BADSWORTH PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 21st November, at 7:30pm, in The Lawson Hut, Badsworth

Present: Cllr B Graham Cllr K Huskisson Cllr J Carrington

In Attendance: Wakefield Dist Cllr M Ward (Ward 1) T Parkinson Jr – Acting as Clerk in the absence of a Parish Clerk Two members of the Public

1.0 Apologies for Absence

1.1 Cllr R Ellis – Work Commitments Dist. Cllr A Garbutt – Illness

1.2 The Apologies for Absence were Accepted

2.0 To Receive Declarations of Interest & Requests for Dispensations for Agenda Items in accordance with Sect 27 of Localism Act 2011

2.1 None were declared or requested for any items on this month’s agenda

3.0 To Accept the Minutes of the September Parish Council Meeting

3.1 The Minutes were unanimously accepted as a true record of the proceedings of the meeting and duly signed by the Chair. 3.2 The Chair explained that the Council has been advised to sign the bottom of each page of minutes to reduce the risk of substitute pages being inserted after meetings.

3.3 It was resolved that from this meeting onwards all pages of minutes will be initialled by the Chair, and the final page signed. This was unanimously agreed.

4.0 Public Open Forum

4.1 The Chair opened the Floor to questions from the public.

4.2 The Chair reminded members of the public that this is not an opportunity to be rude or offensive to Councillors. It is the chance to ask questions about anything on the current agenda, or request items to be added to a future agenda.

4.3 One member of the public, on behalf of the Village Plan Group (Green & Pleasant Working Group), wished to register their thanks for the donation from the Parish Council towards the cost of plants for the planters placed at various locations throughout the village. Further thanks were offered for the prompt action to remove the waste collected as part of the ‘Big Clean-up’.

4.4 There being no further items from the public the Chair closed the Public Section of the meeting and returned to Council business.

BPC Minutes 21 November 2017 Chair:______Page 1 of 9 5.0 To Receive Report from West Police Representative

5.1 The Chair reported that PC Harris has now been moved to another area.

5.2 The Chair will contact the Neighbourhood Policing Team to enquire about the replacement for PC Harris.

5.3 Cllr Carrington reported that a new officer has been appointed to cover Upton and Badsworth.

5.4 No items have been brought to Members attention for referring to Police.

6.0 To Receive a Report from District Councillors

6.1 Cllr Ward tabled a copy of the District Councillor Report prepared for Parish Council meetings within Ward 1 in November. The sections pertinent to Badsworth have been extracted and are given below.

6.1.1 SOUTH FEATHERSTONE AND ACKWORTH LINK ROAD – There are no issues to report in addition to the information provided at the last Parish Council meeting.

6.1.2 FOOTPATHS – Cllr Ward will chase-up the issues raised at last months meeting to secure an update, however there have been no further complaints registered.

6.1.3 LEAVES – The original complainant is now happy with the way the issue was addressed.

6.1.4 GULLY CLEANING - This has become a reactive service rather than a routine programme. The gully cleaner will now only attend in response to problems raised. Residents are advised to register any problems with the Wakefield Contact Centre on 0345 8 506 506.

6.1.5 SIGNS - There is a District wide issue with regards to signage in general, but progress is being made to address it.

6.1.6 GROUNDS MAINTENANCE - Though not directly an issue in Badsworth Cllr Ward informed Members that there are currently some issues between the District Council grass-cutting teams and the WDH contractor with regards to responsibilities for areas within the District. This may result in members of the public seeing one side of a road has had the verges cut but the other has not.

6.1.7 PARKING (PRESS RELEASE) - Cllr Ward reported that as a result of the Public Consultation exercise regarding proposed increased charges the Council has decided not to increase parking charges within the District. Further to that they are offering free parking parking in Council parking areas in Wakefield, and Castleford from 3pm on each Thursday in December up to Christmas (i.e. The 7th, 14th and 21st December). It also applied to Council on- street parking in these areas. However members of the public must exercise caution to ensure the area they are parking in is actually Council controlled and not under private ownership.

6.1.8 PONTEFRACT HOSPITAL - It was reported that a 24hr service will continue at Pontefract Infirmary, however it will not be classed as an A&E facility (signage will be changed to reflect this). It will be staffed, on a 24 hr basis, by specialist Doctors but will not have any A&E Consultants on hand. Patients will be stabilised at Pontefract before being transferred to the most appropriate Care Centre.

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6.1.9 CIVIL ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS - More officers are out and about within the area resulting in an increased number of Parking Tickets being issued in Ackworth. They will be moving around the area and will, at some stage, be in Badsworth.

6.1.10 GRITTING SERVICES - Cllr Carrington reported that the District Council have recently purchased 14 new, state-of-the art, gritting vehicles. Main transport links and bus routes will be prioritised for gritting.

6.1.11 A&E WAITING TIMES - Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have just launched a link that will show waiting times (in real time) at all local A&E facilities so that members of the public can select the most suitable facility to attend.

7.0 Planning

7.1 The Chair gave an update on Planning Applications to from within the Parish as follows:

Reporting Planning Applications Submitted Determinations made on Date to Wakefield Council Applications previously submitted 16 Oct None to report 23 Oct None to report 24 Oct None to report 30 Oct None to report 17 \ 01894 \ FUL Approved New Row 6 Nov 17 \ 0275C \ TCA 1 Tree, on Back Lane

17 \ 02847 \ TPO 1 Tree on Saddlers Grove 13 Nov None to report 17 \ 02092 \ FUL 6’ fence (Retrospective) At 2 The Croft 20 Nov None to report

7.2 The Chair reported that a visit has taken place with regards to 2 trees, and indicated that neither request was unreasonable so no action is to be taken.

7.3 Enforcement officers are to visit the village to look at a few issues that have been raised with them. No report on this has been received by the Chair at this stage.

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8.0 Matters Arising from Minutes of September Parish Council Meeting

8.1 Quotes for cleaning stones - The Chair reported that she had contacted Upton & North Elmsall Parish Council to enquire about the organisation they had used to clean the Upton stones. Unfortunately it would be very time consuming to find the information as it took place over 2 years ago.

The Chair sought a quote from Wakefield Council to clean the 3 stones which returned at £135.96 + VAT. Following a discussion, it was unanimously agreed to accept the Wakefield quote. The Chair will instruct the new Clerk to pursue this upon taking up their post.

8.2 Planning Committee Recommendations - The Chair reported that she has received, what she felt was, an offensive email. The email refers to the verbal request made by a resident, at the last meeting, with respect to information on the Planning Working Group. As no response has been made to him the resident has decided to pursue the matter as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The request is for information from 6 areas. He has requested the information be returned by email. A large proportion of the information requested is not held by the Parish Council as it refers to an independent advisory group. The Chair has, following receipt of the email, gone through all the 2017 Minutes for any details of recommendations that the PWG have forwarded to the Parish Council. The Chair has also contacted the Information Commissioner for advice. There could be a cost implication to the Council in researching all the information requested. The Council were advised that any information attached to emails must be sent as pdf files and not word or excel.

At this stage Dist Cllr Ward left the meeting.

9.0 Village Newsletter

9.1 The Chair reported that copies of the Newsletter have now come back from the printers. A discussion was held around the distribution to households. Cllrs Carrington and Huskisson, along with one of the members of the public attending the meeting, volunteered to help get copies out. Ideally the copies need to be distributed by 25th November as it contains an advert for the Church Fair. Cllr Huskisson requested a list of streets and number of properties on them to help with the distribution.

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9.2 The Chair requested that the Minutes record thanks to Cllr Huskisson for producing the recent edition of the Newsletter. It may prove necessary, in the near future, to upgrade some of the laptop software to produce future editions.

9.3 It was agreed to investigate the cost of delivering future editions by the Royal Mail. Members were informed that & Moorthorpe Town Council have just had their newsletter delivered with the post and may be a good starting point for the investigation.

10.0 Purchases of updated Arnold Baker Book

10.1 The Chair reported that the Council are at a stage where a more up to date copy of the Arnold Baker publication is required to assist the new Clerk.

10.2 Some enquiries have been made with YALC regarding costs for the publication. There is a possibility that they may be able to source discounted copies at around £50 rather than the usual cost of £90.

10.3 It was unanimously agreed to purchase a copy as a matter of urgency.

11.0 Correspondence

11.1 The Chair reported on the following items of correspondence that have been received since the last meeting of the Parish Council:- a. Hanging Baskets – The current supplier of hanging baskets to the village has sent the quote for next year, which includes an early payment discount. It is for 24 baskets (including ongoing maintenance/watering etc) @ £61.75, a total of £1,778.40 if paid before 20th April 2018. Alternatively payment could be in June, but at a higher rate. In principle, Members unanimously expressed a wish to continue with the same supplier and to access the early payment discount. This should be included on next months agenda for formal approval;

b. Information Commissioner – The Parish Council have been copied-in to an email from the Information Commissioner to a village resident with regards to a FOI request made in the summer. The response from the IC suggests that if the complainant is unhappy with this response there will be a cost implication for more information;

c. Barclays Bank plc– the Chair has received a booklet from the bank explaining the new ways of working they are to adopt as part of their ‘ring- fencing’ arrangements;

d. Freedom of Information Request - Another FOI request has been received from the resident who reported the Parish Council to the Information Commissioner in the summer of 2017.

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12.0 Village Plan Update

12.1 Cllr Huskisson presented a report on the activities of 4 of the Working Groups from the minutes of the last Village Plan meeting. She indicated that in future she will produce a report on the meeting which will include things that have been agreed by the group and actions taken.

12.2 Green & Pleasant Working Group - Two of the four village planters have been refreshed to look tidy over the winter. A successful external clear up and bulb planting at the St Mary’s Centre grounds has taken place.

12.3 Social Activities and Facilities - Looking at how to utilise the land on which the St Mary’s Centre sits. There may be an opportunity to acquire a piece of land (Glebe Land approx 8 acres). At some point the group will need the help of a Quantity Surveyor / Architect to help give a steer on feasibility / options / costs etc.

12.4 Communication Working Group - They are looking at a combined PC and Village Plan newsletter. In addition the group is also looking at the village website, as it is in need of a new platform and content. Members discussed the idea of the combined newsletter and agreed that the PC would contribute to the Village Plan newsletter but would retain a separate newsletter.

12.5 Conservation Working Group - Aim to produce and circulate a pamphlet to residents outlining what it means to live in a ‘Conservation Area’. It will include a map illustrating the boundary of the Badsworth Conservation Area. Members agreed that this would be very useful publication, but needs to be produced in an easy accessible form. 12.5 Traffic, Parking & Road Safety Working Group - ‘Smiley Sid’ will be coming to the village. 12.6 A member of the public asked if they may comment on another item from the Village Plan Group. The Chair explained that this was not normal, but on this occasion she would allow it.

12.7 Standing Orders suspended to allow the village resident to contribute to the meeting.

12.8 The resident referred to the Village Plan Newsletter that Cllr Huskisson had previously commented on. The Parish Council have paid for printing previous newsletters. She reported that the Group have received a revised quote for printing 250 copies of a longer newsletter which was under £100 and asked if the Parish Council could contribute to this cost.

12.9 The resident was informed that all requests for financial assistance must be in writing. She was further informed that, for any award to be legally granted, the request must appear on the advertised agenda for the meeting where any commitment to spend is made.

BPC Minutes 21 November 2017 Chair:______Page 6 of 9 12.10 The resident accepted the explanation and agreed to feed this back to the Group for future reference.

12.11 Follow discussions around most appropriate time for issuing the newsletter the resident was advised to communicate back to the Group that it would be better to look at distribution after Christmas as the Parish Council Newsletter, discussed earlier in the meeting, will be distributed this week and has included in it items on the progress of the Village Plan Group.

12.13 Standing Orders were resumed.

13.0 Village Matters

13.1 Members Reports Cllr Graham reported that the Parish Church have had to have a willow tree removed from their grounds as it was deemed unsafe by Wakefield Council. Whilst it was within the Conservation Area the works were deemed to be high priority, on the grounds of Public Safety, and were actioned without seeking the Conservation Area Permissions usually required (these will be sought retrospectively by Wakefield Council).

13.2 Christmas Lights Switch-on Flyers for the event were tabled for information. It was agreed that they should be left in public places such as the Lawson Hut, St Mary’s Centre and the Parish Church rather than as a door-to-door delivery. Hopefully a copy will be scanned and put on the Village Website. Cllr Huskisson is due to meet with the choir on Thursday 23rd November to discuss plans for the event. Father Christmas has confirmed he will be attending the event. After some problems the Chair has had the switch-on time confirmed as 6pm, and a formal quote for all the costings has now been received . It has also been confirmed that the lights will be on between the hours of 3:30pm and 12 midnight. Cllr Graham will deal with the supplies of tea, coffee, milk etc and Cllr Huskisson will sort the sweets for the children.

13.3 Planters It was reported that the Parish Council planters in the village are now in a sorry state and the Council will need to look at replacing them in the near future. The Chair will chase up quotes for replacements to be discussed at a meeting in the new year.

13.4 Additional Notice Board The Chair indicated that, due to increasing amounts of information that have to be displayed in a public place in the village there is a growing need to provide another notice board. Discussions were held around potential sites and types of unit, and it was felt that it would be best sited around the Lawson Hut. Enquiries are to be made regarding the necessary permissions required to site another board. Cllr Carrington indicated that Upton & North Elmsall Parish Council and Thorpe Audlin Parish Council have both recently ordered new notice boards for their respective villages and may well be a good starting point for quotes etc.

13.5 Purchase of an External Hard Drive for the Council Laptop Members were informed that all the Council’s information is currently stored on the laptop internal hard drive and should it fail the lost data would be problematic for the Council. It was unanimously agreed that a back-up facility for Council data is essential and should be pursued as a matter of urgency.

BPC Minutes 21 November 2017 Chair:______Page 7 of 9 Cllr Huskisson agreed to visit PC World to source advice and quotes on the most appropriate equipment and report back to the next meeting.

14.0 Finance

14.1 During November 2017 5 items of expenditure has been incurred on: Updated publications from YALC for Councillors & Clerk; Winter plants for village planters; Printing costs (Minsthorpe Community College) for Flyers & Newsletter; Additional Clerking costs for Council Meetings.

The Total Cost of these amount to £195.14.

14.2 In accordance with Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 (amended) the Members unanimously agree the payment of the above accounts.

15.0 Exclusion of members of the press and public

15.1 Members resolved that members of the press and public be excluded for the consideration of business of a confidential nature, in accordance with the Public Bodies Admissions to Meetings Act 1960 and the Localism Act 2011.

15.2 The Chair thanked the members of the public for their attendance and moved into closed session.

16.0 Confidential Business for Consideration

16.1 Conservation Area issues and updates With regards to the leaflet that has previously been discussed, Members unanimously agreed that it would be preferable to have sight of the document, for any necessary comment, prior to its distribution and hope that the Conservation Working Group will facilitate this.

16.2 Following discussion it was unanimously agreed to invite 2 of the Village Plan Working Groups, on a rotational basis, to present an update (approx 5 minutes) on the progress of their plans at each Parish Council meeting as part of the published agenda.

16.3 To Approve the Appointment of a Parish Council Clerk

16.3.1. Interviews took place on 31st October 2017, in the Lawson Hut, of both candidates.

16.3.2 The interview panel consisted of Cllrs Graham and Huskisson.

16.3.3 The recommended candidate is MR GRAHAM EARNSHAW. He is to be offered the post subject to receipt of 2 satisfactory references.

16.3.4 The Clerk will be employed on 20 hours per month on NJC Scale Point 24.

16.3.5 Enquiries will be made with YALC regarding any Pension Scheme requirements, including appropriate providers if required.

16.3.6 The recommendation of the interviewing panel was unanimously approved and the references for Mr Earnshaw will be taken up.

16.4 At this point Mr Earnshaw, who had attended the earlier part of the meeting as a member of the public, was invited to join the remainder of the meeting and informed of the decision

BPC Minutes 21 November 2017 Chair:______Page 8 of 9 to offer him the position of Clerk to the Council, subject the two satisfactory references which will now be taken up.

16.5 Update on External Audit & Information Commissioner

16.5.1 External Audit - nothing further to report from the last meeting.

16.5.2 Information Commissioner - nothing further to report on what has been raised earlier in the meeting under Correspondence.

16.6 Response to Freedom of Information (FOI) Request

16.6.1 The specifics of the FOI request from the resident, raised earlier under Correspondence, were re-visited in more detail.

16.6.2 It was unanimously agreed that requests (a) to (e) refer to information that is not held by the Parish Council but is the business of the Planning Working Group from whom the information should be requested.

16.6.3 With regards to request (f), Minutes of all Parish Council meetings in 2017 where Planning was discussed, Members decided to seek to seek guidance about what should be included in the reply.

16.6.4 It was unanimously agreed that the Chair should respond, by email, to the complainant to acknowledge receipt of the FOI with the following statement: “As you were not present at last nights meeting I wish to update you that your FOI has been received and that the Council will respond in due course.”

17.0 Confirmation of the Date of Next Meeting

17.1 The next scheduled Council Meeting is Tuesday 19th December 2017, at 7:30pm in the Lawson Hut.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed.

Prior to leaving, Mr Earnshaw took possession of the Parish Council laptop to familiarise himself with its contents.

Meeting Closed at 21:40

TPJ/231117

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