Minutes of the Council Meeting Held in Lindsey Village Hall

Minutes of the Council Meeting held on Wednesday 21 July 2026 in Lindsey Village Hall, Church Road, Lindsey which commenced at 7.30pm.

In attendance: Cllrs. C Arthey (in Chair), R Corcoran, M Hainsworth, B Howe, J Moore, S Stroud, A Sturgeon, Mrs V Waples, Parish Clerk and County Councillor Robert Lindsay.

1. Opening Welcome and Statement

The Chair, Cllr. Arthey, opened the meeting and thanked all for attending. The statement on reporting at meetings of the parish council was taken as read.

2. Apologies of Absence

To receive apologies of absence – there were no applicable apologies of absence.
Council noted the apologies submitted on the part of District Councillor. Jamieson.

3. Declaration of Members Interest

To receive declarations of registrable, other and non-registerable interests as detailed in Appendix B of the LGA Model Code of Conduct Model Code of Conduct 2020 – there were no declarations of interests submitted.
There were no declarations of gifts of hospitality received exceeding £50.
There were no requests for dispensations for the agenda under discussion.

4. Minutes of Previous Meetings

To approve the minutes of the Annual Council Meeting of 20th May 2026 – the meeting resolved that the circulated minutes, following an amendment to Section 2 (Opening and Welcome) were a true and accurate record of the meeting that took place, and resolved for the Chair to sign the minutes, which was undertaken in accordance with prevailing legislation.

5. Public Forum

To receive a report from County Councillor Robert Lindsay – a copy of the report can be found at Appendix A. The following matters were brought to the council’s attention:
- Slow traffic Canada Cottages - Officer Report – costs £750 – could be half costed by Robert Lindsay. Bend warning signs have been replaced as part of maintenance and will be positioned next to the SLOW markings. Cllr. Lindsay agreed to investigate whether additional SLOW markings could be requested. It was agreed that the council would provide an update to the residents of Canada Cottages as to measures that had or could be undertaken to address the issues previously raised.
- A question was asked as to the status of the Suffolk Nature Recovery Plan. Cllr. Lindsay stated that the results had been produced along with a map and landowners, on a voluntary basis, were encouraged to undertake additional measures to support the plan.
To receive a report from District Councillor Leigh Jamieson – the written report, having been previously circulated was taken as read. A copy of the report can be found at Appendix B. There were no matters for onward submission.
To receive comments from the public on the agenda as published – there were none received.

6. Parish Matters

Climate Awareness / climate emergency – to receive an update / information on climate related issue coming forth – Heating Bildeston were currently looking at ways of reducing CO2 emissions. Two sites, within the Groton substation area, have support from landowners for progression of a community energy project. Next stages will be to apply to the DNO UK Power Networks to see if they would be supported.
To receive a progress report on matters relating to:
- Traffic calming and appropriate signage on the A1141 in the vicinity of Canada Cottages and Hollow Trees Farm Shop – covered under Robert Lindsay’s report.
- Traffic calming on C720 between Church Road to Lindsey Tye – following advice and clarity on the procedure from County Cllr. Lindsay, Cllrs. Corcoran and Moore agreed to review the areas alongside the criteria prior to submission of the application for a site suitability review. It was resolved that the Clerk would submit the sites direct to Suffolk County Council for assessment without the need for a speed survey. The clerk confirmed that she had received the appropriate forms for submission. County Cllr. Lindsay confirmed that he would be able to contribute towards the cost of the sign. An indication of prices was given ranging from £2,500 to around £4,000.
- Elm Cottage, The Street – District Cllr. Jamieson, on behalf of the council had once again raised the issue of Elm Cottage in terms of Empty Homes and its current status and had shared the following progress report with the council: “the Council (District) is aware of this property, and will exercise its powers where appropriate and feasible to try and resolve the situation. As a generalised observation, Babergh District Council has limited support for Empty Homes enforcement due to its budget restraints. Enforcement action culminates in Compulsory Purchase action, which is a process that takes several years, alongside the requirement of significant bundles of evidence. The action of removing someone’s home from their legal ownership is considered a serious liberty and as such the threshold for doing so is high. It also comes at significant cost to the authority, as full purchase price for the home must be paid, along with compensation to the owner, in addition to all the legal costs and fee’s. The process ultimately is length and costly. Our (District Council’s) actions are absolutely limited without funds, as enforcement action is incredible expensive, and no discretionary loan assistance is available at this time”. It was further noted that the District Council had noted that it might be possible that improvements might be forthcoming but without funding, things would be substantially more difficult.

7. Statutory Matters

There were none received prior to the time of serving the agenda.

8. Planning Matters

To consider the following planning applications:
- DC/26/01824 - Proposal: Householder Application - Extending chimney height and replacing chimney (fitting multi fuel burners to fireplaces), replacement windows and doors, replacing roof thatch and replacement of UVPC roof link structure. Location: Rose Cottage, The Tye – it was resolved to link the response to this application with that of the listed building consent application.
- DC/26/01825 - Proposal: Application for Listed Building Consent - Extending chimney height and replacing chimney (fitting multi fuel burners to fireplaces), replacement windows and doors, replacing roof thatch and replacement of UVPC roof link structure. Location: Rose Cottage, The Tye – it was resolved that the Council agreed with the Heritage Officer’s comments in raising concerns at the proposed replacement fenestration to the existing structure which was considered to be wholly inappropriate for a listed building and would not be appropriate / sympathetic to the host dwelling.
BMSDC – Council to consider submitting a response to the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Local Plan Scoping Consultation – survey deadline 5.00pm on 31 July 2026 – it was resolved that given there were no particular wider issues that would impact Lindsey at this time, council would not respond to the scoping consultation as submitted. It was understood that this was a procedural exercise which would inform the overall plan.
BMSDC – to receive the Joint Local Plan Update Presentation – all noted the briefing slides as submitted.
BMSDC - to note the FAQs document that BMSDC have put together relating to their Call for Sites exercise – the list was noted by all present with an understanding that there would be a wider consultation on the sites submitted later in the year once the initial assessments had been undertaken by BMSDC.

9. Correspondence: To Consider / Note the Following

LGR Implementation Board – to note the new website providing details of Local Government Reorganisation for Suffolk – all were encouraged to review the information provided for the latest updates. It was noted that Lindsey would be within the unitary of West Suffolk.
SALC – Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Bulletin – all noted correspondence on this matter.
BMSDC – Town and Parish Updates – council confirmed all monthly updates are emailed to Councillors for their perusal.
SALC – to note all weekly news bulletins are emailed to Councillors for their perusal. Councillors to contact the Clerk if there are any items of interest / training courses they wish to attend.

10. Financial Matters

To consider schedule of receipts received and payments made since the last meeting – Paper A – all confirmed receipt of Paper A (details can be seen at Appendix C) noting the lack of movement through the account since the last meeting.
To consider and approve the verified items awaiting authorization as per the schedule submitted – Paper B - all confirmed receipt of Paper B (details can be seen at Appendix C) - having reviewed the paper submitted, it was resolved to approve the payments awaiting authorisation for settlement via online transfer.
To consider the Council's financial position to date – Paper C – Council noted the reconciled position of £7,323.46 once the accounts awaiting payment had been settled. Councillors Corcoran and Hainsworth confirmed that they had verified the position against the bank statements and cashbook. (Details can be found at Appendix C). The Clerk reminded the Council of the expiry period for the CIL pot of £3,978.18 being April 2028.
To consider the council budget versus actual statement to end of July 2026 – Paper D – the Clerk spoke to the small variance for the period under consideration confirming that the Council had still to allocate its budget for grants and the administration budget showed overspends in staff salaries (inclusion of PAYE from Quarter 4 2025-2026) and website and email hosting (prepayment for two-year hosting agreement). Overall these were minor variations and there were no matters to be brought to the council’s attention. The Clerk asked council to consider whether it wished to allocate the annual payments as per the budget lines for the Village Hall and the PCC for grounds maintenance but it was agreed to leave consideration of the payments until September.
Exemption from a Limited Assurance Review – Council noted that having claimed itself exempt from sending the completed Annual Governance and Accountability Return to the external auditor for a limited assurance review, the submitted documentation (Certificate of Exemption) had been received by the external auditor and exemption noted.

11. Clerk’s Report

Clerk’s contract - To note that the Clerk’s contract (being based on the old style fixed terms contract template) is now out of date. A review of the contract will be carried out and brought back to Council at a later meeting to ensure that it complies with current legislation – Council noted the course of action to be undertaken and that both documents would be passed to the Chair for formal review.
Period for the Exercise of Public Rights – Council noted that the Clerk had not received any requests for information from members of the public during the period for the exercise of public rights (3June until 14 July).
Re-declaration of compliance with the Pensions Regulator – Council noted that the Clerk had completed the re-declaration of compliance with the Pensions Regulator ion 13 May 2026. This confirmed that the council had complied with its legal duties as an employer. The Clerk confirmed that she did not wish to be enrolled in a council provided pension scheme.
CIL Return 2025-2026 – to note the acknowledgement from BMSDC of the CIL Annual Return for the year ending 31 March 2026 – council noted the receipt of the submitted return with confirmation from BMSDC that all was in order.
Correspondence – the Clerk made the meeting aware that she had received letters from Suffolk Accident Rescue Service and East Anglian Air Ambulance thanking the council for their recent donations.

12. Parish Councillors’ Reports

To receive reports on village issues from councillors present:

Bramford to Twinstead Community Fund – it was noted that National Grid had launched a new community grant scheme for parishes affected by the pylon run with the current round being open until Friday 18th September. The meeting discussed the use of this funding and following confirmation that the parish of Lindsey was situated within the eligible, further details would be ascertained to enable the council to submit an application in the next round. The meeting stated that an application for Village Entrance signs would be supported.
Village sign – Cllr. Arthey provided the meeting with an update on the frame which was currently with the powder coating company in Acton for cleaning. A quote was awaited for repairs that might be necessary prior to applying two powder coats. Discussion followed as to whether the sign should be hung back on the oak post or attached to a new metal post. All were in agreement that the oak post should remain and action taken to protect the top of the post.

13. Date of Next Meeting

All meetings will take place in the Village Hall, Church Road, Lindsey.

To note the next meeting is scheduled for 23 September 2026 commencing at 7.30pm (rescheduled).
To reconfirm the meetings for the year commencing 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027: 25 November; 20 January (2027) & 10 March (2027).

14. Close of Meeting

There being no other business the Chairman declared the meeting closed 9.00pm.

Appendix A – Report from County Councillor Robert Lindsay

Doing something to slow traffic by Canada Cottages

I have sent you the speed survey that was done here which shows average speeds are 36/37mph, well below the 60mph limit. However, the costs of a lower speed limit are likely to be over £10k or so, Highways will not fund it and I can only contribute to a minority of the cost. Is it something the parish council is able or willing to fund? In the meantime, the officer who investigate the site had replaced two obscured/faded bend warning signs on either side of Canada Cottages which should help a bit.

SIDs on Church Street

This is something the parish council can apply for by themselves, no need for a speed survey. I have sent you the form you need to use. Again the Parish has to pay for the SIDS, the best ones are around £4k. I can contribute towards the cost of one of these, provided you can find sites. In my experience, and from before and after data I have seen, they are very effective at reducing average speeds.

Junction visibility at Ivy Lane

I see the verge has been cut here, but not sure if that was done by Highways. Highways are refusing to permanently increase the frequency of verge cutting here from the standard twice yearly. They say that if it is obscuring visibility, it should be put on the reporting tool, and they will inspect and do an extra cut if they deem it a problem. I see there are three reports about the issue from 2nd and 3rd July but no response as yet from Highways.

Boxford 20mph

A scheme to reduce the speed limit across Boxford was approved in principle by Highways two years ago. Shortly after I was elected Highways provided a map detailing exactly where the speed limits would go and they are now waiting for Boxford Parish Council to acknowledge that it can pay the £30k required to implement it. Boxford PC have decided to survey the village and tell me they will have a decision at their next meeting. I am fully supportive of the scheme and have written a piece, along with a map of it, in the Box River News.

Melting Roads, heatwave and climate change

Parts of over 20 Suffolk roads melted during the heatwave we saw at the end of June and in recent days in July. Highways had to use gritters with granite chips instead of salt to try to repair them but the A143 between Bury and Diss closed for about a week and will need further repairs later this summer. At this stage we do not know what the extra cost implications are of these needed repairs. Meanwhile 2,700 people across the country are estimated to have died prematurely because of the two heatwaves in May and June.

Reform cancel climate emergency

In 2019 I successfully seconded a Green motion to declare a climate emergency and produce an action plan to reduce the council’s carbon emissions. It was approved unanimously. As a direct consequence of the that, the council has come up with measures – more efficient heating systems, solar panels, batteries, electrifying the car fleet – that now save the council £3.9m a year. At the full county council meeting this month, Reform councillors proposed a motion to cancel the climate emergency. The Conservatives amended it to recognize that the climate was changing, but it did not recognize that there was something we could do to reduce emissions. The motion is similar to ones Reform, who obtain two thirds of their funding from wealthy fossil fuel interests, have passed in several authorities they control. This motion was passed with the support of Reform and Conservative votes, though the other parties voted against.

Buses and franchising

At the same meeting I proposed a motion to draw up a costed plan for a minimum level of bus service to every parish in Suffolk. All our bus funding comes from central Government so the idea was to enable us to win future funding. But this was voted down by Reform. Meanwhile the county has won £500k funding from Government to fund a feasibility study into Suffolk (or Suffolk and Norfolk) running their own bus service using franchising. Franchising works by the council setting fares and routes and paying bus companies to provide the buses and drivers. It would allow the council to use profits from the major routes to subsidise the more rural ones. Franchising in London and Manchester has driven bus passenger growth by over a third in the first few years. It is no longer dependent on having a directly elected mayor.

Reform launch £500k judicial review of three unitary decision

The county’s new leader Michael Hadwen has launched a judicial review of the Government decision to create three unitaries. The administration says this is “unlikely to cost more than £500,000”. Cllr Hadwen says he doesn’t want any change at all and his aim is to retain the districts and Suffolk County councils. He says he has ordered officers to continue working with district councils in case his legal challenge fails. However, the distraction this case causes to councillors and officers will not help ease the creation of unitaries if his challenge does fail.

Two more elections in next two years - 2027, 2028

If the Government does stick to its plan, in a year’s time, in May 2027, there will be elections of “shadow” unitary councillors – in our area for the new unitary of West Suffolk. Those elected will not actually be representing residents until the unitaries are legally created with full staff in May 2028. If Reform win their review and the council rejig is scrapped, there will still have to be elections because Babergh District Council elections are scheduled for May 2028. There is also supposed to be an election of a Norfolk/Suffolk mayor in May 2028. Though this can be kyboshed if the Reform led Norfolk or Reform led Suffolk decide they don’t want it.

Appendix B – Report from District Councillor Leigh Jamieson

New Waste Collections

The weather was favourable for the waste crew’s week, and they operated at an average 99.8% of food waste collections being made on the same day across both councils. It is worth noting that the Council have not at any stage since the commencement of the new service taken any frontline resources from other services e.g. Public Realm, which has protected delivery of other essential environmental services. The new food service collected 180.83 tonnes of food waste across both districts, an 11.7% increase on the previous week.

However, we are still working through and improving on:

Delivering the final new bins and food waste caddies
Starting to process more requests to downsize bins
New food collection drivers and loaders
Maintaining the food waste daily completion rates
Further reducing the causes which are driving the high volumes of calls and e-mails (missing or missed bins)

If residents are still missing bin, please report to the district council via email to recycling@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk advising that they have not received their new bins/caddies, include the full address – if they have no internet access, they can call the council on 0300 1234 000 (option 4). Meanwhile,

Continue to use your existing bins until the new bins arrive.
If the new green-lidded bin has not been received, continue to put paper and card into your blue bin, along with glass, plastics, metal, and cartons.
Until the new food waste bin is received, continue to put food waste into the black refuse bin.
Put out bins for collection as per the new schedule Babergh / Mid Suffolk
Change over to new system once bins arrive.
The mixed materials in your blue recycling bin, and green-lidded paper and card bin, will still be recycled.

If residents have reported missing bins to the council but are still waiting after a few days, please tell them to let me know.

New Chair appointed to Council

Cllr Lee Parker, Liberal Democrat member for Assington ward, was elected as the new council Chair at Babergh Annual Council meeting held on 12 May 2026. Cllr Lee Parker’s chosen charity is Sudbury Defibrillators, a charity who launched a mission to ensure nobody in Sudbury is more than 2 minutes away from their nearest defibrillator.

Joint Local Plan Consultation

The Scoping Consultation, which opened today (5 June) and runs to 31 July 2026, marks the beginning of an important conversation about how the districts should grow and change over the coming years. The Joint Local Plan is an important planning document that will guide decisions on housing, jobs, infrastructure, town centres, the environment, transport, and community facilities, helping to ensure that Babergh and Mid Suffolk remain attractive, sustainable, and thriving places to live, work and visit. The consultation seeks views on the key issues and opportunities facing both districts and will help inform the evidence gathering and plan-making process. At this stage, decisions are not being made about specific development sites. The consultation is asking for views on the key issues facing the area. It also seeks views on how the Councils should engage with communities and stakeholders throughout the process.

Locality Funding

I am pleased to say that I have £2000 locality funding that I am happy to use to help projects in the village. However, I have already had a couple of requests from Elmsett so if there is anything in the village that needs assistance, please let me know.

Heating Oil support

The councils are now writing to residents who heat their homes with oil and may be eligible for help but have not yet accessed it. Residents struggling with essential costs or heating oil may be eligible for a crisis payment or a specific heating oil payment. The councils’ targeted approach, in partnership with local Citizens Advice, reflects growing evidence that many households nationally are missing out on financial support they are entitled to.

Healthy start support

Families across Babergh are being encouraged to check if they are eligible for the Healthy Start Scheme. Healthy Start is a national programme which provides vital financial support to pregnant women and families with young children to help them access healthy food, milk, and vitamins. The scheme is open to those who are at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four, and who are receiving certain benefits such as Universal Credit, Income Support, or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance. Some groups, including pregnant under-18s, may also qualify regardless of benefits.

Appendix C - Financial Report

Items received since the last meeting:

Income	Description	Nett	VAT	Gross	Ref
Total Income	£0.00

Items Paid out since the last meeting:

Income	Description	Nett	VAT	Gross	Ref
Total Expenditure	£0.00

Items Authorized for Payment:

Expenditure	Description	Nett	VAT	Gross
Clerk Expenses and hours worked	525.00	0.00	525.00	BACS
Trevor Brown Internal Audit	200.00	0.00	200.00	BACS
Pear Space Domain name and email renewal	130.00	0.00	130.00	BACS
Total Expenditure	£855.00

Financial Report

Cashbook Balance	£
Opening Balance 01.04.26	6102.37
Add Income Received April – July	3257.00
Less Expenditure Incurred April – July	2035.91
Closing Balance 21.07.26	7323.46

Bank Reconciliation

Community Account Statement at 13.07.26	8178.46
Less uncleared payments	855.00
Plus unaccredited income	0.00
Reconciled Total Balance at 21.07.26	7323.46

Within the balance above are the following reserves:

(Restricted) CIL reserve	£3,978.18
Earmarked General reserve	£1,331.75
Election reserve	£836.59
Working Fund	£1,176.94
Balance	£7,323.46