SINGLETON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting
Held at Singleton Village Hall on
Tuesday 4 October 2022 at 7.00pm
- Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice-Chair), Cholmondeley, Clifford and Ibbotson and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson who took the Minutes. One resident of the parish also attended.
- Apologies – None.
- Minutes – The Minutes of the previous Annual Meeting which took place on 23 September 2021, having been previously circulated, were Agreed and signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman.
- Chairman’s Report – The Chairman reported as follows: –
It is with great sadness that we lost Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth during this last municipal year. Singleton Parish Council would like to record our condolences and affirm our support of His Majesty, King Charles, the Duke of Lancaster.
I would also like to record our thanks to our past Chairman Bob Gallagher who has resigned from the council since the last AGM. Bob had been a Councillor for over 12 years and during this time he has contributed countless hours of work for the benefit of the Parish. In his place, we were pleased to welcome Cllr Mark Clifford and wish him well in his new post.
The Mains Lane bypass has been one of the most impactful issues we face in the Parish, and it is causing much disruption, most notably for the residents of Barnfield Manor, Singleton Hall and the top of Lodge Lane. Cllr Bailey is the Council’s lead on this issue and he and other Councillors are in regular meetings and correspondence with Kier and Highways England to try and reduce the disruption.
We also faced the potential of losing our 20mph speed limit through the village. The Speed Indicator Devices in the village record the speeds of all vehicles through the village. This data has shown that the average speed through the village has dropped from 40mph to just under 30mph since the 20mph was introduced. Thankfully this decision was not implemented, and we have since seen Police Officers operating speed traps in the village.
Community Speedwatch has also been introduced into the village and will be operational soon. We are grateful for the support of so many local volunteers to help combat the speeding.
The Parish Council was not happy with quite a few decisions made by Planning at Fylde Borough Council. As a Statutory Consultee with far better local knowledge, we believe that our (and all other Parish Councils’) opinions should carry greater weight in the decision-making process.
Of particular note is the ongoing issue with camping and holiday sites in the Rural Communities across the Borough. Many of these sites are allowing full time residents which is causing an even greater strain on the local infrastructure. Our residents are already finding it difficult to get appointments with doctors, dentists and other necessary services. These needless additions are detrimental to all our other residents and the Parish Council has written to the Planning Department with our concerns.
I would like to note that in the last year we have had only one visit from our local Police PCSO at our monthly meetings. Prior to Covid the Police made regular visits and this gave us the opportunity for both sides to discuss local issues and plans.
This last year has also had lots of positive developments: –
- The Boundaries Commission reviewed the warding in Fylde and concluded that the Wards needed to increase in size and the number of Councillors reduce to 37.
- The leading Conservative group at Fylde proposed that the majority of the rural wards be split up (including Singleton and Greenhalgh) and joined with more urban areas.
- The Independent Group fought this and, with the unanimous support of the affected Parish Councils, provided an alternative plan. Thankfully this plan was accepted by the Boundaries Commission, so from May 2023, our new Ward will be Rural Fylde North which will comprise of Singleton, Greenhalgh with Thistleton, Weeton, Little Eccleston and Elswick.
- We recently decided to revive the plan for a Village Green. We proposed this to the Dumbreck Trust, and they were very keen to get involved. This is now moving forward as a joint initiative, and we look forward to further joint projects in the future.
- This year has also seen us increase the Litter-Pick in the Parish. We were once again thankful to the Dumbreck Trust for sharing the cost of this with us. We have received numerous comments from residents about how much tidier the area is looking.
- This year saw the Village Gala in its new location behind the Village Hall. It was again a huge success, and we would like to thank all the organisers for their continued hard work.
- The pathways from the Village to Singleton Lodge have finally been cleared and we would like to thank Cllr John Singleton for facilitating this. It has greatly increased the safety of pedestrians along that route.
- This year also saw Singleton’s most famous landmark, the Fire Station, get the final part of its much needed and well overdue renovation. This has taken many years of work behind the scenes trying to get this work done. Unfortunately, the Fire Station is owned by a private company and so not something the Parish Council can simply sort. We are now running annual inspections and will keep the pressure on to preserve this valuable piece of history.
As always, we are grateful to the many locals who participate in local organisations and events as well as the many volunteers who help out. Special thanks go to Doug and Shaun Goth who seven days a week lock and unlock the car park barrier as well as many other jobs around the Parish.
On a personal note, I would like to thank Councillors Bailey, Cholmondeley, Ibbotson and Clifford and County Cllr Singleton for their continued hard work and support and of course, our Clerk, Verena Henderson, for keeping us all in line.
Cllr Matthew Lee
- Financial Report from the Clerk
The Clerk distributed copies of the end-of-year accounts for the financial year 2021/2022. This reported as follows: –
Balance brought forward from 2020/2021 35,498
Plus receipts Parish Council Precept 22281
Community Fund Payment 1137
Interest on Bank Accounts 6
LCC payment for grass cutting 468
Uncashed cheque 157 24,049
59,547
Less Payments Clerk’s wages 2583
Admin Expenses 726
Repayment of loan to Fylde BC 275
Insurance 807
Rent for hire of Village Hall 310
Grants to local organisations 600
Official audit fees 240
Newsletters/Xmas cards 306
Playground maintenance 3568
Grass-cutting contract 5829
Plants, tubs, compost 675
General maintenance 36
Litter-picking 978
Defibrillator expenses 571
Thank you’s 154
Flowers 49
Tree planting 165
ICO (data protection) annual fee 40 17,912
The Clerk was thanked for her report.
Spending on community projects had not taken place to the same extent as in previous years due to lockdowns and restrictions surrounding the Covid pandemic. Councillors were asked to think of items to go on a `Wish List’ of community projects they would like to see taking place and this would be put on the agenda for the next monthly meeting.
- Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2022/2023
Cllr Lee told the meeting that he would be happy to continue as Chair for another year. Cllr Bailey proposed that Cllr Lee be elected as Chair, this was seconded by Cllr Ibbotson and Agreed.
Cllr Bailey wished to stand down as Vice-Chair and proposed that Cllr Ibbotson be elected as Vice-Chair for 2022/2023. This was seconded by Cllr Lee and Agreed.
- Any Questions from the Public – None.
Finally, Cllr Cholmondeley suggested that an item on Salary Review be put on the Agenda for future Annual Parish Meetings. This was Agreed.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 7.20pm.
Signed …………………………………………………….. Dated ………………………….
Verena Henderson
Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer
Singleton Parish Council
Email: Clerk@SingletonParishCouncil.org