SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council
Held at Singleton Village Hall on 21 May 2024
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Cholmondeley (Vice-Chair), Bailey and Clifford and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor Singleton and two members of the public also attended.
At the beginning of the meeting, Cllr Lee thanked former Chair and Councillor, Christine Ibbotson, for her hard work and dedication in her 4-year role as Councillor for Singleton, from which she retired at the Annual Parish Meeting. On behalf of the Parish Council, he wished her well for the future.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – None |
| 2. | Police Matters Crime Statistics for Elswick, Little Eccleston, Singleton & Greenhalgh – Violence and sexual offences – 12; Anti-social behaviour – 11; Theft – 4; Public order – 3. PCSO Georgina Fleming had contacted the Clerk. She was well aware of the problems caused by parking outside the school, which causes problems also near to the old fire station and area. She has tackled parents about this but says that they revert to their bad parking very quickly. This is a nationwide problem outside schools. Councillors fear, however, that a child will be seriously hurt or killed if nothing is done about it. PCSO Fleming has started a group called “The Seldom Heard Voices Drop-in”, similar to meetings which happened several years ago, where people living in rural areas and minority groups are encouraged to drop in and talk to the Police about whatever issues are of concern to them. The first one of these will be held in Kirkham on 29 May. The Clerk gave her contact details for Singleton Village Hall so that she could arrange such a drop-in session in Singleton. Clive Grunshaw has been elected as the new Police and Crime Commissioner. It was noted that feedback had been given following a report to the Police several months ago about concerns about drugs being supplied from a vehicle in a lay-by off Mains Lane. The member of the public was thanked for their statement to the Police and information was given that a year’s ban from driving and a fine had been imposed on the offender. |
| 3. | Open Forum – None |
| 4. | Minutes of previous meeting held on 16 April 2024 and any matters arising – The Minutes of the previous meeting were proposed to be a true and correct copy by Cllr Cholmondeley, this was seconded by Cllr Bailey and duly signed. Matters arising – Bowling Club – The caravan had been moved from the car park without having to remove any of the hedge and work had just commenced. The container is now located at the back of the car park. Assurance has been given by the Bowling Club Committee in respect of them having appropriate public liability insurance in place. |
| 5. | Declarations of Interest – None |
| 6. | Planning matters and decisions 24/0239 – Brook Cottage, Garstang Road, Singleton FY6 7SX – Alterations and extensions to dwelling – No specific observations24/0228 – Ridgefield, 22 Mains Lane, FY6 7LF – Alterations and extensions to dwelling – No specific observations24/0261 – 29 Mains Lane FY6 7LI – Application to vary condition re delay in construction of the development’s access onto A585 – No specific observations.22/0077 – Stanley Villa Farm, Back Lane, Weeton PR4 3HN – revision. This planning application, which the Parish Council had objected to previously, had been revised from 20 units to 10. However, the 10 were larger units and parking was requested for 2 vehicles each. Therefore, the traffic entering and leaving the site on a narrow stretch of road would remain the same. The Parish Council would repeat its previous objection. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highways issues Former Chairperson Cllr Ibbotson had chased up a few matters that she was still awaiting answers to. She reported as follows: – Traffic tailbacks at the Shard Road junction were proving to be very problematic. She had liaised with Kier about altering the sequence of the traffic lights. Kier had made some changes and some improvement had been observed.Singleton signs on Shard Road and Mains Lane – New boundary signs had been kept back by Fylde until the road works were completed. The Clerk will ask Fylde to install them now.Kier is still to respond on other issues but have promised to do so this week. County Cllr Singleton submitted his report. He will continue to follow up on issues which have yet to be resolved which include the removal of the metal plates in the carriageway on Station Road. This he will pursue with Network Rail. Other matters he has followed up on the Parish Council’s behalf include: – The school flashing signs, which are now working well without any manual assistance.Overgrown grass/vegetation on the footway – this has commenced and already looks a lot better.Grass Verges on A585 Mains Lane – Emailed National Highways regarding this.Bus Service 74 & 75 – The new contract has been awarded to Archway Travel who will take over the service from 18 August 2024. There will be no changes to fares with the national £2 fare cap still in place.Potholes – There are around 4,000 pothole repairs outstanding in Fylde and Wyre. Two extra teams have been brought in from Preston to help with the backlog.Road works – Pool Foot Lane – 1 July 2024 – 6 July 2024 – closed for resurfacing.Lodge Lane works – 24 June 2024 – 29 June 2024 for lighting column upgrades.Mains Lane/Old Mains Lane – Kier Highways are continuing de-trunking works at Singleton junction. Access will be maintained but temporary four-way traffic lights will be in operation with a lane closure in place.Improvements to Shard junction will continue with three-way temporary traffic lights on Mains Lane and Shard Road.Keir will be carrying out drainage surveys on Mains Lane during the day which will require two-way traffic lights at certain locations. County Cllr Singleton was thanked for his report. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Email received from Fylde BC regarding the new road name. Highways Agency and LCC had decided to continue with the name of the new by-pass as “Garstang New Road” and did not use any of the Parish Council’s suggestions. County Cllr Singleton will take this up with LCC. |
| 9. | Correspondence A Corporate Peer Review will be taking place at Fylde Borough Council to which Parish Clerks have been invited. The Clerk will attend this. LCC – Lancashire Community Orchard Grant – Grants are available up to £3,000 for a one-off funding for fruit and nut trees with applications being accepted until Feb 2025. The Clerk will forward these details to Cllr Lee.Email received from Parliament about the dangers of lithium batteries and the fire risks. A bill will be going through Parliament and will have its first reading on 5 June. A copy of this email has been forwarded to the litter-picker for information. |
| 10. | Update from Fylde Borough Council A new Mayor had been elected – Cllr Karen Henshaw.All the Rural Speeding Groups in the Fylde area will be getting together.The Fylde Local Plan is being reviewed and a working group will be looking at it. This will hopefully safeguard Singleton as a model village.The milestone will be put back very soon.A Fylde Rural Economy Feasibility and Baseline Study was completed in March. The study pains a positive picture of Fylde’s rural economy, and that Rural Fylde performs above or in line with the local, regional and national averages on a range of economic metrics, including employment, income, digital infrastructure and socio-economic deprivation. It highlights that Rural Fylde’s threats and weaknesses are very typical of rural areas, including distance from large markets and an ageing population. It concludes that reducing these barriers should be a key priority for policy and funding decisions. |
| 11. | Wish for car park on Church Road Cllr Bailey spoke of problems parking at the Church whilst attending a recent funeral. He would very much like to pursue the Trust’s idea of a car park on Church Road, which they had originally planned eight years ago, and which was now still their wish, subject to funding. He would like to pursue various agencies for the necessary funding to have this car park operational as soon as possible. The Clerk will write once again to the Trust to get their views on trying to get funding for this. |
| 12. | Vacancy on Singleton Parish Council Following the formal resignation of Cllr Ibbotson, the Clerk will now submit this to Fylde BC who will issue Notices asking for Nominations for the post of Parish Councillor to be made to their Returning Officer. This Notice will be displayed on the noticeboards and website for 14 days. If no response is received, the Parish Council can co-opt a person to serve as a councillor who must be over the age of 18 years and either live in the parish or within three miles of it, or work in the parish. |
| 13. | Accounts and Any Invoices to pay – Last month a report from Fylde BC’s Playground Maintenance team showed that work was necessary to secure two picnic tables in the Children’s Play Area. To this end the Clerk contacted the Handyman and asked him to look at these. The Handyman responded that the price for purchase and installation of ground fixings to the two tables would be £80. This was proposed to be accepted by Cllr Bailey, Seconded by Cllr Clifford and agreed. Annual Insurance bill – £1,082.22 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Grass-cutting contract – £517.68 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Clifford. Agreed.Clerk – Salary & Expenses – £487.37 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Clerk – Purchase of gifts on PC’s behalf – £87.85 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Litter-picker – 5 weeks – £513.75 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business Village Green – A full topological survey is being carried out and this data can be used in the new landscaping software. This will enable different designs to be created and the costings prepared. Work is also being done in Lytham using the same company and the idea is to do both projects in conjunction.The King’s Portrait has been received by Cllr Lee. It is proposed that this will be hung up in the Village Hall. |
| 15. | Date and time of next meeting – Thursday, 20 June 2024 at 7.15pm. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.50pm. |
Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ………………………………
Verena Henderson, Clerk to Singleton Parish Council,
Tel: 07530 605 291: Email Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org