March 2026 Minutes
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting, to commence at 7:30pm on Monday the 9th of March in the Village Hall, Barrier Bank, Cowbit.
Anthony Casson
Andrew Woolf
Raymond Condell
7 members of the public
• Welcome by Trevor Tyrrell, Chairman of Cowbit Parish Council.
• Introductions.
• Chairman’s opening remarks and report on the current year and aspirations for the coming year.
New village sign has been purchased and will replace the old one once it has been painted.
Looking to place 2 cows either side of the A16 roundabout on the splays of Stonegate.
We will put this option forward
We will be spending a lot of money on updating the Park facilities through funding.
• Brief reports from County and District Councilors.
Budget set 2.9pc going up 119M road budget for the whole road network in Lincolnshire
Increased the work gangs to get more potholes repaired
Changed the process of repairing potholes – cut and fill with edges sealed properly. Takes more time and costs more but should last longer.
Barrier Bank closure – survey back and meeting with the team on the 16th for an update. No money in budget for this year – closed for the foreseeable.
Will notify the PC with any update.
LGR Govt have 4 options for Lincolnshire – LCC website has links to comment on the options.
Q: about potholes on the A16
A: larger holes are being filled, but smaller holes are being left for now.
Q: Cllr Woolf really large pothole just before Crowland roundabout
A: Report on FMS
Q: Applegreen to Boston no potholes, but to Peterborough full of potholes. Did we get a dodgy bit of tarmac?
A: Surface layer doesn’t seem to be bonded – will find out and get back to the PC via the Clerk.
Chairman stated that the surface was made to reduce noise, so there were no claims for compensation.
Q: Mill Drove North shut to put a tarmac patch outside Elm Tree Farm but a steep edge either side of it. Why was this deemed more important than the other potholes which can throw a vehicle into the ditch?
A: Will find out.
Q: If Mill Drove North is deemed to be a dangerous road, why are the school busses being directed down there?
A: Will find out.
Cllr Casson
Cabinet for Public Protection
Licensing, Planning Committee
South Holland & W&D Drainage Boards
CCTV Cameras and Kingdom, enforcement for fly-tipping, littering, etc.
Difficulty in getting details for fly-tipping.
Spalding, Holbeach and Crowland all monitored in Boston Police station.
Phone Police and they can track people.
Kingdom outside company who we have a contract with – extended for another 2 years
Graffiti 500
Fly positing 500
Littering 500
Fly tipping 1,000
Food inspections 942 premises inspected depending on their rating
High percentage of 3 and above (all last years’ figures up to the end of December)
167 service inspections (if reported)
Noise complaints – majority are dogs, closely followed by music.
An App can be put on phone to mon
332 premises licensed including Taxis and Private Hire cars.
Dog breeding, Catteries, Horse riding
Gambling
Dog Warden 117 stray dogs
510 planning applications to consult on.
Go out with Kingdom a couple of hours a month – cover the whole of South Holland.
If you have a bad area, let us know and we’ll come out.
Abandoned vehicles also come under their remit.
Vehicles need to be kept in a compound if ownership cannot be
Q: How successful is this contract?
A: Doesn’t cost the Council a penny, the Council receives 10pc of their fines which has to be spent on equipment to help with their work. E.g. solar panel with camera in a fly tipping hot spot.
Q: How do you know that they are being honest about the amount of fines?
A: All tickets are logged instantly and SHDC collect the fines.
Q: Why are SHDC and Kingdom scoring so low on percentage of prosecutions? What are other councils doing that we’re not?
A:
Chairman stated that he’d witnessed a van throw a black bag outside of their window into a field. He contacted SHDC and was told that someone would get back to him, but no-one did. It took at least 10 minutes for someone to answer the telephone, and when questioned about it was told to report it online.
Q: Wheelie bins will be restrictive as to how much can fit into it, which could lead to more fly-tipping.
A: Easier for Kingdom to issue fines for things like early representation, as the bins have the house numbers on them. No side bags, only what is inside the wheeled bin.
Q: Vehicles parked on the pavement.
A: Should be reported to the Police.
Cllr Woolf
Yellow lines in Holbeach High Street followed a Police car Police stated it’s not
Planning
Chairman of Policy Development Panel ( one of scrutiny panels)
Bins: referendum 49-51 in favour of bags, but the Govt have dictated due to food waste needing to be collected.
Policies from Boston arrived on 9 pages.
Spent over 3 hours pulling it to pieces and ask
Food caddy = weekly
Black bag waste = fortnightly
Paper and card = monthly
Lots of questions were asked about various scenarios.
September/October
SHDC Council Tax around 3%
55% of the SHDC part of the Council Tax is for the Drainage Boards.
LGR is coming
Ward Budgets are there if you have anything you’d like us to contribute to.
You can park on double yellow lines if you are dropping off or loading. 40 mins or 20 mins.
• Brief reports from other local bodies and organizations.
Martin was asked if he would like to say anything about the CSW.
Recruited 2 more volunteers; 1 trained but the other requires training.
Started 8-9 years ago and were reporting quite a number of speeders, now very few.
• Questions from the public.
Q: Why wasn’t Mill Drove North closed off when the A16 was built?
A: Because there are places down there that needed to be accessed from the village. If Mill Drove North was closed off the traffic would need to go through Moulton Chapel and past the Weston Hills primary school.
Left turn out and right turn in, but this wasn’t done.
Problem with Mill Drove is not the junction with the A16, it’s at the crossroads.
The PC have been pressing for speed limit reduction and/or traffic calming measures since the A16 was built, but the representative from LCC at that time stated that the only way you would get that is if there was a fatality.
Resident of Croft Close asking who owns the hedges adjacent to their fences.
Management company who look after the communal space.
Drainage Board trim their side of the hedge, but wouldn’t cut the top.
Action: Clerk to respond to the resident.
Footpath broken away at number 7 Backgate, Christine Kitchen
Report to Cllr Condell
• Meeting closed at 20:50