Crofton Parish
Council
Minutes
of the meeting held on
Tuesday
21 January 2003 in The High School at 7.00 pm.
Present: Councillors: S Bennett, T Gomersall, D
Crowcroft,
J
R Hewitt, G P Jackson, A Ripley,
G
Scargill, & J Voros
Residents: Mrs Baines, Mrs R Salt, Mr
P Jaques &
Mr G Schofield
West
Yorkshire Police: PC Raworth
The
Clerk: J F Shillitoe
Apologies: Councillors: I Beckett, P Beckett & L
Coates
The chairman, Cllr
Ripley, presided over the meeting.
03/001 Declaration of Interests in Items on the Agenda
No declarations
made.
03/002 Public Participation Session
1.
Flooding Land adjacent to
Spring Lane.
Mr Schofield
reported that the area of land adjacent to Spring Lane was badly flooded
following recent heavy rain rendering the footpath unwalkable.
It was agreed that
the Clerk contact Yorkshire Water over the matter.
2.
Pontefract Road Vehicles
parking adjacent to The Priory Centre.
Mrs Salt expressed concern over the number of vehicles parked alongside
Pontefract Road during football matches staged at The Priory Centre, enquiring
whether it would be possible to park inside the grounds adjacent to the pitch.
Cllr Bennett informed the meeting that the conditions of the lease for this land did not make any provision for parking at the centre. Cars parked alongside Pontefract Road were parked legally and all parents have been asked to be mindful of road safety when visiting the site.
3.
Crofton Community Centre
Mrs Salt asked councillors why the Community Centre doesnt feature on
Parish Council agendas and why reports of Community Centre activities and
rarely minuted.
The Chairman explained that the agendas are limited to topics in which
the Parish Council is directly involved.
The community centre has appeared on the agenda when appropriate.
Cllr Gomersall who attends Community Centre Committee meetings informed
the meeting that the committee had not met for almost a year, to place it the
agenda would therefore would have no purpose.
Any news worthy of report will be addressed under Parish Matters.
4.
Street Cleansing Cock Lane
It was reported that the condition of Cock Lane was deplorable; road sweepers have not been in the area for months perhaps years.
It was agreed that the clerk contact cleansing services.
5.
Parish Cemetery Water Supply
Mr Schofield
reported that the water tap adjacent to the garage was in need of repair.
The clerk to
arrange.
6.
Parish Cemetery Waste bins
Mr Schofield advised that the waste bin has now been emptied but the area surrounding it was still untidy.
The clerk to contact cleansing services once more.
03/003 West Yorkshire Police
PC Raworth
informed the meeting that PC Whitworth had contacted the Highways Enforcement
Officer over the condition of Church Lane.
Cllrs had seen an improvement in this area, but felt that improvements
could still be made. The clerk to
contact the enforcement officer directly.
Several vehicles
have been reported for the offence of no vehicle excise license.
Once works are
completed on the 20 mph zone highways are willing to carry out a traffic survey
of the area.
Groups of youths
gathering at Coppers Lake and Hare Park are proving to be a nuisance; safe
scheme officers continue to keep a watch over the areas.
The number of
crimes reported so far in January was 12 including a making off without payment
from Redbeck and 2 detected shoplifting offences.
Reports of a bogus
water board inspector have also been received.
The priorities
for January/February to be:
Foot Patrol As
required, concentrating on the village centre, Post Office closing, windows
rear of High School, Crofton Infants, Royal Oak etc.
Continue to
discourage anti social behaviour by the minority. Coppers Lake/Hare Park
Monitor the area
adjacent to the Pavilion on Hare Park Sidings
The chairman
thanked PC Raworth for his attendance.
03/004 Matters to be Discussed in Private
It was proposed,
seconded and agreed that the public and the press be excluded during
discussions involving staffing and the financial status of outside
organisations.
03/005 Minutes
Mr Jaques asked
that Decembers minutes be amended to include his criticism of the Parish
Council for taking such a long time in arranging a meeting of the Constable and
Pinders Charity Trustees. The clerk had accepted responsibility for this and
undertook to get the trustees together prior to the January meeting.
With this
amendment it was agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 21st
December were a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
03/006 Matters Arising
1. Slack Lane
Traffic Calming
The clerk reported
that Leigh Ogden from Highways was unable to put a precise date for the
completion of works, but everything would be complete by 4th March
when the 20 mph traffic scheme comes into force.
2. Hanging
Baskets
The clerk reported
that the council owned 36 pairs of metalwork not 31 as reported last month. It
was therefore agreed that that 2003 order be increased from 36 to 41 pairs.
3. Wakefield
MDC
The clerk reported
that he had written to Wakefield MDCs Chief Executive as instructed, resulting
in Mr Foster agreeing to attend the March meeting.
4. Christmas
Decorations.
The Chairman
reported that he had spoken with WMDC regarding the provision of Christmas
lighting decorations.
It transpires that
the neighbouring parishes contribute towards the cost of their decorations.
The clerk to make
inquiries as to the costs.
03/007 Community Facilities - Convenors Report
1. Parish
Centre
Cllr Scargill
reported that the centres roof was leaking.
Mr Roy Greatorex will carry out repairs when weather permits.
Also the storage
cabin to the rear of the centre is in need of replacing. The clerk was asked to investigate the cost
of a replacement.
2. Village
Centre
Cllr Bennett
reported that he was now in receipt of a quotation for the surfacing the drive
to the pavilion; he could therefore now submit an application for funding from
the Moorhouse Opencast fund.
The association
are also experiencing problems with the alarm system, these should be corrected
during the annual service inspection due shortly.
03/008 Allotments - Convenors Report
1.
Hare Park
Cllr Voros reported that the Pest Control Officers had not yet attended
at Hare Park.
The clerk to remind them.
Rents to be collected on 22 February 2003.
2.
Pontefract Road.
The chairman reported that the clearance of Pontefract Road allotments
was almost complete; unfortunately problems between the contactor and an
adjacent landowner over access to the site had arisen.
Much debate took place around access to the site; the main consensus
being that access was via Pontefract Road and not Doncaster Road.
The clerk was asked to make inquiries into the access keeping Mr BW
Smith informed of developments.
03/009 Parish Cemetery - Convenors Report
The clerk reported
that he had received a quotation for the creation of a gate in the perimeter
fence amounting to £520.00
Cllrs agreed that
this was a fair price and asked the clerk to instruct Mr. Joyce to carry out
the work
03/010 Special Services - Convenors Report
Cllr
Scargill produced an estimate for work to light the Church Tower.
It
was agreed that this be placed on the agenda of the next meeting.
03/011 Moorhouse Opencast Liaison Committee
Nothing to report.
03/012 Old Library Site
It was reported that David Brown from the Education Department was now liaising with property services regarding ownership of the site and Highways regarding road traffic issues. Design services will then be asked to produce detailed drawings.
03/013 Planning
All applications received during the period were found to be acceptable.
It was reported that the application to build five new dwellings at
Walton View has been deferred for a site visit to examine site/roof lines.
03/014 Financial Matters
a. Accounts
The following
accounts were submitted and approved for payment.
£
Miss Reid 50.90
Mrs Hardwick 264.68
Wakefield MDC 305.00 (Hare Park Leases)
73.00 (Rainbows)
PHS Ltd 133.34
West Yorkshire
Police 2,000.00
YLCA 12.93 (Literature)
BW Smith 1,762.50 (Pontefract Road)
b. Precept
The clerk presented details of the estimated
expenditure for the financial year 2002/2003 along with a suggested budget and
precept for the year 2003/2004.
After detailed discussions it was agreed that the budget
for 2003/2004 would be set at £74,750
broken down into the following headings.
£
Administration 13,750.00*
Cemetery 1,950.00
Parish
Centre 2,240.00
Allotments 110.00
Parish
Church 4,500.00
Donations 3,500.00
Village 37,700.00**
Hare
Park 11,000.00
*Includes £8,000
expenditure on safe scheme.
**Includes £25,000 for
development of Old Library Site.
It was agreed that a
precept a £40,000.00 be set, the balance to be met from reserves.
The clerks salary to be increased in line with the national pay award
for local government officers.
03/015 Correspondence
Wakefield
MDC -
Minutes
- Libraries Newsletter
- Cleansing Services Survey
YLCA -
White Rose Update
- Wakefield Branch Agenda
- Wakefield Branch Minutes.
YRCC -
Country Air
03/016 Parish Matters
1.
Hanging Baskets.
The clerk reported that Mr Hamby had miss-calculated the number of
hanging baskets owned by the Parish Council, the number being 36 as opposed to
31.
It was agreed that the additional five pairs are still ordered making a
total 41.
Total cost £4,375.
2.
Constable and
Pinders Charities
The trustees proposed that Mr Jaques be
appointed as a forth trustee. Cllrs unanimously agreed to the nomination.
The trustees agreed to meet on Thursday 30th
January.
3.
Car Sales
Weeland Road.
Cllrs reported that the practice of illegal car
sales was still continuing in the vicinity of Weeland Road and Kingsley Close.
The clerk to pursue the matter.
4.
All Saints
Parish Church
Cllr
Scargill reported that during the interregnum at All Saints church staff will
be available on saturday mornings at church to discuss any church related
matters.
5.
Surface
Water Hare Park Lane
Cllr Hewitt
reported that the properties at the bottom of Hare Park Lane were suffering
from flooding, one contributory factor being the lack of roadside drainage.
The clerk to
contact Yorkshire Water.
03/017 Date of next Meeting
Tuesday
11th March 2003.
03/019 Matters Discussed in Private
None.
Chairman 18th
February 2003