THE MINUTES OF RIBBLE BANKS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD AT RATHMELL
NB: These minutes are in draft form and are subject to
confirmation at the May 2007 Parish Council Meeting.
David Clarke, Chairperson, welcomed the following
councillors and members of the public.
Councillors: F.D. Higginson, R.A.K. Crabtree, B.
Houghton and
Mrs. C. Howorth, B. Procter, M. Dean, B. Newhouse, B.
Scott, S. Sayers.
Councillor David Heather,
Mrs. R. Crabtree
Amendments: Item
27/3/5/14 (page 4) the amount of money ring fenced for work at Settle roundabout (A65
bypass) should read £10,000 and not £3000.
Item
27/3/5/14 (page 4) under the comments relating to Settle Festival, ‘the principal
landowner (identified as Mr Simpson) for the proposed festival site’ should read ‘a
landowner (Mr Simpson) for part of the proposed festival site’.
Item
27/3/7/6 (page 6) the reference to North Yorkshire Police should in fact, read Lancashire
Police.
With these amendments, the minutes of the Parish
Council meeting of
There were no matters arising.
The index of all correspondence received (with
reference numbers) was handed out at the meeting and all those present informed
that copies of correspondence can be made available by the clerk.
Only two external meetings had been attended by RWS
since the last Parish Council meeting:
1)
a) A presentation was given by the (NYCC) Highways Area Manager (area
5 Craven), who reported that all
national classified roads are now the responsibility of a consortium of engineers
using high-tech survey equipment to determine the condition of the roads; money
for repairs and re-surfacing will be allocated after a full national survey.
Unclassified roads (i.e. the majority of local roads in the parish council
area) will still be subject to local inspection and repair. Requests for action
on potholes, and other road damage should be directed to the NYCC call
centre. The engineer indicated that
potholes and other road damage will receive prompt attention provided that
these are designated dangerous following visual inspection. Winter services including salt spreading will
continue to be subject to fixed agreements based on times, and temperatures for
when I gritting can commence. Money for local repairs is limited and priority
will always be given to serious road damage.
RWS indicated that this was the official line, and in his view, the
direct contact and good will developed by Councillor Houghton, with the local
highways manager should still be encouraged. This line of approach be utilised
where possible to support requests for local road repairs.
b) Volunteers were being sought to join the
Joint Executive Board of the YCLA. This involves a Saturday meeting four times
a year in
c) The Grassington meeting sent forward a
motion to the YCLA Joint Annual Meeting to support the retention of rural post
offices. YCLA will seek early warning of which rural post offices were being
targeted for closure.
d) A new (national) code of conduct is being
prepared for parish councils. Every parish council will be expected to adopt
the new code by
e) North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC)
has been invited by the government to apply for unitary authority status, and
it is clear that NYCC are keen to take up this opportunity. However, Craven
District Council prefers the existing two tier status quo. In its plans for
unitary authority status NYCC appear to be expecting parish councils to
undertake more work, this may be without receiving any additional financial support.
A meeting was to be held on
2) Settle and District Renaissance Team:
a) The monies for developing the roundabout at
the end of the Settle bypass (A65) is to be placed in a high interest account,
which will require two signatories out of three to draw down the monies. The amount available to be deposited is
approximately £10,000.
b) Steve Amphlett (Chair of Settle Chamber of
Trade) explained the initiative “Greening Settle”. Many local businesses have
pledged support for this initiative. A
public launch has been arranged for
c) Papers relating to the
d)
e) The Cellar Project (youth services) is
proceeding.
f) Business Plan (Renaissance project): it was
recognised that this needed to be finalised and include the recent ‘greening’
initiative. The business plan was almost
complete and ready for printing; this is very important to keep the Renaissance
project moving forward.
g) The Settle Cycling festival was promoted.
(This had been held on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of May 2007). This appeared to be an excellent event, which
was trouble-free and which had no detrimental effect on the environment. It was considered to have brought much
goodwill to Settle and the wider Craven district.
h) Settle Festival planning was now going
ahead for 2008. It appears that bands
booked for the 2007 event will still be available despite the 2007
cancellation.
2) Correspondence (selected items which were
discussed formally at the meeting):
64/07 relating to 59/2005/5847 Croft, Rathmell.
RWS discussed the status of this item, with Annette
Moffat, Planning Officer for Craven District Council on 21st of May 2007. On
the 16th of May 2007 notice had been served on the owner of the croft stating
that Craven District Council Planning Authority recognised that the owner was
in breach of the planning consent by using the whole field (instead of the approved corner of the field) for
storage. The owner can comply or appeal to the planning inspector. If an appeal fails, the notice will be
enforced on
In relation to the above, Councillor Crabtree commented
that he had noticed some material had already been removed from the field.
71/07 A Unitary Council for
The information leaflet from NYCC had been
sent to councillors prior to the meeting. This information was discussed by
councillors. Councillor Crabtree felt
that a unitary authority would increase administration costs. Council Higginson expressed his concern about
the apparent dilution of the democratic process, stating that he felt people knew
their local councillors, but would be unlikely to know councillors that lived
some distance away from the area they would be required to represent.
Councillor Clarke also expressed concerns regarding the ability of a single
unitary authority, to adequately understand the needs of local communities. Mrs Howorth (Secretary to Rathmell Parish
Meeting) expressed some concern regarding the lack of public consultation. The
information available to parish councillors was passed to Mrs Howorth and
contact details for further information were identified for members of the
public present. Leaflets regarding the
proposals have been posted on all parish notice boards. Councillors have
additional copies of the information leaflets.
72/07 New telephone numbers for the
Copies were given to councillors.
75/07 An invitation to join Craven Transport
Forum
The council decided not to take up this
invitation.
81/07 Application for
Councillors and parishioners were made
aware of this application and the consultation period which runs from
85/07 The Standards Board for
This document was circulated to
councillors. A decision on the adoption
will be taken formally at
93/07 Letter from Steve Amphlett (Chair
Settle Chamber of Trade): the ‘Greening Settle’ initiative.
In a letter to the Parish Council, Steve
Amphlett has requested our support for this initiative. Following discussion, the Council decided to
gather further information about the initiative at the public launch (
97/07 Little Red Bus initiative
Details regarding the service were handed
to councillors. Copies will be posted on
all village notice boards.
99/07 Letter from Settle Festival Committee
A letter has been received inviting two
councillors to a meeting on
The accounts had been presented earlier at
the annual general meeting.
Following receipt of £2000 from Craven District
Council as the first half of this year's precept, Ribble Banks Parish Council hold
assets in the bank of £4942 at the time of the meeting. An invoice of £170
(87/07) has been received from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association in
respect of the 2007/2008 membership fee.
The council approved this payment (action RWS). Payment in respect of
the clerks expenses (£60.70) incurred since last meeting was also agreed.
Following discussion, it was resolved that a letter
should be sent to North Yorkshire County Council emphasising the following
works were required as a matter of urgency:
a)
Cutting
back of the blackthorn hedge adjacent to the woodland burial site in Rathmell on
the
b)
The
directional signs at Wigglesworth, which were damaged in winter storms require
replacement, the signs are currently laid on the village green and cannot be
seen by motorists.
c)
The 30
mile an hour sign at the bottom of Rathmell brow has been knocked down and
requires repair.
d)
A
letter will also be sent to local quarry managers regarding lorries continuing
to use the road through Rathmell to Wigglesworth, these lorries are in clear
violation of the existing weight restriction. Members of the public were
encouraged to note the registration numbers of any such vehicles and to bring
these to attention of parish councillors, quarry managers or the police.
a) 59/2005/5847 Croft, Rathmell: discussed
previously (see page 3 above)
b) Planning application number to be inserted: (Rathmell) Proposals for building of a stable and shelter. No
objections were raised to this application.
c) Planning application number to be inserted: Proposals for a storage
building at the Crowtrees holiday
park. No objections were raised to this application.
Mr M. Dean (member of the festival organising committee)
was present at the meeting and reported that planning is now underway for the
festival to take place in 2008. The organising committee are aware that there
was a lack of consultation with villages, and parish councils in the planning
stages previously. To avoid a repeat of
this situation, the organising committee have invited representatives from
Ribble Banks and Giggleswick Parish Councils to attend a meeting on
1)
Halton
West: nothing to report
2)
Rathmell:
Councillor Crabtree reported that he had stood down as chairperson to Rathmell
Parish Meeting. As no further nominations were put forward, the parish meeting
currently has no chairperson. Mrs Howorth
and Mr Pemberton continue, as Clerk and Treasurer respectively, to Rathmell
Parish meeting. Every effort will be made to seek new chairperson for the
meeting.
3)
Wigglesworth:
-The BT
cable laying work between Wigglesworth and Tosside appears to be nearing completion.
-Mr M. Dean
has been re-elected as chair to Wigglesworth Parish Meeting
-it was
requested that a letter be sent from the Parish Council to NYCC highways department regarding the
deteriorating condition of the lay-by adjacent to Jack Bridge (action RWS)
-a decision
regarding the first stage grant application sent to the Big Lottery Fund for refurbishment of Clark's Old
School was expected in the next two weeks.
1)
Councillors
agreed that it was important that progress was made regarding the appointment
of a paid clerk to the council. Councillor Clarke tabled a proposed schedule of
activities designed to culminate in the appointment of the clerk by early
September 2007. A sample job description and information on salaries and
conditions will be requested from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association
(action RWS). Councillor Higginson agreed to work with Councillor Clarke to
develop the job description, contract of employment and the draft advertisement
for the position of clerk. These will be circulated to councillors in advance
of the next parish council meeting.
2)
The
Good Councillors Guide booklet will be circulated to councillors. The issues
raised within the booklet (for example standing orders) will be discussed at
the next parish council meeting.
3)
Councillor
Clarke is unable to represent the council at the Settle Swimming Pool Committee
meeting called for
4)
Archive
materials relating to Wigglesworth should go to Mr Roger Wales (Secretary to
Wigglesworth Parish meeting), and for Halton West should go to Councillor
Higginson. Further discussion needs to take place regarding archiving parish
council minutes and documents.
All meetings
are on Tuesdays and commence at 1930.
Date Venue
27th of November
2007
The next meeting
will be held on
There being no
further business, the meeting closed at 2135.
Chairman………………………………………Date…………………………..
Clerk………………………………………….. Date…………………………….