June 2026 Minutes
Minutes of the ordinary meeting of North Scarle Parish Council held at North Scarle Village Hall, South Scarle Lane on Thursday 18th June 2026
Present:
Cllr R Cobb (Chair)
Cllr S Connole
Cllr C Goldson (co-opted by NKDC)
Cllr R Johnston (co-opted by NKDC)
Also present:
Cllr A Woodruff (LCC)
17 members of the public
Clerk: Mrs Y Colverson
Prior to the start of the meeting, Cllr Cobb asked for calm and consideration allowing the Council to complete the business on the agenda.
Cllr Cobb explained that Cllr Goldson and Cllr Johnston had been co-opted onto the council as it had previously been made inquorate, this will allow the council to co-opt new members so allowing future meetings to go ahead.
05/26/01 Appointment of Chair – Councils is to resolve a member to serve as Chair to the Council for the year 2026/2027
Cllr Connole nominated Cllr Cobb as the Chair.
Cllr Cobb seconded the motion
Cllr’s Goldson and Johnston abstained from voting
Carried by those present and voting
RESOLVED: That Cllr Cobb will serve as Chair of the Council until May 2027. Cllr Cobb signed a declaration of acceptance of office, witnessed by the Clerk.
05/26/02 Apologies - To receive, and consider for approval, apologies for absence and reasons given.
None recorded
05/26/03 Declarations of Interest - Members to declare any interest they may have in agenda items that accord with the Council’s Code of Conduct and Standing Orders. (NB this does not preclude any later declarations)
Cllr Johnston declared an interest in agenda item 05/26/16, planning, as he serves on the District Council’s planning committee
RESOLVED: That this is noted
05/26/04 Co-option – To consider applications for co-option to the Parish Council
Application for co-option had been received from Mr Ben Fairbrother who was unable to be in attendance.
Cllr Cobb moved that Mr Fairbrother is co-opted
Cllr Connole seconded motion
Cllrs Goldston and Johnston abstained from voting
Carried by those present and voting
RESOLVED: That Mr Ben Fairbrother is co-opted onto North Scarle Parish Council. All necessary documentation to be completed prior to the next meeting of the Parish Council
05/26/05 Minutes of the last meeting – To receive, approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 23rd April 2026
RESOLVED: That the minutes are approved as a true record of the meeting and signed by the Chair.
05/26/06 Appointment of Vice-Chair – Councils is to resolve a member to serve as Vice-Chair to the Council for the year 2026/2027
Cllr Cobb requested that this be deferred until the July Meeting.
05/26/07 Annual Audit – To receive and approve documents for the external audit of the council’s accounts for the year ending 31st March 2026
Asset register – To approve the asset register for audit purposes
RESOLVED: That the asset register has been approved for the purpose of external audit.
Internal auditor’s report – To receive and note the independent internal auditor’s report
The Clerk presented the summary report from the internal auditor following the annual inspection of accounts. A number of issues had been highlighted by the internal auditor which will need to be addressed prior to the end of the current financial year end in March 2027.
RESOLVED: That the internal auditor's report is noted and will form the basis of an action plan for the current financial. The full report will be made available on the Council’s website and noticeboard
Governance statement – to approve and sign the annual governance statement
The clerk presented the annual governance statement; a number of assumptions were marked ‘no’ as instructed by the internal auditor.
RESOLVED: That the Annual Governance Statement is approved for external audit. A full report into the ‘No’ answers will be produced for the external audit and made available on the Council’s website and noticeboard
Accounting statement – to approve and sign the annual accounting statement
The clerk presented the Annual Accounting Statement.
RESOLVED: That the Annual Accounting Statement is approved for external audit and will be made available on the Council’s website and noticeboard
It was noted that despite several issues being raised by the internal auditor and on the Governance Statement, no blame was proportioned to any individual past or present.
05/26/08 Representation on external bodies– Councils is to resolve members to represent the Council on external bodies for the year 2026/2027
RESOLVED: that this item is deferred to a later date when all seats are filled.
Note. It was suggested by Mrs Susan Walsh, Ex Councillor and the Council representative during her Council Tenure that the documents appertaining to the Charity should not be held by the Council but passed back to a trustee of that Charity. The Council agree this statement and arrangements were to be made for Ex Councillor Mrs M Iliff to pass these back directly.
05/26/09 Policies – Council is asked to review and approve the following policies
The clerk presented the following policies for review and approval, all policies had been previously circulated
- Standing orders
- Financial regulations
- Risk management
- Code of Conduct
RESOLVED: That all polices are approved and will be made available on the council’s website
05/26/10 Future meetings– Councils is asked to resolve meeting dates for the year 2026/2027
The following dates were proposed:
Thursday 16th July 2026
August Deliberately omitted due to Holidays
Thursday 17th September 2026
Thursday 15th October 2026
Thursday 19th November 2026
Thursday 17th December 2026
Thursday 21st January 2027
Thursday 18th February 2027
Thursday 18th March 2027
Thursday 15th April 2027
Thursday 20th May 2027 – Annual Meeting of the Parish Council
Thursday 27th May 2027 – Annual Parish Assembly
RESOLVED: That these dates are approved. Please note these may be changed by public notice if circumstances require.
05/26/11 Items to be discussed with members of the press and public excluded – Councils is to resolve items to be taken with members of the press and public excluded in accordance with the public bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed.
None requested
05/26/12 Reports and updates – To receive reports and updates on actions taken since 19th March
County & District Councillors AW/CG/RJ
Cllr Johnston (NKDC) congratulated his Ward colleague, Cllr Goldston (NKDC), for an excellent year as Chairman to the District Council and thanked him for his continued support and service.
The local government restructure was still taking up a majority of time at the district council.
NK Community Lottery are now open and community groups and charities are welcome to apply for grants up to £500.
Cllr A Woodruff (LCC) reported that the Councilor fund was available for small grants, a sum of £3,000 to be shared between a number of villages, although larger amounts may be available under different funding streams.
There have been a number of temporary fixes to roads around the village, however a scheme of more substantial road improvements is planned for 2027.
Any concerns regarding roads should be reported through ‘Fix my Street’
Parish Council
Chair’s report
Introduction and Acknowledgements
- Community Thanks: Express gratitude to the residents, fellow councillors, and council staff for their hard work and support throughout the year.
Review of the Year’s Projects
- Major Achievements:
- Post Office
- Container
- Magazine
- Engagement with Commercial Sector
- Benches via a grant.
Looking Ahead
- Future Priorities:
- To make NS a Fantastic Place to live that is
- Safe
- Attractive
- Community Focused
Upcoming Year & Ongoing Projects:
- Maintenance Briefly touch upon the upkeep of local amenities,
- Jubilee Gardens
- Cemetery & Church
- Magazine
- Land
- Continue to support Community events
- IT Records with fully traceability.
- As a result of the Audit. Correct administrative issues as a matter of urgency
- Change Banking Partner.
- Remembrance Service Day
- Christmas Tree for the village.
- Mobile Library
- Move towards being a quality Council
Clerk’s report YC
Actions taken by and on behalf of the Parish Council since the last meeting that was held on Thursday 23rd April 2026.
The newly launched North Scarle News has been produced and circulated to every household in the village. Sincere thanks must be given to Mrs Jo Cobb who gave up her own time to do a phenomenal amount of work on this, not only pulling together all the written material for the newsletter and designing the layout, but also contacting potential advertisers and liaising with printers and even hand delivering to many houses. Thanks also to the other volunteers who were involved in delivering the newsletter.
Work has continued Jubilee Gardens. This has been led by Cllr Suzie Connoly and Mr Shaun Connoly, and I know Cllr Connoly will give an update on this herself, however many thanks go to Mr and Cllr Connoly for all their time and efforts spent on this project.
As Clerk, there is much for me to learn and understand about the village and the council, and I cannot stress how helpful Cllr Cobb has been in this and I must thank him for his time, patience and support while I become familiar with my new role. Although I am a qualified and experienced clerk, every council is different and brings with it its own challenges that must be understood while ensuring the council adheres to the many laws that govern local councils.
The internal audit is now complete, as previously reported. This has uncovered a considerable number of concerns that must be addressed this financial year, and I will be producing an action plan to be approved and adopted by the council to ensure the proper management of public funds going forwards.
The burial records do not appear to be complete; this is causing some difficulties as I already have one burial to record. I will continue to scrutinise the information we do have and search for the missing records.
It is fair to say that my first three months in post have not been without its challenges however I am now looking forward to supporting the council while it continues to deliver, and develop on, the very positive work it has done in recent months.
Working group reports
North Scarle Newsletter RC
The new North Scarle News has been produced and delivered to every house in the village. Anyone wishing to contribute to future editions are very welcome. We are particularly looking for items of local interest including up coming events and stories for history.
A heartfelt Thank You goes to Cranswick Foods who have agreed to sponsor the newsletter for the year.
Commercial Sector Engagement SC
Cllr Connole reported that Noble Foods have volunteered time and a budget of £2,000 to re-create the Jubilee Gardens. Bug hotels, bird and bat boxes will be installed, a path will be cleared, a new bench installed and a program of planting undertaken.
On Monday 22nd June 10 tonne of bark chipping will be delivered and anyone who is available to help spread this is very welcome to join the team.
Streetlights RC
No information has been found to confirm that the streetlights must be replaced with LED, work will continue in scrutinising the available reports and documentation
RESOLVED: That these reports are noted and received
05/26/13 Public Forum
Members of the public are invited to bring issues to the council for future consideration.
A member of the public asked why Cllr Cobb was appointed Chair when no-one in the village wanted this.
When this statement was challenged, the member of public confirmed that he had been instructed to ask the question by someone else but had no issue with Cllr Cobb personally.
Speeding remains an issue in parts of the village with large tractors towing slurry tanks running through the village.
Cllr Woodruff took a note of these issues as the County Council is the highways authority so responsible for road safety.
05/26/14 Items for consideration and resolution
Internal review – Council is asked to consider undertaking an internal review to identify underlying issues causing councillor resignations in recent years.
The date planned for the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council was 10th June however this was not able to go ahead as the Council was made inquorate. There were a large number of people in attendance, and a number of personal accusations were made; following these accusations it was suggested that the council carried out an internal investigation to ascertain if these accusations were factual and if found so there should be a change in administration.
The clerk reported that she had made several enquiries into the possibility of an investigation, at this point it was unclear what power the council could use to spend public money on such a scheme however she will continue to research this and search for an independent body/individual to carry out such an investigation.
RESOLVED: This item will be included on the next agenda for update and further discussion
IT support – Council is asked to consider and resolve contracting IT support to resolve issues with emails, data storage and Finances.
Following on from the internal auditor’s report, the council has a number of issues to be resolved by improved IT provision.
Cllr Cobb proposed a new website, provided by Easywebsites, the cost being:
£250 to provide the website (one off cost)
£30.80 per month for hosting, domain name, clerk’s email and ongoing training and support.
RESOLVED: That Easywebsites will be employed to provided a new website
Scribe accounting software, this will cloud based, the clerk being the administrator and councillors and internal auditor having read only access. This will allow the council to move towards a paperless office.
Set up fee, including training £299 (one off cost)
Hosting and ongoing support £37 per month
RESOLVED: That Scribe account package will be purchased
Ian Broadley from Acorn Corporate Enterprises requested that he sponsor this for the first year.
Mr Broadley was thanked for his generous offer which was accepted.
Councillor emails and ongoing IT support is required Cllr Cobb proposed a budget of £2,000 per year be approved and research into local providers will continue.
RESOLVED: That an ‘in principle’ sum of £2,000 is approved for additional IT support. Supplier to be confirmed
Banking arrangements - Council is asked to consider and resolve moving banks from NatWest to Unity Trust bank.
Cllr Cobb moved that the bank provider be moved from Nat West to Unity Trust bank. The advantage is that Unity Trust Bank allow for an administrator (the clerk) to input payments and two councillors to approve each payment. This will ensure that all future payments have been approved by at least two councillors.
RESOLVED: That the council’s bank provider will be moved from Nat West to Unity Trust
Insurance renewal - Council is asked to consider and resolve quotations for insurance renewal.
The Clerk presented the insurance renewal document from Zurich. Alternative quotations had been obtained but Zurich still represented the best value.
RESOLVED: That Zurich will provide the council’s insurance cover for the following year.
Council LOGO - Council is asked to consider and resolve to accept the revised LOGO. & Colour Scheme as corporate identity.
Cllr Cobb presented a new logo for the council and asked for approval to adopt it.
RESOLVED: That the new logo is adopted.
Clerk’s contract – Council is asked to consider and resolve amendments to the clerk’s contract
RESOLVED: Item deferred to the next meeting
05/26/15 Finance
Account balances – To receive bank balances to 30th April 2026
Current Account = £5,952.58
Deposit Account = £36,463.49
RESOLVED That this information is received
Bank reconciliation – To receive and approve bank reconciliation to 30th April 2026
RESOLVED That the bank reconciliation is approved and signed by councillors
Payments since last meeting – To approve payments since 23rd April 2026
April
01.04.26 Village Hall Room Hire £36.00
01.04.26 Staff costs (D Doherty) Staff salary £528.00
01.04.26 Harmoney Payroll service £25.00
01.04.26 D Walker Shelter repair £4,320.00
13.04.26 Microsoft Licence £84.99
15.04.26 NKDC Heritage room £104.16
15.04.26 Anglian Water Heritage room £27.00
22.04.26 E-on Next electricity Heritage room £204.14
22.04.26 Tesco Mobile phone £8.48
23.04.26 HMRC PAYE & NI £402.54
May
06.05.26 Firtree farm Timber £18.00
06.05.26 MB Cox Container £2,100.00
14.05.26 Harmony Payroll service £25.00
19.05.26 Sainsburys Fuel for mower £29.87
21.05.26 E-on Next electricity Heritage room £166.16
22.05.26 Tesco Mobile phone £8.48
28.05.26 NSDC Heritage room £104.17
28.05.26 Amazon Tyres etc £157.65
28.05.26 Amazon Supplies £143.75
28.05.26 Anglian water Heritage room £24.59
29.05.26 Zurich Insurance £459.00
RESOLVED: That these payments have been approved
Invoices for payment – To approve invoices for payment
E-on streetlight maintenance £133.20
E-on Heritage Room Electricity £205.11
Tuxford Lawnmowers Lawnmower service £148.33
Summer Fayre Grant funding £500.00
Npower Unmetered supply 01.01.25 – 31.03.25 £375.26
Npower Unmetered supply 01.10.25 – 31.12.25 £424.85
Npower Unmetered supply 01.01.26 – 31.03.26 £372.78
RESOLVED That these invoices are approved for payment
05/26/16 Planning – Council is asked to consider planning policies, applications and appeals received and resolve to submit comments where appropriate.
Application: 26/0519/LDECI
Proposal: Application for a lawful development certificate for existing use of land as a touring caravan site
Location: Plots Form Spalford Road North Scarle
Application: 25/0149/FUK – Amended details
Proposal: Construction of a new site entrance and gatehouse including vehicular access for HGVs and cars, security gates and fencing, weighbridge and guards’ office, associated concreting works, drainage measures, and provision of four additional car parking spaces
Location: Cranswick Pet Products Lodge Farm Wigsley Road
Application: 26/0031/HOUS – Amended plans/additional information
Proposal: Erection of a garage with additional accommodation
Location: The Willows Eagle Road North Scarle
Application: 26/0540/LDEXI
Proposal: Application for lawful development certificate for use of domestic swimming pool for mixed use comprising incidental domestic use and use for private swimming and exercise classes
Location: Holly House Farm Gainsborough Road Girton
Application: 26/0510/FUL
Proposal: Application of existing link extension and erection of new single storey rear extension to dwelling. Change of use of former shop back to domestic use (C3) with rear extension and alterations to roof. Replacement of hedgerow with 2.1m fence to the principal elevation.
Location: Rivendell House 4 Chapel Lane North Scarle
Application: 26/0598/HOUS
Proposal: Sigle storey rear extension
Location: 4 Wesley Way North Scarle
Application: 26/0391/FUL
Proposal: Change of use of land to a dog training paddock (retrospective)
Location: Plots Farm Spalford Road North Scarle
RESOLVED: That the council does not object to these applications
Application: 25/1057/FUL – Amended details
Proposal: Erection of extension to production and mill building to form Extruder Hall, boiler room, workshops and LV electrical room, along with associated works, including cultivating of existing ditch (amended description)
Location: Plots Farm Spalford Road North Scarle
RESOLVED: That more information will be sought regarding this application
05/26/17 Correspondence – Cllr Cobb had received an e mail request from Rev. Andrew Vaughen regarding the potential siting of the old Church Bell Tower in the Grounds of the Church or the Cemetery. The Council agreed that this would be wholly inappropriate as the Health & Safety risk and Insurance implications would be cost prohibitive. Cllr Cobb agreed to write to Rev Vaughen regarding the Councils position.
05/26/18 Items to be included in the next age
Direct debit instructions for utility bills
Meeting closed at 8.45pm
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