Parish Council Minutes 11th January 2005

Parish Council Minutes 11th January 2005

Parish Council Minutes 11th January 2005

Littlethorpe Parish Council



Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 11th January 2005

in the Village Hall at 8.00pm.





Present: Mr J Edmonstone (Chair)

Mrs. W. Orme

Brig. J Wardle

Mr. G. Shipley

Mrs. J. Jowitt

Mr. I. Galloway (District Councillor)

Paul Richardson (County Councillor)

Mr W Lupton (Clerk)



1 Apologies.

None received.



2 Declaration of Interest
No declarations were received.



At this stage Cllr. Wardle reported recent health problems besetting ex Cllr. Leon Smallwood and the Council passed on their best wishes.



3 Adoption of Minutes from last meeting
The minutes of the meeting of 27th July 2004, which had undergone minor alteration, were duly signed. Although it was noted that the A 61 had been designated in error as the A69 the minutes for 12th October 2004 were then read, accepted and signed as a true record.



4 County Councillors Report

Cllr. Richardson reported that the Highways department had done excellent work in clearing up the roads after the recent storms and that although an emergency number was still available the clean up had been completed.

The Chair congratulated Cllr. Richardson on his recently published book of poetry.



5 District Councillors Report

Cllr. Galloway reported that Harrogate Borough Council was still proposing the refurbishment of the Royal Hall but that he personally had voted against the motion, which was passed 34/10. However the Lottery Fund is being approached for further funding as estimated costs have risen from £4m to £20m over two years and he felt the long term costs were not viable.

He also reported that restructuring of the Council is being considered, which could affect two senior management posts, with potential cost and efficiency improvements.



6 Treasures Report.

a) Accounts to date

The Clerk reported that little had changed since the previous meeting apart from income of £0.98 (interest) and expenditure of £17.63 (safe custody charge)

b) The Chair indicated that a copy of the external auditors certification of the accounts should be displayed in a public place (i.e. the Village Hall notice board)



7 Planning Applications received for Consultation.



Applications

a) The Hollies - 6.44.40.A.FUL

Erection of rear conservatory - no objections

b) The Potteries - 6.44.95.D.FUL

Conversion & extension of surplus pottery buildings to form two dwellings - no objections

c) Hollin Hall - 6.44.150.G.PNA

Cladding of outbuildings - no objections.

Decisions

None



Appeals

None



8 Roads and Footpaths

a) Pottery Lane

The Chair and the Clerk read out letters sent from Mrs. Holroyd and Mrs. Barber to the Divisional Engineer, Highways, regarding the state of Pottery Lane and the replies received. It was confirmed that road resurfacing would be carried out this summer and that the delay had been caused by lack of funds in the year 2004/05. Due to budgetary restrictions resurfacing is only normally carried out every fifteen years.

The good news is that, after much delay, the flooding problems at Field Cottage have been taken care of and are at an end.



b) Knaresborough Road

The proposed repairs to Knaresborough Road, due to be carried out in October, were, for reasons unknown, abandoned.



9 Village Hall.

Cllr. Orme reported that work is on apace in and around the village hall after donations of £5741.00 and a further £3906.00 from NYCC.

Cllr. Wardle asked for, and received, a vote of thanks from the Parish Council to all those who have given time, effort and donations to keep the hall going.



10 Quarry Moor.

Cllr Wardle updated the Council on the latest happenings at Quarry Moor. English Nature has donated a sum of £70,000.00 and work has already commenced to improve the facilities. Much of the safety work has been completed on the North West corner and a contract is out for upgrading the perimeter path to allow wheelchair access. The hall, at present in a terrible state, will be modernized, with disabled access, and be available for educational programs centered on Quarry Moor. A major launch is to be announced for 18th March, 2005.



11 North Yorkshire Strategic Partnership
Cllr. Jowitt questioned the necessity for such an expensive brochure announcing the Consultation Draft for North Yorkshire Together and queried the cost and benefits to local taxpayers. She also suggested that the web could be used more efficiently and be more cost effective. However Cllr. Richardson suggested that the main aim of the report was to encourage local regeneration which must be regarded as an urgent priority.



12 Quality Council
Cllr. Edmonstone suggested to the meeting that Littlethorpe Parish Council should consider becoming accredited to the Quality Council Scheme. He is aware that other local parishes have recently become involved in the scheme but the meeting had little knowledge of the criteria required, the actual benefits and costs that might occur. The Clerk was asked to make further enquiries at Harrogate Borough Council and report back the Councillors before the next meeting.



13 Railway Restoration
The proposed railway restoration was briefly discussed, as it seems that a technical survey is going ahead, but on which route is unknown. The Clerk was asked to contact the Passenger Transport Officer at Northallerton to find out exactly which route is being surveyed and what this might entail.

The Chair read out a recent newspaper report, which highlighted the lack of passenger use of the Leeds-Harrogate-York route that must make the rationale of restoration more suspect. Although little new has occurred recently he reminded the members to remain vigilant as any restoration would have a major impact on Littlethorpe.



14 Questions from floor

None



15 Urgent Business
The chair read out a letter received from the Village Hall Committee regarding the Parish Council representative on their Committee. After some discussion it was decided that the subject should be referred to the Monitoring Officer at HBC for further advice and that the matter should not be discussed further at this meeting.

The Clerk was requested to ensure that the draft minutes for Parish Meetings should be made available to councilors within 14 days of the meeting.

He also requested that a copy of the Clerks contract be made available for him to read.

Chris Laker reported that he is hard at work repairing the village seat and it should be back in place soon.

The Chair requested that a copy of the Clerks contract be made available for Parish Councillors to read

It was confirmed that the Clerk should make Parish Council contributions to Roundabout (drawing on draft minutes) rather than the chair.

The Chair highlighted the importance of work commencing on the Pinfold prior to the end of March 2006, otherwise financial support from H.B.C. may be lost. The Clerk was urged to liase with the builder, Mr. Walden, and Mr Peter Fisher of H.B.C.

The Chair noted that in the minutes of the Parish Council meeting of 25th May, 2004 had stated that All correspondence written on behalf of the Parish Council should be passed before the Chair before being sent out and that this was not happening. The Clerk was advised to remedy the situation.



16 Dates of next meetings



Tuesday 22nd March 2005

Tuesday 24th May 2005 - Annual Parish

Tuesday 14th June 2005 - AGM

Tuesday 2nd August 2005 - tbc

Tuesday 11th October 2005





Meeting closed at 9.55 pm. Back to top