Minutes of the Full Council Meeting
held on Thursday 11 October 2007 at St Mary's Parish Centre
Commenced: 7:30pm — Concluded: 9:15pm
Present
Cllr. Caroline Jones (Chairman)
Cllr. Sylvia Tilford (Vice Chairman)
Cllr. Keith Dale
Cllr. Kath Forrest
Cllr. John Horton
Cllr. Peter Jenkins
Cllr. Matt Palmer
Cllr. Peter Riley
Cllr. Mike Walker
Clerk:
Mrs Jo Griffiths
125/0708 Chairman's remarks
Cllr Jones opened the meeting. A consultation event on the future of Ilkley Moor is taking place on 27th October in Ilkley; Cllr Jones encouraged all councillors who could attend to do so. Budget preparation was starting to take place; councillors with items to be put forward were encouraged to contact Cllr Jones or Parish Clerk. A meeting of the staffing committee was required for early November.
126/0708 Apologies for absence
None.
127/0708 Disclosures of Interest
Cllrs Horton, Jenkins, Tilford and Walker declared an interest in Item 15 as members of the Burley in Wharfedale Community Trust.
128/0708 Public Participation
Ms Sheila Hamilton spoke about the proposed route between Burley and Ben Rhydding that had been reported in the Ilkley Gazette. Ms Hamilton's concerns included: lack of prior consultation with landowners, involvement of Sustrans at such an early stage and the potential impact this would have on the project, the impact on landowners - in particular Mr Patchett and his livelihood.
Cllr Jones and Cllr Walker responded to Ms Hamilton's concerns. The project was at a very early stage; the Parish Council had responded to a letter from a private resident and agreed to an exploration of the proposed scheme. The involvement of Sustrans had been to help facilitate discussions with the relevant parties - a priority being local landowners.
Cllr Jones thanked Ms Hamilton for her attendance at the meeting and welcomed her input.
129/0708 Minutes of previous meeting
Proposed by Cllr Palmer
Seconded by Cllr Riley
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of 13th September be accepted as a true and accurate record.
130/0708 Matters arising from the minutes
P107/0708 - Iron Row and Parking Review
Traffic & Highways advised that the legal orders for the parking review were being drafted. Iron Row had been referred to a different department at BMDC. Parish Clerk to follow up.
P113/0708 - Proposed route between Burley and Ben Rhydding
Parish Clerk had written to Mr Shaw asking for further details; a reply had not yet been received. It was understood that Ilkley Parish Council would be discussing the proposed route at their next meeting.
131/0708 Minutes of the Planning Committee
Copies of the minutes from the planning committee meetings on 23rd August and 13th September 2007 were received.
132/0708 Minutes received from other organisations
Copies of the minutes listed were received and are available from the Parish Clerk:
· Ward Tasking Group - 13th September 2007
· Burley in Wharfedale Community Trust -12th September 2007
· West Yorkshire Rural Transport Partnership, Bradford Stakeholder Meeting -18th September 2007
· Burley Website Committee - 4th September 2007
· Joint Executive Board of Yorkshire Local Councils Associations - 21st July 2007
· Annual meeting of the South Pennine Branch of Yorkshire Local Councils - Wednesday 13th June 2007
133/0708 Clerk's Report
A request for stewards at the Christmas Market on 1st December had been received from the Chamber of Trade. Anyone who could assist was asked to contact the parish clerk.
Letters had been sent out to everyone on the allotments waiting list. If any replies were passed to councillors please pass them to the parish clerk.
Street lights on Main Street were being replaced; BMDC had contacted the council for liaison particularly re: Christmas Lights. Parish Clerk and Tom Sumner to liaise with BMDC.
134/0708 Fair Trade
A pre-meeting to discuss Fair Trade had been held before the full council meeting. Mr John Anderson of Fair Trade Bradford had talked to councillors and there had been the opportunity to discuss the issues. After discussion councillors agreed to support the efforts by Mary Wood to have Burley designated a fair trade village. A resolution would be added to the next agenda and a liaison person from the parish council nominated.
135/0708 Police Checks for Volunteers at the Contact Point
CRB checks on the volunteers had still not been completed. Cllr Palmer had written to the Chief Constable but no response had been received. It had been informally indicated that the checks would be completed within the next two weeks. It was agreed that if the checks had not been completed within the next two weeks then the parish council would write to the Chief Constable as well.
136/0708 Universal Planning Protocol for the Parish Council Charter with BMDC
Cllr Jones outlined some of the history on this document. This was the final draft agreed by the Parish Council Liaison Group and the signing of the charter could now proceed. Some concerns remained over clauses 1.6 and 1.7 but the protocol would be reviewed after one year and any issues addressed at this time.
Proposed by Cllr Jones
Seconded by Cllr Riley
RESOLVED that the universal planning protocol be approved by Burley Parish Council.
137/0708 Post Office closure consultation
Councillors had received the documents forwarded from the Parish Councils' Liaison Group. The consultation for the Keighley area had commenced and the second consultation would include Burley and is due to commence in February. Councillors were advised to be vigilant on this subject. There was no reason to suppose that Burley's Post Office was at risk but a fixed percentage of post offices in the area are due for closure and it was important to be aware of what was happening across the district.
138/0708 Water Feature Electricity Costs
The electricity meter for the water feature had been read in September. Prior to that it had not been read for 27 months. Consumption of electricity had been seriously under-estimated and the true running costs of the fountain were more than double the budgeted figure with an average cost of over £70 per month. Councillors agreed that this was an excessive amount and discussion took place on how electricity consumption could be lowered including limited use, change of energy suppliers or type of power.
Councillors agreed to aim to limit expenditure on electricity in the next six months and to bring consumption in line with the previously budgeted figure. It was agreed that no more than £480 per annum should be spent on electricity for this feature. A variety of means to achieve this goal would be explored in the next six months. Parish Council agreed to write to Burley Community Council inviting them to consider their liability as they were responsible for part of the accumulated debt.
139/0708 Christmas Lights
The Parish Council had been asked by Burley in Wharfedale Community Trust for a contribution of £2,000 towards the Christmas Lights. Councillors agreed that they wished to support the lights and some discussion of the amount took place. Cllr Palmer suggested that if capital expenditure was being proposed a better use of funds would be for the BWCT to apply to Shipley's Community Chest Fund.
It was proposed by Cllr Palmer and seconded by Cllr Riley that £1,600 be awarded to BWCT. An amendment was tabled by Cllr Forrest and seconded by Cllr Palmer that £1,500 be awarded to BWCT.
RESOLVED by a majority vote that £1,500 be awarded to BWCT to assist in the provision of Christmas Lights for 2007.
140/0708 Local Strategic Partnership
Councillors had received the documents from BMDC on this topic. A consultation event at the end of November was being held for parish councils. It was agreed to send a representative to this meeting to put forward the views of the parish council.
141/0708 The Grange
The Estates Committee of Bradford College had met in September and had decided to market the property and not to accept the offer from the parish council's development partner. An email from Andy Welsh to Cllr Jones had indicated that factors other than the purely financial would be taken into consideration when a final buyer was chosen and this was believed to be positive news.
Notification of any marketing details had not yet been received.
142/0708 Village Handbook
Proposed by Cllr Jones
Seconded by Cllr Dale
RESOLVED that Burley Parish Council produces a village handbook in 2008 for free distribution to every household in the parish.
143/0708 Parish Plan
Councillors reviewed section E (public transport) of the parish plan.
WRUG - Cllr Tilford remained the council's representative on WRUG. There was some difficulty in attending meetings as they often clashed with school governors meetings. It was agreed to add access to the trains by mobility vehicles to the plan.
Safety concerns at the train station were added to the plan. The station manager was currently reviewing a proposal to place mirrors at the top of the steps so that anyone on the bridge could be clearly seen. The Minutes from the WRUG Committee Meeting on September 25th recorded that a reminder be sent to Martyn Guiver at Northern Rail regarding security at Burley station and the request be repeated for a brief site meeting.
Airport - some councillors had concerns over the noise of planes and the lack of adherence to agreed routes by some pilots. This was of particular concern given the proposed expansion of the airport in the next few years. It was agreed that the parish clerk should write to the airport outlining specific concerns.
144/0708 Reports from councillors on other meetings attended
Cllr Jones had attended the Parish Councils Liaison Meeting and had already reported on discussions about the planning protocol and post office closure consultation. Cllr Jones had also attended YLCA meeting.
Cllr Tilford had attended SCAPAG and had copies of local action plans for other areas that might be useful in comparison to the parish plan. Information on attendance at neighbourhood forums had been given, Burley's was lower than some of the surrounding villages but this was felt to be linked to local concerns and issues in other areas.
The Primary Care Trust had given information on services for older people; Cllr Tilford had details if anyone was interested.
Cllr Forrest had attended a meeting of West Yorkshire Rural Transport Partnership - discussion was taking place between BMDC and North Yorkshire County Council over the provision of the X84 service. Around £14,000 of capital funding was available for transport projects.
Cllrs Jones, Horton and Jenkins had met with Tony Poole from BMDC about drainage issues in the village. Mr Poole had agreed to further investigation by camera of gullies and culverts in the village where the parish council had concerns. Councillors were asked to forward concerns to the parish clerk. Liaison with Malcolm Wright at Parks & Landscapes was necessary about the culverts in Grange Road Park.
Cllr Jones had met with Harry Whittle from Bradford Community Housing Trust to discuss issues particularly concerning the Grange Road flats. Mr Whittle had agreed to investigate the raising of the wall height next to Rushy Beck and the costs of flood protection for the most vulnerable homes at this site.
Cllr Walker had attended the Road Safety Group which was once again struggling to engage other local organisations.
Cllr Dale had attended the funding fair at BMDC.
Cllrs Forrest and Riley had attended meetings of Burley and Menston Charities.
145/0708 Correspondence
· White Rose Update - newsletter from YLCA
· Burley & District Chamber of Trade newsletter
· Sustainable Community Strategy document & questionnaire
· Dept of Social Services at BMDC - information on changes to Disabled Persons' Blue Badge Scheme
· Invitation to a workshop on 17th October on the future of Rombalds Moor
· Request from Ilkley Council for Voluntary Service for a donation - Parish Clerk to ask for information on local projects supported in the last year. Parish Council to consider a donation at the next meeting
· Wharfedale Activity Group - email to be circulated to councillors
146/0708 Schedule of Payments
Proposed by Cllr Jenkins
Seconded by Cllr Riley
RESOLVED that the amended schedule of payments be approved for payment.
147/0708 Minor Items and items for the next agenda
Cllr Riley could not attend the consultation event on Rombalds Moor but was very happy to act as a liaison person for the council on this subject.
148/0708 Date and time of next meetings
Planning Meeting - 25th October 2007
Full Council & Planning - 8th November 2007