2026 Minutes (Full Council)

St Michaels Lane, Wainfleet St Mary,

Lincs. PE24 4HB

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of Wainfleet St Mary which took place on Monday 14th September 2026 at 18.00 in the Community Hall, St Michaels Lane, Wainfleet St Mary, PE24 4HB.

These are draft minutes and are subject to amendment until approved at the next Council Meeting October 12th 2026, at 18.00

Public: Two members of public were in attendance along with ELDC Councillor W Bowkett (WB)

Chair CA invited Cllr WB to make her report and welcomed the public to the Council meeting.

Report from Cllr WB included the following:

The Crisis Resilience Fund has been re-launched – open to over 18s with an income of under £36K – council encouraged to share details on Notice Board and web – clerk will follow up.

The Citizens Advice have a drop-in workshop at the Chapel from 09.00 – clerk will post details out as received in full.

Councillor Community funding from Cllr WB will support £500 to the Council towards the purchase of a storage container – and £300 to support the Friendship Group.

Recent events in Wainfleet All Saints were update with confirmation this will be a court case.

Further consultations with the Police indicate 3 PCSOs will be employed for local areas – Wainfleet will have some support from these 3 new positions.

The A52 repairs and the works along The Pinfold/Steeping Bank were reported on with an escalation planned to request a site visit involving the EA and the Leader of LCC.

Local Government Re-organisation has been put on hold meaning those elections for new representatives will not now be held but local elections for District Councillors will – Cllr WB confirmed she will be standing.

Chair CA thanked both members of the public for their contributions and also offered the thanks of both Council and Hall Committee for the offer made regarding storage which was gratefully accepted.

Cllr WB requested to leave the meeting at this point – all Councillors thanked her for her attendance and input.

Cllr WB left the meeting at 18.12

Chair CA opened the formal session of the Council meeting at 18.15.

1. Members Present: Chair C Alexander (CA); Cllr M Rust (MR); Cllr A Proctor, Cllr T Ward (TW); Cllr Jan Ward (JW), Cllr J Graves (JG), Cllr S Tetley (ST)

Also present – Clerk M Clarke

2. Apologies for Absence –Cllr M Rendall and Cllr P Garrard.

Apologies were resolved by all to approve and accept

3. Declarations of Interest and Dispensation Requests – None

4. Approval of the Council Minutes of the Council Meeting on Monday July 14th 2026

The minutes of the meeting held Monday July 14th, 2026, were presented as a true record. Proposed Cllr TW; Seconded Cllr JG – unanimous resolution to approve and resolve. Cllr MR signed the minutes at the request of the Chair as he presided over the meeting in July. Cllr MR signed the minutes.

5. LCC and ELDC Invitation to report on items relevant to WSM

LCC Maria Hume had sent her apologies being in a meeting already which was not due to finish in time to facilitate attendance. ELDC Councillor WB had made her report in the public session to facilitate an early departure with commitments elsewhere.

6. Community Hall report

Chair of the Committee Cllr JW gave a full report of the Committee meeting held on Friday 11th September covering the Lunch Club, Village Show and Christmas plans to date. The minutes of the meeting are available on the Council website and displayed on the notice boards. Discussion over the content of a letter received from WASTC had agreed a response which would be covered further in the Agenda under Correspondence.

7. Bus Shelter Improvements and Funding.

This item will be carried over to the October meeting as Cllr PG is currently away on holiday. All agreed to defer.

8. The Pinfold Riverbank and Repairs – A52 repairs and speed cameras.

This had been covered in Cllr WB’s report – it was proposed Council would contact LCC M Hume and request her support and lobbying in escalating this issue to a site visit and support ELDC Councillor WB in her approach to request a site visit by all parties – clerk to action. Cllr MR gave further details of the affected stretch of road and affected domestic properties

Proposed Cllr MR, Seconded Cllr TW – all resolved to approve and accept.

9. Community PayBack Scheme.

This project has come to a conclusion, and it was noted how effective it has been in providing support to the Community in fence painting, Orchard and grass maintenance and storage improvements to mention a few benefits. Clerk has been in contact to express the Council appreciation of the works carried out and to confirm a repeat will be arranged in 2027 hopefully with the inclusion of WASTC being a recipient of the scheme.

10. Youth Project

This is a new initiative led by 2 Mums from Wainfleet and currently working with Cllr WB and the Chapel’s Sue Alldread to fund a Youth Project Worker for the children of Wainfleet – The Mums had been unable to attend thus the Clerk will liaise with all participants to establish where the project is currently and report back.

8. Clerk and Finance Report – to cover August and September.

Clerk’s report - The 2 ladies who attended the last public session with a view to setting up a Youth Project have been invited back to the meeting to share the advances made to date – Cllr WB had offered her assistance to set up along with the Chapel committee who have a similar goal and project under way.

The drain issue highlighted in the public session of the July meeting has been resolved.

The trees reported by a resident have been reported to FixMyStreet and referred to LCC who have advised

“We are sorry but we are not taking immediate action with this report because the trees in question have been inspected and are not in the highways clearance zone. Thank you for reporting this matter. State changed to: Closed

Lincolnshire County Council”

The resident in question is not happy with this response as it does not address the overgrowing large branched which are as under....

“Highways isn't the issue, we are genuinely concerned about the branches falling on our fence, cars and any unfortunate pedestrians which could fall on the public footpath and in our driveway.”

This is an Agenda item under Open spaces

The new Tea Tent was put through its paces at the Village Show - payment has been received for the grant support that enabled it to be purchased. A survey of how effective it has been carried out at the Show and without exception was agreed a great addition. Surplus income from the show refreshments was double that of the show last year and the Picnic.

The Show was the biggest and best yet and covered in the Community Hall report with recommendations for future years.

Community PayBack scheme Project – this project has come to an end, but communication remains open with a view to renewing the scheme with the organisation without having to go through the Nominate a Project route. It is hoped that a joint working plan can be arranged with the All-Saints work projects that will enable a full programme of works to be completed through next year and ongoing.

The sign for the Hall Field has been delivered – agreement on where and who to site it.

A costing for a similar sign for the Play park has been requested to replace the elderly Tesco supported Play Park sign.

Request sent to tenant of the field requesting confirmation of insurance to renew the grazing agreement – awaiting a response – a response has confirmed insurance in place but waiting sight of document.

Meet the Funders workshop – the application to support the Lunch Club and management to the Evan Cornish Fund was rejected as the Hall falls under the Council banner – however advice was received the application would be retained and that once the ELIF Grant criteria was available then it would be resubmitted with their support – a full years costs have been requested plus a designated laptop and printer requested for the Hall Chair to use (currently using own equipment).

A grant application has been submitted to Platform, the LCC Councillor Community Fund and ELDC Councillor Community Fund for £500 for each application tom support the purchase of a storage container - £1500 in total – as always there is no guarantee any of these will be successful.

(Confirmation since received from Platform the £500 bid has been successful – and likewise from Cllr W Bowkett)

Wainfleet Mums arranged a hugely successful free event for residents of both St Marys and All Saints – I would like to propose an item to support Wainfleet Mums for a Community Business Award for their efforts – this is an Agenda item

LALC AGM attended – Speaker Sean Matthews – has offered his attendance at any Town or Parish Meetings – this has been accepted with a visit confirmed towards the end of the year.

A response has been received from the Clerk of Wainfleet All Saints Town council which does not address the concerns raised by the 2 Chairs and merely confirms correct procedures have been followed at all times without indicating what those procedures were.

The Clerk has since resigned from the Council and the letter received does contain errors – this is on the agenda under Correspondence for discussion and agreement on the course of action to be followed.

Finance report – 

The Finance and Budget reports were presented for approval – proposed Cllr TW, Seconded Cllr MR – all resolved to approve.

The Payments were presented for approval – proposed Cllr JW - Seconded Cllr MR – all resolved to approve.

The Banking reconciliations were presented for approval – Proposed Cllr TW, Seconded Cllr JW– all resolved to approve.

Funding Opportunities – An update on Funding opportunities was provided with funding being sought from ELDC Councillor Community Grant scheme, Platform Community Chest, the LCC community Fund and the newly launched East Lindsey Legacy fund.

10. Working Group Reports.

Agricultural Holdings/Allotments – Report from the Group Chair MR confirms they all are in a good state of management. One dyke on Sea Lane will need cutting back before the dry weather comes to an end – the drone report was viewed by all and confirmed all in order with just one dyke that will require cutting back – clerk will contact tenant.

Grass Cutting, Trees and Hedges Trees in St Michels’ Lane are still waiting to be managed. The trees in Vicarage Lane are the subject of concern and covered in the Clerks report. Contractor to be approached to ask if willing to submit quote for 2027 – agenda item for October. Clerk to forward concern over Vicarage Lane trees to LCC for support.

Play Area – Repairs as planned have all been completed. The Picnic tables are collected – the games have been removed due to vandalism. Surface repairs will be consulted on – A new Notice Board has been suggested – clerk will obtain final costs prior to approval. Moles are evident – clerk will report and seek contractor to manage.

The vandalised Notice Board will require some TLC – Cllr TW will liaise with Cllr PG for advice.

Consideration for a new Play Park Sign promoting the Play Area and with the updated contact details using the same branding as the Jubilee Orchard and Hall Field – Clerk to obtain cost and agree appropriate wording for the next meeting.

Community Hall – report received from Cllr PG confirmed all is in order. Defib is checked and in order – cabinet cleaned.

Open Spaces – Pathway along side the Orchard has overhanging branches from a neighbouring property – Cllrs JW and TW will speak with resident to seek agreement/permission to trim back.

New sign for the Hall field has been received and ready for installation – Clerk will arrange contact and siting.

The Grazing agreement for the Hall field has been renewed for a further 12 months – Clerk waiting return of signed agreement.

11. Correspondence.

Response from the Clerk Wainfleet All Saints Town Council to the letter sent to the Mayor/Chair of the Council by the two Chairs of the WSM Council and Community Hall Committee.

This was debated and discussed and the approach agreed to respond to Wainfleet All Saints Town Council indicating a line would be drawn under this with certain proviso being in situ.

All agreed - clerk to draft letter for approval.

12. Date of next meeting. Monday October 12th

13. Items for inclusion in the September meeting

Quotes for bus shelter improvements

Any further Response from LCC on A52 improvements and the repairs to the riverbank.

Further information and update on the proposed Youth Project.

Grass Cutting Contracts

Staffing Committee Terms of reference and staff Appraisal

There being no further items for discussion Chair CA thanked all Councillors for their attendance and closed the meeting at 19.17.

I certify these are a true copy of the Minutes of the Council Meeting held Monday September 14th 2026

Signed Chair Wainfleet St Mary Parish Council – Cllr C Alexander.

......................................................................................    Date........................................

Date 14th September 2026

Email:     clerk@wainfleetstmaryparishcouncil.gov.uk

Website: https://wainfleet-saint-mary.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk