SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 16 December 2025
Present: – Cllrs Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Bailey and Carruthers and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor Singleton also attended along with two members of the public. Cllr Cholmondeley took the Chair for this meeting.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence were received and accepted from Cllrs Lee and Clifford. |
| 2. | Open Forum The two members of the public voiced their concerns about a planning application for 5 houses adjacent to their property. They and their neighbours all shared the same concerns and had written to Fylde BC Planning Department to bring them to their attention. Whilst they did not object in principle for some houses being built on this land, their concern was that the proposals would result in their homes being overlooked by much larger buildings, a garage being built right up to the boundary wall of one property, drainage problems being caused and uncertainty as to how drainage from the new properties is going to be sorted (all the properties in this area are on septic tanks) and concern about asbestos being in the old building which is to be demolished. This particular planning application had come before the Parish Council before when the original proposal was for more houses to be built on the site. However, the Parish Council’s main concern at that time was that the risk assessment document had not included the risk of asbestos on the site, only agricultural contamination. The Parish Council still feels strongly that a full inspection of the site to include the presence of asbestos should be conducted before the demolition of the old farm buildings and not afterwards. The Parish Council would be submitting its own concerns to Fylde BC. |
| 3. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 13 November 2025 and any matters arising – The Minutes of the previous meeting, having already been circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Vice-Chairman. Matters arising SpID (Speed Indicator Device) – The faulty SpID has now been removed and taken away for repair. A new SpID has arrived and will be installed somewhere in the parish very shortly. |
| 4. | Police Matters The crimes reported for Singleton parish during September 2025 were as follows: – Six crimes for Singleton made up of 2 Anti-Social, 1 Criminal damage, 1 Public Order plus 2 other crimes and two crimes for Windy Harbour of violence & sexual offences. Cllr Bailey had contacted the Police to report that there had been two incidents of strangers wondering around his and his neighbours’ properties at night a few days ago. Images had been caught on CCTV including a full facial image of one of the men. However, despite having spoken to an officer and been assured that officers would be in attendance, no one has been near and he found this extremely disappointing. The Clerk was asked to write to the Police about this matter. County Cllr Singleton informed the meeting that Teams meetings have now been set up by the Rural Task Force Sergeant at Kirkham between the Police and Parish and Town Councils and that these have been very informative and helpful. Parish Councillors were encouraged to attend, and the Clerk will circulate information to all when details of the next meeting are received. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – None |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 24/0491 – Residential development of 5 dwellings with associated access, parking, drainage infrastructure and landscaping following demolition of existing dwelling and agricultural buildings – The Parish Council is still very concerned about asbestos being on site and is also concerned about drainage and how this will affect neighbouring properties. 25/0685 – Mains Hall – Erection of single storey building to provide bridal preparation and meeting space – No significant observations 25/0650 – 29 Mains Lane Singleton – Application to vary conditions on approved plans of planning permission 24/0261. The Parish Council is concerned about the number of planning applications being submitted for this site. There have been a lot of changes from the original plans for which permission was given on appeal. Concerns also about neighbouring properties being overlooked. Planning Decisions: – 25/0408 – 8 Wyre Grange, Lodge Lane FY6 8NP – Granted 25/0542 – Ridgefield, 22 Mains Lane FY6 7LF – Granted. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Cty Cllr Singleton submitted his report which gave an update on previously reported problems such as Station Road, which is still awaiting work being undertaken by Network Rail to remove the metal plates on the carriageway under the bridge. This work will necessitate closure of the road for the works to be carried out and will be a much bigger job than originally envisaged. A date for starting this work has not yet been given. Cllr Singleton reminded members that the Love Clean Streets app should be used to report any highways problems and that there is a link to report speed concerns, namely https://lancsroadsafety.co.uk/submit-concern/ The Clerk had used this link to report speed concerns along Garstang Road East in October. Fly-tipping has been a big problem during the month and National Highways has replaced the damaged outer gate to its compound free of charge to the landowner and has also installed CCTV to help deter future fly-tippers. In future, all fly-tipping issues in this area should be reported to National Highways. A watchful eye is also being kept on Pool Foot Lane, which has also had more than its share of fly-tipping in recent weeks. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Although the by-pass was completed some time ago, there are still a few problems, namely litter, dead trees, state of the lay-bys and still concerns about possible flooding issues and it was decided to keep this item on the agenda until the Spring to see how things progress. |
| 9. | Update from Fylde Borough Council – None |
| 10. | Village Green The Parish Council had circulated its response in regard to this now being solely in the hands of the Trust and this item will therefore be removed from future agendas. The Parish Council will now concentrate on improvements to the Children’s Play Area. |
| 11. | Correspondence Email from LCC inviting Parish and Town Councils to take part in their budget consultation exercise. This will be open for six weeks and closes on 13 January 2026 at 11:59. Information can be obtained at budgetconsultation@lancashire.gov.uk Holocaust Memorial Day, Friday 30 January 2026 at 10.30 am. Invitation to attend at the Synagogue, Orchard Road, St Annes received from Fylde BC. Councillors should advise the Clerk if they wish to attend and she will advise Fylde. |
| 12. | Christmas Cards and Christmas Lights The Christmas cards had been printed and depicted a photograph of the Church, kindly donated by a member of the Trust, and contained information regarding the Church Christmas services inside. The Clerk delivered these to Cllr Clifford, and these were sorted by him and delivered throughout the parish by Cllr Clifford and Cllr Carruthers. Cllr Clifford also acquired a Christmas tree, which can be found outside the entrance to the Village Hall, and decorated it as well as putting up icicle lights along the hedge. The two councillors were thanked for their efforts. |
| 13. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay Planting of Winter tubs – £664 – Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed Litter-picker – 5 weeks – £553.75 – Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed First Cut Grounds Maintenance Ltd – £643.67 – Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Elan City – New SpID – £3,107.99 – Proposed Cllr Carruthers, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. Annual website hosting payment – £148.98. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Forsyth and Steele – Christmas Cards and Insert – £288.80. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Christmas Lights – Reimbursement to Clerk – £59.99 – Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. Clerk, Salary and Expenses for November/December – £630.73. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business – None. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting The next meeting is to be decided and advertised but it will be at the Village Hall. This meeting closed at 9.10 pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org