RIBBLE BANKS PARISH COUNCIL

Draft

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

HELD AT RATHMELL READING ROOM

ON TUESDAY 21^ST JULY 2009 AT 1930

PRESENT.

Councillors - Dr.D.Clarke (Chair), Mr.R.Crabtree, Mr.F.Higginson, Mrs. B.Houghton, Mr. I. Wright.

IN ATTENDANCE.

Mr. D. Abbott (Clerk), 1 Member of the Public

09/23. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.

None received

O9/24. DECLARATION OF INTEREST.

There were no declarations of interest relevant to the agenda.

09/25. CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

No items were regarded as confidential.

09/26. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No items were brought to the attention of the Parish Council.

09/27. MINUTES OF THE AGM HELD ON 3^rd June 2009.

The minutes of the AGM held on 3^rd June 2009 were regarded as a true record, and signed by the Chair.

09/28. MATTERS ARISING.

09/28.1. Minute 09/05 - Halton West Parish Meeting Bank Balance – the Clerk explained that he had communicated with a representative of the Parish Meeting, who reported that the Bank had closed the account, and that no further action could therefore take place on the account. The question of the outstanding 80p was therefore unresolved. It was AGREED that in the circumstances it was expedient to write off the said balance.

09/28.2. Minute 09/05 - Annual Return – the Clerk confirmed that the Annual Return had been finalised and posted, and that notice of this had been brought to the attention of the public via Village Notice boards. The Clerk reported that he had received a telephone call from Mazars, the external auditors, who sought confirmation of the current year’s precept and the Council’s intended use of financial resources, and confirmation on a couple of other minor points. The impression was that they were satisfied with the return, and that we would receive their written response in due course.

09/28.3. Minute 09/05 - Internal Auditor – the Clerk was asked to write to Mr. Gerrard and thank him, on behalf of the Council, for his prompt and efficient response in carrying out the internal audit process on the year-end accounts. ACTION CLERK

The Chairman reminded Councillors that they also had a duty to periodically carry out an audit on the Council’s internal financial and control systems, and suggested that this should be done twice a year. ACTION COUNCILLORS

09/29. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING.

The minutes of a meeting held on 3^rd June 2009 were regarded as a true record, and signed by the Chair.

09/30. MATTERS ARISING.

09/30.1. Minute 09/15.5 - Archives – the Clerk reported that he had purchased two 4 drawer filing cabinets for the storage of Parish Council records and archives, and these were now located on the first floor of the Rathmell Reading Room. The Clerk was asked to ascertain whether the Reading Room Committee would be making a charge for this, and to thank them for the provision of storage space. ACTION CLERK

The Clerk also provided Councillors with an NALC paper that listed the recommended period to keep various Council records, minutes and other papers, etc.

09/30.2. Minute 09/18 - Parish Meeting Minutes – a copy of the minutes of the Wigglesworth Parish Meeting held on 1^st June 2009 had been received, and Councillor Higginson agreed to obtain a set of minutes of the last Halton West Parish Meeting. ACTION CLLR.HIGGINSON

09/30.3. Minute 09/19.1 - Highway Matters – the Clerk reported that he had written to the Highways Department regarding the concerns raised in the last Council meeting. The responses received were as follows:-

- that it was highly unlikely that an agreement to secure a traffic mirror at Town Head would be successful, as there were many conditions that had to be met before the Secretary of State would consider authorization, and this particular case did not meet many of the necessary requirements. The Chair agreed to bring the details of the response to the resident’s attention. ACTION CHAIR

- road surface repairs outside Mount Pleasant and repairs to collapsed walls near to Boggarts Barn were in hand

- the Highways inspection team was aware of the situation at Jack Daw Bridge, but the department was not able to give any firm commitments at this point in time. However, they were prepared to consider tidying up the nearby lay-by.

- action has been taken to reduce the blackthorn hedges on the Rathmell-Wigglesworth road.

Councillors were pleased that some actions have now been taken, but continued to express concern at the state of Jack Daw Bridge and other poor road conditions in the parish. The Clerk was asked to convey these views back to the Highways department, and also to invite them to met with the Chair to discuss what suitable steps could be taken to tidy up the lay-by. ACTION CLERK.

09/30.4. Minute 09/19.2 - War Memorials – the Clerk advised that he had contacted Maysand, the company that had provided a quote last year, for the repair work on the War Memorials. They were prepared to hold their quotes for the work at £977.52 + vat for Rathmell and £1187.64 + vat for Halton West – which compare favourably with the estimated costs submitted by the architects who carried out the condition surveys on the War Memorials in 2006. The Clerk had also obtained favourable references on Maysand for similar work that they had carried out for Settle Town Council and Knowsley Borough Council.

Following discussion the Councillors AGREED that the Clerk should invite Maysand to proceed with the work, and to establish the expected life time of the repair work and whether there was any kind of guarantee. The Clerk AGREED to liaise with Cllrs. Crabtree and Higginson when the work was to be carried out in their respective villages, but first the Clerk would seek to meet with the contractor to confirm the scope of works. ACTION CLERK

09/30.5. Minute 09/20 - Electoral Cycle Reform – the Chair confirmed that he had written to Craven District Council conveying the Parish Council’s responses to CDC’s letter of 23^rd April 2009, inviting comments on their proposals to introduce changes to the Electoral Cycle, that would affect both the District Council and Parish Councils.

09/30.6. Minute 09/20 - Waste Recycling and Collection – the Chair reported that he had written to Craven District Council outlining the Parish Council’s response to CDC’s letter of 13^th May 2009, in which they were inviting comments on proposals to change the frequency of waste collections and increased efforts to recycle waste. The CDC’s Policy Committee was meeting on 11^th August to consider all the responses that they had received from various peoples and organisations, with a view to making recommendations to the full Council on 18^th August 2009. The Waste and Recycling Manager was prepared to attend a Parish Council Meeting, to discuss any decisions taken by Council, and any concerns regarding waste collection arrangements and recycling of waste. The Clerk was asked to invite the manager to attend a future Parish Council Meeting. ACTION CLERK

09/30.7. Minute 09/21.3 - Rathmell Reading Room car park – Mr. Stone, the Chairman of the Rathmell Reading Room Committee had submitted a letter outlining the quotations he had sought to carry out repair work to the Reading Room car park. Cllr. Crabtree informed the meeting that the two permissive entry/exits from the car park to adjacent properties had now been closed off, and that one of the associated properties Roselea had recently been sold off with planning permission for development. The Councillors discussed the situation and Mr. Stone’s recommended course of action, and they AGREED to contribute £600 towards the costs of the car park works. Mr. Stone was to be asked to provide a copy of the invoice when the work has been completed, for Parish Council record purposes, but that the invoice should be made out to the Reading Room Committee, as the agreement for the work should be between the Committee and the contractor, and that it was not appropriate for the Parish Council to be a party to such an arrangement. ACTION CLERK

09/31. CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS.

Councillors discussed the NALC Legal Topic Note LTN06 Code of Practice for Local Councils in Handling Complaints, specifically the handling of complaints from members of the public. The general opinion was that it would be beneficial to have a policy, that this model policy was easy to understand and follow, and therefore it was AGREED to adopt the policy as outlined in this paper.

09/32. CDC INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT.

Councillors briefly discussed the Craven District Council document dated 29^th June 2009, in which the Planning Department explained that it was going to carry out a study of the infrastructure provision within the Craven area, and was inviting Parish Councils and Meetings to have an input into the audit. It was AGREED that Councillors should take the paper away and study the questions raised in the Audit Questionnaire, and come back to the next Parish Council Meeting with any pertinent points that they would like to include in the response to the Audit. ACTION COUNCILLORS.

In addition the Clerk was asked to check out was responses the Parish Council had made to similar requests in the recent past, eg in the Local Development Plan. ACTION CLERK

09/33. FINANCE.

09/33.1. Current Bank Balances. The Clerk tabled a statement showing the movement of funds between 30th April and 30^th June 2009, with the balances as at 30^th June 2009 as follows:-

Deposit Account £ 6334.01

Current Account £ 3534.82

Total Funds £ 9868.83

Current commitments/expenses totaled about £4300, including Rathmell Reading Room car park repairs, War Memorials repairs, Clerking and Audit fees and expenses, filing cabinets.

09/33.2. The Chair explained to Councillors that before the meeting he and the Vice Chair had been given a brief explanation by the Clerk on the responsibilities of the Council as an employer in relationship to the processing of salaries, tax/NI liabilities and payments to HMRC. The Clerk has been asked to produce a brief summary of the process and responsibilities. ACTION CLERK

During these discussions it became clear that, due to the timing of Parish Council meetings, it would not always be possible to obtain Parish Council approval for processing quarterly salaries ahead of the HMRC deadline dates for payment of taxes and NI. It was proposed that in these circumstances the Clerk would seek the approval of the Chair or Vice Chair for the hours/payments to be made before processing them, in order to meet HMRC deadlines and avoid potential fines for late payment of taxes/NI, and full Council agreement would be sought retrospectively at the next Parish Council Meeting.

Councillors AGREED to this proposal

09/34. PLANNING MATTERS.

09/34.1 Minute 09/17.1 – Askews Barn – the Chair reported that he had recently received an interim reply to his enquiries of CDC Planning Department.

09/34.2. Application 59/2009/9746 –Holly Dene Farm, Rathmell – amendments to previously approved planning application 59/2008/8320. The Parish Council had no comments to make on these revisions, and CDC has been informed accordingly.

09/34.3. Application 59/2009/9793 – 1 The Terrace, Rathmell – Renewal of extant planning permission for the erection of a detached dwelling (decision 59/2001/1486). The Parish Council had no comments to make, as this was a renewal of a previously agreed development.

09/34.4. Planning Inspectorate Ref.APP/C2708/A/09/2107843/NWF Brightenber Hill, Gargrave – this is an appeal relating to the proposed erection of Wind Turbine generators, which was originally rejected by the Craven District Council. Cllr. Higginson read out a letter from the Friends of Craven Landscape who have opposed this development, and will continue to strongly resist its development. It is noted that the closing date for representations is 17^th August 2009, and that copies of this Notification of Appeal will be posted on the three village notice boards.

09/35. REPORTS FROM COUNCILLORS AND COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Halton West.

Nothing to report

Wigglesworth.

Nothing to report

Rathmell.

Cllr. Wright informed Councillors that in the 1940s a beck water supply was established, initially to serve farms in the area. Subsequently this water supply was extended to a number of private gardens (35 approx.), for a small annual payment. This arrangement was overseen by 4 Trustees. The existing Trustees are no longer comfortable bearing the risk that people might see this beck water supply as suitable for drinking, consequently it is proposed to disconnect this water supply to these private properties; and additionally a number of the farms have also pulled out of the arrangements. The Trustees will be sending out letters informing everybody affected by this decision.

Clerk.

The Clerk sought Council’s permission to join the Society of Local Council Clerks, in that it might bring a number of benefits regarding advice and training. It would cost £61 for a year’s membership, and the proposal was to join for a year and then to review its usefulness. Councillors APPROVED the proposal. ACTION CLERK

09/36. VILLAGE ENVIRONMENTS, RIGHTS OF WAY AND HIGHWAYS.

There was nothing further to report to what has already been discussed earlier in the meeting.

09/37. CORRESPONDENCE.

The Clerk drew the attention of Councillors to a number of items of correspondence on the Correspondence List. In response

- the Chair asked for a copy of the details in the NALC E- bulletin(28/05/09) regarding the launch of a Governance Toolkit for Town and Parish Councils

- Cllr.Wright asked for a copy of the YLCA e-mail re Flood Risk Report and Rights of Way advice.

- Cllr. Wright to be given a copy of the correspondence received from the Community Projects Officer for the Forest of Bowland, so that he can consider responding to their survey and whether to invite the Projects Officer to speak at a Rathmell Parish Meeting, as part of the Parish of Rathmell comes within the Forest of Bowland. The Clerk would also communicate this decision to the Project Officer. ACTION CLERK

09.38. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

None

09/39. DATE OF NEXT MEETING.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 22^nd September 2009 at 1930 hours, and it will be held in Clerk’s Old School, Wigglesworth.

The meeting closed at 2105.