RIBBLE BANKS PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

HELD AT RATHMELL READING ROOM

ON TUESDAY 13th July 2010 AT 1930 hours

 

PRESENT.

Councillors – Mr.F.Higginson (Chair), Mr.B.Bell, Dr.D.Clarke, Mr.M.Dean, Mr.D.Rawsthorne

 

IN ATTENDANCE.

Mr. D. Abbott (Clerk), County Cllr.R.Welch, District Cllr.D. Staveley. Members of the Public – nil.

 

10/65. WELCOME

The Chairman welcomed County Councillor Richard Welch and District Councillor David Staveley to his first Ribble Banks Parish Council meeting.

 

10/66. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.

District Cllr.D.Whaites

 

10/67. DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE

The two Co-opted Councillors, B.Bell and D.Rawsthorne, have signed their Declaration of Acceptance of Office forms before the commencement of this meeting.

 

10/68. DECLARATION OF INTEREST.

Councillors Clarke and Dean declared their interest in the planning applications applicable to Clarke’s Old School, Wigglesworth.

 

10/69. CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

No items were regarded as confidential.

 

10/70. REPORT FROM COUNTY/ DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Cllr. Staveley informed the meting that as a recently elected District Councillor, representing the Settle and Ribblebanks ward, he had been appointed to sit on the CDC Audit and Governance Committee and the Recruitment and Appeals Panel.

Cllr. Welch informed the meting that as a District Councillor, representing the Penyghent ward, he was the Chairman of the CDC Planning Committee, and that he sat on a number of other CDC committees and panels, including the Licensing Committee. He was also the County Councillor representing the Ribblesdale District. His current key local issues were the attempts to re-open the Ashfield public toilets in Settle, the future of Settle Middle School under the North Craven education review and the redevelopment of the Greenfoot care facilities in Settle – the extent of which will be dependent on funding availability.

Cllr. Welch reported that as a member of the Craven Area Committee he could consider applications for support funding from local community/organisations projects, and he would welcome such applications. He AGREED to provide information on the kind of projects that could be considered, and the application process, to Cllrs. Clarke and Rawsthorne.                                                                              ACTION CLLR.WELCH

               

 

10/71. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No items were brought to the attention of the Council.

 

10/72. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL

The minutes of the meeting held on 11th May 2010 were regarded as a true record, and signed by the Chair.

 

10/73. MATTERS ARISING.

10/73.1 - Minute 10/41 Year-end Accounts 2009/2010 – the Clerk confirmed that the Accounts/Annual Report had been forwarded to the external Auditors Mazars, and that a notice has been placed on the village notice boards advising that the year end accounts have been completed.

10/73.2 – Internal Auditor – the Clerk was asked to write to Mr.Gerrard and thank him, on behalf of the Parish Council, for the efficient way that he had carried out the internal auditing process on the year end accounts.                                            ACTION CLERK

 

10/74. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11th MAY 2010

The minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 11th May 2010 were regarded as a true record, and signed by the Chair.

 

10/75. MATTERS ARISING

10/75.1 – Minute 10/48.2 - Halton West Annual Parish Meeting – Cllr. Higginson handed over  a copy of the draft minutes of the Halton West Parish Meeting held on 30th March 2010.

10/75.2 – Minute10/49.3 – Halton West Parish Assets – Cllr. Higginson would email the Clerk the details of Halton West Parish assets.          ACTION CLLR.HIGGINSON

10/75.3 – Minute 10/50.1 – Planning/Recycling concerns – The Clerk reported that he had written to the Chief Executive of Craven District Council regarding the lack of responses to Ribble Banks Parish Council’s concerns on a number of Planning issues and recycling matters. After several further communications with different individuals within CDC, he had finally received a response to the concerns raised on refuse collection and recycling. It was also confirmed that RBPC had not been informed, over a number of months, of planning applications/decisions pertinent to the Parish, and it was not clear why this interruption to planning information had occurred. Copies of these missing decisions have now been received, and the Clerk informed the meeting of them. The Clerk confirmed that he now appeared to be receiving full copies of all relevant planning applications/decisions, and that there were a number to be discussed later in the meeting.

10/75.4 – Minute 10/52    -  NYCC Parish Charter Proposal – Cllr. Clarke tabled a draft response to the NYCC’s  proposal to develop a Parish Charter between North Yorkshire County Council and Parish Councils/Meetings and District Councils. The proposed response to each question was considered and discussed. In essence the overall view was that this proposal was just another layer of bureaucracy. That much of what was proposed was already in place, and could be achieved by following good practice guidelines from YLCA and NALC. It was AGREED that the Clerk should convey these draft responses of the Parish Council to Jonathan Spencer, NYCC Senior Policy and Partnerships Officer.                                                                              ACTION CLERK

 

10/76. MINUTES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING HELD ON 15th JUNE 2010

The minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 15th June 2010 were regarded as a true record, and signed by the Chair.

 

10/77. MATTERS ARISING

The Clerk reported that he had forwarded details of the two co-opted Councillors to Mr. Iveson, the CDC Democratic Services Manager.

 

10/78.  FINANCE.

10/78.1 Current Bank Balances.

The Clerk tabled a statement showing the movement of funds between 30th April 2010 and 30th June 2010, with the balances as at 30th June 2010 as follows:-

Deposit Account        £3337.92

Current Account        £2354.40 

Total Funds              £5692.32

Current commitments/expenses totaled £556.31, including the Clerk’s salary and administration costs.

10/78.2.  Payments to be Authorised.

The above amounts received authorisation for payment, and the appropriate cheques were duly signed at the end of the meeting.

10/78.3.  New Bank Mandate Forms.

The new Bank Mandate Form was tabled for discussion, and it was AGREED to continue with the practice of requiring the signatures of two Councillors to authorize payments and all  relevant clauses on the mandate that were considered applicable to the Parish Council’s means of conducting business with the Bank. The mandate form was signed by Councillors at the end of the meeting, and the Clerk was asked to submit this new mandate to the Bank. New Councillors are required to go to the Bank to prove their identity and signatures.                              ACTION CLERK/ NEW COUNCILLORS  

 

10/79.  PLANNING MATTERS

10/79.1 – Application 72/2010/10684 – Wigglesworth School House – Amendments to Annex, Car Park and Associated parking of previously approved Planning Application No. 72/2008/8272 – Cllr. Clarke explained that a number of amendments to the originally approved planning application were necessary because:-

-        the level of funding received necessitated some scaling back of the project.

-         when the original project received planning approval it was not highlighted by Craven District Council that several trees on the site were covered by Tree Preservation Orders. This now required a revision to the car parking and annex proposals, and also proposals for tree protection and replacement.

Cllr. Dean expressed a view that these modifications made for a better outcome to the project.

Following further discussions the Parish Council gave the application its full support.  

10/79.2 – Application 72/2010/10743 – Long View, Wigglesworth Hall, Jack Lane, Wigglesworth – request to build single storey side extension and detached garage –

The Council had no comments to make on this application.

10/79.3 – Application 72/2010/10755 – Woodside, Wigglesworth – non-material amendments to 72/2009/10253 consisting of minor amendments to appearances and materials to be used – The Council had no comments to make on this application.

10/79.4 – Application 59/2001/1486 – 1 The Terrace, Rathmell – renewal of Extant Planning Permission for the erection of a detached dwelling – approval granted for a further 3 years with attaching conditions.

10/79.5 – Application 62/2006/6959 – Booths Supermarket request to remove restrictions on the sale of certain goods and services – the CDC Planning Committee has deferred making a decision pending the submission by the applicant of a Retail Impact Assessment.

The Clerk was asked to inform CDC Planning of the Council’s comments.  

                                                                                                               ACTION CLERK

 

10/80. CORRESPONDENCE.

The key items on the correspondence list were brought to the attention of Councillors.

A communication from Marton cum Grafton Parish Council dated 28th June2010 was tabled. This brought to the attention of Council that NYCC was about to enter into a 25 year contract with an outside contractor to divert all non-recycled waste to a central incineration facility north of Harrogate, as an alternative to using diminishing landfill sites, at ever increasing costs. The contract would cost £900 million over its lifetime, irrespective of the recycling levels achieved.

This proposed deal had been discussed at a recent meeting attended by over 20 Parish Council representatives, and some County Councillors. This meting had concluded that there were many good reasons for not signing up to this agreement – the locking in to a 25 year deal, based on outdated technology, low levels of recycling, high financial commitments, no incentives to reduce waste, etc.

In considering this communication RBPC Councillors expressed concern at the apparent lack of  detailed/costed alternative proposals to be considered  alongside the main proposal by NY County Councillors, and also the significant amount of transporting of waste around the county that this favoured proposal would entail.

It was AGREED that the Clerk should draft a response to this proposal, indicating that the Ribble Banks Parish Council would support further investigations, and alternatives to be considered, before any decision is taken by NYCC, and to send this response to our County Councillor.                                                                                ACTION CLERK

 

 

10/81. REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS AND COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Chairman

Nothing to report.

 

Halton West.

Cllr.Higginson reported that the restructuring of the river bank in Halton West, above the recently installed gas pipeline, has been completed. The contractors who had undertaken the work had done an excellent job, showing good management and minimizing any impact on the village.

Rathmell.

Cllr. Rawsthorne raised concerns about the state of the lay by on the approach to the village from the Settle direction, the need for Mill Road to have a road sweeper down its length, and the need for some “Children Warning” signs in Hesley Lane. The Clerk was asked to take these issues up with NYCC.                                            ACTION CLERK

Wigglesworth.

Cllr. Clarke reported that the owners of the Plough Inn were delighted with the contribution received from RBPC towards the cost of screening the rubbish collection area at the Inn.

Cllr. Clarke tabled a Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust leaflet which outlined funding  available to support Parish Caretakers. The Clerk was asked to seek further information on this.                                                                                ACTION CLERK

Cllr.Dean reported that there was to be an Open Morning at Clarke’s Old School on Saturday 17th July 2010, between 10.00am and 12 noon, when progress of the refurbishment project can be viewed.

Clerk.

The Clerk reported that he had received a telephone call from Mrs. R. Rees who wished to speak to Councillors on the Rathmell Public Call Box project. Although the Parish Council had made a decision recently not to adopt the Call Box, the Councillors AGREED that they would invite Mrs.Rees to speak at their next meeting.

                                                                                                               ACTION CLERK

                    

10/82. VILLAGE ENVIRONMENTS, RIGHTS OF WAY AND HIGHWAYS.

10/82.1 - Minute 10/48.2 – Wigglesworth Highways Matters Progress Report – The Clerk reported that he had raised the various road concerns with the Highways department, and they had responded that the issues in Tod Holes Lane and the B6478 Tosside road will be looked at as part of the scheme for the Wigglesworth/Long Preston areas.

 

10/83. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

None

 

 

10/84. DATE OF NEXT MEETING.

The date of the next meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday 21st September 2010 at 1930 hours, to be held at Rathmell Reading Room.

 

The meeting closed at 2125 hours