DATE: Thursday 28 th May 2015 TIME: 19.30 hrs LOCATION: Winksley Church Room PRESENT: Parish Councillors Colin Macintosh (Chairman), Roger Fleetham, Patricia Harling, Jan Lawson, Brian Thackray and Robert Weatherhead. IN ATTENDANCE: Iona Taylor (Clerk) District and County Councillor Margaret Atkinson Howard Mountain 4 members of the public. 1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ITEMS ON THE AGENDA none. 2. REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS none. 3. APOLOGIES Apologies were received and accepted from Councillor Jackson who was on holiday. 4. OF THE LAST MEETINGS The minutes of the last meetings held on 26 th March and 30 th April 2015 were approved and signed. 5. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE 5.1 Phone kiosks. It was noted that, despite the recent promotion to encourage their adoption by local communities, BT currently has no plans to decommission or remove any existing, operational kiosks. 5.2 Maintenance of trees. DTMS Ltd have indicated their hourly charge for works requiring a chainsaw, however more formalised quotations for all the works are required and will be progressed by the Clerk. 6. CORRESPONDENCE 6.1 Mickley paper recycling container. Harrogate Borough Council has advised that the recycling collection vehicle has not been able to empty the recycling bank for paper and card at Mickley Village Hall as it has contained brown, corrugated cardboard. The recycling service only accepts thin card such as cereal packets, not cardboard. If the situation persists the container will have to be removed. Councillor Harling has already contacted local residents to advise them of this requirement and Harrogate Borough Council has put up new signage on the container. 6.2 Training and guidance for Councillors. The Yorkshire Local Council s Associations training programme for June and July 2015 has been received. Any Councillor interested in attending a session should contact the Clerk. Councillors were also made aware that an update has been made to the fourth edition of the Good Councillors Guide which is in the form of a separate addendum. The booklets are no longer available in paper format. Electronic copies together with the addendum, can be found on the website of the National Association of Local Councils under the Publications tab (www.nalc.gov.uk). Page 1 of 5
6.3 Community de-fibrillators. Following the receipt of information from a company called AEDdonate, who are trying to help local communities get access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to combat the ever-rising number of cardiac arrests in the UK, it was agreed that the Clerk should make investigations into the possible provision of such machines in this parish. 6.4 Break ins to sheds. After a couple of break ins to local sheds, Ripon Police are reminding residents of the necessity of securing outbuildings with adequate locks. They also advise registering power tools on www.immobilise.com to make items easier to recover and less attractive to steal. Suspicious activity should be reported by ringing 101. If a crime is in progress the 999 number should be rung. 6.5 Lloyds Banking Group. Correspondence indicates that Lloyds Banking Group is about to start paying a dividend to its shareholders. It was noted that the Parish Council owns 121 shares, currently valued at 105.32. 6.6 Harrogate Borough Council s Small Grants Scheme. Harrogate Borough Council currently has 51,000 available to allocate in small grants for 2015-16. This is the main annual small grants scheme available from the council. This small grant scheme will be accepting applications from 20th May 2015 with a closing date of the 16th July 2015, 12pm noon. For more information about the small grants scheme please contact Fiona Friday Harrogate Borough Council, Corporate Affairs on 01423 556068 or by email at SmallGrants@harrogate.gov.uk. 7. FINANCIALS It was resolved that the following report be approved and recorded: Bank Balances as at 28/4/15: Santander Current a/c ****2922 5,355.50 TOTAL 5,355.50 Payments to be approved and recorded: Payee Details St. John's Church Village Hall Hire on 26/2/15 3.50 DTMS Ltd Caretaker, Invoice 6816 108.00 Iona Taylor Clerk Wages, March 2015 145.67 Iona Taylor Clerk Expenses, March 2015 53.46 HMRC PAYE, March 2015 154.47 Farm & Land Services Ltd Grasscutting, Invoice 4259 247.20 Fountains P.C.C. Hall Hire on 30/4/15 & 28/5/15 22.50 Iona Taylor Clerk's Wages, April 2015 67.75 Iona Taylor Clerk's Expenses, April 2015 13.29 DTMS Ltd Caretaker, Invoice 6885 108.00 TOTAL 923.84 Page 2 of 5
Receipts to be recorded: Received From Details Harrogate Borough Council Precept, 1st Part 2,625.00 TOTAL 2,625.00 8. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 8.1 Consultations on applications. The following applications were considered and responses agreed in relation to the consultations being carried out by Harrogate Borough Council. Reference Proposal Response to Consultation 15/02147/FUL Erection of porch and alterations to No objections. fenestration at Meadow Barn, Winksley. 15/02041/REM Reserved matters application for the erection Comments, including: of 1 detached dwelling with detached garage, Impact of obscured glazing at front. formation of new vehicular access and Size of dwelling on site. installation of package treatment plant with appearance, landscaping, layout and scale Porch and double front doors are out of keeping. considered (Site Area 0.09ha) at Land East Of Green Acres, Mickley. Further details needed re. side lean to. Capacity of sewage treatment plant. Appearance of 3 storey structure. 15/01730/DVCON Variation of condition 2 of planning No objections. application 6.37.1.F.FUL to allow erection of oak frame and glazed doors and roof to north elevation in lieu of windows at Toldrum Farm, Winksley. 15/01704/FUL Retention of conservatory at West Farm, West Lane, Galphay. No objections to retention of structure, but comment about whether render finish is in keeping. 8.2 Updates and decisions on applications, appeals and enforcement investigations. Reference Proposal Update / Decision 14/04273/OUT Outline application for erection of 1 detached dwelling with detached garage, formation of new vehicular access and installation of package treatment plant with access considered (Site Area 0.09ha) (Revised Scheme) at Land East Of Green Acres, Mickley. Passed. 8.3 Local Green Spaces. Applications will be progressed for Galphay and Winksley cricket ground and Mickley verges. 9. PARISH CARETAKER It was agreed that the caretaker be asked to carry out the following tasks: General maintenance in advance of Galphay and Mickley Open Gardens events. Strimming footpaths off riverside common land in Winksley. Flail riverside common land in Winksley twice over course of summer. Clear drain under road on way to Woodhouse Caravan site. Clear drain near West Lane, Galphay. Maintain bench in Mickley near phone box. Page 3 of 5
10. GALPHAY VILLAGE GREEN It was noted that an enquiry had been received from a Galphay resident asking for confirmation that the Parish Council owns, and is responsible for, Galphay Village Green and also for clarification as to how the Green can be used for community events such as barbecues and fetes etc. A policy for the use of the Green for non-incidental events was considered. The policy gives a general permission for events to take place, subject to organisers agreeing to notify the Parish Council, carry out a risk assessment and consider whether they need to take out insurance. It was noted that the Council s insurance policy does not cover events held on the Green. It was agreed that the Parish Council is minded to the adopt the policy and that it should be circulated to interested parties prior to being approved and signed at the next meeting. 11. BROADBAND IN WINKSLEY It was noted that parishioners have been canvassing support for provision of wireless broadband in the Winksley area and have attracted interest from 26 households. A meeting has been held with Superfast North Yorkshire (SFNY) and LN Communications Ltd (LNC) arranged via Andy Ryland Community Broadband officer of Rural Action Yorkshire. The transmitter at Sutton Bank needs upgrading to allow for additional capacity, but this is on stream for summer 2015. As soon as notification is received about the timescales for this, the project in Winksley can go live. The project will depend upon the Church agreeing to locate the receiver on the Church tower and obtaining faculty consent, which it will only agree to if they are satisfied that there is a community need/desire for wireless broadband. This can be shown by the number of interested households and the Parish Council supporting the project. It was agreed that the Parish Council recognises the need to bring superfast broadband to Winksley and supports the proposed project, including the location of enabling infrastructure on the Church tower. 12. BUS SERVICES Further announcements by the Government over future funding mean that North Yorkshire County Council now needs to find a further estimated savings of 75.9m between 2015 and 2019. The Integrated Passenger Transport Unit has therefore been asked to look at how it might reduce the amount of subsidy for local bus services to 1.5m every year from April 2016. They have put together proposals which aim to make the best use of the funding available, to provide services which meet the day-to-day transport needs of local communities. The current proposals do not indicate any changes to the services running through this parish, but can be found online at www.northyorks.gov.uk/bussubsidy 13. AZERLEY LAY-BY ROAD SAFETY PROPOSALS The meeting considered a proposed road safety scheme developed by Highways North Yorkshire in response to representations from North Yorkshire Police regarding a serious personal injury collision they attended at a layby on the Kirkby Malzeard road near Azerley. North Yorkshire Police have expressed their concern that the visibility leaving the lay-by is inadequate and have concerns that an incident of this nature could happen again. Upon investigation of the site Highways officers are in agreement with the Police s position. The proposals consist of the installation of verge marker posts at 3 metre centres across the length of the lay-by. There is no farm access within this lay-by so these proposals will not block any right of access. It was agreed that whilst the Parish Council can see that shutting the lay-by could prevent an accident of this nature re-occurring, the closure would lead to the loss of a useful pull in for tractors and other HGV s. If the lay-by is to be shut then the Parish Council would prefer to see other materials, rather than polyethylene bollards used. Councillors suggested importing soil and creating a more natural, grassed bank which would be more in keeping with the nearby verge. Page 4 of 5
14. NEXT MEETING The dates of the next meetings were confirmed as being on 25 th June 2015 (to consider any planning applications) and 30 th July 2015 at 7.30pm in Mickley Church Room (for the next ordinary Parish Council meeting). 15. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Concerns about vehicles travelling quickly through Mickley, which is subject to the national speed limit, were noted and will be reported to Highways North Yorkshire. Concerns about the condition and signing of the Back Lane public right of way in Mickley will be forwarded to the County Council s Public Rights of Way team who will be asked to ensure that the route is appropriately marked to stop people from wandering in to private gardens. Meeting closed at 21.37 hrs. These minutes were recorded and prepared by Iona Taylor, Clerk to the Parish Council. SIGNED:... (Chairman) DATE:... Page 5 of 5