Singleton Parish Council

Minutes from Parish Council Meeting held on 26 September 2023

SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council

Held at Singleton Village Hall on 26 September 2023

Present: – Cllrs Ibbotson, Bailey and Lee and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. 

1.Apologies for Absence Cllrs Cholmondeley, Clifford and County Cllr Singleton  
2.Police Matters   The new Police Inspector has been invited to a future meeting and has acknowledged this invitation.  The Clerk will advise her of the date of the next meeting.   There has been a robbery reported on Mains Lane during broad daylight when access was gained after smashing a window.  
3.Open Forum – None  
4.Grass cutting in the Village   Andy Pawson will be retiring at the end of October.  He will be attending the next meeting and introducing his replacement then.  
5.Minutes of previous meeting held on 17 August 2023 and any matters arising-   The Minutes of the previous meeting, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairperson. Matters arising   A lot of the overgrown hedges have now been cut and the Chairperson wished to record the Parish Council’s thanks to residents for keeping their gardens so tidy and for trimming back these hedges.  A few hedges remain overgrown however, and these tend to be along fields.  A list of these will be sent to County Cllr Singleton for him to help to find out ownership.  There is a problem with vegetation still encroaching on the footpaths, making them very narrow in parts.  Cllr Singleton will also be asked for advice via LCC on this problem.Fly-tipping reported to Fylde BC of loft insulation close to Weeton Barracks.  
6.Declarations of Interest – None  
7.Planning matters and decisions – No planning applications this month. Decisions   23/0360 – Roughdale, 104 Mains Lane FY6 7LD, Single storey side and rear extension – Granted.
8.Traffic and Highways issues   Poolfoot Lane – Cllr Singleton had taken up the problems of the missing bollard with LCC and the Parish Council was very pleased to hear that the bollard has now been reinstated and also a pot hole repaired in less than two weeks.  The Parish Council expressed its thanks to Cllr Singleton for sorting this out so promptly.Mile Road – Numerous complaints received about the amount of rubbish accumulating on land down Mile Road.  The Clerk will write to the owner of the farm to enquire about this and also copy in the relevant officer at Fylde BC.SpIDs – The Chairperson and Cllr Clifford had met with an officer from LCC and decided on the location of two new poles to accommodate the SpID.  Kier are to be asked to confirm whether the new speed limit on a section of Lodge Lane is to be kept at 40mph before the poles are inserted.  
9.New By-Pass   A query has been raised by a resident about provision for cyclists along the new road.  Creating a new cycle/pedestrian route along the soon to be unused part of Garstang Road to Singleton crossroads had been mentioned at the beginning of the work, but this has not been mentioned for some time.  Kier shall be asked to advise on the present position and what plans there are to accommodate cyclists.   There is still a lot of work to do on the by-pass but plans are in place to open it up to motorists in December.  Work also needs to be carried out at Barnfield Manor to bring the access road up to the level of the new road.  This will necessitate closing off the access road, which will cause problems to all those living there, including three families with young children and people with mobility problems.  The dates and arrangements for this closure still have to be sorted out.  
10.Correspondence   Remembrance Sunday – 12th November 2023.  The Chairperson and other councillors will be attending local services.Parish and Town Council Conference – 4 November 2023 at County Hall, Preston. Cllr Lee will be attending.Walking and Cycling Survey.  This is being run until 24 October.  The Clerk will put details on the website.Morecambe offshore Windfarm.  More information received regarding proposed windfarm in Morecambe Bay.  The boundary is to be reduced to mitigate effects on other marine users.  Report received from the Handyperson that a planter has been damaged near to Shard Road.  He will replace this with one held in reserve.A Planning Forum is to be held at Fylde BC on 10 October and the Clerk and Chairperson have been invited to attend.  The Clerk will attend via a link.The Church had recently held a successful Open Day.  The Parish Council would like to offer any help in any future event of this kind arranged by the Church.          
11.Update from Fylde Borough Council   Fylde BC is taking part in a survey about swimming and other sports in the area.  There has been an increased use of swimming pools in St. Annes and this shows how popular swimming is in the area.Complaints still being received about harassment at a local caravan site.  
12.  Village Green   The Trust had asked for a meeting on Wednesday 4 October but unfortunately this clashes with existing arrangements for both the Chairperson and Cllr Lee.  Cllr Bailey will attend this on behalf of the Parish Council.  There is still a hold-up in Fylde BC recruiting a designer to work on this project.  
13.Accounts and Any Invoices to pay   The Clerk was pleased to announce that the official audit had been concluded and the accounts were found to have been in accordance with Proper Practices and no matters had come to their attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements had not been met.  Notices to this effect had been put up on the noticeboards and on the website.  The Clerk was thanked for her work on keeping the Parish Council’s accounts in good order.   PKF Littlejohn LLP – Official Audit – £252.00.  Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.KBS Depot Ltd – New noticeboard – £1,113.60.  Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.Computer Solutions IT Services – Disk system check on laptop – £25.00.  Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.Handyman – Removal, disposal of old noticeboard and installing new one – £230.56.  Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.Litter-picker – 6 weeks plus purchase of bin bags – £635.49.  Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Clerk, Salary and expenses for August/September 2023 – £296.94.  Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.   Quotation received for the removal and disposal of summer plants from all 24 planter tubs, replacing with fresh compost, pansies and springs teta tetes; replacing any damaged tubs and giving a coat of protector to the remaining older tubs – £710.  Proposed to be accepted by Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded by Cllr Bailey and Agreed.  Thanks were also to be passed on to the handyperson for the beautiful displays during Spring and Summer.  
14.Any Other Business   The new noticeboard has been installed at Poolfoot Lane and is looking very smart.There seems to be a lot of advertising boards along Mains Lane advertising businesses which have carried out work at various houses.  These are often left long after the work has been done and some are causing an obstruction on the pavement. These will be reported to Highways.  
15.Date and time of next meeting – Tuesday 24th October at 7.15pm.   As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.45pm.  

Signed ………………………………………………  Dated ………………………………

Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,

Tel: 01995 670455: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org