ETTON PARISH COUNCIL
9 January 2017
PRESENT: Councillors Holmes (Chair), Armstrong, Bell,Dicconson (from agenda item 4) Eggleston, Sleight, Widdand Yeo.
Apologies: Councillor Gibbs and Ward Councillor Pollard
Clerk: Alan Bravey.
There was one memberof the public present.
The meeting was held at the Village Hall, Etton.
1/17DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – There were no declarations made.
2/17MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING – Resolved – (i) that the minutes of the meeting held on the 14November 2016 should be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
3/17 PARISH COUNCIL CO-OPTION - The Parish Council discussed the applications received for the Parish Council vacancy. Following a vote it was Resolved that Mark Dicconson should be co-opted to the Parish Council.
4/17 B1248 SAFETY CONCERNS - Following ongoing correspondence with East Riding of Yorkshire Council regarding safety concerns at the B1248 junction, a site visit had been held with ERYC officers. Parish Councillors had put forward the case for the installation of double solid white centre lines, in order to prevent vehicles overtaking on the stretch of the B1248 near to the junction and causing a hazard to cars pulling in and out of the junction. The ERYC officers observed this happening on a number of occasions on the visit. They agreed that there was an issue, but said there was a national criteria for the use of double solid white centre lines which meant this stretch of the B1248 was not eligible. The ERYC officers agreed to look at the alternative signing instead. In subsequent correspondence, the officers said that installation of SLOW signs would be added to the forward programme for consideration in 2017/18. They also agreed to put forward the installation of left turn lane arrows to prevent HGVs parking in the layby. In the correspondence, ERYC quoted the appropriate section from the Traffic Signs Manual that prevented the installation of centrelines. The extract seemed to indicate that ERYC could exercise judgement over where the lines where installed, rather than their use being prohibited. ERYC stated that there were many other villages with similar junctions in the East Riding of Yorkshire that do not have double white centrelines and that ERYC must be consistent with is approach to introducing new road marking and signings. ERYC also commented that the number of recorded injury collisions at the junction in the previous three year period did not warrant any action being taken. The Parish Council expressed its extreme disappointment at the decision and in particular the fact that a serious injury had to have occurred before corrective work could take place. The Parish Council did not believe that proposed changes to the road signage would resolve the issue and felt that it had a duty of care to residents to continue to lobby for the only solution they believed would reduce risk to parishioners and road users.
Resolved - That the Clerk would investigate options to further lobby East Riding of Yorkshire Council to install double white lines.
5/15 ISSUES RELATING TO EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE COUNCIL -It was noted that the hedges previously report to ERYC had been cut back. The Parish Council felt that the sloe tree should be cut back further and noted that the cuttings had been left in the dyke opposite. The Parish Council discussed the elderberry bushes near to the railway line.
Resolved - that ERYC would be asked if the sloe tree could be cut back further to aid cars passing on that stretch of road.
6/17CLERK UPDATE - HWRCC had updated the village questionnaire, which would soon be ready for distribution. ERYC had placed road traffic signs in the hole in the B1248 layby until repairs could be carried out. The litter bins placed outside the Village Hall in error had been relocated by ERYC to Dalton Road. A site visit at the Village Pond had been held with ERYC, who suggested that the highways gullies could be diverted into the pond to help maintain the water level at relatively little expense. This cost would need to be met by the Parish Council. ERYC had taken levels and would check that carrying out this work would not increase flood risk. Councillor Holmes reported that a local resident had also carried out an initial assessment on the water level within the pond. The clerk advised that the contract for the purchase of land at 104 Main Street explicitly stated that the wall and steps would be excluded from the sale. The contract had therefore been signed and sent for completion.
Resolved - i) Councillors would support the distribution and collection of the questionnaireand ii) that the local resident would be thanked for his support and invited to be involved in the pond work.
7/17CORRESPONDENCE– Resolved – (i) that the following correspondence should be received by the Council:
- Etton Resident, Raising concerns about BT capacity issues in the village
- Etton Village Hall, Promoting Village Hall events on the Etton Parish Council website.
- Compliment from Etton Resident on Welcome to Etton Newsletter
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
- Anti Social Behaviour Six Month Statistics
- Litter bin relocated to the Dalton Road.
- Wooden finger post at Chantry Lane / Warter Road to be replaced next financial year
- Approval to fill councillor vacancy by co-option.
- Neighbourhood Planning Newsletter
- Outcome of the site visit to discuss road safety concerns on B1248
- Request for nominations for Chairman’s Awards
(ii) that the Parish Council would support the Village Hall were possible (iii) that the BT capacity issues would be raised through ERYC.
8/17 PLANNING MATTERS - Resolved- (i) to note that the Council had submitted no objection to the application to fell an unsafe Beech tree at the Old School House and (ii) to note that application 15/03493/OUTto erect a dwelling following outline permission (appearance and landscaping to be considered), Land South East And West Of 104 Main Street Etton East Riding Of Yorkshire, Ref. No: 16/03022/REM had been approved.
9/17WAR MEMORIAL GARDENS UPDATE - The gardening at the war memorial agreed at the last meeting had taken place and some additional work had also been carried out. The Parish Council had received some comments that hedges had been cut back too far. The Parish Council also discussed options for future Christmas lighting.
Resolved - (i) that Councillor Holmes would thank the volunteers for carrying out the gardening and invite them to attend a future meeting if they proposed to undertake any future work and (ii) the Parish Council would discuss Christmas lighting later in the year.
10/17 AMENDMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL REGULATIONS - Resolved - that the wording of the Financial Regulations at paragraph 11.1 (i) should be amended so that that Clerk was required to obtain three quotes for any expenditure in excess of £500.
11/17 PARISH COUNCIL BUDGET AND PRECEPT FOR 2017/18 - The Clerk tabled a proposed budget and precept options for 2017/18. It was noted that the tax base for the year had increased.
Resolved - i) that the annual precept charge for residents should be maintained at the same rate as last year, and (ii) the proposed budget should be amended accordingly.
12/17ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT -Resolved –that the following accounts should be approved for payment:
Payee / Description / Amount (£)Clerk / Salary January / 49.30
Post Office / PAYE January / 33.20
East Riding of Yorkshire Council / Service Level Agreement - Street Lighting / 1415.76
East Riding of Yorkshire Council / Purchase of Litter Bin / 452.59
Cartridge Save / Replacement Ink Cartridges / 111.60
Neil Wenn / Repairing the Village Pond Fence / 310.00
Neil Wenn / Replacing the War Memorial Fence / 290.00
SLCC Membership Fee / 50% contribution to SLCC membership with Laxton Parish Council / 77
Clerk / Salary February / 49.70
Post Office / PAYE February / 32.80
95/16FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS –Resolved - To note that the next meeting of the Parish Council would take place on the 13 March 2017 at 7:30 pm.
Signed:______
Dated:______
1