Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on Thursday 24 June 2021 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Gallagher (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Cholmondeley, Ibbotson and Lee, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. County Councillor John Singleton and one member of the public also attended.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – Cllr C Bailey |
| 2. | County Councillor John Singleton The Chairman welcomed newly elected Lancashire County Councillor John Singleton to the meeting. Cllr Singleton told the meeting that he has already been involved in a couple of things, in particular planned road closures at Skippool where Highways England had wanted to close the road for three months. He had had a meeting with them to indicate that he was not at all happy with that and could they look at making alternative plans. LCC are again looking at the 20mph speed limit through Singleton and he is taking this up with them. Cllr Lee explained that the Parish Council now had data from the new SpIDs which showed that the average speed limit had fallen from 40mph through the village to 28mph. He had previously made this data available to LCC but was happy to send all the data to Cllr Singleton, who in turn would forward it to the Portfolio Holder. There is still a problem with the odd speeding motorist but on the whole there has been much improvement since the 20mph speed limit was put in. At the recent Parish Liaison meeting, the new Chief Constable said he wanted to tackle rural speeding. There are a few roadworks going on and he will forward a copy of these to the Clerk. Cllr Singleton would be happy to attend future Parish Council meetings and the Clerk undertook to send him copy of the Agenda for each meeting. |
| 3. | Police Matters The crime figures received for May 2021 showed that there had been 1 recorded case of Anti-Social Behaviour (Covid breach) and 2 cases of Theft (both driving off without paying for fuel from a petrol station). The new Police and Crime Commissioner had been invited to a future meeting and had responded and been given the next 3 dates of future meetings. Cllr Lee had attended the last Parish Liaison meeting at Fylde BC where the new Chief Constable who said they were recruiting new constables for Fylde and had created two teams – one Neighbourhood team and the other a Response team. There would be four beat managers – two per team. |
| 4. | Open Forum – None |
| 5. | Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 May 2021, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record. One change had been made since the Minutes had been taken and that was the date of the July meeting. This was recorded as 22nd but unfortunately the Village Hall was not available on that date so the July meeting has been rearranged for Tuesday 20 July 2021. Matters arising The Clerk had written to the representatives of Singleton Trust in regard to the rooks nesting in trees owned by the Trust and the problems these were causing to neighbours in Miller Crescent and Church Road. No response received as yet. The Clerk had delivered two thank-you gifts to Duggie Goth and his son in recognition of the support they both give to the Parish Council in opening and closing the car park gates every day and also, in respect of Duggie, looking after the defibrillator. |
| 6. | Declarations of Interests – None |
| 7. | Planning Matters and Decisions 21/0532 Rosebank, 12 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LF – Erection of replacement front boundary wall and railings up to 1.5 metres in height and installation of pedestrian and vehicle access gates – The Parish Council has no specific observations to make. Planning decisions 21/0410 150 Mains Lane, Singleton FY6 7LB – single storey rear extension – Granted. |
| 8. | Traffic and Highway Issues Cllr Ibbotson reported that vans have been parking on the pavement between Shard Road and Skippool on the north side. This had caused a serious obstruction to pedestrians and cyclists and she had reported this to the PCSO. Unfortunately when the PCSO went along to see this, there was nowhere for her to park. The Clerk was asked to report the matter to Inspector Mick Jones at Kirkham. |
| 9. | New By-Pass A response had been received from Kier about the Parish Council visiting the site of the new by-pass. The clerk will circulate this email which asks for dates up to 16 July 2021 and also ask if hard hats are needed and high viz jackets. A newsletter for May 2021 had been received from Highways England, and this had been forwarded to all councillors. |
| 10. | Correspondence Email received from Singleton Gala Committee giving thanks for the further contribution of £300 towards their planned event in September. This brings the total donation to £500.Response received from the Village Hall Committee saying they will cover the costs of the hire of the hall for the training sessions for the defibrillator. They would like the sessions to be carried out after Covid restrictions have been lifted. |
| 11. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The Boundary Commission is due to feed back on the initial response from Fylde about the boundary review. |
| 12. | Defibrillator training We have received enough names now for two small groups – two sessions at 1½ hours each after 21 July. Short discussion took place about having a second defibrillator in Little Singleton. If a business could provide this second defibrillator then the Parish Council would take over the servicing and upkeep of it. The owner of one of the caravan sites offered to purchase one for the parish. |
| 13. | Accounts And Invoices To Pay The Internal Audit has been successfully carried out and the appropriate information will now be supplied to the Official Auditor and the accounts will be open for members of the public to view for a period of six weeks from early July. This period will be advertised on the noticeboards and website. The Internal Auditor will be stepping down now and we will need to find another one to audit the 2021/22 accounts. The Parish Council wished to express its thanks to Ray Cottam for carrying out this role for many years and Cllr Lee proposed that as well as a thank you donation to his cricket club, a bottle of whisky should be presented to him as well. This was seconded by Cllr Gallagher and Agreed. T A Pawson, Applying Weed-Killer to Car Park – £50.40 – Proposed Cllr Gallagher, seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.T A Pawson, repairing gap in hedge on playground – £36.00 – Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.John Chew – Summer planting and replacement of tub – £435.00. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Clerk – Reimbursement for 2 thank-you presents – £56.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.Clerk – Salary and expenses for May/June 2021 – £348.95 – Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.Ray Cottam – Thank you for audit – £50.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business Complaints received about the overgrown condition of a public footpath from Mile Road towards the church. Cllr Singleton told the meeting that LCC was asking local parish councils if they would take over the responsibility of footpaths in their area. He would forward the details of this to the Clerk and this matter would be put on the next agenda.Police say that if people see someone who is speeding, report it with the number-plate and they will follow it up. This will be put on the website.Potholes down Pool Foot Lane have just been reported to LCC. These are numerous and some are 2-3 foot wide and 6 inches deep.Rubbish has been fly-tipped down Pool Foot Lane. This will be reported to Fylde BC.Playground: Still problems with the replacement of wood on the floor of one of the pieces of equipment. The Clerk will contact the appropriate officer at Fylde BC to ask that these be installed.Continuing problems with blocked drains on Mains Lane. Cllr Ibbotson will forward details to the Clerk. |
| 15 | Date and Time of next meeting – Tuesday 20 July 2021at 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.10pm. |
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455