SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 16 May 2023
Present: – Cllrs Ibbotson (Chair), Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Bailey, Clifford and Lee and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor Singleton also attended.
On taking over the Chair, the new Chairperson, Cllr Ibbotson wished to thank the previous Chairman, Cllr Matthew Lee, for Chairing the meetings so well and for so long as well as being the elected Councillor for Fylde Borough Council. She also welcomed Cllr Cholmondeley to the position of Vice-Chairman.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – None |
| 2. | Police Matters Cold Calling – Complaints received. This was just not acceptable and there are to be no exceptions for religious groups. The existing signs need to be replaced. The Clerk will investigate into acquiring new ones.Reporting crimes and log numbers. Residents should be encouraged to report crimes to the police and to record log numbers. Sometimes these log numbers need to be asked for.Email received from the Engagement and Communications Assistant for West Division Lancashire Police asking for a contact to collate information for use in our newsletters/website. The Clerk will forward the Chairperson’s contact details.Lancashire Constabulary has exceeded the Government’s recruitment targets and recruited an additional 612 police officers.The Commissioner has secured £745k new funding to tackle domestic abuse. |
| 3. | Open Forum – None |
| 4. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 18 April 2023 and any matters arising: – The Minutes of the previous meeting, having previously been circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the former Chairman, Cllr Lee. Matters Arising Quotation received from Andy Pawson to repair the damaged grass verge on Mains Lane, which is subject to a Police investigation. This was £125 plus vat.Price to follow from Handyman regarding fastening down the bench in the play area.Fly-tipping. The area next to Barnfield Manor has now been cleared but more fly-tipping has appeared on Lodge Lane. This has been reported to Fylde BC. Complaints also coming in about a growing amount of rubbish accumulating on Mile Road.Coronation mugs. 21 mugs have gone to the school and the remaining ones were raffled by the Gala Committee at a Coronation event. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – Cllr Clifford re planning application 22/0772. Cllr Clifford took no part in the determination of this application. |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 22/0772 – Land to the rear of Briarfield, Lodge Lane, FY6 8LT – Demolition of existing stables and erection of one detached dwelling including formation of new vehicle access onto Lodge Lane. The Parish Council had no specific observations to make on the proposal. Planning Decisions 22/0886 – Granvin, 137 Mains Lane FY6 7LD – Demolition of existing dwelling and erection of replacement dwelling – Granted. 22/0880 – Brook Cottage, Garstang Road, FY6 7SX – Alterations and extensions to dwelling including raising of ridge height – Refused. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Problems with the safety of the bus stop at the corner of Shard Road. Because of the roadworks there is not enough room for 2 lanes of traffic and some of the heavier vehicles are coming onto the pavement thus endangering lives of people standing at the bus stop. On advising Kier of this problem, they immediately put up cones protecting the bus stop.Some concerns about the new junction at Shard Road of the A588/A585 whereby any plans to filter traffic going from Poulton to Shard Road would make it extremely difficult for traffic trying to exit that stretch of Mains Lane if there is to be a continuous flow of traffic. Cty Cllr Singleton and Cllr Bailey would like to be included in any emails/discussion with LCC, Highways and Kier about future proposals.The Speeding meeting with the Deputy Crime and Police Commissioner will include Little Eccleston, Staining and Singleton volunteers. Elswick and Weeton are fully established and working very well. The meeting is arranged for 6.30pm on 15 June 2023 at Staining Village Hall. Cty Cllr Singleton distributed 300 wheelie bin stickers and one more banner displaying the logo `slow down and save lives’.Cty Cllr Singleton has arranged for the gullies on Grange Road to be inspected. |
| 8. | New By-Pass A letter has been sent out from National Highways advising of the delay in the planned opening of the new by-pass. This is due to them having to divert a major water main and challenging and complex ground conditions between Garstang New Road and Mains Lane. The planned opening of the bypass is now winter 2023.Complaints made about the lack of signage regarding the closure of Lodge Lane. From the roundabout in the village there is just a sign that reads `road closed’ whereas access can be made to Singleton Hall and Barnfield Manor from here. As a result, deliveries have not been made to households there. Also, this would be a real problem for any emergency vehicles needed.Not a lot of information coming out from Kier about plans at the moment, it seems to be a wait and see situation. Cty Cllr Singleton will try and organise another meeting so that all these issues can be discussed fully. |
| 9. | Correspondence Letter inviting Parish Council Chairs to the Annual Meeting of Fylde BC on Wednesday 24 May. Cllr Ibbotson would like to attend.Letter from Gala Committee asking for support in the form of a donation towards this year’s Gala day which will take place on Sunday 18 June. Cllr Ibbotson proposed that £300 be granted. This was seconded by Cllr Lee and Agreed.Quotation received from the gardener and handyman for the planting out of the 24 tubs around the parish. These will be planted with fuchsias, begonias and lobelia. The total cost of removal of old plants, new compost and new plants for the 24 tubs would be £768. This was proposed to be accepted by Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded by Cllr Clifford and Agreed. |
| 10. | Update from Fylde Borough Council Congratulations to Cllr Lee on being re-elected as the Fylde Borough Councillor for Fylde Rural North. This new parish will include Singleton, Greenhalgh, Esprick, Weeton, Little Eccleston and Elswick and there will be two councillors covering this area, the other one being Cllr Paul Hayhurst. Work in regard to the Village Green will be actively pursued now that the local elections are out of the way. |
| 11. | End-of-Year Accounts to 31 March 2023 The Clerk presented the annual accounts to the meeting, which were to be passed on to the internal auditor. The formal AGAR forms had been completed for the Official Auditor and these were agreed and accepted by the Parish Council and duly signed. A statement was presented to the meeting showing a total income of £26,485 and a total expenditure of £25,671. The monies carried forward to 2023/2024 financial year are £42,449. A full balance sheet will be put up on the noticeboards and the website. |
| 12. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay Annual Insurance £1056.06. This includes Insurance Premium Tax of £107.79. Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.Litter-picker – 4 weeks – £379.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Clerk, Salary and Expenses for April/May 2023 – £374.79. Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Clerk, Reimbursement for paying Data Protection fees to ICO – £40.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed. |
| 13. | Any Other Business Noticeboard on Pool Foot Lane is in a terrible state of repair and needs replacing as soon as possible. Proposed a new one be purchased like the one at the Village Hall, Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Cllr Clifford expressed concern about the bus shelter near to the garage and wondered what could be done to improve it. He had visited other areas with bus shelters in much better conditions. He would like to add improvements to this bus shelter onto the Parish Council’s wish list.Cllr Clifford also expressed his wish for the Parish Council to encourage memorial benches around the parish. These could be made in reclaimed plastic which would be maintenance free. The Parish Council would have to apply to LCC in the first instance to ask permission to site a bench in a particular spot. It was agreed that Cllr Clifford would draw up a list of suitable sites and Cty Cllr Singleton would take this to LCC to see if they would agree for any or all of the sites. Cllr Clifford would report back to the Parish Council.Overgrown hedges which are obstructing public footpaths. These should be reported to LCC who will issue a letter requesting the owner to cut back the hedges. If the owner refuses, LCC can employ someone to cut them back and send the bill to the owner. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting – Tuesday 13 June 2023 at 7.15pm. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.00 pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 01995 670455: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org