Minutes of the Yardley Hastings Parish Council Wednesday 17th January, at 7.30pm, The Memorial Hall

Present: Mr H. Cave (Chair), Ms D. Smith, Ms S. Davies and Messrs R. Houghton, J. Keggin, C. Pickering, J. Quilter, A. Rowton, D. Winter and J. Grant. Clerk: Mr G. Gill Public: One Councillors: Michael Clarke (left 8.15pm) and Steven Hollowell (arrived 8.30pm).

204./17 Apologies Apologies were received from Mr M. Coppock. This was approved. Apologies were also received from Councillor Carole Clarke.

205./17 Public Participation Mrs Sarah Wilkinson said that she wished to address the Council in her capacity as Path Warden. In the course of planning the Boxing Day walk she had walked along path LE4 (running southwards from the end of South Vale) and it had come to her attention that there was a deep ditch across the line of the path, which would cause an obstruction to walkers. She had reported this to the footpaths officer at NCC highways, who had come out to view the issue in person. She had agreed that the ditch was very deep. However in the course of this inspection she had also had observed that where LE4 passed the flood prevention dam the position of the maintained footpath on the ground did not follow the “legal” route as defined on the NCC’s Definitive Map. It appeared that this anomaly had probably arisen when the dam was constructed, and that at the time the consequent need for a Modification Order had been overlooked. The matter had been reported to the NCC’s legal department, but she had been told that it would not be dealt with as a matter of priority, particularly in view of the fact that for historical reasons footpath LE4 was a “dead end”. The Chairman thanked Mrs Wilkinson for her comments. (Mrs Wilkinson then left the meeting)

206./17 District and County Councillors’ Reports Councillor Michael Clarke referred to the recent announcement in the media that the Government had appointed an Inspector to look into the affairs of the County Council. The purpose of the inspection was to examine the Council’s governance and whether it had been obtaining best value for money. Similar inspections had been carried out in recent years into the affairs of Rotheram Metropolitan Borough Council and Tower Hamlets Council in , but this was the first time that such an inspection had been instituted into the affairs of a County Council. It was clear that the finances of the NCC were in a precarious state (there was going to be an overspend in the current financial year), and in due course the Government Inspector would no doubt express an opinion as to whether this was simply as a result of central government having been unkind to the NCC in the operation of its funding formulas (as the NCC had been contending for a number of years) or whether the current issues were largely of the NCC’s own making. The inspection was expected to take about eight weeks, after which the Inspector would be delivering his Report to the Minister, hopefully before the end of March. In the meantime the NCC was under a legal obligation to finalise its budget for 2018/19, and this would have to be done by 22nd February in order to give time to the District authorities in the County to finalise their Council Tax Demands and send them out to residents before 1st April. The NCC were proposing to increase their element of the Council Tax by 4.98%, of which 1.99% was the legal limit without the holding of a referendum, and 2.99% was being allowed by government in the current year specifically as a contribution towards the cost of Adult Social Care. It was possible that the budget might have to be reset following the publication of the Inspector’s Report. He observed that the NCC had been without a Chief Executive since 13th October, and that in the absence of any “Deputy Chief Executive” the functions of the Chief Executive were being carried out on an interim basis by one of the NCC’s senior officers. Clearly in the present circumstances there would be great difficulties in recruiting a new Chief Executive. Councillor Clarke went on to say that in his opinion the interests of Northamptonshire residents would be best served by the replacement of the current local government structure in the county (One County Council and seven District/Borough Councils) with two “unitary authorities”(e.g.: as in Milton Keynes). This could achieve significant cost savings in the long term. Unfortunately the Government’s position was that such a change would need to be proposed by the existing authorities themselves, and currently there was no agreement between the NCC and the seven District/Borough Councils on a possible way forward in this direction. Replying to a question from Mr A. Rowton Councillor Clarke said that he believed that the Inspector would be consulting the NCC’s staff as part of his activities, but that most of his work would involve looking at documents. (The following report was given after Item 222./17) Councillor Steven Hollowell apologised for his late arrival – he had been attending a meeting of the SNC’s Scrutiny Committee. The meeting had been addressed by the NCC’s new “Section 151” Officer as part of the NCC’s 2018/19 Budget Consultation (Phase2). It was clear that the NCC were experiencing significant problems. Their financial reserves now stood at only £10m, and there was no guarantee that their campaign for fairer funding would succeed.

207./17 Members’ Declarations of Interest for items on the Agenda None.

208./17 Approval of Minutes of last Parish Council Meeting held 12th December The Minutes were approved on the proposal of Mr J. Keggin, seconded by Mr J. Grant and signed by the Chairman.

209./17 Matters arising from Minutes (Items 179./17 and 185./17) Mr J. Grant reported that the retail business hitherto associated with the Post Office had now been handed over, and that he had received an assurance from the new proprietor that he had applied to reopen a Post Office on the premises. Hopefully the Post Office counter would be open again at the end of February. (Item 194./17) Mr R. Houghton said that his researches following the previous meeting had revealed that the conditions now being imposed by the Council’s insurers in relation to the management of any bonfire and firework display were rather more stringent than those currently imposed by some other underwriters. The Clerk thanked him for this information, which would be a useful starting point in his planned discussion with the Council’s insurance brokers. Action: Clerk

210./17 Finance (a) Approval of funding for a training course for the new Councillor at a cost of £42.00 This was agreed on the proposal of Mr J. Grant seconded by Ms D. Smith. Action: Clerk (b) Approval of funding for annual Neighbourhood Watch Meeting A sum of £10 was agreed on the proposal of Mr J. Grant seconded by Ms D. Smith. (c) Approval of funding for Annual Playground Inspection (John Hicks & Associates) A sum of £100 plus VAT was agreed on the proposal of Mr J. Grant seconded by Ms D. Smith. (d) Approval of Quarterly Financial Statement (Oct /Dec) Ms S. Davies confirmed that she had perused the statement (attached) and other papers including the most recent bank statements and that she had verified the bank reconciliation. The statement was approved on the proposal of Mr J. Grant seconded by Ms D. Smith. (e) Awarding of the Handyman Contract The Clerk confirmed that invitations to tender had been placed on the village notice boards, in the Winter 2017 edition of the Village Newsletter and in the December 2017 edition of the Parish Magazine. He had delivered copies of the tender documentation to the four persons who had expressed interest, and had shown two of those persons around the village. Councillors noted the three tenders received, copies of which had been previously circulated by the Clerk, and on the proposal of Mr J. Grant seconded by Ms D. Smith it was unanimously agreed that the tender of Mr Terry Watton be accepted. Action: Clerk (f) Budget for the financial year 2018/19 and setting of the Precept The Clerk presented his further revision of the draft budget, together with a short summary showing trends in the Precept, annual expenditure and end of year bank balance over the previous thirteen years. It was noted that on current projections there would only be a small deficit of £105.79 at the end of the current financial year, despite the fact that there would have been unbudgeted expenditure of £600.00 on legal fees (re: Shop Lane) and £1,255.00 on tree surgery. This was accounted for by unused budgets under the headings of Training (£275), Web- Publication (£250), Grass Cutting- Highway Verges (£800) and Replacement of Street Lanterns (£575). It was agreed that over the last two years the NCC’s new grass cutting contractors had proved that they were delivering a better service than the previous contractors, and that there was therefore no longer any need to include anything under the heading “Grass Cutting- Highway Verges”. The Clerk observed that the budget figure for Street Lighting only included energy costs, on the grounds that the vast majority of the equipment was newly installed. This was agreed (but see Item 221./17 below). The Chairman observed that the play equipment in the Recreation Ground was approaching its end of life, now being over thirty years old, and proposed that a sum of £1,000 should be set aside as a Special Reserve towards its eventual replacement. A sum of £500 would still need to be included in the budget for maintenance and repairs in 2018/19. Ms D. Smith asked for a sum of £300 to be included under the heading “Other open spaces” to allow for the planting up of the Millennium Triangle. Mr R. Houghton observed that if the Defibrillator was used there would be a cost involved in recharging it, and asked if a sum of £250 could be included against this eventuality (under a new heading). It was noted that because of a small increase in the Tax Base the suggested figure of £14,198.00 for the Precept was the amount which would keep the Parish element of the Council Tax the same as for the current year (@ £45.99 for a Band D property). On the figures proposed the projected deficit for the year 2018/198 would be £526.00, resulting in a General Reserve at 31st March 2019 of c. £11,000.00 (this amount would be within the prescribed limits), a Special Reserve (Sports Pavilion) of £10,000.00 and a Special Reserve (Recreation Ground) of £1,000.00. After a short discussion it was unanimously agreed on the proposal of Mr J. Keggin, seconded by Mr J. Grant, that the agreed budget be adopted and that the Precept should be set at £14,198.00 (copy agreed budget attached). Action: Clerk

(g) Payment of accounts received Terry Watton Handyman 255.00 1/12/17 – 31/12/17 G. Gill Clerk’s remuneration 230.34 December G. Gill Reimbursement for Land 7.00 Registry Copies – Shop Lane E.on Street lighting 1/10/17 – NET: £288.00 302.40 31/12/17 VAT: £14.40 CPRE Annual Subscription 36.00 Wilson Browne Fees re: Transfer of Shop Lane 593.00 Land Registry Search Fee – Shop Lane 7.00 Northamptonshire ACRE Annual Subscription 35.00 G. Gill Clerk’s office expenses 64.62 Land Registry Application fee re: Shop Lane 40.00 The Clerk passed round an envelope containing the receipts for his office expenses. These were approved. It was noted that the breakdown of Wilson Browne’s fees was £475.00 + VAT and a disbursement of £23.00, and that because the invoice was addressed to their clients it would not be possible to reclaim the VAT. Mr J. Grant proposed, Mr J. Keggin seconded, and it was agreed that the above accounts be paid. Action: Clerk

211./17 Web Publication of Council Documents a) Adoption of a policy allowing Community Groups to upload details of their forthcoming events The Clerk expressed his regret that the proposed meeting of the working party had not yet taken place. Action: Clerk

212./17 Correspondence a) Invitation from NCC to respond to their 2018-19 Budget Consultation: Phase 2 It was noted that the only proposal which would directly affect local residents was the withdrawal of the Mobile Library Service. The 41 Bus Service was not subsidised and would not therefore be affected by the proposed withdrawal of subsidies from other bus services. It was agreed that there was no need for the Council to respond to the consultation as a body. Councillor Steven Hollowell said he had brought with him a copy of the report which had been prepared for the members of the Scrutiny Committee (see Item 206./17 above) and offered to lend it to Councillors as a guide should they wish to post their individual responses on line. The Clerk thanked Councillor Hollowell and said he would circulate it in the usual way. Action: Clerk b) Invitation from the and Crime Commissioner to consider sponsoring the employment of additional Police Community Support Officers It was agreed that the Council should not pursue this option, mainly on the grounds that it would not be good value for money.

213./17 Emergency Plan – formation of a working party Ms D Smith confirmed that Mr Dominic Goble had agreed to serve on the proposed working party. It was agreed that the working party should consist of Ms D. Smith, Ms S. Davies, Mr D. Goble and Mr A. Rowton. Action: Ms D. Smith

214./17 Dog Fouling and Other Litter It was noted that there had been some dog fouling in Little Lane which had caused some inconvenience on the day of the Duck Race.

215./17 Village Sewerage System The Clerk reported that following the heavy rainfall on 27th December there had been an overflow of sewage from the manhole cover at the junction of Castle Ashby Road and Rectory Lane. He had only observed the evidence of this after the event, but he had nevertheless immediately reported it to Anglian Water.

216./17 Recreation Ground (a) Repairs to play equipment etc The Clerk confirmed that Terry Watton’s latest inspection report was clear. The Chairman reported that he had spoken with Geoff Routhorn about the new spring on the pedestrian gate on to Road. It was now firmly fixed, and although it was not strong enough to close the gate so that the latch engaged, he was of the opinion that nothing more need be done at this stage. Mr J. Keggin observed that in due course the Council might like to consider the installation of a weight and pulley mechanism, which in his experience was an arrangement which usually worked very well. (b) Cutting of the hedge against Road West Councillors noted the contents of an email received from Northamptonshire Highways to the effect that in their opinion the hedge was overhanging in places and was in consequence affecting the users of the footway. Mr J. Keggin said he would arrange for the necessary hedge cutting. Action: Mr J. Keggin

217./17 Employment of Community Payback Team Nothing to report.

218./17 Highways (a) Update on outstanding matters Ms S. Davies observed that rainwater was no longer pooling in Chase Park Road opposite the end of Highfield Way. However pooling was still occurring further up the road opposite No 21. The Clerk said he would ask Terry Watton to unblock the relevant gully or grip. Action: Clerk It was noted that a continuous flow of water was issuing from the highway verge adjacent to 1 Avenue Lodges. The Clerk said that he would report this to Anglian Water as a suspected burst water main. Action: Clerk (b) Shop Lane The Clerk reported that earlier in the day he had finally managed to agree the wording of a draft Transfer with Mr and Mrs Salsbury’s Solicitors. The Transfer contained an indemnity covenant on the part of the Parish Council to observe the restrictive covenants to which the land had been made subject when it was sold by Lord Northampton back in 1983. It was Lord Northampton who had the benefit of the covenants, and the purpose of the covenant was only to provide an assurance to the Transferors that they would not be liable for any future breaches of the covenants by the Parish Council. On the proposal of the Chairman seconded by Ms S. Davies it was agreed that two Councillors were authorised to execute the Transfer (in accordance with Section 14(3) of the Local Government Act 1972). Action: Clerk 219./17 Policing and Neighbourhood Watch – including Community Speedwatch Mr R. Houghton reported that there had not been any reported incidents relevant to Yardley Hastings. Mr J. Grant reported that the equipment issued to the Community Speedwatch volunteers was being updated. The improvements included an ANPR facility.

220./17 Pocket Park and Millennium Triangle (a) Repair of Village Sign Mr J. Grant said that he would be attending to the re-erection of the Village Sign as soon as time allowed. His first task would be to set the new post in the ground with “Postcrete”, before subsequently attaching the sign to the top of the post. Action: Mr J. Grant (b) Adoption of a planting scheme for the newly cleared area of the Millennium Triangle Ms D. Smith reported that the working party had now met on site with Matt Johnson, of the Northants Wildlife Trust. He had made some suggestions as to how the proposed “wildflower meadow” could be established. Matthew George had now submitted his revised quote broken down into two halves. The first half, to crown raise the Ash tree on the Triangle and the Silver Birch on the corner of Bedford Road West, was in the sum of £280 (a full day’s work). It was agreed to give instructions for this work to be carried out immediately. The second half, for work on the trees on the highway verge adjacent to the pocket park, was in the sum of £720 (this half to be postponed to the next financial year). Ms D. Smith was authorised to purchase a soil testing kit at a cost of £35.00 Action: Clerk

221./17 Street Lighting The Clerk reported that Aylesbury Mains had now repaired Light 28 at the bottom of Highfield Way. They had also replaced the photocells on Lights 10 (by the bridge on Castle Ashby Road) and 14 (also in Castle Ashby Road, opposite the School). This work had all been done under the manufacturer’s guarantee. However in the last few days he had also had to report malfunctioning photocells on Lights 12 (Adj. 23 Little Lane) and 36 (Opposite 3 The Greenyard). This was a total of six photocells which had now failed out of the thirty-seven which had been installed in June 2017. Mr D. Winter observed that in his opinion this was very unsatisfactory, since it appeared that the Council had paid a full price for the new lanterns in June 2017, and that longer guarantees were being offered by other manufacturers in this field. The Clerk said that as well as reporting these additional failures to Aylesbury Mains he would raise a point of general concern with them that the failure rate so far was unacceptably high. Action: Clerk

222./17 Affordable Housing & Sports Facilities Update The Chairman reported that he had met with the Rt Hon Mrs Andrea Leadsom at her constituency surgery in The Forum at Towcester on Friday 12th January. She had apparently responded favourably to the concerns which he had raised with her, and she had promised to write a letter to the SNC which would re-affirm the government’s position that addressing the national housing crisis by the building of new homes was a matter of urgent priority. The Clerk reported that within the last week he had written a follow-up letter to the SNC’s Chief Executive expressing his disappointment that he had not yet received even an acknowledgement to his letter of 16th November, let alone a substantive reply. Councillor Hollowell reported that he had had a conversation with Paul Feehily, the SNC’s Interim Director for Planning and Regeneration, who had expressed sympathy with the Parish Council’s point of view. It also appeared that the Assistant Director of Planning had been tasked with the job of addressing the issues raised by the Clerk’s letter of 16th November. Councillor Hollowell observed that Application S/2017/2738/MAR, the Application for the approval of reserved matters for S/2013/1595/MAO, was due to be considered by the SNC’s Planning Committee either at its February meeting or in March. It would good if someone from the Council could address the Committee to express support for the Application. This was agreed, and the Clerk said he would telephone the Case Officer to inform him that someone from the Parish Council would be attending and would like to speak. Action: Clerk

223./17 Planning Matters a) WK/201708593 – Renewal Application for Street Trading Consent - Wongs Chinese Takeaway It was agreed that the Council had no objection to the renewal application. However Mr R. Houghton observed that in the body of the Application the Applicant had confirmed that he had delivered “a completed copy of Appendix B to every residential and business premises within 100 metres of the trading location”. This was an incorrect statement, since he himself had not received a copy of “Appendix B” at his own place of residence, which was quite clearly within the 100 metre radius. The Clerk said that he would mention this when replying to the SNC. Action: Clerk

224./17 Arrangements for a training session re: use of the defibrillator The Clerk reported that to date he had received twenty three bookings for places on the training session on 25th January. These were all from individuals, and there were no “group” bookings. Action: Mr R. Houghton, Clerk

225./17 Councillors’ Reports and Concerns Ms D. Smith reported that potholes had appeared at the Rectory Lane end of Little Lane, where it was used as a private roadway leading to No. 25. It was noted that although Little Lane was a public footpath the soil was owned by the Compton Estate, who would need to take responsibility for the repair of the roadway. Ms D. Smith said she would take some photos and send them to the Estate office. Action: Ms D. Smith Mr R. Houghton said he had received an enquiry from the owner of 1 Northampton Road concerning damage to her garden retaining wall, apparently caused by vehicles entering and leaving the Rose & Crown car park on the other side of Northampton Road. She had asked whether there was anything that the Parish Council could do about this. The consensus of Councillors was that this was not really a matter with which the Council could or should be concerned. However it might be a matter of interest to the Police. Mr J. Quilter said that he had received a request from a resident for the reinstatement of the street light in the Rec. Also he had received a complaint from another resident that the laurel hedge at the front of Windmill Farmhouse, 49 High Street, was overhanging the footway. The Clerk said he would write a letter to the owners in appropriate terms. Action: Clerk It was noted that an electric vehicle was regularly being charged up overnight outside the old fire station in Little Street and that this was potentially causing an obstruction on the highway to both pedestrians and passing vehicles. Also the insurance position was unclear.

226./17 Future Meeting Dates Monday 19th February, Tuesday 20th March