Not Yet Approved Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting on 11 May 2026
LONG BENNINGTON ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
HELD AT ST JAMES’S HALL, LONG BENNINGTON
Not Yet Approved MINUTES of the Meeting
Held 11th May 2026 at 7.00pm
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Present: Approx 60 parishioners, including Parish Councillors.
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Welcome from the Chair of Long Bennington Parish Council |
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Everyone was welcomed to the meeting and referred to the attached minutes of the last meeting on 12th May 2025. Following referral to attendees, it was RESOLVED that the minutes should be signed as an accurate account of the meeting.
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Presentation from Parish Council Chairman |
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The Chairman provided a written report which is attached below and published on website. The speaker for the evening – Chris Stradling from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, was introduced and gave a presentation on the aircraft and people who make up the BBMF.
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District Councillor Paul Wood SKDC |
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PW introduced himself and advised he was on various sub committees of the District Council including planning. He advised that the District Council have responsibility for services such as waste collection, planning and environmental health. Local Government reorganization was referred to, in particular the plan for unitary authorities. Parish Councils were not impacted but district and county councils would be abolished and replaced by unitary authorities. It was unclear how many Lincolnshire would have. The structure for Lincolnshire should be announced in the summer with elections taking place in 2027 although the district councils would not be abolished until 2028. It is unclear how the overlap will work. SKDC was visited recently by government bodies as part of this process. There is increased pressure on councils to approve planning proposals especially for residential purposes, given government targets.
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County Councillor Ken Bamford |
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Ken Bamford was unable to attend but provided a written report which is attached below and published on the website.
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Q&As Progress with yellow lines in the area of the school and Church St junction. The Chairman confirmed the plan was already published and advertised by LCC, with notices put up last year in the village. On a recent village walk this was raised again with Rowan Smith from LCC and also the state of some of the paths in the village, especially on Main Rd. Positive comments regarding the new path on Church Street.
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Closing Remarks In the chairman’s closing comments reference was made to the great work all the village groups do and many were represented at the meeting. The Chairman of the Patients Participation Group provided a written report for residents. |
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The meeting ended at 8.03pm |
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Chairmans Report for Long Bennington Annual Parish Meeting
11th May 2026
The Parish Council has had a busy year which I will try to summarise in the note.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that in the continued effort to improve communication the Parish Council has a Facebook page specifically for this purpose so please check it out and follow us to keep up to date with local news. Our website is also a good source of information regarding Parish Council activities. We are also establishing a mailing list, so please sign up using the QR code below or emailing the Parish Clerk at parishclerk@longbenningtonparishcouncil.org.
FACILITIES
Many of you will know that the Parish Council owns and has the responsibility of maintaining around about a million pounds worth of property and assets in the village such as the Memorial Gardens, Witham Meadow and particularly the well-used and popular sports facility at the North end of the village. We are in fact, in terms of our assets, population and electorate one of the largest Parishes in the District.
The Playing Field and buildings are one of the biggest responsibilities for the Parish Council. This is managed by the Playing Field Management Committee, a group of volunteers, who provide invaluable support to our community in maintaining our facility to such a high standard.
The Playing Field Management Committee have completed the refurbishment of the Pavillion and now have changing facilities to meet league standards. They were funded by a combination of grant funding from the Football Foundation/ the Parish Council and a generous gift from Geoff Fearn.
The process of simplifying the ownership of the Village Hall into the Parish Council rather than split charitable ownerships has been an onerous task and is still ongoing, but we appear to be nearing the end. Our ongoing thanks to Councillor John Leventhall and Jim Gould for their sterling work.
WITHAM MEADOW
Our younger residents regularly continue to visit with School and Pre-school.
We have an exciting plan to significantly enhance the facilities for the children at the meadow and we hope to be able to confirm details in the coming weeks. Thanks to Councillors Steven Maxwell and Martin Rose for all their hard work on this project.
ROAD SAFETY
Road safety and parking etc continue to be a focus of the Parish Council.
Councillors have regular meetings with our County Councillor and staff from LCC to review arrangements in the village and whilst progress can be slower than we would all like, it is important we keep the dialogue going.
Our Community Speed watch volunteers, fronted by Cllr Andy Taylor, always needs more volunteers, but at least is back operating in the village with a team of fully trained volunteers. Hopefully their efforts will see some of the speeding we see along Main Road reduced.
DRAINAGE AND FLOODING
The Flood Alleviation Scheme appears to have been successful for the centre of the village.
Some properties on Church Street have remained at risk of internal flooding. A privately funded scheme, driven by Geoff Fearn, has been designed and accepted by LCC, the Internal Drainage Board and the Environment Agency. This has now been completed.
New Groundwater sensors have been installed in three locations within the Parish and much more information will be provided at the drop in session at the Village Hall on 18 May.
COMING EVENTS
18 May - 6-8pm Drop in session regarding new flood alert system in the Village Hall foyer
19 May - 6.30-9.00pm CPR and Defibrillator Training at the Village Hall. Please email parishclerk@longbenningtonparishcouncil.org if you wish to attend
6 June - Cinema at St Swithun’s organised by SKDC
16 September – Art workshop organised by SKDC in the Village Hall.
19 September – Display of the art created on 16 September as well as by the village art group. We also hope to have a display of photos from the history of our village.
And finally……
After 15 years as Parish Clerk, Jane Evans retired from the role in January this year. Jane has been a stalwart of the Parish and my sincere thanks to her, for everything she did for the Parish over the years. We wish her all the very best for the future.
Martin Wright has taken over the Parish Clerk role. Having been a Councillor and the Chairman of the Parish Council a few years ago, he brings plenty of knowledge of our village and looks forward to working with the Council and residents in years to come.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to our Community Cleaner, John Dodwell, Parish Clerk Martin Wright, and my fellow Councillors for all their hard work over the past 12 months and invite all our community to engage with Parish Council activity in the coming year.
Cllr Mark Newton
Chairman
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Councillor Ken Bamford
Hough Division
Lincolnshire County Council
County Offices
Newland
Lincoln LN1 1YL
Email: cllrk.bamford@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Dear fellow councillors,
Hough Annual Councillor Report - May 2026
Good evening everyone, please accept my apologies for being unable to attend this evening’s meeting in person. I would be grateful if this report could be read out to those present on my behalf.
I consider it an honour and pleasure to continue to represent Hough at County Council level, putting politics aside and working to try and do what’s best for our local community and our residents’.
Over the past year we have made progress on highways repairs, including potholes, surface dressing and major resurfacing schemes, most notably on the A607. Whilst I have tried hard to prioritise our issues, we are always competing with the rest of Lincolnshire who face similar issues, against the reality of finite funding and resourcing. Please continue to encourage residents to report issues using the Fix My Street tool to ensure issues and incidents are properly logged, prioritised and resolved as quickly as possible.
On flooding and drainage, we have secured additional investigations and maintenance work in the most vulnerable areas, with further improvements planned. It is fantastic to see volunteer residents’ using the Rivercare scheme to litter pick and tackle issues of overgrown foliage along our stretch of the Witham.
Speeding and parking continues to be a high priority and I am committed to strengthening enforcement, exploring appropriate traffic calming measures and supporting community speed watch initiatives. There has also been a noted increase in HGV using rat runs through our small villages on unsuitable roads, which I am currently looking at in more detail.
Looking back, the highlights for me and the best results we have achieved in the last year have been where Residents’, Parish, District and County Councillors work together with a shared sense of purpose. Looking ahead, I am optimistic and fully committed to our shared goals through building on this constructive engagement and community cohesion. Our greatest strength is our unity.
Thank you for your selfless service and continued vigilance in our community, we need everyone’s eyes and ears to help ensure our area remains a safe and well cared for place to live.
I very much look forward to working closely with you all for the good and benefit of our community in the year ahead.
Call Outs
Hough Fest 2026: The very successful Hough Fest that local residents organised last year is back in 2026 (flyer attached). It is shaping up to be a great event with lots of confirmed craft stalls and will be a great opportunity for local businesses, community groups and residents to come together and share an afternoon of live music and entertainment. Your support to promote this event in your area would be welcomed.
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR): At the end of last week, LCC hosted a visit from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to discuss our proposal for Local Government Reorganisation in Greater Lincolnshire. We were able to show how our model would work in practice - being able to offer strong services over our large county, but with local input, knowledge and delivery. We reinforced that our model would simplify council services, reduce duplication and offer greater investment in priorities that matter to our residents. Having finished their consultation exercise, MHCLG are now looking at all the proposed models for LGR in Greater Lincolnshire before taking a decision. They have also been visiting district councils to discuss their proposals too.
We have been told that every area is taken on a case by case basis as to what the best model is deemed to be, and we’re expecting to hear a decision from the government in early July. For more information, see:
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/lincolnshire/local-government-reorganisation
Best regards,
Ken