Crofton Parish Council

 

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held  15th May 2007.                            

 

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

Hewitt, Jacques, Makin, Schofield, Towns, Voros  and Wrigg.

           

In attendance;                        2 members of the public

                                   

 

05/805             Receive report from West Yorkshire Police           

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

Cllr Towns informed PC Daley that she had noticed youths with bottles of wine acquired from the Post Office, she also stated that there appeared to be assaults occurring every month, when asked for details PC Daley confirmed that two of the assaults were paintball related incidents. Cllr Hewitt enquired about the harassment report and made PC Daley aware of a youth regularly seen on Hare Park Lane carrying packs of beer. Cllr Bennett made members aware that individuals from The Weavers public house were being seen as late as 2pm walking along Springhill Drive, Mount and Avenue causing offence, but these incidents were not necessarily being reported, he asked if PC Daley would patrol the area.

 

05/806             Receive briefing from Wakefield MDC District Councillors

District Councillors were not in attendance at the meeting, but in their absence Cllr Jacques asked the Clerk to contact them with regard the painting of the No Entry sign.

and One Way sign at the Car Park.

 

05/807             Public Participation session

A resident was concerned that the property at 91/91a High Street was being misused by youths again and enquired if the Parish Council had any news on the situation (see minute 05/811). Members were made aware of a disturbance involving youths on Towers Close. The representative from the Crofton Carnival committee informed members of the events to take place and also provided a booking form for a stall should the Parish Council wish to have a display.

 

05/808             Apologies for absence          

District Councillors Manifield, Cummings and Isherwood.

Councillors; Duffy(S), Ripley.

 

05/809             Declarations of Interest

Cllr Bennett declared his interest with regard Planning and Highway matters.

Cllrs Jacques, Towns and Wrigg, declared their interest with regard to the Constable & Pinders Charity.

 

05/810             Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 17th April 2007, were signed as a correct record by the Chairman.

 

 

05/811             Discuss matters arising from previous minutes

In response to the information that work on the Sidings was due to start the 2nd week of May, Cllr Makin noted that the 2nd week of May had passed but no work had commenced on the Sidings, this may have been due to the amount of rain, the Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Environment Services about the situation. With regard to 91/91a High Street, Cllr Jacques informed members that a response from the Special Initiatives Manager of the WMDC Private Sector Housing, stated that they were monitoring the property and were ensuring the owner complied with their request to make the property safe and hopefully refurbish it. The Clerk was asked to acknowledge and respond to this information. Cllr Voros commented that the sub station next to the Royal Oak had been cleared by Mr Cook from UK Electric, the Clerk was asked to send a letter of thanks to him for his efforts. Following the clearing of the site Cllr Voros had noticed children throwing litter into the area, he felt the matter of school children being able to leave the school grounds should be addressed, Cllr Brown informed members that she was aware that a decision had been made to stop children leaving school grounds and would be effective by September 2009, it was felt that this would help combat the constant litter problem. The Clerk was asked to write to the Headmaster to confirm such arrangements.      

 

05/812             Community Facilities

Report Parish Centre

Cllr Duffy(K), informed members that refurbishment work had commenced on the interior and Cllr Jacques confirmed a second coat of oil had been applied to the exterior.

Report Village Association

Cllr Bennett informed members that the Village Association were considering decorating the facility and a meeting to discuss the suitability of one of the fields for children to play on had taken place.

Report Allotments

Cllr Hewitt informed members that two allotment tenancies had been revoked due to non-performance, the allotment gardens would be re allocated in due course. 

Report Parish Cemetery

Members raised no objection to the removal of the tree since it was a potential hazard  but asked the Clerk to request a replacement tree to be sited in a nearby area.

 

05/813             Discuss Traffic issues

Cllr Brown commented on the car park at Sainsbury/Jackson supermarket not being sufficient for the number of visitors, Cllr Towns also stated that more attention should be given by delivery vehicles as congestion occurred when a delivery coincided with school leavers at 3pm, in an effort to address such problems, the Clerk was asked to send a letter asking for a review of the delivery situation and to offer the short stay car park as an additional facility in busy periods. In view of the latter comment, the Clerk was asked to write to the Headmaster of Crofton High School to enquire what action is being taken following planning permission given to the school last year for a car park.

 

 

 

05/814             Parish Leases

The Clerk informed members that the Car Park lease had to be registered with the Land Registry, this had resulted in a Solicitor’s cost and a stamp duty charge.

 

05/815             Cleansing/Environment

Cllr Schofield commented on the progress of works at Coppers Lake, Cllr Towns noted that the horse riding sign on Pontefract Road was obscured by foliage, the Clerk was asked to contact WMDC about the matter. Following the recent amount of heavy rainfall, Cllr Bennett had noted that a large amount of water had been retained at the junction of Sandown Avenue and High Street and was a potential hazard, although this matter had been reported previously, the Clerk was asked to contact WMDC Highway Maintenance again to make them aware that action was needed.

 

05/816             Planning Notifications

Members raised no objections to planning applications that had been circulated.

Cllr Jacques commented on a banner above the Tanning Studio shop on Ashdene Drive, the Clerk was asked to make a request for this to be removed, as a previous request had been made for a banner on another shop to be removed,

Comment was made about the potential development of the former Power Station site

and the possible impact of traffic on Doncaster Road, it was suggested that members report to the Parish Council any news they may receive about this matter.

 

05/817             Financial matters

The Clerk having informed members of invoices to be paid received no objections, he also received members agreement to query the invoices received from Firescreen.

Cllr Jacques commented on the amount of money incurred already against the precept received, the Clerk informed him that this was not unusual as the Parish Council did incur sizeable charges for a number of services at the start of the financial year.

                                                                                   

05/818             Correspondence received

Members noted the content of the information received, in particular note 6; in addition to the dropped kerbs being introduced along the High Street, there were other areas planned for the future, the Clerk was asked to mention that those areas should include Slack Lane, Pinfold Drive and Springhill Drive. With regard to note 7; Cllr Towns agreed to stand as a nominee on the WMDC Standards Committee. With regard note 8; members agreed to the request for staff of Crofton Infants School to use the short stay car park for a week, the Clerk was asked to write and confirm this and to ask for a list of car registration numbers as consideration was to be given to the use of permits to monitor the situation.

 

05/819             Parish matters

Members deferred the decision on a resolution to adopt the newly introduced Model Code of Conduct for Parish Councils, until the Clerk had circulated each member with a copy of the Code. Cllr Jacques informed members that an enquiry had been made to PC Daley about having etching on car windows done as a security measure, he had received a reply stating that this service was no longer available via West Yorkshire Police, but informed him that there were a number of quality steering wheel crook locks available should any member or resident be interested. The Clerk was asked if he would make further enquiries about whether etching on car windows was still viable. Cllr Chalkley commented that despite recent efforts involving organising two meetings, the response from the local community was disappointing they appeared to be not interested in producing a Parish Plan.

Members were asked to consider a proposal from the Constable & Pinders Charity, about placing a gate on the War Memorial, following a discussion members agreed to the request.

 

05/820             Date of next meeting

Resolved; that the next meeting to be held on Tuesday, 19th June 2007 at 7pm in                               Crofton High School, High Street, Crofton.

 

05/821             Members of the public and press were to leave before agenda no.18

It was agreed

 

05/822             Matters to be discussed in private

There were none.

 

 

Signed                                                                          Date                                         Chairman Crofton Parish Council