Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on Thursday 29 August 2019 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Gallagher and Smith, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. Three members of the public also attended.
1. Apologies for Absence – Cllr Mick Smith.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 August, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman.
Matters Arising from Previous Meeting
• The Chairman and Clerk had pursued with the appropriate officer at Fylde BC the possibility of increasing the number of councillors representing Singleton Parish Council from 5 to 6. Unfortunately this would appear to involve a very lengthy process which would be conducted borough wide, not just for this parish. It was also pointed out that the fact that not enough potential councillors came forward from Singleton parish at the last election was a big stumbling block. It was therefore decided to keep the number of parish councillors at 5.
• The Chairman had made an application to make the Miller Arms an Asset of Community Value. Unfortunately his first application had been rejected because of a technical error but after consulting the appropriate officer at Fylde BC, he had re-submitted this and it was now going to be considered. If agreed, this would holt any future sale of the public house for 9 months to allow any community groups to get together to purchase it and retain it for community use.
• Cllr Gallagher had located the original Parish Plan drawn up 10 years ago. It is still on file at the printers and this would be the basis on which an up-to-date Plan could be produced.
• A camera is now on order to be used against fly-tippers. The appropriate signage warning of CCTV operations in the area would be displayed also.
3. Open Forum – Nothing to report.
4. Declaration of Interests – None
5. Planning Matters and Decisions – None
6. Police Matters
No report received for this month. Two PCSOs had attended the parish council meeting at Greenhalgh Parish Council and they did offer to attend a meeting at Singleton. The Clerk was asked to email the Police with the dates of the next few meetings and invite them to attend. The Chairman had asked them to carry out another check on speeding motorists, particularly at rush hour, through the village.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
Email and documentation received from LCC regarding consultation on 20MPH and 30MPH speed limits in the Village. Some confusion here as these speed limits are currently in force but it may be that LCC want to formalise these speed limits after a trial period. Representations need to be made by 19 September 2019 and the Clerk was asked to comment that these speed limits are helping traffic calming in the area.
8. Proposed new By-Pass
The Chairman has again tried to arrange a meeting with Mark Menzies MP but without success. He will continue to try.
Information received from the Planning Inspectorate regarding a change in the Examination Timetable for the application by Highways England for an Order granting development consent for the A585 Windy harbour to Skippool Improvement Scheme. This has been circulated. Some concern that the Hearings originally planned for 10 September are now considered “not required”.
Highways England is looking to start work in Spring 2020. They are currently carrying out archaeological digs in a couple of areas.
9. Update on SpID
Nothing further to report at the moment. Presumably LCC is still carrying out their investigations into which speed device they are able to recommend.
10.
Correspondence – None
11.
Vacancy for Parish Councillor
The Clerk had advertised the vacancy for a parish councillor in line with laid down procedure and the advert had appeared on the website and the 3 noticeboards and also for one week in the Blackpool Gazette. Overall the advert had been on display for a period of two weeks.
Three people had come forward and it was decided to invite them all to write to the Clerk saying something about themselves and what they feel they can bring to the Parish Council. They would be invited to the next Parish Council meeting when the Councillors would have the opportunity to ask questions. In a closed session of the Parish Council, without the public present, members would consider the candidates and, following the discussion, the public would be invited back into the meeting before voting takes place. Voting will be in accordance with Standing Orders by a show of hands and will continue until one candidate has received an absolute majority of votes.
12. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
• T A Pawson – Mounting of SpID – £30.00 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Clerk – Reimbursement for payment to Blackpool Gazette for advert – £184.13 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
• Clerk, Salary and Expenses for July/August – £237.20 – Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.
13. Any Other Business
Query over the amount of money the Parish Council pays for the maintenance of the play area. This year the Parish Council would be paying £3,460 for this service provided by Fylde Borough Council, which is deducted at source from the annual Precept payment. Some playing fields are not charged, but this may be that they belong to the Borough Council and therefore automatically come under the Borough’s own maintenance arrangements. Singleton’s Play Area does not belong to the Borough Council and therefore we are a customer. It was agreed that the service provided by Fylde Borough in this regard, whilst expensive, is very good with weekly checks taking place and repairs done on the spot. It was very important to ensure as much as possible that the Children’s Play Area was safe for the children to use and that this Council is doing everything in its power to ensure this is the case. The Parish Council also insures the Play Area and the Clerk will have a look at the policy to check this expense is absolutely necessary.
14. Date and Time of next meeting – 26 September 2019.
There will be the Annual Parish Meeting at 7.00pm, followed by the monthly meeting at 7.30 pm.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.00pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455