Snape with Thorp Parish Council

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 14 December 2016 in the Snape Village Institute.

Present: Councillors John Duck, Terry Warwick, Richard Poole and Jenny Rydzewski

1. Declaration of Interest – There were declarations of interest from Cllr Warwick in respect of discussion concerning an overdraft from the bank and Cllr Duck in relation to land farmed next to the Prices Pavings site.
2. Apologies – Apologies were received from Cllr Steven Smith
3. Minutes of the meetings held on 21 November, copies of which had been circulated with the agenda, were accepted as a correct record.
4. Matters Arising
   1. HDC Preferred Options Consultation – an open meeting had been held when representatives for Prices Pavings had put forward their proposals with regard to the Stoneyard site; this was an increase in the HDC preferred options of up to at least 40 houses. Whilst the consultation period had officially ended the Clerk had spoken with the planning department and been assured that a comment would still be accepted. The Council discussed the site and RESOLVED that the Council should submit a comment that:
      1. A maximum of 20 houses should be allocated to this site;
      2. That there were issues with the village infrastructure eg sewage system, road narrowing outside Pennybeck and the Old Vicarage which would not sustain increased numbers of car usage which a site of up to 40 houses would bring;
      3. That currently the surface water from the northern part of the site drains into the beck giving rise to discoloured water and also potential flooding further downstream; the Council would want to be assured that no surface water would flow into the beck and that an appropriate diversion of this water would occur with any development on the site;
      4. The Council has already raised on a number of occasions their concerns regarding the sewage system and also the issue of the drainage of surface water from the Prices Pavings site
      5. A footpath would need to be added for safe entry/egress from the site. A footpath and a two way highway onto the site does not appear possible without the removal of Manor House and this would change the frontage onto the main street in the centre of the village;
      6. That a significant number of houses would detract from the nature of the village;
      7. That the conditions contained in the Hambleton Local Development Framework Submission Allocations of December 2009 should still apply ie a maximum of at least 20 houses, the type and tenure of housing meeting evidence of local need, contributions of the developer should be made to village facilities and open space and that the remainder of the site which is not allocated should be cleared, landscaped and reinstated to agricultural or possible recreation use;
      8. That there were 2 other sites identified in the Preferred Options Consultation (ie site B135/003 (land and buildings to the East of the Castle) and site B/135/006 (OS Field 2949 Ings Lane) which were also part brown sites and which could have a similar argument for development as that used for the Prices Pavings site. The Parish Council would see some merit in distributing developments around the village rather than having a significant block of housing on one site only.

A draft response would be prepared and agreed by Cllr Duck.

4. 2. Mr Wilkinson’s invoice of December 2015 – Following the receipt of this invoice earlier in 2016 there had been discussion concerning the content of the invoice. Following 2 letters to Mr Wilkinson he had responded with details of the works undertaken. This had been received on the day of the Council meeting in November and had been deferred for consideration at this meeting to give Councillors an opportunity to review the information provided. It was RESOLVED to pay this invoice as full and final settlement of the works undertaken.
   3. Police Service and Highways issues – Cllr Duck had attended a meeting at which it had been indicated that the police service were taking responsibility for H&S matters on he highways. The Clerk had written to the police who had indicated that they should be advised by someone involved in a road traffic incident where safety was an issue and this would then trigger the involvement of the Highways Department. The Clerk now had a contact at the Police to report such issues.
5. Policing report – no report had been received. When the report was received this would be circulated to the Councillors.
6. Financial Matters
   1. Receipts and payments – the following were noted

Receipts and payments:

Receipts – Bedale Community Plan Forum - £1000

Payments – Snape Methodist Church (room rental) - £20; Yorkshire Air Ambulance - £25; Great North Air Ambulance - £25; Royal British Legion - £25; S Lowe (salary) - £67.20; S Lowe (expenses) - £115.71

Bank accounts as at 8 December 2016

Current account – £6397.19

Deposit account - £2633.78

A summary, a copy of which had been circulated with the agenda, outlined the payments and receipts reconciled with the bank accounts.

1. 2. Hours of work by the Clerk – it was noted that the Clerk had undertaken 14 hours work since the last meeting.

1. 3. Finance of works on the Avenue and precept

The Clerk had prepared a paper (copies previously circulated) outlining the possible impact of seeking the Secretary of State’s approval to take out a loan with the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB); this paper was presented and discussed.

The paper clarified the extensive nature of the consultation there had been with the parish about the works needed to the avenue which had been subject to a full Tree Preservation Order approval process having been approved by Hambleton District Council.

Any works to the Avenue, as already notified to each household in the Parish by a letter in 2015, would require funding beyond reserves, estimated currently at £6553.92, and the 2016/17 precept level. The Clerk’s paper drew attention to the fact that seeking a loan for the minimum value of £2600 would use all the reserves to fund the projected cost of £9144 (including VAT) for these works.

In discussion it was noted that using all reserves would not provide any leaway for possible additional costs eg a wildlife survey if it was found that such a survey was required once the works commenced.

YLCA advice had been sought and it had been suggested that alternative approaches might be to explore an overdraft facility with Barclays Bank or to have the works done and to ask the contractor to delay payment. Neither of these options were considered fully viable as it was expected that a bank overdraft could be more onerous on the Council than a loan and to delay payment was not the way in which the Council preferred to proceed.

The paper advised on the possible impact on the precept an in particular the band D equivalent properties. The Council were conscious of the significant impact there would be if the precept for 2017/18 was increased to cover the total cost of the works.

It was RESOLVED, to:

1. 1. 1. Seek approval of the Secretary of State for a loan from the sum of £4000 on an annuity repayment basis for a period of 4 years;
      2. That if the loan was approved the precept for 2017/18 should be set at £5388.30 plus the full year cost of the loan repayments ie £1027.64 resulting in a precept of £6416.00 for 2017/18. The impact of this increase was calculated to be an additional £5.82 (or 18.9% increase) for a band D equivalent property.

The Clerk would apply for the loan taking into consideration the requirements set out in the appropriate guidance and advise HDC Finance department of the projected precept, subject to receiving the loan.

7. Playing Field Committee –
   1. Minutes of recent meeting – the draft minutes of the meeting held on 30 November, copies of which had already been circulated, were received for information.
   2. In discussion it was noted that the ground works could proceed, except that a small amount of around £500 could not be financed from current reserves and grants/S106 funding whilst the VAT repayment was received. In reviewing the quotation it was noted that works eg grass cutting and treatment had been included in the price but would not proceed for some time after the first works were completed. These amounted to around £500. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Poole should discuss these with the contractor. The works would be undertaken in the Spring, probably March onwards. This area of the field would need to be protected after the re-seeding. Farm and Land Services would need to be advised of the reduced need for grass cutting in the field after the works were undertaken.
8. Possible Developments of the Village Institute

Sarah Lowe, Chair of the Institute Committee, reported to the Council on the developments being planned and considered for the hall. She advised that nothing was being ruled out and that this could involve considerable change to the interior and garden area of the hall and also new technologies for heating would be explored. She sought the views of the Council who were custodian guardians of the building. The Council confirmed that they were happy for the Management Committee to proceed with any plans they considered appropriate

9. Dog Dirt

The Clerk advised that a number of parishioners had mentioned the problem of dog dirt in the village. She reminded the Council of its previous intention to advise residents on the access to the defibrillator which could be added to a letter. Given some concerns regarding the beck it was RESOLVED that a letter should be prepared covering these aspects and drawing attention to the Council’s emergency plan.

The meeting closed at 9.00 pm