Annual Parish Meeting 6th May 2021
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held remotely via Zoom videoconferencing software in accordance with government guidelines on
Thursday 6th May 2021
The Chairman’s report is appended after the minutes.
a) Chairman’s report for 2020/21 – The Chairman introduced the Parish Councillors:-
Tony Martin, who is also Vice Chairman
Anne Dewsnip
Sam Riley
Charles Dickinson
Justin Locke
Terry Hall, representing Plompton.
He thanked the councillors and the Parish Clerk, Mike Richards, for their hard work and commitment to the community and also the support given to him personally. Reference was also made to other individuals’ contributions to the community as follows:
The Chairman then outlined the major issues considered by the Parish Council:
The detailed report is attached at Appendix A
b) Financial report for the year to 31 March 2021 – The Parish Council continues to be on a sound
financial footing, with a surplus of income over expenditure of £6665.49, for the financial year. This,
coupled with the carry forward from the previous year gives a balance of £28,261.34 as at 31 March
2021.
Receipts for the year were boosted by the receipt of £2750 from the NY Police “AJ1 Fund”, following the successful bid, and 2 separate donations of £1000, one from Cllr Paraskos’ Locality Budget, theother from the film company for filming in Plompton (this amount ring-fenced for future spending in Plompton) Receipts would, of course, have been even higher but for the absence of the normal Follifields fundraising activity, suspended due to the pandemic.
Payments – individual payment headings closely matched those of the previous year, with the exception of Follifields (£5743.10 compared with £1735.50 in 2020-21) The decrease of £4007.60 being largely explained by the purchase of the table tennis table in the previous year. Total paymentsof course, fell well short of the budgeted amount due to the lack of expenditure on VAS and picket fences, some £4500. This amount will, be spent in this current financial year. As mentioned above, the Parish Council is carrying a substantial level of funds, and councillors do need to give some thought on potential areas for expenditure which can be justified for the benefit of the community as a whole.
5. Environment
a) Litter picking – as mentioned in the Chairman’s report, the Parish Council is very grateful to Cllr Dickinson and his wife who carry out litter picking, as part of their regular walks. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the regular village litter pick has not been possible but it is now hoped, with the relaxation of restrictions an event may be possible in early Summer.
b) Follifields rubbish bin – the clerk reported that the rubbish bin will now be emptied by HBC, as part of its regular waste collection programme.
c) Golf balls. Cllr Dickinson reported that, on his regular walks, he had found a large number of golf balls, from Rudding Park Driving Range, on the roadside verge. There is an obvious potential danger to passing motorists, should a golf ball land on the road. The Chairman has raised this matter with Rudding Park at the highest level. The issue was acknowledged and taken very seriously. Rudding Park have committed to investigate the circumstances and carry out a detailed risk assessment. They will also instigate a regular review. They also indicated that a golf ball tracking system, which records the flight of the golf balls from each compartment, is to be installed. This will be used to give feedback to golfers and assist in addressing the issue.
d) Dog fouling – this is of general concern throughout the Parish. Both the Parish Council and Rudding Estates have posted signs, requesting owners to pick up after their dogs, but this obviously falls on deaf ears on regular occasions. The clerk will contact the HBC Dog Warden again, and request frequent patrols around the village to identify miscreants and take appropriate action (fines of up to £1000 may be levied)
6. Road Safety
a) The clerk reported that the supply and installation of the Vehicle Activated Sign had been delayed due to an outbreak of covid-19 at the supplier’s factory. It was now expected that the Sign would be installed late May/early June.
b) Picket fence. The NYCC Highways Engineer had informed the clerk of specific Health and Safety and other regulations which meant that the original plans could not now be implemented. In a nutshell, in order to erect the fence at the identified location on Haggs Road, it would have to constructed from PVC or plastic. The clerk was instructed to source a suitable design from the approved material and present to the next PC meeting.
7. Submissions from Residents
a) A resident asked that his appreciation be recorded for the professional approach followed by the Chairman, in his conduct of the often difficult, Zoom meetings, in the last 12+ months, during the pandemic. The Chairman thanked the resident for his comments.
b) A resident had reported to Cllr Dickinson that the bench on the Pannal Road cul-de-sac, had become loose on its mountings. The Chairman undertook to investigate. It had also been reported that the path around Duck’s Nest Farm, appeared to have been closed. The Chairman responded that he believed this was not a formal public footpath but he would investigate.
The Chairman then closed the Annual Parish Meeting by thanking residents for their attendance and positive contributions. He also thanked councillors for their hard work and effort throughout the year in supporting the community.
Next Annual Parish Meeting: April 2022, in Follifoot Village Hall.
Follifoot with Plompton Parish Council
Chairman’s report to the Annual Parish Meeting – Thursday 6th May 2021.
Thanks to all those attending this annual parish meeting
First of all a quick name check of parish councillors: –
I’m Nigel MacDermid – Chairman
Tony Martin is Vice Chair
Our fellow parish councillors are: –
Anne Dewsnip
Sam Riley
Charles Dickinson
Justin Locke
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: –
Richard Snoxall our internal auditor
Steve Smith for maintaining the follifoot.org website – which this year included a review and update to conform with “Accessibility” requirements
Mark the village handyperson
Stewart Bush for cutting the grass and maintaining Follifields
John Chilton for publishing our parish meeting minutes in the Harrogate Advertiser
And finally a mention to Andy Paraskos – our ward and district councillor
Andy has continued to be a great supporter of our parish and often attends our meetings. We have also benefited from the council fund that Andy is able to allocate to community projects. – the most recent one being towards the cost of installing a Vehicle Activated Speed Sign to help improve road safety. There will be more on Road Safety later in my report.
Coronavirus & its impact on our community
Over the last year everyone’s lives to some degree have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Our thoughts go to those in our community who have been affected – either personally or their family and friends.
Anne & Andy have continued to be at the heart of our community and throughout the last year have provided a constant and very welcome service to us all. Our thanks go to both of them.
Virtually all of our Parish Council meetings over the last year have had to be online, which has created some technical challenges, but hopefully we will be able to go back to holding these in the village hall again soon.
During the first lockdown and in line with government guidelines we made the decision to close Follifields. However once guidelines were revised, we were able to re-open, installing safety signage throughout and also asking Stuart Bush to spray the equipment on a periodic basis.
Since Follifields opened it has been very popular and during the pandemic perhaps even more so. That has created some challenges in terms of parking on Radcliffe Close but hopefully that has been not too disruptive to the residents that live there.
We would normally see a number of events organised in the village, such as the Safari Supper, the FOFS Fish & Chip Supper Quiz and the Folliwood Pop-Up Indian Restaurant.
The cricket club would also run events throughout the year in addition to the cricket matches themselves.
As well as being fun events they also raise much needed funds for various organisations, and as covid restrictions continue to ease it should hopefully be possible for such events to start taking place again.
In 2020 Jan & Mark Mackaness, with the support of the Parish Council, organised an outdoor art festival with the theme of “We Love Follifoot”, with residents of all ages submitting art to be displayed in various parts of the village. We thank Jan & Mark and the Rudding Estate team for organising and funding this event.
Maintenance, Litter Picking and Hygiene
Due to the covid restrictions it has not been possible to have our regular group litter picking events to take place.
However, Charles and Chris Dickinson have carried out litterpicking as part of their regular walks and we are very grateful to both of them. I’d also like to thank them for the planting and maintaining of flowers at the entrances to the village.
More recently Hugo Sladdin has also volunteered to do litterpicking as part of his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Our thanks to Hugo.
Covid restrictions have limited what maintenance works we have been able to do, although we did undertake a significant refurbishment of the Parish Notice Board.
As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, we will re-view what works need to be done in the year ahead.
Mark, the village handyman, has carried out maintenance activity in the village and Stuart Bush has maintained Follifields.
Sam & and Gareth Riley have regularly emptied the bin in Follifields, and we are grateful to both of them.
I recently carried out a detailed review of Follifields with Sam Gallimore of the Follifields fundraising group. Mike Richards is in the process of tendering for these works to ensure we get good value for money.
A constant area of concern issue of dog mess. This includes dog fouling near the entrance to Follifields and the school. Whilst our approach has mainly been to make people aware of the issue and the risk to people’s health, we have also been in contact with the Harrogate Borough Council dog warden to see what they can do. Rudding Estate have also put up signageon a number of footpaths on Estate land to educate and encourage dog owners to act more responsibly.
Crime & Safety
Mike Hammond and the neighbourhood watch volunteers continue to provide a great service in terms of information and vigilance. Our thanks to Mike and the other volunteers.
During the year there were incidents of people trespassing and using quad bikes on private farmland and some incidents of poaching within the parish. When issues such as thse arise we would encourage residents to report the matter to the police by dialling 101.
Now the topic of road safety: –
Having previously carried out a speed survey on Pannal Roadwe have made the decision to install a Vehicle ActivatedSpeed Sign.
Quotes were obtained and an order has been placed for this equipment to be installed hopefully later this month
The speed of traffic on Haggs Rd as it approaches the junction with John Metcalfe way has been a concern for some time. Efforts to have the speed limit reduced have been unsuccessful and so we have looked at alternative solutions.
The installation of picket fences with a safety message is our chosen solution although the specific design and positioning is proving to be very challenging due to various rules and restrictions.
The Harrogate District Local Plan was adopted in March 2020 and is the framework for development across the district through until 2035.
No significant development was identified for the Follifootwith Plompton Parish but that does not prevent smaller scale individual applications being made.
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 take a positive and constructive approach to the review of applications, but where we feel that an application isinappropriate then we will respond accordingly.
As part of the review process, we will take into account the National Planning Policy Framework and other planning policies.
One final item to mention in this section is the long-awaited works to improve drainage in the underpass beneath John Metcalfe Way that were completed in the last year.
Whilst the scope of works was not as extensive as first planned, we are still grateful for the improvements that were made.
A consulation took place on the on the reorganisation of Local Government. This could involve the creation of a single or possibly two unitary authorities with additional develolved powers.. The Parish Council considered the various options put forward and decided to support the East/West two authority structure.
A few comments on our finances
The annual Parish Precept (which forms part of residents Council Tax Bills) was £10,720 for the financial year just ended. As a parish Council we made the decision the freeze the Precept for 2021/22.
The Parish Council does hold financial reserves and we are mindful that these should not grow too large, but these do include £7,400 for the maintenance of Follifields (including future equipment renewal) and £1,000 on behalf of Plompton for a donation they received in the last year. The reserves also include money that was received in 20/21 for our road safety initiatives that will be spent in 2021/22.
The parish council secured grant funding from the AJ1 fund and also from Andy Paraskos’ community fund. These will both be used to fund the Vehicle Activated Speed sign.
These funds were raised in 2020/21 and will be spent in the early part of this financial year.
Closing Comments
This last year has been challenging for many of us, in particular due to the covid pandemic, but there have been numerous examples of how our community has come together and demonstrated its strength.
I think we can all look forward to the year ahead with an increased level of hope and optimism.
That concludes my annual report.
Thank-you.
Nigel MacDermid
Chair – Follifoot with Plompton Parish Council