Singleton Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Village Hall, Singleton
on Thursday 31 March 2022 at 7.15 pm
Present: – Cllrs Lee (Chair), Bailey (Vice Chair), Cholmondeley and Ibbotson, and the Parish Clerk, Verena Henderson, who took the Minutes. A member of the public also attended.
| 1. | Apologies for Absence – Cllr Gallagher and County Councillor Singleton – both having tested positive for Covid. Cllr Gallagher submitted an email prior to this meeting indicating his resignation from the Parish Council due to him shortly moving out of the village. He had intended to attend this evening’s meeting, but due to a positive Covid test had remained at home. The exact timing of his resignation will be confirmed at the next meeting. |
| 2. | Police Matters As recorded at the last meeting, the Parish Council will no longer be receiving monthly reports on recorded crimes in the parish. All information can be found on the Lancashire Constabulary’s website. Information received that the Police and Crime Commissioner has launched the first part of a Safer Lancashire Neighbourhoods Fund using cash seized from criminals. The fund will support community projects and innovative neighbourhood schemes. |
| 3. | Open Forum The meeting was opened up for 15 minutes for the resident attending to put forward the case for a planning application which is shortly to be considered by Fylde BC. This application is part retrospective but the resident stressed that the work carried out so far had been groundwork and nothing further had happened until they had got the go-ahead from Fylde BC. The resident stressed that there is not going to be a basement to the property, as previously thought, and they were working with the Planning Officers at Fylde and had submitted an altered layout to their original plans. They were trying to build a house which was commensurate with the area. The Parish Council had previously expressed concern to Fylde BC about the increased height in land levels and the overall height of the building which would be seen from Garstang Road East. The resident stressed that the overall height had been reduced by 1.35 metres. |
| 4. | Minutes of Previous Meeting and any Matters Arising The Minutes of the meeting held on 22 February, having been previously circulated and agreed, were signed as a true and correct record by the Chairman. Matters arising Tree in front of the Village Hall. A letter had been sent to the Chair of the Village Hall expressing concern because of complaints received from local residents about branches breaking off during recent storms and also it affecting overhead wires. A reply had been received saying that this was the responsibility of the Diocese and she would put it on the agenda for the next Parochial Church Council meeting at the end of April. As several complaints had been received following the storms in recent weeks, the Clerk was asked to write directly to the Diocese to inform them of the risk of injury to people in the event of another storm. Playground: Fylde Borough Council had responded in answer to the Parish Council’s concerns about work not being carried out as requested to the Children’s playground. The officer had offered to meet with Cllr Gallagher again to go through all the works necessary. Due to Cllr Gallagher’s pending resignation from the Parish Council, Cllrs Lee and Cholmondeley offered to meet with the officer. The Clerk will arrange. Noticeboard. Greenhalgh Parish Council had recently acquired a new noticeboard at a reasonable price. The noticeboard at the Village Hall and also to the Playground had been damaged during the winter storms and also the one at the top of Pool Foot Lane was now warped and damaged. The Clerk was asked to approach the company and ask for quotes for 3 new noticeboards. |
| 5. | Declaration of Interests – None |
| 6. | Planning Matters and Decisions 22/0206 – The Croft, 117 Mains Lane Singleton FY6 7LD – Single storey extension. No specific observations to make on the proposal.22/0201 – 18 Mains Lane Singleton FY6 7LF – Two storey rear extension. No specific observations to make on the proposal.21/0293 – Bankfield Lodge, Pool Foot Lane, Singleton FY6 8LZ – erection of one detached dwelling with detached garage (part retrospective). Revised drawings had been submitted with this application but the Parish Council remained concerned about the overall height of the raised ground levels and of the building itself. Planning Decisions Bankfield Manor, Pool Foot Lane Singleton FY6 8LZ – Two storey extension. Granted; Greenways 77 Mains Lane Singleton FY6 7LD – Single storey rear extension. Granted. |
| 7. | Traffic and Highway Issues Concernamongst some residents that the bus services 76 and 78 were being terminated. LCC are however in the process of tendering the service for a new contractor from 29 May 2022 as Coastal Coaches has formally given notice to terminate their contract.Quite a few volunteers have come forward for the Community Road watch scheme.On some maps of the bypass, the speed on Lodge Lane is listed as 40mph. Kier deny any knowledge of this. The Clerk was asked to contact the appropriate officer at LCC to ask that this speed limit be reduced to 40mph.Cty Cllr Singleton had submitted his report on various matters. The white lines on the mini roundabout have been re-marked; all gulleys reported have been cleaned with the exception of Church Road due to parked cars – these will be done at a later date; The appropriate officer at LCC in regard to electric charging points was Chris Nolan and more information can be found at LCC’s website.Concern that the bypass satnav was showing the A585 impassable at Windy Harbour and traffic was being re-routed through Singleton village. It was also affecting people travelling from Over Wyre. This has been reported to Keir to look into as it was a Highways problem.LCC are making resources available to all Parish and Town councils to help slow down traffic. The Clerk was asked to request these resources.SpID Policy & Procedure and Questionnaire received from LCC. Rules and regulations received regarding Speed Indicator Devices and where they are located and mounted. Cllr Lee will look into the questionnaire and liaise with the Clerk before this is completed. |
| 8. | New By-Pass Fortnightly roadworks update received regularly and forwarded by Cllr Singleton. Cllrs Bailey, Gallagher and Ibbotson attended the site meeting on 28 February and minutes of this meeting were circulated and are on file. The biggest problem for Lodge Lane residents is the noise factor, which has been going on now for 6 months. This could now be going on until June or July. A meeting had been quickly organised by Kier on 23 March for residents of Old Mains Lane as the entry to their lane had been changed. Cllr Bailey would ask Gaynor Wainwright of Kier, the organiser, to include Cllr Ibbotson for any future meeting with these residents. |
| 9. | Correspondence Minutes from the District Parish Liaison meeting held with Fylde BC on 21 February received and noted.LCC is conducting a cycling and walking survey throughout Lancashire and is asking for communities to respond. Cllr Ibbotson will put this in the newsletter. |
| 10. | Update from Fylde Borough Council The lack of police crime figures had been brought up and disappointment expressed at these not being sent out to parishes any more.The new planning system is now on line. There have been a few teething problems but it seems to be working much better now.Jubilee funding – there are two points of funding from Fylde BC |
| 11. | Litter-picking A new litter-picker had been contracted to replace the previous one who had been absent through poor health for many months now. The previous one had just started up again but understood why the Parish Council needed to replace him. The new contractor said that 4 hours were simply not enough to clear the rubbish over such a large parish. Mile Road itself took the majority of the allocated time and 33 bags of rubbish had been collected in that time and taken to the recycling centre at Lytham. Cllr Lee proposed that the time be increased to 8 hours per week. This was seconded by Cllr Ibbotson and Agreed. |
| 12. | Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Email from the Insurance company to stress that any event under the Council’s insurance policy, the Council, a working party or a subcommittee of the Council must be the sole organiser of the event. A full risk assessment should be carried out and documented prior to the event and the location should be suitable for that event. If a beacon is lit, a risk assessment should be undertaken to ensure the public is kept at a safe distance and there is no danger of the flames or hot particles affecting nearby properties or vehicles. There should be sufficient marshalls in place for the number attending. Clearly this needs to be looked into and this will be discussed again at the next meeting. |
| 13. | Accounts and Invoices to Pay The Clerk had emailed councillors following the last meeting asking for her salary to be reviewed. This had remained the same since starting with the council ten years ago. The Chairman apologised for this and said that the councillors had unanimously agreed that the salary be raised immediately from £10 per hour to £15 per hour and that this should be back-dated to include this month’s salary. The Clerk’s salary will now increase in line with any Fylde BC pay rise. He wanted to put on record how pleased the Council was with the work of the Clerk and hoped it would continue. A new internal auditor is required. This is a voluntary position and should be someone such as a book-keeper, auditor, accountant etc. from the parish who is not connected in any way to members of the Parish Council. Cllr Ibbotson will ask a neighbour or put an item about this in the newsletter. T A Pawson – Planting trees and providing stakes and tree ties – £165.00. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Fylde BC – Last payment of the loan taken out for the car park – £275.00. Proposed Cllr Ibbotson, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed.Clerk – Salary of £180 plus expenses of £74.93, total £254.93 – Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed. Clerk – £5 rise on salary – 18 hours worked in Feb/March 22 – £90.00. To be agreed via email.Mr Butcher – Retiring litter-picker August 21 – Feb 22 – £147.00. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Mr Butcher – Retiring litter-picker Feb – March 22 – £97.20. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Ibbotson. Agreed.Mr Jones, New litter-picker – 12 hours for March plus expenses £139.60. Proposed Cllr Lee, Seconded Cllr Cholmondeley. Agreed.Singleton Village Hall – Rent from October 21 to March 22 – £108.00. Proposed Cllr Cholmondeley, Seconded Cllr Bailey. Agreed. |
| 14. | Any Other Business Cllr Ibbotson is proceeding well with the next newsletter.Village Green – This is on-going and we are getting information from Fylde BC.On confirmation of when Cllr Gallagher will be retiring from the Parish Council, the Clerk will need to notify Fylde BC and advertise the vacancy. |
| 15. | Date and Time of next meeting – Thursday 28 April at 7.15pm at the Village Hall. As there was no further business, the meeting finished at 8.45pm. |
Signed …………………………………………… Dated ………………………………………
Verena Henderson
Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01995 670455