Minutes of the meeting of UPPER POPPLETON PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 8 October 2001 at 7.30pm in All Saints Church Hall, Upper Poppleton, York.

1. Apologies for absence were received from Councillor A J Peck and Councillor Mrs K M Richardson.
2. The Clerk read a letter of resignation from Councillor A D Scott-Coveney. The Chairman expressed the thanks of the Parish Councillors for the work and support that Councillor Scott-Coveney had given during his time as a Parish Councillor.

Having been circulated and read the minutes were accepted and signed as a true record.

1. Turn engines off signs (Min. 00.09)

The Clerk reported that the signs were still in Councillor Peck's garage awaiting a working party to put them up.

2. Village signs - planning permission (Min. 00.65)

The Clerk reported that he still hadn't received a reply from Roy Templeman, the City Council's Director of Environment and Development Services. The Clerk had written to Mr Templeman on 24 August asking for a list of approved contractors so that he could narrow the field of whom to approach for quotations for building the signs. The delay was well over the City Council's correspondence monitoring deadline of 10 working days.

3. Relocation of street light (Min. 00121bii)

It was reported that the lamp standard has been put in place but not the fitting.

5. Yellow paint in the bus shelter (Min. 01.064ai)

It was reported that the yellow graffiti had been removed.

 

6. Newlands Lane/A59 hedge (Min. 01.072.1 i)

It was reported that the hedge had been removed so that there was approximately 100 metres of the A59 visible to the right of the junction so making the junction much safer.

7. Felling of trees on the Green (Min. 01.080.2)

The Clerk reported having had no further news about the trees. The Councillors agreed to keep the subject on the agenda so that progress could be monitored.

8. A59 signs (Min. 01.081c)

It was reported that the Upper Poppleton sign had been put up on the directional post opposite the Red Lion.

9. Blairgowrie verge (Min. 01.104)

The Clerk reported having received the address of the executors of Blairgowrie and was directed to write to them to ask them if they would arrange for the trees overhanging the verge to be cut back.

11. Report on planning permission on Westfield Close fence (Min. 01.114.2)

It was agreed that the fence in question had been reduced to an acceptable height.

12. Graffiti on Ebor Way sign (Min. 01.115a.i)

It was reported that there is now no graffiti on this sign. It looks as though a new sign has been erected. It was mentioned that this agenda item and items e, g, and h above had been sorted out by Alistair Briggs, a City Council Traffic Engineer, who was to be congratulated on his help in removing four long-standing agenda items.

13. Graffiti on the bus shelter opposite the Library (Min. 01.115a.ii)

It was agreed that the invoice from the City Council for removing the graffiti be paid. The cost was £55.00 being £45.00 for labour and £10.00 for materials.

14. Neighbourhood Watch (Min. 01. 119)

Councillor Thompson confirmed that there would be a public meeting at All Saints Church Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 10 October when the York Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator, Deborah Lynch, would be speaking about Neighbourhood Watch schemes. It was reported that leaflets about the meeting had been delivered to selected areas and that a note had accompanied the Ward Committee Newsletter.

15. War Memorial refurbishment (Min. 01.120)

It was reported that Ken Falkingham has pressure washed the War Memorial which, now it has been restored, looks almost like new.

16. 30mph limit in Hodgson Lane (Min. 01.125.1c)

A letter received from Bill Blanchard, a City Council's Highway Regulation Technician, said that the City's Planning & Transport (North West Area) Sub-Committee, at their meeting on 11 September, had resolved that:

1. The objection to the proposed extension of the 30mph speed limit on Hodgson Lane be upheld and that the extension of the speed limit not be pursued at this time.
2. The Parish Council be advised to consider the option of funding the introduction of traffic calming measures to reduce speed and justify a lower limit.

It was agreed that the Clerk should write to Mr Blanchard to enquire as to the cost of traffic calming measures and to confirm that the Parish Council is committed to seeing that the speed limit on Hodgson Lane is reduced.

15. Station Road speeding, pavement parking and unlit skips in the road (Min. 01.133d)

The Clerk reported having had a conversation with the police who informed him that the police had been using hand held radar guns in Station Road and other roads in the village. The problem of pavement parking was difficult to police because of the high incidence of such parking. Parking is checked selectively and serious cases dealt with. Skips on the road were the responsibility of the City Council's Building Control Department. All skips had to be licensed and it was a condition of the licence that skips should be well marked and lit at night. If a skip was not marked it should be reported to Building Control and not to the police.

1. Financial Report

The Clerk presented the Councillors with a detailed report showing the actual income and expenditure for the year for the period to 8 October 2001. The report showed that, after adjusting for the items of expenditure listed below, the bank balances at 8 October were: -

Current Account £100.17

High Interest Account £13,485.37

2. Accounts to pay (net of VAT);

Baron (Landscape Contractors) Grass cutting in August £250.00

Baron (Landscape Contractors) Grass cutting in September £125.00

City of York Council Library bus shelter graffiti removal £55.00

Clerk Salary for July to September £638.51

Clerk Conference Travel £38.80

Clerk General administration £39.24

Ken Falkingham War Memorial cleaning £120.00

3. Accounts paid (net of VAT)

YLCA 3 Councillors Courses £45.00

4. Income Received

The Clerk reported having received £5,250.00 from the City Council being the second instalment of this year's precept.

The Clerk presented the list of plans and comments made by the members of the Planning Committee on each planning application received. The list is attached as Appendix 1 at the end of these minutes.

There was no news of a decision from the Planning Appeal.

1. Concern was expressed over the outline planning application for four large houses at The Beeches in Main Street. Various comments were made including that the houses should be dormer bungalows and that there should be a policy that large gardens should remain open space and not built on.
2. The Clerk reported having ordered three new Planning Aid Packs. Councillor Davies had returned his Planning Aid Pack and this was given to Councillor Pannell.
3. The Clerk reported that the City Council was running a Planning Seminar on 18 October to which one Parish Councillor was invited. It was agreed that Councillor Pannell should attend.

No report

1. The following incidents of vandalism were reported

1. The swimming pool had been vandalised
2. Broken glass had been scattered in the children's playground outside the Community Centre. Councillor Tomlinson was asked to raise this subject at the next Community Centre Trust meeting.
3. Empty milk bottles had been left in crates at various locations and some of the bottles had been smashed. The Clerk was directed to write to the Co-op to make sure that they are aware of the problem.

1. Trees

Councillor Watters agreed to look at the problem of low hanging trees around the Greens and report back.

2. Events

It was agreed that the Parish Council should buy a wreath for the Chairman to lay by the War Memorial at the Remembrance Day Service on 11 November.

3. Maintenance

1. It was reported that several Councillors had spoken to the builders who had been parking their vehicles on the Green. The builders are now using the village car park.
2. It was reported that the Council's road sweeper is unable to sweep the car park by the Lord Collingwood as cars are currently being parked overnight contrary to the Green by-laws.

Councillor Hopton informed the meeting that the Ward Committee had looked into the subject of Community Policing. It was proposed that a private security company, Mayfair Group Response, be employed to patrol the village at certain times during the evening. The sum of money available for the service is £5,000 and this would buy nine months security service. Councillor Hopton said that the idea has the backing of the police. Councillor Hopton asked if the Parish Council could act as the City Council's agent and deal with the paperwork for the project. This was agreed. It was also agreed that the Chairman would sign a contract for the service but that no expense would fall on the Parish Council.

The Clerk gave all notes and correspondence relating to access to the Methodist Church and Church Hall to Councillor Hook.

Councillor Walker agreed to ask Trevor Parker if he had been able to draw up a plan of his ideas for the boundary of his land and Westfield Lane.

It was agreed that the Clerk should circulate the Emergency Planning information from the YLCA Conference seminar and the NYCC Emergency Plan booklet for the Councillors to consider.

The Clerk was asked to write a letter to Upper Poppleton Post Office suggesting that a sign be displayed in the shop window asking drivers not to park on the white line in front of the dropped kerb.

It was agreed that a joint meeting could be held on either 29 October or 1 November and the Clerk was directed to contact Ron Hansell, the Clerk to Nether Poppleton Parish Council, to ask if either of these dates would be acceptable to his Councillors.

1. A letter from the City Council advising that the next York Local Plan Procedural Session would be held on 15 November.
2. A letter from the City Council advising that repairs to and then overlaying the existing carriageway in Limegarth would be carried out in week commencing 17 September.
3. A letter from Poppleton Under Fives advising that the new Acting Chair is Gill Watson.
4. A letter from Richard Clark, the Head of the City Council's Legal Services, detailing the make up of the Standards Committee that has to be established under the Local Government Act 2000. The City Council were proposing that the YLCA be asked to organise a process of nomination and balloting amongst the Parish Councils in the City Council's area with a view to the successful candidate being nominated by them to the City Council for appointment to the Standards Committee. The Parish Councillors supported this proposition.
5. A letter from Edward White complaining about speeding traffic in long Ridge Lane. The Clerk reported that he had already mentioned the contents of the letter to the police when talking to them about the traffic in Station Road.
6. A letter from Zurich Municipal advertising a seminar on risk assessment. The Councillors agreed that there would be little to be gained from attendance at the seminar.
7. A copy of the City Council's draft guidance setting out the Council's procedure for the requirement of a contribution towards education facilities from developers submitting applications for residential development. As the closing date for comments was 2 November i.e. before the next Parish Council meeting, it was agreed that Councillor Tomlinson would read the report and make any suitable comments.
8. A letter from HSBC regarding changes to banking terms and conditions.
9. A note that the next CaP meeting is to be held at Westfield School on 16 January 2002.
10. A leaflet from the National Associations of Local Councils outlining the Draft Corporate Plan and correspondence from the Yorkshire Local Councils Associations explaining why they are not happy with the Draft Corporate Plan and asking for a response by 9 November. It was agreed that both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman would look at the literature and make comments before the deadline.

1. Minutes of Nether Poppleton Parish Council meeting on 17 September 2001
2. White Rose Update - September 2001
3. Issue 4 of Yorventure's Landfill Tax Credit Funding magazine giving details of a fast track fund for Small Projects requiring £5,000 or less and another ongoing fund for more expensive projects. The closing date for applications for funding is 30 November 2001. Typical projects funded by Yorventure in the past are

• Wildlife areas - regeneration and creation
• Play areas and skate parks
• Woodlands habitat improvements
• Tree and shrub planting schemes

4. A leaflet from the Countryside Agency giving details of grants of up to £10,000 available to parish councils towards the eligible costs of a transport project. Eligible projects include

• Funding for a local bus service company to divert a service through a village
• Projects to promote walking or cycling
• Helping to establish new transport schemes

4. Minutes of the YNET meeting held on 28 August 2001

Reported that improvements have been made to the road surface in Westfield Lane.

Reported that one of the results of the recent changes to the bus service in the village is that it now takes up to 50 minutes to travel to the centre of York. The Clerk was asked to write to the bus company to ask if any improvement could be made.

Handed out a leaflet about HomeZones and suggested that such a zone might enhance Black Dike Lane. The Councillors were asked to consider the idea and discuss the subject at the November meeting.

Monday 12 November 2001 at 7.30pm.

There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting at 10.29pm.

………………………….CHAIRMAN

………………………….DATE

uppc mins 10/01