MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 2 AUGUST 2018

18017. Welcome & Attendance:
The Chair welcomed those councillors and clerk in attendance as follows:
Councillors :James Atkinson (JA), Lesley Collingridge (LC), John Cook (JC), Sally Lewis (SL), David Swinglehurst (DS), Richard Musgrave (RM) – Selby District Councillor.
Clerk to the Council: Ruth Swales (RS)
Emma Powell (EP) attended as a parishioner. All present signed the Attendance record.

Public Participation:
EP advised Council that she and another parishioner have started a toddler group using the Village Institute and intend to meet for 2 hours on the first Wednesday of every month charging £2 per visit which it is hoped will ultimately cover the hire cost of the hall. EP enquired re the availability of a grant of £500 from the ByeLaw Charity to help towards the group’s public liability insurance and purchase of equipment. RM advised as District Councillor he had access to a Community budget which might be suitable to help towards fulfilment of this request.

18018 Apologies:
Apologies for absence were received from Michelle Dixon and Richard Daniel due to work commitments. Their reasons for absence were accepted.

18019. Declarations of Interests:
DS declared an on-going interest in the Charity Field – agenda item 18031.

18020 Minutes:
The minutes of the annual Parish Council meeting held on 31 May 2018 were approved and signed by the Chair as a true record.

18025.1 Planning:
– The Chair agreed to change the order of the agenda in order to receive an update from Cllr Musgrave regarding the planning application re the Stillingfleet Mine site development so that RM could then leave the meeting.
– RM advised that the planning hearing had again been postponed and the earliest it would be presented would be 11 September but as the planning report had to be ready and lodged at least a month prior to the hearing it seemed unlikely it would be ready for September.
– RM explained that part of the reason for the delay was due to the applicant being changed from the developer to the land owner (Harworth Estates).
– RM advised that NYCC have concerns about the application, but that he must keep an open mind as he is a member of the planning committee. NYCC had been concerned about Selby’s initial failure to adhere to their District plan policy in relation to the site but now, in spite of Selby referencing that policy in a revised submission, RM felt that the Parish Council would be well advised to maintain pressure on Selby and to consider taking specialist advice. Council:
– RESOLVED that Cllr Cook would approach the Planning Consultant of the CPRE to ask her to draft a letter to Selby Planning on behalf of the Council to encourage the strengthening of their submission to the planning hearing.
– RESOLVED that Cllr Cook ask the CPRE Planning Consultant for a possible introduction to a Planning Lawyer.
– RESOLVED that Council should write to Martin Grainger (Head of Planning at Selby DC).
– RESOLVED to convene a working party of Cllr Musgrave, PE, JC and LC to progress the Council’s submission to the planning hearing. Council approved a spend of up to £500 expenses for this purpose.

18021. Matters Arising from the last meeting:
Council received the following updates on ongoing issues:

180021.1 Defibrillator: The equipment has been installed and the training event has taken place. PE re-iterated thanks on behalf of the Council to all those who have made these plans come to fruition.

18021.2 Play Area: A further £109.98 had been received from S106 funding which, when the VAT is re-claimed, will mean 100% of the cost of purchasing the Picnic table for the Play Area on the Green has been secured and the picnic table has been purchased and installed.
Although no response has been forthcoming from Natural England re the Council’s application for the exclusion of part of the Green from the Stewardship Scheme, Council
RESOLVED to permit Play Stillingfleet to commence a rota for grass cutting so that the south west corner of the Green is kept short to encourage children’s play in anticipation of NE’s consent.
Council were advised that John Boness has no appetite for selling his orchard as a potential site for a playground.

18021.3 Village Green:
– Confirmation has been received from Selby DC that the proposed dog waste bins would be a suitable use of the £454 available S106 Recreational Open Spaces (ROS) funding provided that they will be positioned on ROS. Council:
– RESOLVED to submit the application for S106 funding and upon approval to place the order for the purchase of 3 bins with the intended locations being the corner of Stewart Lane, at the end of the footpath from the Green opposite Stillingfleet Service Station and at the end of the footpath across the Green on the South west side.
– Council were advised that Selby DC had provided stickers under their ‘Don’t be a Waster’ campaign which can be affixed to other waste bins in the village advising that bagged dog waste can be deposited in those bins &
RESOLVED to use these stickers on each of the existing bins
– Acting on a recommendation emanating from the annual meeting of the Parish Council
RESOLVED to ask Selby DC to re-site the existing litter bin adjacent to the Church lynch gate moving it closer to the bridge so as not to detract from the Church’s entrance nor to obstruct the access track to the Green alongside the churchyard.
– Although a positive response had been received to the suggestion of joining the Green Dog Walker Scheme Council decided to re-consider this at a later date.
– Natural England have responded that there are no grants available to help fund the re-grading of the grips and ditches to improve drainage on the Green and have asked what machinery would be deployed to complete the work. Cllr Elmhirst to respond and then progress the obtaining of estimates for Sweetings to commence this work in the autumn
– Branches Out have not, as yet, completed the removal of the fallen Willow tree and lower branches identified for removal through the Risk Assessment but Cllr Elmhirst will chase up.

18022. Policy Review Update:
Council considered the Financial Regulations and Standing Orders which had been drafted and proposed by the Policy Review Committee and
RESOLVED to sign and adopt both documents as governing policy with effect from 2 August 2018. Clerk to post onto the Council Website for future reference.

18023 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR Update :
To evidence that the Council is making progress towards GDPR compliance Councillors considered, reviewed and approved the proposed GDPR Data Audit which has been completed by the Policy Review Committee.

18024. Police Matters: No police matters were brought to Council’s attention. Harrison.
18025.2 Planning Matters: Council discussed and noted the following updates:
– revised plans had been received from Sean Duggan for the development of the Plantation House site (ref: 2018/0055/FUL). Whilst noting the proposed change in orientation of Plot 1 of the proposed new builds, PE advised that he had reiterated to Selby Planning all the other concerns and observations previously cited following the earlier planning application as the revised plans did not appear to have addressed these concerns.
– the withdrawal of the planning application for the proposed single storey side / rear extensions, alterations to existing house and demolition of existing utility room, avery and garage at Woodford, York Road, Stillingfleet, YO19 6HW.
– the granting of planning permission subject to listed conditions allowing the proposed demolition of existing rear lean to and replacement with a single storey side extension to the gable end of The Bungalow at Moreby Grange, Stillingfleet YO19 6HN – Ref: 2018/0538/HPA
– the granting of permission to demolish the existing garage and erect 2 detached dwellings at Stillingfleet Service Station, York Road – Ref: 2018/0152/FUL

18026. Matters raised by Councillors

18026.1 Cllr Collingridge asked the Council to consider what steps might be taken to curb the speed at which motorcyclists ride through our Parish as current activity is both dangerous and noisy. Council noted with great sadness that there had been a fatal accident at the top of the Gale involving a motorcycle. Council noted that a traffic review had been commissioned in 2013 but that no action had been instigated on the back of those findings. Council
RESOLVED to make further enquiries into suitable traffic control

18026.2 Cllr Cook advised that he is constructing an application on behalf of Stillingfleet PCC seeking circa. £100,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the renovation of the church organ and also to enhance and expose the heritage beauty of the church. This application will propose the removal of several trees from the Churchyard in order to enhance management of the grounds and to improve the line of sight of the Norman Arch of the church from the lynch gate. Should further details be required these can be obtained from Cllr Cook.

18027. Website:
18027.1 Council were advised that as part of the Website Maintenance agreement, Red Kite have undertaken their quarterly checks of the website functionality and checked all the back up files saved at an external location and noted that all appears to be in order.
18027.2 Council considered Sam Lyth’s recommendation that Council should apply for a Secure Site Licence (SSL) costing £36 p.a and
RESOLVED to apply for a SSL.

18028 Council’s Laptop:
Council were advised that expert advice had been obtained from Escrick.net (Steve Smowton) regarding what is necessary to get the Council’s laptop functioning to meet the Council’s requirements/ satisfy GDPR legislation and
RESOLVED to accept the quotation from Escrick.net totalling £260 for the upgrade and £60 per annum for the remote support package and to instigate the upgrade.

18029. Financial Matters:
18029.1 Council noted that the period for the exercise of public rights to inspect the annual accounts had passed (13 July 2018) and that no requests had been lodged.

18029.2 Council received a report from the Clerk/RFO noting:
Recent receipts:
Northern Powergrid – Wayleaves £238.29
VAT refund 2017-18 £708.40
2nd 50% of S106 funds for picnic table £109.98

Closing balances as at 30 June 2018 :
Parish Council current account £5,892.82
Parish Council NS& I account £2,072.05

RESOLVED to make the following payments:
NYCC re Street Lighting energy £1490.81
Badger Benches re Picnic table £263.94
Donation to ByeLaw Field re net income from 2017/18 previously transacted through Council current account (Rent income from field minus donation to PCC re grass cutting and donation towards Pensioners Christmas lunch) £209.00
Ruth Swales re DropBox annual fee £144.00
S Atkinson & Son re cutting and baling of the Green £2,268.00
Ruth Swales – expenses £29.05
HMRC re Clerk tax (May & June) £63.80
Solutions for Payroll £12.05
To note payment of Clerk’s salary for May & June

18029.3 Council considered the comparison to budget and noted any significant adverse predicted outturn.

18030. Training
Council were advised that the proposal to finance the attendance of the Clerk at a YLCA Training Day for more experienced Clerks was withdrawn.

18031 Charity Matters
Council were advised that:
– as yet no response had been received from Cundalls re the preparation of the Farm Business Tenancy agreement re the ByeLaw Field. PE to continue to chase.
– the balance of ByeLaw Field Charity (NS&I) account as at 31 July was £8,073.42.
– the opening of the Yorkshire Bank current account for the Charity in replacement for the NS&I account had taken considerable time in view of Yorkshire Bank’s administrative requirements but it appeared that the only thing now outstanding was the production of ID and address verification by DS. As DS might not be able to attend to this until October Council:
– RESOLVED to ask Yorkshire Bank to open the account initially with just two signatories (PE & SL).
– RESOLVED to submit a withdrawal request for £975 to NS&I to enable the payment of the grant which had already been approved to Stillingfleet PCC re the upkeep of the churchyard and cemetery.
– RESOLVED that PE would convene a meeting of the Play Committee to consider the request lodged on behalf of the new Toddler Group for funding from the Charity fund. Cllr Musgrave to be invited to attend and encouraged to approve financial support from the Selby Community budget. Council authorised the Play Committee to grant up to £500 to the Toddler Group in accordance with the Charity’s objectives of benefiting inhabitants of the parish.

18032. Date of Next Meeting:
Council noted the date of the next meeting as Thursday 4 October 2018 at 7.30pm.
Signed ; Ruth Swales, Clerk to the Council, clerk@stillingfleetparishcouncil.org