26th June 2026
MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
Held in the Board Room of Rudding Park Hotel on 25th June 2026
PRESENT: Chairman N. MacDermid, Vice Chairman A. Dewsnip, Councillors K.Tharby,
C. Dickinson, J. Locke and S Gallimore. Also present Cllr A Paraskos (NYC) and Clerk M. Richards.
Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr T. Hall.
1. Declaration of Interest and Notification of changes in the Members’ Register of Interest:
None.
2. Public Participation session: No items notified.
3. Minutes of the Annual Meetings held on 14th May 2026: The minutes were proposed as correct records by Cllr Dickinson and seconded by Cllr Dewsnip. The Chairman duly signed both sets of minutes.
4. Matters arising: None. Covered in agenda.
5. Planning
a) 26/02626/FUL – Proposed Garage Alterations. Oak House, Pannal Road.
The Chairman displayed the location and site plans and also made reference to the arboriculture report and the position of trees T1 and T2. The chairman also commented on the proposed garage alterations and any possible impact on the neighbouring property. It was felt that if there were any concerns regarding this then they would be raised by the neighbour. The councillors considered various aspects of the application but on balance had no issue with the proposal. Accordingly, it was agreed to SUPPORT the application.
Decisions
None notified.
6. Chairman’s communications.
a) Northern Gas Network (NGN) structure Plompton Road.
The Chairman reported that following further correspondence with NGN it had been established that the location of the gas governor was not a health and safety issue and there was therefore no justification for re-location. Efforts will now concentrate on landscaping, appearance and any appropriate safety enhancements.
b) Parish Council Workshops
The Chairman and Cllr Dickinson had both attended and found the session informative and helpful on the workings of various NYC departments, particularly public access/rights of way and highways. Whilst there was nothing which immediately affected this Parish Council on rights of way, it was interesting to note that a significant portion of the rights of way budget is directed towards responding to complaints and requests regarding existing footpaths and bridleways, with relatively little available for new access initiatives.
c) The Chairman reported that a resident had raised the question of a possible proposed house extension which it was understood fell in to the category of “Prior Approval”, and whether the Parish Council would have any role in this matter. The Chairman had confirmed that this related to a Permitted Development scheme, rather than a Planning Application. Unless there were special circumstances, such an application would not be submitted to the Parish Council for comment.Residents are however able to comment directly to North Yorkshire Council.
7. Clerk’s correspondence
SWARCO maintenance contract for the Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS). As recorded previously
a new 3-year contract priced at £666.87 is being offered by the company. As there were no more
favourable packages available, and it is better value than the cost of ad hoc call-outs, the Parish
Council had approved the 3-year contract, and the clerk advised that he had made the necessary
arrangements.
8. Parish Matters
a) Plompton – Notice Board
The contractor had advised that the notice board was beyond repair, but he proposed using the
existing door and glass whilst fabricating a new body in the same format as the previous board.
This would be much cheaper than purchasing a new notice board. Councillors agreed.
In the absence of Cllr Hall, no other issues were raised.
b) Village upkeep.
i) Bench refurbishment, notice board repair, in hand. Noted that the village green
needs cutting, but whilst this is included in NYC’s schedule it is likely that it will only be done much
later in the Summer. The clerk will instruct our contractor to remedy.
ii) The light in the Information Centre/phone box is malfunctioning again. Cllr Locke agreed to
follow up.
ii) Weeds and overgrown vegetation on footpaths and kerbsides. This was a matter raised by a
resident. Whilst Councillors did not consider it was the PC’s responsibility to advise residents to
manage the area outside their houses, as that is part of the public highway (including footpaths), it
would be appreciated if they could address anything which overhangs from their properties.
The Chairman was pleased to report that he had observed a NYC contractor weed spraying the
footpaths and kerbsides. It was agreed to monitor the position and follow up if necessary.
c) Possible Unregistered Land – telecoms issues. The Chairman had contacted our local MP for
assistance, and he had contacted Openreach who had responded positively. Openreach have said
investigations are usually carried out in response to service loss issues, and landowners have a
responsibility to maintain trees and vegetation which may interfere with telecoms equipment.
However, if the original complainant agrees, their details will be forwarded to Openreach (via the
MP) who will then consider what actions might be possible. In the meantime, ownership of the land
in question will be pursued further, again with the assistance of the MP, so that the Parish Council
can also take the matter up with the landowner (private or public ownership).
d) Memorials (for Unice Cansfield and Ceris Sladdin). Appropriate wording has been agreed with
the respective families, and the Clerk will arrange, in liaison with the Chairman, for suitable
plaques to be produced. Cllr Tharby reported that he had been asked about creating a memorial
plaque for another long-standing member of the community. The Chairman was sympathetic to the
request but confirmed that the memorials noted above were specifically for the two individuals who
had made significant contributions to the Parish Council and to the creation of Follifields. Any
further memorial would therefore need to be pursued privately. There would be no objection (in
principle) to considering plaques being placed elsewhere in the village, such as being added to
existing wooden benches. In the first instance these should be discussed with the Parish Council.
e) IT Policy – councillors formally adopted the policy circulated previously, which was largely
based on the template provided by NALC.
9. Traffic calming
a) VAS. Cllr Dickinson is continuing to monitor. He noted that the current month’s data was better
than the previous 2 months, for no obvious reason, but the volume of traffic was down. A
councillor did query the possible impact of trees being in full leaf perhaps affecting data capture
but this could not be confirmed either way. The Chairman did observe that it was pleasing to note
that overall the equipment did seem to have a positive effect in mitigating traffic speed.
b) Speed survey – Pannal Road, outside Riding Stables. The clerk has been unable to raise the possibility of a lower speed limit with NYC’s Highways Safety Officer, but he will pursue again.
c) Rudding Estate is proposing to raise with NYC Highways the possibility of extending the 30mph zone on Pannal Road from the existing location all the way back to the entry into the village from the A658, and is asking for the Parish Council’s support. Councillors discussed at length and agreed that this was a worthwhile initiative, consistent with our own efforts to improve road safety, and which we should therefore support. The Chairman with liaise with Rudding Estate regarding providing a letter of support for this.
10. Follifields
a) Maintenance – as reported in the May minutes, the Chairman and Cllr Gallimore have reviewed all the outstanding issues from the ROSPA report and identified issues for the respective contractors (AW and SB) Cllr Gallimore has now produced separate lists of the work required and the clerk will pass on to both individuals.
b) Willow Tunnel – Cllr Gallimore was going to arrange a working party to adjust and re-shape where necessary, but on reflection as the willow is so overgrown it may be better for a small group (of councillors?) to make a start to get the structure together, before the full working party.
c) Regrettably there is again unacceptable graffiti on the table tennis table. Having made efforts to remove in the past, the best means of removal is under consideration. Also, some the newly purchased table tennis equipment has disappeared. Councillors were very unhappy with both these issues, and the matter is being left in abeyance whilst the next steps are considered.
11. Finance
a) Balance at the bank on 14th May 2026 in Current Account £1,219.98 and Deposit Account
£27,410.01, total £28,629.99. Bank statements to be initialled by the Chairman in confirmation, as
part of his payment authorisation process.
Monthly Reconciliation – reconciliation as at 25th June was provided with receipts and payments
in the period 14th May 2026 to 25th June 2026, reconciling to the account balances shown above
at a) Councillors then unanimously agreed the 14 amounts below for payment.
| Clerk’s salary | M Richards | £285.59 | Bank transfer |
| PAYE income tax | HMRC | £190.38 | Bank transfer |
| Clerk’s expenses | M Richards | £100.00 | Bank transfer |
| Audit fee | R Chambers | £100.00 | Bank transfer |
| Honorarium | S Smith | £100.00 | Bank transfer |
| Kissing Gate repair | A Walker | £325.00 | Bank transfer |
| Follifields repairs | A Walker | £145.00 | Bank transfer |
| Follifields hedge trim | L Sadler | £400.00 | Bank transfer |
| Follifields grass cut | S Bush | £277.20 | Bank transfer |
| Follifields grass cut | S Bush | £184.80 | Bank transfer |
| Plants | C Dickinson | £77.50 | Bank transfer |
| VAS contract | SWARCO | £666.88 | Bank transfer |
| Print cartridges | M Richards | £69.99 | Bank transfer |
| Room hire | M Richards | £25.00 | Bank transfer |
b) Monthly budget statement. The clerk briefly ran through the Cumulative and Summarystatements, confirming all recent amendments had been accounted for and the budget would be closely monitored as before. He commented on the memorandum Follifields account with regard to the available balance, and the effect of receipts and payments in the current month.
c) Annual accounts
The clerk had presented the draft accounts to the Annual Parish Meeting and councillors indicated their agreement for the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) to be completed based on these figures. The clerk confirmed that the Parish Council is again exempt from an external audit review as turnover is below the £25,000 turnover limit, The AGAR statementsincluding the Exemption Certificate and Annual Internal Audit certificate are presented herewith for formal approval:
i) The Annual Governance Statement – approved.
ii) The Annual Accounting Statements – approved
iii) The Certificate of Exemption – approved
iv) The Annual Internal Audit Report – noted, but with reference to the need to address the missing entries for 2024/25 AGAR and to ensure the website is up to date.
12. Items for next meeting
None notified
Date of next Parish Council meeting: Thursday 16th July 2026 at 7.30pm at Rudding Park Hotel
The meeting concluded at 9.20pm