Notice of a Meeting held by
between 7.30pm and 9.45pm in the Village Hall
Present: Cllrs.
Burns (Chairman), Hartley,
Hird, Mason, Salrein and Whitworth; District Cllr Camacho.
In attendance: The Clerk.
Apologies: Cllr Handley, Dist Cllr
1.
Declarations of interest (if any) re this meeting; signing of
Declarations Book;
changes to be updated on Register of Members’
Interests
Item
9
2.
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 29th
January 2009
The Minutes for the above meeting were circulated to all councillors prior to this meeting and taken as read.
The Minutes for
the meeting of 29th January 2009 were accepted as a fair
record. The Chairman signed and dated
the Minutes. Copies of the Minutes were made available for the Village Hall
Notice Board.
3.
Public Questions or Statements. There were none.
4.
Matters Arising from the Minutes of, if not on this Agenda
Item 7 Reports: Bentham Common Lands Charity:
Cllr Mason wished it to be noted the minutes of the 16th December
2008 meeting of Bentham Common Lands Charity did not reflect accurately what
occurred, and her continuing wish to see matters conducted in the correct legal
manner.
It was agreed to receive District Cllr
Camacho’s report, in view of his commitments elsewhere following this meeting.
District Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Camacho reported he is checking the
status of the August 2008 request to extend planning permission for the static
caravan at the Waterside Potteries Clay Barn Field site.
Craven District Council has experienced
budget deficits for various reasons, including incorrect accounting practices;
this was reported at length in the Craven Herald newspaper. The Lib Dems have
asked many questions, but to no avail as those responsible have long since left
CDC’s employ. To generate/save money
Craven District Council will be: making Bentham car parks ‘pay and display’;
the Bentham public lavatory will be shut, as elsewhere in the district; the
visiting CDC officer (visits Bentham/Ingleton on Mondays) will be dispensed
with. Cllr Camacho suggested the Parish
Council writes a letter of protest at the cuts, which although small, in
monetary terms, have a wide effect on local residents.
Additionally, there are a series of small
land disposals within the district during the coming months, although none
actually in
Chapel Lane junction: Cllr Camacho
suggested contacted United Utilities to alert the company of the subsidence
surrounding its mains sewer (main one for village).
5.
Police matters There were none reported.
6.
Finance Matters
a)
Bank
balances as at 19th February 2009
The Clerk
presented the bank balances as at 19th January 2009 with a schedule
of commitments and payments. (Appendix 1)
b)
Payments
of budgeted and non budgeted items
Resolved
To authorise
payments on behalf of the Parish Council as per Appendix 1
The Clerk
reminded Councillors the annual accounts will be prepared during April,
internally audited by Yorkshire Audit in May, to meet new deadline of 30th
June for submission to the external auditor.
7.
Reports
County,
District and Parish Councillors (inc. land adjacent to Greta House)
There were no reports from County, nor
further reports from District Councillors.
Parish Councillors
Cllr Salrein raised the matter of the
triangle of land between the track to Greeta House and Greta Mount Farm and
Barn, known as Mill Hill. Cllr Salrein opined Mill Hill should not be in the
lease of Bentham Common Lands Charity land to the Woodland Trust as it belongs
to
Cllr Burns reported the road verge between
Clerk
The Village Shop trustees have offered to
put the parish Council Notice Board on the side of the (mobile) newspaper store
in front of the shop. It was:
Resolved
To thank the Trustees for the offer, and
leave the Notice Board in its current position, outside 40 High Street, and to
include a small notice to the same effect in The Burtonian.
The final copy of the lease for Recreation
field land to the Bowling Club has been received by the Clerk and will be kept
in the Parish Council records. It was
noted that the Bentham office of solicitors Oglethorpe, Sturton and Gillibrand
is closing as of the end of the month; clients will be transferred to the
Kirkby Lonsdale office.
YLCA:
no report
Woodland
Trust
The Clerk reported about 10 or 12 trees on
the Mill Hill land have either been cut down completely or had major work done
by a sub-contractor on direction of the Woodland Trust’s area manager. In view of the query as to ownership (see
Parish Councillors reports above) the WT area manager has been contacted; as
yet there is no response.
Village
Hall Committee
Cllr Salrein reported the new sound system
has again been repaired.
Joint
Access and Rights of Way Committee
It was agreed to ask David Gibson, the
area’s representative, for a report.
Bentham
Common Lands Charity
Cllr Mason reported there have been no
further meetings since December 2008; it appears regular meetings are not a
matter of course.
8.
Recreation Field
a)
Play Area Maintenance: cost of safety mats installation
· Cllrs Mason and Burns reported the swing
bushes and cross bars have been replaced, although the swing itself is still
missing. The new cross walk pole has
been installed; however the chains still require tightening/shortening. Cllrs mason and Burns to chase both items.
· Clerk to further enquire re safety mat
prices, together with prices for new swings.
· Clerk also to chase Ingleton AFC regarding
cost and installation of lockable post on Recreation Field car park.
b)
Balloon flight vouchers: arrangements for fund-raising
It was agreed to
bring ideas to the next meeting regarding promotion and sale of flight vouchers
for parish’s benefit.
c)
The Parish
Council’s request to BCS to carry out maintenance during the winter season
appears to have gone un-noticed. Clerk
to pursue matter.
9.
After
some discussion, it was
Resolved
To consult the contractor responsible for
previous tree maintenance work for an inspection and advice.
10.
Very Old and Separate Churchyard
Clerk
reported there had been no response to an enquiry to a local solicitor for
advice
regarding access through Harris Garth garden to the Lych gate.
11.
Annual Parish Meeting:
date, time and venue; speaker(s); traffic calming
Resolved
The Annual Parish Meeting will take place at 7.00pm on
Thursday 23rd April, in
the
Village Hall. It was
Resolved
There should be no speakers this year; local
organisations will be invited to
make
short reports to the meeting.
Resolved
To
give consideration at a later date to hold a separate meeting regarding traffic
calming
in the village, as the Annual Parish Meeting did not afford a suitable
length
of time to air views and form a strategy to improve traffic speeds through
the
village.
12.
Craven District Council
Planning
Matters: applications, permissions and refusals
There
were no district council planning matters, nor any other matters to discuss.
13.
a) Chapel /
b) Traffic Speed Survey results: feedback from
Police, and NYCC
The Clerk reported there had been no
response to date regarding the traffic speed survey results.
14.
Correspondence
There
was no urgent correspondence.
15. Items
to be included by Clerk in press release re the meeting
Following her enquiry to the Lancaster
Guardian confirming items from the October, November and January meetings were
submitted in one report, Cllr Salrein complained the Clerk was not being
efficient. The Clerk cited other council
matters rendered the press report a lower priority.
Resolved
To report the council’s approach to various
agencies about the traffic speed survey results.
16.
Date, time and venue of next monthly Parish
Council Meeting
Thursday
26th March 2009, 7.30pm, in the Village Hall.
The meeting finished at 9.20pm
Signed…………………………………. Dated……………...
Appendix
1
|
Bank Balances, Commitments and Payments for February
2009 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
NatWest Current Account at
19.02.09 |
300.00 |
||||
|
NatWest Business Reserve Account
at 19.02.09 |
7,103.02 |
||||
|
NatWest Bonus Saver Account
at 31.09.08 |
7,066.47 |
||||
|
|
|
|
14,469.49 |
||
|
Less |
Unpresented cheques |
25.00 |
|||
|
|
|
|
14,444.49 |
||
|
Commitments at 19th February
2009 |
|
||||
|
Play Equipment (from 2006/7
budget / precept) |
1,000.00 |
||||
|
Street Lighting replacements
(from 2006/7 budget / precept) |
1,000.00 |
||||
|
Contingency Fund |
2,000.00 |
||||
|
c/f from 2007-8 budget /
precept Firework
Event |
100.00 |
||||
|
c/f from 2007-8 budget Travel |
50.00 |
||||
|
Burton Regeneration Group
set aside in 2005/6, 2006/7 |
3,334.00 |
||||
|
Very Old & Separate
Churchyard Lych Gate Restoration (200 +500) |
700.00 |
||||
|
VOSCY Safety Notice |
150.00 |
||||
|
VOSCY memorial safety
inspections |
600.00 |
||||
|
Clerk's Retirement Gratuity
& pension provision starting 2007/8 |
418.00 |
||||
|
Village Transport Needs
Survey grant money |
202.00 |
||||
|
Budget remaining at 29.01.09: approx. |
2,269.00 |
||||
|
|
11,823.00 |
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|
|
|
|
|
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|
Cash at Bank 31.3.09 |
2,646.49 |
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Parish Council - Payments
February 2009 |
|
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|
1426 |
E.On (power supply,
portacabin 23/02/09)) |
13.85 |
|
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|
1427 |
Richard Thornton's |
9.02 |
|
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|
1428 |
J Pearson (re Rec Field bin
rota) |
20.00 |
|
||
|
1429 |
S. Gregory (Clerk's salary
Feb 09 20 hrs) |
164.68 |
|
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|
|
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|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
207.55 |
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