Minutes

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 25 March 2025 in the Snape Methodist Church Schoolroom

Present: Councillors John Duck, Liz Watson, Colin Hodges, Richard Poole, Sara Pringle, Cllr David Webster and Mr D Scurrah.

1. Apologies for absence – There were no apologies
2. Declarations of Interest – There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2024, copies of which had already been circulated, were accepted as a true record and were signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters arising
   1. Appointment of Clerk/RFO – Cllr Duck reported that he, Cllr Pringle and Sarah Lowe had interviewed David Scurrah.  He was pleased to confirm that Mr Scurrah had been offered the post. A start date had yet to be confirmed.  Mr Scurrah’s appointment was ratified by the Council.  Councillors welcomed his appointment.  There would be a cross over period with the current Clerk.  Councillors expressed their appreciation of Mrs Lowe’s long service and her contribution to the work of the Council.
   2. Financial Regulations – the Clerk reported that the model document had been subject to a further review which had been posted on the YLCA site.  It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should circulate the latest version to Councillors for their review and comment.
   3. Use of Phone box – the Clerk reported that she had received further comments from other village groups.  A village information resource was favoured.  Internal adjustments would probably be required so it was RESOLVED to ask the Men’s Shed if they might be willing to do any internal works necessary with the Council paying for these.  Whilst the Gardening Group had offered to plant flowers in the vicinity and this was welcomed as an offer, this was not considered appropriate due to implications on grass cutting.
   4. Highways issues – The alterations to the surface at Salmon Lane corner had now been completed; it had been limited to scuffling up the surface to reducing skidding.  As the white lines had now been improved, to clearly show the junctions in this area, it was RESOLVED to contact the Police to seek help with the continuing issues of parking on junctions in this vicinity.   A number of other possible highway issues were discussed; Cllr Duck would confirm which needed to be submitted to Highways.
   5. Works to trees in the village and Avenue – the Clerk advised that the works had been completed and the contractor paid.
   6. Quickline – the works to connect Beech Close had resulted in a signed wayleave and a one off payment to the Council of £323.
5. Financial matters
   1. Receipts and payments since last meeting and up to 18 March 2025

Receipts: Interest - £38.22; HMRC (VAT repayment) - £612.60, £578.17; NYC – Locality Budget grant for playing field - £2,000.00; Proceeds of raffle - £549.00; Credit payment re defibrillator pads - £59.94; Quickline (wayleave) - £323.70

Payments: S Lowe (salary) £113.00. £204.16, £75.32, £97.40; Mrs S Lowe (expenses) £56.65; WEL Medical (defibrillator cabinet and pads - £491.88; Newsquest Media (advert) - £298.80; Andrews Signs & Engravers Ltd - £60.00; HMRC - £127.60; Great North Air Ambulance - £75.00; Yorkshire Air Ambulance - £75.00; NY Citizens Advice - £75.00; Andrew Boynton - £36.00; WJPS (website) - £232.80; First Rescue Training & Supplies Ltd - £81.54; Infinity Electrical Services - £210.00;  Farm & Land Services – Tree works - £1270.00, £864.00;

Bank accounts as at 18 March 2025

Current account – £7191.31

Deposit account – £10843.39

Deposit account re Institute - £123093.46

1. 2. Hours worked by the Clerk – It was noted that the Clerk had worked a total of 30 hours in December, January and February.
   3. Expected year end position

The Clerk advised that there had been a further two receipts since the above statement was prepared and these would adjust the receipts and payments slightly by the end of March.  If, however, the £15k grant for the playing field from the Lottery Community Fund was received before the end of March the Council would need to submit for a fuller audit at a cost of approximately £240 plus VAT.

5. 4. The Clerk presented a paper, which had already been circulated in relation to the move to a gov.uk domain for the Council’s website.  It was agreed in principle to move towards this change.  However, it had implications for the village groups hosted on the current site.  An approach would be made to the Institute Committee to see if they might be able to host those groups using the hall on its new website.
6. Snape Men’s Shed – as no representatives attended the meeting this item could not be discussed.
7. Playing Field – Cllr Hodges updated the Council on the successful applications made for funding for the new play equipment.  The fund raising had slightly exceeded expectations so the Bedale and Community Forum would be approached to reduce their grant from £2k to £1k.  It was RESOLVED to proceed with the purchase and installation of the selected equipment by HAGS Ltd.  Changes recommended in the recent RoSPA report had been completed.  Arrangements were underway to install the new goal posts although it had been found that some parts had not been received.  Cllr Hodges was in the process of resolving this situation which was likely to have cost implications.  The contractor had been approached about the first cut of the playing field and village.  It was RESOLVED to intentionally leave some grass uncut at the south end of the field except for some pathways.  This would provide interest for children once the grass grew higher.  Cllr Pringle and Watson would mark out these areas for the contractor.  It was RESOLVED to put in place dates for when the grass cutting would be undertaken in year to try to improve the frequency of cuts.
8. Planning applications
   • Receipt of new applications
     1. ZB24/02414/LBC - Listed Building Consent for replacement of the front elevation window and to replace a plastic section of roof with tiles - Snape Castle Mews.  This application was discussed.  There were no objections.
     2. ZB24/01863/FUL -  Application to site Shepherd Hut (5.18m x 2.55m) on driveway as a holiday let as of amended plans dated 10/3 - Buckles House.  This revised plan was discussed. The Council appreciated the efforts of the applicant to provide a clearer sketch plan of the site and location of the Shepherd's Hut and extra car space.  However, the Council was still of the view that the new document was not a definitive plan as it was not shown to scale.  This meant that the Council could not assess the full assessment of the proposed development.

The Council felt that the stated size of the additional car park space did not meet the recommended sizing for car parking spaces.  Without adequate parking on the site the Council was concerned about car parking issues in the vicinity and also the impact on the road system with a number of the village roads intersecting close to the site.

For the above reasons the Council could not support the proposal on the information received.

8. • Outcome of previous planning applications
     1. ZB24/02438/FUL - Re-submission of application ref 21/02440/FUL, approval of which expired on 6th December 2024 - Redevelopment of entrance to Village Institute providing a front single storey flat roof extension, disabled access & sanitary facilities & meeting room and porch canopy - Snape Institute – Approved
   • Planning guidance on the removal of walls, hedges and fences in the Conservation Area – the Clerk reported that in researching the planning guidance re conservation areas she had seen guidance that walls, fences and hedges could not be removed in a conservation area without prior approval.  It was noted that this had apparently not occurred in an area of the village and it was RESOLVED that this would be brought to the attention of the enforcement team at NYC.
9. Biodiversity

Cllr Pringle presented a Biodiversity action plan.  With some minor amendments identified in discussion it would be loaded to the website. 

10. Dates of the Annual Open Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Council – Councillors would advise the Clerk of their availability for these meetings in April and May respectively.
11. Items for the Newsletter

These were agreed; the Clerk would prepare a draft document and circulate to the Council  It was noted that the daffodils recently planted looked very good and, if possible, a photo would be included on the newsletter.  It was agreed during discussion that the older minute books of the Council should be lodged with the County Records Office.

The meeting closed at 8pm.