HAVERAH PARK WITH BECKWITHSHAW PARISH COUNCIL

 

 

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON Tuesday 10 April 2018

 

Location:     Village Hall, Beckwithshaw.

 

Present:         Councillors – Cllr M Nicholson (Chairman), Cllr T Muirhead, Cllr Mrs K Wilson, Cllr D Spence and Cllr Miss V Oldham.

 

Parish Clerk – Mrs J H Galloway

 

                    5 Members of the public were present.

 

Following the Open Meeting the meeting commenced at 8.05pm

 

                   

1.       Apologies:   Cllr M Clark, Cllr Mrs J Ryder and Cllr S Lumley.

 

2.       Declaration of Interest:    None.

 

3.       Exempt Information:       None.

 

4.       Minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2018:

 

Approval of the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13 March 2018 was proposed by Cllr Muirhead and seconded by Cllr Nicholson.

                             

5.       Matters arising not dealt with elsewhere:  

                                        i)        March minutes, quote for £500 should read £517.

                                        ii)        The defibrillator is covered by the Parish Council’s insurance

                                                            (Assets covered to the value of £10,000)

                                        iii)       The newsletter has been circulated                           

                             

6.       Traffic Working Party Report:             

 

Below is the record of the meeting with Darren Griffiths North Yorkshire CC Highways and Jonathan Hunter, Traffic Management Officer NYP on Monday 19th March 2018 at 2pm in the Smiths Arms Car Park. Also present: Mark Nicholson (Chair BPC), Derek Spence (BPC), Jim Gordon (BSW), Andy Ross (BSW), Jo Parish (BSW)

 

We were informed that the Parish Council cannot erect our own flashing signs as these would not conform to current NYCC Highways regulations. Nor can we attach anything to any existing roadside poles.  This may change as a result of the ongoing consultation of Parishes but it will be later in the year before things change – if at all. It was mentioned that the data output of the sign we had been considering was also very difficult to sift through and we may not be able to subject it to any form of analysis.

 

It seems the best way to slow down through traffic is by having parked vehicles along the roadside – some villages had considered buying an old vehicle and parking it permanently in an area where they wanted traffic calming!

 

The Parish Council could ‘hire’ a flashing sign from NYCC on a rotational basis for £6,000 plus VAT over four years.  This cost would include the provision of the sign, the siting of it, a socket and post and officer time to install it each time.  For this the village would get 6 weeks on and 12 weeks off and it would thus be deployed 3 times a year costing approx. £77 per week it was working in our village.  This would be guaranteed to work during all that time and any downtime due to lamps failing would be made up by NYCC.

 

Records show that we have had no accidents in the village over the past 2 /3 years. This was explained as ‘no reported accidents causing injury’.  The fatality at the roundabout seems to be considered a possible ‘suicide’.  All sites are visited after an accident to see if road layout has been a factor. Thus it would appear that a ‘collision with no report of injury’ would not be taken into account.  These could be happening regularly but the police would be unaware of them.

 

The Highways representatives were then asked what we ‘could’ do to move things along.  Beckwithshaw would be eligible for another data logging event from April and suggested that we apply for this straight away to get it in the pipeline.  We are to contact them again if we are asked to wait for any length of time.  We can request a particular site for the data logger (small box attached to an existing roadside pole) but not the full data output as we do not have the software to ‘decode’ it. If the result showed that we are consistently seeing speeds in the mid 30’s we would be eligible for visits by a speed van or a bike! But nothing else as we have not had ‘accidents’.

 

Alternatively, or additionally,  we can pay NYCC £120 for data tubes laid across the road at either end of the village for seven days and nights which would log all vehicles and peak times and all speed bands. We would receive all the data and be able to analyse it and could use this to back up any future requests for road improvements. This can be done at any time we ask for it.

 

A point of note is that through NYP Operation Spartan, dash-cam footage is acceptable when reporting a speeding offence. Dash cam footage showing poor driving habits of any sort can be emailed directly to OpSpartan@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

 

Regarding moving the speed limit signs and getting 20mph near the school this would also appear to be a negative option at the moment.  We were pointed towards a Govt website which explains how local speed limits are set and which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-local-speed-limits.  The following extract may give us some hope but the whole publication requires reading through.

 

Traffic authorities set local speed limits in situations where local needs and conditions suggest a speed limit which is lower than the national speed limit. Traffic authorities have the flexibility to set local speed limits that are appropriate for the individual road, reflecting local needs and taking account of local considerations.

Speed limits should be evidence-led and self-explaining and seek to reinforce people’s assessment of what is a safe speed to travel. They should encourage self-compliance. Speed limits should be seen by drivers as the maximum rather than a target speed.

Traffic authorities are asked to keep their speed limits under review with changing circumstances, and to consider the introduction of more 20 miles per hour limits and zones, over time, in urban areas and built-up village streets that are primarily residential, to ensure greater safety for pedestrians and cyclists, using the criteria contained in this guidance.

 

Unfortunately we are among many parishes who are increasingly concerned about slowing down the traffic through their villages.

 

                   

 

7.         Urgent Business:   Data Protection. The renewal notice has been received – May 2018.

                             

                                        Emergency Plan. Waiting for papers from the officer from Harrogate

Borough Council. Have received one offer of help in an emergency.

 

Parish Council Elections. There was an uncontested election for our Parishes. Need 2 more councillors for Beckwithshaw Parish.

         

There is to be a litter pick on 14 April 2018, more volunteers requested.

 

 

 

 

8.       County Councillor’s Report:      None.

 

 

9.       District Councillor’s Report:      The District Council Election is to be held on Thursday

May 3. 

                                                            There is a new round of funding available.

 

10.     Planning Matters:

 

                              i)        Decisions

 

18/00471/FUL                   Approved Subject to Conditions

Demolition of existing conservatory and porch and erection of single storey extension, porch, detached garage block and alterations to fenestration and parking area at Central House Farm, Hampsthwaite (Mr Stainsby)

 

ii)       Applications

 

            18/00348/FUL

Erection of single storey extension and fencing, formation of external stairway and associated groundworks at Church of St Michael and All Angels, Church Row, Beckwithshaw. (Rev John Smith)

 

Cllr Mrs K Wilson declared a pecuniary interest and this item was discussed at the end of the meeting after Cllr Mrs Wilson had left the premises.

 

The Parish Council objects on the planning grounds as below:-

 

Inappropriate design for the surrounding area and not in keeping with the Church, village hall and the village.

 

 

11.   LDF Update:             The next thing will be when the Planning inspector has the inquiry.

The main problem remains infra structure especially capacity on Otley road and an insistence by HBC to only look at traffic impact of each individual development and not of them all together. The response to over capacity at Otley road junctions is to say the country roads and residential streets will cope. It is felt that Beckwithshaw residents don’t appreciate how badly this is going to affect them on a day to day basis.

 

12.   Highways:      The large direction sign on the approach to the village roundabout from Killinghall has been turned sideways.

                              There are numerous potholes along Norwood Lane, between the entrances

                              to Crimple Head Farm and Pheonix farm, plus at the Otley road end.

 

13.  Finance:                             

The bank balances at 10 April 2018 were reported to the Parish Council:

                                                                                                              £

                    Community Account                                                            2,954.53

                    Money Manager (Deposit Account)                                      1,429.79

                                                                                                              4,384.32

                             

          Approval for payment for inclusion in 2017/18  

                                        Clerk’s Salary                    £343.20

                                        Clerk’s Tax and NI             £110.95

                                        T P Jones                           £54.00

                                        Clerk’s Expenses                £36.26

                                        Cllr Nicholson Expenses      £31.00

 

          The papers for the Annual Governance and Accountability returns has been received.       

 

14.  Correspondence:     

 

i)       Leaflet on Radar Speed Signs      Passed to Cllr Nicholson.

ii)     Letter from Julian Smith MP         Re Highways

iii)    Newsletters and e-mails forwarded to councillors.

 

15.  Update on the Copse:         

                                                A Spring Clean up to be arranged.

                                   

16. Councillors Questions:        Cllr Mrs Wilson was thanked for all her support.

                                                  Cllr Spence asked about the trees cut down on the housing site on Otley Road.

                                                 

17. Date & Time of next meetings:       Tuesday 8 May 2018 at 7.45pm with the AGM.

 

 

The meeting closed at 9.30pm

 

 

Please check the website for further information – www.beckwithshaw.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS

 

No.

Action

Responsibility

1

Review Signage

Cllr Nicholson

Cllr Spence

2

Photos for website

All after AGM

3

Litter Pick 14 April 2018

All

4

New funding re Broadband, continuous

Cllr Muirhead

5

Knabbs Ridge next funding 21 May 2018

CC funding May 2018

All

6

 

 

7