Whixley Parish Council

WHIXLEY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF A MEETING HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL, WHIXLEY ON TUESDAY 17 th NOVEMBER 2015 AT 7.30PM

PRESENT: Councillors: Rick Illingworth (Chairman), Clare Beckett, Roger Bailey, Sarah Newton, Bob Hamilton, Dave Porritt and Dee Copley.

ALSO PRESENT: Clerk: Joy Richardson Councillor John Savage

3 Members of the Public

15/87 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE & DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS Apologies from Councillor Chris Lewis. No declarations of interests.

15/88 MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS HELD ON 15 th SEPTEMBER 2015

The minutes having been previously circulated were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

15/89 PUBLIC OPEN FORUM

A resident came to the meeting to seek the support of the Parish Council

regarding ongoing problems created by vehicles being parked inconsiderately in the

Rudgate area. Parked vehicles were causing problems for residents getting their cars

in and out of the entrance road. At a previous Parish Council meeting it had been suggested this member of the public begin with a process of communication with the offending vehicle owners. Whilst this had led to an improvement for a short while the parking problems had now returned. Police have visited the area and at the time of their visits no problem was visible. Cllr Savage will write to Area6 for assistance.

The Parish Council are very supportive of the Village Shop and do not want to prevent

parking for their customers, however they are supportive of requesting vehicle owners to park more considerately. Parish Council will write to the Police and will place leaflets on offending vehicles within the village requesting the support of the vehicle owner’s. If there is no improvement it may be necessary to take photographs of

offending vehicles to hand over to the Police.

A report of pavement damage in the Rudgate Close, High Street and crossroads near the entrance to the Anchor Public House, was received. Clerk to report to NYCC.

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date...... 15/90 CLERK’S REPORT

a. Clerk introduced herself and thanked Cllr Beckett for showing her around the village.

b. Clerks Contract of Employment was discussed. Cllr Hamilton asked if the Clerk would be registering for a Work Place Pension and Clerk confirmed she would be opting out. Chairman and Clerk signed the Contract.

c. Longland Lane hedge/bushes maintenance was discussed. Clerk confirmed Gordon Milne, Project Engineer for Area6, had confirmed that the area had been looked at and he considered there were no visibility issues which affected safety. On behalf of NYCC he also confirmed it was the Landowners responsibility to maintain these areas and that NYCC would only contact them if there were safety issues. He suggested the Parish Council liaise with the land owner with regard

to the long term maintenance plan for this lane. It was agreed that Cllr Illingworth & Cllr Porritt would take photographs to evidence the overgrowth in Longland Lane and present to Highways. Cllr Illingworth will also check with the Land Registry if the details the Parish Council have for the Landowner are correct.

d. Tree Preservation Order no 3/2015, was duly noted.

e. NYCC sponsorship of highways assets were noted and it was confirmed there were no historical sponsorships within the Parish.

f. The NYCC Local Transport Plan Consultation had been circulated and Cllr Hamilton had read the document and felt there were no issues to bring to the attention of the Parish Council.

g. Clerk had reported faulty street light, No 1 post at Gilsforth Lane on 6.11.15. Chairman reported the light was still not working. Clerk to follow up.

h. Harrogate District Local Plan had been circulated and was duly noted.

i. Allerton Waste had extended an invitation to the Parish Council to attend their next

Committee meeting. It was agreed that it was not necessary at this time to attend.

j. Clerk asked for confirmation regarding the circulation of the Cricket Club Grant application letters. It was agreed that the Clerk would circulate future letters to the full council.

15/91 VILLAGE SHOP

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date...... Cllr Illingworth confirmed the transfer of the village shop from the Shop Association

had completed in time for the new tenant to takeover on 1.11.15. Clerk confirmed the

new tenant had sent her copy of the lease to her solicitor and the tenant had requested that rent payments for financial year 2016/17 be paid quarterly. Full Council agreed to this request. Cllr Hamilton raised the matter of the Parish Councils responsibility as Landlord to test electrical equipment. Cllr Beckett will contact electrical contractor Martin Halliwell. Questions were raised regarding the air conditioning unit and Cllr Beckett with speak with the previous Landlord.

15/92 HIGHWAYS URBAN GRASS CUTTING PAYMENTS 2016/17

Discussion took place regarding the options offered by NYCC highways for the cutting

of the visibility areas within the Parish for the financial year 2016/17. Full council

agreed that the Parish Council do not want to carry out the visibility cutting.

15/93 PARKING CONCERNS

A resident has asked for the Parish Councils support regarding parking

problems around the area of the Anchor Public House. In particular customers were

parking inconsiderately and causing safety issues on Tuesdays, Saturdays & Sundays.

The Parish Council are pleased to have a thriving Public House in the village and fully

support this business. After discussion it was agreed to write a letter to the Landlord

and ask for his support in looking at what actions could be put in place to encourage his customers to park considerately and safely to avoid problems for other road users.

Clerk to send a letter.

15/94 PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

15/04571/FUL Erection of entrance gate, wall & piers. May House, High Street, Whixley. Mr & Mrs Burton. No objections.

15/95 HARROGATE BC – PLANNING DECISIONS & APPEALS

The information supplied by the Planning office regarding application 12/00898/PNA was noted. Cllr Bailey would like the Clerk to ask planning why ‘Prior approval was not

required’. Clerk will contact the Planning Officer.

15/96 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date...... Letter from Johnsons of Whixley regarding possible future development plans had been circulated and the contents were duly noted.

15/97 FINANCIAL MATTERS

Cash Book, Bank Balances & Reconciliation:

Balance b/fwd £4,485.55

Debits Credits

13.8.15 Grass Cutting 552.00

Hedge Cutting 36.00

War Mem. Maintenance 60.00

15.9.15 Ladywell Acct. 28.00

Clerks Salary 420.96

Office Exp. 44.13

HMRC paye 66.60

Naturescape 546.93

Padlock 69.92

18.9.15 Playground Insp. 60.00

30.9.15 Precept 3,250.00

7.10.15 Millen. Field Com sums. 607.86

Totals: 1,884.54 3,857.86

Cash book balance as at 7th Oct: £6,458.87

Bank Statement Balance as at: 7th Oct £6,458.87

Balance of Business Reserve Account £349.26 (Interest 1p) as at 11th Sept 2015.

Full Council agreed to close the Business Reserve Account and transfer these reserves into the Community Account. Clerk to arrange closure/transfer.

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date...... b. Clerk had discussed the outstanding VAT reclaim with Karen Morris of HMRC VAT office and it was agreed that the reclaim could be re-submitted. Clerk to chase up this matter w/commencing 23.11.15.

c. Payments to be agreed.

Whixley/Green Hammerton PCC Grant Application £420

Amanda Kennerley Final Pay £ 46.35

YLCA Clerks Advert £ 15.00

Newtons Solicitors – Transfer of Shop Lease £383.00 (includes £60 vat)

J Richardson Clerk Salary 8th Oct to 8th Dec £370.92

Clerks Expenses 8th Oct to 8th Dec £ 72.20

HMRC PAYE 8th Oct to 8th Dec £ 92.40

Office Expenses (Paper/Ink/postage) £ 10.06

Payments were agreed.

d. A new bank mandate form was to be signed to remove previous Clerk and

add the new Clerks details. It was agreed Cllr. Beckett, Cllr, Bailey &

Cllr Illingworth remain as the 3 signatories.

15/98 DRAFT BUDGET/PRECEPT 2016/17

The draft budget information had been circulated and it was full council agreed not to raise the precept and request £6,500.

15/99 CORRESPONDENCE

Correspondence not included in the agenda was to be circulated.

15/100 COUNTY & DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORT

No reports.

15/101 PARISH COUNCILLOR REPORTS

Cllr Illingworth raised the matter of the possible purchase of the Allotments.

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date...... Discussion took place regarding the recommendation from Shaun Wilson, Property Transactions Manager at NYCC that an offer of £2500 would be the lowest offer he felt had a chance of being accepted. The need to find out what the legal costs would be was raised and Cllr Newton would look into this and advise Cllr Illingworth the next day.

Cllr. Bailey proposed that the Chairman negotiate with NYCC and make an offer of £2,000 with each side paying their own legal costs, however with the authority to offer

£2,500 if necessary. Cllr Beckett seconded. The resolution was agreed by a majority vote of 6 for and 1 dissention.

Cllr Hamilton’s reason for objecting to this proposal was that he felt the amount of money to be paid was too high and this purchase would result in a severe depletion of Whixley Parish Council reserves.

Cllr. Hamilton asked if anything else had been heard regarding the recent speeding.

Clerk to chase up this matter.

Cllr. Hamilton will undertake the organising of the Tree Inspection for which a quote

of £250 had been received. This was self-financing.

Cllr. Beckett reported that all gullies are blocked. Clerk to report to Highways.

15/102 MATTERS FOR INCLUSION ON FUTURE AGENDA

Parking concerns, Longland Lane, Village Shop, Allotments & Planning App 12/00898

15/103 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th January 2016 at 7.30pm

The Meeting closed at 9.10pm

Approved ……………………………………………… Chairman Date......