SILKSTONE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council (PC) meeting held in the

Mission Rooms, Silkstone Common on 5th February 2007.

PRESENT: The Chairman: Clr D Liddell.

Clrs Bower, Fishpool, Gallamore, Handley, Leech, Smith and Stier.

There were four parishioners present at the start of the meeting.

146.  Open forum.

The Chairman of the Parish Design Statement Group, Colin Thompson, provided an update on developments with the draft Statement. Good progress was being made with the support of Barnsley MBC (BMBC) staff. Some minor improvements had been made to the draft and the Statement was expected to be adopted by BMBC in March 2007. It would be a website document but the Group was looking to produce a limited number of hard copies. Mr Thompson would liaise with the Clerk on this item and the funding situation.

147.  Apologies for absence.

Clr M Liddell had work commitments. Her apology was accepted.

148.  Councillors’ declarations of interest.

Clr Stier declared a personal interest in the items relating to Mr Waring.

149.  Minutes.

The minutes of the PC’s January meeting were approved.

150.  Matters arising from the last meeting.

·  The skip causing problems on Ben Bank Road had been moved shortly after the last PC meeting. The Clerk had received advice from the police. They had limited powers, as the skip was not classed as a vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. The position on skip use would be investigated further with the police and also with BMBC. It was hoped to produce an item on this issue for the next newsletter.

·  A letter had been sent to BMBC about a number of highways’ issues that had been raised by the PC. The letter had been copied to Councillors. The problems raised included: the damaged Moorend Lane road sign, the missing white lines on Cone Lane and Silkstone Lane, the two problem junctions, and the poor condition of the walls on Cone Lane. No substantive response had been received yet.

·  The Neighbourhood Pride Team had replaced the vandalised litter-bin on Cone Lane, near to the Silkstone Lodge.

·  A number of cases of possible fly-tipping had been reviewed with the Neighbourhood Pride Supervisor and action was being taken as appropriate.

·  The BMBC letter about “safe routes to school” had been copied to Councillors. The staff at Silkstone School had agreed to provide a copy of their draft travel plan to the PC for information and possible discussion.

·  The work on laying the hedge in Orchard Wood may be used as part of a training scheme. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman were monitoring the position.

·  The Clerk had collected the pavilion keys used by the youth group. He had taken the opportunity to visit Penistone Youth Club and the Surf and Snack facility. The Clerk was advised there that the mobile internet project was being developed but, due to a lack of volunteers, the visits to Silkstone were not yet taking place. It was hoped that those visits would commence in February.

·  The siting of the new dog litter-bins needed to be agreed before the order was placed by BMBC as there were different types of bins. It was agreed that the Clerk would liaise with Clr Fishpool and Clr D Liddell on this issue. This would include a review of the new dog litter-bin by the pharmacy in Silkstone, which the Neighbourhood Pride Supervisor was reluctant to move at present.

  1. Crime and safety issues.

The Clerk was continuing to review the position on the Neighbourhood Watch scheme and was given a copy of its latest newsletter. Where a scheme had not renewed its membership, householders might find problems with their insurance if a discount had been allowed for membership of a scheme. An article would be placed in the newsletter supporting the extension of the scheme in the Parish.

Clr Stier reported on recent crime figures for the Parish. In December 2006, there had been two reported crimes in Silkstone and four in Silkstone Common. He also provided the following comparison between 2005 and 2006, details of which would be included in the next newsletter.

Village / 2005 / 2006
Silkstone / 50 / 82
Silkstone Common / 37 / 57

It was reported that a number of bogus callers had been operating in the Parish. The Penistone Community Partnership had organised some promotional information about this problem, aiming particularly at groups for the elderly, such as the Silkstone Luncheon Club and the Good Companions.

The Penistone Safer Neighbourhood Team was focussing on a number of items in the coming months, including vehicle crime plus alcohol and drug abuse in the area.

The police had been advised that a number of used lighter fuel cans had been found in Orchard Wood. The PC noted that there had been previous problems there.

152.  Planning applications.

There were two applications received.

Address / Village /

Details

33 Woodland Rise / S.C. /

Extension.

47 Moorend Lane / S.C. /

New house.

As neither application was available at the meeting, it was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman would review them with other interested Silkstone Common Councillors in the following week.

BMBC had advised that the recent applications from 3 and 4 Whinmoor Close had been refused as being inappropriate for the site.

It was noted that BMBC was not always advising the PC of the results of any items on which the PC had commented and this point would be monitored.

153.  Silkstone Recreation Ground (SRG).

The tarmac work on the waggonway path had been completed by BMBC on 22nd January. There was a query about the finish of the path at a number of points and BMBC were investigating this point.

The damaged protective covering for the gas “governor” equipment near to the Pavilion had been reported to British Gas and Transco. The position was under review. The Clerk would contact Mr Woodcock of Nuttall and Yarwood if appropriate for advice on the siting of the gas governor.

At the last SPFMC meeting, the Treasurer’s financial report showed a £5,000 surplus to December 2006. It was agreed that £3,000 would be refunded to the PC and the £2,000 cheque produced for the SPFMC in January was cancelled.

The Adult Football Club had difficulty making the £500 contribution to the PC for 2006-07 by 31st December 2006. A deferment had been agreed by the PC’s Chairman and Vice-Chairman, initially to 31st March 2007.

At the January meeting of the SPFMC, Owen Dyson resigned, both as the Chairman of the SPFMC and as a member it. He stated that this was due to his opposition to the PC’s policy of banning dogs from the grassed areas of the SRG and the PC’s wish for the SPFMC to help enforce this ban. That day, the Clerk had received a copy of Mr Dyson’s letter of resignation. Copies were issued to the Councillors present. The PC expressed its regret that Mr Dyson had left the SPFMC but wished to commend him on the excellent work he had done on that Committee since its inception. Also, the PC confirmed its policy on banning dogs from the grassed areas of the SRG, mainly as there were concerns about the health and safety risks for the groundsmen and players. A suggestion that it might be possible to tether dogs on parts of the banking during matches would be considered further at the next PC meeting. It was agreed to write to Mr Dyson on these points.

A resident had contacted the Clerk about the lack of use of the football pitch at the Silkstone Common Recreation Ground. The Clerk had written to BMBC for an update and a copy of the letter sent was provided for Councillors. It was also noted that there would be six teams using the full-size pitch at the SRG next season. The PC and the SPFMC were concerned at possible over-use.

Linked to the above point, the last SPFMC meeting had agreed that there was a lack of co-ordination between the various football teams on a range of issues, including postponing matches. The SPFMC Secretary had since started a consultation process on possible improvements and the position would be monitored.

  1. Silkstone-in-Bloom.

Clr Smith had been the Chairman of the Silkstone-in-Bloom Group for twelve years and had recently resigned as its Chairman. At present, the Group had no Chairman or Secretary. Clr Smith was staying on a member of the Group. The PC valued the work done by the volunteers but decided that it was not able to take on the duties of the Chairman at this stage, either corporately or as individuals. Therefore, it was agreed that no entry would be made to the Britain-in-Bloom competition this year. However, the PC would investigate ways of co-ordinating the activities of the volunteers and the main work undertaken, particularly on planters and at Hillside in Silkstone. The position would be discussed further at the next PC meeting.

The PC recorded its appreciation of the tremendous work done by Clr Smith as Chairman of this Group.

  1. Clerk’s pay.

A report on the Clerk’s pay had been issued with the agenda. The following recommendations were approved:

1 A lump sum of £800 would be paid in March 2007 for the additional hours worked between March and December 2006.

2 A standard 20 hours per week is agreed from 1st April 2007 as a permanent change to the Clerk’s contractual hours.

3 The single point salary at SCP27 should be continued. The position should be reviewed as part of the process for seeking quality council status.

4 The allowances should be increased from 1st February, as shown below:

Item / Monthly (£) / Basis
Home office use / 40.00 / 60% of one room (first increase since 2001).
Telephone/internet / 20.00 / Contribution to costs.
Total / 60.00

5 The “inflation” increase from 1st April 2007, expected to be approximately 3%, would be paid as notified by NALC.

  1. Financial report.

The Clerk had distributed with the agenda a set of documents relating to the current financial year and a draft budget report for 2007/08. These were discussed in some detail and the following main points agreed.

·  The bank reconciliation to 31st December 2006 had been checked by Clr Leech and was now approved by the PC.

·  The revised £19,000 estimate for expenditure on the SRG in 2006/07 was noted. This position had been discussed earlier in the meeting.

·  A £2,000 provision was made for support for the proposed drainage scheme for the cricket pitch on the SRG.

·  The Chairman reported on the developments of the proposed replacement scout hut. It was agreed that no provision for expenditure would be made for 2007/08.

·  The contribution from the SPFMC clubs would be reduced for 2007/08 to a total of £1,000 and would be reviewed annually after that.

·  The precept was set at £52,000, an increase of 6%, with the estimated deficit to be met from the PC’s fund balance.

157.  Roads/footpaths.

A resident had complained of the siting of the new litter-bin at the corner of Footpath 8, on the junction with Ben Bank Road. The complaint was supported by a number of users of the Mission Rooms. The bin was sited on the ground and, being painted black, was difficult to see at night. Vehicles had difficulty accessing the footpath and some elderly residents had reported bumping into the bin. The PC agreed that the bin should be moved. The Clerk and Clr D Liddell would review possible new sites, liaising with one of the Churchwardens and the Neighbourhood Pride Supervisor.

Clr Stier reported on the recent Area Board meeting, which covered the highways’ maintenance programme for 2007/08. There was a point system used and two items for the Parish were scheduled for next year. There would be improvements to an area of carriageway on Ben Bank Road heading out of the village to Dodworth and the pavement from Church Hill to Towngate (opposite the Health Centre).

Clr Stier advised that the next Area Forum meeting would be discussing the recent developments with the proposed Mottram bypass scheme. At this stage, the PC would continue to monitor events.

Clr Bower was liaising with a resident about the condition of the waggonway in Silkstone and ownership issues.

Clr Bower was concerned about the poor condition of two trees on Cone Lane and would contact BMBC about them.

There was a concern raised about the difficulty of vehicles using High Street in Silkstone because of parked cars. It was considered that the use of some yellow lines in places might help. At this stage, the PC noted the position but would take no action.

A resident was concerned about vehicles obstructing the bus stop outside The Roses’ development in Silkstone Common. He also noted that parked vehicles, especially a van, caused visibility difficulties on the junction of Ben Bank Road and Cone Lane, particularly opposite the old post office. These points had been reported to BMBC and a response was awaited.

158.  Meetings.

Clr Stier reported on the last Area Forum meeting, which mainly covered BMBC’s budget for 2007/08. Currently, the projection was for an £11 million deficit.

Clr Leech had attended BMBC’s Environmental Forum at the Cooper Gallery. He noted BMBC’s efforts to use woodchip burning boilers and would provide details of this to the Scout Hut Management Committee as an option for the new facility.

The Chairman had attended an executive meeting of the YLCA.

  1. Parish Council newsletter.

The editor of the newsletter, Clr Bower, was aiming to go to print in March and had a deadline for articles of the end of February. It was agreed to increase the pay for the newsletter deliverer to £210 per edition. Clr Bower showed the PC a copy of the glossy newsletter produced by St Florent and the Media Group would consider possible improvements to the PC’s newsletter as appropriate.