February 2026
CLAXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Friday 6th February 2026 at 7.30 p.m.
Present: Cllrs D Lofthouse, J Pilbrow, B Hunter, I Cumber, J Lofthouse.
The chair opened the meeting, and welcomed the members of the Council and members of the public. In the open forum, concerns were raised re the planning application mentioned in item 8. It was resolved to discuss item 8 at this point of the meeting.
Having heard representations from members of the public, which highlighted a dispute over boundaries, the Council resolved to invite the planning officer along with Cllr Tom Smith and members of the Council to visit the site with the applicant to clear up any errors or misunderstandings. Members of the Council formulated a response on behalf of the Parish Council, and it was resolved to post the response on the planning portal. Action: Clerk to post the response and contact the Planning officer to invite him to a site meeting.
1. Apologies for Absence: None. Cllr I Cumber arrived 19.40.
2. To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. Cllr Cumber: item 8 (is a neighbour to the proposed development in the application)
3. To approve minutes of the meeting held on 4th November 2025 and 9th January 2026. It was resolved to approve the draft Minutes and they were duly signed.
4. Chair & Council’s Comments and matters arising from the minutes.
- Some villagers had removed sections of the pipe adjacent to the field gate to improve the flow of water down Normanby Rise. The clerk agreed to write to thank those villagers who helped with this work.
- Bags of daffodils (approx. 150kg) from Rotary had been delivered to the village and distributed to villagers in smaller 2Kg bags. A resident had planted 4 bags on the verge on Normanby Rise. He was thanked for his efforts The clerk agreed to write a letter of thanks to Rotary.
- 2 new tables had been purchased for the village hall.
- Jean Routledge (the oldest resident in Claxby) had passed away.
- Dehumidifier had been purchased for the village hall to ensure correct billing.
- It seems the work at the A46 junction has been successful in preventing flooding.
- The Claxby village sign has been replaced.
- Sue Griffin would like to plant an oak tree as a legacy to Ken – somewhere around the perimeter of the field. It was agreed to allow this.
- The proposed purchase of the Christmas tree did not go ahead
- It has been noticed that some potholes have been marked for repair.
- A resident has asked if he can have some of the logs left after the tree work but it appears they have all been taken.
5. Clerk’s Report on outstanding matters.
- George Collini has trimmed back the trees on Normanby Rise and the Council was very happy with the standard of work.
6. WLDC and LCC Councillor updates. None present.
7. Finance:
- Accounts for Payment
Payments by prior authority:
A J Williams (grass cutting October) 150.00
D Lofthouse (dehumidifier for Village Hall) £224.95
D Lofthouse (2 tables for village hall) 271.90
Transfer from savings account to current account to cover bills £1000
LALC subscription £92.54
Annual Training Scheme: £144.00
By Direct Debit:
Octopus Energy Dec £142.08
Octopus Energy Jan £131.62
Octopus Energy Feb £213.49
Wave Nov £56.25
EE (November) 39.45
EE (December) 39.45
EE (January 2026) 38.15
EE additional payment to close a/c £8.91
Unity Bank Service charge (November -January) £18.00
Lloyds bank service charges (November-January) £13.50
Payments to authorise (Unity)
D Beer £369.45
HMRC £83.60
George Coletti – tree cutting £540.00
Received
Refund: Northern Powergrid £190.00 (compensation for power cut)
Interest:
Lloyds savings a/c
November £3.20
December £2.90
January £3.10
Unity Savings a/c £19.66
- Balances at end of January:
Unity £3545.92
Lloyds: £7749.13
Refund of VAT to be reclaimed at year end £1162.49
- The Councillor audit for the last quarter of 2025 was completed by D Lofthouse and can be viewed on the website.
8. Planning applications: Application Number: WL/2026/00048 Valid Date: 12/01/2026
Proposal: Planning application to remove existing sunroom and workshop and erect
single storey extension and garage with store space.
SUNNYSIDE, NORMANBY RISE, CLAXBY, LN8 3YZ
This was dealt with at the start of the meeting.
9. Correspondence:
· Letter from Octopus energy re errors in billing
· Letter from PCC re upgrades to church
· Letter from Paul Strong re STOP sign at Normanby Rise junction and the state of the road surface. (Clerk had replied)
· Letter from Rosie deSmit resigning from the Council
10. Report from Village Hall Committee can be viewed here
11. Report from Community Field Committee can be viewed here
12. Report from Village Environment lead – none as Cllr deSmit has resigned.
13. PCC proposals for alterations to church. They are waiting for architects drawings and then will apply for grants. Action: Send letter of support from the PC on the understanding that it doesn’t have a negative effect on the other community spaces in the village (Village Hall, Viking Centre).
14. Move to gov.uk email addresses: this has been successful and adopted by all Councillors.
15.Updates to Emergency Plan: Cllr D Lofthouse has updated the relevant contact information. This to be checked before the next meeting.
16. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 19th May 7.00 for Annual Parish meeting followed by AGM of Parish Council.
Agenda items: Co-option of Councillor. Review policies. AGAR.
The meeting closed at 8.12