10th January 2019

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
​Thursday 10th January 2019

PRESENT: Chairman N. MacDermid, Vice Chairman T Martin, Councillors A Dewsnip, S Riley, and J Locke. In attendance, 1 parishioner and (from 8.15)
Cllr A. Paraskos
Apologies: Apologies for absence were received from Cllr C Dickinson.
1. Declaration of Interest and Notification of changes in the Members’ Register of Interest: None.
2. Public Participation session: The parishioner present raised the subject of the recent activity of the “charity bag distributors”. He (and other residents) were very doubtful about the bona fides of this charity and he had reported the matter to NYCC Trading Standards who, it was confirmed, are taking the matter very seriously. This matter had been discussed at the December meeting and councillors were pleased to see confirmation of Trading Standards involvement. All residents are encouraged to be vigilant and to report to the Police (via 101) any such suspicious activity.
3. Minutes of the meeting held on 13th December 2018: Councillor Martin proposed the minutes to be a correct record, seconded by Councillor Dewsnip. The Chairman then duly signed the minutes.
4. Matters arising from the previous minutes:
a) Community Defibrillator – this has now been installed in the phone box outside the Post Office. The Chairman thanked Cllr Martin for his involvement both with the installation and making the necessary arrangements with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS). Unfortunately, due to the absence of the responsible officer, the equipment has not been formally registered with YAS although it is fully operational and available for use in a cardiac emergency. Cllr Martin will follow up the registration with YAS and ensure all formal arrangements are in place. The Chairman’s agreed to be the nominated “guardian” of the defibrillator and the responsible person for liaison with YAS. The Chairman also agreed to pursue the acquisition of signage relating to the defibrillator and consider obtaining notices promulgating the existence of the defibrillator, for display in the local pubs, Post Office and bus shelters. It was also noted that further training on the use of the defibrillator, is being arranged for early February and this will be advertised via the website and community Facebook page.
b) Haggs Road – a resident had contacted the Parish Council regarding his concerns over the speed of traffic on Haggs Road adjacent to the houses before the A658 junction and also his disappointment at the apparent lack of action by the Parish Council. He had contacted NYCC Highways and North Yorkshire Police to express his concerns but had received a negative response, explaining why NYCC would not be taking any action. The clerk had responded to the resident stressing that the Parish Council had been vigorous in pursuing this issue with NYCC, but had received the same negative response which, for example, referred to the lack of relevant accident statistics on Haggs Road and also NYCC’s funding shortage, which together did not justify implementation of a traffic calming scheme. The Parish Council is continuing to press for action and has obtained accident statistics on John Metcalfe Way for the last 5 years, to consider whether there is any evidence to support a reduction in the national speed limit on the stretch of road adjacent to the Rudding Lane and Haggs Road junctions. This speed reduction could then possibly be applied to the relevant section of Haggs Road. Councillors then referred to a previous discussion on this matter, when a number of Haggs Road residents had been present. At that meeting several suggestions had been made about possible unofficial action being taken by those residents such as the use of speed warning signs to be attached to refuse bins and also making contact with the local media. Residents were again encouraged to pursue this course of action.
5. Chairman’s communication – The Chairman reported that he had received an email concerning a proposal to set up a “Forest School” in woodland owned by Rudding Park Estates Ltd, adjacent to Follifoot Cricket Club. The concept is a classroom without walls where children learn from nature, within nature. It is based on the Scandinavian idea of Forest Schools, an approach proven to help children develop skills in creativity, problem solving and risk management, for example. Councillors discussed the proposal and agreed to invite the individual to the next Parish Council meeting to learn more details.
6. Clerk’s correspondence received.
The clerk reported that he had received the following communications:
a) (for information) YLCA are preparing a note for circulation (entitled “Operation London Bridge”) concerning the arrangements all public bodies should make, following the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth. The main issue which may affect the Parish is the requirement to cancel all community events occurring in the 10 day mourning period.
b) HBC is undertaking a consultation exercise on the new draft charging schedule on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) The clerk will forward to all councillors when received.
c) Confirmation that the grant of £2000 from Cllr Paraskos’s Locality Budget will be paid within the next 10 days.
d) A statutory annual safety inspection will be required for Follifields (due in March 2019) Playscheme (the company which installed all the play equipment) has quoted a fee of £270 for this service, but the clerk was aware that North Rigton Parish which has the ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) inspection for its own (smaller) play area, only pays a fee of £60 to HBC, which organises the inspection. Accordingly, he has confirmed with HBC that a similar fee would be applicable to Follifields (although a small increase is due this year) Given councillors’ approval, he will arrange for HBC to carry out this function. Councillors confirmed their agreement.
Councillor Paraskos arrived at this point
e) A resident had raised the issue of poor mobile phone reception in certain parts of the Parish. Councillors commented that this issue had been raised on previous occasions and contact had been made with various mobile phone companies who had noted the position but no action seemed to have been taken. Councillors advised that individual signal boosters are available to purchase and this seems to be the most feasible answer. Cllr Paraskos did observe that NYCC is pursuing another initiative (Superfast North Yorkshire Broadband) which may also provide a solution. He will raise with the appropriate department.
7. Matters concerning Follifoot
a) The clerk had contacted Connexions to make them aware of unsatisfactory nature of the bus service, with buses either being missing from timetabled times or running very late. He had been assured that these problems, prior to Christmas, should not recur as revised procedures and rotas had been implemented. Unfortunately however, the Chairman reported that he had recently experienced a similar problem in that the last bus on the timetable had actually failed to detour into the village to pick up waiting passengers. Cllr Dewsnip suggested that the best way forward was for all such incidents to be recorded in detail and then fed back to Connexions. This initiative to be promulgated via Facebook.
b) Grasscutting – Follifields. The clerk reported that he had approached a number of contractors with a view to obtaining tenders for grasscutting. Two responses had been received which will need to be evaluated in due course.
c) Cllr Dewsnip reported that the Remembrance plaque should now have been fixed to the wall in the bus shelter. She suggested, and councillors agreed, that solar powered lights with motion and light sensors, should be fixed in the bus shelters. The clerk will follow up. She also reported the missing litter bin, located at the bus shelter – she will follow up with HBC.
8. Matters concerning Plompton
a) The clerk had notified the Enforcement Officer regarding the “orienteering” event at Plompton Rocks but, to date had received no response. He will raise again.
b) Salt bin – Cllr Hall reported that the salt bin at the entrance to Plompton had not been replenished. The clerk will raise again with NYCC.
9. Neighbourhood Watch – to be reported at the February meeting.
10.​Village Up Keep
a) The clerk had reported the quantity of dead leaves on the roads and pavements throughout the village to NYCC and it was pleasing to note that action had been taken to resolve this problem.
b) The clerk will contact the village handyman to ask him to clear the borders at the entrances to the village and to put in bedding plants.
11. Highways – reported at 4 b) above.
12. FOFWRAP/Follifields:
The Chairman reported that the he had recently met with Sam Gallimore to discuss:
a) transfer of FOFWRAP funds to the Parish Council.
b) ongoing maintenance of Follifields, including grasscutting and further developments eg the willow tunnel
c) purchase and installation of exterior table tennis table (?planning permission required)
d) future fundraising activity
The clerk confirmed that once the transfer of funds had been made, he would
set up a “memorandum” account which would ringfence the Follifields fund,
identifying it separately from the main PC funds, whilst it is deposited in the
HSBC deposit account.
It has been suggested that a calendar of events be established to avoid
any clashes – this calendar could be uploaded and maintained on the website.
13. Finance:
a) Balance at the bank on 31st December 2018, Current Account £1,937.58 and Deposit Account £8098.97. – Monthly Budget – See Appendix 1.
b) Monthly Reconciliation – reconciliation as at 31st December was provided – see Appendix 2.
c) Expenditure – Unanimously agreed and authorised by two councillors.
M Richards
Clerk’s salary
£339.04
Bank Transfer
Village Hall
Wifi contribution
£117.00
Bank Transfer

​A councillor asked about future arrangements for the contribution to the
Village Hall wifi costs – this will be discussed at the February meeting.
14. Governance
a) The four Governance documents, Standing Orders, Financial Control, Code
of Conduct and Risk Assessment, had been circulated prior to the December
meeting. The Chairman ran through each in detail and made the following
points;
i) Standing Orders – follows YLCA model, the key issue is one of transparency
in all business and transactions
ii) Code of Conduct – again follows YLCA model, no issues other than to
record his ownership of the telephone box.
iii) Risk Assessment – no issues other than to change the requirement for a 3
yearly review to annual.
Councillors unanimously resolved to adopt the above three documents.
iv) Financial Regulations – following comments from the internal auditor, it was
agreed that further revision was required to the Financial Regulations to
include reference to the requirement for internal audit, addition for the Asset
Register to include Follifields equipment and an additional section covering
GDPR. The clerk will action the above to be presented at the March meeting.
b) Internal Audit – it was agreed that the internal audit would be increased to a
quarterly review. The Internal Auditor accepted the honorarium of £50 but
asked for it to be donated to Follifields maintenance.
15.Planning:
a) Applications received during December
None.
​b) Applications Received – decisions
i) 18/04488/FUL – erection of two storey extension and porch, conversion of
loft into habitable accommodation, including raising of the roof and the
installation of a dormer and alterations to fenestration and doors – Green
Meadows, Haggs Road, Follifoot.
This application had not been received by the Parish Council, neither as a
hard copy nor an electronic version. The clerk had queried this with HBC
Planning but no reason could be found for this omission. HBC apologised
and undertook to ensure no future occurrence. Furthermore, the Parish
Council response to this application, recorded on the Planning Portal site,
was from Littlethorpe Parish Council, relating to an entirely different
planning application.​
ii) 83/00393/LLB – alterations to existing house – Rudding House and Park
Hotel, Rudding lane, Follifoot. Noted that this relates to the original planning
application submitted in 1983. It would seem that the notification to the
Parish Council is part of HBC’s housekeeping activity and does not require a
response.
. ​
c) Applications received since the agenda was compiled
None.
16. There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.15.

Date of next Parish Council Meeting:
7.30pm on 14th February 2019 in Follifoot Village Hall, Tofts Lane, Follifoot.