9th March 2023
MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday 9th March 2023
Held in Follifoot Village Hall.
PRESENT: ChairmanN MacDermid, Vice Chairman A Dewsnip, Councillors K Tharby, C Dickinson, T Hall and S Gallimore. In attendance, two representatives of Rudding Park Hotel and one other member of the public
1. Apologies: Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr. J Locke.
2. Absence of Parish Clerk/RFO: As the Parish Clerk is likely to be absent from meetings for some time, the Chairman will action anything required following the meeting and Cllr Dewsnip volunteered to take minutes. It was not considered necessary to employ a locum Parish Clerk at this time. Councillors passed on best wishes for a full recovery to Mike Richards.
3. Declaration of Interest and Notification of changes in the Members’
Register of Interest: None
4. Public Participation session: No issues raised.
5. Minutes of the meeting held on 12th January 2023: Cllr Dickinson proposed the minutes to be a correct record, seconded by Cllr Hall. The Chairman then duly signed the minutes.
6. Matters arising from the previous minutes: All were covered by agenda items
7. Presentation of Rudding Park Development Plan: Twoseniorrepresentatives from Rudding Park gave councillors a detailed presentation of their plans to develop a Country Club at Rudding Park. This was part of the consultation process in advance of a planning application being submitted. The plans include redevelopment of the golf clubhouse to replace the temporary structure put up in 1993, a new family hub to replace the Deer House, addition of outdoor tennis courts, work to restore heritage features of the park and tree planting and other measures to improve the environment. The plans are available for public access on the Rudding Park website.
8. Chairman’s Communications
Residents of Haggs Road had contacted the Chairman regarding the application for a Certificate of Lawfulness in respect of the late Ken Horner’ property on Haggs Road for storage of waste, building materials, caravan and vehicles. The chairman has written to the Planning Department asking for this application to be refused citing several key planning objections.
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9. Clerk’s Correspondence Received
a) Litter bins. Work has been carried out to create a gap in the hedge at Follifields ready for re-siting of the litter bin from the bottom of Main Street, however Harrogate Borough Council having previously advised that it would be done by the end of February have now said they will not be able to move the bin until April.
b) Speed Awareness Wheelie Bin Stickers- an email had been received from a company who supply wheelie bin stickers with various speed awareness messages. Councillors did not think these would be particularly effective in Follifoot, as the bins are only visible to motorists for one day every two weeks.
c) Mobile Signal and Full Fibre Broadband- communication had been received from a resident about this subject. The Parish Council has invested a considerable amount of time and effort over many years in trying to address issues with mobile phone signal and broadband speeds and do not feel it is something we can pursue any further. However, if any resident has particular knowledge and expertise in this area and would like to pursue it with the relevant bodies, the Parish Council would be happy to lend support as needed.
d) Coronation Specific Bunting – it was decided that the bunting obtained in 2022 for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee could be re-used for the King’s Coronation and it is not necessary to purchase special edition bunting which would only be used once.
10. Draft Parish Charter Consultation: Councillors were asked to read the charter and send any comments to the Chairman who will then submit our response.
11. Parish Matters
a) Plompton. Residents are hoping to set up a fund to carry out repairs to the access road and had asked whether it would be possible for funds to be paid into the Parish Council bank account for safekeeping and ring-fenced. Whilst councillors were in agreement in principle (some funds are already held and ring-fenced for Plompton) it was unclear as to whether any money held in this way would be classed as ‘income’ and therefore might push our annual income over the threshold for external audit. The Chairman will make enquiries.
b) Refresher CPR and Defibrillator Training: the Chairman will liaise with the trainers to decide on dates for training, and then this will be publicised to villagers.
c) Spring Litter pick- date agreed for 2 April, commencing at 2.00pm. Cllr
Dewsnip will produce a poster and Cllr Dickinson will collect the
necessary equipment from Claro Rd depot.
12. Speed Limits: Cllr Dewsnip reported that she will be meeting with Cllr Andy Paraskos and a representative of the highways department on March 14th to discuss the possibility of introducing a 20mph zone near the village school, and also extending the 30mph zone up to the junction of John Metcalfe Way.
13. Follifields Update.
b) New bench. The bench has been delivered and Cllr Gallimore will contact a local contractor regarding installation, including construction of a concrete base.
c) Dog sign. The sign has been ordered and will be installed on a post, at the
entrance to Follifields.
d) “Folliwest”. Arranged for Saturday 11 March. Cllr Gallimore confirmed that
all arrangements had been made and the event was sold out.
14. Planning
a) Applications Received
i) 23/00363/LB – Listed Building application – Formation of terrace and
change to use of garage to form activity room. 1 Wingate Court, Plompton. Decision was to SUPPORT
ii) 23/00389/FUL – Erection of detached garage at Alexander House, Follifoot Decision was to SUPPORT
b) Applications received since the agenda was compiled.
None
c) Decisions
i) 23/00135/FUL – First floor extension over an existing porch and the addition
of velux roof lights in the main house roof. 10 Leconfield Garth – APPROVED
ii) 23/04135/TPO – This and reduce overhang by 2m to No.1 Beech Tree within Tree Preservation Order 23/2021, Rowan Tree Cottage, Pannal Road – REFUSED
15. Finance and Governance:
a)Balance at the bank on 9th March 2023, Current Account £1,407.41
and Deposit Account £24,712.58 (total £26,119.99) Bank statements to be
initialled by the Chairman in confirmation.
b) Monthly Reconciliation – reconciliation as at 9th March was provided
with receipts and payments in the period 10th February to 9th March,
reconciling to the account balances shown above at a) Councillors then
unanimously agreed the 4 amounts below for payment.
| M Richards | Clerk’s salary March | £346.66 | Bank Transfer |
| HMRC | PAYE March | £86.67 | Bank Transfer |
| HBC | Grass Cutting | £85.38 | Bank Transfer |
| Colton Signs | Follifields Signage | £38.40 | Bank Transfer |
c) The Chairman then ran through the bank reconciliation and budget
spreadsheet, explaining the entries for the expenditure recorded above. He
then referred to the figures in the “Forecast Year to go” column in the
Summary worksheet, explaining that with this being the last month of the current financial year there would be no further expenditure. The income in the forecast reflected money expected to be received before the year end. Items that had previously been forecast for this financial year that have not been spent will be built into the 2023/24 budget.
16. Items for the next meeting – None
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
Date of next Parish Council meeting: – Thursday 13th April 2023. To be held at Follifoot Village Hall, commencing at 7.30pm.