Minutes of
held on Thursday 25th
March 2010 in the Village Hall
Present: Cllrs.
Burns (Chairman), Handley, Hird,
Mason, Salrein, and Whitworth; District Councillor Camacho, PC P McClurg
In attendance: The Clerk.
Apologies: District Cllr.
1.
Declarations of interest (if any) re this meeting; signing of
Declarations Book; changes to be updated on Register of Members’ Interests
There were no Declarations of Interest.
2.
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 25th
February 2010
The Minutes for the above mentioned meeting were circulated to all councillors prior to this meeting and taken as read.
Resolved
The Minutes for
the above meeting 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: see attached conditions
There were no public questions or
statements.
4.
Matters Arising from the Minutes of 25th
February 2010, if not on this Agenda
Item 6h para 2 Finance Matters: Insurance
for Very Old and Separate Churchyard: Cllr Whitworth reported no feedback yet
received from the PCC regarding which of the Parish Council or the PCC should
contact relatives of those people whose headstones are requiring attention.
5.
Police matters
PC McClurg reported there was nothing of
note to record for
6.
Finance Matters
a) Bank balances, including receipts as at 19th
March 2010
The Clerk
presented the bank balances as at 19th February 2010, as the most
recent statement was not received in time to prepare this evening’s balances.
The statement includes a schedule of commitments and payments. (Appendix 1)
The majority of the year-end balance is to
be carried forward to 2010-11 for various commitments.
Councillors requested an explanation of the
line ‘Village Transport Needs Survey’ and computer costs:
£202 was the sum left over after expenses
were paid to conduct surveys into local transport provision and needs at the
end of 2004, and which has not been reclaimed by NYCC.
Resolved
To absorb the sum of £202 in to the parish
council’s account for use by the local community, if it has not been reclaimed
by 31st March 2011.
The quarterly computer costs include: use
of computer, broadband internet access (including email), hardware and software
support, peripherals including paper, ink, and discs. The decision to use this
option was taken in the light of the then costs of providing a separate
computer, along with separate hardware and software support, broadband/internet
access, and peripherals. The current cost is the equivalent of approximately
£38 per month, excluding VAT.
b) Payments of budgeted and non budgeted items
To authorise
payments on behalf of the Parish Council as per Appendix 1, following
inspection of accounts payable by Cllr. Handley
c) Statutory Annual Return and annual accounts
for ye 31.3.10: internal
audit 5th-17th May 2010; finance committee meeting
The draft annual account for the year ended
are required for the internal audit due to
take place between 5th and 17th May; the final
accounts and statutory annual return are to be submitted to the external
auditor by latest 30th June.
It was
Resolved
To fix a finance committee meeting date outside
this meeting to take place before the internal audit (and preferably before the
next monthly meeting).
7.
Reports
District Councillor Camacho reported the Craven District Council
budget ‘hole’ reported two years ago is at the point of being rectified. CDC is looking to return funds to reserves by
March 2011.
Planning Matters:
Councillors expressed concern regarding the recent planning permission granted
to
Cllr Camacho announced he
would not be seeking re-election at the local council elections, as it is a
suitable time for him to step down, allowing another person to make
contributions to the local community.
8.10pm Cllr Camacho left the meeting
Parish Councillors Cllr Salrein again raised the matter of
the village shop’s handling of the post office counter vacancy advertising (see
previous minutes 15 February 2010), as she considered the parish council had
every right to be actively involved in the village shop’s management as the
village shop is a community-run shop.
The chairman clarified the parish council was not a member of the shop’s
management committee, which nonetheless consists of members of the community,
and that the matter should be left to the shop’s management committee to deal
with.
Clerk,
YLCA
There
were no reports from the Clerk, other than those already on the agenda.
Woodland
Trust: no report.
Village Hall
Committee: a report from
the Committee chairman was circulated prior to the meeting and taken as read
(see appendix 2); the events dates were noted.
The Annual Accounts were also noted, and are included in the appendix.
Joint
Access and Rights of Way Committee: Footpath No 1 report by D Gibson
Cllr
Mason reported she had spoken to the landowner, who disagrees with the
Definitive Footpath Map showing the route of Footpath No 1 going to the south
of the slurry tank, then through the main farmyard. Rather he states the footpath has ‘always’
taken a route north of both the tank and farm yard, then to the field gate on
to Longber Lane.
Resolved
A copy
of the section of the footpath in question to be sent to the landowner; the
Clerk to make enquiries about a footpath diversion process, in case the
landowner accepts the stated route, and decides to pursue a diversion rather
than a legal challenge.
Bentham
Common Lands Charity
Cllr Mason reported she
had not yet had a response to her letter of complaint about BCLC, sent to the
Charity Commission sometime last month (February 2010).
8.
Annual Parish Meeting
Date, speaker, venue, local publicity
The meeting will be on Thursday 22nd
April at 7pm, in the Village Hall; The Energy Saving Trust has agreed to send a
representative to speak about the Trust’s work, and how the community both
individually and collectively can reduce its energy consumption (and increase
its savings).
Resolved
The Clerk to prepare both posters and
individual publicity slips for the meeting, together with an email to
residents, about the evening.
Councillors to assist with leaflet drop nearer to date.
9.
Recreation Field
a) Play Area Maintenance (note: revised BS EN
1176 re surfaces); replacement swing prices
The Clerk obtained the following prices:
Playdale: (flat Bumper seats swings)
CH22B £40.89 each plus £20
delivery and VAT
Total: £96.09 + delivery =
£116.09
Wicksteed: cradle swing seats
£123.48 per swing (£98 x 1.175 = £115.15 +
carriage £8.33)
Total: ££230.30 + delivery = £246.96
Resolved
To purchase the above swing seats, after checking if they need to be
installed by a ‘qualified’ installer, or can be installed by a local competent work
person.
Further discussion concerning the removal of the tractor tyre swing in
the light of the revised safety standard as outlined in February issue of The
Clerk, circulated prior to this meeting:
The revision of BS EN 1176 now allows well maintained grass as a
suitable impact attenuating surface for falls of up to 1500mm (4ft 11in).
There is a large range of equipment with fall heights of less than
1500mm and thus considerable savings can be made on the costs of surfacing.
Now equipment that has no forced movement (normally equipment that does
not move such as balance beams etc) with a fall height of less than 600mm does
not need an impact attenuating surface at all.
So it is acceptable to position these on hard surfaces such as tarmac.
You should ask your supplier to confirm such equipment has no forced movement
before installing. etc.
It was noted by Cllr Mason that the tractor tyre swing was well-used,
particularly by teenagers; its removal would be a loss to that group of users.
A short discussion followed after which it was:
Resolved
To postpone the tractor tyre swing’s removal until after the annual
safety inspection report is received.
b) Additional wording for sign on main gate
The Clerk advised it
would be appropriate to amend the signage on the recreation Field’s main gate
to include ‘no overnight camping’ and ‘no livestock’, following incidents in
the locality during the last twelve months.
Resolved
To obtain quotes for
and amend the gate’s sign to include the above words, having checked the
appropriate wording.
10.
Village Green
YLCA advice
The Clerk contacted the YLCA for advice
regarding appropriating land on behalf of the Parish. The following advice was received:
“Parish
councils may ‘acquire’ land which they believe to the ownerless through the
process of adverse possession. Please find a legal Topic Note attached as
produced by the National Association of Local Councils.
If the parish council believes that the
land is ownerless it may initiate the adverse possession process by erecting
signage and excluding all others from using the land during the period of time
that the council maintains it and retains a record of maintenance. At any time,
a person believing him/herself to be the rightful owner can lodge a challenge
against the parish council but as part of that challenge must be able to show
proof of ownership if he/she is to prevent the process from continuing.
One of the issues that the council may have
to deal with is whether public access is currently permitted on the land which
it wishes to adversely possess. It is imperative that as part of the
process, the council excludes members of the public and it is advised that the
land is fenced or a boundary of some kind is provided to distinctly mark the
land which is being maintained and ultimately possessed.
In the light of the above advice it was:
Resolved
To write to Hornby Castle enquiring if a
map of the Village Green as relinquished to Burton in Lonsdale Parish Council
in the late 1960s still exists, and if the Parish Council is able to have a
copy.
In the meantime, the Parish Council will
take no further action except to monitor use of the strip of land to the east
of the Village Green (as outlined in the NYCC definitive map V.G.58).
11.
Craven District Council
a) Planning Matters (if any)
There no specific planning matters to
report.
b) Community Governance Review: consideration of proposals re
The Clerk circulated an electronic copy of
the Review data prior to the meeting, highlighting the emergence of what might
be significant changes during the last few years, namely the decline in both
the number of households and electoral register numbers. These numbers are not predicted to increase
within the next five years sufficiently to make good the decline. A possible
reason for the decline may be recent sales of local/smaller properties to
people using them as occasional holiday homes, triggering a decline in permanent
residents, and other aspect of the community.
It was agreed the council would not be able
to take any direct action. However,
further changes should be monitored closely.
c) Local Council Elections: timetable
The Clerk circulated prior
to the meeting a timetable of events regarding the local and forthcoming
General Election. If the General
Election is called for 6th May, the parish council elections will be
re-scheduled for 27th May. This
in turn will impact on the Annual Parish Council Meeting (see below).
d) Annual Parish Council Meeting: arrangements re date, venue etc.
Resolved
To call the Annual Parish Council Meeting
for 10th June 2010, depending on whether the General Election date
affects the parish council elections date. The first meeting date of the new
parish council to be arranged at a later date.
e) Local Standards Committee: nominations for
parish representatives
Resolved
There are to be no
nominations from this parish council.
12.
a) Highways:
i) repairs to
The Clerk reported United Utilities have
surveyed the sewer pipe at the junction and have found no faults with the pipe.
The Clerk contacted NYCC again last month, receiving a reply:
“It
has been indicated …. that some monies may be available to attend to repairs on
A councillor mentioned a driver’s car tyre
was damaged recently as a result of driving over the protruding manhole cover
corner left proud as the road subsides around it.
Resolved
To contact NYCC Highways requesting the
repairs be made as a matter of urgency; to thank United Utilities for the
survey work urging pressure be brought to bear on NYCC, and expressing concern
for the future of the sewer pipe in the junction as the road subsides on a
regular basis.
ii) dropped kerb at Bungalows, The Croft
NYCC has offered another site visit; the
Clerk will be arranging this in the next few days.
iii) future bad weather road gritting in
The Clerk has received the following
response to a request to include the bus route through
“All
requests for alterations to our winter service treatment regime are considered
in the summer and officer recommendations are then reported to the Executive
Members for approval. I will consider the Parish Council's request to upgrade
The
A687 is already a Priority 1 road so any perceived lack of treatment is not due
to its priority. This road is treated prior to freezing road surface
temperatures so hoar frost should not form and in general neither should ice,
although this latter depends on the quantity of water on the road which can be
too much for salt to deal with after a prolonged period of rain or if snow has
melted during the day followed by a frost. Salt does not melt snow on contact
leading to the commonly held view that 'the roads have not been gritted' simply
because snow settles on them. It requires the action of traffic to mix snow
with salt for it to work; this occasionally being beyond the capabilities of some
vehicles, especially unladen lorries leading to long tailbacks as happened on
the A65 on the evening of 17 December. Even then, the amount of salt required
to melt snow is much greater than that required to deal with ice and frost due
to the greater volume of embodied water, so several applications are often
necessary, particularly as temperatures approach or go below -5C.
I
wasn't aware of any particular problems on this road so if the above general
information does not provide an answer then please let me have some details
I'll check our records and get back to you.”
iv)Speed matrix sign for
The Clerk received the following reply on
11th February to a request for information regarding the purchase of
a mobile speed matrix sign:
“….been
advised that the protocol on mobile matrix signs will be produced by the end of
April. I have a long-standing commitment to deploy one of these in
This issue was also raised last night by a school governor at the
In view of the above potential developments I'd be grateful if the Parish
Council could wait a little longer to see if they do the trick.”
13.
Correspondence
There were no urgent items of
correspondence.
14.
Items to be included by Clerk in press
release re the meeting
The Clerk will prepare a report for the
local newspapers. It was noted only one
of the three newspapers had published the previous report, some two weeks after
it was submitted.
15.
Date, time and venue of next monthly Parish
Council Meeting
The next monthly meeting will take place on
Thursday 22nd April immediately following the Annual Parish Meeting.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm.
Signed…………………………… Dated …………………
Appendix 1
|
Bank
Balances, Commitments, Receipts and Payments March 2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
NatWest
Current Account at 19.02.10 |
300.00 |
|
NatWest
Business Reserve Account at 19.02.10 |
11,551.33 |
|
Receipts
|
0.00 |
|
NatWest
Bonus Saver Account at 05.03.10 |
7,196.06 |
|
Receipts interest & bonus 15.20 |
|
|
|
19,047.39 |
|
Unpresented
cheque no. 1487 £75 |
75.00 |
|
Unpresented
cheques from February |
366.34 |
|
|
18,606.05 |
|
Commitments
at 19th March 2010 |
|
|
Contingency
Fund |
2,000.00 |
|
Very Old
& Separate Churchyard Lych Gate Restoration (200+500) |
700.00 |
|
VOSCY
Safety Notice |
150.00 |
|
VOSCY
memorial safety inspections |
600.00 |
|
Burton
Regeneration Group set aside in 2005/6, 2006/7 |
3,334.00 |
|
Street
Lighting renewals (2006/7; 2008/9) |
2,000.00 |
|
Clerk's
Retirement Gratuity & pension provision (2007/8; 2008/9) |
836.00 |
|
Carried
Forward from 2006/7 budget/precept: |
|
|
Play Equipment |
900.00 |
|
Carried
Forward from 2007/8 budget/precept |
|
|
Travel |
50.00 |
|
Carried
Forward from 2008/9 budget/precept: |
|
|
Street Light Maintenance re-sched for 2009-10 |
580.00 |
|
Minute Book Binding |
50.00 |
|
Parish Plan Expenses |
100.00 |
|
Village
Transport Needs Survey grant money |
202.00 |
|
2009-10
Budget remaining at 19.11.09: approx. inc unspent items |
3,111.00 |
|
|
14,613.00 |
|
Cash at Bank 31.03.10 (forecast) |
3,993.05 |
|
Parish
Council - Payments March 2010 |
|
|
1493 J
Burns (print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
1494 S
Handley (print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
1495 K
Salrein (print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
1496 V
Hird (print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
1497 E A
Whitworth (print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
1498 M Mason
(print allowance 2009-10) |
35.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1501 E.On
(street lighting 1.01.10 - 31.03.10)) |
159.55 |
|
1502
Gregory & Co (computer sers Mar qtr 2010) |
135.13 |
|
1503 |
160.00 |
|
1504 S
Gregory (Clerks salary & expenses Jan-Mar 2010) |
315.58 |
|
|
980.26 |
Appendix 2
Village Hall News March 2010
• Refurbishments: A standard staircase has been
installed to the mezzanine and the floor space at that level has been extended
up to the side of the stairwell. This makes it easier and safer to retrieve
extra chairs and to access the boiler. The boiler has been serviced and the
temperature of radiators increased. For the winter period the heating has been
set to come on 8.30-9am and 6.30-8pm. If it is needed outside these times then
users need to turn it on by increasing the thermostat temperature to 21C and it
will run for an hour before resetting; this can be repeated. On leaving, please
reset the temperature to 10C.
• IT Sessions: The two sessions on 15 February
were enjoyed by the groups who came, essentially in a question and answer
format that enabled everyone to clarify the operations that they most wanted to
use. These included basic security, document editing, taking digital photos,
uploading the image files and emailing files as attachments. Also, we looked at
a basic spreadsheet for home accounts, this and a summary document are
available on our website.
• Village Hall AGM: This was held on Monday 22
February and the papers for it, including Chairman’s Report and audited
accounts are available for download from the VH webpage. The same officers were
re-elected for the coming year.
• Duck Race: Winning entries were 39, 3, 664 in
the Duck Race on 14 March.
• Charity Coffee Morning: The Village Hall
Charity Coffee Morning with Table Top Sale Saturday 27 March in aid of
Registered Charities has tables booked by Air Ambulance, All Saints Church,
Bentham Cancer Support Group, Bentham Pet Rescue, Burton In Lonsdale WI, Burton
Under Fives, NSPCC.
• Spring Plant
• The Swarm: Our local blues band The Swarm,
will be giving a Village Hall Benefit Gig on 24 April. This will be a
Jacobs Join event and tickets will be available at £6. For more information on
the band see The Swarm on Facebook or contact them by email: blueswithasting@mobileme.com
• News of the above events, contacts and further information can be found
on our webpage: http://northcravenhistoricalresearch.co.uk/BVH/BurtonVH.htm and
there is also an email link to check availability for booking requests.
Frances Dodson
Year End Accounts 2008/2009
