2007 October

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 11 October 2007

Present : Parish Councillors B. Butler, U. Cansfield, M. Mitton, B. Fisher (Chairman),

C. Florance and one resident.

Apologies for absence : Parish Councillors T. Martin and E. Bolton. District Councillor C. Bayliss

Before the meeting started, the Chairman welcomed Neil Kirk, community defibrillation officer and Steve Marshall from the West Yorkshire Ambulance Trust and Ms. L. Hubbard, a resident. They had requested some time to outline the benefit to communities of keeping a defibrillation machine and having trained volunteers to operate it, as survival rates following cardiac arrest diminished the longer it took to treat victims. The Ambulance Service is seeking Community Responders, volunteers to assist until an ambulance arrives. Training and on going support would be provided. The Parish Council decided it would be helpful to publicise the scheme and gauge the level of local interest in the project by sending a letter to all residents. Interested individuals would be invited to a meeting where the benefits of a locally held defibrillation machine could be outlined by the Ambulance Trust and volunteers recruited. The Chairman would draft a letter and contact Mr. Kirk when the level of local interest was established.

The Chairman thanked the visitors for attending the meeting.

Declarations of interest in items on the agenda:

There were none to declare.

Minutes of the meeting held on 6.9.07:

There were two corrections: Item 5e) word changed from ’affect’ to ‘effect’ and item 10c) change from ’on’ to ‘no’ objections. With these corrections the Chairman signed the minutes as a correct record. Proposed by B. Butler and seconded by C. Florance.

Matters arising from the minutes:
Bulb planting on 29.9.07 – the Chairman proposed that a letter of thanks be written to the two residents who assisted the councillors.
The Chairman extended thanks to T. Martin for clearing the top ‘bus shelter so promptly.
Guilders Bridge – noted the footpaths have now been cleared of weeds.
Footpath from Rudding Dower to Follifoot village – the Chairman has spoken to the two landowners concerned about the possibility of establishing a permissive footpath. A decision will be made about the matter by the end of the month.
Advertising signs by Wingate Farm, A661 – it was noted that a new sign has been installed following damage to previous signs. The Clerk had enquired of the planning authority if such signs could be lawfully erected on the highway and was advised that this could be a matter for an enforcement investigation. Agreed Clerk would follow up.
Chairman’s communications:
Rudding Estate – letter received to inform of an application to erect a holiday lodge in the Keeper’s Complex area of the Estate. The application as part of the consultation process not yet received from the planning authority.
Queries regarding planning consent received from the Primary School and the occupants of High Bank Cottage. They were advised to contact planning enquiries at Harrogate Council.
Matters concerning Plompton:

There were no matters to discuss.

Allotments: consider closure of waiting list:

The Clerk reported that there were now five people on the waiting list. The three allotments were fully tenanted. There is no restriction to Follifoot residents only and the allotments are advertised on the Harrogate Council website. Councillors agreed the waiting list could be closed and asked the Clerk to find out if there was a means of registering this on the website.

Harrogate District Local Development Framework:

Consultation papers on the Core Strategy and Homes for local people. Following a discussion, the councillors resolved to delegate the submission of responses to the Chairman.

Closure of Post Offices:

This item was placed on the agenda as a result of a letter from NYCC with information about a six week consultation period following publication of the area plan. It was anticipated that this would be published in October 2007. This had not happened by the time of the Parish Council meeting. It was agreed to send a copy of an earlier letter sent to the government minister to NYCC. The matter would be raised again when the area plan was available.

Finance:
Quarterly reconciliation of accounts – bank statements, invoices were examined by C. Florance and found to be in order. Approval was proposed by M. Mitton and seconded by B. Butler.
Request for authorisation of expenditure – to Mazars LLP for external audit

£ 141, to Clerk for stamps £ 9.24, to Clerk for second quarter salary £ 629, to Harrogate Council for grass cutting £ 21.43, B. Butler for reimbursement for purchase of bulbs £ 75. It was proposed that the Parish Council consider planting bulbs on other verges around the village in autumn 2008. This needed to be planned at an earlier stage to encourage greater involvement of residents.

Tree works around the seat and interpretive board at 4 Leconfield Garth. Two quotes received and it was decided to accept D. Humberstone’s in the sum of £195 + VAT

Approval of expenditure was proposed by B. Fisher and seconded by U. Cansfield.

Receipts since the last meeting were £ 2500 from Harrogate Council for the final instalment of the precept and interest of £ 70.68. Total in the accounts was

£ 10709.04

Annual Return 2006-2007 – The Parish Council were informed that the auditors had approved the accounts and these would be displayed on the notice boards for 14 days. A notice of public rights was also required with information about how copies of the accounts could be obtained.
Precept request 2008- 2009 – Arrangements made for some councillors and the Clerk to meet to draft the budget. This will be tabled for approval by the Parish Council at its December meeting.
Clerk’s report and correspondence:

Rural Safety Schemes – letter from Harrogate Council inviting bids for 2008- 2009. This will form an agenda item for the November meeting.

Papers received since the last meeting were distributed to councillors.

Planning:
Application 07/04470/FUL. Townsend’s Undertakers, Tofts Lane, Follifoot for erection of double garage to side. There was no objection to the application. Assurance was sought that the roof materials would be in keeping with the character of the house.
Application 07/04687/ADV. Follifoot C/E School, Main Street, Follifoot for replacement pole mounted sign for Village Hall. This application was made by the Parish Council on behalf of the Village Hall committee. There was no objection.
Application 07/04772/FULMAJ and Listed Building application 07/04822/LB . Rudding House, Follifoot for erection of west wing extension to provide 30 additional hotel rooms and spa. There was no objection to the applications in principle. The Parish Council sought assurance that the disposal of effluent would be dealt with in a manner that would protect the residents from continuing foul odours and address issues surrounding the capacity of existing systems to cope with increased volumes of effluent together with the increasing pressure from extreme rainfall.
Application 07/04811/DVCON . Overdale, Tofts Lane, Follifoot for variation of condition 2 of planning permission to allow slate roof tiles. It was understood that the applicants proposed to retile the new and existing roofing with slate. On this basis, the councillors had no objection to the application.
Application 07/04788/FUL . Unit 6, Follifoot Ridge Business Park, Follifoot for erection of single storey link extension between main building and storage building. There was no objection to the application, but concern was expressed about the potential impact of increased road traffic that could result from the creation of a trade showroom.
Proposed extension to Follifoot Village Hall. The Chairman of the Village Hall committee requested the views of the Parish Council on plans to create a storeroom at the rear of the Hall. No objections were raised.
Outcome of previous applications : Land east of Home Farm Cottages, Follifoot for a replacement dwelling – refused. O.S. field 0005, Plompton to replace a caravan with a detached dwelling – refused. Park Side House, Follifoot for tree works – approved.
Date of next meeting: Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 8pm