SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 13 November 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 Cllr Clifford and County Cllr Singleton |
| 2. | Open Forum – None |
| 3. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 14 October 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 Cllr Clifford had called in person to the Probation Office in Blackpool to see the person responsible for the Community Payback Team who have offered to clean up the closed section of Garstang Road on a regular basis. Cllr Clifford has tried to meet up in person with the organiser since March, but without success. Unfortunately, the person was in a meeting. Cllr Clifford will keep trying. Faulty SpID. The Clerk has not received a response in regard to having the faulty SpID repaired. She will try again. |
| 4. | Police Matters The reported crime map for September 2025 shows that 6 crimes were reported from the Mains Lane/Singleton Garage area and 2 from Windy Harbour. These were as follows: – Mains Lane/Singleton Garage – 2 Anti-Social Behaviour, 1 Criminal Damage, 1 Public Order offence and 2 Other Crimes. Windy Harbour – 2 Violence & Sexual Offences. Regular Team Meetings between the Police and Fylde Borough Council have been set up at Fylde BC with the next one taking place on 24 November 2025 with all parish and town councils involved. This initiative has been welcomed and a contact chart for local police officers had been included in the email, which had been forwarded to all councillors. The Government has announced that they would move away from the Police and Crime Commissioner model, saying that this was proving expensive and the monies saved would be reinvested in police staff. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – None. |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 25/0448 Briarfield, Lodge Lane, FY6 8LT – Alterations and extensions to existing bungalow and erection of two storey outbuilding in rear garden. No significant observations. 25/0665 Shard Bridge Farm, Shard Road, Little Singleton, FY6 9BU – Permission in principle for erection of up to nine dwellings. No significant observations. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Cllr Carruthers had had a very good meeting with an officer from LCC regarding several problems reported on the “Love Clean Streets” app on many occasions but not resolved. Confusion had only increased about which authority was responsible for what when the by-pass was constructed and then some roads were handed over to LCC or Fylde BC for maintenance on completion of the by-pass. The officer still needs to confirm that LCC has indeed taken up responsibility for the areas concerned but thought that LCC should be responsible for cutting the grass on the closed section of Garstang New Road, Garstang Road East grass verges and Mains Lane grass verges. Cutting should take place in spring, mid-summer and late summer. Cllr Bailey had reported that a sweeper had been seen on Lodge Lane and in the Village today (13 November) together with a group of men cutting back the overgrowth on the footpath. These workers had come from Fylde BC and the work was very welcomed. It is hoped that pedestrians with pushchairs or wheelchairs will find their journey along this footpath a lot easier than it had been. The Clerk will send a note of thanks to Fylde. The problems of fly-tipping continue to mount with constant reports being sent to Fylde BC about fly-tipping on Garstang New Road in particular. Also, a report had been received from a resident about fly-tipping on Shard Road, which had been removed by Fylde BC. The quick response from Fylde was very much appreciated by the Parish Council but the two latest reports are on private land and unfortunately this is not in the jurisdiction of either the Parish Council or Fylde BC and these areas are the responsibility of the landowners. The Parish Council has now got a camera and memory card which it will be using to try and record these incidents of fly-tipping. Problems of speeding on Garstang Road East continue. The Clerk has reported these on the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership’s dedicated link. The Highways Section at LCC had attended the junction of Singleton traffic lights and have realigned one of the detectors used to detect vehicles approaching from Garstang Road East. This has improved traffic flow. Thanks have been expressed. |
| 8. | New By-Pass The Parish Council has contacted LCC on a couple of occasions, very concerned about the blocked gullies on the new by-pass with the distinct possibility that these would lead to flooding during periods of heavy rain. When Cllr Carruthers met with the officer from LCC this matter was discussed. The officer explained that LCC is now working on a 2-year cycle of cleaning out all gullies all over the county. They no longer have the manpower to clean out gullies on an adhoc basis. They will clear out individual gullies if flooding persists over a 1- or 2-day period. |
| 9. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The main topics concerning Fylde BC now continue to be local government reorganisation and their new local plan. As regards local government reorganisation, LCC will be replaced and is favouring the creation of 2 authorities, in effect splitting Lancashire in two – Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and Lancaster as 1 authority, with the remainder of Lancashire being the other one. Other options being considered are Blackpool, part of Fylde and Preston and Blackpool across to Fleetwood. They do not need to stick to existing boundaries. Still a lot of different opinions and a final decision is awaited. Fylde BC is still working on its new Local Plan and is looking at proposals for development across the borough. Some of these proposals are not suitable for development because of issues such as flooding. Just because a site has been put forward for development, it does not mean development will take place if issues create a problem. |
| 10. | Village Green Two letters have been received since the cancellation of the original project. One on behalf of the Singleton Trust and another on behalf of Andrew Snowden MP. Both have been acknowledged. A full response will be drafted in due course. As discussed at the last meeting, Cllr Bailey would like the money the Parish Council had earmarked for the creation of the Village Green to be spent on creating an open fronted log building with a couple of benches in it, for visitors to the playground. He would also like to include a toilet, if possible connected to the mains, or a compostable one. This, of course, would need ongoing costs for cleaning and maintenance to be included. This was unanimously agreed. |
| 11. | Correspondence – All correspondence has been dealt with elsewhere in these Minutes. |
| 12. | Speed Indicator Devices (SpID)s in the Parish There had previously been 2 SpIDs in the Village. One had been broken beyond repair and the other one was currently out of action but hopefully fixable. The Clerk had contacted the supplier and received a quotation of £2,589 to replace the broken machine with a new solar unit, including solar panel, back up batteries, data and delivery. Cllr Lee proposed that this be purchased, this was seconded by Cllr Carruthers and Agreed. |
| 13. | Christmas Card A photograph of the Church and a list of Church Services for inclusion, had been obtained by Cllr Clifford. The Parish Council is grateful to David Kay for his photograph. The Clerk will arrange for the printing of these with the addition of the Church service times included on a separate slip. |
| 14. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay The Clerk had prepared an up-to-date balance sheet which showed that after deduction of payments and committed expenditure, the total reserves were £43,978. This would allow the Parish Council to invest in the Children’s Play Area and purchase a new SpID. A good reserve amount was still needed however to meet existing commitments. Invoices First Cut Grounds Maintenance – £643.67. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed. Cllr Lee – Reimbursement for- purchase of Memory Card for camera – £11.99. Proposed Cllr Carruthers, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. Litter-picker – 4 weeks – £443.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Clerk, Salary and Expenses for October/November – £369.73. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business The Parish Council was very pleased to see that work has been carried out at the Old Fire Station (now owned by Northwest Electricity). The fencing has been repaired and painted as well as there having been a good tidy-up. The Heritage Officer at Fylde is very keen on the upkeep of all properties on her list in the borough and has been keeping an eye on our Fire Station. The work was very much appreciated. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting – Tuesday 16th December at 7.15pm. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.45pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org