May 2025 Annual Parish Meeting
Doddington and Whisby Parish Council
Annual Parish Meeting Minutes
Held at The Grain Store, Doddington Hall
12th May 2025 at 7pm
Councillor Hall chaired the meeting and welcomed everyone.
1. Approval of Previous Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held 28th May 2024 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chair of the meeting.
2.. Chair’s Report. Appendix A
3. To receive a report from representatives
Lincolnshire County Council. A newly elected County Councillor was in place and therefore no report from the previous year was received.
North Kesteven District Council. Appendix B
4.To receive a report from St Peter’s Church. Appendix C
5. To receive questions and comments from members of the public. No members of the public in attendance.
Meeting concluded at 7.30pm
Appendix A
Doddington & Whisby Parish Council Chairmans Report May 2025
1. Parish Councillors
We would like to start by offering Gill Beale our thanks for her service over many years on the Parish Council. Her dedication and hard work have been invaluable to our community, and we are deeply grateful for her contributions.
We have recently welcomed Emily Waite to the Parish Council. With her addition, we are now left with two vacancies. We hope to co-opt two new councillors this evening, which will give us a full complement for the first time in many years.
2. Road Safety
A significant development in road safety is the trial of a temporary crossing at Doddington Hall. This initiative has garnered unanimous support from residents, the owners of Doddington Hall, and the Parish Council. Local politicians have also shown their backing for this measure. Highways will now take forward a request for funding to establish a permanent crossing, although this is unlikely to be realized until 2026. This crossing is expected to greatly enhance pedestrian safety and accessibility in the area.
In addition to the crossing, the speed limit on Whisby Road, Eagle Road, Main Street, and Thorpe Road has been reduced from 50mph to 40mph to further improve safety.
3. Traffic Speed
The Parish Council has had ongoing discussions with Lincolnshire Highways about ways to reduce speed through Doddington Village. With the support of Doddington Hall maintenance team, village gates will be installed this year to provide a further visual reminder of the speed limit. Unfortunately, we must compete with many villages in the area for scarce funds for speed calming measures. The reduction of the speed limit at the Whisby crossroads is also a crucial step in addressing traffic speed issues. The new 40mph limit aims to mitigate aggressive driving and improve safety for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
4. Drainage
The Parish Council and District Councillor Briggs recently met with residents and Lincolnshire Highways to discuss measures to improve drainage on Whisby Road. A short-term solution was suggested, and a larger scheme will be evaluated by the major works team. However, as always, we are competing for a small pot of money. Drainage remains a critical issue in our parish, particularly along Main Street. There have been reports of blocked drains leading to surface water running onto properties, causing inconvenience and potential damage. The Parish Council is committed to fighting for effective drainage to prevent flooding and maintain road safety.
5. Environmental Impact
The environmental impact of local developments continues to be a priority. The proposed extension of Whisby Quarry has undergone an Environmental Impact Assessment, considering factors such as flood risk, drainage, and impacts on the local landscape and biodiversity. The restoration plan includes creating water bodies, grassland, woodland, and agricultural areas, which will support local wildlife and enhance the natural beauty of our parish.
Additionally, the Parish Council has invested in new LED street lighting, which will reduce electricity bills overall. We have also purchased a thermal imaging gun to allow residents to check their homes for drafts and ill-fitting windows and doors. This initiative will go live this autumn and aims to help residents improve their home energy efficiency.
Appendix B
District Councillor Report Annual PC Meeting May 2025
The year has been a challenging one we are anticipated a number of difficulties and concerns for the future.
North Kesteven Council has managed a prudent financial regime and entered 2025 with provision for a stable and reliable financial future. Accepting the vagaries of external impacts (political & financial).
By 31st March 2026 all councils will be legally obliged to provide and use a food waste bin (not another bin we hear you cry!), this will be collected weekly.
Overall, jointly, or at least one of us, have tried to attend all the Parish Council meetings throughout the year to contribute, advise and support wherever we can. This will obviously continue.
A number of communities in our Ward have experienced ongoing impacts with recent flooding, many of which remain unresolved: despite considerable efforts from residents and councillors. Inter-agency collaborations leave a lot to be desired.
House building continues over the whole of North Kesteven, NKDC follow the Central Lincs Local Plan and various Neighbourhood Planning criteria. The growing impact of Solar Farms will inevitably affect our Ward directly, with projects adjacent to our village environs. All will have our focus and involvement; some however will only be on an advisory basis- those over 50MW are National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) Permission for these rests with the Government and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. This also applies to the new Anglia Water Reservoir proposal in the South of the County. 2025 will see major changes in our community structures with the new elected Mayor for a Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCC) which consolidates transport, adult skills (budget responsibility from 2026), homes and communities, economic growth, and the environment.
Also, over the coming years, 2026 onwards there are likely to be MAJOR changes with Local Government Re-organisation (LGR). As you may be aware, despite expressions of collaboration and common discussion, , disappointingly, most County, District & City Councils have developed their own submissions to Government. On balance we feel that NKDC’s combined submission meets most of the Government guidelines. However, the final decision is not ours. What is apparent is the dissolution of the & District councils & significant reductions in representative Councillors. Not, we feel, necessarily in the best interests of our residents and contrary to the idea of closer representation!
Given all of that, we, as Independent Councillors, will continue to represent the best interests of our residents devoid of any ‘party affiliations or political bias.
We wish all our Parishes success in their local community projects and initiatives and an improving one within their future expectations.
Regards Councillors Richard Johnston & Chris Goldson for Skellingthorpe, Eagle & Swineshead, North Scarle & Doddington & Whisby.
Appendix C
Report on St Peter, Doddington – May 2024-May 2025
I continue to be very happy in my role as Rector of Skellingthorpe and Doddington and am thankful to God for bringing me to work with the interesting, measured, conscientious and kind members of Doddington PCC! A particular thank you to Frances who continues to give so much; particularly when it comes to our services throughout the year.
Services
Attendance at services really does fluctuate between 4 and 20, thought this year things doubled at Easter with 24 at Good Friday and over 40 at Easter Day. The infrequency of services does mean it is impossible to build momentum as a ‘typical’ parish church or church family. The services complement what goes on at St Lawrence’s and a number of the church family there are grateful for the opportunity to connect with a more traditional style.
Carol Service
Our carols by candlelight service this year was a bit of an anomaly! The same advertising via the Hall’s social media but with a bumper (and somewhat unsafe) result! We’ll continue to utilise the Hall’s reach and social media but put in place a limit on numbers and take further measures to be safe when it comes to candles.
Weddings
Wedding ministry through St Peter’s dovetails well with ministry at St Lawrence’s. For example, one young man married last year and one young man being married this year have joined my ‘darts and discipleship’ group on Wednesday night. Each had an important church connection from the past and their seeking after God has been rekindled.
How I see things evolving
A number of positive scenarios play out in my mind:
1. As St Lawrence’s continues to grow (currently between 70 and 80 on a Sunday morning), we will need to find a solution to the building becoming uncomfortably full. If we found a way to train a curate or employ an associate minister with a view to plant on, then it could be that in 5 years’ time we send a group into St Peter’s who are sympathetic to a more traditional style and can see the huge potential of the attraction that is Doddington!
2. St Peter’s becomes a place primarily for events that suit the setting and contain clear explanations of the good news of Jesus. The Hall would take on maintenance costs, but we would be clear about the vision staying in the hands of the Rector and PCC or Rector and ‘friends of St Peter’s’.
Upcoming events
On Saturday 12th July we will have a summer concert with music provided by the Cathedral Consort Choir and a short half time ‘summer address’ by me as a way of sharing the good news of Jesus.
Please be advised that these are notes of the meeting taken by the Parish Clerk and cannot in any way be regarded as official minutes of Parish Council proceedings until approved and signed at the next meeting.