Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 28 November 2019 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Gallagher (Chair), Ibbotson and Lee, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Two representatives of Singleton Trust also attended.
1. Apologies for Absence – Cllrs Bailey and Cholmondeley and PCSO Lauren Vallely.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 October 2019, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman.
Matters Arising
• Signs for the car park had been produced
• The Clerk had written to the Police voicing the Parish Council’s concerns about some local crimes not being reported as residents didn’t think it was worth doing, but had not received a reply. She had however received a reply from PCSO Lauren Vallely in regard to crime figures not being correctly compared to the previous year. Apparently Police do not compare to the previous year’s figures due to changing the crime recording systems.
• The Clerk had contacted the bank and apparently they do now offer on-line banking facilities for Parish Councils.
• Cllr Gallagher had arranged for the Christmas cards to be produced.
• The Clerk had invited former Cllr Chew to the December meeting.
3. Open Forum
• A Member of the Singleton Trust reported that the Trust’s annual accounts for the year ended 5th April 2019 will be available to view on the Charity Commission’s website. During the year the Trust had made available donations to Singleton Gala, Singleton School, the Friends of Singleton School, the Village Hall and Singleton Kid’s Club. They had also supported two young people from the village from their Youth Opportunities Fund. If anyone is interested in this fund, details can be found on the Trust’s website.
• The Trust had reappointed two of their Trustees for a further three-year period.
• A very good job is being made of the renovation work to 16 The Village and Worswick’s Farmhouse has been renovated into two new dwellings which have now been let.
• The land on Grange Road that had been used by Cuadrilla, has now been put back to agricultural use.
• The Trust’s maintenance programme for residential properties continues as new roofs, windows and doors are being installed.
• The woodland walks will be closed for one day on Monday 16 December to comply with statutory requirements.
• On Remembrance Sunday wreaths were laid in the Peace Garden by representatives of the Trust and the Parish Council and it had been a very pleasant afternoon.
4. Declaration of Interests – Cllr Gallagher in regard to application no. 19/0855 and he took no part in determining that application.
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
19/0855 – Windy Harbour Holiday Centre – Change of use of land to allow the siting of an additional 74 static caravans for holiday use – resubmission of application 18/0655. Unfortunately the Parish Council was not quorate for this particular application but would refer to previous comments made to Fylde BC about the pressures on the local infrastructure made by the increasing number of holiday caravans/lodges in the parish, in particular on health centres, police and emergency services.
19/0875 – Riverside Chalet Park, Occupation Lane, Singleton – Redevelopment of holiday caravan park including removal of existing caravans and siting of 34 new static caravan basis …A lot of local upset about this application by the new owner and Fylde Borough Council is meeting with residents on 29 November about this. Cllr Lee will attend this meeting on the Parish Council’s behalf. The Parish Council would ask Fylde BC to take into account the residents’ welfare when determining this application, some of whom have lived on the site for over 30 years.
Decisions
19/0724 – River Wyre Holiday Camp – Erection of Single Storey Building – Granted.
19/0798 – Land adjacent to Shard View, Shard Road – Advice Issued
Information received that there is to be a public consultation on the Draft Fylde Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document until 5 December 2019. Documents are available for inspection on Fylde’s website. Noted.
6. Police Matters
Crime figures for October were recorded as: –
4 Anti-Social Behaviour – Malicious text messages; threatening behaviour, neighbour dispute and flooding in the road
1 criminal damage
2 theft and handling – Driving off without paying for fuel
2 auto crimes – entering unlocked vehicles
The Clerk was asked to write to the Police and Crime Commissioner about not receiving a response to the Parish Council’s concerns reported on 4 November 2019.
Traffic and Highway Issues
Contact made by LCC’s local network traffic safety officer advising that they are making changes to the 20 mph gateway signs and will place one “enhanced” sign at Singleton village indicating the 20mph gateway and “Please drive carefully”. It was agreed that any help to reduce speeding through the village would be welcomed.
There have been traffic problems on Mains Lane which had been closed for 2 hours following an accident between Skippool Garage and Old Mains Lane. A house there is derelict and has a very overgrown hedge which is reducing visibility. Cllr Ibbotson had investigated this and found that the property is now owned by LCC. She had contacted them about the hedge and was awaiting a reply. Road works at Skippool Bridge had been taking a long time and had stalled somewhat. Cllr Ibbotson contacted Highways England and they had resumed straight away and would hopefully be completed soon.
8. Proposed new By-Pass
Mark Menzies called at Cllr Lee’s home on his campaign trail and spoke about the bypass. He said that he had met with Highways England and they said that the bypass is going ahead and would not be stopped. He assured Cllr Lee that he had insisted that they make sure that measures are put in place to limit the noise. Cllr Lee explained that it was not the noise that was causing concern but the fact that this bypass would not relieve any congestion and would only increase the traffic through Singleton.
Very few people seem to have received the letter Mr Menzies had promised to send to all residents in Singleton and Greenhalgh. According to a member of his staff, they had had a good response – about 50/50! It would appear that any consultation is now irrelevant.
Following on from all this, the Parish Council was extremely surprised to see that Mr Menzies’ election material showed him standing in the village saying that he had asked residents for their views and is meeting with Highways England to discuss future plans. The Parish Council is very disappointed with the response and that this has been used for electioneering purposes.
9. Update on SpID
Cllr Lee has been looking into a new type of SpID which is being used by Weeton, Staining, Ribby and Warton Parish Councils. These machines record data and have separate solar panels and so, if additional panels are purchased, just the unit can be easily moved round locations. When the Police did a speed check a few weeks ago, 27 motorists were pulled up in Singleton and only 4 in Weeton – indicating how effective these machines are.
As regards cost – two solar units and two extra solar panels is £4,150 + v.a.t. It may be that the Trust could help towards the financing of this and it is hoped this will be raised at the next meeting with the Trustees.
10.
Correspondence
• Change of date for the next District Parish Liaison meeting. It has been changed from 11 December to Wednesday 15 January 2020. Noted.
• Singleton Parish Play Charges for 2020/2021 will be £3,550.01. The current charge for this financial year is £3,460.05. Noted.
• Information received from Wyre Borough Council that Fleetwood has been successful in the first round of the Government’s Future High Streets Fund securing £150,000 to develop a Masterplan and supporting business case for Fleetwood Town Centre. A three week public consultation commences on 2 December until 5pm on 20 December 2019. Noted.
11.
Official request from the Gala Committee
The Chair had written formally requesting permission for a new gateway to be produced onto the field behind the Village Hall car park. This would allow them to use the field on Gala Day instead of the school field. The gate would need be a double farm gate to accommodate the larger vehicles and the Gala Committee would fully fund the project. This was agreed with the proviso that the gate will only be used on Gala Day.
12.
Asset of Community Value
Formal notice received from Fylde BC that the Miller Arms has been included in Fylde Council’s list of assets of community value. This means that the public house cannot be sold without first telling the Parish Council and then there would be a 6 week interim period when community groups could bid for the property. After this 6 week period, if there is no community interest, they would be free to sell to whomever they choose.
13. Risk Assessment
This has been reviewed and it was agreed that all the Parish Council records should be kept on the Cloud. Cllr Lee and the Clerk will look into this at the next meeting.
14. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
The Clerk had obtained forms from the bank for change of signatories for the two new councillors. The outgoing councillors will need to sign also. There is also a form to be completed when all councillors are present to set up on-line banking. The Clerk will bring these forms to the next meeting.
• T A Pawson – Mounting of SpID – £30. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• Clerk – Salary and Expenses for October/November – £228.86. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Forsyth & Steele – Production of Christmas Cards – £179.00 – Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
15. Any Other Business – None
16 Date and Time of next meeting – 19 December 2019 – 7.15pm at the Village Hall.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.25pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455