June 2010

EAST KESWICK PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 15^TH JUNE 2010

POLICE AND RESIDENTS FORUM There was no Police attendance. The Clerk had been informed that, due to the need for cutbacks, Police would attend PC meetings in January, April, July and October only. The crime figures had been e mailed. There had been 4 crimes in the past month- 1 of public order, 1 of damage (linked to the first), 1 of a theft from a motor vehicle and 1 burglary other. Two residents attended from The Close to explain their objections to the Application for 9 The Close. The drives are very narrow and the proposals for No 9 would make them excessively so. A bathroom window would also be too close. The whole scheme they considered to be over development of the site .Council agreed to take their comments into account when drafting their own letter to the Planners. Two residents from Rose Croft attended to complain to the Council about the dangerous exit from the road. The Chairman promised to speak to the resident concerned before the next meeting. Mrs Helen Franklin attended at the request of the Council to discuss Highway issues.( HF). The discussion is set out against the relevant agenda item.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Cllr Anning declared a personal and prejudicial interest in MA1., the Chairman in Finance 1(c) and Cllr Pinkney in Finance 1(d).

PRESENT Cllrs Priestley, Pinkney, Anning, Pentith and Batty.

APOLOGIES Cllr Batty. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON MAY 18TH. These were approved. MATTERS ARISING1.Dangerous Exit from Rose Croft. Cllr Anning asked HF her views on creating a small “safe” space marked by a white line extending for 2 car lengths opposite the road entrance. HF said she was not in favour of the idea as white lines are not enforceable and would soon be replaced by yellow lines which would take months to obtain, due to the need for advertising and consideration of objections etc. She favoured the idea of dealing with the encroachment on to the Highway from No 1 Rose Croft, which could ultimately be tackled by Enforcement Proceedings, but she accepted that ,in a village environment it would better be dealt with by a personal approach2.Replacement Bins. After a discussion with Stephen Smith, Head of Streetscene Services, at the Spring Conference, the Clerk had been promised that the bin near the white railings on Main Street would be replaced by a pole mounted metal bin. The Clerk was asked to find out when the replacement was likely to take place. 3.Water Problem on Laurel Close. It was now known that the problem was caused by a collapsed sewer pipe. HF explained that the main sewer had now been repaired by LCC though not strictly LCC responsibility but a private drain on Laurel Close feeding into this was damaged. However, she thought the resident concerned had accepted responsibility. It was estimated that the work would take a further 3 months to complete and if necessary the work could be undertaken by the council and recharged to the owner of the property.. 4. Metal Railings over Beck. Billy Hobson had been asked to paint these. 5.Crabtree Lane Car Park. HF would be willing to provide an initial free estimate for the work but would have to make a charge for anything further if asked to provide a quotation for the work. Peter Mc Gouran was the best person to contact. The Chairman agreed to put together a few ideas for the work required before making contact with him.6.Cutting back Grass Erosion on Crabtree Lane Footpath near Memorial Trees. It was agreed to remind Mark Hullah about the need to remove the many young saplings growing there and to tidy up the area around the Memorial Trees. 7. Dumping of Rubbish on Cleavesty Lane. Letters had been sent to a number of residents in the locality. Some had voiced objections to being included amongst those notified. 8. Vacancy on Council. The vacancy had been advertised but there had been no volunteers to join the Council. The Clerk was asked to pursue a flyer from Cllr Batty which should have been received by Rigton Print in time for inclusion with the next newsletter.9. Complaint concerning Hedge between East Keswick and Collingham. The resident making this request had verbally identified the location. It would be necessary to find out the owner of the adjacent field. The Chairman said that he would contact the resident with a view to inspecting the cause of his complaint. 10. Report on Spring Conference of Town & Parish Councils Forum. The Chairman, the Clerk and Cllr Pentith had attended the conference and had found the sessions useful and contacts with senior officials in the departments concerned especially helpful.11. Grit Bins HF explained that it was now possible to obtain these through a Ward Cllr scheme but she did not really recommend councils to purchase extra bins as problems often ensued. She said they would become “white elephants”. LCC would fill such bins once but would always give preference to their own bins. There had been much abuse with these during the last winter and they were considering locking them. LCC is currently building up its supplies of salt. 12. Meeting with Wildlife Trust to discuss possibility of Board Walk across Keswick Marsh Cllr Batty had met with David Smith, Chairman of the Wildlife Trust, to discuss this further. The view of the Trust was that if the Council did pursue the idea of a board walk the surface should be limestone chippings rather than wood. A number of questions arose eg containing the limestone area, cost , maintenance etc. Cllor Anning will endeavour to obtain information about a scheme in West Wales which was well regarded.13. Bollards at end of Cleavesty Lane HF was informed by Cllrs that most of those knocked down had now been retrieved and were in good condition. She advised contacting Steve Parry to tell him and to ask for a replacement for the missing bollard. 14. Annual Report. This was not yet completed. 15. Large container in Crabtree Lane car park. It was thought that the vehicles in the car park were involved in the work being done to address the flooding issues at the end of Crabtree Lane. HF said that they hoped to address this problem and some of the original soakaways had been found and cleared of blockages. 16. Work on Road and Footpath Surfaces in Village HF reported that Lumby Lane was currently receiving attention. Work on Main Street was scheduled for 19-27 July and Whitegate for 2-8 August. A final surface of micro asphalt would be applied on Moor Lane. She was informed by Cllrs that some of the footpath surface between the Post Office and Church Drive, re-surfaced recently, was already wearing. She promised that this would be looked into. The repair to the kerbing on Main Street has now been carried out and Council agreed to try the yoghurt treatment on the repaired cobbles in City Square. 16. Cllr Responsibilities. The following were agreed:-· Planning Committee – Cllrs Priestley, Ogden and Anning. · Finance Committee – Cllrs Priestley, Pinkney and Pentith. · Village Hall Rep. – Cllr Pentith.· Parish & Town Council Reps.- Cllrs Anning and Pentith.· Newsletter correspondent – Cllr Anning. · Crime Rep- Cllr Pentith. · Footpaths Rep. – Cllr Pinkney.· Website and Annual Report Rep – Cllr Batty. PLANNING

1.New applications:-

(a) No.10/02408 – 9 The Close – Exts.

It was resolved to object to this application on the grounds of over development and adverse effects on neighbouring property.

2.APPROVALS BY LCC:-

(a) No.10/01693 – 11 Wharfe Bank, Collingham – Ext.

(b) No.10/01361 – Glen House, Harewood Road – Ext.

3. Builder’s Sign outside Coach House on Whitegate The Clerk had received a complaint that this sign was unnecessarily obtrusive. Cllrs agreed to check.

4. Smoking Shelter at the Star. There had been no response to the request to put forward an alternative for consideration by the PC. The Chairman suggested that Cllrs consider the implication of the decision reached at the previous meeting and in particular, the need for consistency, where there appeared to be a breach of planning and the actions to be taken by the PC. He said the Planning Committee would check on the regulations concerning extensions to Listed Buildings and would inform Cllors of the outcome..

5. Possible submission of application on Cleavesty site. A meeting with the architect had been held at the home of the Chairman the previous day. Cllr Ogden had also attended. They showed fellow Cllrs the plans of the proposed single eco friendly dwelling which was to be well screened. The application would shortly be submitted to the Planners. The draft submission and plans were left with Cllor Pinkney for consideration and circulation to other Cllors

FINANCE

1.Bills for payment:- £ Net VAT Total

(a) GGS Groundcare – Garden Maintenance 682.50 119.44 801.94

(b) Rural Action Yorks – Subs. 35.00 35.00

(d) S. Pinkney – Photograph Album 10.00 10.00

It was resolved to pay all the bills listed above.

N.B. PWLB – Loan Payment – 15^th June 2,760.56 2,760.56

2. Annual Audit of Accounts – Signing of Sections 1 and 2 of Annual Return and points raised by Internal Auditor :-

· Signing of 2009 Mins.

· Approval of 2009 and 2010 Financial Standing Orders.

· Insurance Policy reference to East Keswick as part of South Yorks.

· Insurance Considerations re Handling of Cash at Future Galas.

The Chairman signed Sections 1 and 2 with the agreement of the Council. He signed the previously unsigned minutes and explained the Auditor’s concerns regarding financial problems relating to insurance and the source of receipts in regard to galas run in the name of the Parish Council.

3. Signatories on East Keswick Parish Council Bank account. Forms had been returned by the 2 existing signatories – Cllrs Priestley and Pinkney. The form to complete the Appointment of Bankers form was completed at the meeting and signed by the Chairman and Cllr Pinkney. Cllor Batty is to complete and sign as the other signatory

4. Letter from Ward Cllrs re reduction in amount of Area Grant funding available. The Ward Cllrs informed Councils that, due to the current economic climate, the balance of Area Management Revenue fund was only £37,783.00 for this financial year and there is no capital funding available.

CORRESPONDENCE 1. E mail from Bill Shucksmith re Security. Mr Shucksmith was concerned about a telephone call taken by his wife from someone claiming to be setting up a security patrol in the quieter parts of East Keswick. He had asked about their current security arrangements and been informed that they already possessed a burglar alarm, not connected to the Police but which made plenty of noise. He had then claimed that there were more sophisticated ones . No company name or telephone number was provided . The matter was passed by the Shucksmiths to the Police, who had heard of no similar incident but warned them to be vigilant.2. Adoption of Standing Orders. After a few minor amendments,It was resolved that the General Standing Orders ,and Terms of Reference for the Finance Committee, should be approved. The Financial Standing Orders and those relating to Planning are to be re-considered at the next meeting. 3. Suggestion from Janet Thornton for Parish Council to organise a “Big Lunch” – Sunday July 18^th Janet Thornton had organised this event in 2009 and informed the PC that it was a relatively simple task as people were invited to bring their own food and drink. It was resolved not to organise a Big Lunch event this year.Some sort of village get together might be organised after the Litter Walk on September 4^th.4. Need to re-paint white railings . Janet Thornton had noticed that the bare wood was showing through in places and there was a general need for a clean up. It was resolved to ask Billy Hobson to re-paint the railings. 5. Contact with Collingham Footpath Group Julian Holmes of this group had contacted the Clerk who had referred him to Cllr Pinkney. He had e mailed the Clerk and had attached copies of letters sent to landowners in the area asking for their support in opening up land for footpaths. The Council thanked Cllr Pinkney for the excellent set of photographs which she had taken and compiled in an album relating to the village footpaths. MINOR MATTERS FOR DELEGATION TO CLERK/NEXT AGENDA1. Idea from Collingham with Linton Parish Magazine Cllr Pentith showed fellow Cllrs the insert of village organisations and contact details included once a year in their magazine. It was agreed to forward the magazine to Cllr Batty and to see if something similar should be included in the forthcoming Annual Report. 2. Invitation Cllr Anning suggested ,and Council agreed, to invite the new Ward Cllr, Matthew Robinson, to a future PC meeting. 3. Parish Walks The Chairman reminded Cllrs of the forthcoming Parish Walks on July 5^th and 19^thJuly. EKPC June 10 Mins.

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