Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
On 23 February 2017 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Gallagher (Chair), Chew and Lee, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies were received from Cllrs Bailey and Smith.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 January 2017, having been previously circulated, were agreed to be a true and correct record and were duly signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
The amount of precept agreed at the last meeting had been accepted by Fylde BC who confirmed that a rise of 3% would show on residents’ Council Tax bills for the parish of Singleton.
3. Open Forum – None
4. Declaration of Interests
Cllrs Gallagher and Lee declared a personal interest in planning matter 17/0084 – 13 Weeton Road Singleton, and did not take part in that discussion.
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
• 17/0084 – 13 Weeton Road, Singleton, FY6 8LL – Formation of vehicle access to front garden area from Weeton Road. Unfortunately due to the absence of Cllrs Bailey and Smith and the fact that Cllrs Gallagher and Lee had declared a personal interest in this planning matter, discussion was unable to take place at this meeting.
• 17/0087 – Worsicks Farm, Weeton Road, Singleton FY6 8LL – Newly listed – no information received as yet.
• 17/0133 – Brook Cottage, Garstang Road, Singleton FY6 7SX – Retrospective application – Newly listed – no information received as yet.
• 17/0140 – Brook Cottage, Garstang Road, Singleton, FY6 7SX – resubmission of application 16/0746 – Newly listed – no information received as yet.
Planning Decisions
16/0978 – Lyndene, 123 Mains Lane Singleton FY6 7LD – Proposed single storey rear extension – Granted.
16/0932 – Woodlands, Lodge Lane, Singleton FY6 8LT – Reserved matters of appearance, layout etc for the erection of 9 dwelling houses – Granted.
16/0940 – The Croft, 117 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LD – Outline application for a single dwelling house – Refused.
16/1006 – Land adjacent to 195 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LB – Outline application for up to 9 dwellings – Refused.
17/0004 – Newbrook, Old Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LA – Erection of two storey dwelling following demolition of existing bungalow – Refused.
Notification of Appeal
16/0538 – 29 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LJ – Outline application for erection of 7 dwellings around existing dwelling with access.
6. Police and PACT Report
An email had been circulated to all Parish and Town Councils in Fylde from Inspector Susan Horn saying that they would be phasing out police reports. Contact details for Inspector Susan Horn, Sgt Andrew Hill and PCSO 7360 Becca Didsbury were included in that email and these were circulated amongst the councillors.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
Cllr Chew was pleased to report that Fylde BC had swept Mains Lane last week.
8. Proposed New By-Pass
Local residents had telephoned Cllr Chew to say that they had seen Highways England taking soil samples recently from quite a wide area, far wider than any of their proposals had suggested. Various residents continue to be concerned about some of the routes suggested.
Cllrs Bailey and Chew attended the last meeting of the A585 Windy Harbour to Skippool Community Reference Group, held on 17 January 2017. Alec Davies, Chair of Governors at Singleton Primary School, had joined the attendees. Minutes of this meeting had been circulated and will be kept on file. The next meeting will take place in July.
9. Correspondence
Information received that Fylde Borough Council’s Local Plan will be subjected to Independent Examination Hearings on 28th and 29th March 2017 at the Dalmeny Hotel, St. Annes-on-Sea. Further information will be posted on Fylde BC’s website. The Inspector has also asked Fylde to provide an initial short statement setting out its views on what, if any, implications the white paper on “Fixing Our Broken Housing Market” has on their draft plan and the current examination. Fylde’s response to this will be added to the Examination library webpage shortly.
10.
Feedback from District Parish Liaison Meeting
Unfortunately Cllr Chew had been unable to attend this meeting held on 25 January, but Cty Cllr Paul Hayhurst had and he had expressed his alarm at the unfairness to small parishes on the proposed distribution of election expenses. For example, it would cost St Annes 67p per voter, whereas a very small parish would be expected to pay £7 per voter. It was agreed that this proposal was most unfair and the Council supported Cty Cllr Hayhurst’s stance.
It was also noted that Elswick Parish Council were to protest to Highways England about the Thistleton junction, saying that Highways England themselves needed to protest about the number of new-build homes proposed where the occupants would need to use the A585.
11.
Litter-picking
The Chairman had met with Keith Walker of the Dumbreck Trust and they had gone through all the roads in the village which needed to be included in this litter-pick. Some roads such as Station Road didn’t need as much attention as others, for example, Mile Road. The Trust is also happy to use our man and after much discussion it was agreed that the Chairman would contact Andy Taylor and advise him which roads needed attention.
It was agreed that the total cost would be paid 50/50 between the Trust and the Parish Council.
12. New Equipment for Playground
Cllrs Lee and Smith had met at the playground and after much discussion, decided that the low level equipment should be extended to make a more interesting circuit for the children. By extending what was already there, expense would be saved on the ground work. A firm decision on this would be taken at the next meeting.
In the meantime, Shaun Thornton was just waiting for the weather to improve before his work on the ground underneath the picnic tables.
13. Noticeboard at the Village Hall
The Clerk reported that the noticeboard had further deteriorated and that she had been unable to close one of the doors. This now needed urgent attention.
14. Accounts and Cheques to Pay
• T A Pawson – SPID – £65.00 (which included £5 underpayment from a previous invoice in August 2016) – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• The Clerk, Salary plus expenses for January/February 17 – £315.91. Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
15. Any Other Business
• Cllr Chew had spoken with the Enforcement Officer and Legal Officer at Fylde Borough Council about the Parish Council considering having a video camera to catch fly-tippers. The officers went through all the necessary legalities, including the areas being videoed having to have the appropriate signage. They had also passed on a sign for us to use and another is available if required. For prosecution purposes, the pictures taken would need to be of very good quality to identify license plates so that these could be used by Fylde in any subsequent prosecution. It was agreed to use this sign and to make up our own as well, which Cllr Gallagher will organise. It was also agreed to look at cameras in the £200-£300 region, which would be moved round to different `hot spots’ as appropriate.
• More problems with a vehicle consistently parking at the top of Pool Foot Lane, which is not only causing an obstruction just before the traffic lights but is encouraging others to follow suit. As minuted previously, this was reported to the Police, but the problem hasn’t gone away. The grassed area is now severely rutted and discussions took place about what possible measures the Parish Council could take. Fencing off the area was suggested, or perhaps some bollards. Cllr Gallagher will look into this and will also look into bollards for the Lodge Lane lay-by, with the bollards being made from 6” galvanised steam pipe with the Parish Council’s logo on.
• Grasscutting contract for 2017/18 needs to be put on the next agenda.
• Improvements to the frontage of the caravan site on Pool Foot Lane had taken place and the Parish Council was very encouraged to see that substantial planting of hedging had taken place. It was certainly looking a lot better.
16. Date and Time of next meeting
The next meeting would take place at the Village Hall on Thursday 30 March 2017 at 7.15pm.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.15pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455