25th May 2025 Annual Meeting
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting in the Village Hall
Thursday 22nd May 2025
- PRESENT: Chairman N. MacDermid, Vice Chairman A. Dewsnip, Councillors T. Hall, C.
Dickinson, K. Tharby and S. Gallimore. Clerk M. Richards and 3 residents were also present.
- Apologies: Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr J. Locke, and Cllr
A. Paraskos (NYC)
- Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 9th May 2024 confirmed as approved at June
2024 meeting.
- Matters arising – all issues had been followed up at the June 2024 meeting. No outstanding
matters.
- Reports:
Financial report for the year to 31 March 2025 – presented by the clerk/RFO – The Parish Council continues to be in a healthy financial state, with a significant level of reserves, which are necessary due to the need to provide for unexpected incidents with regard to high value assets and the need to be prepared for replacement of high-cost play equipment at Follifields which is now in its 8th year. The draft annual accounts statement is being circulated for councillors’ review and approval. 2024-25 has again been a relatively normal year in financial terms with receipts and payments largely mirroring previous years. The main areas of expenditure have again been the clerk’s salary, village and Follifields maintenance and the purchase of an additional defibrillator for Plompton (largely funded by a grant from Cllr Paraskos) The only outstanding issue is the reclaim of VAT of some £1500 which should now be received in June, following numerous communications with HMRC.
The Internal Auditor has started his review work on the accounts and the state of internal financial control and governance and will be presenting his report to the June Parish Council meeting, at which the formal Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) will be available for Councillors’ scrutiny and review, prior to authorization.
- Chairman’s report to the Annual Parish Meeting
Chairman’s report to the Annual Parish Meeting – Thursday 22nd May 2025.
Thanks to all those attending this annual parish meeting
First of all, a quick name check of parish councillors: –
I’m Nigel MacDermid – Chairman
Anne Dewsnip is our Vice Chair
Our fellow parish councillors are: –
Sam Gallimore
Charles Dickinson
Justin Locke
Keith Tharby
Terry Hall – representing Plompton
And a final introduction of Mike Richards our parish clerk and Responsible Financial Officer.
As with previous years I’d like to give my thanks for the great service that the parish councillors and the parish clerk have given to the community, and the support they give to me personally.
Some other people I’d also like to thank are: –
Our village handyman Mark, & Andrew Walker for carrying out maintenance tasks in the village.
Stewart Bush for cutting the grass and maintaining Follifields.
And finally, a mention to Andy Paraskos – our local North Yorkshire Councillor.
Andy continues to be a great supporter of our parish and often attends our meetings. We have also again benefited from the council fund that Andy is able to allocate to community projects.
Thanks & Appreciation
As in previous years, I want to thank all the community organizations and groups: Friends of Follifoot School, FoFwrap, The WI, The Village Hall Trustees/Committee, and especially Anne and Andy for their great contributions.
As ever a huge thanks must go to members of our community who attend and support the organised events that make all the effort so worthwhile.
Road Safety & Transport
During the year we paid for a speed survey to be carried out on Haggs Road and we used this to support our lobbying of North Yorkshire Council to reduce the speed limit for the residential part of that road. North Yorkshire’s response has been positive, and we hope this change happens soon.
We are arranging for a speed survey to be carried out on Plompton Road (near The Pound) and in the coming year we will also arrange for one on Main Street.
We continue to monitor and report on traffic and speed data from the Vehicle Activated Sign that was installed a few years ago.
Over the last year we have seen an increased number of vehicles parking on Guilders Bridge on Plompton Road. They often block pavements and park on both sides and the brow of the bridge. This creates a major safety issue. We have raised the matter with North Yorkshire Police and we will also be installing signage.
Health & Wellbeing
The Parish Council continues to maintain the Follifields wildlife, recreation and play area.
This includes the regular cutting of the grass, a major pruning of the hedge to maintain the open aspect of the play area, the removal of cuttings from the Wildflower area in the autumn/winter and maintenance of the play equipment and gates/fencing.
At the end of March there was a Folliwood Pop-Up Indian Restaurant organised by the Fofwrap fundraising group to raise funds for the upkeep of Follifields. This was well supported and very well attended. My thanks go to both the organisers and the attendees.
There was a change of tenancy at The Pound this year. With the previous tenants/custodians moving out of the village The Pound has now been taken on by a new “Chicken Co-operative” (a group made up of adults and children). We would like to give our thanks to Dave and Karen Spencer, (the previous tenants of The Pound), for their generous donation of the chicken coops and equipment.
We have long supported connecting the bridleway by the viaduct in Crimple Valley. North Yorkshire Council have recently completed a legal Creation Order which will finally enable this to happen. We thank the organisations, individuals, and North Yorkshire Council for their perseverance.
Maintenance, Litter Picking and Highway Repairs
Andrew Walker has refurbished a number of benches during the year and is now working on the interior of the Phone Box/Information Centre.
We held both an Autumn and more recently a Spring litter pick. The litter picks had good attendance, with families participating in the event. Thanks go to those residents that were able to give up their time.
We appreciate Charles and Chris Dickinson for regularly picking up litter during their walks. I would also like to thank Charles and Chris for planting and maintaining flowers at the entrances to the village, which provide a colourful welcome as people enter.
Potholes are a growing nationwide issue affecting our roads’ maintenance and safety. During the year there was a major issue with the road surface on Pannal Road on the way into the village. We pushed North Yorkshire Highways to address this as a priority, and after an initial temporary repair they returned not too long after to carry out a permanent resurfacing. We will continue to lobby North Yorkshire Council to deal with other potholes, and we would encourage residents to do the same.
Regarding maintenance, several streetlights are currently not functioning. Having lobbied North Yorkshire Council some have been fixed, but we will continue to press on the outstanding ones.
Waste & Recycling
There have been major changes to the waste and recycling arrangements by North Yorkshire Council. I think it’s fair to say that their communication and implementation has been poor, but hopefully it will start to settle down now as they and we get used to the new arrangements.
The Parish Council plays an important role in the planning permission process, and as a consultee we provide local knowledge and comments on planning applications that are submitted for developments in the parish. We consider the National Planning Policy Framework and other planning policies in our formal responses.
We take a positive and constructive approach to the review of applications, but where we feel that an application is inappropriate then we will respond accordingly.
Several applications, including some for development projects at Rudding Park, were submitted last year for our responses.
Occasionally, we must address potential planning enforcement issues and report them to North Yorkshire Council for investigation.
North Yorkshire – Local Development Plan and Constituency boundaries
During the year we discussed two key North Yorkshire proposals to develop a Housing Strategy and new North Yorkshire Development Plan.
North Yorkshire Council have recently published details of the sites put forward as part of the “Call for Sites” process.
As of Monday 19th May North Yorkshire Council have commenced a Local Plan consultation, but at this stage it on the process for developing the Local Plan rather than any specific sites. The deadline for responses is 19th July.
We will monitor and engage with the development of the NY Local Plan, focusing on its potential impact on our community. When the time comes to formally comment on any sites proposed by North Yorkshire we will hold a dedicated event in the Village Hall to understand the views of our community.
This year, our parliamentary boundary changed from Selby & Ainsty to Wetherby & Easingwold.
A few comments on our finances
Mike has already talked in some detail about the Parish Council finances in his report so I will just make a few comments of my own.
The annual Parish Precept (which forms part of residents Council Tax Bills) was £11,150 for the financial year just ended. For this year we have increased the precept by 2% to £11,375.
The Parish Council does hold financial reserves and we are mindful that these should not grow too large. We hold reserves for the maintenance and renewal of Follifields play equipment and also other village assets such as the information centre/phone box and the (now 2) defibrillators.
This year, we received £1,290 of Community Infrastructure Levy funds, which will be held in reserve for future capital projects.
Closing Comments
We appreciate having an active and supportive community and anticipate the year ahead with a positive outlook.
That concludes my annual report.
Submissions from Residents
A resident asked about the Parish Council’s input to planning applications and particularly the
new North Yorkshire Local Plan and the “Call for Sites”. The Chairman responded that the PC is
approached as a consultee for all planning applications and seeks to take into account all
aspects of proposed developments, particularly the impact on the overall environment and
neighbouring properties, but also the views of all interested parties and the applicants
themselves. He added that the PC’s approach is always to seek to support all applications
unless there are clear reasons to oppose or make cautionary qualifying comments. With regard
to the NY Local Plan the PC is party to the consultation process currently underway and all
councillors are able to submit comments if appropriate. The “Call for Sites” itself is still not
finalised and North Yorkshire have not started evaluating any of the sites that have been
submitted so far. The Chairman did confirm that once firm proposals have been made and
development sites identified, a dedicated Parish event will be held to enable all interested
residents to take part in discussions and submit views and comments where appropriate.
There being no further questions, the Chairman closed the Annual Parish Meeting by thanking
all for their attendance and positive contributions to the matters discussed. He also thanked
councillors for their hard work and effort throughout the year in supporting the community.
Next Annual Parish Meeting: May 2026 (actual date TBC), in Follifoot Village Hall.