Parish Council meeting minutes – Feb’2021
March 19th, 2021
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on: Thursday 18th February 2021 via Skype
Present:
Cllr Phil James (PJ – Chair)
Cllr Carol Berry (CB)
Cllr Geoff Carter (GC)
Cllr Martin Delaney (MD)
Cllr Chris Houghton (CH)
Cllr Alan Lingard (AL)
Clerk: Mike Ainsworth (MA)
Members of the Public: Mr. Brian Dearnaley; Mr. Paul Gibbs; Mr. Jonathan Palmer
Apologies: None
Meeting opened: 20:00
Meeting closed: 21:40
Agenda
1. Open Forum for the general public
2. Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 14th January 2021
3. Matters arising from the last meeting
4. Planning
5. Carrs Green
6. Financial matters
7. Any other business
Next meeting Scheduled for: Thursday 18th March 2021 at 8pm
Status: APPROVED
Chair: Cllr. Phil James
Date: 18th March 2021
1. Open Forum
1.1. Mr. Brian Dearnaley asked whether the Parish Council were aware of any plans for use of the land allocated for use as a shop at the corner of Pinfold Lane and whether anything could be done about the state of Pinfold Lane, Sowerby Lane and Woods Lane, which he said were not fit for riding a bike along. The Parish Clerk suggested that it might be challenging to establish a business case to build a shop in Inskip and Councillors advised that it was likely that the original developer, Northern Trust, would have engaged with retail companies as it would be in their interest for the site to be developed.
1.2. Cllr. Lingard commented that he had a number of concerns about the making good of the site and it would be sensible to meet up with Create Homes once it was reasonable to do so based upon Covid restrictions as previously planned. Cllr. James said he would like to attend as well.
Action 2.21/1 – MA to arrange meeting with Create Homes
1.3. With regards to the state of Pinfold, Sowerby and Woods Lane the Parish Clerk acknowledged that they were challenging on a bike and that they would benefit from surface dressing in the summer. It was agreed that the Parish Council would lobby our County Councillor.
Action 2.21/2 – MA to lobby County Councillor with regards to state of Pinfold, Sowerby and Woods Lane
1.4. Mr. Jonathan Palmer raised the proposed complaint to Wyre Council with regards to the conduct of Wyre officials and Planning Committee members. This remains on hold pending a Freedom of Information request for sight of the video transcript of the relevant Planning Committee meetings. Mr. Palmer highlighted a couple of matters that might be elucidated by viewing the tapes.
2. Minutes of Last Meeting – approved as read.
3. Matters Arising
3.1. The Parish Clerk advised that all Actions had been cleared with the following exceptions:
7.19/2 – to ascertain whether LCC will reinstate rumble strips
9.20/4 – to chase contractor for invoice for maintenance of planter on Carrs Green
1.21/6 – to seek advice from decorator on treatment of oak benches
3.2. With regards to the experience of interruptions in mobile phone signal locally the Parish Clerk had circulated a reply from the Ministry of Defence advising that interference from DHFCS Inskip was extremely low probability owing the different bandwidth of the signals involved. Cllr. Delaney however maintained that someone was jamming the phone signal and it was agreed that the Parish Council should raise the subject with OFCOM. The Parish Clerk asked that Parish Councilors detailed incidents to add weight to an OFCOM submission. Action 12.20/3 carried forward.
4. Planning
4.1. The Parish Clerk had previously highlighted further planning applications related to Carr House Farm and Cllr. James asked that Parish Councillors review these prior to the meeting. Several concerns were raised relating to passing places, tarmacking of the entry at Preston Road, refuse collections, and the ecological survey and it was agreed that the Parish Clerk should highlight these to Preston City Council.
Action 2.21/3 – MA to highlight Parish Council concerns to Preston City Council with regards to planning applications for three developments at Carr House Farm
4.2. Parish Councillors discussed the planning appeal against the decision of Wyre Council to refuse consent for a development at Higham Side Road, where the Parish Council had raised concerns about access. Cllr. James advised that the Planning Inspector would take into account our concerns as a matter of course however the grounds for refusal were much wider than just concerns with regards to access involving multiple non-compliance with Wyre published planning policy and there was no benefit for further representations by the Parish Council to the appeal enquiry.
5. Carrs Green
5.1. Parish Councillors were asked whether they wished the Clerk to seek progress reports from contractors but it was agreed that no progress could be expected at present owning to adverse conditions.
5.2. The Parish Clerk thanked Parish Councillors for their input into selection criteria for the proposed Information Panel and reported that based upon application of these criteria the Information Panel offered by interpretationpanels.co.uk should be awarded the business. Parish Councillors accepted this and agreed to award the business on this basis.
5.3. Before the Information Panels can be supplied however Parish Councillors need to agree their content and the Parish Clerk asked for feedback on the draft map circulated ahead of the meeting. It was agreed that the following amendments should be made:
• the footpath that runs up the ginnel from School Lane should be included;
• the location of defibrillators should be included;
• the location of parking places on the Common;
• the placement of “You are here” arrows based upon agreed location for information panels.
5.4. Parish Councillors agreed a proposal by Cllr. James to place a third Information Panel at the car park by the YIPS in the village.
5.5. It was agreed that Parish Councillors should meet on the Common once it was reasonable to do so based upon Covid restrictions to agree the location of parking places and Information Panels.
Action 2.21/4 – MA to provide feedback to graphic designer on draft map and to arrange site meeting to agree location of parking places and information panels
6. Financial Matters – the Lancashire Association of Local Councils (LALC) have invoiced the Parish Council for the period 2021/22 and the Parish Clerk asked whether Parish Councillors wished to continue with the subscription for a further year. Following discussion Parish Councillors approved extending the subscription for a further year.
7. Any Other Business
7.1. Mr. Jonathan Palmer asked whether there had been any progress with regards to placement of SpIDs in the village and was reminded of the problem in locating these devices adjacent to the School. The Parish Clerk agreed to recirculate correspondence with LCC Highways.
7.2. Cllr. Lingard confirmed details of Wyre-in-Bloom 2021 as reported at the last meeting and highlighted the litter picking of volunteers in the village. The volunteers had been supplied with grabs and bin bags by Wyre Council and the Cleaner Greener Project Officer at Wyre had suggested to Cllr Lingard that the Parish Council might like to invest in such equipment locally. It was agreed that Cllr. Lingard would investigate costs and that once he supplied names of volunteers that the Parish Clerk should write to formally thank them for their efforts.
Action 2.21/5 – AL to investigate costs for grabs and bin bags and to supply names of volunteers to be thanked by letter from the Parish Clerk on behalf of the Parish
7.3. Cllr. Carter asked that a broken drain cover in the street in Crossmoor be reported to LCC Highways.
Action 2.21/6 – MA to report broken drain cover in the street in Crossmoor to LCC Highways
7.4. Cllr. Lingard had received and forwarded an enquiry from a member of the public with regards to planting trees on the Common, as planting trees was seen as a means to reduce flooding (it goes without saying that tree planting only reduces flooding downstream – not at the location of the flooding itself). The Parish Clerk reminded Parish Councillors of the advice previously received that planting trees on Carrs Green would destroy the precious rare habitat and that at a wetlands location would most likely release more carbon than that sequestered.
7.5. Cllr. Delaney felt however that we should not discount a suggestion from a member of the public and we could perhaps plant a small number of trees strategically placed if this was seen as desirable locally, for instance to improve the ambience. He suggested that the scientific advice might prove different if a more nuanced question were asked. It was agreed that the Parish Clerk should reply to member of the public highlighting ecological concerns with tree planting at Carrs Green but that the Parish Council were seeking further guidance from national and local stakeholders as to whether it would be appropriate to plant a small number of feature trees on the Common and if so how many might be appropriate. The location of trees was also discussed at it was agreed that this should be discussed when Parish Councillors carry out the proposed site visit (para. 5.5 above refers).
Action 2.21/7 – MA to reply to member of the public highlighting ecological concerns with tree planting at Carrs Green but that the Parish Council were seeking further guidance from stakeholders
Action 2.21/8 – MA to consult further with stakeholders whether it would be appropriate to plant a small number of feature trees at Carrs Green and if so how many
7.6. Cllr. James reported that he had met with the Tree Officer at Wyre Council and a member of St. Peters Parochial Church Council (PCC) and inspected a couple of trees at the croft at St. Peters and at an adjacent property. The PCC had already engaged a tree surgeon and the Tree Officer, who also engages the tree surgeon, said that he would hurry him up. The Tree Officer agreed to inform LCC Highways of concerns about another two which were proximate to the highway.
7.7. Cllr. Delaney suggested that the Tennis Court be given a deep clean as the surface is currently slippery and dangerous and the white lines need to be repainted. At this point consideration should be given to replacing the nets.
Action 2.21/9 – MA to ask Wyre Council to deep clean the surface of the Tennis Court and to repaint the white lines