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Crofton Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 17^th July 2007.

Present; Councillors, Chalkley (Chair), Bennett, Brown, Duffy K, Duffy S,

Hewitt, Jacques, Towns, Makin and Schofield.

In attendance; 7 members of the public

District Councillors; Cummings and Manifield.

Representative from WMDC

07/841 Receive report from West Yorkshire Police

PC Daley presented his report for the Safe Scheme covering the month of June 2007.

With regard minute 06/823, he showed members a map of Crofton where offences had taken place. Cllr Chalkley asked for further information on the drugs report, he was informed all offences were detected. Cllr Duffy S, made PC Daley aware that although action had been taken regarding the illegal parking of cars on Slack Lane, the problems still persisted. Cllr Hewitt made PC Daley aware that youths were racing cars at 2am in the morning on Hare Park Lane, he duly took note of this and stated he would liaise with the Traffic Division about the matter.

07/842 Receive briefing from Wakefield MDC District Councillors

Prior to the WMDC District Councillors speaking, members listened to Peter Davies the WMDC representative from land drainage, about the situation at Coppers Lake.

He told members and residents in attendance that the campaign to inform people of the proposed works had been successful, but he admitted that the changes to the proposals had not been effectively communicated, and he offered his apologies for this. He explained that his responsibility was flood defence and that Coppers Lake was identified as a problem, the outlet pipe that regulated the depth of water had been filled with concrete at some point, this effectively had removed the storage capacity which was vital to avoid any potential flooding. Having consulted with WMDC Parks Dept; it was decided to reduce the amount of silt, it was when this work commenced that the problems arose. Mr Davies pointed out that if the extra capacity created by the recent works had not taken place, then the recent floods experienced locally, would have been much worse.

Members understood that a flood defence scheme was needed for the area, however their concerns were the manner in which the works had been carried out, such as the suitability of equipment used, the lake was not dredged, rubbish not removed, the Health & Safety aspect of leaving large amounts of silt exposed. ultimately there had been a loss of amenity Given what had occurred with Coppers Lake and the recent works on the Sidings, the impression that Crofton residents had is that works started do not seem to be finished properly.

When asked if the lake would be restored and if the fish which had been removed, would be put back, members were told no by Mr Davies, the depth of the lake now dictated that fish would not survive, however he added that the grass would be reseeded and the area by the waters edge landscaped which would be better from an ecological point of view.

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When presented with evidence from Cllr Towns about future problems in five years time, Mr Davies agreed and stated that more funding would need to be sought to control the situation.

Cllr Chalkley asked the District Councillors why the Parish Councillors had not been invited to a meeting (see minute 06/824) arranged by them with WMDC representatives about Coppers Lake, Cllr Manifield apologised for the lack of consideration.

Cllr Chalkley commented about work not being undertaken by WMDC, such as the sign required for Sandown Avenue, when Cllr Cummings stated it was on order she was informed that her information was incorrect, the sign would not be placed there due to lack of funds. District Councillors were made aware that a previous request for attention to be given to the drain cover adjacent to the Parish Centre had still not occurred, they duly noted this. Cllr Jacques informed the District Councillors about the condition of a play area on Spring Lane near the Community Centre and asked if they could instigate action to rectify the situation. Cllr Schofield also stated that a previous request for the hedgerow by the Cock & Crown Bus shelter to be cut back had still not been actioned.

07/843 Public Participation session

A resident in attendance commented on a motorbike regularly being rode in an erratic manner along Shay Lane, PC Daley duly noted this, another resident stated that dog bins on the Sidings and on Springhill Avenue were not being emptied regularly enough, the District Councillors were asked to make further enquiries about this situation. There was a request from a resident to be allocated the allotment garden becoming available on the Parish Council’s, Pontefract Road site (see minute 07/848).

07/844 Apologies for absence

District Councillor Isherwood.

Councillors; Ripley, Voros and Wrigg.

07/845 Declarations of Interest

Cllr Bennett declared his interest with regard Planning and Highway matters

07/846 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19^th June 2007, were subject to amendment before they were signed as a correct record by the Chairman.

07/847 Discuss matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk informed members that a response from June Rothwell of WMDC Environment Manager, requesting a clean of the village to follow the end of school for the summer holidays, had not been received, he told members he would send a second request and inform members accordingly. No response had been received from John Skidmore of WMDC Waste Services, following an enquiry about the placing of a bottle bank within the village, the Clerk would send a second request. The Clerk read to members the response received from Paul Platts of WMDC Highway Maintenance

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07/848 Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Jacques informed members that the quote received (see minute 08/630) did not include the Electrical works, the quote eventually received for the electrical works was for £2000, this was felt to be excessive, another electrical contractor within the village, namely APB Electrical, had been approached and a site visit organised, at present the Clerk was awaiting their quote to be submitted. The Clerk also informed members that he had consulted WMDC Building Control about the planned works and had been advised that Building Regulation approval was required, this would involve a drawing being submitted and supported with structural calculations, it was agreed that the Clerk make enquiries and appoint a suitably qualified practice to provide this service.

Report Village Association

Cllr Bennett informed members that the light above the entrance door was now fitted, the bill had been passed to the Clerk for payment, the Village Association had however sent funds to the PC to cover the cost of the installation. Cllr Makin informed members that a grant of £800 had been received from the Community Chest towards decorating costs.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt informed members that a meeting of the Allotment Committee had taken place on the 08^th July 2007.

In view of the request from a resident to be allocated the existing allotment garden (due to the impending sale of the property and therefore the residents moving away from the village which would result in the termination of the existing tenancy agreement) the Clerk was asked to ascertain the name of the Solicitors and to write and inform them of their need to contact the Parish Council about the tenancy agreement to avoid any confusion. Whilst awaiting that outcome and in view of the fact that B.W.Smith (lease holder for a larger area of allotment land), had stated he would be prepared to release some of the existing land he cultivated, members agreed to meet on Sunday 22^nd July at 11.30 am; to further consider the allocation of allotment land at Pontefract Road.

Report Parish Cemetery

Cllr Schofield stated that the foliage and shrubs on the border of the memorial garden was in need of removal, it was agreed that the Clerk approach T&D Contractors and K.W Garden Maintenance (see minute 06/836) to seek tenders for the said works.

Cllr Schofield informed members that a representative from WMDC had been to see him to follow up complaints of grass tipping and graffiti received from residents whose properties adjoined the boundary at the lower end of the cemetery, he had also offered to provide a quote for their removal. Cllr Schofield stated that T&D Contractors denied, when asked, if they were responsible for the grass tipping, it was suggested that WMDC should consult further with the neighbours.

07/849 Discuss Traffic issues

Nothing to report.

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07/850 Parish Leases

Nothing to report.

07/851 Cleansing/Environment

The Clerk was asked to send a request to June Rothwell concerning overgrown vegetation on Cock Lane.

07/852 Planning Notifications

Members raised no objections.

07/853 Financial matters

The Clerk having informed members of invoices to be paid received no objections, Cllr Jacques noted that the cost of the sign for the Car Park was allocated against the Parish Centre, the Clerk noted this and stated it should be allocated to a s137 payment. The Clerk was also asked to vire the wages for the Parish Centre cleaner to the Hare Park Pavilion. The accounts for the external auditor and the annual governance statement were approved by the Council and signed by the Chairman, Cllr Chalkley.

07/854 Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular note 1; it was decided to refer this to private matters.

07/855 Parish matters

Members agreed to defer a decision on adopting the Model Code of Conduct (see minute 06/837). Cllr Duffy S, made members aware that the area by the Scout hut was somewhat overgrown with foliage, the Clerk was asked to contact the Scout Leader and ask him to rectify the situation. Further to Cllr Jacques asking if there had been any further development with regard to the e-mail sent to Autoglass concerning the etching of car windows, Cllr Chalkley had as yet received no response.

Cllr Hewitt noted that Church Road had been kept clear of debris following action instigated by the PC. Cllr Bennett asked if there had been any development on the request to have additional lighting placed on the pathway between Springhill Avenue and Meadowfields Close. The Clerk stated the response from the WMDC Street Lighting Monitoring Officer was that there was no intention to do so, however funding for additional lighting could be sourced from the annual WMDC Budget allocation, but due to the high number of requests from other areas for this, it would be distributed on a priority basis. The Clerk had asked for the above request to be added. Cllr Brown informed members that there had been renewed interest in the Parish Plan, the Clerk was asked to contact YRCC about this development.

Cllr Chalkley mentioned that contact should be made early to organise the Christmas Lights and for Crofton Silver Band to attend at the ‘switch on’. Following a discussion he had with Jon Trickett MP, who was in attendance at the Crofton Carnival, he asked the Clerk to contact his secretary and provide them with dates of when the PC meetings were.

07/856 Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting to be held on Tuesday, 18^th September 2007 at 7pm in Crofton High School, High Street, Crofton.

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07/857 Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

07/858 Matters to be discussed in private

It was not possible for the Parish Council to award what would be an individual educational grant and in this respect it was decided to not make an award to Catherine Alba.

Signed Date Chairman Crofton Parish Council