenience.

Councillor Lyons was asked if an update on the status of the Fosse Green Energy project could be added to each issue of the View from the Hill.  Councillor Lyons confirmed that when there was news, it was added to the magazine which would continue.

26.04.03 District/County Council Update

North Kesteven District Council. No councillors in attendance.

Lincolnshire County Council

Apologies were received from County Councillor Alan Woodruff and an update on the status of highways related issues in the village.  Construction has now begun on the North Hykeham Relief Road.  The contractor Balfour has a compound which is located locally so any issues can be swiftly investigated.

26.04.04 Formal session commenced at 19:15

26.04.05 Parish Council.  Members, present, apologies for absence, declarations of interest, declarations of gifts/hospitality, training.

1. Membership: Councillors (Cllrs) Jason Bramford (Vice Chair), Zoe Ives, Carl Koenen, Nick Lyons (Chair), Charlotte Owen, Bob Sheldon MBE, Neville Williams.

2. Present:  Zoe Ives, Carl Koenen, Nick Lyons (Chair), Bob Sheldon MBE, Neville Williams.

3. Apologies: Apologies were received and accepted from Councillor Bramford and Councillor Owen.

4. Declaration of interest: None

5. Declaration of gifts and hospitality over £25: None

26.04.06 - The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 25th February 2026 were unanimously agreed as a true record by the members and signed by the Chair.

26.04.07 - Financial matters

7.1. The list of payments and income were authorised and noted.  Appendix A                                                            

7.2. The financial report for the financial year to date was noted.  Appendix B                                  

26.04.08.  Discuss and review the Parish Clerk report on ongoing/outstanding actions.                       Appendix C                          

26.04.09 Planning Applications. None.

26.04.10. It was unanimously agreed to adopt the following policies.  Action Clerk.

10.1. Equality and Diversity Policy

10.2.Grievance Policy

26.04.11. Grants Policy. The following items were discussed, and it was agreed that the Parish Council should look into making amendments to the current policy and Councillors Lyons and Sheldon were tasked with looking into this in more detail along with the Parish Clerk to be debated at another meeting in the near future.  Action Councillors Lyons, Sheldon and Clerk.

 11.1. Should the View from the Hill magazine be funded by the Parish Council and not subject to a grant application.

 11.2. Should there be a cap to the amount of funding available

11.3. Should any other criteria be added or amended.

26.04.12. Emergency Centre.

The Parish Council has received a request from the Lincolnshire Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Service to enquire if the Oliver Roper Village Hall could be made available for use as a rest centre in the event of an emergency.  This was unanimously agreed. Action Clerk to confirm.

26.04.13. Correspondence received that has not been circulated to the wider Parish or is not on the agenda.

26.04.14 Verbal updates from portfolio holders .

Allotments – Cllr Lyons

Finance – Cllr Bramford

Lake Management Committee – Cllr’s Bramford, Lyons, Sheldon MBE.  Meeting of committee held 30th March 2026. No issues to report.

Oliver Roper playpark & tennis courts– Cllr Koenen confirmed he has taken over the weekly inspections.

Planning – Cllrs Koenen, Lyons and Williams.

Staffing Committee – Cllr’s Ives, Lyons and Sheldon MBE.

Whisby Quarry Liaison meeting – Cllrs Lyons.

Whisby Nature Park Steering Board – Cllr Sheldon MBE.  Councillor Lyons and Sheldon advised that they attended the 25th Anniversary event at the nature reserve and added that there is an series of boards in the Cygnet Room for visitors to view showing how the site has evolved.

Wildlife – Cllr Lyons.

Village Hall – Cllrs Lyons, Ives and Owen.

26.04.15 Future meeting dates

The next meeting with be the Annual Parish Meeting followed by the Annual Parish Council Meeting.  It was agreed to bring the Annual Parish Meeting time forward to 18:30.

Parish Council Meetings

14 May 2026, 1 July 2026, 2 September 2026, 14 October 2026, 

25 November 2026.

Lake Committee Meeting.

21st October 2026

26.04.16 Councillor Lyons thanked everyone for their attendance and input and the meeting concluded at 21:00.

Appendix A Items of expenditure authorised and income note

Appendix B

Appendix C

All other actions from Parish Council Meetings are either completed or itemised above

Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Parish Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting