STILLINGFLEET PARISH COUNCIL – MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON

THURSDAY 6 DECEMBER 2018

 

18046/7. Welcome, attendance and apologies:

The Chair welcomed councillors and the clerk as follows:

Councillors: Paul Elmhirst (Chair), John Cook (Vice-chair), Lesley Collingridge, Michelle Dixon, Terry Harrison, Sally Lewis,

Clerk: Ruth Swales

There were no members of the public in attendance.

Council received apologies from Cllrs Swinglehurst and Atkinson and accepted the reasons given. All present signed the Attendance sheet.

18048     Declarations of Interests:

There were no declarations of interest in any agenda items.

18049     Minutes:

Council resolved to accept the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 4 October 2018 and the Chairman signed the minutes as a true record.

18050     Matters Arising from the last meeting:

Council received information on the following ongoing issues:

Playground update:

The Chair advised that he is in contact with the owner of the plot of land behind the village institute.  He will inform the Council of any developments.

18050.1  Village Green updates:

–     Despite numerous chasers there had still been no response from Natural England to the application for a derogation allowing the re-grading of the grips and ditches to aid drainage of the Green. Therefore Council

RESOLVED to advise Natural England that as full details of the proposed works have been provided and as no objection had been forthcoming from them in respect of the submitted derogation, the Council presume they may go ahead with the drainage work and

RESOLVED to authorise a budget of up to £1,000 for this work to be carried out.  Cllr Elmhirst agreed to circulate quotes for the work when received.

–     John Boness had offered to complete the removal of the fallen willow tree in the south east sector of the Green (identified for removal through the Risk Assessment) provided Cllr Daniel would dispose of the cuttings

RESOLVED to ask Cllr Daniel to contact John Boness to progress.

–     Branches Out would be reminded about the lower branches of a willow tree in the south western sector after the next risk assessment.

–     Council noted that Selby DC had advised that the cost of removing and reinstalling the waste bin from the lych gate to the proposed site would be £60.82 + VAT and that the re-site could go ahead after the area had been paved.

RESOLVED that Cllr Cook would arrange for the paving slabs to be laid after which the Clerk can request that Selby DC undertake the re-site.

  1. Policy Review Update :

Council reviewed the final drafts of the following documents which the Policy Review Committee had recommended for adoption by the Council and:

RESOLVED to adopt the proposed Code of Conduct,

RESOLVED to adopt the proposed Disciplinary and Grievance procedures,

RESOLVED to adopt the proposed Publication Scheme and

APPROVED the Council’s Asset Register

noting that all adopted policies and registers would be posted onto the Council Website for future reference in accordance with the Publication Scheme.

Council noted that the total value of the Council’s assets has been estimated at £13,839 yet the current insurance policy held by the Council limits assets at risk to £10,000 so

RESOLVED to obtain a quotation for increasing the insurance cover to £15,000.

  1. 18052. Police Matters: Cllr Harrison advised there were no police matters to report which affected the Parish although commented that there had been numerous reports of thefts of farm machinery and equipment in various other local parishes.
  2. Planning Matters: Council received the following information and updates:  Stillingfleet Mine Site
  • There has been a further postponement of the planning hearing (which had been scheduled for 11 September 2018) and it is now expected that the final date for the hearing will be 22 January 2019.
  • Council were advised that in order to ensure that no crucial legal objection is missed, David Hardy (Senior Specialist Planning Lawyer of Squire, Tatton, Boggs) has been asked to provide an estimate for preparing a letter of objection on behalf of local Councils. Provided he is optimistic that he can compose a letter that has a chance of influencing the final decision Council RESOLVED to ask neighbouring Councils if they were prepared to make a contribution towards the legal costs.

18053.2 Clay Pit Site at Escrick

Council were advised that Cllrs Elmhirst and Cook had attended the public exhibition held on 17 November 2018 at which Plasmor Ltd presented their proposals for the extraction of clay from land adjacent to the former Escrick Brickworks. The main area of concern is that proposals now include an access road being opened along the west side of the bike track coming out on to Escrick Road which could lead to up to 75 HGVs per day trying to get out of Escrick Road on to the A19 (in addition to those serving the former mine site, if that application gets the go-ahead).  Council:

RESOLVED to seek a meeting between Plasmor and Sustrans (the owners of the bike track) to try and broker an alternative proposal for crossing the bike track such that HGV traffic would not use Escrick Road.

18053.3    Council were advised that observations had been submitted in relation to the proposed conversion of an existing agricultural building for use as a single dwelling house at Haverland Farm, Stewart Lane – ref: 2018/1036/FUL.  Pedestrians using the adopted highway of Stewart Lane had already expressed concerns for their safety due to the speed of traffic using this narrow road and views were expressed that this further planning application, if granted, would increase traffic volume.  Council:

RESOLVED to approach Highways Department in Selby to seek advice re addressing these concerns.

18053.4    Council were advised that observations have been submitted in relation to the proposed conversion of the service wing at Moreby Hall into 9 residential units including minor internal alterations, replacement doors and windows – ref: 2018/0810/FUL.

18053.5    It was noted that a planning application has been submitted regarding St Helen’s churchyard (which lies within the conservation area) which includes the proposed felling of 1 Sycamore, the removal to ground of 2 Yew trees, the crown lifting by 0.5 metres of 3 Yew trees, the removal to ground of 1 conifer, the felling of 2 Sycamores and the felling of 1 Yew tree – ref: 2018/1289/TCA.

18053.5  Council noted that the proposed erection of a single storey front/side extension at Tullevers, Church Hill YO19 6SA had been approved – ref: 018/0993/HPA

Cllr Daniel joined the meeting and apologised for his late arrival.

  1. Matters raised by Councillors

18054.1  Council noted that Cllr Dixon has lodged her intention to step down as Councillor and not seek re-election after the April 2019 Council meeting.

18054.2 There was considerable debate regarding the rope swing which had been set up from a tree on The Green by parents of resident children. Council were advised of the various steps which had been taken to dissuade this activity but recognised that this is a recurring issue each year which indicated an obvious demand for some form of children’s play facility. Before deciding whether any further action was appropriate Cllr Elmhirst confirmed that he would review the response that had been received from the Council’s insurers re the cover afforded to the Council under its public liability insurance in the event of any accident.

18054.3 Council had been advised of the intention to develop a Community Development Plan (CDP ) which would allow the CEF partnership board to concentrate its efforts on the issues, projects and improvements that parish councils and community groups wanted progressing within the area. Cllr Cook advised of his intention to attend the planning forum scheduled for 23 January 2019 and invited councillors and parishioners to provide him with any pro-active recommendations they may have for inclusion in the CDP.  Any suggestions to be emailed to Cllr Cook at john@bradfordcook.co.uk

18054.4  Council noted the information which had been circulated from the 2018 Environment Agency fish survey of Stillingfleet Beck.

  1. Training

Council supported the nomination of the Clerk to attend a YLCA Planning seminar scheduled to take place in March 2019 and approved a cost of £86.25.

18056     Financial Matters

18056.1  Internal Control: Council were advised that the half yearly internal control check had been undertaken by Cllrs Daniel and Dixon and all was in order.

18056.2  Cllr Elmhirst advised that he had written in strong terms on the Council’s behalf to MP Nigel Adams re the outstanding grant from the Rural Payments Agency and was pleased to report that this had triggered the payment of the final instalment of the grant due for 2017.

The Clerk reported the following:

Recent receipts:

31 October 2018 – Rural Payments Agency being final 25% instalment under the Stewardship scheme for 2017 £589.74
6 November 2018 – Rural Payments Agency being 75% instalment under the Stewardship scheme for 2018 £1,771.39

 18056.3  Closing balances as at 30 November 2018:

Parish Council current account                                         £7,059.76

Parish Council NS& I account                                          £2,072.05

Council RESOLVED to make the following payments:

Acorn Lighting Services re street light repairs £158.16
HMRC re Clerk’s salary (Sept/Oct) £45.60
Solutions for payroll re Clerk’s salary admin £12.05
To note payment of Clerk’s salary for September & October

18056.4  Budgeting:

  • Council reviewed the predicted outturn for the year ending 31 March 2019 against the 2018/19 budget and noted the explanations of any projected material variances (i.e. greater than £100 or 15% above/below budget). Concern was expressed at the 36% year on year increase in NYCC’s electricity charges for street lighting particularly in the prevailing low inflation environment. Council questioned whether NYCC had ever been informed of the installation of some of the village’s lights with the more efficient LED replacements.

Council RESOLVED to write to NYCC to enquire how they would modify their charging to take account of the new fittings and seek reassurances that any increase in electricity costs for 2019/20 would not exceed a maximum of 10% uplift.

  • After accounting for all predicted budget variances Council was pleased to note an overall predicted surplus for the year of £184.
  • Council considered the annual budget proposals for 2019/2020 and in the light of high electricity costs, decided to provide for the further replacement of 2 street lights with LED fittings recognising these are estimated to generate a 25% reduction in energy usage.
  • Council RESOLVED to seek a 3% increase in the Band D council tax charge (69 pence per average Band D household) and proposed submitting a precept proposal of £4,551.45 for the ensuing financial year – 2019/20.
  1. Charity Matters

Council (as sole trustee for the ByeLaw Field Charity) was pleased to note that

the Yorkshire Bank current account for the Charity had now been opened, the NS&I investment account closed and the approved donations for 2018/19 have been paid.

–        Recent receipts into the Charity account were noted as:

Annual rent for the ByeLaw Field – 1/10/18 – 30/9/19 £1,539.90

 Closing balance of Charity account as at 30 November 2018 is £8,098.07

  1. Dates of future Meetings: 

18058.1  The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 7 February 2019 at 7.30pm.

18058.2   Advanced notice was provided that Parish Council elections will take place on 2 May 2019 with elected Councillors taking office with effect from 6 May.  As the Council is required to hold an ordinary meeting within 14 days of Councillors taking office Council were advised that the May 2019 Council meeting will be on Thursday 16 May 2019 and that the April meeting on 4 April 2019 will be preceded by the annual meeting of the Parish.

Signed: Ruth Swales, Clerk to the Council, clerk@stillingfleetparishcouncil.org