Linton (South) Parish Council
Draft Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
On Monday 10 August 2026
At Linton Village Hall
Present: Cllr A Newton (Chair); Cllr M Bertenshaw; Cllr E Clark; Cllr R Williams.
In attendance: Four members of the public; Parish Clerk Rich Hunt (remotely).
1) Apologies for absence: Cllr J Gough, Cllr J Hoyle and Cllr S Jurkiewicz.
2) Declarations of Interest: None.
3) Co-option of members: None. The three councillor vacancies and PFO vacancy will be advertised via parish council (PC)-approved posters on the PC’s website, via e-mail, in Chimes and on parish notice boards.
4) It was RESOLVED that the Chair sign the Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting on 13 July 2026 as a true and accurate record.
5) Clerk’s report: The Clerk continues to seek confirmation from the Upton Bishop Daffodil Bus coordinator that a bus stop will be included at Shutton Crossroads, Linton. Herefordshire Council (HCC) are introducing a new weekly food waste collection and recycling service from September 2027. The government has decided that there won’t be any limit on how far parish and town councils can increase their precepts before the end of 2028/29. HALC training opportunities will be announced at the beginning of September. There are several companies that offer a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) revision service. The process will be relatively straightforward if the neighbourhood area designation is the same as the original plan and no boundary changes are proposed. The amount of pre-submission consultations needed will depend upon whether changes materially affect policies in the plan or not. The PC’s priority for the annual West Mercia Police customer survey remains the same as last year – i.e. tangible police involvement in enforcing road speeds in the area. Cllr Newton attended the recent HCC PC Summit remotely; slides have been shared with the PC.
6) Public submissions:
a) The Ward Councillor and PCSO were not in attendance and did not provide an input.
b) Parish Matters: The PC confirmed that they are not aware of the existence of an emergency plan in relation to wildfires.
7) Planning
a) Current Applications:
(i) It was RESOLVED unanimously to raise no objections or comments on 261901 – Land adjoining Woodend Lane, Gorsley: Approval of reserved matters.
(ii) It was RESOLVED to object to the application 261921 – Little Woodend Farm, Linton (residential development of the site) with three councillors against and one in favour. The objection is based on the same criteria that applied to the original application 242923, i.e. non-compliance with NDP policies BGL1 (Natural Environment) and BGL 5 (Settlement Boundaries).
b) Decided applications: The schedule of recently decided applications was noted.
8) Locality Steward and highways matters:
a) The Locality Steward weekly reports have been discontinued since the change in Public Realm Service Delivery on 1 June. The Clerk has informed National Highways that visibility at the M50 southbound and northbound junctions at Gorsley is impaired by vegetation growth, but no action has been taken yet. A parishioner has provided a £25,000 bond to HCC as surety for work he has funded to improve road safety on Cothars Pitch via a passing area on a sharp bend.
b) Bromsash speeding issues. The Roads Lengthsman has installed the three gateways and two welcome signs designed to curb road speed. West Mercia Police have assessed that there are no safe locations in the village for a Community Watch Speed team to operate, but residents are challenging this decision. The PC has reminded HCC that resurfacing work on the B4224 should include revised line painting and speed curbing measures as previously agreed.
c) Curbing speed of traffic through Gorsley on B4221. The PC is escalating through the Parish Charter resolution process its opposition to HCC’s decision not to implement a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) reducing the speed of traffic from 40mph to 30mph until the road has been resurfaced. The Clerk will raise this initially with the relevant HCC Service Director.
d) Shutton Crossroads: Nothing further to report.
9) Public Rights of Way: There has been no interest in the Linton PFO vacancy. The Clerk has not received a response from the owners of Linton Hall to a request to attend to the small trees on their property that are obtruding on the Lovers Walk footpath. The Lengthsman has installed four gates on LTR28. He now has all the gates that he ordered and has committed to completing the whole work programme within the funding approved by HCC. The PC will provide an input to HCC’s PROW Asset Register after the installation of gates, which are considered PC assets. The Clerk will consult HCC on the availability of grant funding for PROW maintenance, including clearing vegetation on the footpaths leading immediately to and from gates.
10) Lengthsman:
a) No update from the Grass Lengthsman. The Clerk has reported the fallen tree near Shutton Crossroads to the Locality Steward again.
b) The Roads Lengthsman has begun renovating and replacing local road signs as approved by the PC. Upon request, he will provide the PC with details of work for inspection before presenting an invoice.
c) Lengthsman Funding Scheme 2026/27. HCC have approved £3,048 of the PC application of £4,000 for drainage maintenance, and the full £9,500 for new works and systems. The PC agreed to use its own funds to make up the shortfall in drainage maintenance funding to ensure all the work is carried out. HCC have committed to publishing plans in November on whether they plan to fund the scheme in 2027-28.
11) Allotments: The PC approved revised annual contracts for the tenancy year beginning 1 October.
12) HCC Nature and Biodiversity grant scheme – the PC has not received sufficient notice to submit applications before this year’s deadline but will prepare proposals for future iterations.
13) It was RESOLVED unanimously to approve updated PC Standing Orders, Code of Conduct, Financial Regulations, and will consider the Assets Register at the September meeting.
14) Financial Matters:
a) Cllr Clark signed the Receipts & Payments report and reconciled bank statement for 31 July 2026. There was a bank balance of £25,938.85 with a cash balance after outstanding payments (£4,195.16) of £21,743.69.
b) The PC noted the latest Budget reports, one including HCC Grant funding, and one without.
c) It was RESOLVED to pay Richard Hunt, Clerk salary £452.16; GP Property, allotments maintenance £185.00; Terry Griffiths Contracts, installation of village gateways and welcome signs and renovation/ replacement of local road signs £1,762.80. Cllrs Clark and Williams signed the invoices.
15) Chairman’s & Councillors’ Submissions: Cllr Bertenshaw raised the dumping of toxic drug paraphernalia and other litter on Fording Lane. The PC will start to plan for another litter picking event, probably in October.
16) Date of next meeting: Monday 14 September 2026 in Gorsley Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 8:47pm.