Minutes of the Holme on Spalding Moor Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 18 December 2014 in the Methodist Church Hall
A Quality Status Council
Present: Chris Worrall (Chairman), Ian Baxter, Ann Dowson, Doreen Engall, Peter Hastings, Gordon Hawcroft, Madge Johnson, Tim Laverack, Ernest Smith, Anthea Waudby, Alec Wild
Apologies: Louise Ratcliffe, Helen Williamson
Clerk: Steve Young, 01757 288234, there were 5 members of public present
Public session; Clerk informed that Gordon Shields will attend the January meeting to discuss the River Foulness and Market Weighton canal
1. Steve and Harry Towse attended to discuss Holme News and The Grapevine and the potential amalgamation of the two newsletters, they asked for the Parish Council's views on bringing the two newsletters together and this was discussed later in the meeting
2. Peter East spoke about planning application 13/03369/PLF saying that he lived next door to the proposed site. The proposal to knock down the 1.8m boundary fence and replace with a 3.3m high wall needing access from his property to build and maintain was a concern as was the prospect of a flat roof with resultant drainage problems. He would also suffer from loss of light and privacy
134/13 Minutes of meeting dated 20 November 2013, these were approved and signed by the Chairman subject to the following change. In 132/13 the report by Gordon Hawcroft to be changed to read "Gordon Hawcroft reported that his fence had been damaged and the act of vandalism was related to his work on the Parish Council"
Alec Wild also stated that the minutes covering a planning application under 123/13 were not full enough and did not reflect the points made during the discussion, Clerk is to amplify minutes in the future to include all points made during debates on items on the agenda
Declaration of Interest. To record any declarations of pecuniary and non-pecuniary interest by any Member in respect of items on this agenda, nil
135/13 Matters arising
ü Wind turbine Community Funds ongoing, speed signs posts are now in place on Back Lane, School clock waiting for response to grant application from the Parochial Charity. Waiting for information on adoption of Moor End access roads plus Snowdrop Garth. Waiting for online mapping training
ü Cemetery report, the kerbing of burial areas has begun and movement of Memorial to Tom Cooper will be planned as part of a World War 1 memorial garden
ü Handyman report, the 6 months temporary litter picker position has been filled. Contracted hours for handyman Peter2 Wiles have been increased to 12 hours per week to allow for maintenance of Church Graveyard, new hours to start 1 April 2014. Handyman salary, the living wage has risen by 20p per hour to £7.65 and Parish Councillors agreed to increase the handyman salary immediately in line with this. Clerk has checked that the budget set for a new trailer is sufficient to purchase one good enough for the proposed use. Chairman explained that a Community Payback Team member is available every week to work alongside our handyman and this will be progressed for a trial period of 6 months. Chairman also reported that the Community Payback Team had done lots of work in the parish; planting bulbs, picking litter and siding grass verges, Clerk to write and thank them
ü Grapevine, discussion about possibly amalgamating the two village newsletters. Points made were that at the moment the village gets a newsletter each month but businesses finds it difficult to support both and one might be more comprehensive in its content. It was agreed that discussions should take place with Holme News and the Parish Council Editorial Committee with a view to finding common ground. Chairman reported that Emily Hobson has offered to put together Grapevine and this offer was gratefully accepted
ü Christmas 2013 event, Chairman thanked everyone involved with the event on 6 December, Peter Hastings thanked Bubwith for supplying Santa's Sleigh, the craft fair went well and local groups reported a good night, the event was budget neutral. Kevin Hill has sponsored 3 Christmas Trees and Ann Dowson reported that £100 had been raised towards Christmas events at her coffee morning, they were both thanked for their generosity. A quote has been requested to put up external plug sockets along the front of the post office and other shops to make it easier for next year, stress testing of the tree brackets will be carried out during 2014
ü The East Riding Council Local Grant Fund, the application for litter bins and doggie bag dispensers will be considered by the East Riding Council shortly, the locations of the litter bins has been agreed and the Parish Council will discuss siting of doggie bag dispensers at the January meeting. A grant application for chairs for the Village Hall will be made before the end of the year
ü Code of Conduct, email sent to Parish Councillors 3/12/13 was noted
ü Clerk reported a request from a resident for a crossing near the shops on High Street, this will be investigated and followed up
136/13 Planning applications, Doreen Engall observed but took no part in the discussions
13/03369/PLF Erection of a single storey extension to side and rear at 16 Old Tatham for Mr Paul Best. Parish Councillors considered that to take down the current fence and replace it with a higher wall that would need maintenance from the neighbours garden should not be allowed. The proposed flat roof was also considered out of keeping with the neighbourhood. Parish Councillors voted 9 votes to nil with 2 abstentions to object to the application
13/03963/PLF Erection of 1 no. dwelling with detached garage at Land north of Stockshill Cottage, Market Weighton Road for Mr M Todd. Parish Councillors considered that the proposed dwelling is outside the development limit for the village, the means of access on this road gave cause for concern. The current Local Development Plan shows that Market Weighton Road is planned to be straightened by cutting out the bends in this area by putting a road across where this development is planned to be. Parish Councillors voted unanimously with 1 abstention to object to this application and recommend refusal
137/13 Planning decisions as advised by East Riding of Yorkshire Council
13/02960/STPLF Application for retention of 2 no. pig finishing buildings and 1 no. straw barn and slurry lagoon at Holly Farm Selby Road for KK Huddlestone & Sons, granted
13/02954/STVAR Variation of Condition 9 (use of building) of planning permission 12/02096/STPLF at Land South of Prospect House, Howden Road for Allensway Recycling, granted
It was noted that formal notice has been received that the application for 6 wind turbines at Welham Bridge has gone to appeal
138/13 Accounts, balances of £18379.10 current account, £2236.97 saver account
Cheque confirmed was £1104.00 Lewis Tree Surgery
Cheques approved: £204.12 Peter2 Wiles handyman, £686.76 Clerks salary for December, £626.00 Selby Garden machinery for a long reach hedge trimmer, £214.42 Siemens copier lease, £176.82 Staples copier paper, £393.48 Greenside Up for winter bedding plants, £48.00 Get mapping for online mapping
It was decided to arrange a training session for online mapping in the new year, Clerk will arrange new log in details and distribute to Parish Councillors
Newsletter/copier to date Income £2701.55 Expenditure £3089.27 (£2574.41 ex VAT)
139/13 Precept for financial year 2014/15
It was noted that in financial year 2013/14 the PC received a tax base grant of £2,154.01 with the precept and this is not being repeated for 2014/15 hence the money available to the Parish Council will be reduced by £2154.01 for 2014/15
There was general agreement that the Parish Council reserves are at a necessary level to be able to react to unexpected expenditure and therefore they should not be reduced. The draft budget shows an excess of expenditure over income of £3,000 due to increased expenditure on such as the preparations for HOSM in Bloom, Christmas etc and in 2014/15 the Parish Council will be maintaining the Church Graveyard for the first time . The increased expenditure was seen as necessary to keep up standards in the village and the extra work was being well received by residents. The precept has not been increased for 3 years and it was considered that an increase of £2,000 was not excessive, the effect on a Band D council tax payer would be an increase of £1.92 per year per dwelling or less that 4 pence per week.
It was therefore proposed Tim Laverack seconded Doreen Engall that the precept should rise by £2,000 to £31,000, this was resolved unanimously
Training budget and travel expenses were left in the budget as planned
The Parish Council has been working with voluntary groups in the village to maximise grant money from external sources and the Parish Council resolved that this should continue in the future. As pressures on money become greater then the Parish Council will be less able to fund grants and groups should try to find the grant elsewhere. The Chairman proposed Ann Dowson seconded that grants should not be allocated to voluntary groups but rather they should discuss their needs with the Parish Council and work with the PC to find the money externally, this was resolved unanimously. In this way money from the Parish Council would be used to match fund or "seed" grants from outside, a pot of £5,500 was put in the budget for use as necessary. It was also resolved that voluntary bodies should seek 'accreditation' by ERVAS to show that they are fit for purpose. The Clerk will write to all voluntary bodies advising them of this policy and to arrange to speak with them about their needs for 2014/15 emphasising that small grants will be considered on their merits
140/13 Emergency Plan questionnaire, Clerk ran through the emergency plan template to gather information and this will be sent to Beverley to be recorded. Victoria Aitken explained the problems of flooding near the Humber over the last two weeks and stressed the need for a workable plan. Clerk to inform the village of the plan and ask for contributions. It was noted that the School, Dairy and Sue Ryder will all have plans and a copy is to be sought to be kept with the Parish Council plan
141/13 Holme Heritage Project, the map is done and will shortly be ready for installation. It was agreed that Parish Councillors would attend the Parish Council Surgery on Saturday 11 January 2014 so they could go over to the village green to discuss where the map would be located and to discuss the re-location of existing items
142/13 Conservation Issues, Weirs Pond plus Community planting of woods and orchards. The Clerk is arranging a meeting with the East Riding Council Highways Department to discuss run off from the road into the pond and how it can be avoided. Gordon Hawcroft reported that Chris Laverack will clean out the ditch on the opposite side of the road from the pond to allow water to get away more easily
143/13 World War 1 memorial events, two things are planned; a memorial on the village green and a memorial garden in the Cemetery, costings will be done in the new year. Chairman and Peter Hastings reported that a booklet is being prepared about those that fell in WW1, 39 local people were killed and comprehensive information is available for 34 of them. York Museum is helping with information about each person
144/13 Village in Bloom, winter bedding planting has now been completed in 10 beds, all bulbs have now been planted. Over 9,000 bulbs and 250 lavender shrubs have been planted this year and the order has been placed for 2014 summer bedding. Chairman and Vice-Chairman will attend an event in Immingham in February about entering the Village in Bloom competition. Peter Hastings was given permission to spend a small amount of money on hot drinks flasks etc for the Community Payback Team who have worked so hard for the village this year
145/13 Reports
· A meeting has been held with Lesley Whitehead Public Rights of Way Officer about taking over responsibility for cutting grass on rights of way in the parish and this will be on a future agenda
· Alec Wild reported that the tree that was to be removed on Beacon View will not be done now, Alec also reported that 'mindless morons' had drilled his car tyres a couple of days after the last Parish Council meeting. There were 8 cars parked together and only Alec's car was targeted and he reported that this was a result of his work for the Parish Council, the Police have been informed
· Tim Laverack reported that the recent A163 road closure had been badly handled, there was much confusion about when the road was closed or open. As the service bus to York was allowed through he asked why a part closure could not have been handled with traffic lights
· Gordon Hawcroft reported that he had attended a recent Local Access Forum meeting and that there was a new policy on the Rail Trail and its cutting and management. There were issues of Rail Trail land being fenced off and taken by private land owners and he was told that where this had happened at Waterside Farm then it will not be resolved until a planning issue was sorted out and this could take 2 years going through the legal process
· Ernest Smith reported that at last some action was being taken on the road surface on Baileywood Lane following pictures being sent to the Highways Department
· Ian Baxter reported the HOSM sign on the Market Weighton road is in need of attention
· Ann Dowson reported on problems with a flower bed at the top of Meadowfield plus that the No Cold Calling Signs in the village are fading