KIRBY HILL & DISTRICT PARISH COUNCIL

(Incorporating: Kirby Hill, Milby,Thornton Bridge, Humberton and Ellenthorpe)

 

A meeting of the above Parish Council was held on 11th September 2006 in the Coronation Hall, Milby, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972, due notice having been given.  The meeting opened at 7.15 pm.

 

Present:  Cllrs. Smailes [Chairman], Graham,  Lister, McKenzie, Merson, Parr, Wilkinson

 

1.            Apologies:   Cllr John Helliwell, CCllr John Watson, DCllr Nick Wilson, PC Neil Waite

 

2.         Code of Conduct:  Cllr Wilkinson declared interests in items  7a ,7b, 8c and 8e. Cllr Lister an interest in item 7j.

 

3.            Minutes  of the previous meetings on 10th July 2006 & 24th July 2006  had been copied and distributed prior to this meeting. Cllrs accepted them as a true record  and they were duly signed.

 

4.            Finance & Settlement of Accounts

a)      The accounts, as of 11 Sept 2006, stood at £1,621.92

b)      Rent of room…to pay  (x2)      ………….      £11.00

c)      Clerk’s honorarium Jul/Aug 2006 to pay        £80.00

 

5.            Correspondence

a)      NYCC – Proposed Infrastructure Improvements. Ripon/BB/York bus route

Discussed by councillors at special meeting on 24th July and resulting comments submitted by clerk to NYCC. Email acknowledgement confirmed councillors’ wishes but revised plan still to be received. Stop no.14 to be moved nearer junction with Leeming Lane, beside bench on green.  Stop outside school confirmed as ‘hail and ride’ only.

b)      HBC- Gambling Act consultation-Statement of Licensing Policy

Statement available on HBC website. Comments on draft policy to be submitted by 6 October. Hard copy of policy available in BB Library.

c)      HBC – Parish Consultation Meetings           

KHPC in Group 2 meeting on 4th October.  No items put forward for agenda.  Cllr Graham volunteered to attend meeting as observer. ACTION CLLR GRAHAM

d)      HBC -Discounted Home Ownership – Prospect House Farm – Dunsforth.  Kirby Hill listed as qualifying parish and adverts on noticeboards.  Clerk to check with HBC on whether this should have been Kirby Hall, not Kirby Hill.

e)      HBC – LDF  Suppl. Planning Docs Open Space Provision/Village Halls.

New system coming into operation for Commuted Sums/106 monies – both for open space provision and for village halls.  Documents available on HBC website and training for clerks/councillors to be given shortly. Clerk will attend.

ACTION CLERK

f)        HBC Performance Plan 2006/7 - 

Circulated in meeting for information.

g)      HBC Mayor’s Parlour

Cllrs are reminded by Mayor’s letter that Mayor is for whole district not just Harrogate and are asked to consider events etc. at which Mayor’s presence might be appropriate.

 

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h)      Affordable Rural Housing – Seminar for landowners                                   Cllrs were asked to consider giving HBC the names of local landowners who might be interested in this seminar on 10th October.  No names were put forward.

i)        HBC Improving Access to Council Housing

Councillors completed questionnaire as far as they felt qualified to do so. Requested that lower age limit of 60 be maintained on properties 9-14 Church View, Kirby Hill. Clerk to submit questionnaire to HBC with note saying Cllrs felt ill qualified to answer all questions.                           ACTION CLERK

j)        HBC – Casual Vacancy for Councillor Kirby Hill Parish

Confirmation that Council can now co-opt to Gareth Owens’ vacancy. Cllr McKenzie informed Chairman in writing that he wished to resign as Councillor for Thornton Bridge.  Peter McKenzie was then co-opted by the Council to the Kirby Hill vacancy and duly signed the declaration of acceptance.  Clerk to inform HBC of co-option and new vacancy in Thornton Bridge Parish. 

                                                ACTION CLERK

k)     NYCC – Minerals & Waste Development SCI (Statement of

      Community   Involvement)

      The SCI is available to view at BB Library and on NYCC website. It sets  

      out the consultation process to be followed as the Minerals and Waste  

      Development Plan is to be formulated over the next months/years.

      The SCI was formally adopted in July.

l)        NYCC – County Area Committee Harrogate District

Notice of meeting on 14th September. On noticeboards

m)    Hambleton District Council – LDF documents.

Available from Clerk if any councillor wishes to view.

 

6.            Councillors’ /Clerk’s Reports

a)      Police liaison. Cllr Wilkinson  reported.

Crime figures down again.  Local police had been drafted into the forces 

patrolling Drax.  Scheduled talk on automatic number recognition had not gone 

ahead.

b)      Joint Parish Council.  Clerk reported. Next meets 14 September. ‘Vacancy’ for a second KHPC Councillor following Gareth Owens’ resignation.  Cllr McKenzie volunteered but was unable to attend forthcoming meeting.  Cllr Parr said he may be able to go in Cllr McKenzie’s place

c)      Yore Vision. Clerk reported that the St James Square project had run into trouble funding the planning stages. The Yorkshire Forward funding could be applied to capital aspects only. Yore Vision was holding a Conference on 12 th October at BB High School on Youth Issues. Local Parish Councils were invited to send representatives. Cllr Merson volunteered to attend.                                                                                                    ACTION CLLR MERSON

d)      Internal Audit. Clerk and Chairman had attended and the meeting had gone well.  KHPC audit done by Skelton.  Subsequent query from Mazars about ‘irregular’ accounting of loan repayments on Coronation Hall but not serious.  Mazars return still to be received so not clear at this point what the irregularity is.

 

7.            Ongoing and other matters

 

a)      B6265 Lay-by.  Cllr Parr had been unable to obtain documentation from Gareth Owens.  Clerk reported on email received recently from County Cllr John Watson which had attached a letter from John to Yvonne Jacobs in January 2006 in which he held out very little hope for movement on this owing to the sums involved and

 

 

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     NYCC priorities. Cllr Parr questioned the £38k. original quote and it was

     proposed that the clerk should attempt to obtain an itemised breakdown of this

     sum so that the council is better informed when raising this matter again (CCllr

     Watson having suggested that it was still worth raising this matter routinely every

     year)                                                                                        ACTION CLERK

     

b)      MSA – Clerk read the letter from Mr Prosser (HBC) which indicated that HBC was using DCllr Wilson as the main point of contact between itself and KHPC on this issue.  The letter also attached a memo that indicated unofficially that the position was more hopeful following discussions between promoters of the two sites (Kirby Hill and Kirk Deighton) and that nothing  really stood in the way of work starting on the Kirk Deighton site for which planning permission had been granted.

c)      Village Design Statement. (VDS)

Nothing to report.  Cllrs were concerned that the momentum on this risked evaporating and did not want to see wasted all the good work done by Gareth Owens and his team. Clerk to write to Gareth Owens to ask about current status of the project and to urge the VDS group to submit a report to the next Parish Council meeting on 13th November.                           ACTION CLERK

d)      Play Area – 106 Monies.  Clerk summarised the latest ‘balance sheet’ of monies held by HBC on Kirby Hill’s behalf.( £13,300, mostly with no date limit but around   £1300 having to be used by May 2008.) 

Cllr Parr asked about the current position regarding the acquisition of a ‘kickabout’ area in Kirby Hill, following earlier discussions with Mr Hardcastle of HBC and with representatives of landowners.  Cllrs agreed that the most suitable of the three sites then under consideration was the one south of Church Lane opposite the south door to the Church. Cllr Parr recommended other councillors to look at the kickabout areas provided in Marton-le-Moor and Skelton as these had no high fences and were similar to what was being sought in Kirby Hill.  Clerk to re-open discussions with representatives of Rooker Hill Trust.                                      ACTION CLERK

e)      Parking/Speeding – Leeming Lane  Clerk reported on progress made so far by Langthorpe PC’s clerk with Ken Major (NYCC Highways) who was now urging the Police Traffic Dept. to reduce the speed limit to 30mph along this stretch of Leeming Lane.  KHPC clerk had been supporting Langthorpe with letters to Highways and to the Police Traffic Dept. in Skipton.  A response from the police in Skipton is now being chased.

A letter had been received from a Kirby Hill resident complaining of a near accident on 16 August caused by cars parked on the brow of the hill outside Hill Top cottages.  Clerk to respond to resident and to ask police to contact the Hill Top residents again.                          ACTION CLERK

f)       Dog Waste bins – no progress. Ongoing. Agreed by Cllrs that bin still required.

g)      Village Green stop valves – Yorks Water’s contractor (Morrisons) had done some work on valves but not the correct ones. Clerk has been informed they are returning soon to deal with the two raised valves on the green.  The redundant concrete SV post near the war memorial has been removed.

h)      War Memorial – wreaths.  The chairman had consulted Cllr Craggs (BBTC and

British Legion) but despite some sympathy among councillors for the Chairman’s view that wreaths should be recycled it was agreed to leave the situation as it is but perhaps clear wreaths away before the Palm Sunday procession.

 

 

 

 

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i)        Grass Cutting and Tree lopping -  Cllr Parr expressed concern about the poor    

standard of grass cutting this year on the green.  There had been only two cuts in

the past 6 weeks, which is insufficient especially when the grass is not collected.

A strong weedkiller had also been used haphazardly around obstacles leaving

unsightly marks as it had not been done neatly. The current ‘letter of agreement’

with the contractor stipulates 16 cuts a year and there was doubt as to whether

this was truly being carried out, although no-one had been counting.  Cllrs generally thought that the council was not getting value for money. The clerk

was asked to write to the contractor (Aidan Foster, but work currently being done

in Aidan’s absence by his son-in-law) to express dissatisfaction with the service.

Cllr Wilkinson volunteered to trim the bases and trunks of the lime trees on the

green and it was agreed to leave any decision on lopping the tops until after

Christmas.

ACTION CLERK

j)        Kirby Hill/Milby Footpaths – Andy Hunter of NYCC had written to the clerk to

say that the proposed alternative N-S route reported as put to NYCC by Mr David

Lister had not in fact yet been received at Northallerton. The clerk will write to

Mr Hunter again.                                                                            ACTION CLERK

k)      Hedge on Green by Old School – Cllrs were concerned that this was becoming

very unkempt and overgrowing onto the Green, making mowing difficult and

presenting a very untidy backdrop to the War Memorial.  The clerk was asked to

write to the owner of the Old School to try and improve the situation.

ACTION CLERK

l)        Thornton Bridge Village Sign(s) – The clerk had written to NYCC Highways to

obtain a formal quote for basis signage.  The oral quote had been ‘in region of’

£150 per sign.  The residents in Thornton Bridge who made the original request

had not yet replied to the clerk’s letter asking them for their views on positioning

etc.

 

8.            Planning

 

a)      Newman – Crown Farm Milby  6.57.15.D.FUL  05/00734/FUL Con

Conv. Of farm bldgs.  PENDING DECISION

b)      Crown Estate – Thornton Bridge 6.36.6.B.FUL  05/01597/FUL

Refurb&Extension agric bldgs DEFERRED FOR APPROVAL BY HEAD OF PLANNING

c)      Heather Ive Assoc. Outline Applic for MSA 6.47.52.A.OUT  97/00042/FTDPP  APP/E2734/A/97/285555  ONGOING

d)      Dimbleby – 1 The Grange Kirby Hill  6.47.78.FUL  06/02808/FUL

Erec of rear conservatory  GRANTED

e)      Lambert – 50 St John’s Walk Kirby Hill  6.47.79 FUL 06/02980/FUL

Erec of replacement garage  GRANTED

f)       Russell Hume Factory Shop – Clerk to contact Planning Enforcement Officer to ask for ‘Change of Use’ investigation.                   ACTION CLERK

 

The meeting closed at 9.30pm NEXT MEETING    Monday 13 November  7.15pm

 

Martin Rae, Clerk, 12 September 2006

 

 

 

 

SIGNED………………………………………………………DATE……………………

 

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