Page 1. Crofton Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 19 March 2013.

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

Schofield and Towns.

Clerk to the Council; Barry Riley

In attendance; 4 members of the public

District Councillors; Cummings, Manifield and Heptinstall.

PS Jamie Speight

03/181 Report from W.Y.Police Officers working on Crofton Safe Scheme PS Jamie Speight gave a verbal report on incidents that had occurred within the area.

Further to the reported dangerous dog roaming around the Church yard (see minute 01/145) the WMDC Anti Social Behaviour Unit, had taken ownership of the dog and were liaising with W.Y.Police to re-home and retrain as part of the Dog Unit.

Cllr Towns had received information that cars were being parked in the Doctors Surgery by parents taking their children to School, this was restricting those who needed to park their car for an appointment. PS Speight noted the problem and would patrol the area and suggested that extra signage may resolve the problem.

Cllr Ripley asked for patrols to be conducted outside the Post Office and Premier Stores as youths tended to congregate there and this created a feeling of intimidation for some residents wanting to use the facilities.

Cllr Hewitt reported that scooters were being driven through the village in a dangerous manner and generally causing a nuisance. PS Speight asked for the registration numbers to be obtained for action to be taken.

Further to PS Speight reporting the incident concerning a sum of money taken from a car on the Ashdene estate, Cllr Dart had noted an article in the Wakefield Express about a similar theft from a car at the Slipper and wondered if there was some confusion between the information provided.

PS Speight was asked to ensure a patrol of the Copse was conducted (see minute 02/163) to deter the use of drugs in the area, he stated he would ask Safe Scheme officers to patrol the area.

Cllr Kimbley had noted that cars were parking on the footpath at the entrance to the Parish Council car park, a PCSO had asked them to move on as it was forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. Clarification was sought as to whether they could park there or not, PS Speight stated that different officers had different views as to whether the cars were causing an obstruction, it was left to their discretion whether to ask the driver to move or not.

Cllr Schofield reported that cars were parking on the footpath outside Shay Lane School on a regular basis and in particular on Wednesday PM. It was restricting the effectiveness of the Traffic Warden, PS Speight duly noted this.

Cllr Bennett had noted that cars were driving over the payment to park their vehicles when using the Post Office and Premier Stores.

Given the number of incidents concerning indiscriminate parking, Cllr Bennett suggested that obstructions be placed as a deterrent. Given the lack of support from WMDC, he asked that the Police offer their support in achieving this, PS Speight offered to discuss the matter with WMDC Highways.

Members noted that at this and the previous months parish meetings, no written

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reports had been received, members were of the opinion that information for the meetings was prepared at the last minute.

Cllr Hewitt commented that there was a lack of consistency. No further information had been received concerning incidents previously reported such as youths kicking a football across High Street and a request for information concerning the car hire company involved with damaging the War Memorial wall.

Cllr Chalkley would write to Inspector Clare about the concerns.

Comment was made about a traffic order relating to signage to control traffic speeds on Shay Lane, although this was welcomed by members, they wanted the Police to patrol the area to enforce the initiative.

03/182 Wakefield MDC District Councillors Report

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

With regard to minute 02/164;

Cllr Cummings had some suggested dates for the walkabout, members agreed to meet on Wednesday 3rd April at 10.00am at the Parish Council Car Park.

A demolition order had now been submitted for the Weavers Green to comply with information received from WMDC Planning Officer Tom Shiels, that prior approval was needed before any demolition work commenced.

A health impact assessment had been conducted for the Deanfield coal mining site, the Clerk would be sent a copy for distribution.

District Councillors informed members that they were opposed to the relocation of the West Yorks Sports and Social Club, following the recent information event held in Walton Village Hall, a further meeting was to be held with Mark Wheater, Head of Property Services for WMDC, to discuss objections that had been raised.

The large pot hole at the junction of Shay Lane and Thorntree Avenue had now been attended to.

Further comment was made about traffic calming for Doncaster Road, although the road was a priority for police speed checks and given that it was third on the waiting list for speed cameras (see minute 11/117), it was hoped progress could be made to move the area further along the list. District Councillors were asked to support this and members felt it would be appropriate for them to ask WMDC Highways to have a new traffic assessment done due to all the accidents (some fatal) over recent months.

Cllr Schofield asked District Councillors to thank Ian Jones and his team at WMDC Street Scene, for the work done in the WMDC owned area of the Cemetery.

Cllr Kimbley commented as follows;

He informed District Councillors that the signs outside Shay Lane School had been twisted the wrong way, this was duly noted.

Pot holes were developing in the roadway around the Parish Council car park, he was informed that this had been reported.

There were a number of residents leaving their wheelie bins outside their property for long periods of time, this was causing an obstruction. he asked if anything could be done to resolve the matter.

03/183 Public Participation session

Residents offered no comment.

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03/184 Apologies for absence

Councillors; Wilby and Wrigg.

03/185 Declarations of Interest

None declared.

02/186 Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 February 2013, were signed as a true record by the Chairman.

03/187 Matters arising from previous minutes

The Clerk reported that;

He had made a 3^rd request to WMDC Highways about a meeting to discuss the cycle track at the Sidings, but had received no response. Cllr Manifield offered to intervene and seek a response, members had no objection to this offer.

He had made a 2^nd request to Spawforth Associates about arranging a meeting to discuss the 9 lakes project but had received no response.

Members duly noted the invitation from Jackie Avison of Goodwin Farms, to visit the site and ask questions, it was suggested that members would arrange a future visit.

He had not received a response to the letter sent to Normington Funeral Directors about burials without consent, however he had been contacted by the family involved (see minute 03/188).

WMDC Street Scene had contacted him and were to investigate why the wrong entrance for the Sidings had been used.

WMDC Highways had been contacted about the annual gully cleanse but he had not received s response, however Cllr Dart reported that the street sweeper had been active around Crofton.

WMDC Highways had been contacted about the surface water problem near to 2 Springhill Avenue (opposite number 3), they were to arrange for an engineer to investigate the matter. However since receiving the notification the situation had become a matter of urgency as water was bubbling up through the pavement outside No. 3, eventually Yorkshire Water attended to deal with the problem.

WMDC Highways had been contacted about the escaping water from the Shay Lane bridge, they stated that as it was a Network Rail structure, it was their responsibility.

Members were not satisfied with the response since WMDC would still have to deal with the water that was on the highway and they should be responsible for resolving the matter with Network Rail. The Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Highways and convey their feelings about the problem

Cllr Dart informed members that she had attended a meeting with The Conservation Volunteers (see minute 02/176), they had suggested some ideas for improving the Copse such as hedging plants and fruit trees, members noted the comments and agreed it should be considered at a future date. Comment was also made that T&D Contractors should be approached to seek their views on improving the area.

To help discourage the area from being subject to dog fouling, Cllr Cummings (Cabinet member for the Environment),was to be asked to provide a bin for the area, however a resident in attendance informed members that he worked for WMDC Street Scene covering the rural area (Crofton was identified as a rural area for such purposes). He suggested that WMDC would be prepared to provide a quote for work

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to be done at the Copse and that if the Parish Council were prepared to pay for 2 bins they would be placed and emptied by WMDC.

03/188 Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Dart reported that;

The decorating had now been completed, the next element in the refurbishment of the Centre (see minute 06/044), would be the replacing of the window blinds.

A resident who had booked and paid for the hire of the Centre had realised that the size of the Centre was not sufficient and had requested a refund. After giving due consideration to the information received it was agreed that a refund be granted.

Following discussion, members agreed that there would be no change to the hourly charge for hiring the Centre.

The Clerk informed members that he thought that the wrong Certificate had been issued with regard to the Periodic Inspection (see minute 02/170), he would contact the electrical contractor to seek clarification.

Report Village Association

The Clerk had received notification that Mayfair Security wanted to make arrangements to carry out the annual service, Cllr Kimbley agreed to attend.

Report Allotments

Members of the working party and the Clerk, agreed to meet at the Pontefract Road allotment site the next day to discuss the allocation of the vacant plots (02/169).

Cllr Schofield informed members that the car park at the Hare Park allotments was subject to fly tipping. He was also concerned that the condition of the access road was getting worse (see minute 11/116). Cllr Hewitt was to make arrangements for the repairs to be done.

Report Parish Cemetery

The Clerk informed members that he had received an enquiry from the family of a resident whose cremated remains had recently been buried (see minute 02/170). They were concerned that they had not received a refund from the Parish Council following the burial, the Clerk had informed the family that the refund was due from the Funeral Directors and not from the Parish Council. The Clerk had yet to receive the documentation from the Funeral Directors to conclude the matter.

Members discussed the Cemetery charges, it was agreed that there would be only one change to the resident charges, that being for the memorial plaque, as there had been an increase in the supplier cost. The non-resident charges would be changed to reflect those charged currently by Wakefield MDC.

03/189 Traffic issues

Nothing to report

03/190 Neighbourhood Plan

A group discussion had taken place on Sunday 17 March when a number of issues were discussed.

Cllr Bennett informed members that the plan was close to finalising.

03/191 Cleansing/Environment

Nothing to report.

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03/192 Planning Notifications

Cllr Ripley informed members that a resident had informed him that he would be submitting an application concerning the temporary placing of a narrow boat at his property, if required he would attend a Parish Council meeting to provide further information to support his application being approved. Members noted the comments.

Members commented on application 13/00502/DEM, the demolition of the Weavers Green. Although there was not an objection to the premises being demolished, it was noted that the area was not identified on the LDF. Members would not be supportive of any housing development, the Clerk was asked to submit comments to WMDC Planning.

With regard to planning application 13/00029/OUT (see minute 02/165), the application had now been withdrawn.

03/193 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.

The Clerk informed members that he had reviewed the HMRC requirements for the next financial year (see minute 11/121), it would not be necessary to purchase any

software, but the computer the Clerk used, would need replacing in order to download and submit the information. The Clerk was asked to purchase a computer on behalf of Crofton Parish Council and ensure it was added to the insurance policy.

03/194 Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular

Note 3; Residents had received their Council Tax bills which showed an increase in the Precept of 9%. Since the Parish Council had kept the precept the same, the Clerk was asked to contact WMDC to seek clarification.

Note 4; The Clerk was asked to contact Yorkshire Water and arrange for the meter upgrade at the Parish Centre.

03/195 Parish matters

Cllr Schofield commented that due to the lack of action (see minutes 01/145, 12/135 and 11/109), to extend the school bus road marking sign outside the Royal Oak, that the Clerk should contact Metro and seek their assistance to resolve the matter.

03/196 Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting would be held on Tuesday 16 April 2013 at 7pm in Crofton Parish Centre, High Street, Crofton.

03/197 Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

03/198 Matters to be discussed in private

Nothing discussed.

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