Singleton Parish Council
A Meeting of the Parish Council will be held at the Village Hall, Singleton on Thursday 22nd January 2015 at 7.15 pm.
(Please note new starting time)
Your presence is requested.
A G E N D A
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declaration of Interests
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 18 December 2014 and any Matters Arising
4. Open Forum – The Council will open up the meeting for 15 minutes for any questions from residents.
5. Police and PACT Report
6. Traffic Issues
7. Correspondence
8. Planning matters and decisions
9. Neighbourhood Planning update
10. Lodge Lane Lay-By
11. Up-to-date Balance sheet
12. Precept requirements for 2015/16
13. Accounts and any Cheques to Pay
14. Any Other Business
15. Date and Time of Next Meeting
19 February 2015 at 7.15pm.
Verena Henderson
Clerk to Singleton Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455
Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 22 January 2015 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Chew, Gallagher and Smith, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies – None
2. Declaration of Interests – None
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
Minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 December 2014, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
The Clerk had written once again to Lancashire County Council requesting that they attend to the footpaths on Lodge Lane, which have decreased in width due to the encroachment of the grass and weeds under the hedge, before a serious accident happens. Although an acknowledgement had been received, no full response had been received and she was asked to write to them again.
4. Open Forum – None
5. Police and PACT Report
During the period 16 December – 20 January 2015, 55 incidents were reported in Singleton. Out of these incidents, 3 were crimes with 2 being drive-offs from the 2 garages and the other crime was the burglary of a shed overnight in Mains Lane. On the same night another resident disturbed a male in their garden, also on Mains Lane. There has been an increase in fly-tipping in the area and the police have received a number of complaints about bird shooting over the Christmas period.
The Police have been placing their CCTV van in the layby by the Ashiana Restaurant to deter offenders coming into the area from the motorway. Residents are asked to report any suspicious activity to the Police via email or by calling 101 or 999 if urgent.
6. Traffic Issues
Cllr Chew will try and find out if any progress has been made in regards to the 20mph speed limit. The Chairman reported that he had seen an article about a British company making speed cameras to monitor the 20mph limit and this may well be worth looking into.
Cllr Chew was supposed to have had a meeting at LCC about the A585, but unfortunately this meeting had been cancelled due to illness. This is to be rearranged.
The public consultation period on the LCC Highways and Transport Masterplan is currently underway and there will be an opportunity to view the plans at the Poulton Library on 29 January between 2 and 7 pm. Cllr Chew urged councillors to have a look at this and complete the survey urging for consideration to be given again to the Blue route. Unfortunately no-one has been able to find out anything about the proposed new road as yet and where it will be going.
7. Correspondence
• Letter received from a resident complaining about the lack of dog fouling signs, amounts of litter on grass verges and hedge bottoms and lack of maintenance to the grass verges on Mains Lane and Shard Lane. The Clerk was asked to contact LCC and EM Highways in regards to the grass verges and the Dog Wardens at Fylde BC.
• Letter from Fylde BC who are now commencing work on their Revised Preferred Options version of the single Local Plan which will identify specific sites for particular forms of development up to the year 2032. Noted.
• Letter from Mark Menzies MP complaining about LCC’s latest budget proposals to put rural bus services at risk. Since receipt of this letter, LCC had decided not to cut most of these routes.
8. Planning Matters and Decisions
14/0659 – Woodlands, Lodge Lane, Singleton, FY6 8LT – resubmission of amended plans. The Parish Council once again objected to these plans, particularly in regards to the traffic problems already experienced in that locality.
Planning Decisions
• 14/0635 – The Swallows, Garstang Road, Singleton, FY6 7SX – Granted
• 14/0759 – Coach House, Lodge Lane, Singleton, FY6 8LT – Granted
Two emails had been received from Fylde BC Planning Department to advise that paper copies of planning decisions would no longer be sent out. Instead details of these would be sent to the Clerk by weekly email. Also, the planning software was currently being updated whereby all planning applications would need to be viewed via their website. We would be advised once this process is in operation.
9. Neighbourhood Planning Update
Draft minutes from the latest meeting held on 20th January 2015 were distributed for information. Cllr Chew had been elected as Chair of the Steering Group with David Kay being elected as Vice-Chair. Sadly, Dougie Goth had resigned from the Group due to personal reasons and other commitments. Another resident had come forward, however, Peter Ellacott, who would be joining the Group at their next meeting. Ideally another 2 or 3 people are needed to complete the Group.
The Terms of Reference had been formally adopted and various themes for the Group were agreed. Cllr Chew would be working on the Forward and Introduction to the Neighbourhood Plan and Kath Smith with Cllr Chris Bailey would be working on the Vision and Strategy. This work would be brought back to the next meeting when hopefully other members would add their views to it and progress could be made.
Much discussion took place about creating a survey for each household and the questions which should be asked. These would have to follow a format but it was felt that previous surveys should be referred to as guidelines. Cllr Gallagher would see to the printing up of these and Cllr Lee offered his help in regards to formulating a program so that responses could be done on-line if preferred by some residents. Cllr Chew will contact Fiona Riley about the correct format for the questions. We would like to get the surveys out as soon as possible.
The Clerk was to submit a final report and accounts to the Government agency that awarded the grant to start up the Neighbourhood process, which needed to be in by the end of January 2015. The Village Hall had been booked for meetings for the Steering Group up until June 2015 and for 2 public consultation meetings, one in Spring and one in October 2015 and a bill for this had been received at the end of December 2014.
10.
Lodge Lane Lay-By
After the theft of the trees, this item had been deferred to give members time to think about what to do next with Lodge Lane Lay-By. The trees had cost the Council £400 to buy and plant and it was felt we could not risk this expenditure again. Stones had been placed temporarily by LCC to deter overnight camping at the site, but these were felt to be unsightly. After much discussion it was decided that Cllr Gallagher would look into the provision of bollards from one of the businesses on the Poulton Industrial Estate and for these to be concreted into the ground to replace the stones. Cllr Gallagher would report back on progress.
11.
Up-to-date Balance Sheet
The Clerk distributed copies of the balance sheet up to 30/12/14 which showed a balance of £19,468.
12. Precept requirements for 2015/16
Although the balance sheet showed a reasonably healthy amount, the Parish Council had spent considerably more on maintenance to the car park this year – £7,496 – and more bills would be coming in. In addition, a new fence was still needed and money was needed for the Lodge Lane Lay-By. The Parish Council was underwriting the rest of the cost of the Neighbourhood Plan, which could cost up to £5,000, particularly if we needed the services of a Planning Consultant.
Much discussion took place over this matter and referring to the two sets of documents provided by Fylde Borough Council. The Precept for Singleton Parish Council for 2014/15 had been £17,123 plus a CTRS Grant of £1,546. The CTRS Grant paid by Fylde BC to town and parish councils was being reduced this year to £1,379. In order to maintain the level of precept it was proposed by Cllr Smith that the Parish Council ask for a rise of 2% and this was seconded by Cllr Bailey and Agreed by all.
For information, from the precept the Parish Council pays for grasscutting, tub planting, playground maintenance, provision of the SPID, car park maintenance, insurance, audit commission fees, regular newsletters, website, and the provision of a Clerk to meet all Government regulations.
13. Accounts and Cheques to Pay
• T.A. Pawson, Mounting of SPID (3 occasions) – £90.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
• Clerk’s Salary and Expenses for December 2014/January 2015 – £360.61. Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed/
• Singleton Village Hall – Pre-booked meetings for the Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group through 2015 – £326.00 – Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
14. Any Other Business
• United Utilities had met with Cllr Chew. They are a little behind with finishing the ground work, which had been worse than anticipated. They should be off the road by the end of the week. They will need to dig on the pavements for a while after that but will aim to finish the work as quickly as possible. They had contributed £500 for the defibrillator and they wondered if the Parish Council would be willing to take part in a press release. This was agreed. They were in the process of re-seeding the grass verges on one side of Garstang Road and would be asked if they could re-seed the other side too. On the whole, the Parish Council was pleased with the way they had carried out this work.
• The Defibrillator has arrived and Cllr Gallagher will look into having it installed as soon as possible. Cllr Bailey has the contact details for the person who has offered to help with training. We are awaiting a bill for this but so far United Utilities have contributed £500, County Councillor Paul Hayhurst has contributed £300, Singleton History Group have contributed £300 and the Parish Council has previously agreed to make up the balance.
• The Clerk was asked to write to Mark Evans, Chief Planning Officer about the two unfinished houses owned by James Carter Homes. Many complaints had been received about no progress being made on these for some considerable time.
15. Date and Time of next meeting
19 February 2015 at 7.15pm.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.00 pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455