Singleton Parish Council
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Held at the Village Hall, Singleton on 15 May 2014 at 7.30 pm
Present: – Cllrs Smith (Chair), Lee (Vice Chair), Bailey, Chew and Gallagher and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. One member of the public also attended.
1. Apologies – None
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 9 May 2013
The Minutes of the previous Annual Parish Meeting held on 9 May, having been previously circulated, were agreed and signed as a true and correct record.
3.
Chairman’s Report
Cllr Smith started by thanking his Vice-Chairman and fellow Councillors for their help and support over the last 12 months. He especially thanked the Clerk for all her continued hard word and efficiency.
One of his objectives when he became Chairman was to somehow try and tackle the blight of fly tipping in and around Singleton. This had proved both difficult and frustrating with both the Police and Local Authority failing to provide the help and support needed by communities such as Singleton – even when the culprits were caught red handed.
Another area of frustration had been the efforts over many months by members of the Parish Council to facilitate the use of the MUGA for the whole community. The outcome had unfortunately been disappointing.
However, everything wasn’t just doom and gloom. The long awaited opening of Puzzle Wood took place this month, after years of hard work by David Kay and his team. The Parish Council looks forward to its continued blossoming and enjoyment by the whole community. The Chairman, together with his wife and son, took a walk in there the previous evening and it had brought back many happy memories of childhood and hopefully it will be enjoyed by many future generations. A special thank you to David Kay for his continued dedication here.
The Gala seems to be having a renaissance, with large numbers last year all enjoying the day. Special praise should go to Janet Pawson and her small team for doing such a fantastic job. It is great to see the Gala remaining on the Village’s social calendar.
Looking forward to the coming year, the new Chairman will have an interesting and challenging tenure at the helm with fracking gaining momentum. It should prove a test of his diplomacy with opinions passionately divided within Singleton and the Fylde.
We continue to develop communications with the members of the Richard Dumbreck Trust and are ensuring we are up to date with the potentially landscape-changing master plan they have for the Village. Again, opinions are divided on the scope and extent of the proposed development. The Parish Council will continue to monitor events closely. Whilst it is neither in the Chairman’s or the Parish Council’s remit to dictate to the Trust who its membership consists of, the Chairman is of the opinion that recruitment to the Trust board should be from the heart of Singleton and have Singleton at its heart.
The Chairman concluded his report by wishing the incoming Chairman the very best for his year in the hot seat. The Chairman was thanked for his report.
4. Financial Report from the Clerk
The Clerk distributed copies of the end-of-year accounts for 2013/2014 and went through the various headings at the meeting. Figures from the previous year’s accounts had been included as a comparison to this year’s figures. Copies of these accounts will be put on the website.
Work was still needed to the car park and new fencing around the play area and monies had been set aside so that this work could begin very soon.
Balances brought forward from 2013/14 £18898.86
Plus Receipts for 2013/14 £19755.52
£38654.38
Less Payments made in 2013/14 £17813.20
Balance carried forward to 2014/15 £20841.20
The Clerk then went through the annual return to be submitted to the Audit Committee and explained the variances from the previous year. This was agreed by all and signed by the Chairman. The Clerk was thanked for her report.
5. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair for 2014/15
The presiding Chair for 2013/14 then stood down and Cllr Maxine Chew proposed that Cllr Matthew Lee be elected as Chair for 2014/15. This was seconded by Cllr Bailey and agreed. Cllr Maxine Chew then proposed that Cllr Christopher Bailey be elected as Vice Chair for 2014/15 and this was seconded by Cllr Smith and agreed.
The new Chair and Vice-Chair then took up their new positions.
6. Provisional dates for ordinary meetings during 2014/15
It was agreed to try and keep to either the 3rd or 4th Thursday in a month for the monthly Parish Council meetings and to decide the definite dates on a 3-monthly basis. The next three meetings were set at: –
19th June, 31st July and 21 August.
All would commence at 7.30pm and be held at the Village Hall.
7. Any Questions from the public – None.
The meeting closed at 7.45pm and was followed by the ordinary meeting.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455