2010 March

FOLLIFOOT WITH PLOMPTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 18 March, 2010

Present : Parish Councillors B. Butler, B. Fisher (Chairman), T. Martin, E. Bolton, N. Pettitt , U. Cansfield, P. C. M. Ayre and three residents.

Apologies for absence : None
Declarations of interest in items on the agenda : E. Bolton for item 14 a) concerning a planning application in Plompton Square .
Public participation session :

• The telephone kiosk, Main Street : this is located on land belonging to Hayrick Cottage and an agreement with B.T. is referred to in the deeds. N. MacDiarmid, the owner of the property stated that he had no objection in principle to a potential change of use of the kiosk once the telephony was removed but wished to know what was envisaged. The Parish Council were to discuss the matter further under agenda item 8.

• Crime recorded since the beginning of the year : P. C. Ayre reported that there had been three crimes – theft of diesel from a local haulage company, theft of vouchers from Rudding Park and possession of drugs, two of which had been detected.

Minutes of the meeting held on 18.2.10 : Having been proposed by T. Martin and seconded by N. Pettitt, the Chairman signed the minutes as a correct record.
Matters arising from the minutes :

• Item 10 – Litter Pick – confirmed that this will take place on 18.4.10. Posters devised by D. Watkin will be circulated to the Friends of Follifoot School. It was stated that children must be accompanied by an adult. Consideration will be given to extending the area to be cleared if there are sufficient volunteers.

• Item 11 – Winter service – NYCC has conducted an assessment of the approach to Leconfield Garth and into the village from the Plompton Road and has agreed to provide salt bins for these locations for next winter. There was a query about whether the entrance into Plompton from the A 661 was also included in the winter service. Action: clerk to enquire of NYCC.

• Item 12 – Subsidence to the pavement outside Hilltop House, Pannal Road – N. Pettitt reported on correspondence with NYCC and the written undertaking that investigatory works would be conducted in the next four weeks. Concern was expressed about the potential for accidents occurring, especially to schoolchildren given the steady deterioration of the site. Action: a progress report to be made to the next meeting and if NYCC proposals for remedial action are not forthcoming, then the Parish Council will intervene.

Chairman’s report on communications received : Public footpath from Main Street to The Paddocks : a resident had complained about the condition of the footpath and requested that gravel be laid down. Councillors noted that some improvement had been observed following recent dry weather. The complaint was noted, no further action was considered appropriate.
Any matters regarding Plompton : None other than those stated in items 5 b) and 14 a).
Telephone kiosk, Main Street : An invitation to adopt the kiosk has been made by B. T., the Parish Council has yet to make a formal application. N. MacDiarmid has stated that there is no objection in principle to the Parish Council assuming ownership of the kiosk, but its future use was of interest to him. Costs to the Parish Council associated with ownership included maintenance, insurance and the need to make a formal legal agreement with the landowner. Actions: a) Ideas for future use of the kiosk to be an agenda item at the April meetings.

b) Chairman to contact a local lawyer regarding a legal agreement with the landowner

c) Clerk to enquire about the costs of insurance

Annual Parish meeting on 22.4.2010 : a number of ideas were discussed to assist in encouraging residents to attend and participate in the meeting. It was decided it would start informally with refreshments offering an opportunity for residents to meet their parish councillors. The aim was to share and discuss issues and concerns felt by residents, the final part would be a short formal agenda.

Actions: a) N. Pettitt to devise a flier to be delivered to all households inviting residents to the meeting, this will be delivered with the Parish Magazine .

b) Meeting to start at 7 pm with refreshments, W. I. to be asked to help

North Yorkshire Police neighbourhood profile guides : T. Martin explained that developing such profiles was part of a Safer Neighbourhood initiative. He handed out questionnaires for councillors to complete.

Actions: a) Councillors to complete and return questionnaires to T. Martin by 22.4.2010. It was suggested that E. Bolton may find it helpful to consult with Plompton residents on this matter as she was the only representative for the village.

b) T. Martin to collate responses and present to the Parish Council for approval at its May meeting.

Highways : Parked vehicles, junction Main Street/Spofforth Lane/Hillside : several expressions of concern regarding this practice which was creating a hazard for motorists negotiating the sharp bend and turning into Hillside . P. C. Ayre would only take action if he deemed an unnecessary or dangerous obstruction was caused by the parked vehicles. It was acknowledged that parking was a problem in this and other villages as many properties had no off street parking. The Highway authority was responsible for restrictions e.g. road markings which the Parish Council will not consider at this time.

Action: a) For the April meeting, N. Pettitt agreed to devise a form of words for a notice to place on cars parked inconsiderately in the village

b) Clerk to enquire if NYCC has a notice

Finance :

• Balance at the bank : £ 7424.61 was in the accounts. A payment of £ 1.24 bank interest had been received.

• Request for authorisation of expenditure : £ 152.75 for hire of the Village Hall 2009-10; £ 216 annual subscription to YLCA’s; £ 623.41 clerk’s salary for the final quarter. The Parish Council approved the expenditure having been proposed by U. Cansfield and seconded by E. Bolton.

• Bank mandate : the Parish Council passed the resolutions as required by HSBC Bank plc:

The accounts with HSBC plc be continued and the bank authorised to pay all cheques and other instructions for payment or to stop such payments signed by any two of the listed signatories. N. Pettitt was added to the list of signatories.

• Review of internal controls : The Parish Council was required to conduct an annual review of risks and also to have a written financial risk management policy. Whilst the former was undertaken, there was no current written policy.

Action: Clerk to draft a policy for consideration for the April meeting.

Clerk’ report and correspondence :

• Standing Orders – revised model orders had been produced by NALC. Action: Clerk to present amended orders for adoption by the Parish Council in due course.

• YLCA’s – training programme to be circulated. The Parish Council agreed to nominate two representatives to attend branch meetings at its May meeting.

• Rural safety schemes – the programme has been discontinued but money is available to install traffic calming measures on Pannal Road and Spofforth Lane . A NYCC officer will visit the sites and provide costings in April 2010.

• Participatory budgeting – a workshop run by Rural Action Yorkshire to inform councils about this initiative will be held on 25.3.10, B. Butler and the clerk to attend.

• Playing fields Association – questionnaire regarding play area provision completed.

• Papers received since the last meeting were circulated.

Planning :

• Application 10/00811/DVCON – 8 The Square, Plompton for deletion of condition 8 of permission 6.108.D.FUL to allow annex to be used by others. The Parish Council had no objection to the application.

• No further applications had been received nor were there any decisions to report.

Date of next meeting : Thursday 22 April, 2010 at 7 pm for the Annual Parish meeting followed by a Parish Council meeting.