Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 20 February 2020 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. Also attending were PCSO Laura Vallely, County Councillor Paul Hayhurst, one member of Singleton Trust and one member of the public.
1. Apologies for Absence – None
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The Minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 January 2020, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman. All matters arising are dealt with elsewhere in these Minutes.
3. Police Matters
PCSO Vallely reported that during January there were two cases of anti-social behaviour recorded for Singleton, one of theft and handling by driving off from fuel garage without paying and one auto crime – theft of a vehicle. She said that several cases had been reported since and would be included in the February report. The resident attending reported that his car had been vandalised at the end of January and that this had been reported. This would probably therefore be included in next month’s total. PCSO Vallely was thanked for her attendance and left the meeting.
4. Open Forum
The Parish Council was asked if there was any follow-up from last month’s meeting in which over 30 people attended following rumours in the village of a cessation of shooting rights on Trust land. The Chairman had since received an impassioned letter from another resident about this matter and several other residents had verbally expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation to other councillors.
The Chairman, Cllr Bailey and Cllr Lee had independently approached members of the Trust to make them aware of the strength of feeling amongst residents at the moment, but had been told that as this was on Trust land it had nothing to do with the Parish Council. The Trust subsequently turned down a request for a meeting with the Parish Council. Unfortunately the member of the Trust attending tonight’s meeting had not been part of the Trust committee looking into the future of shooting rights and therefore was unable to shed any light on the situation.
Following a meeting of the Trust on 18 February, they had updated their website to say they were awaiting the findings of a commissioned report before consulting on a way forward for the future. The Chairman of the Trust had since emailed the Parish Council Chairman to say that he understood the concerns and also understood how the Parish Council had become involved.
The Parish Council now finds itself in the middle of this situation and it will continue to work in the background. If members of the community still felt anxious and concerned about the future of shooting rights in Singleton, which have historical roots, then the Parish Council would advise residents to form their own Action Group and elect a spokesperson. The Parish Council would be happy to continue to mediate with the Trust.
5. Declaration of Interests – None
6. Planning Matters and Decisions
20/0071 – 29 Mains Lane, Singleton, FY6 7LJ – Erection of seven detached dwellings with new access road. This was a resubmission of application 18/0872. The Parish Council has no specific observations to make on the proposal.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
County Councillor Paul Hayhurst attended with reference to recent letters the Parish Council has sent to Lancashire County Council and responded as follows:-
• State of the footpaths – Pursue with Fylde Borough Council. Many footpaths are in a bad state throughout the borough.
• Signage for Station Road bridge. He has tried twice with this. LCC say signage is adequate and problems are caused by driver error. Evidence is needed such as how frequent this is happening; logged times and dates are useful and photographs would help him to pursue this again.
• Zebra crossing. This is not just a case of cost – it has to fit in with the policies of LCC. Cllr Hayhurst suggested the Parish Council concentrates on this item and gets evidence such as :- How many children cross the road? Is there support from the school for this? Have there been any accidents or near misses? How many vehicles are going through the village at peak times? (The data collected from the newly purchased SpID machines would be a help in this regard). Again any photographs would be useful.
• Cllr Hayhurst had been informed of a problem with a drain outside the school. He has tried to sort this out but it is a case of United Utilities and LCC not taking ownership of the problem. Cllr Hayhurst says he never gets any feedback but he was informed this evening that the drain is still a problem so he will try again and get it sorted out.
Cllr Hayhurst would like to be kept informed of any developments and would be happy to come to future meetings if requested.
Information received from LCC that part of Pool Foot Lane would be closed from 9.30am – 3.30pm on Monday 4 May 2020 for cabling works. Noted.
8. Proposed new By-Pass
The Clerk had sent a letter to Dr Helen Batey enquiring about funding for community projects but had not received a response as yet. Signing off of the proposed works on the by-pass will take place in April 2020 and it may well be that the situation with regards to availability of funding will be clearer following that. The Clerk will follow this up in due course.
9. Update on SpID
Two new SpID machines have now been received and we are awaiting parts from France before the machines can be mounted. They will be mounted in four positions and we have four solar panels for them. The Clerk checked on the insurance situation and whilst the current policy automatically provides Public Liability cover, the insurance company would need to know the replacement values of the devices and add them to the policy and will advise of the effect on the premium. The Clerk will advise them. It was also thought a good idea to enter the data onto a laptop and Cllr Gallagher will look into buying a reconditioned one.
10. Correspondence
• New Parish Charter for Fylde – information received from Fylde BC. This will be discussed at the next Parish Liaison meeting for adoption. Noted.
• Garden Waste – Fylde residents are asked to subscribe to the 2020/21 green waste collection service at a cost of £30. Residents are encouraged to subscribe by 15 March 2020 to avoid any disruption to collections.
• Fylde Borough Council budget proposals for the borough for 2020/21 – previously circulated and noted
• LALC (Lancashire Association of Local Councils) met on 19 February 2020. Cllr Ibbotson attended on behalf of the Parish Council. This included a presentation from the Police regarding using volunteers within the community to help with stopping traffic on fete days, first aid training, community events etc. Contact can be made via their website. Noted.
11. Risk Assessment
The Parish Council’s Risk Assessment has been updated to include the fact that the Parish Council’s IT records are now backed up on “The Cloud”. Amended copies were circulated and the official copy was duly signed and dated by the Chairman.
12. Wish List
Councillors had been asked to bring any ideas for any small improvements they would like to make to the parish. The initial thoughts are as follows:-
• Contracting a lengthsman to tidy up the pathways
• Try and get the Community Pay Back team to help out again (this had previously been arranged for us). The Clerk will contact the gentleman again.
• Ask for the flowering tubs to be checked and renewed if necessary. The Clerk will email regarding this.
• New lights for a better Christmas display.
The Wish List will be put on the next agenda and councillors were asked to bring any further ideas along to the next meeting.
13. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
• Confirmation received from Fylde BC of the Parish Council’s request for a 3% rise in the Precept. Also the New Homes Bonus Grant of £1,207 would be paid in April 2020 and this was for the upkeep of the children’s playground.
• Confirmation received that the VAT refund application for financial year 2018/19 has been received for the sum of £2,305.79.
• Remittance advice received from LCC for grasscutting of their land by our contractor to the sum of £468.00 which has been paid into the bank.
Invoices
• Forsyth & Steele – new letterheads – £45.60. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
• T A Pawson – Mounting of old SpID – £30.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Clerk – Salary and expenses Jan/Feb – £334.80. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Communicorp – Scroll for Freedom of the Parish – £88.56. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
14. Any Other Business – None
15 Date and Time of next meeting – 19 March 2020 at 7.15pm.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.35pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455