104/2012-2013

PATELEY BRIDGE TOWN COUNCIL

The Council Chamber, King Street

Pateley Bridge, HG3 5LE

Tel: 01423 755628 Email:

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL ASSEMBLY HELD ON 16 APRIL 2013

Present:

Cllr I Skaife, Mayor (Chairman)
Cllr A Brown
Cllr S Hesselden
Cllr M Holt
Cllr H Jefferson
County Cllr John Fort
Clerk: Sarah Adamson / Cllr J Leggett
Cllr S Lumley
Cllr N Scott
Cllr C Skaife
Cllr J Wardman
In attendance: one Parishioner

Apologies for Absence: Cllr C Hawkesworth

1  Minutes of the Annual Assembly held on 17 April 2012 were approved and signed.

2  Matters Arising:

(a)  Min (b) there had been no developments in the matter of extensions to the Mayoral Chain.

3  Councillors’ Attendance Records 2012 - 13: The Clerk read these out as follows:

Cllr Brown
Cllr Hawkesworth
Cllr Hesselden
Cllr Holt
Cllr Jefferson
Cllr Leggett / 95%
96%
87%
95%
87%
100% / Cllr Lumley
Cllr Scott
Cllr C Skaife
Cllr I Scaife
Cllr Wardman / 87%
95%
100%
100%
96%


There had been 23 meetings during the year, but the four new councillors had been co-opted in the middle of June so had only had the opportunity to attend 19 meetings; this difference had been taken into account to give a true reflection. The overall attendance record was 94%. The Mayor thanked Councillors for their excellent attendance record.

4  The Mayor’s Annual Report: Cllr Ian Skaife: The Mayor had opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the Assembly and now gave his report on the year.

He said it had been a great honour to have been elected again as Mayor of Pateley Bridge. The twelve months have soon come around again. He and his wife had enjoyed their year in office and by the end of their term would have attended a total of 44 functions, 24 less than his previous term as Mayor. Unfortunately during recent weeks he had had to pull out of some engagements due to his mother’s ill health.

This year’s Mayor’s Ball had been held on the 16th February and was attended by 70 guests and had raised slightly more than last year’s ball which had 20 more guests. This was due to the trimming of the entertainment budget and slightly reduced hire costs of the Memorial Hall. The date for the next Charity Mayor’s Ball would be Saturday February 15th 2014.

Twelve months previously an election for a new council was about to take place and four councillors retired. It was alarming to note that there was no election as the seven people standing were the previous councillors, maybe a sign of apathy creeping in to the parish elections. As it happened by the closing date for applications for co-option there were only four people who had put their names forward. The new councillors were Mike Holt, Antony Brown, Norma Scott and Chris Skaife.

I had been a relatively quiet year for the council, the main concern being the loss of the LEADER funding which had funded the Parish Caretaker, which had an impact on setting the budget for the new financial year, as the caretaker costs would have to be met from the Parish Precept. A small grant was made available if parish councils wished to take it up, which would offset any major increase in the precept. Other costs to the council had also gone up, i.e. insurance, grass cutting.

There had also been a Borough Council election last year and Pateley Bridge now had a new District Councillor, Stan Lumley; the Mayor thanked him for his work during the year, especially in relation to his input in keeping the parking tickets at the same price as last year.

The Local Development Framework was still being formulated and it was hoped that HBC would publish the outcome shortly.

In a couple of weeks there would be an election for the County Council and John Fort was standing again; the Mayor thanked him for his work in his previous term in relation to keeping Pateley Bridge at the forefront of his thoughts.

Regular joint liaison meetings with Bewerley Parish Council were still taking place, where common problems could be alleviated.

Finally the Mayor wished the Mayor Elect well in her new role; this was the first time in the history of Pateley Bridge Town Council that the Mayor elect was the current Mayoress! He wish her well in this role but reported that unfortunately she had not been too happy at his suggestion of having the ceremony at home for the official hand over of the chain!

5  County Matters: County Cllr John Fort

(a)  Introduction: County Cllr Fort thanked the Mayor and the Clerk for the courteous and efficient manner in which business was conducted. It had been an extremely difficult year for the County Council, and having made savings of £69 million, it was being asked by government to make further reductions. In addition, having spent £6 million on getting planning permission for the long-heralded incinerator, the Council was now arguing with the Government about recouping these costs, as the Government had withdrawn their funding for the project.

(b)  Penny Pot Lane Recycling Centre and Winter Maintenance Depot: this had been operational for a year and had proved very successful. It had removed the traffic queues on Wetherby Road, and the Maintenance Depot had worked well during the worst winter weather for 40 years.

(c)  Schools: North Yorkshire had always had a good reputation for its education provision, but there was pressure on the system due to falling school rolls, top-slicing of budgets to go directly to academy schools, and a follow on effect on school transport arrangements. A new Director of Children’s Services had been appointed, Peter Dwyer, who had previously worked for York City Council.

(d)  Community Transport: earlier in the day Cllr Fort had attended a further meeting of the newly formed group; they were to meet a deputation from the Little White Bus, based in Grassington, and it was hoped that some benefits might come from this.

(e)  Highways: Mr John Summers, the Street Works Manager at NYCC was due to attend the next council meeting; it was difficult to monitor work done by utility companies as the County on had one person to do the job, and he was hoping that a local monitoring scheme, as previously discussed, could be piloted in Pateley Bridge.

(f)  Library: in conjunction with HBC, it was planned that the Tourist Information Office would be incorporated into the Library on the High Street.

(g)  New Fire Station at Summerbridge: work had started on this and it should be completed by the time of the Nidderdale Show.

6. District Matters: District Councillor Stan Lumley: Cllr Lumley thanked both the Mayor and Mayoress for another year in which they had represented the town at many events, meetings and celebrations over the past year. He thought having a Mayor of Pateley Bridge was extremely beneficial to parishioners, local business and the community. He was looking forward with great interest to the role reversal for the forthcoming year, and wished Cllr Chris Skaife well in her future term of office.

Cllr Lumley reported that his first year as Pateley Bridge ward member serving on HBC had been a steep learning curve and initially he had been overwhelmed with the amount of information, paper-work, training and meetings. He had learned that it was impossible to be involved with all aspects of council business and to concentrate on issues relating to or effecting Pateley Bridge. As a member of several committees, boards and trusts, he did all I could to protect and promote the interests of Pateley Bridge and the upper Dale.

He had been appointed as the cabinet assistant to the Deputy Leader of the Council who holds the Planning, Transport & Economic Development portfolio. This gave him great insight and contact with senior officers and cabinet members, and attending the Deputy Leader’s bi-weekly meetings with officers, and pre-cabinet meetings, he was able to voice any concerns to ensure that the rural voice is heard.

As a result, he and other rural colleagues had received a commitment that the HBC Core Strategy document would be reviewed before the end of the year. It was hoped that this review would remove some of the very frustrating and restricting guidance and rules that prevented sensible development in smaller settlements essential for the future sustainability of the community.

A lot of time over the last year had been spent developing the Local Plan. This had been an enormous task which would affect the district for many years to come. He had promoted the consensus of the council, namely prioritising the development of brown field sites, and felt the resulting proposal for the area was satisfactory.

He had also fought hard to keep the very successful parking permit scheme for Pateley Bridge which was under threat of removal.

Cllr Lumley wished to thank County Cllr John Fort for his support and guidance over the previous year, and also thanked the Clerk for her outstanding work and support.

Following these two reports Cllr Leggett thanked both Cllr Fort and Cllr Lumley for their continued attendance at Pateley Bridge council meetings and asked the following questions.

(a)  Incinerator: Cllr Leggett asked whether the project was now defunct, and CllrFort said that alternative funding was now being explored.

(b)  Redundant NYCC in Pateley Bridge: Cllr Leggett asked what was the County Council’s plan for the depot and Cllr Fort confirmed that although he didn’t know the timescale, it had been earmarked for development as a care home which he was sure would be welcomed in the town.

(c)  He also queried whether there would be room in the Library for the Tourist Information Office and Cllr Fort replied that room would be made to accommodate both services, and it would mean that there would be a beneficial effect from extending opening hours.

7. Mayor’s Charity Fund: the Clerk gave the following details of grants paid to nine local organisations over the past year, totalling £1,680 although in the previous year 13 organisations had applied successfully to the fund. There was now a balance in the Mayor’s Charity Fund of £1,866.

Middlesmoor Village Hall / £250.00 / Fire-retardant curtains
Wilsill Luncheon Club / £200.00 / Visit to Wensleydale Creamery
Nidderdale Young Farmers / £250.00 / 80th Anniversary Dinner
Nidderdale Visual Arts / £180.00 / Lantern Parade 2012
Dacre Banks Pre-School Playgroup / £250.00 / outdoor gates and play equipment
The Nidd Chorale / £150.00 / new Sheet Music
St Nicholas Festival / £100.00 / Publicity for event
Pateley Bridge Walking Festival / £50.00 / Walkers are Welcome registration
Dacre & Hartwith Playing Field Assoc / £250.00 / Equipment for new pavillion

The Mayor confirmed that at the moment there were no plans to change the date of the Mayor’s Charity Ball although it had clashed with some other functions in the Dale which had taken place on the Valentine’s Day weekend.

8  Electors’ Questions: none.

9  Exchange of Information

(a)  Cllr Leggett suggested that the transfer of the Mayor’s office from husband to wife was a good opportunity for publicity about the Council’s work and it was agreed that the Clerk should follow this up with the local media.

(b)  Cllr Jefferson had spoken to the Customer Liaison Officer for Balfour Beattie about the traffic lights system during their recent works, as there had been numerous complaints about it.

(c)  County Cllr Fort also mentioned that he had asked for the remedial work to the High Street to be expedited.

The meeting closed at 8.50 pm and was followed by a regular Council meeting. County Cllr Fort left to attend another parish meeting.