April 2026 Parish Meeting
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held in the Village Hall
on Tuesday 7th April 2026 commencing 7:00pm.
Those Present: Councillors T Wright (Chair), M Turner, K Beedham, T Bentham, J Cowie, E Darwood R Day
In Attendance: Cllr Bierley, Cllr Lawrence and Cllr Bean
4 members of the public
Apologies: Cllrs T Hughes, R Bedwell, M Soar and R Dannatt
Welcome and Chairman’s Report
I’m once again pleased to welcome everyone to the annual meeting of the Keelby Parish Council. I’m mindful
to note that the better we do as a council, the less noise there is in the system, so I’m delighted to report on a
quiet year and I thank my fellow councillors for their representation and hard work.
On reflection of the last year, we appear to have had another quiet but effective year, and our communications
to the village appear to be fulfilling the need – complimented of course by the new village notice board which
looks great. Our general updates also appear to have been well-received.
Having said that, I am conscious that our openness, and particularly our presence on FaceBook does allow
residents to share their views on things we should be doing better, and in response to a couple of key
contributors, I thought it would be useful to include a little bit of information on our Precept in my update.
The Council requires an annual (net) budget of c£29,000 per year to conduct its business; this cost (based on a
band D house) c£40.00 per year per household. Now, there are some people who think we should be doing
more to improve the village, but such things like cutting hedges and clearing dykes, additional gully cleaning
to address flooding issues, repairing footpaths and providing carparking on verges – to name but a few of the
requests made, cost money and would need us to increase the precept. Typically, for every £5,000 raised
through the precept would need a c17% increase which would cost each house c£6.00 per year.
I know these people mean well, and like us, want to see the village looking good, but I would remind those that
constantly snipe at what the Parish Council do (or don’t do) that we are all volunteer, and constant digs will , at
some point, wear some of us down, and we may well walk away.
On a more positive note, I’m looking forward to the Parish Council playing a more active role in organising the
Keelby Gala this year, working in partnership with the Health Tree Foundation. I’m very happy that our income
from the event will be donated to the Youth Club to help them with the good work they do.
I’m also looking forward to the completion of our project to install new seating around the village green as this
has been requested by a few residents; and we are seeking grants to help with this.
I
would like to take this opportunity to say a few thankyous, starting with out County and District Councillors.
Councillor James Bean as County Councillor has been very supportive in his first year in office. Similarly, we
always enjoy great support and guidance from our District Councillors Angela Lawrence and Owen Bierley; and
for this we are very grateful.
Over the year, we have seen some changes around the table, with Parish Councillors Sue Knight and Colin Tym
standing down, and being replaced by Councillors Jim Cowey, Tim Hughes and Ryan Day, which of course
gives us a full complement of 11 Councillors now. I would particularly offer extended thanks to Sue Knight for
her contributions over her long tenure as a Councillor.
Finally, I would again like to thank all Councillors for their hard work and diligence. And, of course, I must again
thank our Clerk, Janet Milson for her tremendous work and organisation that has kept the Council in check and
ensured we meet our statutory responsibilities, she continues to do an excellent job and deserves great credit.
Public Questions
A member of the public wished to thank the person who is now doing the planters at the war memorial, they
are looking lovely. The chairman thanked Mrs Moorcroft for doing these for many years and also her donation
and support in keeping them looking nice. They said that they were very happy with what the parish council
had achieved this year but raised concerns that residents are still having transport issues getting to appointments
especially the doctors. Cllr Darwood advised that the Louth and District Voluntary Car Scheme covered this
area so could be called upon for help with transport. This will be posted on Facebook so residents are aware.
The parish council have also made some progress on support from other councils regarding a bus service to
Immingham which will be discussed in the main meeting. The chair reported that the Roxton Practice have
reported that there is an increase of appointments at Keelby and they are being taken up very well so the
service has improved and will continue to monitor this.
A resident asked for an update on the trees on Riby Road. Cllr Bierley advised that as there are Tree Protection
Orders on these trees it was decided to take them back to last substantive reduction that they had in 2009 but
admitted that the work done is not immediately noticeable. Cllr Bean said that the Lime Trees from the bottom
up to the bend will be done this year and the ones from the bend to the A18 will be done next year. He said
that he was also very disappointed at the work done and will be taking this further with the LCC arborist.
The meeting closed at 7.15pm