AT OUR most recent meeting, on Thursday 21st July 2011, we were visited by Philip Mitchell, chairman of Blackpool Green Party, who wanted to tell us more about ‘Camp Frack’, the anti-drilling protest planned for a weekend in September by the national Campaign for Climate Change.
He said he wanted to reassure the council that the protest would be a peaceful one, consisting of an encampment of Green Party supporters on a field close to the Cuadrilla drilling site by Grange Road.
But, following a question from the parish council chairman, Cllr Bob Gallagher, he said he knew nothing about the campaign group’s website encouraging visitors from as far away as London (there is a button on the site to tick if you’re ‘Interested in a coach from London’).
Councillors also expressed their concerns about his local visits, which they said were having the effect of unnecessarily increasing some residents’ anxieties about the shale gas drilling – especially as the drilling is as yet only exploratory.
Cllr Gallagher said he hoped Blackpool Green Party would invite the council to the camp so we could see at first hand if the protest were to be a peaceful one. Councillors were also concerned about the likely costs that would be incurred for policing the protest .
Speeding on the agenda again
TRAFFIC issues were on the agenda once again for two reasons:
First, we’ve been told that police cameras caught more than 330 motorists speeding through the parish since February – and more visits from the camera van are planned.
Second, a couple who are new to the area came to the meeting to voice their concerns about the apparent speeding down Church Road past the school. We were glad to hear their views and plan to raise the issue at the next PACT (Police & Community Together) meeting. The issue will also be raised at our next parish council meeting, as we hope to have a visit from the police.
Councillors will be discussing the speeding issue once again with the county council in the hope of gaining a mini-roundabout either at the Mile End junction with the main road through the village or at the Church Road junction.
Survey results welcomed
The Singleton Housing Needs Survey conducted by Fylde Borough Council in conjunction with the parish council is now to be published. We were happy with its results – namely that there is only a very small housing need in the parish – and with its recommendation to keep a watching brief on the situataion.
Ironically, the housing need identified by the survey may already have been met – by the letting of the police house, recently bought by Singleton Trust, and by the possible development at ‘Smithy Fold’, a likely new name for the houses to be built where Singleton Service Station stands now.
‘Singleton in Bloom’
One prize left over is to be returned to its originator to save £30 from the total cost of £470, to be shared with Singleton Trust. It was the first prize for hanging baskets in Little Singleton: although the judge was impressed with the quality of the entries, the limited number of entries meant the number of prizes was reduced accordingly.
Two new councillors!
LAST, but not least… We co-opted two new councillors to bring us up to our full quotient of five. More details about them once the red tape has been sorted. Watch this space.
Next meeting
We meet again on Thursday, 18th August 2011, in the church vestry as usual and starting at 7.30pm as usual. All are welcome: we have an Open Forum session where visitors can raise issues.