Minutes of the Full Council Meeting
held on Thursday 12 April 2007 at the Parish Rooms
Commenced: 7:30pm — Concluded: 9:15pm
Present
Cllr. Caroline Jones (Chair)
Cllr. Sylvia Tilford (Vice Chair)
Cllr. Kath Forrest
Cllr. John Horton
Cllr. Peter Jenkins
Cllr. Matt Palmer
Cllr. Peter Riley
Cllr. Mike Walker
Clerk:
Mrs Jo Griffiths
331/0607 Chairman's Remarks
Cllr Jones opened the meeting and welcomed visitors including Philip Davies, MP.
332/0607 Apologies for absence
Apologies from Cllr Dale were received and accepted.
333/0607 Disclosures of interest
Cllr Riley reminded fellow councillors he was chairman of a voluntary group in the village. Cllr Walker declared an interest in item 15 as a member of his family worked for the solicitor.
334/0607 Public participation
A member of the public enquired about the “Save our Post Office Yard” posters that had appeared in the village. Cllr Jones outlined the ongoing planning application for 30 Main Street that had gone to the Secretary of State on appeal.
335/0607 Minutes of previous meeting
Proposed by Cllr Riley
Seconded by Cllr Tilford
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of 8th March 2007 be accepted as a true and accurate record.
Proposed by Cllr Walker
Seconded by Cllr Jenkins
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish on 29th March 2007 be accepted as a true and accurate record.
336/0607 Matters arising from the minutes
8th March 2007
291/0607 — The Lawn
Parish Clerk had received a reply from Jim Smith at BCHT. The Parish Council was thanked for their offer of assistance, BCHT were developing further plans for the Lawn and the Parish Council will be consulted when they are sufficiently developed.
290/0607 — Parking Review
Simon D'Vali had not yet responded to enquiries from Parish Clerk about the status of the review. An invitation to attend the Neighbourhood Forum in June would be extended to Mr D'Vali.
294/0607 — Roads and Drainage
Some gulley cleaning had taken place by BMDC.
29th March 2007 — Annual Meeting of the Parish
The police had responded to the concerns raised at the Annual Meeting:
Police surgeries — operational obligations occasionally led to the cancellation of police surgeries.
Outside lighting — police recommend continuous low energy lighting during the hours of darkness.
Tennis courts — the provision of tennis courts in the village would be investigated further. Cllr Walker had a contact for potential funding and would forward to the interested parties.
337/0607 Minutes of the Planning Committee
A copy of the minutes of the Planning Committee from 22nd March 2007 was received.
338/0607 Minutes received from other organisations
A copy of the minutes of the Ward Tasking Group from 29th March 2007 is available from the Parish Clerk.
339/0607 Clerk's Report
Newsletter — feedback had been positive. Enquiries via email and telephone from members of the public increased at the time the newsletters were distributed.
Parking questionnaire — to date 91 replies had been received.
Meeting dates — a copy of suggested meeting dates for the next year had been distributed for comment.
Lay-by at Robin Hole — Parish Clerk had pursued a request to have the lay-by at Robin Hole re-surfaced with BMDC. The land is owned by Bingley Trust who do not want the area used as a lay-by and do not want to do anything to improve the area.
340/0607 The Grange
Cllr Jones had spoken to Shabir Mohammed re: The Grange. Housing Dept would be interested in The Grange for affordable housing and community use but they had made clear that they would not be able to afford the full market value. Bradford College would have to consult with trustees if it was possible to sell it for less than the full market value but it was hoped that there would be some sympathy among the trustees for the building's future use for the community.
Ownership of the Grange was still being pursued. Cllr Jenkins was in further contact with YLCA as to how to respond to Bradford College. BMDC had been contacted again; the initial request under Freedom of Information had not been received but was now being processed.
Philip Davies had forwarded a copy of a letter from Andy Welsh at Bradford College summarising its position. The governors of the college will be discussing the matter again in May and stated that they will not move to put the property on the market until after this meeting.
Cllr Palmer proposed that the Parish Council consult a solicitor to get a definitive opinion on the ownership issue, this was unanimously agreed.
341/0607 To make an annual amount available to voluntary groups
Proposed by Cllr Riley
Seconded by Cllr Walker
RESOLVED to make an annual amount available to voluntary groups within the parish. Council agreed that £2,000 be made available from the Projects budget. Individual awards would not exceed £500 and decisions would be made at full council meetings. Cllr Riley had some information on how a decision making process could run, a proposal would be brought to the next meeting.
342/0607 Basic Allowance
Proposed by Cllr Palmer
Seconded by Cllr Riley
RESOLVED to not pay Basic Allowance to councillors in order to reflect the voluntary nature of the work.
343/0607 Scheme of allowances
Proposed by Cllr Tilford
Seconded by Cllr Walker
RESOLVED to adopt the Scheme of Allowances.
344/0607 General Maintenance and Allotments Committee
Proposed by Cllr Jones
Seconded by Cllr Palmer
RESOLVED to form a General Maintenance and Allotments Committee. The committee would meet periodically and would have some money to spend without reference back to full council. Membership of the committee would be decided at the May full council meeting.
345/0607 Solicitor
Proposed by Cllr Riley
Seconded by Cllr Jenkins
RESOLVED to appoint Mr James Bloomer as solicitor to the Parish Council.
346/0607 Parish Council Charter
Proposed by Cllr Walker
Seconded by Cllr Jenkins
RESOLVED to approve the Parish Council Charter with BMDC. The charter was developed through the Parish Council Liaison meetings between BMDC and parish councils. The planning protocol was still under discussion.
347/0607 Flooding
The majority of councillors had now had the opportunity to review the Floodpact information. Many of the issues concerned rising water levels although the most pressing issues for Burley concerned water flowing from the Moor. Parish Council agreed to work through the procedures for developing a flood plan. The item would be brought forward to the June agenda for further discussion.
Cllr Horton was still pursuing the issue of the Grange Road flats with BMDC.
348/0607 Maintenance
Bradford Vision — the bid for funds to buy equipment for the maintenance group £1,800 had been successful. Thanks were offered to Cllr Forrest.
Working group — there had been a very encouraging turn out of volunteers and councillors. Thanks were recorded for all their efforts.
Litter pick is scheduled for 11-12 May, 6-9pm on Friday evening and 10am-1pm on Saturday. The litter pick would be run in conjunction with BWCT and the Parish Council agreed to write to the Scouts and Round Table to ask for assistance. Cllr Walker would contact the Chamber of Trade to ask for their involvement. Cllr Walker would check the insurance cover for the Litter Pick and Cllr Riley would forward details of safe working practises.
349/0607 Parish Plan
The Parish Council reviewed and updated section B — The Environment and section C — Leisure and Recreation. The amendments to be posted on the village website.
Items arising from discussion of the Parish Plan included:
Cllr Palmer confirmed that verge hardening would take place on Manse and Midgley Roads.
Adult Education — the loss of the Grange had left the village with virtually no adult education provision. The new church building would potentially provide a venue for colleges. Council agreed to continue to build relationships with colleges and to encourage education provision within the village.
Burley House Field — still no response from Asset Management. A further letter to be sent asking for information on negotiation of the end of the lease. Cllr Jones reminded fellow councillors that a decision on the future of Burley House Field would need to be made. Issue to be brought forward at the June meeting of the council for further discussion.
350/0607 Reports from Councillors on other meetings attended
Cllr Jenkins reported on a meeting of BWCT. The new owners have offered a 5 year lease to BWCT with conditions. The owners have also been approached by the operators of the Malt Shovel. BWCT will discuss whether to accept the conditions at their meeting on April 18th.
Cllrs Jones, Tilford and Walker had taken part in YLCA training. It was noted that all involved felt that the training had been excellent and should the training course be offered again all interested councillors were encouraged to participate.
351/0607 Correspondence
Receipt of the following correspondence was noted:
· Bradford District Local Development Framework - Supplementary Planning Document for Planning Obligations, Supplementary Planning Document for City Centre Affordable Housing
· Bradford District Local Development Framework - Draft Supplementary Planning Document on Open Space and Built Recreation Facilities Scoping Report
· Zurich Municipal — request for information regarding case brought by Miss C Johnson
· Electoral Commission and NALC resource pack All About Parish Councils
· A letter of condolence has been sent to the widow of Dr Green
· A suggestion had been received from a member of the community to hold more surgeries at the weekends
· A mother and baby group in the village had contacted the Parish Council asking for support to keep the group running
· Invitation to Civic Service at Bradford Cathedral on Saturday 16th June
352/0607 Schedule of Payments
Proposed by Cllr Riley
Seconded by Cllr Walker
RESOLVED that the schedule of payments be approved for payment.
353/0607 Any Other Business
Iron Row — Cllr Jenkins had been made aware of confusion in locating Iron Row, Parish Clerk to check the exact address with the Post Office and explore the issue further.
Cllr Palmer clarified the situation in regard to traffic and highways funding for Burley. £10,000 was being made available to deal with the ineffective speed bumps on Moor Lane. Some slight review of the bumps in Burley Woodhead may be made but there was no proposal for new bumps in either location.
Cllr Tilford reported that at the next meeting of WRUG there would be discussion of the complaints made about the substitution of buses for trains over the Easter period.
Philip Davies MP addressed the Parish Council. Mr Davies was a great supporter of Parish Councils and admirer of the work of the councillors as volunteers and would like to see more decisions made at a local level. A number of the issues raised at the meeting were very pertinent at a national level particularly the designation of gardens as brown field sites and the particular case of the Post Office Yard.
Mr Davies offered continuing assistance on the subject of The Grange, it had been noted that the number of adult education courses in Wharfedale had halved in the last year and the number of people attending adult education courses in Wharfedale had also halved. Mr Davies confirmed that a digital signal would not come to the area until 2011 when Yorkshire was scheduled for the digital switchover. Mr Davies thanked the Parish Council for inviting him to the meeting and emphasised that his priority was to improve the local community within his constituency and invited the Parish Council to contact him on any issue.
354/0607 Date and time of next meetings
Planning Meeting — 26 April 2007
Annual Meeting of the Parish Council — 10 May 2007