Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 22 February 2018 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Smith (Chair), Lee (Vice Chair), Bailey, Chew and Gallagher, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies – None
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 25 January 2018, having been previously circulated, were agreed to be a true and correct record and were accordingly signed by the Chairman. There were no matters arising.
3. Open Forum – None
4. Declaration of Interests – Cllr Gallagher declared a personal interest in planning application 18/0082 and therefore took no part in the determination of it.
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
• 18/0068 – Summerer Farm, Weeton Road, Singleton, FY6 8NQ – Erection of agricultural building to house cattle. The Parish Council has no specific observations to make upon the proposal but would like to see the encouragement of trees being planted to soften the appearance.
• 18/0082 – Bankfield Lodge, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton FY6 8LZ – Variation of conditions 6 – Materials; Condition; 8 – Trees; condition 9 – Landscaping; Condition 12 – Site preparation; Condition 14 – Ecology to planning permission application 14/0627. The Parish Council has no specific observations to make on the proposal but would say that it does not want to see anything detrimental to trees, wildlife or flora and fauna in the area. The Parish Council also has concerns about drainage as the ground is very boggy and would not like to see this worsen at a later date and cause further problems to the area.
Planning Decisions
• 17/0573 – Land south of Garstang New Road, Singleton – Change of use from agriculture to mixed use of agriculture and the keeping of horses – Granted.
• 17/1065 – 158 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LB – Single storey rear extension – Granted.
6. Police and PACT Report
The Clerk had received a response from Chief Inspector Mark Morley in regards to speed enforcement and drivers using mobile phones. The Parish Council was not very satisfied with the response and would still like to see more Police presence in the parish.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
Cllr Chew had previously circulated emails which she had sent to various officers at Fylde BC and Highways England since November 2017 in an attempt to get more street cleaning and litter-picking done and to persuade Fylde BC that it is their responsibility to sweep the A585. Highways England had offered to do it and to send Fylde BC the bill. Cllr Chew seems to have made some headway.
There is still a problem with potholes. The worse one on Lodge Lane was repaired but was breaking up again within 2 days. This was reported to Cty Cllr Paul Hayhurst who is currently dealing with many complaints about potholes. The Clerk was asked to email him about this one outside the driveway to Singleton Lodge and to report it to LCC.
The Parish Council is very dissatisfied with Highways England and their current evening closure of the A585. Neither Singleton Parish nor Greenhalgh Parish received any notification of this closure and the suggested diversion is proving very long and unpopular with drivers choosing to drive through Weeton and Singleton village instead. It had been noted that a substantial number of lorries were now driving through the village at night. The Clerk was asked to email Highways England to express the Parish Council’s concerns.
8. Proposed New By-Pass
An article had recently appeared in the Blackpool Gazette about a meeting coming up in March or April but the Parish Council has received no information about this. There is supposed to be a presentation in the Spring when they have completed all the preliminary works, but again no date is known at this time.
9. Correspondence
• Email received from Fylde BC asking if we had a group who wanted to enter this year’s “In Bloom” and “It’s Your Neighbourhood” Awards. Forms can be obtained from Amy Docherty, Assistant Technical & Development Officer amy.docherty@fylde.gov.uk and she needs to have them back by 16 March. Cllr Lee offered to put this information on `Singleton Chat’.
• Information received regarding the Fylde Local Plan to 2032 – Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications for Consultation. The consultation period goes from 8 February to 22nd March 2018 and all information is available on Fylde BC’s website.
• Wyre Local Plan Submission – This has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination. All information is available on Wyre BC’s website.
• Information received from LCC concerning Lancashire Wellbeing Service Rebrand. This service works in partnership with specialist providers and covers such things as emotional health, social isolation, difficult circumstances, struggling to cope, lifestyle and healthy living and long term health condition. Noted.
• District Parish Liaison Meeting – The next one will take place on Wednesday 18 April at the Wrea Green Institute starting at 6.30 pm.
• Email circulated from St Annes Town Council entitled “Injustice to Lancashire Communities Vulnerable to Flooding”. This email originated from the Churchtown Flood Action Group who are to write to the 15 Lancashire MPs and the relevant Government Ministers saying that the present Government Planning Guidelines are not fit for purpose and that it appears that the same Flood Risk Assessment criteria are used throughout the country regardless of the wide variation in annual rainfall. Thus, for example, they are the same in Kent as in Lancashire and Cumbria and are not robust enough to protect the vulnerable from flooding in higher rainfall areas. It was agreed to support this group as hundreds if not thousands of acres are at risk of being flooded from the main dyke and from water from the M55 and from new developments. Farmland was flooded for six months two winters ago and the land was not usable afterwards.
10.
Super SID
This is now back with the company and Cllr Lee has explained the problem to them. Mr. Pawson has presented his bill for insuring and sending the SID back, which the Clerk will endeavour to reclaim.
11.
Feedback from Meeting with Singleton Trust
Cllrs Bailey and Smith attended this meeting on the Parish Council’s behalf.
• Amongst items discussed was the planned Peace Garden and plans were viewed in regard to this. Two tablets made out of Corrine Resin would be placed in the garden with names of those who fell in the two world wars. They were hoping to complete the work by Armistice Day and would be having an official opening ceremony.
• The Trust brought up the idea of sharing a newsletter with the Parish Council. Various options were discussed about this and the fact that Cllr Chew also produced the newsletter for the Village Hall. It was decided that any items of interest would be put on the “Singleton Chat” and the Website and that the Parish Council would only produce a newsletter with the annual Christmas card in future.
• Dog fouling was brought up but the Trust thinks that most people do use the bins and that any continuing problem is caused by a small minority.
• Worsick’s Farm Redevelopment – Still a problem with bats and no starting date known as yet.
• The Trust had conducted a Tree Survey but found that there were no problems occurring with the planned Peace Garden.
12.
Litter-Picker
Mr Butcher had continued to fill many bags with litter on Mile Road and Weeton Road. The Trust would cover the charge of roads cleared in the village and the Clerk was asked to liaise with the Clerk to the Trust about this.
13. Decision on the purchase of a new item for the Children’s Play Area
As previously reported, the Parish Council had been unsuccessful in its bid for funding to help with the purchase of a new item of play equipment. Discussion took place as to whether or not to proceed totally out of the Parish Council’s funds and the Clerk distributed an up-to-date balance sheet. Cllr Lee proposed that the Parish Council spends £5,000 on a previously agreed item of equipment; this was seconded by Cllr Gallagher and Agreed unanimously. Cllr Chew will get on to the successful firm – Playdale – and arrange for this item to be purchased.
14. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
• T A Pawson – Mounting of SID – £60.00 – Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• T A Pawson – Returning and Insuring SID – £200.21 – Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• S Butcher – Litter-picking -£183.00 – Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Clerk – Salary and Expenses – £355.54 – Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Smith. Agreed.
15. Any Other Business
• An inspector had checked the defibrillator and found that the children’s pads were out of date. These would be ordered.
• Cllr Gallagher showed photographs of flooding on Pool Foot Lane and the land-filled area. He would report this to Lancashire County Council Highways.
• Concern expressed about 4 cars being left on the car park overnight again and 3 were there again this evening. This would need to be looked into.
• A resident from Pool Brow has complained to Cllr Chew about trouble with drainage since the land was built up behind their mobile home. This matter was brought to the Parish Council’s attention some months ago from another resident. This person is also having difficulty moving their bins as the ground is so much higher now. Cllr Chew has reported this to the Planning Officer who is going to have a look at the problem with a view to putting the land back to how it was before.
15 Date and Time of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Thursday 22nd March 2018 at 7.15pm at the Village Hall.
As there was no further business the meeting closed at 9.00pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455