Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 29 June 2017 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Smith (Chair), Lee (Vice Chair), Bailey and Chew, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies were received from Cllr Gallagher and County Councillor Paul Hayhurst.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 May 2017, having been previously circulated, were agreed to be a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
County Councillor Hayhurst had sent an email to the effect that the bollards at the end of Pool Foot Lane were due to be repaired within the next 20 working days. As regards the other matter the Parish Council had raised, namely the poor Broadband reception in Singleton, the LCC role of Broadband Champion has been discontinued since the new administration came into being. The situation is now with BT but complaints of dreadfully slow Broadband reception continue to come in from Elswick and Great Eccleston as well as Singleton.
3. Open Forum – None
4. Declaration of Interests – None
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
Proposed telecommunications base at Summerer Farm, Weeton Road, Singleton FY6 8NQ. The site is required to provide new 4G coverage for Telefonica and improved 2G/3G services. The Parish Council has no specific observations to make on the proposal and indeed looks forward to an improved mobile reception in the village.
Planning decisions
• 17/0273 – Singleton Hall, Lodge Lane, Singleton FY6 8LU – Amended plans for the installation of a mechanical lift at entrance – Granted.
• 17/0360 – Hightide, Old Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LA – External alterations to dwelling including insertion of 3 windows and 2 sets of Bi-fold doors to the north elevation – Granted.
6. Police Matters including special meeting on 21/06/17.
The Parish Council, at the request of a number of residents, held a special meeting on 21 June 2017 following an incident involving 3 young people who descended on the village and set up camp, initially in a resident’s back garden, and then on land belonging to Singleton Trust. These young people became very abusive and threatening and a substantial number of residents were affected over a period which lasted for 4½ hours. The Police response had been very slow and ineffective and villagers were left feeling very angry and let down. Sgt Nick Pritchard of Lancashire Constabulary attended the meeting and he undertook to look into individual residents’ concerns. The meeting was minuted and more information can be found in those.
The Minutes taken from that meeting were agreed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman. The Clerk had written to Chief Inspector Mick Jones of Kirkham Police and had attached a copy of the draft Minutes to that letter. Cllr Chew read out a letter she was preparing on behalf of a number of residents of the village, which would also go to Chief Inspector Mick Jones. The Minutes will be displayed on the noticeboards and website.
Cllr Chew had attended the Parish and Town Councils’ District Liaison meeting last night and had raised this matter to Chief Inspector Morley there. Chief Inspector Morley had subsequently circulated information regarding an armed robbery in Freckleton and also the policing of the Fracking site. Sgt Andy Hill has been seconded to oversee the policing there.
As reported in the media, Kirkham Police Station is one of several Northwest stations involved in a front counter review.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
It was generally felt that traffic was slowing down a little going through the village. It is still above the 20mph and is estimated to be between 30 and 40mph. There are still those who drive at dangerous speeds, but on the whole the situation is improving.
Cllr Chew had attended the Fylde Local Plan Inquiry and had brought up the problems of the A585 Thistleton Junction. Highways England do not intend to do anything with this junction as they do not want to interrupt the flow of traffic with a roundabout or traffic lights. Their only concern is to getting the traffic to the M55 and they do not consider the affect this junction has on the lives of local people. The Inspector has requested Fylde BC’s Planning Department to do more consultations about various things and the A585 is one of the issues they need to report back on. Residents are disappointed with the lack of support from Fylde BC who has made no mention of the effect this junction has on them.
8. Proposed By-Pass
Highways England had been in touch with Cllrs Bailey and Chew and had sent a copy to each of a major report, some 96 pages long, containing the results of all the consultations they have undertaken. Fylde BC is condensing this to cover just the relevant issues for Singleton and Cllr Chew will circulate this to all councillors.
There is a new Project Manager – David Hopkin. Although some consideration had been shown to Singleton hall parkland and the Grade II listed Singleton Hall Ice House, no consideration seems to have been given to the 58 affected properties. Some elderly residents at Singleton Hall are very upset. Cllr Bailey duly contacted David Hopkin about his concerns and although the bypass option further south has been discounted because of increased cost, there is now mention of a land bridge at Lodge Lane which has been proposed as an alternative to the Lodge Lane tunnel suggestion. This would allow the field immediately east of Lodge Lane to be reinstated along with the existing route of the access to Singleton Hall and Singleton Manor. The length would be approximately 110m and could accommodate the reinstatement of the paddock on top of the tunnel.
The scheduled meeting in July has been put back to later in the year, either September or October, when there will be a preferred route announcement. There will then be a further consultation period with a further meeting around April 2018.
9. Correspondence
Email from Playdale offering to meet up with the Parish Council on Monday 10 July and provide us with a coloured scaled plan, price guidelines and advice regarding securing funding for the new equipment on the playing field. Both Cllrs Chew and Lee would be happy to meet them.
10.
Adoption of new Parish Council Constitution
The Clerk circulated a draft copy of a revised and refreshed Constitution for consideration. This would be needed for any future funding request. Cllr Chew proposed that this be accepted, this was seconded by Cllr Lee and Agreed. A copy would be sent to Cllr Gallagher to seek his approval before publishing this on the website.
11.
New SPID
Cllr Lee had checked with the four main companies. The SPID or SID’s as they are now referred to (Speed Indication Devices) are so much more sophisticated than the one the Parish Council has shared with Weeton PC for many years. The advice given is not to go for a solar operated one, as the solar disc is rather large and would be difficult to keep moving to different positions. The battery version is therefore favoured but the batteries will keep for far longer than the current one and will record up to 65,000 cars. As this SID would be solely for this Council, it was considered feasible to get a spare battery which could be charged when the other one is in use so that there would not be any lengthy breaks in its operation. They will also do different speeds so can be positioned in the 20mph areas, the 30mph areas and Mains Lane which is 40mph. The cost of these new devices is around £2,500 and appears to be roughly the same for all four companies.
It was agreed that as Mr Pawson is responsible for mounting the SID, he should have a look at all the different specifications and decide which is the most suitable for our needs. The weight of the devices, for instance, could be a key factor in it remaining a one-man operation. Cllr Lee will forward the specifications to the Clerk who will then pass on all the information to Mr. Pawson.
12.
Singleton Trust Matters
The Parish Council has received a lot of complaints about dogs running loose on the new permissive footpaths on land belonging to Singleton Trust. Despite notices saying all dogs must be on a lead, many people from outside the parish are choosing to ignore this and their dogs are running free. As a consequence, dog dirt is increasing and getting to be quite a problem. Some professional dog walkers, walking 3 or 4 dogs, are particularly responsible for this and David Kay has challenged 3 people about this who have become very aggressive and have refused to pick up the dog dirt. The Parish Council has advised these residents to contact the Trust directly and ask to have a meeting with them.
The next meeting between the Parish Council and the Trust is scheduled for 02/08/17.
13.
Overnight Parking issue on the Village Hall car park
Following concern expressed at the last meeting, the Clerk had done a note which Cllr Gallagher had put on all the parked cars to advise them that cars parking on the car park overnight was in breach of the Parish Council’s Insurance and Lease arrangements. The cars have been removed but if this problem occurs again it may be necessary to obtain a solicitor’s letter.
14. Litter-picking
The Clerk had discovered that the proposed contractor had changed his phone number and had passed this on to Cllr Gallagher. Unfortunately, in Cllr Gallagher’s absence it is not known if any progress has been made in this matter.
15. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
The Clerk had completed the official Annual Audit and all the relevant papers had gone off to the Audit Commission. There was now a period of six weeks for members of the public to view the accounts by prior arrangement with the Clerk, and notices to this effect have been put on all the noticeboards and the website.
• Andy Pawson – Weed killing at car park – £36.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
• Andy Pawson – SPID – Just one mount – £30.00. Proposed Cllr Lee. Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
• Clerk’s Salary and Expenses for May/June 2017 – £290.30. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Chew. Agreed.
16. Any Other Business
• Cllr Chew has drafted most of the newsletter but is having difficulty getting it compatible with Forsyth & Steele’s format for printing. Cllr Lee will help here.
• Cllr Smith has received an email from John Highton of the Trust in regard to the Peace Garden proposals. They are happy for names to be included in the garden. He will circulate this email to all councillors for information.
17. Dates and Time of next meetings
The provisional dates for the next three meetings were set as: – 20 July, 31 August and 21 September. The Clerk will pass these on to Cllr Gallagher for confirmation or amendment.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.00pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to Singleton Parish Council
tel: 01995 670455
email Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org