North Meols Parish Council

NORTH MEOLS PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13th November 2012 at the Banks Community Centre, Hoole Lane.

Commenced 19.15 Concluded 21.15 Present: Cllrs.Thomas Blane (Chair) John Baldock Ruth Carrick Dorothy Hames Paul Blane Bill Abram

Parish Clerk Rod Sears

In attendance 3 members of the public plus PCSO Andy Curry, and Matt Brown (Lancashire Fire & Rescue).

Matt Brown from Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service gave a presentation on fire safety advice.

Public Participation

Items raised by members of the public included a request for the file for the former Labour Club Land, and churchyard maintenance around the war memorial which would be dealt with by the Residents' Association.

The meeting commenced at 7.45 pm.

109/12 Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs.Pamela Jackson (holidays), James O'Hare (sickness) and Steve Douglas (sickness). Their reasons for absence were approved.

110/12 Declarations of Interest

Cllr.Paul Blane declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No.15 (Planning).

111/12 Police Report.

PCSO Andy Curry gave a verbal report on incidents during the last month including an update on damaged property relating to the on-going footpath application, in particular the gate at Charnleys Lane. He sated that any offenders would be liable to prosecution. It was agreed that the Parish Council did not condone any malicious damage and would support the Police in this matter.

112/12 Minutes of the previous meetings

Min.100/12 Replace “15 November”with “15 October”. With this amendment the minutes of the meeting held on 9 October were agreed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2012 were agreed as a correct record. 113/12 Clerk’s progress report.

The Clerk reported that all decisions taken at the meetings on 9 and 19 October had been implemented and the report was noted.

114/12 Matters arising from Minutes 112/12 and 113/12.

Cllr.Paul Blane reported that he had received maps from the Environment Agency indicating areas where maintenance work was being carried out. As there appeared to be very little work around Banks it was agreed that this should be an agenda item for the next meeting.

115/12 Clerk's report on any urgent decisions taken since the last meeting.

There were no items under this heading.

116/12 Finance a) Accounts for payment:- £

3138 E.ON Electricity, Community Centre 143.33

It was noted that the above account had been paid since the last meeting and was approved.

The following accounts were passed for payment:-

3139 R.P.Sears Clerk's Salary 642.54 3140 HM Revenue & Customs Nat.Ins/ Income Tax 185.55 3141 R.Mannering Wages 187.76 3142 D.Cannon Wages (Nov) 454.80 3143 Williamson Engineering Grass cutting contract:- Aveling Drive £ 82.80 St.Stephen's £ 91.20 Hesketh Avenue £211.20 385.20 3144 Staples Stationery 330.37 3145 R.P.Sears Travelling Exs 59.80 3146 E.ON Electricity, Aveling Drive 6.41 3147 Heskin Plumbing & Heating Plumbing repairs, Aveling Drive 65.00 3148 R.P.Sears Telephone/Broadband (May-Nov) 224.94 3149 B.I.Central Heating Annual gas check, Community Centre 65.00 3150 Mark O'Hanlon Website 195.00

The following item of income had been received since the last meeting:-

489 Blakeley's Waste Management Reimbursement, Skip Hire 204.00

Carnival A/c

0006 West Lancs CVS Healthy Streets Events 1000.00 It was noted that part of this grant was to be paid to the Nordic Walkers. b) A Statement showing expenditure to date was noted. 117/12 Maintenance of Grounds Contracts

It was agreed that there would be a single contract for the three locations lasting for 2 years with an option for the Council to extend for a further year where appropriate, to be advertised in the Southport Visiter, the website, and on the local Parish Council notice-boards. It was agreed that the current specifications be amended to reduce the number of cuts to 18, i.e.fortnightly. Any additional cuts required to be subject to a further instruction from the Clerk.

118/12 West Lancashire Three-Tier Forum

It was agreed that an agenda item be requested to extend the 20 mph zones into the peripheral areas of the village, e.g. Georges Lane, Charnleys Lane.

119/12 Correspondence for Information

It was noted that the following items of correspondence, for information purposes, had been received since the October meeting and were available for Members to view:-

Cuadrilla – Safe Disposal of Water Lancashire Police Authority – Transition from LPA to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire NHS Central Lancs – Briefing Paper to all GPs, Cumbria and Lancashire Vascular Review WLBC – Section 106 monies Parish Support (Community Futures) – West Lancs 3-Tier Forum Action Sheet Parish Support (Community Futures) – Environment Directorate Capital Programme 2013/14 Planning Portal – Newsletter WLBC – Gambling Act 2005 – Formal Consultation on Statement of Policy LCC – Invitation to Winter Briefings for Members WLBC – Aveling Drive Sports Ground Finance LCC – Consumer Alerts Tim Ashton – Candidate for Police & Crime Commissioner, Invitation to meeting Electricity North West – Survey Questionnaire ICAN – Get Online Week 15-19 October Planning Portal – Newsletter LCC – Prospective Candidates Events WLCVS – Health Network WLBC – Forward Plan Planning Portal – Newsletter Third Sector Lancashire – Hustings Event Police & Crime Commissioner Dong Energy – Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm Supplementary Documents Consultation under Section 42 of the Planning Act 2008 Planning Portal – Newsletter LCC – Winter Briefings Kirkwell's – Planning News Lancashire Best Kept Village Competition – Judges' Report Kath Prince – Footpaths to Banks Marsh WLBC – Submission of West Lancs Local Plan DPD LCC – Temporary Road Closure, Bonds Lane Planning Portal – Newsletter WLBC – Concurrent Grants West Lancs Disability Helpline – Outreach Surgeries West Lancs Social Action Team – Domestic Violence Support Services Shoe Box Appeal Lancashire LINk – Healthwatch Lancashire 120/12 Councillors' Reports and Items for Future Agenda

There were no items under this heading.

121/12 Members Representing the Council on working groups/outside bodies

PACT Panel

No items.

Corporate Planning

Cllr.Paul Blane recommended that the provision of Christmas trees in the village be deferred until 2013 but a Christmas tree supplied by Briarlee Garden Centre be erected in the Church grounds to be funded from the £500 allocated within the Community Centre budget. A Community Carol service also to be held. This proposal was agreed.

The Chairman stated that he would provide and erect festive lights for the Community Centre.

Community Centre

It was agreed that a pre-application be submitted to the Borough Council for the extension of the Community Centre when plans had been obtained.

Hesketh Avenue (Banks Park)

The inspection reports for the skatepark and the play area were noted. On-going problems were dog faeces in the sand and general flooding in the play area.

Groundworks had replied regarding the points raised in the annual inspection report stating that there were manufacturer issues and suggested that the Parish Council should contact Bendcrete to arrange a meeting. It was agreed that this should be the responsibility of Groundworks as the project organiser and the Clerk to advise Groundworks accordingly.

Health Issues

In the absence of Cllr.O'Hare there was no report but enquiries to be made of the Medical Centre regarding the current employment situation of the doctors.

Banks Carnival

Cllr.Paul Blane reported that the initial meeting for the 2013 Carnival had been held and the date for the Carnival would be 1 June. The next meeting would be held in early December. There was a possibility that sponsorship money could be available from the Sustainable Transport Fund although this would be paid in kind through Park and Ride bus services.

122/12 Update from WLBC

Cllr.Paul Blane urged all electors to vote in the forthcoming elections for the Police and Crime Commissioner. He suggested a future meeting with the new Police and Crime Commissioner to discuss issues appertaining to rural areas. He also gave an update on CCTV in the Northern Parishes. 123/12 Planning

There were no comments to be made on the following application:-

Removal of agricultural occupancy condition imposed on pp 8/6/9821 – The Coppins, Boundary Lane, Hundred End.

The following planning applications had been decided since the last meeting:-

2012/0715 Erection of agricultural storage building with associated hardstanding – Land rear of Holly Farm, New Lane, Crossens – pp granted. 2012/0793 First floor side extension – 16 Aveling Drive – pp granted. 2012/0821 Erection of detached timber cattery building to provide 5 additional cattery units – 68 Station Road – pp granted. 2012/0920 Certificate of Lawfulness – Use of dwelling without compliance with the agricultural occupancy condition imposed on pp 8/6/8995 – North View, Rydings Lane – Withdrawn. 2012/0958 Demolition of existing single-storey extension and erection of a replacement single-storey rear extension – 8 Long Lane - pp granted. 2012/0970 Erection of a detached agricultural workers bungalow – Gravel Farm, 250 Gravel Lane – pp refused. 2012/1032 County Matter – Variation of Condition 1 of pp 2010/0973 to extend the period of time for the testing for hydrocarbons in the drilled exploratory borehole and restoration of the site by a further 18 months until 28 March 2014 – Becconsall Exploration Site, Marsh Road – No objections raised to the application subject to confirmation from DECC that the applicant is able to resume testing work and subject to the imposition of the conditions specified on the original decision notice. LCC to be notified accordingly.

Other Planning Matters

Appeal by Mrs.B.Mulvenna regarding Land West of Mosslands, Aveling Drive. It was noted that an Inspector had been appointed to determine the appeals and an informal hearing would take place on 28 November. The Parish Council's views were that this development was on Green Belt land and in an area of flood risk. If allowed this would set a precedent. Unlawful works had taken place without planning permission. Cllr.Ruth Carrick would represent the Council at the hearing.

Land to the rear of 10-42 Bonds Lane. It was noted that the Borough Planner had replied to the Parish Council's further comments and questions.

124/12 Date of next meeting.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 11 December 2012 starting at 19.15 at the Banks Community Centre, Hoole Lane. In the absence of the Chairman the meeting to be chaired by Cllr.Baldock.