Minutes of the Full Council Meeting
(held on Thursday 14 December 2006 in the Parish Rooms)
Commenced: 7:30pm – Concluded: 8:30pm
Present:
Cllr. Caroline Jones (Chair)
Cllr. Sylvia Tilford (Vice Chair)
Cllr. Kath Forrest
Cllr. John Horton
Cllr. Peter Jenkins
Cllr. Peter Riley
Cllr. Mike Walker (arrived later)
Clerk:
Mrs Jo Griffiths
185/06 – Chairman's Remarks
Cllr Jones opened the meeting and offered a welcome to the visitors and thanked them for their attendance.
186/06 – Apologies for absence
Cllr Dale and Cllr Palmer had sent apologies and these were accepted. Cllr Walker had advised that he may arrive late due to another meeting.
187/06 – Disclosures of Interest
None.
188/06 – Public Participation
None.
189/06 – To approve the minutes of the last meeting
It was proposed by Cllr Riley and seconded by Cllr Jenkins that the minutes were a true and accurate record and signed accordingly.
190/06 – Matters arising from the Minutes
143/06 – Cllr Jenkins confirmed that he had contacted the Rights of Way Enforcement Officer regarding Leatherbank and this would be pursued, there was also an issue with a path at Highfield House and documents had been sent to the Parish Council for action.
191/06 – The Grange
Cllr Jones reported that since the last council meeting the Grange had been valued, the report was due back before Christmas and would then be forwarded to the Aire–Wharfe Community Housing Trust to look at the possibility of using the first and second floors for housing. Information on how the Parish Council could apply for a loan if required had been obtained, in the first instance this would have to gain the approval of the Local Councils Association and then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. In theory it seems that a Parish Council could borrow up to £500,000 over 30 years.
It was noted that there had been very little recent feedback or interest from the village in retaining the Grange for public uses, this was to be raised at the Neighbourhood Forum in January. Earlier petitions and expressions of interest from within the village had been about retaining the Grange for further education use. Both Park Lane and Shipley Colleges had expressed interest in offering classes at The Grange but neither were prepared to take on the whole building. It was confirmed that a significant business interest (including for further education use) had yet to be identified for The Grange. A further meeting with Bradford College would take place at the end of January the exact date was still to be confirmed.
It was noted that the Parish Room was due to go on sale in the New Year. The tender date was 23 February and a valuation had taken place but not yet reported to the council. Cllr Horton noted that in a straw poll he had taken there was greater support within the village for maintaining the Parish Room as a village amenity than The Grange.
At the next full council meeting on 11 January 2007, the Council would be required to make a decision on what course of action to take with regard to both The Grange and Parish Room.
192/06 – Burley House Field
At its meeting last week the Executive of BMDC agreed that Burley House Field should be leased to the village and managed by Burley Parish Council with Asset Management at BMDC to negotiate the end of the current agricultural lease. In the New Year the Council would contact Asset Management to see what progress had been made towards this, the current lease has another four years to run.
The Council wished to offer a vote of thanks to John Gundry and Burley Community Council for their hard work and for achieving this satisfactory outcome.
193/06 – Newsletter
Copies of the latest draft were circulated to councillors. This newsletter was twice as long as the last one and contained eight pages of information.
There were some small items missing and Cllr Palmer's piece on the Transport and Parking Review but it would go to print next week.
Cllr Tilford encouraged everyone to examine it very closely for any errors with final comments to the Parish Clerk by Monday 18 December at the latest.
The newsletter would be printed by 5 January in time for distribution before the Neighbourhood Forum on 18 January. Cllr Walker confirmed that he would co–ordinate the distribution again.
194/06 – Maintenance issues
Cllr Tilford reported on the Working Group that had been established at the last Council meeting to look at maintenance issues. The group comprised Cllrs Tilford, Jenkins, Walker and Horton and at the first meeting had discussed a range of tasks, an early priority would be to meet with Malcolm Wright from BMDC. Cllr Walker had obtained a list from Mike Harris of Burley Community Council of the schedule of works currently carried out in regard to grass cutting and planting at Queens Hall.
The Working Group were keen to encourage a voluntary team of individuals and groups such as Round Table, Scouts/Guides etc. to assist with village maintenance tasks on a regular basis. An appeal for volunteers had been included in the newsletter and a more direct approach could be made to specific organisations in the New Year. This would also work well when the Parish Council took over the allotments in April.
The working group were also considering the most appropriate way to pay for ad–hoc maintenance tasks around the village that were the responsibility of the Parish Council. One option would be to pay a monthly retainer fee to someone to carry out these tasks or alternatively to approach each task individually, the views of the Council were sought on this subject.
Cllr Walker proposed that a letter of thanks be sent to the Litter Picker working in the village at the current time, he was felt to be very effective and to be doing a good job. This was agreed and the Parish Clerk to send a letter. Cllr Riley sought approval from the Parish Council to approach the Generous Pioneer to discuss their cutting of the grass verges along the by–pass. The verges were the responsibility of BMDC who were aware that the Generous Pioneer had been maintaining the verges. Cllr Riley did not want to discourage the Generous Pioneer from their efforts but to adjust them to be more in sympathy with the planting of wildflowers along the verges. The Council agreed to Cllr Riley's proposal.
195/06 – Request from the Police for payment towards a bicycle
Burley, Menston and Ilkley Parish Councils had been approached by the Police to contribute £200 each towards the purchase of a bicycle to assist the police in moving around the village. PC Hudson had sent details of the bicycle specifications and cost.
The Council agreed further information was required on this matter and Parish Clerk to write to PC Hudson to request further details on what benefit would be provided to the village and why the bicycle was not being purchased by the police themselves.
196/06 – Transport issues
Councillor Palmer had been taking the lead on the Transport and Parking Review and in his absence there was little to be added at the current time.
Cllr Tilford reported on issues concerning the railway. A light on the station had been out of order for several weeks and despite frequent reports from Mike Harris and other passengers it had yet to be replaced, it had been reported again and was due to be replaced within the next seven days. At a meeting of WRUG (Wharfedale Rail Users Group) it was reported that the Area Director (East) for Northern Rail had agreed to review the decision to remove the ticket machine from Burley station. A member of the community had recently contacted the Parish Council regarding the rumoured reduction in the number of carriages from four to three on some services. WRUG are due to meet next week when this issue will be discussed and Cllr Tilford believed that WRUG were optimistic that the reduction would not take place. Cllr Tilford to report further at the next meeting.
197/06 – Reports from councillors on other meetings attended
Cllr Walker reported the Burley–Tereli Link had been awarded charitable status; this would greatly assist with fundraising.
Cllr Walker also reported on the Road Safety Group. It had been discussed at the most recent meeting whether the group should continue to operate as local communities were felt to be vigilant on this issue; the decision had been left in abeyance until the next meeting. It was noted that at the bottom of Station Road opposite Country Corner some members of the community were having difficulty crossing the road due to the width of the road at this point and the speed of traffic exiting the roundabout. This issue to be raised at the next council meeting when the representative from Highways Department is invited.
Cllr Jones reported from SCAPAG meetings – Burley library had received increased use due to longer opening hours. It was noted that size and volume of books at libraries was calculated per head of population, it had never been part of any agreement with any large developer in the village that if increasing the number of households within the village some provision for additional funding of the library should be made, this was noted for the future.
A petition had been presented to SCAPAG requesting collection of plastic recycling from houses, this would happen in the future but was not yet economic for BMDC as landfill tax was calculated on weight rather than volume so they were proceeding with heavier items first.
198/06 – Correspondence
An email had been sent to the Parish Clerk regarding The Lawn, Aire–Wharfe Community Housing Trust would be coming to the Neighbourhood Forum in January to provide a full briefing. Parish Clerk sent reply.
An email had been received from a local resident regarding the reduction of train carriage provision. Parish Clerk sent reply.
The Burley Chamber of Trade had copied the Parish Council on a letter thanking Yorkshire Water for their co-operation over the Christmas Street Market.
BMDC had written regarding consultation on rural transport issues affecting the village. Cllr Forrest to respond. A large package of papers had been received on preserving the Right of Way at Highfield House.
Ghyll Royd had sent a letter to Ilkley Parish Council, copied from IPC to Burley Parish Council regarding litter on the A65 from the snack wagon by the roundabout. It was confirmed that a litter bin was prominently positioned by the operator. Parish Clerk to respond to Ghyll Royd.
199/06 – Schedule of Payments
The schedule of payments was proposed for acceptance by Cllr Riley and seconded by Cllr Walker – all agreed.
200/06 – Any other business
Telegraph & Argus had contacted Parish Clerk regarding Niels Daniel Wigchert who died last week after a road accident in Eldwick; they were trying to contact anyone who knew him, councillors were unable to assist.
Burley & Menston Charities required another trustee, the Parish Council were being asked to nominate an individual. Cllr Riley agreed to join the Board of Trustees, official nomination would be on the next agenda.
Cllr Jenkins enquired whether the Parish Council should be taking any action during the consultation period for the next UDP. Cllr Jones to look again at the paperwork.
Cllr Jenkins reported that he had passed the latest set of information regarding the deeds of The Grange to Ian Strong at YLCA but had not yet heard anything. Cllr Jones thanked Cllr Jenkins for his work on this matter.
201/06 – Date & time of next meeting
Cllr Jones reported that three sets of plans had been received for the next planning meeting, the Council agreed to try to bring the date of the meeting forward to Wednesday 20th December from Thursday 28th December. Parish Clerk to take action and advise accordingly.