RIBBLE BANKS PARISH COUNCIL
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
HELD AT RATHMELL READING ROOM
ON TUESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER 2009 AT 1930
PRESENT.
Councillors - Dr.D.Clarke
(Chair), Mr.R.Crabtree, Mr.F.Higginson, Mr. I. Wright.
IN ATTENDANCE.
Mr. D. Abbott (Clerk), 15
Members of the Public
09/57. APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE.
Cllr.
Houghton.
09/58. DECLARATION OF
INTEREST.
Cllr.Crabtree reminded the
meeting of the declaration of interest he had declared at the last meeting
regarding Rathmell Car Park, when the renewal of the Car Park lease comes up
for discussion on the agenda.
09/59. CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS
No items were regarded as
confidential.
09/60. CDC REVISED COUNCIL PLAN 2010/2012
See Appendix A for a summary
of the presentation and discussions on this subject.
The Parish Council has been invited to give
feedback to Craven District Council on the proposed updated District Council
Plan 2010/2012. However, in view of the feeling that there was insufficient
detail forthcoming in the proposed plan, the Parish Council felt that it was
not able to give an effective response to the individual feedback questions.
This decision would be conveyed back to the District Council, along with a copy
of the minutes recorded in Appendix A. ACTION CLERK
09/61. REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
The District Councillor was
not able to attend the meeting.
09/62. PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
It
was noted that a written request for funding for the next financial year had
been received from the Chairman of the Rathmell Reading Room Management
Committee, and this would be taken under the Budget/Precept 2010/2011
discussions.
09/63. MINUTES OF THE LAST
MEETING
The
minutes of a meeting held on 22nd September 2009 were regarded as a
true record, and signed by the Chair.
09/64. MATTERS ARISING.
09/64.1. - Minute 09/52 – BT Public Call Boxes – the Clerk gave a summary of
the position on the BT proposal to allow the village Public Telephone Call
Boxes to be adopted for £1 each, and the possibility of having the telephony
services withdrawn due to poor usage.
Following
the last Parish Council Meeting parishioners had been requested to give their
opinions on these proposals. Rathmell and Halton West parishioners accepted
that due to under use there was a case for the withdrawal of telephony services,
but they would like the Parish Council to consider the adoption of the Call
Boxes, because of their historical value. Rathmell residents had submitted a
petition with over 90 signatures to that effect, and a verbal request had been
submitted by Cllr. Higginson on behalf of Halton West villagers. Wigglesworth
parishioners felt that there was a strong case for the retention of the
telephony services, and those views were expressed in a letter written by Mr.M.Dean.
There
was a requirement to submit views by a certain date, ahead of when the Parish
Council would be able to discuss the matter in an informed way. It was decided
to submit that the Parish Council was prepared to adopt the Call Boxes in
Rathmell and Halton West and accepted there was a case for the withdrawal of
the telephony services in these Call Boxes, and also argue a case for the
retention of telephony services in the Wigglesworth Call Box.
As there is a requirement to sign a legal
agreement with BT for the adoption of a Call Box, the Parish Council is not yet
legally committed to the process.
a)
Legal
Agreement.
The
Clerk had obtained a copy of this legal agreement, and drew attention to a
number of clauses that it contained:-
-
That the buyer takes over the Call Box in the condition that it is in now
or at the time of the handover, and there is no obligation on BT to repair or
restore it.
-
That BT is not selling the land beneath the Call Box, nor shall the buyer
acquire the land under this agreement.
-
That following acceptance
-
the buyer may not reject the goods, nor is BT liable for late delivery of
the goods.
-
the buyer will be responsible for any repairs and maintenance
-
the buyer will be responsible for meeting any requirements, directions,
rules or recommendations of Ofcom
-
the buyer will be responsible for any relevant planning legislation or
consents in force or proposed
-
in short there are 5 pages of clauses that the buyer has to agree to, and
it would warrant legal advice being taken before entering into this agreement.
b)
Electricity
Supply.
In taking over a Call Box you are required to take
over the electricity supply to that box, which requires you to apply for a
meter identification number, and then arrange for a supplier of
electricity. Cost indicators obtained
for an annual supply of electricity for a box ranged from £50 to £120.
Alternatively BT can arrange for disconnection of
the electricity supply, quoting a cost between £200 and £500.
c) Land the boxes stand on.
In
all probability there will be a requirement to establish who owns the land that
the boxes stand on. One local council has incurred costs of £300 in drawing up
a legal agreement to continue using the land that the box stands on, for a
peppercorn rent, and the right to re-site the box in the future, should a new
owner of the land not wish to continue the agreement.
d)
Insurance.
The
Insurance Company has stated that the acquisition of a Call Box would be
covered by the existing Public Liability clause of the insurance policy, at no
extra cost.
If
cover was required for theft or damage there would be a charge of £14 per
thousand pounds of value. Cover would have to be at replacement value.
Enquiries have resulted in finding on EBay refurbished Call Boxes at a cost of
£1700, plus delivery costs, erection costs, etc. – say a replacement value of
£4000. (one council contacted has declared a value of £5000).
The
Insurance Company would require the Call Boxes to be regularly inspected to
ensure that they remain in a good state of repair, and that a log of these
inspections be kept.
e) Consultation.
3
Councils were consulted about their experiences - one who had decided not to
adopt, one who was in the process of adopting and one that has adopted. The
latter two reported that adoption was proving to be a lengthy and time
consuming process, which brought with it some problems.
A
CDC Planning Department Officer confirmed that none of these Call Boxes were
listed.
Following
the Clerk’s summary the following points were raised in discussions:-
Rathmell
– the Call Box is adjacent to Mrs. Rees’ property and her solicitor states that
it is not sited on her land; that there has been no light source in the Box for
some years; that signatures to the petition would be willing to inspect and
maintain the Call Box.
Halton
West – the Call Box is on land owned by the Yorke Family estate, that theYorke
Family estate would be willing to inspect and maintain the Call Box.
There
were no firm views expressed as to any possible uses for the boxes, other than
a possibility for one to be used as a means of displaying notices. If a Call
Box was not to be used for a specific purpose then the insurance company would
suggest that it was sealed up.
The
estimated costs of adopting these Call Boxes need to be taken into account when
discussions take place on next year’s budget and precept. The strength of local
feelings for adoption would also be taken into account.
The
Clerk was asked to try and establish the ownership of the land that the boxes
stand on, and to obtain an estimated cost for taking legal advice on the BT
agreement documentation. He was also asked to inform BT that the Parish Council
was interested in adoption, but they were not yet in possession of all the
necessary facts and advice to make their decision and to meet the deadline date
for agreement. ACTION CLERK
09/64.2. - Minute 09/53.2 – War
Memorials Progress Report – the Clerk reported that the majority of the
pointing had now taken place, but there remained some work to be completed.
Unfortunately adverse weather conditions have held up the completion of the
project.
ACTION
CLERK
09/64.3. - Minute 09/53.5 –
09/65. CDC COMMUNITY
GOVERNANCE REVIEW
The
Chairman outlined the process that Craven District Council proposed to adopt in
their review of Community Governance, as proposed in the briefing document
dated 16th October 2009, issued by Colin Iveson, Head of Democratic
Services for CDC. Such a review should be carried out every 10 to 15 years, but
it would appear that one has not been carried out in Craven for over 30 years.
At this stage the Parish Council was only being asked to comment upon the Draft
Terms of Reference for the review, but Parish Councils’ views would be sought
at all stages of the review process. Councillors AGREED that the
Chairman’s responses to the consultation questions should be forwarded to the
District Council. ACTION CHAIR /CLERK
The
Clerk informed Councillors that he had now received copies of the missing draft
Appendices, and to let him know if they wanted a copy of them.
09/66. NYCC BUDGET AND
COUNCIL PLAN CONSULTATION
NYCC
is in the process of updating its Council Plan and Medium Term Financial
Strategy, and was seeking views from Parish Councils on the County Council’s
priorities, value for money, proposed level of Council Tax and other related
issues. Responses should reach the Council by 22nd January 2010. The
Chairman AGREED to draft a reply on behalf of the Parish Council. ACTION CHAIR
09/67. FINANCE.
09/67.1. Current Bank
Balances.
The Clerk
tabled a statement showing the movement of funds between 31st August
and 31st October 2009, with the balances as at 31st
October 2009 as follows:-
Deposit
Account £ 6335.12
Current
Account £ 2872.96
Total Funds £ 9208.08
Current
commitments/expenses totaled about £3040, including War Memorial repair costs,
Clerking fees and legal fees.
09/67.2. Payments to be
Authorised.
Cheques
covering authorised payments were signed at the end of the meeting.
09/67.3. Bank Account
transfers.
It
was AGREED that the Clerk should be authorised to instruct the Bank to
move monies between the Parish Council Bank Accounts as and when required, as
part of the management of the finances. A letter addressed to the Bank to that
effect was signed by two Councillors. ACTION CLERK
09/67.4. Salary Scales
Update for 2009/2010.
Councillors
were informed that revised salary scales for 2009/10 had now been adopted by
Local Authorities, showing increases between 1% and 1.5%. A copy of the revised
salary scales and permitted expenses had been passed to the Chairman.
09/67.5. Budget/Precept
for 2010/2011
The
Clerk presented a briefing paper to assist Councillors in their considerations
of the budget and precept for the next financial year. The paper provided
information on the income and expenditure of the Parish in the last two years,
and estimates for this current financial year. A copy of this paper is attached
to the minutes.
The
projected bank balance at the end of the financial year 2009/10 of £4062 could
be reduced further by an estimated £500 (potential legal costs incurred in
reaching a new agreement on the Rathmell Car Park), and an estimated £1000 (one
off costs that could be incurred if two Call Boxes are adopted – legal fees for
land use £300x2, electricity disconnection charges £200x2), giving a possible
year end balance of approx £2500.
The
projected expenditure of £8639 for 2009/2010 has a number of one off
expenditure items in it – namely war memorial repairs, donations to Rathmell
Reading Room and Rathmell Church, filing cabinets and SLCC membership – which
if they were excluded from forward projections would bring the potential core,
repeatable expenses down to approx £4700.
The Clerk was asked to verify the expected
running costs of the two village websites with the contacts responsible for
them, and to also establish from them the usage/hit rate of these websites. ACTION CLERK
Additional
expenditure to be taken into account for next year could include the estimated
running costs of two adopted Call Boxes of
£350(insurance/electricity/maintenance costs), and the CDC’s estimated figure
of £1183 for next year’s Parish Council election administration costs.
In
addition a further consideration to take into account was the written request,
received from the Chairman of the Rathmell Reading Room Committee, for the
Parish Council to consider funding the running costs of the Reading Room. This
would then permit the Management Committee to concentrate its energies on
providing extra services for the community, building up capital funds for the
repairs and refurbishment of the Reading Room, and organizing special functions
in 2010 - in what will be the Centenary year for the Reading Room. The running
costs were itemised in the letter, and totalled £2311.
In
support of his request Mr. Stone stated that it was the responsibility of a
Parish Council to provide Village Halls, as per a publication by NYCC. This
interpretation was disputed, and whist the Chair accepted that Parish Councils
were expected to support village halls, that it was not a legal requirement of
a Parish Council to provide such facilities.
It
was pointed out that there were 3 village halls within the Ribble Bank Parish,
and that if a decision was taken to fund Rathmell Reading Room running costs,
then this would set a precedent regarding the claims of the other halls. A view
was expressed that the Management Committee should be responsible for raising
the running cost for the Rathmell Reading Room as in the past, and perhaps
there was a need to review the charges being applied for the use of the
building. It was also pointed out that there was no intention in the current
plans for the development of
Taking
everything into account it was likely that the precept for next year would have
to be increased from its current level. A decision on the level of precept
would be made at the next Parish Council Meeting, and the Clerk would prepare a
further paper with alternatives for consideration. ACTION CLERK
09/68. PLANNING MATTERS.
09/68.1 – No.36/2009/10010
– New Laithe Barn, Wigglesworth – retrospective application for change of use of
Holiday Cottages to Single Dwelling. The Council had no comments to make.
09//68.2 – West Thornber,
Wigglesworth – retrospective application and change of use from
09/69. CORRESPONDENCE.
The
key items on the correspondence list were brought to the attention of
Councillors, and it was AGREED that members of the public might be
interested in having sight of the report from NYCC on the outcome of the review
on flooding. Copies of this report will be posted on village notice
boards.
ACTION CLERK
09/70. REPORTS FROM
COUNCILLORS AND COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
Chairman
The
Chairman reported that he has had to stand down from the Settle Swimming Pool
Committee, which meets on a Friday evening, due to his work commitments. The
Committee likes to have representatives from local parishes on it, and so a
volunteer to represent Ribble Banks Parish is being sought.
The
Chairman proposed that at the next meeting discussions should take place on the
forthcoming Parish Council elections, and how the Council might increase public
awareness of the role of the Parish Council, given that there will be some
vacancies to fill on the Council. AGENDA ITEM CLERK
Halton West.
It
was reported that the War Memorial was looking good, following the repointing.
Wigglesworth.
The
Chairman reported that the proposed renovation project of
Rathmell.
It
was reported that following the recent work carried out on the Rathmell Reading
Room Car Park that a certain amount of unevenness was occurring on the surface,
caused by turning vehicles redistributing the shale surface and variable
conditions of the undersurface. It was planned to give the matter some
attention in the spring.
Clerk.
Nothing
to report.
09/71. VILLAGE
ENVIRONMENTS, RIGHTS OF WAY AND HIGHWAYS.
-
09/67.1.
Minute 09/53.1 – Highways Matters Progress Report – the Chairman reported that
some repair works have been carried out to the road surface adjacent to Jack
Daw Bridge, and also a good job has been done in clearing up the lay-by in that
area by the Highways department and some local volunteers.
-
Concerns are being expressed that overhanging hedgerows are becoming a
potential road/pedestrian hazard just above the
-
Concerns were also expressed that there continued to be problems with the
drains in
09.72. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.
The
Chairman informed the meeting that the existing Parish Plan had been drawn up
in 2002/03, and he felt that it warranted an update. He proposed to discuss
this at the next meeting, but felt that it might be appropriate if the new
Council in 2010 should take this forward. AGENDA ITEM CLERK
09/73. DATE OF NEXT
MEETING.
The date of the next
meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday 19th January 2010 at 1930
hours, and it will be held in
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS
The
meeting closed at 2215
Appendix A
CRAVEN DISTRICT COUNCIL’S DRAFT COUNCIL
PLAN 2010/2012
SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION BY CLAIRE
MAZURKE,
CDC’S CORPORATE PERFORMANCE AND IMPROVEMENT
MANAGER
TO RIBBLE BANKS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
OF 24TH NOVEMBER 2009.
Mrs.Mazurke explained that CDC had established a Council Plan for 2009/12, and that it intended to update this Plan in the light of what it had achieved so far, and by reviewing its priorities and objectives for the coming years.
The purpose of this presentation was to give Parish Councils an opportunity of considering the District Council’s proposals, and for Parish Councils to have an opportunity to feed back their reactions to these proposals for CDC to take into consideration in the updating process.
She also explained that CDC intended to give members of the public a similar opportunity to consider the proposals, and that this process would start on 4th December 2009.
She confirmed that these were proposals at this stage, and that Members of Council would take into consideration any feedback that they received, before formalising the updated District Council Plan.
She explained that the document that had been issued to Parish Councils was a summary of the proposed updated District Council Plan, that it was intended to be the District Council’s Strategic Plan, and not a detailed document of all that the District Council achieved and delivered.
It was explained that the District Council proposed to focus its priorities under two headings:-
- Strengthening Craven’s Economy and Promoting the Well-being of Craven’s Communities and
- Providing a More Cost-effective and Efficient Council.
Under each of these priority headings it would have a number of aims and objectives, which were detailed in the summary documentation. Mrs. Mazurke briefly discussed a number of these aims and objectives, emphasizing that the District Council’s wish and intention was to deliver cost-effective services to the public, to promote and support economic and business development, to improve methods of communications with the public, to improve the supply of affordable housing and to reduce waste. The District Council wanted to reach performance standards that the independent Audit Commission would be satisfied with.
In the ensuing discussions a number of points were made by Councillors and/or Members of the Public who were present, for District Council to take into consideration in the planning review, and to ensure that these received due priority: -
- that the updated plan should contain key performance indicators and measurable targets wherever possible, so that the public is better able to judge performance and achievements
- that the updated plan should indicate which Officers and Members/Committees are responsible for
the key action points/targets.
- that the updated plan should show what the key targets are for each year of the plan. It cannot be right that all action points will only be achieved by the end of 2012.
- that concern was expressed that if the District Council wished to engage with the public and earn its respect that process must include being accountable for the past (e.g. the reasons for the District Council’s financial state and who or what has been responsible for it), and the provision of more detailed information to enable Parish Councils and Members of the Public to reach informed decisions.
- that support and encouragement should be given to develop and promote existing and future business opportunities in the local communities that make up the District (and not just the main towns), with the outcome being increased employment opportunities in those communities.
- that improving employment opportunities in the local communities was vital to their survival.
- that the provision of affordable homes should mean affordable to first time buyers, to enable young people to live and work in these local communities.
- that the public was concerned about the quality of the services provided by the District Council. CDC’s decision to withdraw financial support for a number of Public Toilet facilities in Settle was quoted as one example. This decision taken at a time when the public is expected to pay increased Council taxes.
Mrs. Mazurke agreed to establish what information was available in answer to these final points.
A copy of Mrs. Mazurke’s presentation paper is attached to these minutes.