Singleton Parish Council
A Meeting of the Parish Council will be held at the Village Hall, Singleton on Thursday 26 November 2015 at 7.15 pm.
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 29 October 2015 and any Matters Arising
4. Open Forum – The Council will open up the meeting for 15 minutes for any questions from residents.
5. Police Matters
6. Traffic Issues
7. Correspondence
8. Planning matters and decisions
9. Car Park
10. Defibrillator and First Aid Course
11. Christmas card
12. Accounts and any Cheques to Pay
13. Any Other Business
14. Date and Time of Next Meeting – 17 December 2015
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 26 November 2015 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Gallagher (Vice Chair), Chew, Lee and Smith, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies – Cllr Bailey (Chair) and County Councillor Paul Hayhurst.
2. Declaration of Interests – Cllr Gallagher declared an interest in a planning application of a neighbour, and did not take part in that discussion.
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 October 2015, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and duly signed by the Vice-Chair. There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
4. Open Forum – None
5. Police and PACT Report
Unfortunately the Clerk had not received a police report since 1st October and therefore could not report on any local crimes. The “In the Know” alerts were received regularly, but these mostly concerned issues regarding funding, recruiting and surveys. A couple had been received from Garstang and Over Wyre which had showed an increase in rural burglaries in Barnacre, Great Eccleston and Eagland Hill. Although these are in a neighbouring borough, it did show a need to remain vigilant in rural Fylde.
A contact list for Police Officers in our district had been sent by Fylde BC, and this had been circulated.
6. Traffic Issues
A lot of work on Mains Lane is currently being carried out during the day and overnight. The heavy work stops at 11pm. They are cleaning out the gullies and have a particular problem with one of them. After the work to the footpaths they are going to put in bollards and re-grass the verges.
Cllr Chew met with Cty Cllr Paul Hayhurst and a representative of Highways England. They are all to meet again with LCC and a Planning Officer of Fylde Borough Council on 7th January 2016. Highways England is trying to find a way of getting round Singleton Cross Roads. They need to come up with 3 routes as possibilities, chose a best one and make a case as to why this is the best option of the 3. This will then go out for consultation. It is anticipated that there will be an increase in traffic since the making of 3 Enterprise Zones – Thornton (former ICI), Blackpool Airport and British Aerospace. Apparently there will be regular traffic between these sites.
7. Correspondence
• Consultation from Lancashire County Council on the Public Transport Scheme. Because of funding cuts, they are looking at helping community groups to develop their own public transport scheme. This document had been previously circulated to all councillors. The Parish Council could not see a local community group covering the whole of the parish and thought that this would be a massive undertaking. If larger parishes were willing to hire their own transport, the Parish Council would be willing to consider making a contribution towards this as far as funds would allow. The problem is the bus service is not used enough by local people but it is crucial to some people who are very dependent on it. The Clerk was asked to respond to the consultation explaining the problem and asking if something like tokens for taxis could be considered for those who rely heavily on it.
• Letter from the MP in regards to the above. The Clerk will send a copy of the Parish Council’s response to him.
• Letter of thanks from Ray Cottam for the contribution to Great Eccleston Cricket Club in regards to his annual audit of the Parish Council’s accounts. Mr Cottam insists on taking nothing for his work and this is a way of showing the Parish Council’s appreciation by helping his much-loved cricket club.
• Planning/Development Management training event. Fylde BC is asking for interest to be shown in connection with a proposed training event for parish and town councils. The Clerk was asked to respond to register an interest.
• Phone call from Steve Singleton, Local Community Advisor for Cuadrilla, to advise that Cuadrilla have lodged a planning appeal in respect of the Grange Hill site, Singleton. Mr Singleton stressed that the application had been for a continuation of the monitoring facilities and that no drilling or fracking was being proposed for the site.
• Email received from a local resident drawing the Parish Council’s attention to the fact that Cuadrilla was to appeal against LCC’s decision to refuse their application no. LCC/2014/0084. LCC has not asked the Parish Council to comment on this as yet, but as referred to above, Cuadrilla has kept us informed of their wish to continue to use Grange Hill as a monitoring station.
8. Planning Matters and Decisions
15/0779 – Coach House, Lodge Lane, Singleton, FY6 8LT – Erection of car port. The Council has no specific observations to make on the proposal.
Planning decision: – 15/0575 – High Lea, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton FY6 8LY – Erection of detached garage – Granted.
Problems reported with a house on Shard Road, which had previously come to the Parish Council’s attention, which now had a conglomeration of wooden huts and a caravan and was an eyesore. The Enforcement Officer from Fylde BC had told them to clear it up as it was in breach of planning regulations. A councillor from Wyre BC had also complained about this property to Cllr Chew. On a more pleasing front, it was good to see that work had recommenced at the Hollies site and the Parish Council hoped that this would continue and that the houses are finished quickly.
9.
Car Park
The contractor who delivered the gravel had still not levelled it and it was now considered a matter of urgency to finish this work. Another contractor had therefore been contacted to level the gravel next week and the Clerk would write to the former contractor to ask him to invoice the Parish Council just for the gravel itself.
10.
Defibrillator and First Aid course
This had now been commissioned and names were being taken for the first aid course. The Clerk currently had 18 names. Thanks were expressed to Sally Coop of the Village Hall who had put stones on the ground immediately under the defibrillator to improve access.
As regards insurance, the Insurance Company has added the Defibrillator so that the Total Risk Sum insured has risen to £47,952. The increase in premium is £6.38 and this charge will be deferred until the next renewal date.
11.
Christmas card
This was on order and Cllr Chew had started the newsletter which was to go out with it to the parish. It was anticipated the cards would be ready in about 10 days.
12. Accounts and Cheques to Pay
Letter received from Fylde BC concerning the Service Level Agreement for 2016/17. This is to cover weekly inspections and maintenance of the play equipment and is deducted at source from the annual precept. The sum will be £2,308.68. It was unanimously agreed that Fylde BC do an excellent job in this regard and Cllr Chew proposed that this be accepted, Cllr Smith Seconded and it was Agreed and the contract was duly signed by the Vice-Chair.
• T A Pawson – Mounting of the SPID – £60.00. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
• Forsyth and Steele (Invoice assigned to Skipton Business Finance Ltd) – Printing of new letterheads – £63.60. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Chew. Agreed.
• Clerk, Salary and expenses for October/November 2015 – £246.34. Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Cheque signed for Matthew Gunson who would be submitting his invoice to level the gravel in the car park next week. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed. The cost would be £175 plus v.a.t.
13. Any Other Business
Cllr Gallagher had bought the Christmas tree lights and would be putting these up in early December.
14. Date and Time of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on 17 December 2015 at 7.15 pm.
As there was no further business the meeting closed at 8.15pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ……………………………………..
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455