Singleton Parish Council
A Meeting of the Parish Council will be held at the Village Hall, Singleton on Thursday 31 July 2014 at 7.30 pm.
Your presence is requested.
A G E N D A
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declaration of Interests
3. Neighbourhood Plan – Fiona Riley, Planning Policy Officer at Fylde Borough Council to attend.
4. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 19 June 2014 and any Matters Arising
5. Open Forum – Members of the Parish are welcome to raise any issues
6. Police and PACT Report
7. Traffic Issues
8. Correspondence
9. Planning matters and decisions
10. Standing Orders
11. Website
12. Accounts and any Cheques to Pay
13. Any Other Business
14. Date and Time of Next Meeting – 14 August 2014.
Verena Henderson
Clerk to Singleton Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455
Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 31 July 2014 at 7.30 pm
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Chew Gallagher and Smith and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Fiona Riley, Planning Policy Officer from Fylde Borough Council and 6 members of the public also attended.
1. Apologies – None
2. Declaration of Interests – Cllr Chew declared a personal interest in regards to planning application no. 14/0477 – 76 Mains Lane, Singleton.
3. Neighbourhood Plan
The Chairman welcomed Fiona Riley who had come to the meeting to outline what the Neighbourhood Plan was all about and how to go about it. Fylde Borough Council was currently supporting 5 other Neighbourhood Plans in the borough and would be happy to offer support to Singleton. Prior to this meeting, Singleton Parish Council had applied for a grant from the Government to support starting up this Plan and had been awarded £940 which had to be spent by 31/12/14.
Fylde Borough Council was currently working on its own Local Plan which would set out development across Fylde till 2030. The first part of this was looking at strategic housing and the second part was looking at employment units. Neighbourhood Plans produced by Parish Councils or other bodies would become part of the bigger Fylde Development Plan. The local authority would have to consider it alongside the Local Plan and it would have far more weight than our original Parish Plan. The important thing to remember is that within the Neighbourhood Plan we need to decide where new development is to go. This is not a tool to stop development happening. Development will happen as Fylde currently has to provide 360 houses a year across the borough. We need to see what we can get out of any development which is of benefit to the parish.
We need to have a look at housing needs, creating jobs, infrastructure, facilities, health and deal with climate change. What do we want to see in 10 years or more time? What are the key issues? Do we need more affordable housing and/or housing for older people? Are there any highway issues? There is a lot to think about. The Plan needs to meet a number of legal requirements which Fylde Borough Council can advise on. In a parished area, such as Singleton, only the Parish Council can produce a Neighbourhood Plan. The process is long and we should be looking at between 18 months and 2 years to complete it. Ms Riley recommended that we have a Steering Group made up from interested residents of the Parish which would not only involve the community but also help to share the workload.
The first stage is to submit a plan identifying the area to be covered by the Neighbourhood Plan together with a statement as to why this land should be designated and a statement saying why we are the appropriate body to lead this. This should be submitted to Fylde Borough Council who will have 6 weeks in which to consult on this with bodies such as Lancashire County Council, English Heritage etc. Ms Riley offered her assistance in this regard.
The second stage is to produce the Neighbourhood Plan. This should be supported by evidence. There should be wide and inclusive community engagement. Fylde BC has a duty to support and will pay for the consultation process of the Plan. All responses to the Plan should be sent to Fiona Riley, who will coordinate them.
Once the Plan has been produced it goes through a Pre-submission stage and a further 6 week consultation process begins. Finally the completed Plan is submitted to the local planning authority who will look at the Plan and the Consultation Statement – who was consulted and how – a summary of the main issues and concerns and how these issues have been addressed. There will then be a publication consultation for a further 6 week period and then the Plan will be examined by an independent examiner who will check whether the Plan meets the basic conditions and complies with the appropriate legislations. The Plan needs to be achievable and viable. The Plan is then submitted for a referendum in which 50% of people eligible to vote should agree it.
The Clerk will email Fiona Riley to start the process. Ms Riley was thanked for her attendance and helpful advice and she left the meeting.
4. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 June 2014, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman. There were no matters arising.
5. Open Forum
The question was raised as to why a letter sent to the previous Chairman dated 17 March 2014 had not been replied to. This letter had been received at the same time as 10 – 15 other letters had been received by individual councillors. Cllr Chew, after conferring with the other members of the Council, sent a reply to all who had written, on behalf of the Parish Council, to answer the points she was able to. She had felt unable to answer the more technical and engineering questions. However, the writer of the letter dated 17 March still wanted a response to his particular letter and the current Chairman undertook to reply to him if he would send him a copy.
The matter concerning Cuadrilla’s new planning application for Grange Road was again raised and the question asked why Singleton Parish Council had not responded to it. The Clerk had still not received any request from Lancashire County Council to comment on it, despite the Parish Council being listed as one of the consultees on LCC’s website. The Clerk undertook to contact LCC directly to see what the position was. The planning application is due to be considered by LCC on 3 September 2014.
6. Police and PACT Report
A police report had been sent from CBM Vicki Doherty, who is back covering the rural area with PC Hardiman. Unfortunately our area has lost PCSO Angela to Freckleton. Three crimes in the Singleton area – two of making off without payment from the Cross Road Garage – one of which has been detected – and a domestic assault at a caravan park.
7. Traffic Issues
They seem to be coping with the roadworks on Garstang Road with the traffic flow being controlled manually at peak times. The 20mph is going ahead, although according to County Councillor Paul Hayhurst, grinding through the system very slowly. It is hoped to be in place by the time the children are back at school.
8. Correspondence
• Fylde BC – Shale Gas Extractions and Members Interests. This document from Tracy Morrison, Monitoring Officer of Fylde BC, explains that any member of a body that has received a grant or donation from Cuadrilla should declare an interest at the meeting. However, the interest would not be prejudicial because a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would not reasonably regard the interest as being so significant that it is likely to prejudice their judgement of the public interest. As such the member can participate in the debate on the notice of motion and vote on it. The two groups which have received donations are Singleton Village Hall and Snow Heights. All councillors who have involvement in these groups must therefore declare an interest when matters concerning Cuadrilla are discussed.
• Letter received from Mark Menzies MP concerning the recent announcement of a direct Blackpool North to London Euston route which he hopes will bring prosperity to the Fylde coast. He particularly wanted community leaders to support a stop at Kirkham and Wesham Station for people in Fylde and to write to the regulator. It was agreed that the Clerk would write to the Office of Rail Regulation in support.
• Cuadrilla – Two Non-Technical Summaries of the Environment Statements received concerning Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood sites, together with cd disks, for information.
9. Planning Matters and Decisions
• 14/0477 – Land to rear of 76 Mains Lane, Singleton, FY6 7LD. Outline application for 4 bedroom dormer bungalow. Cllr Chew left the room whilst this was discussed. Decision – No specific observation.
• 14/0496 – Poolbrow Caravan Park, Pool Foot Lane, FY6 8LY – proposed formation of two dormers to front to replace existing, singlet storey extensions to front and erection of detached garage to replace existing. Decision – No specific observation.
• 14/0446 – 4 Mains Lane, Singleton, FY6 7LF – Proposed Single Storey Garage to side elevation – Decision – No specific observation.
• 14/0474 – 19 Riverside Chalet Park, Occupation Lane, Singleton, FY6 7RA – proposed replacement single storey chalet – No specific observation
• 14/0386 – The Farmhouse, 195 Mains Lane, Singleton, FY6 7LB – Proposed conversion of garage to a residential Annex. This application had been received earlier in the month and as a decision had been requested by 18/07/14, had been emailed to all councillors. Decision – No objections but the Parish Council would not want to see the annexe sold as a separate housing unit.
Decisions
• 14/0158 – Richard Dumbreck Trust – Proposed introduction of surfaced pathways to the north within the estate and non-surfaced pathways within the estate woods and fields to the south east of Grange Road. Introduction and replacement of boundary stock fencing, way marking and kissing gates. Granted.
10.
Standing Orders
These had been completed, circulated and then sent off the Ian Curtis, Head of Governance at Fylde BC. Mr. Curtis had agreed these but suggested a few additions in line with new regulations to be introduced shortly by the Government. Cllr Chew proposed that we accept these new Standing Orders, in principle, subject to the necessary additions being made. This was seconded by Cllr Gallagher and Agreed. The Clerk will bring the amended Standing Orders for formal signing to the next meeting.
11.
Website
A letter had been received from a resident who said that she had not found the website to be very useful and it was not up to date. This had been put on the Parish Council’s Action Sheet in May 2014 and Cllr Chew and the Clerk had had a couple of meetings to discuss how to improve this. Some of the improvements had already been put in place but the Clerk was having difficulty transferring word documents onto the site. The Chairman offered his help in this regard and hopefully this will resolve itself in due course.
The second point on the letter was to complain about minutes not being published until after they have been ratified. This is normal procedure and is followed by other councils including Fylde BC. The Clerk will respond to the letter.
12. Accounts and Cheques to Pay
• T A Pawson – location of SPID – 3 times – £90.00. Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Clerk’s Salary and Expenses for June/July – £352.58. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
• Cllr Chew – Reimbursement for Newsletter expenses – £31.08 – Proposed Cllr Smith, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
13. Any Other Business
• Cllr Chew had met with Kath Smith of The Trust and County Cllr Paul Hayhurst to discuss defining the entrance to the village and they are to meet Paul Drinnen of Fylde BC on 7 August.
• The Parish Council is to meet with the Trust on Wednesday 6 August. Amongst the items on their agenda, the Parish Council would like to add the South Lodge entrance of the proposed walkway.
• Cllr Gallagher had obtained three quotations for the tarmacking to the car park. These were duly considered with the three prices being £4,620; £6,330; £7,150. Cllr Chew proposed that the contract be awarded to W.H. Tarmacing Limited at the sum of £4,620.00. This was seconded by Cllr Smith and Agreed. Cllr Gallagher will instruct the firm to undertake the work.
14. Date and Time of next meeting
Due to holidays and limited availability the next meeting was to be brought forward to Thursday 14 August 2014 at 7.30 pm. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 10.00pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ……………………………………………………….