JULY 2025

SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council

Held at Singleton Village Hall on 15 July 2025

Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Bailey and Carruthers and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. 

1.	Apologies for Absence were received and accepted from Cllr Clifford and County Cllr Singleton.
2.	Open Forum – None
3.	Minutes of previous meeting held on 19 June 2025 and any matters arising – The Minutes of the previous meeting, having already been circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman.   Matters Arising – Unfortunately, no success yet in finding a local business to house another defibrillator in Little Singleton. Post Box at the end of Station Road – the groundsman had cut back the hedges there, which had been making it difficult for the postman to empty the box. New road signs – two more ordered with Fylde BC for Mile Road and Grange Road.  The new Singleton signs have not been installed yet. Community Payback Scheme – Contact has now been made with the local co-ordinator at Blackpool who was interested in taking the scheme on to litter-pick the now closed section of Garstang Road.  Cllr Clifford is to contact this man and arrange a meeting on site.
4.	Police Matters Crimes recorded for the 4 parishes of Elswick, Little Eccleston, Singleton and Greenhalgh for April 2025 were as follows: – Violence and sexual offences – 12; Anti-social behaviour 11; Other Theft – 6; Shoplifting – 3.
5.	Declarations of Interest – None
6.	Planning matters and decisions 25/0408 – 8 Wyre Grange, Lodge Lane, FY6 8NP– Single Storey rear extension with attached canopy – No significant comments to make other than the extension seems to go right up to the fence.   The Development Manager at Fylde BC had been keeping an eye on the situation at Windy Harbour when a local resident complained in December 2024 about work that had been carried out around his property by Lancashire County Council.  This had resulted in a complete clearance of embankments and hedgerows.  The Development Manager had the work stopped and has now reported that the developer has now restored the banking that formed the boundary and will progress with the landscaping of it as part of the wider development works later in the year.  Photo images were sent to the Clerk which showed a great improvement in the area.  The Clerk was asked to write to the officer thanking him for continuing to keep an eye on this situation and for steering it to a satisfactory conclusion.   Cllr Lee is now a member of the Local Planning Steering Group at Fylde BC and this group is working with members of the Planning team on the revised Local Plan which will be in place for 5 years from 2026.  As part of the Local Plan process, a call for sites has gone out across the borough seeking any interest in developing sites and several sites have been put forward in Singleton parish.  The Government is putting pressure on all borough councils to increase the number of houses built in their areas.  The sites proposed for Singleton include one opposite Windy Harbour, areas either side of the now closed section of Garstang Road up to Pool Foot Lane, land adjacent to Mains Lane and also on Shard Road.
7.	Traffic and Highways issues   Cllr Carruthers voiced concern over sections of a footpath disappearing under a new development on Garstang Road East in Wyre.  This footpath was part of the footpath from Fleetwood, through Stanah and Skippool towards the Poulton Industrial Estate.  When development started on the site, temporary closure signs were erected but these have now disappeared, and it seems that the original footpath runs under the houses now built.  The Clerk was asked to write to Lancashire County Council and the Ranger Service to report this matter.   County Cllr Singleton had submitted his monthly report which gave updates on previous issues: – The entirety of Mains Lane is now an adopted road, maintained at public expense by Lancashire County Council.  Any issues should be reported on the online reporting tool: Lancashire – Report it.   Future road closures include Grange Road – 26th and 27th August 2025 – for tree cutting vehicles and hoist to access poles – BT   Several problems reported on Garstang Road East from the Singleton Garage to the new by-pass.  These include overgrown grass verges and speeding vehicles and motorcycles.  Both the Clerk and Cllr Carruthers had been in touch with Fylde BC about the grass verges and general state of the footpath which resulted in pedestrians having to walk on the road, especially if they were pushing prams, and this was deemed extremely dangerous.  Some work has been done by Fylde who had used their bobcat digger again, but the grass remains very high.  Cllr Carruthers had asked further questions of Fylde BC, and it was agreed to give them a few days to respond before taking any further action.  As regards the speeding traffic, it was suggesting relocating one of the SpID machines there.  The Clerk will report this matter to Cllr Singleton.
8.	New By-Pass   Litter clearance has taken place recently and graffiti removed. The date for handover of the bypass to National Highways Operations team is expected to take place within the next couple of months.
9.	Update from Fylde Borough Council The Clerk had attended the Planning Parish Forum held at Fylde BC on 7th July 2025.  The new Head of Planning and Building Control was introduced, Paul McKim. He is a very experienced officer and has experience with huge environmental projects such as the current windfarm application.  The new Local Plan will be put out for consultation in May/June 2026 and comments would be welcome from parishes.  It will then be sent to the Secretary of State in August 2026 when it will be examined by the Planning Inspectorate.  It will have a shelf-life of 5 years from renewal.   Still a lot of uncertainty about reorganisation and which councils will be merged.
10.	Village Green The Village Green project has now received approval of the full council at Fylde BC with the Chief Executive giving his full support.  This will be subject to the land being transferred as Fylde wanted security that the land would not be sold off for any other purpose in the future.  Costings will now be sought.   Cllr Carruthers suggested that a call for volunteers be made soon to help maintain it.
11.	Correspondence Email received about the old historical mile post across from Skippool Services, which has recently been replaced following the work on the by-pass.  A request was made to have this cleaned up and painted to bring it back to its former glory.  The Clerk will get in touch with the handyperson. Complaint about a traveller pitching his tent and tethering his horse on common land on Pool Foot Lane.  This had been reported to Fylde BC but no action had been taken as it had been assumed this person was on his way to and then back from Appleby and would not stay for long.
12.	Storage Facilities – Deferred to next meeting.
13.	Accounts and Any Invoices to pay First Cut Grounds Maintenance – new contract – £643.67 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley, Agreed. Litter-picker – 4 weeks – £443.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Clerk, Reimbursement for thank-you gift to Internal Auditor – £32.00.  Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. Clerk, Salary and Expenses including annual anti-virus protection for laptop – £512.31. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. PEI Delta, Repairs to 6 LED floodlights on car park – £732.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.
14.	Any Other Business In line with Government policy, Fylde BC will be delivering kitchen waste bins to all households next Spring.The blocked drain on Garstang Road East still needs attending to.
15.	Date and time of next meeting – Tuesday 12 August 2025. 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