Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on Thursday 23 September 2021 at 7.30 pm
Present: – Cllrs Gallagher (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Cholmondeley, Ibbotson and Lee, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Also present were County Councillor John Singleton and one resident.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – None |
| 2. | Police Matters The list of crime figures for August showed that there had been 6 recorded incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour, including 2 malicious communications, 1 fly-tipping, 2 cases of members of the travelling community entering private land and 1 case of speeding/asb driving. In addition there was 1 case of criminal damage to a new build property, 2 cases of burglary and 3 cases of driving off from a petrol station without paying for fuel. A crime was reported in a neighbouring parish where someone had entered a house, crept upstairs and stolen the car keys and then driven off with the owner’s car. Also concern expressed about cars entering Barnfield Manor late at night. An alert received from the Kirkham and Rural Fylde Neighbourhood Policing Team drew the Parish Council’s attention to an increase in vehicle crime in our area. This alert had been put on the Parish Council’s website and would be mentioned in the next newsletter. Concern expressed about the number of drivers now cutting through the petrol station at Singleton crossroads in order to beat the traffic lights. This had become more problematic recently because of a problem with the traffic lights from Lodge Lane. Cllr Singleton had reported this problem and hopefully it was going to be resolved this weekend, but the Clerk was asked to report the issue of traffic cutting through the petrol station to the Police. |
| 3. | Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 August, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman. There were no matters arising. |
| 4. | Open Forum – None |
| 5. | Declaration of Interests – 20/0813 – Cllr Gallagher declared an interest as a neighbour. He took no part in the deliberation of this planning application. |
| 6. | Planning Matters and Decisions 21/0813 – Orchard Nurseries, 166 Mains Lane FY6 7LB – Single storey rear extension – The Parish Council had no specific observations to make on the proposal.20/0813 – Bankfield Manor, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton FY6 8LZ – Two storey extension and external alterations – The Parish Council had no specific observations to make on the proposal.21/0653 – Hill Top Farm, Back Lane, Weeton with Preese, PR4 3HS – Retrospective application for change of use of land to mixed use as a single Gypsy/Traveller pitch with one static caravan and up to three residential touring caravan and for equestrian purposes. The Parish Council objected to this proposal because it had previously voiced its concerns about the number of caravan/chalet sites in the area and the strain it was putting on local services, especially overstretched health centres. It was also concerned about the number of retrospective applications now being considered. Planning Decisions 21/0428 – Land adjacent to Selcourt, Garstang Road FY6 7SX – Erection of stable block – Granted 21/0608 – 2 Gamekeepers Cottage, Mile Road FY6 8NG – Single storey side and rear extension – Granted. 21/0657 – Grange Farm, Grange Road, Singleton – Erection of agricultural livestock building – Granted. Appeals 19/0855 – Windy Harbour Holiday Centre – Change of use of land to allow the siting of an additional 74 static caravans – Dismissed. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highway Issues Lancashire County Council has begun another consultation on the 20mph speed limit through Singleton Village. This was advertised in the local press and comments are asked by 15 October. It is hoped that the 20mph limit is here to stay and Cllr Singleton had again raised this issue with The Police and Crime Commissioner and his Deputy. Information received about a survey regarding bus service improvement plans following the Government’s launch of The National Bus Strategy. This survey can be found on LCC’s website. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Residents of Old Mains Lane have received a letter from Kier Highways to say that the piling work should be completed by 22 September, although it had not been finalised at the time of this meeting. It is hoped that the disruption will end very soon. Two fortnightly roadworks updates from Kier Highways had been forwarded to the Parish Council by Cllr Singleton detailing works scheduled to be carried out till 3 October 2021. Two meetings, hosted by Kier, are going to be held for residents of Singleton Hall and Barnfield Manor at Singleton Village Hall. The first of these will be held on 28 September and Cllr Bailey will be attending. |
| 9. | Correspondence Thank you letter received from Ray Cottam for the donation and gift. Mr Cottam has carried out the internal audit for the Parish Council for several years now.Letter received from John Chew who will shortly be leaving the area and will no longer be able to plant out the flowering tubs around the village. He will be able to do the autumn planting but not from then onwards. A letter of thanks will be going to Mr Chew for all his hard work and a gift. We will need to know the total number of tubs and their locations before tendering for the work to be done in the future. The cost of this will increase quite substantially because Mr Chew has worked on these on a voluntary basis.Information received from Fylde BC concerning the availability of a Youth Activity Grant. Noted.A Parish and Town Councils’ Survey is being conducted by LCC prior to the annual Parish and Town Councils’ Conference to be held at County Hall, Preston on 13 November 2021. The Clerk was asked to complete the questionnaire.Details of Remembrance Sunday – 14th November 2021 – in Lytham and St. Annes received. This will be brought up again next month. |
| 10. | Update from Fylde Borough Council A lot of complaints have been expressed by many Parish and Town Councils about planning matters at Fylde BC. Matters were taking a long time and Fylde did not seem to be tackling enforcement. Also the number of retrospective planning applications was on the rise. Concern expressed about disappearing ponds on both sides of Garstang Road in areas which are to be developed. These ponds are historical and one has completely gone with the other one nearly gone. The results of the Boundary Review will be known on 30 November 2021. |
| 11. | Balance Sheet as at 31 August 2021 The Clerk distributed an up-to-date balance sheet showing the Parish Council’s income, payments made so far and committed expenditure for the rest of the financial year to 31 March 2022. There remained £40,466 of funds available, out of which £1,344 had come from a Community Fund and £700 from the Government’s Covid Community Fund and both of these sums had to be spent on community items. Prior to Covid, the Parish Council had planned to spend the first of these sums on improvements to the ground underneath equipment on the Children’s Playground, but this had been delayed because of the restrictions and availability. This would again be pursued. The Chairman will approach a local firm regarding part-funding another defibrillator and the Parish Council will make the difference and pay for the upkeep of this. |
| 12. | Accounts and Invoices to Pay The Clerk had answered a number of queries from the Official Auditor and was awaiting the result of the audit. An invoice had been sent to LCC in regards to the annual payment for the grass-cutting of their land at a cost of £468.00 Clerk, salary and expenses for August/September 2021 – £300.45. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Clerk, reimbursement for flowers sent to Mrs Highton – £49.50. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.Rent for use of the Village Hall from November 2020 to September 2021 – £202.50. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed. |
| 13. | Any Other Business Engineers have been to see what needs doing at the fire station.Congratulations from the Parish Council to the Gala Committee for their recent successful events held to get the community together following Covid. Saturday night saw 350 people attending with 400+ attending on Sunday.Disappointment expressed at lack of action by Fylde BC in regards to the repairs needed to the Children’s Playground. The Clerk will contact them again. |
| 14 | Date and Time of next meetings These were arranged for Thursday 14 October, Tuesday 16 November and Tuesday 21 December 2021 all at 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.40 pm. |
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455