POLICE have been spending more time in the parish – and will soon have a new community beat officer who will be patrolling Singleton and other parishes regularly at night. You can meet the new officer, PC John Butcher, at the next PACT meeting, to be held on Wednesday, 8th July 2009, at Elswick.
The good news came from Sergeant Helen Ford, who came to our most recent parish council meeting, on Thursday, 2nd July 2009 when we also received a report from from one of our local officers, PCSO Annette Begg.
Annette reported that between the end of May and the end of June at least 39 roadside breath tests were conducted in Singleton village and while all were negative, these were the start of a summer drink-drive campaign – drivers stopped for any motoring offence will be given a breath test.
Three drivers speeding in The Village received fixed penalty tickets, with 46mph being the highest speed recorded. A number of other drivers were given verbal warnings.
Mains Lane saw police checking number plates with an automatic number-plate recognition vehicle. The outcome? A number of vehicles were seized, and drivers were issued with fixed penalty tickets or given verbal warnings.
Three youth referrals were issued to children in The Village for trespassing on school property and climbing onto the school roof.
However, from a crimes point-of-view the month was quiet, with only two ‘crimes’ reported:
- – A padlock was cut from a field gate on Garstang New Road and three coloured horses left in the field without the owner’s consent.
- – A house on Mains Lane had its telephone cut for a second time, and the homeowners have been advised to install CCTV.
Following the Restorative Justice Conference held in the village hall on Sunday, 19th April 2009, when invited residents discussed anti-social behaviour in Singleton, a more public meeting is to be held on Monday, 20th July 2009, from 6pm to 7.30pm: all local residents are welcome to attend.
Parish Plan
LOCAL residents are being invited, through the parish newsletter, to come to our meeting on Thursday, 20th August 2009, to see the draft of Singleton’s Parish Plan before it is printed and distributed. You’ll be able to see the results of the surveys conducted and the key issues that have resulted. The meeting is in the church vestry, as usual, from 7.30pm.
Other issues
VICE-CHAIRMAN Cllr Bob Gallagher is to get fresh quotes for the resurfacing of the village hall car-park driveway following significant differences in the approaches suggested by the quotes already received.
WE’RE still awaiting a date from Lancashire County Council as to when the relevant posts will have been strengthened to take the new SpID (Speed Indicator Device) we have bought together with Staining and Weeton.
Planning issues raised included:
- – A new agricultural building at Summerer Farm, Weeton Road;
- – The conversion of Bankfield Lodge, in Pool Foot Lane;
- – An exterior extension to The Barn House, at Grange Farm;
- – A retrospective application to resite a storage container at the Koi Pool Garden Centre.