Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on 25 January 2018 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Smith (Chair), Lee (Vice Chair), Bailey, Chew and Gallagher, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes.
1. Apologies were received from Cty Cllr Paul Hayhurst who had another meeting to attend.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 December 2017, having been previously circulated, were agreed as a true and correct record and duly signed by the Chairman. Any matters arising are covered elsewhere in these minutes.
3. Open Forum – None
4. Declaration of Interests – Cllr Gallagher had a personal but not prejudicial interest in planning application no. 18/0012 and took no part in the voting thereof.
5. Planning Matters and Decisions
• 17/1065 – 158 Mains Lane Singleton FY6 7LB – Single Storey rear extension. The Parish Council has no specific observations to make.
• 18/0012 – Bankfield Farm, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton FY6 8NA – Erection of three number stable blocks with tack room and ménage. The Parish Council had no objections to make but would comment that it would not like these stables to be used for commercial purposes as Pool Foot Lane is single track and would not be suitable for horse boxes.
• 18/0054 – Silver Ridge, Lodge Lane, Singleton FY6 8LT – Application to discharge details associated with conditions on planning permission 17/0683 – The Parish Council has no specific observations to make.
Planning Decisions
17/0969 – Woodlands, Lodge Lane, Singleton FY6 8LT – Proposed substitution of house type to plot 8 previously approved housing development – Granted
17/0751 – Worsicks Farm, Weeton Road, Singleton FY6 8LL – Application to discharge details associated with planning permission 15/0672 – Advice Issued.
6. Police and PACT Report
The Clerk was asked to write to the Police Constable to say that we have seen an increase in people using their mobile phones.
The Police would be asking for a substantial rise in this year’s Council Tax.
7. Traffic and Highway Issues
One resident in Mains Lane had complained that since works carried out in regards to drainage, his garden and indeed his house has continually flooded. Highways England had since given him permission to drain his water into the gully on Mains Lane.
Cllr Chew complained at the length of time it took to get any response from Highways England – two weeks for them to answer any problems sent to them on the website. This was not acceptable for more urgent problems and a complaint had been sent to the MP.
Concerns expressed about the number of potholes on local roads, in particular on Lodge Lane. Cars are swerving to avoid this and there has been reported damage to vehicles on another one.
8. Proposed New By-Pass
Highways England is undertaking all sorts of assessments at the moment in the area at the moment. Information received about the possibility of another consultation event to be held at the Village Hall sometime in March or April 2018.
9. Correspondence
• Letter from Fylde Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Kirkham, asking for help with funding their services to the tune of £200 per annum and to consider this in regards to our budget and precept setting for 2018/19. The Precept would be discussed later in these minutes but it was felt that our money was fully committed for this year.
• Letter from Fylde Borough Council regarding their compiling of local lists of buildings in our area and also a Tree Strategy. Cllr Chew had listed various heritage buildings and signs in the parish and she would forward these on to the Clerk to be sent to Fylde BC. The list would be used to advise Planning Officers of items of heritage/interest to avoid in planning applications. As regards the Tree Strategy, the Clerk would invite the Tree Officer to come and tour the parish.
• Email from Ian Brookes, Sports Development Officer, Fylde BC advising of a funding body which might be of interest to the Parish Council. This was after the Parish Council was unsuccessful in its Capital Bid in respect of the Children’s Playground. Information noted.
• Fylde BC’s Garden Waste Collection Service for 2018/19 – The cost of this would be £30 per green bin for 1st April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and residents are encouraged to subscribe by 15 March 2018.
10.
Feedback from Parish Liaison Meeting
Unfortunately Cllr Chew had been unable to attend this meeting. The main area which concerned the Parish Council was planned recharges of the cost of parish council elections to the parish council concerned. It was felt that this was unfair for smaller parishes as they would be paying far more per head than the larger ones. Cllr Chew undertook to write to Tracy Morrison, Returning Officer, to highlight the unfairness of this and the fact that the larger parishes benefit from having much superior facilities.
11.
Update on Super SID
Cllr Lee would be returning this to the supplier and requesting a replacement.
12.
Update on Litter-picker
The Clerk was pleased to report that Mr Steve Butcher had accepted the 4 hour a week contract and had started on 7 January. He had submitted his first invoice. There was to be a meeting with Singleton Trust on 7 February and litter-picking in the village would be discussed again.
13.
Update on cars parking on Village Hall Car Park
Unauthorised parking by the persistent owners had lessened recently but two others had been left there over the last couple of nights. The problem wasn’t with occasional users of the Village Hall, but with the same cars parking night after night which was contrary to the Parish Council’s Lease Agreement and insurance. It will be necessary to lock the car park overnight on occasions in the Spring when necessary work was needed.
One worrying incident was reported of a group of youths doing hand brake turns on the car park one evening. These youths eventually left in the direction of Poulton-le-Fylde.
14. Parish Precept and Planned Expenditure for 2018/19
The Clerk distributed a current Balance Sheet and information concerning the Precept for 2018/2019. The annual Government grant which has been paid to parishes on top of the Precept is to finish and the final payment of £48 was to be added to the next Precept. On Fylde BC’s calculations a zero increase in the Council Tax that residents would pay for our precept would mean a total payment (including the grant) of £18743. This was against last year’s payment of £19016. As can be seen, this is a slight fall in revenue. Out of this sum the Playground Maintenance agreement is deducted by Fylde BC at source and this year rises from £2380 to £2466 per annum, causing another fall in revenue.
A lot of discussion took place about this. The annual precept is the only income the Parish Council receives and covers payments such as –
Grounds Maintenance Grasscutting Clerk’s salary and expenses
SID (Speed Indicating Device) Insurance Planting around the village
Rent for Hall Official Audit Newsletters
In addition to all this, the Parish Council had bought a brand new SID this financial year at a cost of £3019, had work done at the playground costing £1250, had one of the noticeboards refurbished and bought various signs and new Christmas tree lights. The hiring of a litter-picker for the village would also cost more for the forthcoming year. Sadly too the Parish Council had been unsuccessful in its request for a grant towards buying new equipment for the Children’s Playground.
Cllr Gallagher proposed that the Parish Council requests a 4% rise which would bring in an extra £748. This was seconded by Cllr Bailey and Agreed.
15. Accounts and Invoices to Pay
• T A Pawson – SPID – £30.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed
• S Butcher – Litter-picking – £97.40. Proposed Cllr Gallagher, Seconded Cllr Chew. Agreed
• Clerk, Salary and Expenses – £272.35. Proposed Cllr Chew, Seconded Cllr Gallagher. Agreed.
• Physio Control UK Sales Ltd – new batteries for Defibrillator – £96.70. Proposed Cllr Bailey, Seconded Cllr Lee. Agreed.
16. Any Other Business
• Cllr Chew had recently come across a letter from Richard Dumbreck to Mrs Cummings-Miller, dated 25 February 1998 in which he refers to protecting “the very fragile ethos of the village both in its appearance and the make-up of the population”. The Clerk will copy this to all councillors and keep the letter on file.
• The Parish Council was very saddened to hear of the recent death of Norma Clark. Her husband, Robin, was a former long-serving member of the Parish Council.
• Cllr Lee wondered about the Parish Council having a Facebook page and would look into this.
• One of the damaged bollards on Pool Foot Lane has been replaced but the second one is still needed.
17 Date and Time of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Thursday 22nd February at 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 8.45pm.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455