Thursday 12th October

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Thursday 12th October 2017

PRESENT: Chairman N. MacDermid, Councillors J. Andrade, T Martin, P. Cresswell,
and T. Hall. Also present M. Richards (Clerk), Internal Auditor R. Snoxall, Neighbourhood Watch M. Hammond and six parishioners.

1. Apologies: Apologies received and accepted from Cllrs A. Dewsnip, and J. Hinchcliffe and District Councillor A. Paraskos. The Chairman welcomed Mike Richards to his first meeting as Parish Clerk.
2. Declaration of Interest and Notification of changes in the Members’ Register of Interest: None.
3. Public Participation session: None.
4. Meeting Minutes held on 14th September 2017: Councillor Hall proposed the minutes to be a correct record, seconded by Councillor Cresswell. The Chairman then duly signed the minutes.
5. Matters arising from the previous minutes:
Village Hall events – to be reported at the November meeting.
6. Chairman’s communications:
a) The Chairman reported that he had received a letter from Elspeth Jones, a former Parish Councillor, who wished to record formally her appreciation of the work of the outgoing clerk, Stephanie Hinchcliffe. She considered that Stephanie had “performed her role with unfailing patience, dedication and with great attention to detail.” Her overall performance contributed greatly to the smooth running of the Council and its meetings. All councillors present, warmly endorsed this message.
b) Other communications received are dealt with as part of the agenda.
7. Clerk’s correspondence: None received.
8. Matters concerning Plompton:
a) Overhanging trees on Wetherby Road – despite notification to NYCC Highways, no action appears to have been taken – the clerk will follow up.
b) An Enforcement Notice has been received regarding the felling of protected trees around the lake at Plompton Rocks. Councillor Hall informed councillors that in his opinion, the trees had been felled by anglers for better access to the lake. The clerk will write to the landowner to inform him of the situation.
9. Parish Clerk vacancy –
a) As reported above, Mike Richards has been appointed Clerk to the Parish Council. With regard to contract of employment, salary scale and expenses, councillors agreed that the outgoing clerk and the Chairman would liaise to produce the contract (based on the YLCA model) and establish the salary scale point, based on Mike’s experience (likely to be scale point 18)
b) With regard to physical payment, there were two options to consider:
i) Employment of a payroll agency to be responsible for all aspects of the clerk’s pay (at a cost) or,
ii) The clerk to utilise the official HMRC application to calculate pay, income tax etc. (at no cost) The clerk informed councillors that he was familiar with this function as he operated it at North Rigton Parish Council.
Councillors approved option ii)
10. Policies and Procedures – Grievance Procedure and Expenses Policy. The outgoing clerk will produce drafts for councillors’ agreement.
11. Neighbourhood Watch:
a) Report – The Neighbourhood Coordinator talked through his monthly report, which the clerk had emailed to the parish councillors. He again stressed that cybercrime was on the increase and residents should be aware when using on-line banking and also be on guard against potential scams. He mentioned specifically as an example, an email he had received purporting to be from HMRC requesting personal details so that a tax refund could be made. Unless you are absolutely certain of the veracity of such communications, do not respond and delete the message immediately.
b) Cold Calling Zone – The clerk (who is also clerk to Kirkby Overblow Parish Council) reported that he had not had comprehensive feedback on this issue. Initial thoughts were that the initiative was worthwhile but there was insufficient evidence to guage its overall impact. He will pursue again and also seek feedback from his other parish (North Rigton). The Co-ordinator concluded the discussion by suggesting that, for the time being, until such time as the need for a Cold Calling Zone can be demonstrated, action be limited to issuing cold calling labels for the households that want them.
12. Village Up Keep:
a) Maintenance – The clerk reported that time spent on Maintenance had been 8.5 hours for September at a cost of £127.50.
b) Autumn Litter Pick –the litter pick will be held at 2pm on Sunday 15th October 2017.
c) Asset Risk Assessment and Maintenance Inspection. It had originally been proposed that the village handyman should take on this task but in reality this did not prove feasible. The clerk suggested therefore that as part of the Litter Pick, councillors could undertake this exercise.
13. Highways:
a) Traffic concerns Haggs Road – at the last meeting the clerk had reported that 95 Alive were to carry out a speed survey on Haggs Road. Unfortunately, no action seems to have been taken. The clerk will follow up.
b) Foliage – It was reported at the last meeting that the verge on Rudding Lane/Collins Lane was extremely overgrown. The foliage around Collins Bridge was also discussed. The clerk will raise again with Highways.

14. FOFWRAP/Follifields:
a) General update – The chairman reported that the official opening of Follifields had gone very well with an excellent attendance. In excess of £80,000 had been raised in 10 months from generous local donations as well as significant grants from, for example, WREN and Awards For All. The main capital works have been completed although there is still a “wish list” for other features eg a petanque/boules pitch for consideration, should funding become available. Further landscaping work is planned to be undertaken.
b) Trim Trail – a quotation for £10,167 + VAT had been accepted. A grant of £9,935 had been received and FOFWRAP will fund the difference. The Parish Council will pay for the equipment and recover the VAT element. This is within HMRC rules as the Trim Trail will be a Parish Council asset.
c) Inspection of Play Equipment – inspection criteria for the equipment is still to be ascertained. The clerk will follow up.
d) Bin emptying – the former clerk mentioned that Harrogate Borough Council is not able to empty the Follifields bin, so alternative arrangements would have to be made. She suggested that a resident of Radcliffe Close, which is adjacent to the Follifields site, could be approached and, for the payment of a nominal sum (say £20 pa) be asked to empty the bin, placing the waste in their own household bin. A Radcliffe Close resident, who was present at the meeting, offered to take on this task and the Chairman expressed thanks. The clerk will make the necessary arrangements.
e) Maintenance – grass cutting. The Chairman reported that 3 quotations for the annual contract had been received. The quotes were as follows:
Harrogate Borough Council – £9,000
R Skelton – £4,500
Ashtree – £2,350
Accordingly, Councillors agreed that the contract be awarded to Ashtree. The Chairman confirmed that the cost of this maintenance would be covered by FOFWRAP fundraising events with the Parish Council providing a financial back-up.

15. Harrogate Rugby Club – signage. The Rugby Club has erected several signs and advertising hoardings on its field. The sign on the entrance gate is particularly large and is not felt to be in keeping with the rural environment. The clerk will contact HBC Planning to ascertain whether such signage complies with planning regulations. He will also contact the Rugby Club, to engender a closer working relationship with the Parish Council, possibly inviting a representative to attend Parish Council meetings when appropriate.
16. Disposal of records. The former clerk reported that she was in possession of a substantial amount of outdated planning correspondence. As all such information is stored electronically and can be recovered if necessary, she sought approval for these documents to be professionally shredded, at a cost of £25 per sack. Councillors approved £50 to be spent on shredding the contents of two sacks.

17. Finance:
a) Balance at the bank on 30th September 2017 – Current Account £1,378.30 and Deposit Account £3,499.28
b) Monthly Budget – see Appendix 1
c) Reconciliation – see Appendix 2
d) Confirmation of Follifields expenditure – see Appendix 3
e) Internal Audit arrangements – the clerk confirmed that a meeting would be arranged with the Internal Auditor (Richard Snoxall), the outgoing clerk and himself, to make the necessary arrangements for the completion of the 6 monthly audit review.
f) Expenditure: The clerk requested approval for expenditure for the Village Hall, Village Maintenance, Follifields, clerk’s salary and External Audit. It was unanimously agreed to pay as detailed below.

Locks & chains – Follifields A Martin £57.96 Bank Transfer
Repairs to kissing Gate A Walker £215.75 Bank Transfer
Contribution for wifi Village Hall £137.21 Bank Transfer
Fencing – Follifields P M Dickson £1,499.42 Bank Transfer
Grass cut Follifields Ashtree £300.00 Bank Transfer
VAT – Equipment Follifields Playscheme £1,836.05 Bank Transfer
Benches Streetwise £1,713.60 Bank Transfer
Picnic bench Follifields Playscheme £991.20 Bank Transfer
VAT Follifields Playscheme £5,000.00 Bank Transfer
VAT £509.65 Bank Transfer
Village maintenance M Collier £127.50 Bank Transfer
Underpayment of clerk’s salary S Hinchcliffe £47.52 Bank Transfer
Clerk’s salary S Hinchcliffe £1,088.56 Bank Transfer
Clerk’s expenses S Hinchcliffe £87.50 Bank Transfer
External audit PKF Littlejohn £120.00 Bank Transfer

g) Payments – The clerk asked if the Parish Council would agree to produce a standing order so invoices could be paid relating to FOFWRAP, the payments would ensure items are delivered and work continues. The invoices would then be produced at the next meeting for clarification of expenditure. Councillors unanimously agreed and the standing order was produced for signature by the Chairman.
18. Planning:
a) Applications received since last meeting – for information
i. Haggs Road, Spofforth – 17/03851/HEDGE – removal of 118m of hedgerow. Councillors had no objections or observations on this application
b) Applications Received – for decision
i. Follifoot Ridge Business Park, Pannal Road, Follifoot 17/04047/FUL – erection of electricity sub-station. Councillors had no objection to this application.
c) Applications received since the agenda was compiled: None
d) Previous Applications:
i. Land to the rear of The Priory, Plompton Road, Follifoot (17/00076/out) Residential development for up to 8 houses – at the meeting the Chairman reported that he had spoken with the planning officer regarding the application, who had stated that a survey would be needed to demonstrate the justification for additional housing in Follifoot. This survey has now been completed by ID Planning (IDP) and has been submitted to HBC Housing who will decide whether the need has been justified. Councillors asked about the nature of the survey and how it had been formulated. The Chairman responded that the original requirement was for the survey to be throughout the Parish and conducted by the HBC Housing department but in fact ID Planning (on behalf of the applicant) had conducted it via direct consultation with staff at Rudding Park Hotel only. Councillors then discussed what should be the Parish Council’s response. Councillors stated that whilst they were supportive of the general principles of providing affordable housing, any survey to justify this needed to be independent, proper, inclusive and transparent – the ID Planning survey did not seem to meet these criteria. In support of this view, it was recalled how the criteria for Radcliffe Close included requirements such as a family connection to the village or applicants to be already living or working in the village. There was insufficient demand from people who matched these criteria. The clerk will write to HBC Planning, setting out the Parish Council’s concerns with the survey.
19. Any other business
The Chairman mentioned the overhanging weeping willow tree at Hilltop
House. It was understood that a proposal to cut down the tree was under
discussion but it was unclear whether there was a Tree Preservation Order
for this location. The clerk will make appropriate enquiries.

NB – subsequent to the Parish Council meeting the owner of Hilltop
House had arranged for contractors to remove the overhanging
branches and therefore resolve the problem.

Date of next Parish Council Meeting: 7.30pm on 9th November 2017 in Follifoot Village Hall, Tofts Lane, Follifoot.