Singleton Parish Council

Minutes from Parish Council meeting held on 26 July 2022

Singleton Parish Council               

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton

on 26 July 2022 at 7.15 pm

Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Cholmondeley and Ibbotson, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Also in attendance were County Cllr Singleton and Mark Clifford.

1.Apologies for Absence – None  
2.Co-option of New Parish Councillor   Following the resignation of Cllr Gallagher, an advert had been displayed on noticeboards and on the website.  Three people had expressed an interest in this but only one person formally applied.  That person was Mr Mark Clifford of Singleton.   Cllr Lee proposed that Mr Clifford be co-opted onto the Parish Council.  Cllr Bailey seconded this and it was unanimously agreed.  Cllr Clifford was then formally welcomed onto the Parish Council.  
3.Police Matters   Once again the new Community Beat Officer had been invited to a parish council meeting but nothing had been heard from her.  Whilst the Parish Council understands that time constraints may stop the Police coming to the meetings, it would be good to have some sort of acknowledgement.  
4.Open Forum – None  
5.Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising –   The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 28 June 2022, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Vice-Chair.   Matters arising Children’s playground – A meeting was held with a representative from Fylde BC and roughly three quarters of the issues raised have now been resolved plus, as a gesture of good will, Fylde has replaced matting which we learned was the PC’s responsibility.  One more item is due to be replaced.  As a result of this the Play Area Inspection & Maintenance Annual Agreement was duly signed by the Chairman.New waste bin – Fylde is collecting waste from this once a fortnight and a list of dates up to the end of March 2023 has been passed to the volunteer responsible for opening the gate.The Clerk had written to the Dumbreck Trust requesting the previously agreed half payment towards the annual fee for hiring a litter-picker in the parish.  Last year had been greatly affected by absences due to Covid and the total figure spent was less than usual – £978.40 – of which the contribution from the Trust would be £489.20.
6.Declaration of Interests – None  
7.Planning Matters and Decisions    21/1130 & 21/1131 – Listed building consent for erection of 7 guest accommodation pods at The Great Hall at Mains, Mains Lane FY6 7LE.  No objection but the Parish Council would want these pods to be used solely in conjunction with a wedding celebration and should not be for outside use.22/0469 – 12 Mains Lane.  The Planning Case Officer had asked whether or not the Parish Council wished to raise its concerns with a formal objection or have their observations considered under delegated powers.  The Parish Council does object to this retrospective application on the grounds of size of the large out-building and the size of the windows.  However, if these concerns can be mitigated, the Parish Council would be prepared to withdraw its objection.   Planning Decisions   Bankfield Lodge, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton – Erection of one detached dwelling with detached garage – GrantedLand to the rear of Briarfield, Lodge Lane FY6 8LT – Demolition of existing stables and erection of one detached dwelling – Refused.  
8.Traffic and Highway Issues   Re Lodge Lane and request for 40mph speed limit.  New person in the role of Engineer in Traffic Police and Network Management at LCC has acknowledged this request made to her predecessor and is looking into it.  Cllr Singleton will follow this up with Kier.‘Slow Down Save Lives’ Banner has been displayed and another one has been acquired.  Stickers also distributed for residents’ bins.Overgrown vegetation on Lodge Lane has been trimmed but has still not been taken back to the hedge, resulting in a very narrow footpath. Cllr Singleton will follow this up.  
9.New By-Pass   Information received on the closure of Breck Road, Poulton, from 25 July and through August.  A meeting has been arranged with Kier on 2nd August. Cllrs Bailey and Clifford will be attending.  Still many reports of noise and dust coming in.  Perhaps Environmental Health will need to be involved to monitor the noise.  
10.  Correspondence   Review of polling arrangements received from Fylde BC.  Parish Council happy with current arrangements of voting at the Village Hall.Next District Parish Liaison meeting will take place on Monday 26 September at 6.30pm at the Town Hall, St. Annes or via Teams if required.  Cllr Lee will attend.LCC Public Rights of Way – Local Delivery Scheme 2022-23.  Noted.Consultation of Pharmaceutical Needs in our area.  There seems to be an adequate supply of pharmacies close to Singleton, two of which are in Poulton.  
11.  Update from Fylde Borough Council A committee is looking at ways parish councils could work remotely for certain instances, such as a last minute planning application.
12.  Handyman and jobs that need doing   Cllr Clifford will research into the best deals for replacing the barrels for planting.  Weeds are taking over some of the tubs now and some of the tubs will be hard to remove.  Chris Pawson will be asked to work on the barrels. The car park barrier may need professional attention but Chris Pawson will be asked to have a look at it in the first instance.  
13.Accounts and Invoices to Pay   Clerk, Salary plus expenses for June/July 2022 – £415.49 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Litter-picker – work from 4 to 27 July plus mileage – £347.00.  Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Cllr Ibbotson, Reimbursement for gift for Auditor – £24.83. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.  
14.Any Other Business   Contact made by a member of the public congratulating the work of the new litter-picker and saying how clean the village was looking.The Clerk will write to the Trust advising them of the increase in hours of work of the litter-picker and asking whether the Trust would be prepared to contribute towards this increase and perhaps the charge of the commercial bin hired from Fylde.Village Green – Still waiting to have a meeting in the Village Hall.  A case of Covid had put this back for a while.  Kier have been asked for help with a digger.Concern over the large agricultural vehicle parked on the car park and fear that children could be tempted to climb on it.  The owner would be asked to park it closer to the field so that it is away from the children’s playground.Thank you bottles would be purchased by the Clerk for the two volunteers who open up the gates and also maintain the defibrillator. The Parish Council is very grateful for their continued support.Cllr Singleton mentioned the work two groups are doing in monitoring speeding traffic in their villages.  These are independent groups and regularly monitor traffic.  He recommended having such a group in Singleton which would be independent from the Parish Council.  
14.Date and Time of next meetings –   Next monthly meeting – Tuesday 23 August 2022 at 7.15pmAnnual Parish Meeting – Tuesday 4 October 2022 at 7.00pm, followed by monthly meeting at 7.30pm.   As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.45pm.  

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

Verena Henderson

Clerk to the Parish Council

Tel: 01995 670455