April Minutes
SKILLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Grantham, Lincolnshire
Councillors: Neville Clark, Bronwyn Headley, Roseanne McKee, Stuart Millington, Joanne Selby
Parish Clerk: Pamela Harrison (Mrs), 45 Newton Way, Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Grantham, Lincs. NG33 5NP
Telephone: 07707 104187 e-mail: clerk.spc@gmail.com
Notes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Monday 13th April 2026 at 6.30pm.
Present: B. Hedley (Acting Chair), N. Clark, S. Millington, J. Selby, B. Green (SKDC) D. Bellamy (SKDC) C. Vernon (LCC)
and Mrs P. Harrison (Parish Clerk).
Parishioners: Paul Elston, Tracy Seager, Richard Wrigley, Frank Hedley, Graham Page, Kate Millington, Terry and Jean Freeman, John Stoneman, Laura Purcell and Colin Clark.
The Meeting was chaired by Bronwyn Hedley, Acting Chair of Skillington Parish Council.
1. Apologies for absence: received from Cllr R. McKee.
2. Notes of the Annual Parish Meeting on 7th April 2025 were agreed and signed by Cllr Clark. The Chair asked for any comments. There were none regarding the meeting last year.
3. Report on the Parish Council: The Chair addressed the meeting and reported on activities for the previous year:
3.1 What is the Parish Council? The lowest tier of local government with various Duties and Powers including litter collection, cemetery management, mowing verges and common grassed areas. What the PC cannot do: refuse or grant planning applications. It is, however, informed of all applications and can make comments. It cannot mend potholes, but reports them to Highways.
3.2 Membership: The Council has five councillors: Cllrs Neville Clark, Bronwyn Hedley, Roseanne McKee, Stuart Millington and Joanne Selby. During the course of 2025-2026, Cllrs S. Millington and J. Selby joined the Council.There are currently two vacancies. One resident showed interest in joining the PC. The next Election is due in May 2027. Councillors serve a 4-year term.
3.3 The Chair reported on matters of interest in the past year:
3.3.1 The website is more accessible, but there are still problems when searching for it.
3.3.2 The cemetery extension is almost complete. It has been fenced, hedged and grass seed applied. The planning permission for a change of use to a Cemetery has been submitted.
3.3.3 The PC has created a community orchard in the lower part of the paddock. It is almost complete. Thank you to Stuart and Kate Millington for all their time and effort, also for their work in clearing the paddock and their help in relocating the emergency grit supply and the sandbags.
3.3.4 A Tree and Shrub Management Policy has been established to protect the Village Greens.
3.3.5 A lot of time was expended in trying to locate a space for a play area. Unfortunately, there are currently no suitable areas in the village.
3.3.6 An audit of policies and procedures is underway.
3.3.7 An annual maintenance schedule has been established.
4 Planning Committee: The Clerk read through the Report of the Planning Committee to 31st March 2026:
The Planning Committee usually consists of the Chair and two Councillors, currently Cllrs Clark, Hedley and Millington. The Parish Council monitors any applications from within the Parish or, in the case of large developments, in the vicinity of the Parish. The Committee confers and prepares comments relevant to ‘material planning considerations’ on all planning applications relating to buildings and trees in Skillington, within the context of the Local Plan and the criteria for approving or otherwise, development as set out in Skillington’s Neighbourhood Plan. Comments are normally collated and returned by the Parish Clerk. Anything considered problematic can be referred to SKDC’s Planning Committee to be ‘called in’ for focussed consideration. During the period 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026 the applications (all of which were granted) were:
* One application for an additional stub leg pole to an existing stub leg pole (re: overhead cables).
* Five applications for tree surgery or felling, all of which were granted.
* Two previously lapsed applications for internal alterations.
* A single-storey extension.
* Replacement of a conservatory.
5. Parish Council Finances: The unaudited accounts of Skillington Parish Council for the year to 31st March 2026 were available for inspection; the Chair referred to the Income & Expenditure schedule comparing the year to 31st March 2026 with the previous year.
5.1. Income from the Precept of £5,360 was an increase of £110 on the previous year. Parish Council budgets showed a very small excess of income over expenditure, but had only accounted for three quarters of the Clerk’s salary and expenses.
5.2. Total income of £11661 includes the ‘real’ income mostly from the Precept, paddock rent and cemetery income; all other income is reimbursement of work carried out on behalf of County or District Council. Income from the Cemetery was higher than usual.
5.3. Expenditure during the year was £11459; this includes employment of the Clerk, mowing, street cleaning and care of the churchyard and cemetery, in addition to some one-off costs.
5.4. Outlook for 2026/27: The Precept is to increase by a small amount, which should cover general cost increases. The LCC mowing reimbursement may not cover grass cutting costs every year, depending on the season. We expect to break even in 2026/27, but this is very dependent on income from the Cemetery.
Thanks: The Chair expressed her thanks to all the Parish Councillors; to Cllrs Bellamy, Green.(SKDC) and Cllr Vernon (LCC) for their continued support throughout the year, attending almost all the Councils' meetings. The Clerk was also thanked for her work throughout the year.
6. Vacancies on the Parish Council: There are currently two vacancies.
7. Matters Raised from the Floor: R. Wrigley asked whether the 2017 Neighbourhood Development plan had been looked at recently. Cllr Bellamy suggested that this be left until SKDC has completed its second consultation stage of the SKDC plan. R. Wrigley volunteered to send a summary of the current plan to those requesting it. If a new working party is formed to update the plan, it can contain members of the public, which will then feed back to the Parish Council.
T. Seager had tried to find details for this evening’s meeting, but the website wasn’t showing up. This will be investigated. She also stated concern regarding the amount of heavy traffic coming through the village, when the A1 was closed, due to accidents. Cllr Vernon stated that a further meeting with our local MP was held at Great Ponton and discussions are ongoing. She also mentioned that a Speed Watch campaign might be helpful.
There is general concern regarding the possible closure of the Village pub. Was it possible for it to be registered as an asset in the community? Cllr Bellamy will send the Clerk details of how SP6 works.
Cllr Hedley mentioned that the Parish Church had recently obtained funding for a replacement under drainage system, which will help keep this 1000 year old building in better condition, which is a great achievement.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending the meeting.
The meeting closed at 7.25 pm.
The next Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Monday, 1st April 2027 at 6.30pm at Skillington Village Hall.
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