Singleton Parish Council
A Meeting of the Parish Council will be held at the Village Hall, Singleton on Thursday 18 December 2014 at 7.15 pm.
(Please note new starting time)
Your presence is requested.
A G E N D A
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declaration of Interests
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 27 November 2014 and any Matters Arising
4. Open Forum – The Council will open up the meeting for 15 minutes for any questions from residents.
5. Police and PACT Report
6. Traffic Issues
7. Correspondence
8. Planning matters and decisions
9. Neighbourhood Planning update
10. Proposed New Road
11. Accounts and any Cheques to Pay
12. Any Other Business
13. Dates and Times of the next quarter’s meetings
Verena Henderson
Clerk to Singleton Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455
Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 18 December 2014 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair) and Chew, and one member of the public. The Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, also attended and took the Minutes.
1. Apologies were received and accepted by Cllrs Gallagher and Smith.
2. Declaration of Interests – None
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 November, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
United Utilities were due to have finished the road works on Sunday 21 December but have advised Cllr Chew that they have hit a snag with a large water main encased in a huge concrete block. They will need to come back after Christmas to deal with this and estimate the further work will take two more weeks.
One correction on the Police report from last month. The theft of Xmas decorations had occurred along with the other thefts from outbuildings and a lock-up on Lodge Lane – not Barnfield Manor as recorded.
4. Open Forum
Item 10 on the Agenda referred to the proposed new road, which had been reported recently on the television news. The Parish Council was asked what they knew about this new road. Unfortunately no information has been received as yet. Cllr Chew, along with County Councillor Paul Hayhurst, had met with the MP who was as surprised as everybody by this announcement and had no idea of where the new road is going to be. One rumour is that it will be between Skippool and Windy Harbour but there has been no confirmation of this. The road is reported to be costing £42 Million which will come from the Government, and the reason given is to help Fleetwood achieve greater economic growth. Cllr Chew had also spoken to officers at Lancashire County Council Highways who were equally surprised by the announcement and did not have any further information. As soon as we have information, we shall put this on the website.
As regards the works currently going on at Windy Harbour, the resident had been disturbed to see how much of the hedging and trees were being removed. According to the planning permission, 250 meters of hedging was to be taken out but this has been far exceeded and trees are being uprooted too. The Parish Council will take this up with Fylde Borough Council and will insist on the hedge being replanted once the work is completed.
5. Police and PACT Report
The Clerk had written to Inspector Thackeray-Scott to voice the Parish Council’s concerns about the low level of policing in Singleton Parish and the recent spate of burglaries that had taken place in the Lodge Lane area in particular. Inspector Thackeray-Scott replied that there had been a recent spate of thefts in rural areas across both Fylde and Wyre. These crimes are reviewed on a daily basis and resources are pooled from across the policing division to target spates such as these. They do have suspects for these crimes and the CID team are looking at the offences in all these areas looking to link them forensically. There is currently a recruitment process to replace the PCSOs and he hopes to provide information on this in the coming months.
As regards this month’s Police report, there were 6 reported crimes compared to 3 in the same period last year. These were as follows: –
• 3 drive offs without paying at the BP garage
• A domestic assault for which the husband is being dealt with
• 2 males entered a private drive on Mains Lane and got into a car by means unknown and stole a £300 cornet from the boot. Pictures of these men were captured on CCTV
• A taxi driver was assaulted outside the Miller Arms by a Singleton resident unable to pay his fare who also damaged the cab. Prosecution pending
There have also been crimes recorded in the surrounding area –
• Hare coursing
• Theft from farm outbuildings on Back Lane, Greenhalgh of chocolate, coffee and a figurine
• £10K of equipment stolen from a yard on Bradshaw Lane by at least 2 males using 2 cars.
Another break-in had taken place this week in the outbuildings of a property on Mains Lane where a large hammer had been left behind that had been used to break through the boarded windows. This had been reported to the Police at 10.00am and an officer had come out at 4.30pm. It is still not known at this time what was stolen.
6. Traffic Issues
Cllr Chew had met with County Councillor Paul Hayhurst and the 20mph limit for Singleton village is back on. We await information of when this will be implemented.
7. Correspondence
• Two letters from EM Highway Services Limited in regard to the recent roadworks carried out on the A585 at Skippool Roundabout and at the southern junction to Thistleton. They had asked for feedback from the Parish Council about the scheme, good or bad, to assist them with future plans. The Clerk was asked to respond that no complaints had been received and there were no problems as far as the Parish Council was concerned. It was also noted that the work was carried out at night and their consideration was appreciated.
• Nothing further heard from Fylde Borough Council concerning the encroachment of growth from the hedges onto the footpaths along Lodge Lane. The hedges had been cut, but the undergrowth was still there and was still causing the footpaths to be dangerously narrow. LCC Highways are responsible for this and the Clerk was asked to write to them once again pointing out the dangers of mums with pushchairs, elderly and disabled having to go into the road on a dangerous bend.
8. Planning Matters and Decisions
No new planning applications. The only decision notified was permission granted for the extension works to the LCC Highways depot on Grange Road.
9.
Neighbourhood Planning Update
The second meeting had taken place of the Steering Group on 9 December 2014 and the Clerk circulated the draft Minutes. Unfortunately, due to Christmas school events and other things going on, Cllr Chew was the only member of the Parish Council who had been able to attend, and she had to leave early for a medical appointment. However some discussions did take place and a draft Terms of Reference was considered by the group as well as various questions set previously by Fiona Riley, Planning Policy Officer at Fylde Borough Council. The Group still awaited further information from Fiona Riley as to the structure of the Plan, timetables, policy examples and useful guides of best practice. The Clerk had subsequently followed this up and these had now been received from Fiona.
Some amendments had been made to the Terms of Reference, which would be considered at the next Steering Group meeting. The Election of Chair and Vice-Chair would also take place at that meeting. Most of the group preferred to meet on a Tuesday evening and it was suggested that the next meeting take place on Tuesday 20 January 2015. The Clerk will circulate this date to the members.
10.
Proposed New Road
This item is covered in item 4.
Also, the Parish Council noted that Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council had produced a Highways and Transport Masterplan for Consultation. Councillors were asked to read through this and Cllr Chew had circulated an electronic copy. The Clerk has a printed copy, for reference. Cllr Chew is to meet with Dave Calvert, Highways Officer at LCC, to discuss the A585 shortly.
11.
Accounts and Cheques to Pay
• T. A. Pawson – Mounting of SPID – £60.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed
• Forsyth & Steele – printing of Christmas Cards – £220.80. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed
• Singleton Village Hall – Rent to date for Steering Group Meetings – £42.00. Proposed Cllr Chew. Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
• Nicholas Cardwell – Stone for Village Hall Car Park – £280. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
• Clerk – Salary and Wages for November/December 2014 (which included expenses for Neighbourhood Planning Steering Group) £364.33. Proposed Cllr Chew. Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• A. J. Scott Haulage re car park – £598.20. Proposed Cllr Chew. Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• Cllr Chew – Reimbursement for newsletter – £31.08. proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
12. Any Other Business
• Cllrs Lee and Gallagher had attended a recent meeting with Singleton Trust. The Chairman reported that they were pleased with the continuing talks and cooperation. The next meeting will take place on 4 February 2015.
• As regards the car park, the Monitoring Officer at Fylde BC advises against accepting money from the Trust for this.
• The Parish Council was delighted to hear of the excellent Ofsted results for Singleton Primary School and the Chairman had written a letter of congratulations on behalf of the Parish Council to the Headteacher.
• No progress on getting a defibrillator as yet. We have the money and have tried two different organisations, but can’t get a reply from either of them. Cllr Bailey will try and see if the Rotary are able to assist and/or the Ambulance Trust.
• The Precept for 2015/16 needs to be discussed at the January meeting.
13. Date and Time of next meetings
Provisional dates, to be circulated to Cllrs Gallagher and Smith, are as follows: –
• 22 January 2015
• 19 February
• 19 March
The date of the Council’s election is 7 May 2015.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.10pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455