HAVERAH PARK WITH BECKWITHSHAW PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE OPEN MEETING HELD ON Tuesday 11 April
2019
Location: The
Village Hall, Beckwithshaw
Present: Councillors – Cllr
D Spence (Chairman), Cllr A Ellis, Cllr T Muirhead, Cllr M David and Cllr S Lumley.
Parish Clerk – Mrs J H Galloway
Commencing at 7.45pm the Open Meeting was held, PCSO
Lucy Walker and 10 member of the public were present.
1. Apologies:
Cllr Mrs J Ryder and Cllr
Miss V Oldham.
2. Minutes
of the last Open Meeting:
The minutes of the last Open Meeting on 10
April 2018 were incorporated into the immediately following Parish Meeting (8
May 2018). Minutes available on Website.
3. Chairman’s
Report:
Thank you for attending
our annual open meeting and a warm welcome to you all.
I would like to thank
my fellow Councillors and previous Chairman, Mark Nicholson, for all the hard
work they have put in over the last year. I would like to propose a special
vote of thanks to our hard working and knowledgeable Parish Clerk Mrs Jean
Galloway who has been very helpful to me in my first few months as Chair of the
Parish Council.
During the course of
the last twelve months we have dedicated a lot of time and effort to reduce
speeding through the village. I must express the gratitude of the Parish
Council to Jo Parish and her Speedwatch Team who have consistently braved the
weather to aim speed guns at passing motorists, not all, of whom were pleased
with the presence of Jo and her Team. Jo reported on the 10th of
April that after presenting the latest set of Speedcheck results the 95 Alive
Traffic Panel has taken the decision to stand down the Beckwithshaw Speedwatch
Group and use vehicles with enforcement cameras instead. This is an excellent
result as it demonstrates an acknowledgement by the Authorities that speeds
through the village are unacceptably high. Well done to Jo and her team who I
am sure will be monitoring police activities and outcomes.
We have been informed
by Stan Lumley, our County Councillor, that NYCC are in the process of issuing
a new protocol on Speed Signs and hopefully in the next 12 months we will see
the installation of an automated traffic speed sign.
Thanks must also go to
Councillor Lora Barovic and District Councillor Victoria Oldham for the
provision of the two speed reduction signs erected at either end of the
village.
We have dealt with many
complaints regarding Pot Holes but thanks to the impending bike races many of
these issues have been resolved though we will continue to be vigilant.
We have also attempted
to deal with school buses parked at Beckwith Head and are in correspondence
with Councillor Phil Ireland who is currently working to find a solution. We
were made aware of increased use of Shaw lane by construction traffic and have
worked with the Police to monitor and hopefully reduce the problem.
Planning issues
continue to be a major part of our duties. This workload has and we think will
continue to increase with the ongoing Planning Applications around Whinney
Lane, Lady Lane and Windmill Farm. We have made objections to all schemes. We
have worked and contributed to the Western Arc Co-operation Group who made
representations to the recent Government Planning Inspectors review of HBC’s
proposed Local Plan. This work helped to persuade the Inspector to remove a
number of rural sites from HBC’s list of preferred options but unfortunately
had no impact on Sites surrounding Beckwithshaw.
Broadband – Councillors
Andrew Ellis and Tom Muirhead and now supported by Councillor Marcus David
continue their work to improve this service in the Shaw Lane area and thanks go
to them for their efforts.
We carry out an annual
inspection of P.C. property and have a contractor in place to maintain the
grassed area opposite Shaw Lane whilst relying on volunteers to maintain the
Copse and a big thank you to all who have contributed. We have undertaken
litter picks in both Spring and Autumn and would like to thank all those who
have helped with this task.
4. Comments/Questions
from the floor:
a) Problems at the mini roundabout, mainly caused by drivers not
obeying the rules of the road.
b) Buses parked on Beckwith Head Road, the PC is in contact with
Harrogate Borough
Council about relocating these buses, which are causing an
obstruction and on their journey’s causing erosion of the road edges.
c) Speeding
on various of our nearby roads.
d) Flashing
Speed signs, the PC is awaiting the NYCC protocol re signs.
e) School
- concern about the pollution
outside school, Pannal and Burn Bridge
PC
looking into congestion.
- concern
about speed, need for a 20mph limit?
f) Grass
cutting and cleaning signs ready for the Tour de Yorkshire.
g) Concern
was expressed that some of the potholes are not being repaired properly.
h) The
PCSO Lucy Walker reported that car theft from homes was on the increase and asked that people be vigilant.
i) White
Lining is needed on Norwood Lane.
Some of the above are already under
investigation by the Parish Council and the PC will try to address the other
concerns.
The Open
Meeting closed at 8.45pm