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Crofton Parish Council

 

     Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 15th December 2009.                            

 

Present;          Councillors,    Chalkley (Chair), Bennett, Duffy, Healy, Hewitt, Jacques, Makin, Ripley, Schofield, Smithson, Towns, Voros and Wrigg.

           

In attendance;                       3 members of the public

                                                District Councillors Cummings and Lodge.

 

12/128                         Receive report from West Yorkshire Police         

PC Daley presented his report for the month of November 2009.

Cllr Jacques made PC Daley aware of a report he had received about vehicles double parking outside Sainsbury’s. PC Daley advised members of the procedure taken should any vehicle be parked illegally, he would identify the owner, give a warning before issuing a fixed penalty notice should the warning be ignored.

Cllr Chalkley mentioned that Safe Scheme Officers were not taking action against cars which were causing an obstruction.

PC Daley said he would raise such matters as a public complaint and inform the NPCT that this was of much concern to the Parish Council. He was reminded that the former Library Car Park was available for short stay parking.

Cllr Ripley stated that he had received information that youths were smoking and drinking after midnight on the Hare Park Allotment site. PC Daley duly noted this. 

Having noted that the Safe Scheme report provided comparisons against the previous month, Cllr Bennett asked how this compared with the previous year.

 

12/129                         Wakefield MDC District Councillors Report

Cllr Cummings updated members on previous matters raised and provided information to enquiries made individually by Parish Councillors.

 

Of particular note was the following information received from WMDC;

 

The performance of the road drainage at the bend on Hare Park Lane has been the subject of a number of enquiries over the years. The road drainage was originally connected into the trackside drainage, but following the filling in of the old railway line the drainage was re-aligned. No records exist of the current line of the drain run and upon investigation no positive outfall can be located. An expensive excavation may not reveal a solution. A high pressure jetting tanker can bring temporary respite and improve the situation for normal rain conditions. In heavy rain the existing drainage system cannot cope and will temporarily lead to a period where water stands on the road before eventually soaking away.
Highways currently has a back log of known highway drainage trouble spots and

priority is given to flooding locations where citizen’s homes are at risk, this location is not at the top of the priority list. To improve the situation over the winter,

arrangements have been made for the location to be thoroughly cleaned to make sure the prevailing system is operating as well as possible.

 

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Coppers Lake has historically had 4200m3 of flood storage. Following consultation

with Environment Agency fisheries officers, the fish in Coppers Lake needed to be removed in order to reinstate the flood storage. Without this, flooding experienced by houses in The Avenue and Brand Hill areas of Crofton, would have been much more extensive.
WMDC Reservoirs Inspector and Engineer have given opinion to Drainage Section regarding breach or collapse mechanisms on Coppers Lake dam wall, the resultant surge wave and potential impact on residential properties downstream. In summer 2009 Drainage Section consulted Parks Section regarding draft options for dam wall failure mitigation. Surge bunds downstream of the Dam have now been discounted as ineffective, visually intrusive, potentially blighting the properties they are trying to serve and impacting on park use.
Strengthening the dam wall with a steel sheet pile, was the most expensive but most effective option and had none of the adverse impacts associated with surge bunds.

A bid for Environment Agency Local Levy flood funding was to be submitted.

If unsuccessful, capital monies from WMDC Flood Risk Reduction budget may be allocated to the project subject to priority and funding.
There are no proposals by WMDC Parks and Public Realm to desilt their Lake or reinstate their fishery, there are no other proposals for Coppers Lake or Crofton Park by Drainage Section.
Cllr Cummings was still awaiting information from Tim Johnson at Parks Development to respond to an enquiry to install fishing platforms at Coppers Lake.


Members were informed that Neighbourhood Action were planning a ‘walkabout’ for a number of areas to identify priority action (known as Grot Spots), the ‘walkabout’ for Crofton was arranged for 11th January.

Further information was provided concerning the Dept.of Transport object placed near Cambridge Crescent. It was taking readings to enable speed cameras to be installed on Doncaster Road.

Cllr Cummings also informed members that bollards had now been installed at the end of Spring Lane, to stop vehicle access to the rear of houses on Greenside Park/Court to the Community Centre.

Cllr Jacques asked if Cllr Cummings would arrange for the new cycle track to be cleared of mud which had resulted from a digging truck doing work nearby.

 

12/130                         Public Participation session

Further to the information given earlier to PC Daley about cars parking in such a way as to cause an obstruction, he was also asked to patrol Shay Lane which was another problem area.

A resident in attendance had noted the gate to the Shay Lane entrance of the Sports Pavilion, was being locked more often.

A resident asked if the Parish Council would contact WDH and request that housing priority be given to local people, he was informed that such action had occurred which resulted in a meeting to discuss housing allocation within the Village.

A resident reported that there was illegal motorbike use on land between Meadowfields Close and Richmond Court.

Another resident enquired what action could be taken against the problematic parking

of a commercial vehicle on Oak Street, the same vehicle which was originally

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reported in April 2009 (see minute 04/007). Despite the matter being reported to

VOSA and WMDC Neighbourhood Action no action had been taken.

Cllr Chalkley suggested he would contact PC Daley to discuss the matter further.

There was concern that the Slipper Public House was operating outside its licensing hours, since Cllr Lodge was on the WMDC Licensing Committee, she would make them aware of the information, but mentioned evidence would be needed to support any action. It was suggested that she also inform Police Inspector Brear.

 

12/131                         Apologies for absence          

District Councillor Isherwood

 

12/132                         Declarations of Interest

None declared

 

12/133                         Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 17th November 2009, required an addition before being signed.

 

12/134                         Discuss matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk reported that there was no further news to offer following the e-mail sent to the West Yorkshire Rural Accessibility Partnership about the withdrawal of the bus service on Pontefract Road. He informed members he had now written to the Managing Director for Arriva Yorkshire, to see if the Director of Passenger Services at Metro had contacted him as he had promised to do so.

An e-mail had been sent to the Managing Surveyors for the Nostell Estate, requesting they remove the Sunblest vehicle and other debris.

Rather than send a letter to the Referees Association concerning foul language, Cllr Chalkley had taken alternative action. He intended to place a sign in the Pavilion concerning this matter.

No response had yet been received to the e-mail sent to WMDC Parks & Public Realm concerning the petition for more facilities.

 

12/135                         Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Nothing to report

Report Village Association

Cllr Makin informed members that he had asked the Clerk to send a letter to the Club Secretary of Crofton Juniors AFC, requesting they stop using the newly installed cycle track to access the football pitch. The recently installed bollards were meant to be a deterrent to such action, however they were being ignored and vehicles were driving around them. It was suggested that the Clerk inform the WMDC Rights of Way Officer of the problem and seek a solution.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt informed members that;

He had been in further discussion with Mr Oxley of Crofton High School, regarding an allotment at Pontefract Road. The Clerk informed members that there was an existing waiting list and that the process of acquiring land back from Mr Smith would need to commence to accommodate all requests.

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Cllr Makin wanted to register his concern about tenants not adhering to the rules of their tenancy agreements and suggested action be taken to rectify the situation.

Members decided that a meeting would need to be arranged to discuss the above matters.

Cllr Hewitt stated that a delivery of stone had been received for Hare Park allotments.

Following discussion members agreed to keep the cost for an allotment tenancy the same as the previous year. Collection of tenancy money would be 23rd January 2010.

Report Parish Cemetery

Members agreed that the date for the introduction of new charges should be changed from April to January to reflect those of WMDC, the Clerk would seek confirmation that the changes were implemented by WMDC at the start of the year.

 

12/136                         Discuss Traffic issues

Following an enquiry by a resident to Wakefield MDC Road Safety to have a

pedestrian crossing in the village, they had been informed the formula used to assess

such a request would indicate a crossing was not needed. Members agreed to give their support to lobby further on this matter.

 

12/137                         Parish Leases

Nothing to report.

 

12/138                         Cleansing/Environment

It was noted that a WMDC Cleansing team were only cleaning small areas of land but not clearing other larger areas.

Cllr Duffy had observed that bin bags were being left behind the bus shelter on Doncaster Road. The Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Environment about the matter.

 

12/139                         Planning Notifications

Members raised no objections.

It was noted that the planning application number 09/01518/FUL regarding Hill Top Farm (see minute10/103), had been refused.

 

12/140                         Financial matters

Members were in agreement with the content of the monthly accounts.

The Clerk having informed members of invoices to be paid was asked by Cllr Towns to make further enquiries concerning the invoice for the Priory Field. Cllr Bennett suggested that the lease may provide some information.

                                                                                   

12/141                         Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received.

Cllr Smithson commented that having been given the information on the Plunkett Foundation at the previous Parish Council meeting, he felt the funding available was aimed at inner city areas rather than a village location. 

 

12/142                         Parish matters

The Clerk had contacted a WMDC Rights of Way Officer to establish if the private road (see minute 11/124), was a public right of way. A map had been supplied which showed that there was a Public Footpath but it did not follow the same route as the

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Private Road. The road was identified as a track, the Clerk would make further enquiries with WMDC Property Management to establish ownership of the track.

In response to the letter received from a resident who had complained about dogs on a public footpath obstructing the walk to Walton via Larkdale Farm, Cllr Chalkley had approached the owners of the dogs. He made them aware that a complaint had been received and sought their co-operation in having the dogs kept under control.

Cllr Chalkley informed members that notification had been sent to WMDC Building Services about the timing switches on the Christmas Lights not operating effectively.

Cllr Ripley informed members that he had attended a meeting with the WMDC Natural Environment Manager, concerning the proposed name change for Walton Nature Reserve to incorporate the name of Crofton. Consultation documents would be in Crofton Library by 14th January, he encouraged all in attendance to register a response as this would influence a name change.

Cllr Chalkley informed members that following recent discussions, the 1st Draft of a Parish Plan had been completed. It was agreed that a further discussion would be held on Tuesday 12th January 2010.

 

12/143                         Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting to be held on Tuesday, 19th January 2010 at 7pm in                               Crofton Parish Centre, High Street, Crofton.

 

12/144             Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

 

12/145                         Matters to be discussed in private

There were none.

 

 

Signed                                                                         Date                                               Chairman Crofton Parish Council