Thursday 12th April AGM
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on
Thursday 12th April 2018
PRESENT: Chairman N. MacDermid, Vice Chairman T. Martin, Councillors J. Hinchcliffe, A, Dewsnip, T. Hall, P. Cresswell, and J Andrade. District/County Councillor A. Paraskos was also present along with Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator M. Hammond, and 9 residents. Clerk – M. Richards.
1. Apologies: No apologies were received as all Councillors were present.
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 13th April 2017 were approved. (Proposed by Councillor Martin, seconded by Councillor Hinchcliffe)
3. Reports:
a) Financial report for the year to 31 March 2018 – The clerk gave the financial report, referring to the major areas of expenditure but explaining in particular that the significant increase in income had been a direct result of fundraising and expenditure on establishing the Follifields play area. The Chairman also explained that although the Parish Council’s precept for 2018/19 had been increased by 2.5% (from £10,000 to £ 10,250), residents will have seen a 5.4% increase shown in their Council Tax demand from HBC. This is due to the withdrawal by the Government of the Council Tax Support Grant which reduces the taxbase with a consequent higher apparent increase in the precept. All accounts were available to view.
b) Chairman’s report for 2017/18 – The Chairman introduced the Parish
Councillors, all of whom are up for re-election in May. Councillors Hinchcliffe and
Andrade have decided to stand down and he recorded his personal thanks and
those of the Parish Council, to James and Jo for their hard work and contributions
to the Parish Council. He then invited anyone with an interest in joining the Parish
Council to contact him for an informal chat. He then introduced Mike Richards –
the Parish Clerk, who has taken on the role, replacing Stephanie Hinchcliffe, in
the autumn of 2017, and whilst Stef was thanked at the time he wanted to officially
record thanks again as part of his annual report. He also thanked the Parish
Councillors and both Parish Clerks for the great service that they have given to the
community and the support they have given to him personally. Reference was also
made to other individuals’ contributions to the community as follows:
• Richard Snoxall our internal auditor
• Steve Smith for maintaining the Follifoot.org website
• Andrew Walker – for additional repair and construction works
• Anne and Andy from the village shop – for being involved in many activities in the village and generally being a “Hub of the Community”
• John Chilton for publishing our Parish meeting minutes in the Harrogate Advertiser
• Jules Lewis for producing the Parish Magazine – which includes Follifoot and Plompton
• Andy Paraskos – our Ward and County Councillor who continues to be very supportive and is a regular attendee of our Parish Meetings. We have also benefited from the council fund that Andy is able to allocate to community projects – in our case Follifields.
Planning and Development
The Parish Council responded to 22 planning applications in the last year, as part of the consultation process with HBC Planning. All applications are considered carefully taking into account the National Planning Policy Framework and other planning policies. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact on the parish and its residents in terms of scale, appearance and infrastructure. Significant considerations are the safety of our roads and capacity of the drains and other such key issues.
HBC is continuing with the creation of a Strategic Housing and Local Development Plan and the Parish Council has reiterated its views on the Development Plan. However, until the Development Plan in finalised there appears to be something of a “free for all” across the District with regard to housing development, compounded by the fact that the Council cannot demonstrate that it has a 5 year housing supply which is a key consideration when housing applications are decided on. In this context, there were two planning applications of particular interest:
1) An application first submitted in the early part of 2016 for a housing development on Spofforth Lane being a combination of full market and affordable housing. The Parish Council based its response both on the concerns of residents and in particular road safety issues. The application was reviewed at a full meeting of the HBC Planning Committee and was unanimously rejected. The applicant subsequently revised the proposal in 2017 to be 100% affordable housing, but in our and residents’ view the issue of access and road safety had not been addressed. This revised application was considered by Harrogate Borough Council and in September 2017 permission was refused on the grounds of being inappropriate development in the Green Belt. Specific mention was made to vehicular access, loss of trees, visually amenity, and residential amenity to the excising adjacent properties.
2) A separate outline planning application was submitted for 8 new houses (a mix of affordable and 20% open market discount) on land known as The Garth – with proposed access via Manor Fold. The Parish Council objected to this development on a number of grounds. The applicant appealed against non-determination of the application by HBC and requested a decision to be made at a central level. However prior to central determination taking place, the applicant withdrew both the appeal and the application as a whole.
The Chairman noted that there had been some progress with improvements to the underpass under the A658 – including discussions with Councillor Burnett, Harrogate Rugby Club and Follifoot Park Riding.
One final point to mention in this section, though not strictly “development”, is that Southern bypass/A658 was renamed John Metcalfe Way – the Parish Council confirmed that this was funded through private means rather than out of the “public coffers”.
Recreation and Leisure
The Chairman encouraged all residents to support and participate in the various sport and leisure organisations within the parish – including the Cricket Club, Rugby Club and the Bowls club which meets in the village hall.
2017 was a major year for the community which saw the development of the Follifields Wildlife Recreation and Play (FOFWRAP) area. This has been made possible by a great deal of hard work on planning, fundraising and implementation. The facility is for the whole community, and includes play equipment, trim trail, kick-about area and nature. Funding has come from a variety of sources including, grants, donations and fund raising events. Now that the major implementation work has been completed the role of FOFWRAP will change to running fundraising events for the maintenance (including grass cutting). The Parish Council has formal responsibility for the site.
FOFWRAP will be holding its final AGM on Monday 14th May at 8pm in the village hall. It would be great if as many people as possible attend the meeting and show their thanks and appreciation to Sam Gallimore and the FOFWRAP members past and present.
On behalf of the Parish Council the Chairman expressed huge thanks to FOFWRAP members for all their hard work in delivering this great community facility.
Note : In the monthly parish meeting that followed the Annual Parish Meeting a letter of thanks that the Chairman received from Mark Mackaness of Rudding estate was read our congratulating Sam Gallimore and the FOFWRAP team for their work to deliver this excellent community area.
Maintenance, Litter Picking & Cleaning
The Parish Clerk raises maintenance issues on a regular basis with North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council – including issues with drainage, potholes, road signage and street lighting. Residents are encouraged to bring matters such as these to our attention and they are always followed up – often repeatedly! Residents are also encouraged to raise issues directly to put extra pressure on these organisations to get things fixed.
The village handyperson also carries out a number of routine gardening and cleaning activities.
The Parish Council carries out litter picking twice a year, and the next one takes place on Sunday 22nd April – which as it happens is also EARTH DAY – volunteers welcome!
Re-cycling – unfortunately, due to HBC financial constraints, the recycling bins in the pub car park are being removed although regular curb side recycling still continues and people can still make use of facilities on Wetherby Road and in major supermarkets.
Crime and Safety
Thanks to Mike Hammond and other residents in the Neighbourhood Watch Committee- Mike provides regular updates at Council meetings
It is pleasing to note that crime levels continue to be low in our community – in total numbers and in seriousness, although there are still cases of:
– thefts from garages/sheds.
– Cold callers and confidence tricksters
There are however increasingly, more sophisticated methods – cyber crime e.g. telephone scams and phishing emails on the Internet – identity theft. Whilst the methods may be evolving, the prevention principles are still the same – the importance of personal awareness and protection, and looking out for our friends, family and neighbours.
The Parish Council has applied to have Follifoot designated as a No Cold Calling Zone and is currently going through the process for consultation prior to a final decision being made on its implementation. The Parish Council is not against legitimate tradespeople trying to earn a living, and a No Cold Calling Zone would not prevent tradespeople advertising their businesses through leaflets being put through residents’ letter boxes.
Road safety, is an ongoing area of concern. We continue to lobby NYCC highways, and the three main areas of concern are speeding traffic through the village, on Rudding Lane, and major concerns regarding the speed of traffic on Haggs Road – particularly passing the housing adjacent to the A658 junction. We are focusing on two particular issues :-
1. The inappropriate National Speed Limit (60mph) over the full length of Haggs Road
2. The potential for provision of electronic speed warning signs.
Whilst funding constraints have been one of the key limiting factors for this second point, there may be the possibility of communities funding such equipment. If that does transpire, it could be a good area for a community fundraising initiative.
The Parish Council is also looking into the possibility of installing a defibrillator in the Village, with the current preferred location being the Telephone Box/Information Centre.
Bus Service
NYCC re-tendered the contract for the 70 bus service which passes through the village. Unfortunately this has resulted in the service previously provided by the Harrogate Bus Company/Transdev ending in April and being replaced by a service provided by Connexions. The main difference is that Connexions will initially only run a Monday to Saturday daytime service, with no service through the village on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Finance
The Chairman referred to the financial accounts previously circulated, explaining that all expenditure was for the benefit of the community. He was pleased to add that, subject to formal agreement at the FOFWRAP AGM, a sum of £5,000 will be transferred to the Parish Council and held in a separate bank account for maintenance of Follifields. As mentioned earlier, FOFWRAP will continue to hold fundraising events each year, but this £5,000 will be retained as a buffer.
He concluded his report, commenting that it has been a very busy year for our Parish Council, and he looked forward to the year ahead.
Residents then made various comments on road safety issues:
1. The large housing development on Spofforth Hill in Wetherby is likely to impact adversely on traffic flow through the Parish. The resident raising this point understood that the developer had contributed some £7m to Leeds CC (presumably as part of the Community Infrastructure Levy?) Can the Parish Council apply for funding to be released from this sum for road safety issues in the Parish? The Parish Clerk will follow up.
2. The speed of traffic, particularly on Haggs Road, was of real concern and residents supported the Parish Council objectives of a reduced speed limit and the implementation of electronic speed warning signs. Traffic speed adjacent to Radcliffe Close and the access to Plompton via the A661, was also of concern.
4. Village Hall up-date
Work planned for the coming year includes modification to the windows and the installation of bi-fold doors. It is also proposed to construct an exterior platform and possibly to improve disabled access.
5. NYCC/HBC update. Councillor Paraskos gave a brief summary of County and Borough Council issues.
– Road safety – ongoing discussions on 20mph zones, and electronic warning signs
– NYCC needs to save some £63m over the next 5 years
– street lighting is to be converted to LED, saving £10 per light
– HBC is pursuing income raising initiatives, eg charging for green waste bins
– Broadband – the contract for Phase 3 of “Superfast North Yorkshire Broadband” has been let, but it will be 6-12 months before any progress is made. A resident bemoaned the slow broadband speeds in some parts of the Parish (particularly Plompton and Haggs Road) and asked what could be done by residents. Councillor Paraskos suggested that approach be made to Openreach initially but the option to use mobile broadband may be the best answer in the interim.
The Chairman concluded by summarising the action needed, particularly in pursuing road safety issues:-
– Continue to press for a reduced speed limit at the beginning of Haggs Road;
– Continue to press for the ability to fund and install electronic speed warning signs
– Continue to lobby Police, NYCC and the Fire Authority (who also have responsibility for traffic speed monitoring) for action
– Approach Leeds CC for potential funding for road safety measures (arising from the Spofforth Hill housing development)
– In response to a resident’s suggestion, consider erecting a “Follifoot” sign on Haggs Road.
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 2019, in Follifoot Village Hall.