Minutes of Hellifield Parish Council Meeting Held on Thursday 6 th September 2018 Hellifield Village Institute Main Hall

Transcription

1 Minutes of Hellifield Parish Council Meeting Held on Thursday 6 th September 2018 Hellifield Village Institute Main Hall Present: Councillors B Hugill, D Statt, B Moore, D Gooch, J Sleath, J Thwaite, F Ludlam-Brown, M Blackwell (Clerk), District Councillor Moorby (part), Members of the Public: 23 Councillor Hugill opened the meeting at 7.30pm. With the permission of the Chairman, ladies from Hellifield WI stormed the meeting as a gesture to the suffragette movement and the centenary of women getting the vote. The parish council was happy to help celebrate this important anniversary of women s suffrage. 1. Minutes of the Parish Council meetings held on 5 th July were approved and signed. 2. Apologies County Cllr Welch. 3. Declaration of Members interests: Cllr Gooch declared an interest in agenda item 10.1 and 11. Cllr Moore declared an interest in agenda item 11. Cllr Ludlam-Brown in agenda item Public Participation: The Chairman said he would allow public participation to take place now on Items appearing on the agenda. The President of Hellifield WI thanked HPC for their welcome and support. She extended her gratitude to the women of the suffragette movement in obtaining the vote for women 100 years ago. She asked if she could speak in relation to agenda item 5.4. She stressed how the WI had a long history of campaigning to tackle waste and pollution and would like HPC to help undertake an awareness campaign to help clean up the becks in the village. The WI are organising a Clean- Up Day on Friday 14 th September (meet at 10am in the car park) and as many volunteers who can join them are welcome. Another member of the public, an ex Planning Inspector, spoke to explain the procedure for calling-in an application to the Secretary of State in relation to agenda item He stated that requests to call-in the application need to be made before the application is decided by CDC. He suggested the criteria for callingin were (a) because of the amount of public interest and (b) could have effects beyond the immediate locality. He said there would be no costs involved in calling-in unless represented by a barrister. If the Secretary of State agrees to call-in the application, then a Public Enquiry will take place. Again, this may involve legal representation for interested parties who wished to speak at the Public Enquiry. He said it might be a good idea for villagers to get together to fund the appointment of a barrister. There was much debate from members of the public and councillors around potential costs and the likelihood of if being called-in which seemed remote as only 4 or 5 applications per year are called in across the UK. Other members of the public wanted HPC to challenge and defend the Green Space objection at the October Local Plan meeting. Cllr Hugill said HPC Councillors had already spent hours on the Local Plan, attended numerous meetings with officers in Skipton, supported Craven District Council s final draft and in any case wouldn t be able to speak at this meeting. Cllr Moore indicated that he would attend as people had wanted someone from HPC to do so. Most members of the public left the meeting. 4 remained. 5. Village Matters 5.1 To receive any reports of antisocial behaviour and consider appropriate action as required. No reports. 5.2 To receive updates from NYCC Police on crime. WPC Grace could not be present at the meeting but sent in a police report which was read out by the Chairman. There were 33 reports in the 6 weeks ending 31 st August 2018 including: 1 Reported nuisance, 4 Concerns for welfare, 2 reports of Criminal damage, 2 reports of theft of sheep, Suspect males on Haw Grove, Road Traffic Collision, Suspect vehicle in village, Attempted Burglary on Kendal Road, Speeding motorbikes. Page 1 of 5

2 5.3 To receive an update on the Play Areas. Cllr Moore has received the playground inspection reports. Nothing critical but some issues need addressing over the next 12months. The Station Rd sign has been ripped down again. Hedging on road side of Station Rd needs trimming. Cllr Thwaite to take a look and decide if TreeTops needs to be employed to cut it. Cllr Moore will be picking up a donation from Hellifield Beer Festival for the new play equipment which Hellifield Youth will match. Other grants have been applied for from Craven Trust and Cllr Welch. Donations also received from Methodist group and school children. Parent group also running a Christmas Fayre on 23 rd November. Cllr Hugill reported he had received an from Rural Solutions, agents for Craven Cattle Marts, advising they have put in a planning application to build 8 new houses, move the football pitch and replace the changing hut on western part of Thorndale playing field including where the existing football changing hut now stands. (NB: The application has not yet been considered and validated by CDC). The development proposal was discussed by the councillors present and the outcome was that the council was not in favour of the development and the loss of a large area of the playing field, particularly in the light of the council holding a lease with over 18 years left to run on the whole area (including the proposed development area). Cllr Sleath was very surprised that no mention was made by Rural Solutions in the of the lease that HPC hold on the playing field, which lease does not run out until the end of October He feels they are jumping the gun with these applications as they are assuming HPC would relinquish the lease over the development site. Cllr Sleath proposed that an should be sent to Rural Solutions pointing out the conditions of the lease and advising that HPC s permission would be required for the application to progress which HPC was not minded to agree to. It was proposed, seconded and approved by all that an would be sent to Rural Solutions to this effect. Resolution: The Clerk to send notification on behalf of HPC to Rural Solutions drawing to their attention the conditions of the lease on Thorndale Playing field and advising them that HPC is minded to reject the proposed application. 5.4 To consider the request to support the awareness raising campaign to reduce and remove litter from the village becks. The Chairman proposed that HPC support the WI s campaign by promoting the Clean-up Day and asking the Environment Agency for their support. This was seconded and approved by all. Resolved: HPC to support and promote the Clean-Up Day on 14 th September and also ask the Environment Agency for its support. 5.5 To receive an update on the Emergency Plan. Cllr Moore reported that himself and the Clerk had updated the plan all they could but are still awaiting details of new Methodist Minister. Once fully updated it would be helpful if the existence of the plan is re-communicated via website, parish magazine etc. 5.6 To receive an update on the Settle in Need charity. Cllr Moore has been re-appointed as Trustee. The charity is not getting enough requests for assistance so needs to adopt different methods to make sure it is used more. Cllr Gooch said he would take details of the charity for CAB as often people approach CAB for financial assistance. Cllr Ludlam-Brown also suggested provided details to AgeUK/District Nurses/ Midwives. 5.7 To agree and approve the new Data Retention policy. Cllr Hugill proposed acceptance of the draft policy which was seconded and agreed by all. Resolution: To accept the new Data Retention policy which sets out the period of time documents should be held before destruction. 5.8 To approve purchase The Price of Freedom booklets to accompany the There But Not There name blocks for Remembrance Day service. The booklets give a short background to the individuals whose names appear on the Hellifield War Memorial. The cost of printing 100 would be 249. It was proposed, seconded and approved by all to order 100 copies. Resolution: The Clerk to order 100 of the Price of Freedom booklets. Cllr Sleath suggested that booklets should be opened at the relevant page next to each name block at the Remembrance Day service. 5.9 To discuss this year s village Christmas Lights. Cllr Hugill declared an interest and left the meeting. Page 2 of 5

3 Wayne Harding from the village store has, once again, kindly agreed to donate the village Christmas Tree. The Institute has been booked to host the Switch On for Friday 30 th November. It was agreed that the installation and de installation of the lights worked much better last year when organised by Cllr Hugill. It was proposed that the work this year is kept within a budget of 1250 and it was proposed by Cllr Statt that Cllr Hugill should do the work. Seconded and agreed by all. Resolution: With the assurance the work remains within a budget of 1250, the Christmas lights to be installed and removed by Cllr Hugill this year. Cllr Hugill returned to the meeting. 6. Reports to and from District and County Councillors. District Councillor Moorby reported the local plan is being looked at by the inspector over three weeks in October with the main dates regarding the area being October 23 rd where tourism, economic development and the rural economy will be looked at. In the morning starting at 9-30 the need for employment land, provision of employment land, employment land allocations and safeguarding existing employment areas will be looked at.wbw Surveyors Ltd. Will be representing Craven Cattle Marts Ltd. In the afternoon starting at Rural economy, tourism and tourist led development at Bolton Abbey will be looked at. Walton & Co. Ltd. Will be representing Ballan Ltd. And Halton Homes Ltd. These are the companies that are wanting to build on the Flashes. On October 25 th the agenda items will be Green infrastructure, local green space and green wedges. This will start at and will be for the day, again Walton & Co. Ltd. Will be representing Ballan Ltd. and Halton Homes Ltd. Members of the public will be allowed into these meetings, but not able to speak and all the meetings will be held at Craven District Council Offices. This is very important as CDC, following meetings with myself and various organisations have put forward the Flashes as green spaces and, of course Ballan Ltd. and Halton Homes Ltd. will be trying to get the inspector to change this decision. All the paperwork regarding the Local Plan and the timetable can be found on the Craven District Website. There have been concerns that the planning department is not getting around to making decisions very quickly. The department is very busy at the moment and they are doing things as fast as they can. Cllr Moorby said he supported the Leisure Development planning application been called-in to the Secretary of State. Cllr Moorby then left the meeting as he had another meeting to attend. County Cllr Welch has given his apologies and did not send in a report 7. Correspondence: 7.1 A letter of thanks for the donation made by HPC has been received from Hellifield Gala Committee. 8. Street Lighting: A faulty NYCC street light on Kendal Close was reported by the Clerk. 9. Highways: Cllr Moore suggested the red grit area between Skipton Hill and the new surface is Monitored. 10. Planning items: Cllr Gooch left the meeting as he had declared an interest in the next agenda item Outline application for the development of a leisure centre on land to the west of Hellifield. To discuss a request for the calling in of this application to the Secretary of State. There were concerns expressed about the open-ended nature and potential costs of employing a barrister to provide legal representation on behalf of HPC. The developers would be sure to have high level legal representation. There were doubts around whether the application would fit the criteria applied by the Secretary of State s office for calling-in, which include: may conflict with national policies on important matters; may have significant long-term impact on economic growth and meeting housing needs across a wider area than a single local authority; could have significant effects beyond their immediate locality; give rise to substantial cross-boundary or national controversy; raise significant architectural and urban design issues; or Page 3 of 5

4 may involve the interests of national security or of foreign Governments. As a result of the criteria for calling in, only a handful of applications are called-into the Secretary of State each year nationwide. Discussions and debate ensued on how HPC could support those who wanted to call-in the application without generating substantial costs for villagers through the precept. Only one person in the village had written in to request that the application be called in and whilst several people attended tonight s meeting to discuss the matter, overall this is a small percentage of the total number on the electoral roll (1100). In view of everything that has been discussed and the debate on the issues raised, it was proposed that HPC do not request that the application be called in to the Secretary of State Resolution: HPC would not, request the calling-in of Application 42/2016/17496 to the Secretary of State.. This proposal was seconded and voted upon. Of the 6 Councillors eligible to vote, 5 voted in support of the resolution and one abstained. Cllr Gooch returned to the meeting. It was agreed that, whilst HPC would not request the calling-in of the application, individual councillors may if they decide to, make a request to call it in in their own personal capacity the same as any other member of the public. It was also agreed that HPC would publish the process for requesting the calling-in on their website, notice boards and Facebook page at the appropriate time. HPC would also register itself as an interested party under Rule /19593/AGRRES Change of use of agricultural building to dwelling High Laithe Stansfield Farm, Nappa, Skipton BD23 4LJ. No comments /19626/HH Single storey north elevation extension and two storey south elevation extension Homesteads Peel Green, Hellifield BD23 4LD. No comments /19565/HH Erection of two storey extension to the north of the property 22 Park Crescent, Hellifield BD23 4HD. No comments C/42/601G Little Newton, Hellifield - Conversion of barn to form a four bedroom local occupancy dwelling or holiday let; installation of package treatment plant and creation of car parking area. No comments. 11. Allotments Cllr Gooch asked if HAAGA could purchase a mower for the allotments and also made a request for a storage facility at the allotments for the mower and other garden tools which HAAGA would be willing to contribute to. Councillors recalled residents who live around the allotments have previously objected to huts being placed on them and that it would cause issues if this was proposed again. Far better if an allotment holder could store the mower at home or in their own garden shed. It was proposed that HAAGA can purchase a mower but a storage facility on the allotment is not agreed. This was proposed, seconded and agreed. Resolution: Hellifield Allotment and Gardens Association (HAAGA) can purchase a new mower but no hut or other storage facility on the allotments will be allowed. 12 Finance -To discuss and approve financial matters including receipts, payments, transfers and donations. Finances as at 31 st July 2018 Lloyds TSB 4, as at 31 st July 2018 Skipton BS 20, as at 31 st July 2018 Receipts NIL Payments Village Maintenance July Administration July HMRC Income tax for July E-on - Street Lighting June Ink and Paper Settle DIY-Weedkiller, paintbrush etc Cowgills - Grass Cutting July Honorarium for Haw Grove Total Payments Page 4 of 5

5 Finances as at 3 rd September 2018 Current Statements Lloyds TSB Account 4, at 3 rd September 2018 Skipton BS 19, at 3 rd September 2018 Receipts Donations for play equipment Donation from First Responders , Payments Village Maintenance - August Administration August HMRC Income tax for August E-on - Street Lighting July Mary Blackwell Reimbursement for There But Not There name blocks A Roberts Honorarium Barnes Garden Wicksteed playground inspections Cowgills grass cutting August EJ Ward repairs to bus shelter WelMedical Defibrillator bag & contents Total Payments 3, Resolved: That the payments and receipts be approved as scheduled. 13 To receive items of information and proposals for the agenda of future Meetings. Cllr Ludlam-Brown Cllr Thwaite Cllr Statt Cllr Gooch Cllr Moore Cllr Sleath Cllr Hugill Any further news on the grit bin for Hammerton Drive? The Clerk to ask County Cllr Welch if he can help. Nothing to report. Please can we ask TreeTops to cut the allotment hedge and do the Tree Report. Overhanging trees on underpass please can Cllr Thwaite trim these if possible. Can we ask Mr Emsley to come to the next meeting to discuss the leaves behind the bus shelter?. Could I have a longer session on Playgrounds at the next meeting. Nothing to report. Need to minute a planning app for Little Newton that was missed off the July agenda. The meeting ended at 9.33pm Date of next meeting: 25 th October 2018 Signed Dated:.. Page 5 of 5