8th April 2021

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
​ Thursday 8th April 2021
Remote meeting held by Zoom videoconferencing software, in accordance with Government guidelines.

PRESENT: Chairman N MacDermid, Vice Chairman T Martin, Councillors A Dewsnip, C Dickinson, S Riley, J Locke. In attendance, M Richards (Clerk) and 2 residents.
1.​Apologies: Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr Hall, who was unable to attend due to a work commitment.
2. Declaration of Interest and Notification of changes in the Members’
Register of Interest: None.
3. Public Participation session: The Chairman welcomed the two residents to ​the meeting and confirmed that they were able to comment on any issues ​raised.
4.​Minutes of the meeting held on 11th March 2021: Councillor Martin proposed the minutes to be a correct record, seconded by Councillor Dewsnip. The Chairman then duly signed the minutes.
5 Matters arising from the previous minutes: Dealt with as part of the agenda.
6 Chairman’s communications
a) Kitty Corner. A rope swing has been constructed on one of the trees at this location. Councillors expressed concern at the prospect of a serious injury being suffered by a user, and also the risk of a claim against the Parish Council, as lessee of the land. The Chairman undertook to inspect the site and assess the risk and the clerk will check the Council’s insurance policy and confirm Public Liability cover.
b) Budget. At the March meeting, the Chairman had asked for suggestions from councillors, for areas of expenditure not specifically budgeted for. No firm suggestions had been made so far. The Chairman said that a resident had made the suggestion of refurbishing Horse Pond Beck, and possibly creating an access point from Main Street. Councillors discussed and agreed that the cost of creating further access would be significant and that access from Hillside was sufficient. It was agreed that the bench needed refurbishment and also that substantial weeding was needed. The clerk will contact the village handyman for the weeding and local contractors will be approached for the bench refurbishment. Cllr Dewsnip mentioned that she had a possible contact for this task, if needed..
7 Clerk’s correspondence received.
a) Local Government Reorganisation – consultation. The clerk confirmed that he had submitted a response on behalf of the Parish Council, based on responses he had received from councillors. The response to the consultation supported the East/West split, for the unitary authorities.
b) “Keep Britain Tidy” – Spring Clean. Whilst the national initiative proposes the traditional litter picking arrangements, it is still unclear a) whether and when coronavirus regulations will permit group litter picks and b) what arrangements HBC may have in place to support individual litter picking, particularly the collection of filled litter sacks. A councillor mentioned that elsewhere, purple litter sacks had been provided for individual litter picking and, once filled, these sacks could be left for collection with normal household waste in wheelie bins. The clerk will make enquiries of HBC regarding litter picking arrangements, as outlined above.
c) Website access audit. The clerk had circulated the details of an access audit which would identify if the Parish Council complied with current legislation in this respect. He had consulted with the Parish Council’s “webmaster” who confirmed that, in his opinion, the website is fully compliant. Councillors were happy to accept this acknowledgement and no further action was proposed.
d) Physical meetings after 17 May. The Annual Parish Meeting (APM) and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council. The APM must take place within the period 1st April – 1st June and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council must be in the month of May. Current covid-19 restrictions are due to be relaxed on 17 May, but it is currently unclear whether physical meetings involving in excess of 6 people will be permitted. It was resolved therefore, that unless greater clarity becomes available, the APM and the AMPC will be held remotely on Thursday 6 May.
8 Traffic calming
a) Vehicle Activated Signs. As reported previously, installation is now likely to be mid April and an online training session will be arranged as soon as a firm date is known. The clerk will circulate details of time and date and any councillor interested in joining the training session should make contact for access details.
b) Picket fences. Following his meeting with the clerk, the NYCC Highways Officer has supplied further details of the NYCC regulations for the installation of picket fences. This latest guidance contradicts initial guidance as he is now saying that for roads with a 60mph limit, the fence must be positioned 4.5 metres away from the road surface, and must be constructed from a readily collapsible material ie not wood. The distance limit is clearly impractical and would mean that a picket fence could not be installed on Haggs Road. The clerk will go back to the Highways Officer to seek clarification, pointing out that these revised regulations have clearly not been applied on picket fences at other villages in the District.
9. Follifields.
a) The Chairman had met with Sam Gallimore (representing FOFWRAP) and
a list of works necessary for the upkeep and ongoing maintenance of the
whole area had been produced. Councillors agreed the content of the list and
the clerk will contact the existing contractor and one other, with knowledge of Follifields, to obtain quotations for the work.
b) Rubbish bin emptying. The Chairman thanked Cllr Riley and her husband for their continuing efforts in emptying the rubbish bin. He recognised however, the potential difficulties of disposing of the filled litter sacks in Cllr
Riley’s household wheelie bin. Councillors discussed the various options for resolving this issue such as providing an additional wheelie bin for Cllr Riley, or providing a large “trade waste” bin, but this was thought to be not in keeping with the Follifields environment. The clerk will pursue the possibility of an additional wheelie bin being provided for Cllr Riley and also the option of HBC collecting Follifields refuse, as part of the normal service.
c) Councillors also discussed the possible provision of play equipment for older children, but it was felt that a) the equipment would be costly and b)equipment such as a zip wire, would have too many health and safety concerns. The possibility of adult outdoor gym equipment was also discussed but it was felt that whilst this was not really a Parish Council responsibility, if there is sufficient interest in the community for this initiative, it could be publicised for other parties to fund raise.
10. Adoption of new Code of Conduct
The clerk had circulated the new national code of conduct and also the
slightly amended version produced by HBC. Councillors discussed and it was resolved to adopt the HBC version.

11. Finance:
a) Balance at the bank on 31st March 2021, Current Account £4260.13
and Deposit Account £24,001.21 (total £28,261.34) Bank statements to be ​ initialled by the Chairman in confirmation, as part of his payment
authorisation process.
b) Monthly Reconciliation – reconciliation as at 31st March was provided with receipts and payments in the period 28th February to 31st March, reconciling to the account balances shown above at a) Councillors then unanimously agreed the 5 amounts below for payment.

M Richards
Clerk’s salary – March
£295.36
Bank Transfer
HMRC
PAYE – March
£73.84
Bank Transfer
YLCA
Annual subscription
£304.00
Bank transfer
c) The Chairman ran through the first budget spreadsheet of the year,
explaining the updates following the expenditure recorded above. The
Cumulative worksheet will demonstrate on a monthly basis, the Parish
Council’s position, compared to the annual budget. Councillors had no issues or questions to raise.
d) The clerk confirmed that information from the external auditor, regarding the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR), had been received. All information supporting the submission of the Certificate of Exemption, will be available at the May meeting.

12 Planning:
a) Applications Received
i) 21/00712/LB – cleaning and stone restoration/replacement – Rudding
Gate and flanking walls, Plompton Road. Councillors agreed the need for this work, and noted the professional approach being followed. On that basis, it was agreed to SUPPORT the application.

b) Decisions
i) 21/00369/FUL – change of use of garage to office – School House,
Plompton Road, Follifoot
​GRANTED
ii) 21/00372/FUL – removal of timber shed and erection of open fronted
timber field/storage shelter – Tree Cottage, Haggs Road, Spofforth
​APPROVED
Councillors noted the above decisions.

13. Other matters
There being no other busuness, the meeting closed at 8.50pm

Date of next Parish Council Meeting:
7.30pm on Thursday 6th May 2021, via Zoom, unless Government guidelines change to permit physical meetings.This will be the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council and will be preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting, commencing at 7.00pm.
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