Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 20 July 2017 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Smith (Chair), Lee (Vice Chair), Bailey, and Chew and, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Two members of the public were also in attendance.
1. Apologies were received from Cllr Gallagher who was away on holiday.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 June 2017, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and duly signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
Cllrs Chew and Lee had met with Paul Batty of Playdale in connection with new play equipment for the Children’s Play Park. It had previously been agreed that amongst all the information gathered from firms specialising in children’s play equipment, equipment from Playdale was competitive, robust and of excellent quality and would stand the test of time. They had provided other items in previous years on the playground. Mr Batty had provided a plan of equipment that would complement the items already in place and would mean that expensive ground cover would not be necessary. The quotation price was £5,997.03. This was more than the Parish Council had agreed to spend but Cllr Chew will be pursuing a grant towards the cost of this in September 2017. The matter will be finally decided upon when the success or failure of the grant application is known.
3. Open Forum
The meeting was then opened up to the two members of the public who brought up their planning application to provide a training school for gun dogs on their property on Garstang Road. This application had previously come before the Parish Council as an application for dog kennels and the Parish Council had expressed concern to the Planning Authority about possible noise nuisance to neighbours. Since then a new development on Mains Lane had also lodged a complaint about the application. The two members of the public said that this would not be an ordinary dog kennel business, but one specialising in training gun dogs. They stressed that the noise levels would not be excessive as these dogs had to get used to working in noisy environments and if they barked all the time they would clearly not be suitable. The training period generally went on for between 4 and 6 weeks and they were eager to get their business off the ground.
They wanted the Parish Council to advise as to what clause could be put in the planning application so that any future owners could not open it up as a normal dog kennels. Cllr Chew wondered if it was possible to have a clause to keep any planning agreement in the family and for it not to be passed on to an outside body. She suggested that they discuss this possibility with the planning officers at Fylde BC. Cllr Chew doubted whether the Parish Council would be consulted on the application again but if this did happen the Parish Council would take their comments into consideration.
4. Declaration of Interests – None
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
• 17/0539 – Nelson House, Garstang Road, Singleton FY6 8LX – Proposed erection of arch topped wrought iron driveway gates. No specific observations.
• 17/0582 – Land at Summerer Farm, Weeton Road, Singleton FY6 8NQ – Proposed telecommunications development – No specific observations.
• 17/0588 – Land known as Singleton Stables, Lodge Lane, Singleton. Erection of barn building for use in association with land use, storage of machinery, tools and hay – No specific observations.
• 17/0543 – Land to south of Applegarth, Church Road, Singleton FY6 8LN – Application for approval of reserved matters of appearance and landscaping associated with planning permission 16/0583 for erection of a detached dwelling – No specific observations.
• 17/0573 – Land off Garstang New Road, Singleton, FY6 8LP – Change of use from agriculture to mixed use of agriculture and keeping of horses. New listing – no information received as yet.
6. Police and PACT Report
The Parish Council was disappointed that no response has been received from the Police after two letters were sent by the Clerk and Cllr Chew following the public meeting called on 21st June 2017. The Clerk had also sent a copy of the Minutes taken from that meeting which highlighted the concern of residents following an incident the week before.
Cllr Chew reported that at a Council meeting at Fylde BC a Notice of Motion had been put forward saying they did not have confidence in the Police’s ability to reduce the fear of crime in residents. This had been supported by the whole Council. They were now trying to get a meeting with the Chief Constable and the Crime Commissioner to voice their concerns.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
Concern was raised about the heavy amount of traffic on Station Road at rush hours. The Clerk was asked to contact County Councillor Paul Hayhurst with the Parish Council’s concerns. Several accidents had occurred on that stretch of road over the years, which was not designed to carry such a volume of traffic.
8. Proposed New By-Pass
A 96 page report had now been put on the Highways England’s website for the general public to view. There had been a report in the Blackpool Gazette quoting the Highways England as being very derogatory as to how effective the blue route would be in solving the traffic problem.
9.
Correspondence
Draft Minutes received from the District Parish Liaison Meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for 18 October 2017 at 6.30 at the Town Hall, Fylde BC. The Clerk was asked to request an item be put on their next agenda concerning the refusal of the Police to enforce 20mph speed limits in villages.
10.
Constitution
Ian Curtis, Head of Governance at Fylde BC, had considered the draft updated Constitution and put forward a couple of minor suggestions which the Clerk had incorporated into the final version. It was agreed that this be adopted and copies were circulated. A copy of this would be put on the Parish Council’s website.
11.
New SPID
As agreed, the Clerk had consulted Andy Pawson, the person responsible for mounting the current SPID, for his views on the best option for the Parish Council. All the companies were quoting similar prices – around £2,500 – and so it was down to weight and ease of handling. Mr Pawson replied that he has found the company C A Traffic very helpful and good to deal with and thought that their `Clever SPID’ would meet the Parish Council’s needs.
Cllr Smith proposed that the Clerk orders a Clever SPID from C A Traffic. This was seconded by Cllr Bailey and Agreed.
12.
Overnight parking on the Village Hall Car Park
A second letter had been prepared to put on the cars whose owners have been warned before. This letter says that unauthorised overnight parking is against the Lease arrangements and the Parish Council’s insurance and that Solicitors would be consulted in future. Another option discussed was possible clamping.
13. Weeds on roadside pathways
Alarm was expressed at the amount of weeds which have appeared in recent weeks on roadside pathways throughout the parish. Cllr Chew had taken this up with officers at Fylde BC who reported that there had been a problem with the weed-killer normally used (Roundup) which had had its licence revoked. Weeds were therefore being removed by a road sweeper which wasn’t proving affective to those on the footpaths. Roundup’s licence for commercial use has now been granted and they have started to clear the weeds in the larger towns. The Clerk was asked to contact Kathy Winstanley at Fylde BC asking for the weeds in our parish to be dealt with as soon as possible.
14. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
The Clerk had received a query from Council Audits concerning the amount of money still owed on the Parish Council’s loan from Fylde BC. Derek Appleton, Principal Accountant at Fylde BC had responded that the Parish Council now owes £7,375.00. This money was originally borrowed to improve car parking facilities at the Village Hall.
• John Chew – Plants for 24 flowering tubs around the parish – £360.00. It was commented how beautiful these looked and also compliments had been received from residents near to the Shard Road junction about the improvement in the upkeep of their piece of land in recent months. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
• Forsyth & Steele – Printing of Parish Council newsletter – £38.00. Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• Clerk – Reimbursement for purchasing thank-you presents, cards and gift bags – £42.00. Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Chew. Agreed.
• Clerk’s Salary and Expenses for June/July 2017 which included inks and stationery – £341.64. Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
15. Any Other Business
• The wooden bench under the trees in the play area needs attention again. It was agreed to ask John Chew to clean and paint this with Cuprinol, as he has in the past.
• The trees on the car park have now grown substantially and it was suggested that some of the lower branches could be removed. The Clerk will contact Andy Pawson about this.
• Weeds again need controlling in the car park. The Clerk will contact Andy Pawson.
• There are 2 dead trees on the car park. Other trees have spread out however and it may not be necessary to replace these 2 trees at the present time.
• Concern expressed about the gate at the entrance to the Play Area.
16 Date and Time of next meeting
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.40pm. The Parish Council next meets on 31 August 2017 at 7.15 pm at the Village Hall.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455