All approved and draft minutes from meetings held in 2025 are listed below.
SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 21 January 2025
Present: – Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Bailey and Clifford and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor Singleton also attended. Cllr Cholmondeley took the Chair this evening.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – Cllrs Carruthers and Lee. |
| 2. | Open Forum – None |
| 3. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 19 December 2024 and any matters arising The Minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2024, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct copy by the Vice-Chair. Matters arising The faulty SpID had been sent for repair and the other SpID moved to another location. Dates for Resuscitation Training. Two dates from the list provided by the Trainer were available for use of the Village Hall. These are 18th and 27th February. The hall will be booked for these two events and information will be circulated via Singleton Chat, the website and the school will be informed. Electrical Charging Points in the village. The Chartered Surveyors representing the Trust will check on the cost of legal fees to change the current lease the Parish Council holds on the car park and get back to us. Representations had been made both to LCC and Fylde BC in regard to the complaints received at the last meeting about work being carried out close to Windy Harbour Holiday Park and this work had been halted by Fylde BC pending a more sympathetic and suitable design being finalised. |
| 4. | Police Matters The monthly list of reported crimes still incorporates four parishes of Elswick, Little Eccleston, Singleton and Greenhalgh and so it is difficult to ascertain what numbers apply to Singleton. The list provided by the Police is as follows: – Crimes reported during November 2024 – Violence and sexual offences – 18 Anti-social behaviour – 11 Other Theft – 3 Criminal damage and arson – 2 |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – Cllrs Bailey and Clifford in respect of application 24/0717 and therefore they did not take part in the consideration of this application. |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 22/0077 – Amended plans – Change of use of land to the siting of 3 static holiday lodges at Stanley Villa Farm, Back Lane, Weeton PR4 3HN. No observations. 24/0717 – Stables off Lodge Lane, Singleton FY6 8LI. Change of use to one dwelling with associated external alterations. Cllrs Lee and Carruthers were consulted via email and telephone so this could be properly considered. Objection as this development would be in the open countryside. The Clerk had asked Fylde BC about any training courses coming up in respect of planning. The Chief Planning Officer had replied that there were none planned but he offered to come to a future meeting and talk and answer questions from the Parish Council. This would be particularly helpful to the newer councillors and his kind offer would be accepted. Cllr Clifford wondered if identification passes could be made for Parish Councillors so that they could call and look at prospective planning applications and find out exactly what was being proposed. This can be done by Fylde BC and will be investigated. Cllr Lee will check with Fylde BC about this. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Cty Cllr Singleton submitted his monthly report: – Station Road – road closure this month to do ground investigation for necessary work to replace the metal plate. This is being done by Network Rail. Regarding the complaint received about work being undertaken by LCC down Windy Harbour Lane, this was stopped by a Planning Officer at Fylde BC who is to discuss this with the planning agent in the next couple of weeks. A more sympathetic and suitable design is being sought. A request has been lodged with National Highways to task Kier Highways with several issues which remain outstanding. These include a good clean up of Singleton and a letter confirming a 5-year maintenance agreement of the planting area. 128-136 Mains Lane. To exit this road is now deemed dangerous since the new filter scheme came in at the Shard Road traffic lights. A meeting has been arranged between Kier and one of the residents. New white lining has been requested on Mile Road. Anyone can report a highway issue on the “Love Clean Streets” app or on their website. Cty Cllr Singleton urged councillors and residents to do this as much as possible as this recorded problems. If no reports are received, LCC considers there are no problems. Still problems on Lodge Lane footway. This has been dismissed by Kier as their responsibility and LCC’s Highway Inspector has been asked to look at this with a view of repairing and maintaining this footway. Cllrs Cholmondeley and Clifford will have another look at the problems on Lodge Lane, which seem to be getting worse in the wet weather. Work has started on the A585 from the M55 junction 3 to Windy Harbour to install safety cameras. Back Lane, Greenhalgh will be closed from 0930 hours to 15.30 hours on Tuesday 25 March 2025 to allow fibre overhead cabling works to be carried out by BT Openreach. Several reports received concerning fly-tipping on the Lodge Lane lay-by. This has now been removed by Fylde BC, but the Parish Council is concerned that one of the lockable bollards has been removed to gain access. This has been reported to Fylde BC and its replacement will be monitored. Fibre cables for Weeton Barracks run through here and it is where BT/Openreach regularly access them. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Email received from residents of Singleton Hall Road concerning the deep ruts left by heavy vehicles. The residents had sent a similar email to Kier saying that these ruts made it impossible to walk along the roadside in safety. On looking at the photographs however, there was no footpath along this private road, and residents would have had to walk along the roadway before any work was done. The ruts had been caused by lorries when the trees had been planted by the new road. The grassed area was very wet after much rain and ruts had been caused as a result. It was hoped that an improvement would be seen in the Spring and Summer. |
| 9. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The Clerk had attended a Parish Planning Forum meeting for Clerks on 20/01/2025. The new Government is to introduce many changes in the way future planning is to be dealt with and wants to speed up the planning process by removing the minor applications from the Planning Committee. They want to see more applications determined by planning officers and for the more complex applications and strategic issues to go forward to the Planning Committee. There is a lot of uncertainty as to what changes there will be and what councils will be merged into the new Unitary Authorities. GDPR Councillors were reminded that all councils had a duty to protect personal details, including email addresses of anyone contacting the Parish Council. Residents’ names were never included in the Minutes or on any public platform. The Clerk confirmed that an annual fee is paid to the Information Commissioner’s Office in respect of GDPR. |
| 10. | Village Green Behind the scenes work at Fylde BC is continuing at pace and a full design has been made and costed. The Parish Council has put a sum of money aside for the Village Green and Singleton Trust will be putting a similar amount towards it too. The rest will be underwritten and obtained through grants. The Capital bid will be finalised in the first week in February and then be put before a Full Council meeting for formal approval. A very exciting time and this will be a great asset for Singleton. The Parish Council is very appreciative of the help and support received from Fylde Borough Council and Singleton Trust in working towards this goal. |
| 11. | Correspondence Email received from Fylde BC to say that the Asset of Community Value the Parish Council put on the Miller Arms has now ceased after 5 years. Cllr Lee will propose a Motion at Fylde Full Council to reinstate this valuable protection. Defibrillator Consumables for the older Defibrillator. NHS has currently got pads for the older defib which the Parish Council donated to a local chalet park. The Parish Council had previously undertaken to purchase these whilst still available for the older model and the Clerk will order them. Email received from a resident concerned about the amount of litter from Mains Lane to Shard bridge. The Clerk had forwarded his email to the litter-picker who will include this area in his work this week. |
| 12. | Precept for 2025/2026 The Clerk circulated a balance sheet up to 31 December 2024 together with a proposal by Fylde to precept a total of £24,463 for the next financial year. A sum of £4,746 would be deducted at source from this amount to cover grounds maintenance and general maintenance of the play equipment on the Children’s playground by Fylde BC. This would mean that next year’s precept would be £19,717 net. As reported in item 10, the Parish Council has put aside a sum of money towards the Village Green project and this is currently £20,000. This sum will most certainly rise and in view of other rising costs for grass-cutting, litter-picking, Eurobin annual fees, insurances, Clerk’s salary and expenses etc it was proposed by Cllr Cholmondeley that the Parish Council asks for further rise in the precept of 5%. This was seconded by Cllr Clifford and Agreed. |
| 13. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay The Clerk had submitted a claim for a VAT refund for 2023/2024 to HMRC for the sum of £1,638.13. This had been acknowledged on 13/01/2025. The Clerk had also sent an invoice to Greenhalgh PC for half-payment for the upgraded weekly litter collections from Fylde BC to the sum of £93.73. First Cut Grounds Maintenance Ltd. £517.68. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Clifford. Agreed. Litter-picker – 3 weeks – £320.25. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Clifford. Agreed. Clerk, Salary and expenses – £433.09. Proposed Cllr Clifford, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business Cllr Clifford brought up the need to have storage facilities for the Parish Council. The Clerk would also like to have storage facilities for the Parish Council’s records. This will be added to the agenda next month. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting – Thursday 20 February 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.15pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council, Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org
SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall 20 February 2025
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Carruthers and Clifford and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Andrew Stell, Planning Development Manager at Fylde Borough Council also attended.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence were received and accepted from Cllr Bailey and County Cllr Singleton. |
| 2. | Planning Development Manager Andrew Stell from Fylde Borough Council was welcomed to the meeting by the Chairman. Mr Stell had kindly offered to outline the planning procedures and statutory regulations which had to be adhered to when determining planning applications. This would help the Parish Council when considering the various planning applications it had been asked to comment on. Mr Stell leads a team of twelve officers in the Planning Department, including 6 planning officers, admin officers and enforcement officers. On average the Borough Council has 1,000 applications to consider each year. For these they seek views from the community and the relevant parish councils. This is a statutory requirement, and they must adhere to a legal framework. A report is written by the Planning Officer for each application to explain why they have come to a particular view. The Government asks that each application is dealt with within eight weeks. The applicant or developer is not taken into consideration – just what is proposed. The decision is based on the policies of the Fylde Local Plan, which designates areas across the borough that are suitable for various forms of development. The current Local Plan extends to 2032, but the council’s Planning Policy Team are to start work shortly on the new Local Plan to keep policies up to date and decide locations where new development is appropriate and the nature of that development. This work is important as it will ensure that the council continues to deliver the housing targets it is set by Government, as is currently the case, and so decides where development should be located rather than having that imposed following planning appeals. Still a lot of uncertainty about re-organisation and things may become clearer after an announcement by the Government in November 2025. Mr Stell then went through various applications and answered questions regarding them. If the Parish Council had any reservations about a particular aspect of a plan, the Planners would try and resolve this issue before granting permission. Mr Stell was then thanked by the Chairman for giving up his time to assist the Parish Council in this way and he duly left the meeting. |
| 3. | Open Forum – None. |
| 4. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 21 January 2025 and any matters arising The Minutes of the previous meeting, having been already agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman. Matters arising Asset of Community Value – The Miller Arms. Cllr Lee will propose a Motion at the next full Council meeting at Fylde BC to reinstate what is considered to be a valuable protection. Lodge Lane Lay-by. The rubbish has been cleared but the bollard has not been replaced. Cllr Clifford wondered if a large stone or rock could be placed there in the interim. ID Badges – Cllr Lee will check with Fylde BC to have these produced for councillors wishing to visit planning applicants on the Parish Council’s behalf. Faulty SpID – Unfortunately it was removed for examination, when it was found to be irreparable. A new one will need to be purchased. Cllr Lee will look into this. Resuscitation Training. The first session, which took place on Tuesday evening 18 February, had been excellent and well received. Rather disappointing turnout, however, as only 12 attended. Cllr Clifford will promote it again on Singleton Chat and the Clerk will put another item on the Website for the next session which is scheduled for Thursday 27 February at 2.00pm. Posters are on all noticeboards. |
| 5. | Police Matters The number of crimes reported during December 2024 for the parishes of Elswick, Little Eccleston, Singleton and Greenhalgh were as follows: – Violence and sexual offences – 13; Vehicle crime – 12; Anti-social behaviour – 11; Other crimes – 5. Notification received from the Police that a large quantity of illegal vapes were seized with an estimated value of £7,500 from a vape shop in Wyre. |
| 6. | Declarations of Interest – None |
| 7. | Planning matters and decisions 25/0033 Land at North Lodge, FY6 8LT for permission to erect two dwellings. Objection lodged. 25/0019 Manor Barn, Mains Hall. Alterations to dwelling. Mains Hall is a listed building, and the Parish Council had concerns about the front timber windows on the barn being replaced by Aluminium ones. 25/0017 – Lever Lea, 112 Mains Lane FY6 7LD – Erection of two storey side extension, two storey rear extension, detached garage and new vehicle access. No specific observations. Appeal lodged for Land adjacent to Greenways, Mains Lane, FY6 7LD for permission in principle for erection of up to two dwellings. This application had been refused by Fylde BC and the appeal will be determined by the Secretary of State. All documents will be forwarded to the Secretary of State by Fylde BC. No further comment from the Parish Council. Still concern voiced about the trees taken down, fencing removed and an embankment destroyed in front of a house at Windy Harbour. This work had been stopped by Fylde BC. Nothing has been put back or improved and more trees are now being taken out in another part of Windy Harbour Lane. The Clerk was asked to check what the current position is with Fylde BC. |
| 8. | Traffic and Highways issues County Councillor Singleton had submitted his monthly report to update members on the progress of previously reported problems. Unfortunately, the state of the footpaths is still not receiving the attention it needs, although it has been added to a future programme to cut back the vegetation that is encroaching on the footways, but this will be no earlier than April. Complaints are mounting about parents with prams having to walk in the road and this is happening on Mile Road now too. Councillors were very frustrated as they have been reporting these problems for so long. Cllr Clifford felt that the whole parish had deteriorated markedly in the last two years. The Clerk was asked to enquire from Fylde BC what the procedure would be if we decided to do our own street cleaning and verge maintenance and claim back the money they put aside from our precept to pay for a lengthsman. Potholes on Church Road. The Clerk had reported this to Lancashire County Council on their Love Clean Streets app. A report number had been given and Cty Cllr Singleton will monitor this. Blocked drains on Garstang Road East from the Shell Garage to the traffic lights on the new by-pass. The Clerk will ask Fylde BC to sweep this area. |
| 9. | New By-Pass More graffiti has appeared – this time on the brick wall by the new by-pass. Cllr Carruthers will report this and request that it be removed. |
| 10. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The main item relates to local government reorganisation. Many do not want this, but it is going to happen. Still unknown as to what form this will take. One of the good things however already to happen from devolution is that funding will now be allocated directly to Lancashire. Previously, bids for funding for education, roads, infrastructure etc were made to the Government, competing with all the rest of the country. Now any bids will be made to Lancashire. |
| 11. | Village Green Cllr Lee showed the meeting draft plans for the Village Green, which will now go for costing. It showed one entrance from the fire station and another one from the Miller Arms. It included a pond and seating areas. NW Electricity had agreed to have the bushes behind the fire station taken out, whilst leaving the existing trees as they currently are. NW Electricity (who are now the owners of the fire station) will be doing much-needed remedial work on the fire station shortly and have hinted that they may be able to offer support for the village green venture. |
| 12. | Correspondence A Freedom of Information Request has been received asking questions about the lights on the car park which were not working on Tuesday evening. The Clerk had become aware of the lights not working on Tuesday evening and had put in a request for them to be checked and repaired. The FOI request had been acknowledged, and a fuller response would be sent to the gentleman. Fylde BC Trade Waste Service. Information received that the annual charges for 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026 would be invoiced shortly. District Parish Liaison Meeting – Next meeting will be on Wednesday 26 February at Fylde BC Website provider – After many months the change of ownership of the domain of the Parish Council’s website had been completed and all correspondence and invoices will in future be sent directly to the Clerk. This had previously been sent to a former councillor. National Living Wage – The new rates for the National Living Wage will come into force from 1 April 2025. In view of these new rates, it was proposed by Cllr Lee that the rate for the litter-picker be raised to £13.00 per hour. This was seconded by Cllr Cholmondeley and Agreed. Children’s Play Area – The annual contract for Fylde BC to regularly inspect and maintain the equipment on the children’s play area to ensure continued safety was signed by the Chairman. The cost of this, which is taken directly from the Parish Council’s annual precept, will be £4,745.93 for the 2025/26 period. Play Equipment report. The findings from the report showed a Low Risk. The basket swing needed attention to the surface, and a play panel had fallen over. Fylde BC will attend to these items. The Parish Council was asked to have the picnic bench secured to the land and the Clerk will ask the Handyman to do this. Invitation from LCC to take part in the VE Day service at Blackburn Cathedral. Cllr Lee would like to attend this. |
| 13. | Electric Vehicle Chargers in the Parish The representatives of the Trust had responded that the cost of legal fees to cover any easements in the lease held by the Parish Council for the car park would be in the region of £1,750.00 plus VAT. The Clerk was asked to write to the broker who had originally contacted the Parish Council about having electric vehicle chargers installed saying that these costs should be met by the operator. |
| 14. | Storage Facilities for the Parish Council – Deferred until next meeting |
| 15. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay First Cut Grounds Maintenance – £517.68. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. PDQ – Moving SpID and transporting damaged SpID – £126.00. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Litter-picker – 4 weeks. £127.00 – Proposed Cllr Clifford, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed. Clerk – Salary and Expenses for Jan/Feb 2025 – £521.37. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. |
| 16. | Any Other Business The Parish Council had tried once before to have another defibrillator sited in Little Singleton without success. It was decided to approach the Shell Garage to see if they would be willing to house it. Cllr Clifford will approach them. Still dissatisfied with the untidy mess on the by-pass and strong feelings that this should be sorted out before it is handed over by Kier. Cllr Carruthers would like to be included in a future meeting with Cllr Bailey and Kier. |
| 17. | Date and time of next meeting – Monday 24 March 2025 at 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 10.15pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org