Page 1. Crofton Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 16 July 2013.

Present; Councillors; Chalkley, Bennett, Hewitt, Kimbley, Makin, Ripley

Schofield, Towns, Wrigg and Wilby.

Clerk to the Council; Barry Riley

In attendance; 3 members of the public

District Councillors; Cummings, Manifield and Heptinstall

PC Bailey.

07/055 Report from W.Y.Police Officers working on Crofton Safe Scheme PC Bailey, presented the Safe Scheme report covering June and July.

Cllr Bennett;

Enquired about the effect of using a dedicated vehicle to identify speeding motorists (see minute 06/037), he was informed that 6 traffic offence reports had been actioned.

Raised concern about the comment in the previous minutes, that Police cover provided to deal with problems encountered when Crofton Academy closed for the school holiday, was subject to their commitments, he thought that the request would be covered by the Safe Scheme. PC Bailey stated that patrolling the Academy was not covered by the Safe Scheme, it was therefore requested that to ensure cover was provided, that Safe Scheme funding be used.

Cllr Ripley asked if PC Bailey had seen any information relating to a vehicle that had drove into a hedge on the bend where Doncaster Road spurred with Weeland Road, however she had not seen any report.

Cllr Towns sought clarification on the two reports relating to drug offences and asked why one vehicle was issued with a penalty notice whilst the other only received a street warning. She was informed that the issuing of a street warning was because it was the drivers first offence.

PC Bailey noted the following;

Cllr Kimbley asked if anything could be done to improve driver visibility at the junction of Thorntree Avenue and Shay Lane.

Cllr Hewitt reported that youths had been seen using pellet guns on the Hare Park Lane allotments.

Cllr Chalkley commented that the number of cars seen speeding on Doncaster Road was causing concern.

07/056 Wakefield MDC District Councillors Report

District Councillors provided information to enquiries made individually by Parish Councillors, and gave an update on previous matters raised;

The pot holes on the road around the Parish Council car park were to be resurfaced.

It was agreed that a meeting with WDH to discuss Hawthorn Court, would take place at the Parish Centre on 23 July at 6pm (see minute 06/038).

Cllr Heptinstall informed members that a representative from HS2 was to arrange an information event which would be held at a suitable venue to accommodate the anticipated number of attendees. Following this it was hoped to arrange a smaller event, possibly in the Parish Centre.

Following a request by members to District Councillors to acquire evidence that the Parish Council had been informed of its status being changed (see minute 06/039),

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Cllr Manifield duly provided the dates of when the consultation occurred. Members voiced their dissatisfaction with District Councillors concerning this matter.

Cllr Kimbley asked that the hedge on the ginnel from Shay Court through to The Avenue be cut back, Cllr Cummings duly noted the request.

Cllr Bennett asked District Councillors if they had further information regarding the requests made at the previous meeting concerning the American style Yellow school bus and the inadequate cutting of grass in the Springhill area. They had no news concerning the bus, but stated that there had been no other complaints about problems with grass cutting.

Further to the report about the condition of trees overhanging Harrison Road (see minute 05/020), Cllr Cummings was asked to report the situation to the Academy, she noted the request but would first contact WMDC Highways to establish ownership.

Cllr Hewitt showed District Councillors a sample piece of bark taken from a dead tree which was next to the cycle track on the Sidings, he asked that the tree be removed.

Cllr Hewitt also asked that District Councillors request another dog bin be placed on the Sidings as the present one was not sufficient to cope with the amount of waste.

07/057 Public Participation session

No comments received.

07/058 Apologies for absence

None recorded

07/059 Declarations of Interest

None declared.

07/060 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were subject to change prior to signature.

07/061 Matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk reported that;

He had again contacted Paul Platts WMDC Group Engineer Highways Network Management, to enquire if the annual gully cleanse had been carried out. The Clerk was copied into an e-mail sent to Andrew Varley at the Highways Tadman Street depot, requesting that action be taken, he had replied stating that the cleanse was taking place that day.

He had received a response from Mayfair Security about the phone service to the Pavilion (see minute 05/025). The present alarm monitoring system is dual path and uses GPRS and a phone line to transmit signals. In the event that one of the transmission paths fails the other continues to transmit alarm signals. Although the system is designed to operate correctly with both paths available, if only one path is available the system should operate satisfactorily. In view of the comments and the problems experienced in reinstating a phone line, Members agreed that the present system was to be used and reviewed at a later date.

WMDC Rights of Way had been contacted again about the gate obstructing users of the path from Hare Park Lane through Larkdale Farm to Shay Lane, he had yet to receive a reply.

A letter in response to that sent by the Parish Council, had been received from Ian Thompson Borough Planner for WMDC Planning regarding the Bedford Farm

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development. It had been circulated to members for comment in order to formulate a response in due course.

With regard to the number of new houses to be built in the village, members were concerned that the number exceeded that agreed within the LDF. The Clerk was asked to obtain the number of houses registered in Crofton in 2009 and 2012, for the number to be checked.

Having contacted The War Memorials Trust to try and establish ownership of the Memorial and the land it is on, their records did not record such information, however they had provided contact details for the National Inventory of War Memorials, the Clerk would make an enquiry to them.

Further to the enquiry made to YLCA about the legality of changes to the Precept, a reply was received stating that NALC had made enquiries with the Dept of Communities and Local Government (CLG) about altering the precept system. Crofton Parish Council was assured that if CLG has acted unlawfully, then NALC would have identified any unlawful action because of the severity of the matter. He had attended the YLCA Wakefield Branch meeting (see minute 06/050) and had spoke to Neville Ford of WMDC, about the status applied to Crofton as a service centre, he confirmed that Crofton had been advised via the consultation process this had been evidenced as it was recorded in the minutes which were posted on the Parish Council web site (see minute 07/056).

He had received a reply from Danny Chappell an Engineering Technician from WMDC Land Drainage and Flood risk management, confirming that he would be visiting to assess the condition of the watercourse to the rear of Holly Close and would reply with his findings and what actions would be taken.

He had sent a letter to the Secretary of All Saints Church suggesting that an afternoon meeting be arranged to discuss concerns about the footpath from Ashdene Crescent to the Church, he had yet to receive a reply.

He had contacted WMDC Road Safety to seek clarification that concerns about the accuracy of a traffic survey carried out on Slack Lane had been noted, he was awaiting a response.

He had contacted WMDC Wakefield speaks, about another meeting to discuss the changing Policing landscape, they had responded and stated that the event was  one of a rolling programme of large scale engagement events for the district, with each event comprising of a different topical theme. Whilst there were no plans to repeat the event, there would be more events coming up later in the year and they would ensure that members would receive an invitation to these.

He had sent an e-mail to District Councillors requesting that WMDC provide a parking enforcement vehicle, he had yet to receive a reply.

07/062 Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Towns reported that;

When arriving at the Centre that evening for the Parish Council meeting, she noted that the rear door had been left open, the Clerk would contact the hirer prior to the meeting about the matter.

Report Village Association

Nothing to report.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt reported that;

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He had allocated more allotment gardens at Pontefract Road and some tenants at Hare Park had been transferred to other allotments

Report Parish Cemetery

Cllr Schofield reported that;

The foliage over the archway was in need of cutting, he suggested contacting T&D Contractors to do the work, members duly noted the information.

Cllr Kimbley informed members that a resident had complained to him that soil dug for a new grave had been placed on an existing grave space, members were informed that this was only a temporary measure and the resident had received an apology for any distress caused.

07/063 Traffic issues

Members were informed that cameras and speed checks were to be set up in the village.

07/064 Neighbourhood Plan

Following the submission of an application to WMDC Planning to have Crofton designated as a Neighbourhood Area, the Clerk had been contacted and advised that the map submitted was incorrect, but that only a minor amendment was needed for the map to be accepted by WMDC (who were prepared to make the amendment on behalf of the Parish Council). Following discussion members agreed to the amendment and for the application to proceed as soon as possible.

Cllr Chalkley informed members that Walton Parish Council had contacted him and wanted to liaise and work with the Council in preparing the Neighbourhood Plans for both villages, following discussion members were agreeable to the request.

07/065 Cleansing/Environment

District Councillors were asked to arrange a cleansing of the village whilst the local school/academy pupils were on summer holiday.

07/066 Planning Notifications

Members offered no comment to the applications and decisions received.

Cllr Ripley informed members that within his role with the Bio-Divesity Group, he had been involved with the planning applications submitted by the Deanfield and the Co-Op Mine groups.

07/067 Financial matters

The Clerk having informed members of invoices to be paid received no objections.

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

Members were provided with the Budget Monitor showing the quarterly accounts, the document is used as part of the Parish Councils internal auditing procedure and financial control.

07/068 Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular

Note 8; the Clerk was asked to respond to WMDC Planning Services about the two new plans which form part of the LDF, to seek clarification if Crofton is affected by the policy.

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Note 9; Members noted that the bulletin from YLCA provided information on free trees for local Councils, the Clerk was asked to make further enquiries.

07/069 Parish matters

Members were informed that a meeting to discuss the health impact assessment for the Deanfield Mining site, had been arranged for Wednesday 24 July at the Parish Centre.

Cllr Schofield noted that cars were parking next to the bus stop near to the entrance of Sycamore Court (High Street). This was causing an obstruction when the bus needed to collect passengers, however it was noted that there were no road markings to alert motorists about the bus stop. The Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Traffic to request it be marked

Cllr Makin informed members that the football gala held at the Sidings in June (see minute 06/051), had been a success, Cllr Hewitt was thanked for being in attendance.

07/070 Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 17 September 2013 at 7pm in Crofton Parish Centre, High Street, Crofton.

07/071 Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

07/072 Matters to be discussed in private

There were none.

Signed ……………………………… Date………………….. Chairman Crofton Parish Council