2026 Minutes

Belton And Manthorpe Parish Council

Chairman - Councilor Adrian Charity, 26, Low Road, Manthorpe. NG31 8NQ

Clerk - Chris. Morgan, 10 Manchester Way, Grantham Ng31 8rr

Tel. 07758762811 
 

Minutes of the Belton and Manthorpe Parish Council Meeting held on 12th May 2026 at 7.30pm in the Old School Room, Belton
 

Present Cllrs A Charity, (Chair) J Ashford, S Thompson R Mansel S Syddall, R. Hallam

In attendance Chris. Morgan (Clerk and Proper Officer). Cllr Paul Martin LCC 
 

1)Chairman’s Remarks.   The Chair, Cllr Charity, welcomed everyone to the meeting. He then addressed the meeting stating that 2025/2026 had been a relatively quiet year as far as the Parish Council was concerned AC picked out a number of highlights for the year, as he reviewed the Parish Council’s work. There had been a vast improvement in communication with the National Trust, in particular Ian Cooper, for which we are all grateful. Work had continued at Belton House and the P.C. hoped that an improved entry/exit process could be progressed. There was a continues engagement with Alison Homes and in particular Georgina McCrae. The traffic lights at Belton Lane /A607 were progressing well and the work should be finished, as planned at the end of June. Speeding traffic on Manthorpe High Rd continued to be a source of complaint from members of the public. A Community Speed Watch initiative had been set up and the P.C. are very grateful for the local parishioners who were involved in this, but there was a need to reinstate the checks if possible. AC commented that disappointingly the Ash Tree Solar Farm project had been refused planning permission, but that an appeal had been submitted and an outcome on the decision was awaited. At the moment the PC were in active discussions re an extension to the P.C. Burial Ground, with Alison Homes and also the Car Park at the Church. Financially the P.C. is in a sound position, and monies from the sale of Constable Field the previous year could be used to fund any professional fees needed re the Burial Ground. AC thanked his fellow Councilors for their support and service, and to the Clerk for doing a good job on administration and finance.

 

2)Apologies for Absence – Cllr Sophie Cade and National Trust representative Ian Cooper, Cllr. Ian Stokes (SKDC)

 

3)Declarations of Interest – Nothing declared by anyone, and there were no matters on the agenda where any councilors present had any pecuniary interest to declare.

 

4)Minutes of the last meeting held 12h February 2022 – It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, proposed by S.S. seconded by S.T. and the minutes, were, duly signed by the Chairman and Clerk. – Matters arising – All covered by agenda items.

 

5) National Trust Update- Ian Cooper had tendered his apologies for the meeting, but had met, personally, prior to the meeting with Cllr S Syddall and had update him. Cllr S.S. gave the update – In fact there was little to report as due to finances the NT at Belton still had an embargo on any further projects. There had been no recent complaints re traffic issues. The footfall at Easter had been slightly down on previous years, but had been up at other Bank Holidays. Grantham House was still doing well and visitors there were giving positive feedback. There were no issues from the P.C. to feed back to Ian Cooper.

 

6) Finance including AGAR/Governance Forms 2025/2026 – C.M had circulated the Forms prior to the meeting. A full discussion took place re the contents of the Forms and the relevant process. RESOLVED

 6.1 Certificate of Exemption agreed by all. 

6.2 Section 1 Annual Governance Statement approved and agreed by all. 

6.3 Section 2 Accounting Statement approved and agreed by all. 

C.M. to complete and submit the relevant paperwork to PKF Littlejohn, the external auditor.

CM had circulated the Financial Report prior to the meeting. All the relevant payments were retrospectively approved, and the expenditure and income were unanimously agreed RESOLVED to accept the Financial Report. A discussion then took place re the monies in the Savings Account (£100k+) RESOLVED for CM to research Ethical and Accessible accounts that may achieve a better return than that being received at present, 

 

7) Community Speed Watch Cllr Hallam spoke to this item saying that she was disappointed that, recently, CSW checks had not been carried out and that she would be trying to reinvigorate interest in this from the local community, as the perception is that there is still a problem with vehicles speeding through the village on A607.

 

8) Planning Applications since the last meeting.  CM had circulated the relevant applications that had been received. The P.C. had objected to at least one application in Belton, but SKDC Planning had approved the application. Alison homes were planning on submitting an application to SKDC to ask about changing some of the styles of the houses, compared to those that had been approved. Cllr A.C. and C.M. to meet with Alison Homes – Georgina McCrae to discuss the proposals. It was also discussed about the proposal for a school on the Manthorpe Chase Development. – LCC were saying that at the moment the actual numbers for Primary School children were down and there was ample capacity in Primary Schools in the town, so this was not needed here at the moment. The proposal for the buildings on Constable Field was still with the SKDC Planning Dept and awaited a decision.

9)Any Other Urgent Business – CM read a letter out that had been received from Mark Morris, who currently looks after and administers the Manthorpe Burial Ground, to say that for personal reasons he was no longer able to carry out these duties. A discussion took place involving all present as to how to resolve this. AC agreed to make enqs at Manthorpe Church to see if any local people there would be able to assist. CM to research how other Parish Councils deal with this. A.C. commented that this is an important role and if the P.C. needed to employ someone to this then this should be seriously considered.

Meeting Concluded 20:43

Date and Time of Next Meeting –  7.30pm 18th August 2026. at The Church Hall, St John’s Church Manthorpe.                                                              

 

Signed    Chair………………………………………………………Clerk……………………………………………………Date………………………….