The Minutes of Ribble Banks Parish Council Meeting

Held at Clark’s Old School, Wigglesworth,on Tuesday 28 November, 2006 at 19.30

NB: These minutes are in draft form and are subject to confirmation at the January 2007 Parish Council Meeting

28/11/1 Welcome by the Chair:
David Clarke (DJC), Chairperson welcomed the following councillors and members of the public.
Councillors: I.Wright, B.Houghton & R.A.K.Crabtree
Mrs C Howorth; Mssrs: B Newhouse; & R.W. Stone (Clerk)

28/11/2 Apologies for Absence:
Councillor F D Higginson
Mr M.Dean; Mrs R. Crabtree.

28/11/3 Minutes of the Last Meeting:
Subject to the following corrections -
Para: 26/9/7/1 the name "Embassy" should read "Embsay";
Para: 26/9/7/2 the planning application number for Field House, Rathmell is 59/2006/6712;
- the Minutes were agreed to be an accurate record.
Proposed by Councillor I Wright, and seconded by Councillor DJ Clarke. The minutes were signed by the Chair and the Clerk.

28/11/4 Matters Arising:
It was agreed to extend the Clerk's report with an extra paragraph entitled: Minutes of the LDEP meeting.

28/11/5 Clerk's report:
/1 Insurance for the Parish Council:     Councillors accepted the need for insurance in principle, but wanted to seek more guidance on the appropriate level of insurance cover from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association and similar Parish Councils in Craven District before submitting a firm proposal (Action RWS and the Chair).
RWS explained he had submitted a proposal form to the insurance company AON for what he considered to be the minimum requirements and had received a quotation of £389.60 for the annual premium. This will be used as a baseline against which to measure further quotations. Councillors will receive copies of the insurance quotations and proposal forms for information (Action RWS).

/2 Settle Swimming Pool Advisory Group:     Councillor Clarke as the Council's representative on the Swimming Pool’s Advisory Group attended a recent meeting and reported on discussions which had taken place. Issues addressed included a financial report, the Christmas closure, changes in staffing and staff training, long-term proposals to consider replacement of the lighting over the pool and installation of a new gas meter. It is possible the pool may have been overcharged for their gas consumption for a period of time. The Advisory Group were hopeful that this may result in a refund of costs which could be used by the pool. Preliminary discussion with Craven District Council had indicated that the pool would be able to retain the full amount of any refund from the gas supplier.

/3 Play Initiative Working Group:     RWS explained that the group were moving forward with two schemes. It was felt that there was insufficient money to spread thinly over more than two schemes. A major scheme is developed in the Skipton area and a travelling scheme to cover the remainder of Craven District. Contributions may be needed from Parish Council precepts to support the travelling scheme. The Parish Council expressed interest in and support in principle for the travelling scheme. The next meeting of the group is 11 January 2007 (Action RWS).

/4 St-ART Riverside Development:     Minutes from the last meeting indicated that a lot of information on possible schemes had been gathered by the consultants; this was now being progressed by the Sub Group members. The next meeting is will take place on 12 December 2006; this has been limited to Sub Group members and Consultants. A full Steering Group meeting will be announced in due course. Previously agreed meeting/events dates still stand:
    Public Information Event scheduled for mid-January 2007
    Final Stakeholder decisions scheduled for February 2007
    Development grant runs out in March 2007

/5 Yorkshire Local Councils Association:     Councillor Clarke tabled a series of advice notes from the Association (these are available via the association’s website), covering subjects including, planning applications, the organisation and conduct of Parish Council meetings, the relationship of Parish Meetings to the Parish Council, and dealing with members of the public. Copies will be supplied to councillors and attached to the Parish Council's Standing Orders (action RWS).

/6 LDF Affordable Housing consultation paper:     It was decided that a separate meeting would be called to discuss this item in depth. The meeting was arranged for Tuesday, 12 December 2006 at Clark's Old School at 19.30. Comments need to be returned to Craven District Council by the 22nd of December 2006 (action RWS).

/7 War Memorials - Rathmell and Halton West:     RWS reported that he had instructed architects at Wales, Wales and Rawson to carry out inspections of both War memorials and to send a report to the council.

/8 LDEP meeting:     RWS reported that the Parish representative, Mr R Wales, had been unable to attend the last two LDEP meetings. Mr Wales expressed some concerns about the continuing operation and influence of the LDEP group. The Clerk will write to Mr Wales asking if he wishes to continue to attend the LDEP meetings (action RWS).

28/11/6 Finance:
/1 Auditor’s Fee:     The fee for the external auditors MAZARS has been submitted at £58.75, along with a statement confirming that the audit was satisfactory. Payment of the fee was approved.

/2 Date of the Annual General Meeting/Treasurer's report/Annual Audit:     The required timing of each of these events (for example, in relation to the local council and Parish Council elections) will be clarified. Advice will be sought from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association and Craven District Council. A report will be presented at the next meeting (action RWS).

/3 Taxi Voucher Scheme:     RWS confirmed that the final payment had been made and the scheme was now officially closed.

/4 Current Bank Balance and the 2007-2008 Precept:     Discussion took place surrounding the expected increase in council expenditure for the financial year 2007-2008. This will bring some new and recurring expenditure, including employment and full payment of the Parish Council Clerk, the requirement for annual insurance, continuing membership of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association, contributions to Parish meetings and other local organisations and annual audit fees The Parish Council will make some use of reserves to offset the cost of employment of the clerk in the next financial year. Taking into account the reserves currently held by the council, it was agreed that an application should be made for a precept of £4000 for the financial year 2007-2008.

/5 Clerk's Expenses:     Expenses of £76 had been incurred since 26 September 2006. A record of these expenses was presented. Payment of the expenses was agreed by councillors.

/6 Parish Council Expenditure:     Discussion took place regarding possible ways to reduce costs related to photocopying and mileage necessarily incurred by the Parish Council clerk on council business. The proposal to purchase a combined printer/copier/fax/telephone was postponed until such time as a new Parish Council Clerk was appointed. In the meantime, it was agreed that Rathmell Primary School will be asked if photocopying could take place at the School with full reimbursement of costs as incurred (action RWS).

28/11/7 Reports from Parish Councillors:
/1 Halton West-
no report submitted

/2 Rathmell -
i) Rathmell Reading Room new heating:
A request has been received from the Reading Room Committee for a donation towards the cost of replacement night storage heaters. The full cost will be £698 plus VAT for two, 3.5 kW heaters. A donation of £600 was agreed. Proposed by Councillor Wright and seconded by Councillor Houghton.

ii) Health and Safety provision at Clark's Old School and Rathmell Reading Room:
Both venues were used by the Parish Council for public meetings. Therefore, the council needs to be assured as to the safety and suitability of these venues when inviting members of the public to attend. A letter will be sent to the Rev Peter Yorkstone, seeking details of the public liability insurance applying to Clark's Old School. A similar letter will be sent to the Rathmell Reading Room Committee.

Councillor Wright indicated that the Rathmell Reading room will be due another fire inspection in 2007 and was recently assessed as low risk for food production safety. The Reading Room Committee has appointed a Health and Safety representative.

iii) Storage of Parish Council Records:
Councillor Crabtree has obtained approval for placement of steel storage cabinets in Rathmell Reading Room to establish the Rathmell archive. Similar storage is needed for a Parish Council and Parish Meeting records (the Council notes that public access will need to be provided on request). RWS will write to the previous Parish Council Clerk and to Parish meeting chairs, to ascertain what records are currently in their possession or where records are currently being held. Advice may be sought from the North Yorkshire County Council archive department at Northallerton and the Craven District Council.

/3 Wigglesworth -
i) Bid for funding to support development of Clark's Old School:
An initial response from the Big Lottery Fund application is expected during December or January. This first stage relates to whether the bid can proceed to the second and more formal full development application stage.

ii) Local involvement in supporting the community radio station "Drystone Radio":
The meeting was informed that Drystone Radio will be broadcasting throughout December, on 87.7FM (The station normally broadcasts via the Internet). Led by Mike Dean, a number of local residents have contributed programmes to the station. The station will be opening and broadcasting from new studios, just outside of Settle in 2007.

28/11/8 Highways:
/1 Tosside traffic management:     Agreement had been reached on the placing of the speed limit warning signs and painted strips on the road surfaces with representatives of the North Yorkshire Highways Department following a site meeting in Tosside. The Council welcomed these developments to improve road safety in Tosside.

/2 Cappleside hedges:     Major work has started on cutting back the dangerous sections; however, further work may be required. An inspection of the hedgerows will take place once the contractor has completed the work.

28/11/9 Planning Matters:
All current planning applications were reviewed.
A planning report from the Chair of the Wigglesworth Parish Meeting was received.
None of the applications were considered to be contentious, or to require written comment from the Council.

28/11/10 Any other business:
There were no other items of business.

28/11/11 Time and place of next two Parish Council meetings:

Tuesday, 16 January, 2007 - Rathmell Reading room, at 19.30 hrs
Tuesday, 27 March, 2007 - Clark's Old School, at 19.30 hrs