Minutes of the Full Council Meeting
held on Thursday 08 March 2007 at the Parish Rooms
Commenced: 7:30pm — Concluded: 9pm
Present
Cllr. Caroline Jones (Chair)
Cllr. Sylvia Tilford (Vice Chair)
Cllr. Keith Dale
Cllr. John Horton
Cllr. Peter Jenkins
Cllr. Peter Riley
Cllr. Mike Walker
Clerk:
Mrs Jo Griffiths
284/0607 Chairman's Remarks
Cllr Jones opened the meeting
285/0607 Apologies for absence
Apologies from Cllr Forrest were received and accepted.
286/0607 Disclosures of Interest
None
287/0607 Public Participation
An enquiry was made for an update on the situation re: The Lawn. Cllr Jones gave a brief explanation of recent events. The Parish Council had heard today from Aire Wharfe Community Housing Trust (AWCHT) — the news was not good, they had been unsuccessful in receiving the full amount of grant money in order to convert The Lawn under the current scheme. AWCHT were reviewing the position and the Parish Council had been assured that they were still very committed to the project.
288/0607 To approve the minutes of the last meeting
It was noted that the minutes of 3rd March as circulated had omitted the approval of the minutes from 8th February. With this amendment it was proposed by Cllr Riley and seconded by Cllr Tilford that the minutes of 3rd March 2007 were a true and accurate record and signed accordingly. It was also noted that the agenda should read “to approve the minutes of 3rd March”.
289/0607 Matters arising from the Minutes
245/0607 — Cllr Riley requested that the proposal to make available an amount per annum for voluntary groups be put on a future agenda. This was noted and scheduled for the April meeting.
247/0607 — Cllr Jenkins reported on progress in establishing ownership of the Grange. Bradford College had sent a letter dated 28 February stating that copies of legal documents proving ownership were held by the college's legal advisers but had not provided any copies or further information. Ian Strong at YLCA had offered advice and thought that the papers should be sought as they may continue covenants that could affect future use. It was agreed by members of the council to continue pressure on Bradford College and request copies of the documents. Cllr Jenkins to write to the college.
A letter to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly had been drafted and would be sent as well as copies to Dept. of Education and Philip Davies, MP.
Council agreed that the Parish Clerk would write to Freedom of Information Officer at BMDC to request their copies of documents relating to the transfer of the Grange from BMDC to the college.
282/0607 — charitable status of Bradford College. There was no mention on the college website of charitable status and a search by the Parish Clerk on the Charities Commission website had not found them registered.
253/0607 — Parish Clerk reported further work had been carried out on the toilet although there remained a number of issues to be resolved.
290/0607 Parking Review
Simon D'Vali, Principal Engineer for Shipley had been invited to attend but was absent. There had been one letter from residents on Southfield Road expressing concern about the impact double yellow lines would have on local residents and urging the Parish Council to review this, a copy had been forwarded to Traffic and Parking. The Parish Council considered double yellow lines at this junction to be of high importance to preserve the integrity of the junction but welcomed the interest in the Parking Review.
Cllr Tilford circulated copies of the draft questionnaire to be distributed with the newsletter asking for residents' feedback on parking issues around the railway station. Comments were requested as soon as possible as the newsletter would go to print early next week.
291/0607 — The Lawn
Discussion of the most recent news had been held during the public participation slot. Council resolved to write to AWCHT expressing concern on behalf of the village that this Grade II listed building was lying empty, that is an eyesore and requesting information as soon as possible on the new plans for the Lawn. It was noted that the future of this building had a direct impact on any potential scheme for affordable housing at the Grange.
292/0607 — To approve the appointment of Mr Keith Pickles as internal auditor
Mr Pickles audited the accounts of a number of local parish councils, including Ilkley. The Parish Council were obliged to have the accounts audited both internally and externally. Proposed by Cllr Jenkins and seconded by Cllr Riley the motion was unanimously agreed.
293/0607 — To approve the establishment of a 30 day notice account for Parish funds
An additional account was proposed to gain a higher rate of return on the reserves. The 30 day account with the Parish Council's current bankers — Lloyds TSB, would pay 2.9% gross. Proposed by Cllr Riley and seconded by Cllr Jenkins the motion was unanimously agreed.
294/0607 — Roads and Drainage
Cllrs Horton and Jenkins had met with Tony Poole from BMDC to discuss issues in the village. Further investigation would take place on ownership of the land around the Grange Road flats as work was required but ownership needed to be established first. Cllr Horton had some photographs to show the flooding in years past and would forward these to BMDC.
Cllr Jenkins reported he was making a record of issues with regard to water flowing from the Moor during rainy periods; this includes pictures of blocked gullies on Station Road. Cllr Jenkins had contacted Kevin Whittaker at BMDC as the water was causing detioriation of the road surface.
Flooding — the video from the Environment Agency would be circulated amongst the parish councillors so that the issue could be discussed in detail at the April meeting.
It was noted that the speed bumps at Burley Woodhead were once again news in the Ilkley Gazette.
295/0607 — Draft scheme of allowances
The Parish Council were required to have a scheme of allowances for payments to councillors. A draft scheme had been formulated based on Ilkley Parish Council's and considered by an Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP), the IRP had approved the scheme and this was now circulated to councillors. Proposed by Cllr Tilford and seconded by Cllr Walker the scheme of allowances was approved.
296/0607 — Staffing Issues
The staffing committee had met on 12th February and made the following recommendations:
Resolution to increase the parish clerk's hours of work from 12 to 15 per week from April 2007 — proposed by Cllr Jones and seconded by Cllr Walker the resolution was agreed.
Resolution to pay the parish clerk £450 on completion of the Working with Your Council course — proposed by Cllr Jenkins and seconded by Cllr Walker the resolution was agreed.
297/0607 — Maintenance Issues
The first working session of the maintenance group on 3rd March had been postponed because of the extra full council meeting; the group would meet as advertised in the newsletter on the last Saturday of the month. A bid for funding to buy tools and equipment for the maintenance group was to be submitted to Bradford Vision. A shed was required to store the items and Martyn Burke at Ilkley Planning Office had confirmed that this could be situated on the village green and would not require planning permission.
298/0607 — Reports from councillors on any other meetings attended
Cllr Dale reported from the Ward Tasking Group. A vote of thanks had been offered to the Parish Council for the funding of the bike, JD Cycles in Ilkley were providing a further bike free of charge. Police were aware of anti-social behaviour around the caretaker's house at Burley Oaks Primary School, a house on Aireville Terrace had been raided for drugs and overall crime figures in the Wharfe Valley had decreased. Some concern had been expressed over inaccurate reporting of crime figures in the Ilkley Gazette and a complaint had been made by the police. It was noted that police surgeries in Burley were poorly attended. Volunteers for the police's Speedwatch initiative were required. The contact point was still not up and running but a new co–ordinator had been appointed and it was hoped that the situation would soon improve.
Cllr Riley reported on behalf of himself and Cllr Forrest on a meeting of Burley & Menston Charities. The funds were obtained from rental income on properties and land owned in Burley and Menston and originated from an eighteenth century donation of land in a will. The monies are distributed once a year in November/December on clearly defined criteria.
Cllr Tilford had to give apologies for the most recent WRUG meeting due to ill health.
Cllr Jones reported from SCAPAG where there had been interesting discussion of conservation areas.
Cllrs Jones and Walker had attended a meeting with Burley Trojans to discuss building new multi–purpose changing facilities on the recreation ground. Burley Trojans have over 400 members, 15+ male teams and 5 (soon to be 6) female teams, all coaches were qualified and CRB checked. The facility would be a general sports facility and its construction would facilitate more youth activities on the recreation ground including summer camps. Burley Trojans were looking to secure the support of the Parish Council for this initiative, Cllrs Jones and Walker recommended to council that where possible the Parish Council should support and liaise with the football club on this project.
298/0607 — Correspondence
Cllr Jones read out a message from the people of Tereli, further information was available on the village website. The Parish Council had received a letter from West Yorkshire Police — there is to be a new Chief Superintendent, Eileen Bancroft for the Keighley Division.
Places were available on a Rural Communities Buildings Conference on 22nd March if any councillors wished to attend.
Further correspondence had been received from BMDC on the Local Development Framework.
299/0607 — Schedule of Payments
Nominated by Cllr Riley and seconded by Cllr Walker the schedule of payments was unanimously agreed.
300/0607 — Any other business
The latest draft of the newsletter was circulated, comments were invited as soon as possible, and the newsletter would go to print early next week.
It was agreed that the Parish Plan would be on the agenda for the next meeting.
301/0607 Date & time of next meeting
Thursday 22nd March 2007 — Planning
Thursday 29th March 2007 — Annual Meeting of the Parish
Thursday 12th April 2007 — Full Council
Thursday 12th April 2007 — Planning