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Crofton Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 17^th March 2009.

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

In attendance; 6 members of the public

District Councillor Cummings.

03/180 Receive report from West Yorkshire Police

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

Cllr Ripley asked if PC Daley was aware of incidents of stone throwing connected to Priory School, he stated he was not, however Cllr Cummings stated that the incidents were being investigated, PC Daley added that he would liaise with PC Amos the Police Schools Liaison Officer.

Cllr Hewitt asked PC Daley to give attention to incidents involving ‘off-road’ motorbikes using the park and the newly created cycle route, at the Sidings.

Cllr Makin asked if PC Daley would investigate incidents of youths smoking in school time, at the rear of the shops on High Street.

Cllr Voros commented that he had noticed this practice taking place prior to the opening of school.

Further to Police Inspector Brear stating that action was being taken to control youths,

Cllr Bennett asked PC Daley how many ASBO’s had been issued, he replied none.

Members felt that if alcohol was not being sold so freely this would alleviate some of the problems being experienced, PC Daley informed members the he would enquire if Inspector Brear would be pursuing a dispersal order that would assist this idea.

There had been a notable police presence in the Springhill area of the village, although this was appreciated it was felt that rather than patrolling the area at 4.30pm, it would be more effective to patrol on evenings and week-ends.

03/181 Wakefield MDC District Councillors Report

Cllr Cumming provided members with the following information;

She had received an enquiry from a resident at 9 Pinfold Drive, asking for trees to be lopped as they were overhanging the property and were the responsibility of the Parish Council, the Clerk would investigate the matter.

Police had been active in the village, demonstrating a visible presence.

In April there was to be an environment area walkabout by Inspector Brear, covering Crofton and Havercroft.

Following a Police meeting, it was suggested that the Youth Centre should be opened on a Friday, this was being pursued with Youth Services. Cllr Makin offered support for this idea.

The placing of bollards to prevent access to the play area to the rear of houses on Spring Lane and Greenview.

WMDC Highways were due to commence work in the new financial year, following information received from Cllr Schofield.

Cllr Jacques asked Cllr Cummings to report the following matters;

Pot holes at the junction of Sandown Avenue/High Street,

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Concern about the disposal of light bulbs, which require special attention due to the hazardous waste (mercury) they contained, upon asking WMDC refuse collectors

what there policy was on the disposal of light bulbs they did not know.

Cllr Cummings informed all present to be vigilant, should they be contacted by groups offering advice on energy as they were then asking for personal bank details. It was suggested that this matter be reported to the Smoke Signal to highlight the problem.

Cllr Jacques had recently noticed that gravel was being stored on land to the side of the Redbeck Motel, however Cllr Ripley informed him that it had been regularly used as storage.

The new bin which Cllr Lodge had said would be sited outside the Parish Centre on the 24^th February (see minute 02/163) had not arrived, the Clerk was asked to contact her about the omission.

03/182 Public Participation session

A resident in attendance asked if the ownership of Middle Lane had been established, comment was made that it was Barratt Homes, Cllr Cummings was asked to establish this fact.

Another resident stated that dog fouling was still a problem, it was suggested that a message placed in the Smoke Signal, stating that dog owners were responsible for its removal may help.

A resident asked if there was any further update concerning Coppers Lake, in particular the planned vehicle access and roadway to the car park, Cllr Bennett stated he would endeavour to get a report concerning these and other matters.

03/183 Apologies for absence

Councillors Brown and Duffy S.(see minute 03/193).

District Councillor Isherwood.

No apologies received for District Councillor Lodge.

03/184 Declarations of Interest

Cllr Bennett declared his interest with regard Planning and Highway matters

03/185 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 17^th February 2009, were signed as a true record by the Chairman.

03/186 Discuss matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk reported that;

A response had been received from WMDC Transportation and Highways since the summons had been issued. The Traffic Engineer who had responded initially stated he was reluctant to introduce more parking restrictions, however he will undertake a more detailed investigation and possibly write to residents about the matter.

He had phoned the WMDC Traffic Management Officer concerning the request for traffic calming measures at the junction of Cock Lane and Pontefract Road, he had been told that due to ever increasing workloads, he had a number of agencies within the Council he had to deal with before he would be able to respond to the request

from the Parish Council.

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He had promised to contact the Clerk following the telephone conversation but he had not. Councillors voiced there dissatisfaction with this response and asked the Clerk to write to the Service Director for this department concerning this matter..

Although the Neighbourhood Action Team had been contacted about 29a Slack Lane, no action had been taken as it was private land, also no action had been taken to tidy 91 High Street, the Clerk was asked to pursue both matters further.

In view of the bid price for 29a Slack Lane, members decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Having informed members that WMDC Rights of Way officer Steven Mills was unable to attend the meeting to answer questions about the cycle route across the Sidings, the Clerk was asked to re-invite him. Should the invitation not be accepted, the Clerk would write to the Service Director for this department, to seek a response.

03/187 Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Jacques reported that;

Further to a previous agreement, an advert providing hire details for the Parish Centre had now been placed in the Smoke Signal at a cost of £40.

Cllr Duffy stated that bookings for the hire of the centre, were now being received from different groups.

The Clerk informed members that he had received a letter from the Choir Group enquiring about the possibility of a discounted rate.

Cllr Jacques having provided some information on the group declared his interest as having attended some meetings.

Following discussion, members voted as follows; For 8, Against 0, in favour of a discount being offered for a block booking, this being 10% discount for every £100.

Report Village Association

Cllr Ripley enquired if it was feasible to use the Sidings playing fields to fly a miniature plane, it was suggested that any individual wanting to do so should contact the Village Association.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt reported that;

The allocation of allotments had taken place following the removal of some existing tenants.

He also made members aware of the problems encountered by the vehicle delivering a skip to the Oak Street site, any future decision to hire a skip for the site would need careful consideration to avoid a repeat occurrence.

Report Parish Cemetery

Nothing to report.

03/188 Discuss Traffic issues

Since there had been no meetings held by the Road Safety Committee due to dwindling attendances and a lack of action from the Police on issues raised, Cllr Ripley was unaware of what other measures had been introduced to discuss traffic matters. The Clerk was asked to make enquiries concerning this.

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03/189 Parish Leases

Following discussion concerning the absence of a lease for the Priory School fields

and with regard to when a response would need to be given to WMDC about future intentions, members agreed to discuss the matter at a future meeting.

03/190 Cleansing/Environment

Cllr Towns commented that the village appeared dirty especially High Street, the Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Environment about the matter.

The Electricity Sub Station adjacent to the Royal Oak Public House, was once again subject to much debris and litter, the Clerk was asked to contact GE Electric who were responsible for its maintenance.

03/191 Planning Notifications

Members raised no objections.

03/192 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.

Councillors noted that the External audit of the financial accounts for 07/08; was now complete.

It was agreed that the Clerk would distribute to all members a copy of the existing information concerning risk assessment, to enable a review to be conducted.

03/193 Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular

Notes 1 and 10; further to the resignations received from Cllrs Brown and Duffy S, the Clerk would need to inform WMDC Electoral Services, due process would take place before any vacancy could be filled by co-option.

Note 3; members agreed that the one day course in cemetery management should be attended by the Clerk and Cllr Schofield.

03/194 Parish matters

Cllr Bennett had attended a meeting of Walton Parish Council, where the subject of a Village Plan had been discussed by their members with the intention of identifying areas they wanted to protect, this would eventually be presented to WMDC.

He also commented that there was increasing pressure to make land available for development within the Wakefield District, the Parish Council should take all reasonable steps to protect any green areas.

Cllr Duffy had noted that the commercial vehicle used for the white lining of roads and regularly seen around the village, was now being parked on Oak Street, she asked if any action could be taken to stop it being parked in residential areas, the Clerk would consult with PC Daley.

Cllr Bennett had noted that the planting of bulbs which occurred last year, was now evident and were a pleasure to see.

Cllr Wrigg voiced her disappointment at the decision by WMDC to not take action concerning the commercial property on Hawthorn Avenue.

Cllr Schofield noted that there had been no further action from Metro following a request to bring pressure on Arriva to reinstate the service along Pontefract Road

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which had been discontinued. In an effort to further this issue, he gave the Clerk a newspaper article which stated that Metro was full of praise for the relationship between Arriva and the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. The Clerk was asked to write to the Director of Passenger services that had made the comments, to seek a response to the original request

03/195 Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting to be held on Tuesday, 21^st April 2009 at 7pm in Crofton Parish Centre, High Street, Crofton.

03/196 Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

03/197 Matters to be discussed in private

There were none.

Signed Date Chairman Crofton Parish Council