SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 18 September 2025
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Cllr Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Carruthers and Clifford and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence were received from Cllr Bailey and County Cllr Singleton. |
| 2. | Open Forum – none |
| 3. | Minutes of previous meeting held on12 August 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: – Painting of 2 milestones – The handyman has sought professional advice on the painting of these, which are located on Mains Lane. He has now come back with a quotation for cleaning and removing the old paint, painting the milestones white with black lettering. The price will be £331.49. After consideration, Cllr Lee proposed that this price be accepted on the grounds that it would need specialised paint. This was seconded by Cllr Carruthers and Agreed. Lodge Lane footpath. A response had been received by the Trust regarding the overgrown hedge, which has now been cut back by the farmer. As regards the overgrown vegetation next to it along the footpath, this would be down to the highway’s agency. Cllr Clifford reported that it is still proving difficult for anyone with wheelchairs or prams to walk down this section of the footpath and the Clerk will report this to Fylde BC. |
| 4. | Police Matters A much-improved report from the Police concerning reported crimes during July 2025 in Rural North Fylde. This report normally included all reported crimes in 4 parishes but now the Police have included a map showing only the reported crimes in our parish. These were as follows: – Mains Lane/Skippool – 3; Singleton crossroads – 2; Windy Harbour – 2 and Singleton Village – 3. Crimes reported: Anti-Social – 3; Criminal damage – 1; Violence and Sexual offences – 5; Theft – 1. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – None |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 25/0447 – 149 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LB – Demolition of existing dwelling and erection of replacement two storey self-build dwelling … The Parish Council has no specific comments to make. Planning Decisions 25/0504 – 9 Station Road, Singleton FY6 8LG – Application issued for hedgerow removal notice relating to hedge around front garden boundary of dwelling |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Complaints about an overgrown hedge on Lodge Lane which is obscuring road signs. The Clerk will report this to LCC. Recurring problems with cars not pulling up to the lights at Singleton Crossroads, adjacent to the petrol station. Many are leaving room for other cars to access the petrol station, but they are not driving over the sensors to change the lights. This leads to queuing traffic and raised tempers. The Clerk will contact Highways Agency about this problem. Fly-tipping continues to be a real problem, particularly on the newly closed section of Garstang Road. The road is gated with a coded lock, but vehicles are accessing this stretch of the road, possibly by knowing the code or by reversing from the by-pass and removing the bollards. Initially, Fylde BC did not know the code, nor did the Parish Council, but this has now been made known to Fylde and us by the Highways Agency. Fylde BC has now cleared three loads of fly-tipping. Consideration possibly will be given to changing the code in the future. In the meantime, buying a camera was discussed. This could be relocated to various fly-tipping spots when needed. One had been purchased some years before and various options were looked at on-line. The Chairman proposed that a suitable one be purchased, this was seconded by Cllr Clifford and Agreed. Response received from Fylde BC that their Waste Management Depot currently empty the litterbins on the new bypass and laybys twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Residents have again complained to LCC about the layout of their lay-by just before the Shard Road traffic lights, where exiting their homes has become a nightmare. Since the introduction of a filter lane on Mains Lane for traffic turning left onto Shard Road, there have been many near-misses of accidents. They cannot see the traffic turning into Shard Road when exiting their lay-by and this problem needs sorting out before a serious accident occurs. |
| 9. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The Clerk will be attending the Planning Parish Forum meeting at Fylde on 22 September 2025. |
| 10. | Village Green The Parish Council awaits a decision by the Trust on this. The Trust is to have a meeting and issue a statement on its website on 19 September 2025. |
| 11. | Correspondence Invitation to the Chairman for Remembrance Sunday – 9th November 2025 at St. Annes or Lytham. The Chairman will be attending the service at Singleton, and the Clerk will arrange to purchase a wreath. Local Government Reorganisation – Survey sent out to Parish and Town Councils by Fylde BC. The Clerk will complete this. Inspection report on the Children’s Playground was received from Fylde BC showing the Risk Assessment as being Low. A couple of items were needing attention, which Fylde BC will sort out, but one of the Parish Council’s picnic tables has come loose and this needed fixing to the ground. The Handyman would sort this out. The Parish Play-Charges for 2026/2027 were received (payment for maintenance of the playground by Fylde BC) and these would be £4,973.82, a rise of £227.81 from the current financial year. This would need to be considered when deciding next year’s precept. |
| 12. | Current state of Speed Indicator Devices (SpIDs) in the Parish There are currently 2 working SpIDs on Mains Lane and 1 in the village which needs attention. It does not seem to be charging up at the moment. The Clerk will request that this be looked at. |
| 13. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay – The Clerk’s salary is linked to Fylde Borough Council’s rates of pay and a pay-rise of 3.2% was awarded for Local Government workers in August 2025, back-dated to April 2025. This back-pay has been included in the monthly salary for this month. The Official Auditor had completed its review of the Annual Governance & Accountability Return for the year ended 31 March 2025 and in its opinion the information in Sections 1 and 2 is in accordance with Proper Practices and no other matters have come to its attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met. A Notice of the Conclusion of the Audit and relevant documents will be put on the website and noticeboards. Invoices: – PKF Littlejohn LLP, Official Audit – £252.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Clifford. Agreed. Rent from April – September 2025 for hire of Village Hall – £142.50. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. First Cut Grounds Maintenance – £643.67. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Litter-picker – 4 weeks – £443.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Carruthers. Agreed. Clerk, Salary & Expenses for August/September, plus backpay of £58.34 – total £512.17. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business Still a lot of concern about the amount of litter on the by-pass and overfull bins. A litter-pick should be carried out all along the by-pass by Fylde BC. There is litter from Poulton junction to Windy Harbour and also all along Garstang Road up to the border with Poulton. Blocked gullies are also posing a problem. In heavy rain this could cause flooding on the carriageway, and the Clerk was asked to report this to County Cllr Singleton to have LCC look at this as a matter of urgency. The gullies need clearing all along the by-pass. Question from the handyman as to whether the Parish Council would like the autumn planting to be done in the 24 tubs around the parish. Unanimously agreed. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting – Tuesday, 7.15pm 14 October 2025 at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.50 pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org