SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 12 May 2026
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), and Clifford and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor Singleton and one member of the public also attended.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – None |
| 2. | Open Forum – None |
| 3. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 7 April 2026 and any matters arising The Minutes from the meeting held on 7 April 2026, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman. Matters arising Request to have a Tree Protection Order put on two banks of trees on land on Lodge Lane. The Tree and Landscape Officer at Fylde BC had looked at the trees in question but had concluded that the tree quality within the groups is variable and they would not be pursing Tree Preservation Orders for the trees at this location. He assured the Parish Council that for any planning application in the future, the presence of existing trees would be considered through the normal planning process, including landscaping and mitigation requirements where appropriate. The Clerk had responded that the Parish Council had been concerned that these particular trees were planted above a burial site for horses. |
| 4. | Police Matters The reported crimes for March 2026 were as follows: – Skippool – 1 Criminal damage, 1 Public Order Singleton crossroads – 2 Vehicle crimes, 1 Theft, 1 Violence Windy Harbour – 1 Public Order offence. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – None |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 26/0255 – 1 Miller Crescent, FY6 8LW – Erection of rear dormer. No significant observations. Planning Decision 26/0215 – Newbrook, Old Mains Lane Fy6 7LA Certificate of lawful development for proposed erection of outbuilding, construction of swimming pool and demolition of garage. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Complaints about fly-tipping are getting worse across all areas of the Fylde and County Councillor Singleton and others are looking at ways to tackle this. The fear is that it would continue to get worse. Singleton has certainly seen its share of fly-tipping with the litter-picker constantly reporting incidents to the Clerk who in turn reports these to Fylde BC. Fylde has responded quickly and the Parish Council is grateful for this, but some incidents are on private land, and the borough council is unable to clear these. County Cllr Singleton went through his monthly report: – Station Road and the metal plates on the carriageway. At last some good news that a survey is to be carried out on the culvert underneath the railway bridge on 18/19 May for a liner to be made for the culvert. It is anticipated that the work to line the culvert will take place in mid-August 2026. Lodge Lane footpath – Cty Cllr Singleton has requested the Highways Inspector to visit the damaged footway in front of 4 properties and has asked for a full report together with some reinstatement works and timescales. Lodge Lane/Station Road roundabout. Cty Cllr Singleton has asked the Road Safety Officer to consider signage or road improvements to slow traffic down at this junction. One bad accident and another near miss had been witnessed at this roundabout in the last few weeks. A head-on crash had happened on Lodge Lane this week with two fire engines and a helicopter being involved in the aftermath. The Parish Council had complained about the differing speed limits along Lodge Lane ever since work commenced on the by-pass. The speed limit goes from 30 – 40 – 20 – 60 in a relatively short distance. Moving the new speed indicator device again seemed a good option to remind drivers of their speed when entering the village. Cty Cllr Singleton would see if Singleton could borrow the large yellow speed trailer from LCC. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Cllr Clifford again complained about the mess left behind by Kier. This had been reported to Kier, together with photographs, but nothing had happened. Cty Cllr Singleton undertook to pursue this with National Highways on receipt of these photographs. The Clerk will see if she still has these on file. |
| 9. | Update from Fylde Borough Council There is only one year left before the new unitary authority will take over from LCC and the Borough Councils. It is still most likely that Fylde BC will be merged with Wyre, Blackpool and possibly Lancaster councils but a final decision has yet to be made. This is having a knock-on effect with recruiting officers for council jobs and several long-standing officers at LCC have already asked for early retirement. As a result the area will lose a lot of experience. Work is continuing on the Local Plan. Initial sites proposed for Singleton would have meant over 2,000 houses being built, but most of these sites have been turned down on various criteria such as flood plains etc. There will be many months of public consultation before a decision is reached. The Clerk had been contacted by Fylde’s Waste Minimisation Officer who wanted to attend a future Parish Council meeting in the summer to give a short presentation and open discussion around the new food waste collections being brought in from Autumn 2026. The Parish Council was happy for the officer and her team to attend a future meeting and the Clerk will arrange. |
| 10. | Correspondence Letter received from the Gala Committee regarding this year’s Gala which takes place on Sunday 28 June. Again a marquee would be hired with a family fun night taking place on Friday 26th June, followed by the actual Gala on Sunday 28 June. Cllr Lee proposed that a grant of £350 be donated to the Gala Committee to help towards the cost of hosting the Gala. This was seconded by Cllr Clifford and agreed by Cllr Carruthers via email. Information received from Lancashire Resilience Forum on preparing for emergencies. This is now on file. |
| 11. | Vacancy on the Parish Council The Parish Council now had two vacancies as Cllr Carruthers had now stepped down as parish councillor and would not be attending future meetings. The Clerk will start the formal proceedings with Fylde BC who will advertise the vacancy. As regards the vacancy which arose following the retirement of Cllr Bailey, this had been through the formal procedure, and the Parish Council had been instructed to fill this vacancy by co-option. Much discussion about the need to fill these vacancies as soon as possible and also have representation from Little Singleton. Work will go into producing a leaflet which will be distributed throughout Little Singleton asking for interest from residents. |
| 12. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay Cheque for £759.98 received from Greenhalgh Parish Council for half payment of the hire of the Eurobin from Fylde Borough Council for the 2026/2027 period. received from the Handyman for the clearance and disposal of plants in the winter tubs and replacing with summer plants, new compost and watering a week later. This would be £797 for all 24 tubs. He also offered two additional waterings and feedings at a cost of £60. Cllr Lee proposed that this be accepted, this was seconded by Cllr Cholmondeley and Agreed. Annual Insurance renewal – £1,108.37. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Clifford. Agreed. Handyman, Cleaning and painting of the two Singleton milestones. Price as per quotation – £331.49 which had already been agreed. The Parish Council was extremely pleased with the workmanship on these. Litter-picker – 4 weeks £443.00. This is a recurring payment and has previously been agreed. First Cut Grounds Maintenance Limited – £643.67. This is a recurring payment and has previously been agreed. Clerk – Salary and Expenses for April/May 2026 – £457.38. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Outstanding payment regarding website – £14.38. Agreed. |
| 13. | Any Other Business Covered elsewhere in these Minutes |
| 14. | Date and time of next 2 meetings – Tuesday 9 June and Tuesday 14 July 2026. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.40 pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org