DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES Present Nic Holmes (Chair), Diana Holmes (Minutes Secretary), and 16 electors 1. Apologies Toni Ramsey, Fiona Merchie, Tim Mortimer, John and Lois Painter, Mike and Annie Wildblood, Neil and Leah Swain, Georgina Bean and Cllr Windass 2. DecLaration of Interest - None declared 3. Minutes of the Last meeting Item 4iii Division of profits from Country Fair • Profits go direct, or via the Village Meeting bank account, into the Millennium Fund account NOT to the Village Meeting account. The sum of £1150.50 was accumulated/redistributed between 2006 and 2014. • The statement that the Church receives no support from the villages for the Country Fair is unfair as many villagers help. • The Millennium Fund was set up in 1996 and in 2011 a questionnaire was sent to villagers asking for suggestions for projects to fund. This resulted in sums for website maintenance, tree maintenance, benches etc. The separate bank account of the Fund can be used for receiving grants from bodies which demand a separate bank account. (No vote on the revised Minutes was taken but will be covered at next Meeting) 4 Matters Arising a) Copse management Neil Swain, John Barton and Nick Cooke, an arborist from Castle Howard, had walked the copses in Upper Dunsforth. Report read out and appended here. £150 estimated maintenance will be covered by the Millennium Fund. The Village Survey, to be circulated early in the New Year, will request views on how to use the copses in the future. b) Emergency planning/fLood update Tim Mortimer has stepped down as Flood Warden from the sub-committee but Rob Sanderson, Keith Ramsey and Stan Fearnley are to continue to take this forward. There is still no emergency flood plan but Tim has agreed to hand over work to date to facilitate this. Progress • Erosion of river, south bank – the DEFRA grant of £20,000 has been used to restore the bank at 2 pinch points which should slow down but not stop flooding. • The Environment Agency has carried out tree pruning on the river • The blockage of the village water drain on the north side has been cleared DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES Ongoing problems • Yorkshire Water are investigating the cause of leaking pipes outside the pub • The south bank outer flood bund is being left to benign neglect which is of concern to villagers and farmers The sub-committee presented a brief report (see attached) requesting decisions on two points: i) Sandbags – more are needed and HBC do not want to fund them. The cost is £720 for 200 (filled bags) or £110 if self -fill. Decisions need to be made about where to store them and who needs them as some people still have bags from previous years. A sequential approach was voted on (alongside Nic pressuring HBC, via Cllr Windass) • To source them for free • To buy 200 bags and self- fill them, Mark Wilson to provide the sand through his company • To buy filled bags Proposed: Stan, Seconded Mark WiLson. Carried unanimousLy. ii) the support of the village for further research about methods to get rid of flood water. Possibilities include: • Pumps – approximate cost for 3 is £3000 plus piping and fixing. A grant of £8-10000 can be applied for from NYCC Flood Appeal Fund, administered by Two Ridings. The subcommittee may apply before the next meeting. Money would also be needed for maintenance, storage, fuel and servicing. • A sump • A vehicle to suck up the water. Mark Wilson to investigate this with Environment Agency. ACTION It was decided the subcommittee should inVestigate the options and bring their decision back to the ViLLage meeting and that Nic should ask CLLr Windass to pursue Yorkshire Water on improVing the inadequate drainage in the village. Yorkshire Water should be asked to attend the next meeting. c) Footpaths Some paths are becoming overgrown or being ploughed up. It was decided to organise a walk in the Spring, inviting the Harrogate Footpaths Officer, to examine the problem. d) ViLLage SurVey (extra item) Leah had reported the intention to issue this early in 2017 but Nic said he was prepared to take this on if Leah was too busy. DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES 5. Precept 2017/18 This was adjusted for copse and website maintenance (both now to be funded by the Millennium Fund), phone box, village survey. A consensus was swiftly reached that in order to provoke a response and support from HBC the allowance for flood management should be increased to include £720 for sandbags, £270 pump running costs and £500 for a drain survey totalling £1490. This increases the precept to £2489 (cp 16/17 £1515). Proposed Joan HoLmes, Seconded Steve Johnson. Carried unanimousLy. Dunsforths Parish Meeting Approved 2017/18 Precept at Village Meeting 7th December 2016 2016/ 2015/ 2017/18 17 16 Insurances 186 185 185 1 Price increase Drainage rates 8 8 8 0 YLCA Fees 45 42 42 3 Price increase Local Charity Support BCC 100 100 120 0 BACLA 100 100 0 0 Expenses 50 50 50 0 Verge Cutting 460 460 660 0 Copse Millennium Maintenance 0 200 200 -200 Fund Website Millennium Maintenance 0 50 50 -50 Fund Now Telephone Box Maintenance 50 100 0 -50 refurbished Village Bench Maintenance 0 0 150 0 Fund from Village Survey 0 150 150 -150 reserves Audit Fee 0 0 0 0 Flood Pump Running Management Costs 270 70 70 200 New Item Sandbag proucurement 720 0 0 720 New Item Drainage survey 500 0 0 500 New Item 2489 1515 1685 974 DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES 6. PLanning Issues a) Greenfield Farm 16//04582/FUL Concerns were raised about the inadequate village infrastructure, verge reinstatement and as to whether it would be setting a precedent by approving 2 more dwellings after saying we would not approve any until infrastructure problems had been addressed by HBC. A vote was taken: 1 in favour, 5 opposing and 12 abstaining. The ViLLage would therefore neither support or object to the appLication, setting out the concerns raised above. A copy of Nic’s letter to HBC Planning Dept is available to view on the village website). b) verge reinstatement – see above (This is also addressed in the above letter). 7. Payments made/due None made. Payments due to BCC, BACLA, verge cutting and for sandbags before the next meeting. 8. Highways Issues Rumble strips on entry roads to Lower Dunsforth are becoming eroded. Individuals to report their concerns to Highways Dept. and advise Nic of details if a Parish approach is required. 9. AOB a) Cllr Windass’s report is appended here b) John Gunstone from Ripon Motorboat Club explained the Club wanted moorings at Lower Dunsforth and has approached David Radcliffe and HBC. He attended the meeting to gauge feelings about this. All responses were hostile to this proposal. John agreed to report back to the Club. c) Date of Next Meeting No date agreed but likely to be late March/early April 2017. DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES Appendix 1: Copse Management Report In essence, the 2 copses are in need of a little attention in order to manage the trees for their amenity value. There is little timber in there that is ever likely to generate any serious monetary value, both due to the area being small and the selection of species. However, that was never the intention when they were planted. The smaller copse on the far side of Upper Dunsforth needs nothing doing to it, save removing one tree near the gate to facilitate future access. The larger copse between Upper and Lower Dunsforth would benefit from some work. There are a number of hazels that could be coppiced, combined with the removal of some very poor cherries, would open up the woodland floor a little to allow for the development of some woodland flowers (we may want to plant some to aid this process). This would also make the beginnings of a woodland path through the copse (subject to feedback from the village survey). A small sum of money would achieve the majority of this work to cover the cost of someone to do the cutting (I would assist free of charge) and to cover the cost of a few plants. I think £150 would be sufficient. Neil Swain The meeting records thanks to Nick Cooke from Castle Howard for his assistance. DUNSFORTH VILLAGE MEETING Wednesday 7th December 2016 The Dunsforth, Lower Dunsforth MINUTES Appendix 2: Report from Cllr Robert Windass to HBC and NYCC HARROGATE BOROUGH COUNCIL The Consultation on the Proposed District Plan is in full swing with an exhibition held in the Jubilee Room recently which was well attended and many comments received. When the Consultation Period is over, they will analyse the comment’s and come up with the plan that could be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. T he Build of the new Council Offices is on schedule and should be opened in June/July. The sale of Council Offices is progressing with offers way above the figure that was suggested by valuers last year. This is good news as it would obviously reduce the capital cost of the new offices. The reorganising of all departments of the Council continues with redundancies for some of the Senior and middle management. The Council will be a leaner more efficient unit when all the reorganising is completed Waste going to Landfill is increasing, the analyses shows that people are putting recyclable items into the waste bin instead of recycling.