Ward Councillorsr Barnard, P Hand-Davis and J Wilson and 6 Residents

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MINUTES of theANNUAL PARISHIONERS MEETING of SILKSTONE PARISH held on Tuesday 19 April 2011at 7pm at Silkstone Common Methodist Chapel.

PRESENT

Chairman: Cllr D Liddell

Councillors: Mrs P Gallamore, R Leech, and R Stier.

Ward CouncillorsR Barnard, P Hand-Davis and J Wilson and 6 residents

1. APOLOGIES

RESOLVED to note apologies from Parish Cllrs Charlesworth, Handley and Smith.

1. MINUTES

RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the Annual Parishioners Meeting on 19 April 2010 as a true and accurate record.

1. WARD COUNCILLOR’S REPORT

Cllr Wilson – Cllr Wilson spoke of the tough budget setting at Barnsley MBC amid budget cuts that will affect front line services such as road maintenance. He reported that Barnsley MBC have been fortunate to be able to minimise the number of redundancies required to

accommodate the budget cuts and advised that following the heavy snow last winter, Barnsley MBC have purchased 2 snow blowers.

Cllr Barnard – Cllr Barnard reported that the Council Tax for Barnsley MBC, Police and Fire

Authorities have been frozen for the forthcoming year.

Cllr Hand Davis – Cllr Hand-Davis reported on the PACT meetings (Police and Communities together) which Mr Fieldsend of Neighbourhood Watch in Silkstone Common also attends and reports back to the Parish Council. He advised that the first responder unit for the Parish is

safe and the service will actually see an increase in hours. He promoted the SID (speed indicator device) which is being used around the local villages. He pointed out that the SID can only be used on 30 or 40mph roads and that the information is fed back to and analysed by the Police. The SID can be booked for a one month slot. He advised that the community support fund will continue into the new financial year and invited applications from the Parish Council and local groups for support from this fund. He advised that the number of planning applications in the borough for eco homes is increasing and that applications are often for developments in the green belt which the planning board are keen to protect. He asked for any grit bin relocation requests to be sent in to Barnsley MBC as soon as possible and noted that as an authority the number of grit bins supplied is greater than the number supplied by neighbouring authorities.

The Chairman invited residents to put their questions to the Ward Councillors:

Pot Holes – A resident cited a recent article in the Parish Council newsletter which gave details on the contact details at Barnsley MBC for residents to report pot holes. He stated that Barnsley MBC should inspect the roads and therefore know where the pot holes are. He did not feel that it was the job of residents to report them to Barnsley MBC. Cllr Barnard replied that in rural areas it is especially important that residents report pot holes in the roads as these are often off the beaten track and would not be noticed by Barnsley MBC staff working around the borough. Cllr Wilson added that whilst a survey of roads is carried out it is difficult for the engineers to survey every side road. The resident pointed out that the road from Cawthorne to Barnsley has recently been resurfaced but the last 200 yards has been left with a number of potholes remaining. The ward councillors will look into this matter. Cllr Hand-Davis added that if a resident reports a pot hole

Barnsley MBC are duty bound to inspect and repair the hole. He also gave the number for reporting broken street lights as 01226-773555.

Grit Bins – A resident asked when grit bins are to be removed. Cllr Wilson agreed to raise this issue. He stated that there is an argument to leave them in place ready for next year but agreed that they can become prone to abuse and used as litter bins.

Planning issues – Cllr Liddell stated that the introduction of the Localism Bill will transfer powers down from Barnsley MBC to Parish Council’s to deal with more planning issues. He asked if Parish Councils will be given support from Barnsley MBC with planning legislation and guidance. Cllr Hand-Davis replied that this is an area that will need to be considered by Barnsley MBC when the Localism bill comes in to force and was sure that all necessary support will be given to Parish Council’s by the planning department.

PACT meetings – It was noted that these meeting are not currently advertised on the village notice boards, newsletter or website. The Clerk advised that she is not notified of these meetings. The ward councillors agreed that the PACT meeting and Ward Panel meetings which are open to the public should be more widely advertised. They agreed to liaise with the tasking officer to ask her to send meeting notices to the Clerk so that the notice can be placed in the notice boards. It was noted that currently PACT meetings are advertised on the Police website and Barnsley Chronicle but not locally.

Ward Cllr contact details will be included in the next Parish newsletter.

1. PARISH COUNCIL CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Cllr Liddell read his Chairman’s Annual Report which follows:

Parish Councillors - Thanks

Firstly, I would like to thank all the councillors who have given their time and efforts for the benefit of the Parish this last twelve months.

Councillors

Colin BowerPat Smith

Ron StierPete Handley

Richard BrocklehurstJonathan Charlesworth

Pat GallamoreRichard Leech

Many thanks also to the numerous groups in the parish who provide services, opportunities and support to just about everyone.

Meetings

Attendance at Parish Council meeting this year was 84%. This has been consistent now for a number of years. After much debate and a very close vote, the council decided to move the regular monthly meetings to the pavilion.

All the councillors, and the clerk, continue to attend meetings or serve on groups on behalf of the Parish Council and that ultimately means on your behalf. I hope you will continue to encourage and support all the councillors in their efforts to make Our Parish a better place to live.

More Thanks

I would also like to thank the CARE group for their continuing work around the parish.

Parish Council

Precept – The Parish Council has again held the precept at £60,500 for the third year. I cannot remember a time when the precept has been held for three consecutive years.

Parish Council Newsletter – The Newsletter has had its first year with Diane Brown as the editor. The reception has been very good and is a tribute to the changes Diane has made. Thanks to Linda Marsh and Mark Haigh for their part in producing and delivering the newsletter. Thanks also to those businesses that support the newsletter through their advertising.

Legislation –Following the General Election, the coalition government has introduced the concept of the Big Society. This is supported by the Localism and Decentralisation Bill and is supposed to give communities the opportunity to take responsibility for their own development. As this Bill is moving through the House with little amendment, it will probably be enacted by the end of the year.

Recreation Grounds – Drainage work has taken place around the pavilion on Silkstone Recreation Ground and so far there has not been a repeat of the flooding problems previously experienced. Silkstone Common Recreation Ground now has a concrete cricket wicket for parish use.

Thanks to Colin Waring, the Parish Handyman, for the continued high quality of the work undertaken around the Parish, sometimes at quite short notice.

Parish Projects

Silkstone War Memorial – Work should start in the very near future to make the area more accessible.

Woodlands – The Parish Council have obtained a £1000 grant under the English Woodland Grant Scheme to pay for a management plan that is now being tendered for.

Youth Participation – The MUGA has progressed slowly but the end is in sight. A lot of obstacles have been overcome so this project may be realised this year.

Scout Hut – There has been a change of personalities managing this project and a wider range of options are being considered for the construction of the building.

Parish

Crime and Safety –There is still an unacceptable level of anti-social behaviour and crime. The crimes include drive-off’s from the garage, newly planted trees being stolen from the Chestnuts site and fly-tipping in Manor Park. The pavilion has had offensive graffiti on it, trees have been cut down in Conroyd Wood and daffodils have been both destroyed before they flowered and stolen after they have flowered. People are urged to report all instances on either 01142 202020 (police) or 736387 (golden line) or 0800 555 111 (crime stoppers)

Dog Fouling- This is possibly the most common form of anti-social behaviour and despite continued reminders in the newsletter, the message does not appear to be getting through. The Parish Council will support the enforcement of fines and other sanctions where people are shown to be consistent offenders in not cleaning up after their pet.

All Saints And St James Church – It has been over a hundred years since Parish Councils, as a level of government, spilt from the Church but this still causes confusion for some people. For this reason, the church doesn’t often get mentioned in the annual report. However, this year All Saints and St James has seen a significant change as Jim & Dorothy Travis stepped back from their duties as wardens after 22 years. Best wishes to them both for the future.

It has also been announced the Rev Simon Moor will be leaving to take up a very different post at St Peters Church in Huddersfield town centre, not far from the University. I’m sure, once he is settled in, he will still welcome visitors from this parish. Good Luck to Simon, Caroline and family.

Winter Weather – The bad winter weather started earlier this year but people in the parish are well practised at dealing with it now. Apart from a few days early on, most transport systems kept moving. Another well done to BMBC.

Sport – Despite problems with the weather and the pavilion, two of the cricket teams managed to win promotion this year. Congratulations to them.

Next Year

Twinning – This coming year sees the 20th anniversary of the Twinning with St Florent Des Bois. There will be a visit to SFDB in July and anyone hoping to go should get in touch with Yvonne Dinsdale very quickly (790583).

Parish Council – There will be a new member on the Parish Council from this year. Meryl Liddell has served before and makes a return following Colin Bower’s decision to retire from this aspect of public service.

Colin Bower – I don’t know if the parish has had a better servant than Colin. He was one of the original members of both CARE and the Twinning Association serving both as chairman for many years. He has been active in Silkstone in Bloom and he is currently working on the revamped history group, Heritage Silkstone. This is besides the fact that he was once the head teacher of Silkstone Common School. He has been on the Parish Council for over twenty years and served on it during the contentious years of the Silkstone Recreation Ground saga. I think he would also acknowledge the support he has received from his wife Margaret during this time. He has earned the respect and thanks of all of us.

The End

The Parish Council will continue to work to make the bad bits good and the good bits better. Thank you.

1. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

A resident asked whether the Mission Rooms had been sold. The Chairman advised that the building was sold by auction. Unfortunately discussions between the Parish Council and Silkstone Church had failed since the Parish Council did not have the funds available to be able to maintain the asbestos building for community use.

Ben Bank Road speed retarders- A resident advised that the speed of traffic on Ben Bank Road continues to be a concern. The resurfacing of the road has minimised the efficiency of the speed retarders that the Parish Council paid to have installed. The Chairman stated that it is difficult to get a balance with speed humps slowing down traffic without causing problems with noise from lorries. The Parish Council have requested a slot with the Speed indicator device (SID) in this location as well as at The Cross at Silkstone. The SID has been placed on Ben Bank Road in the past when only 2 speeding offences were recorded in one day. The Clerk was asked to contact Peter Clayton at Barnsley MBC regarding the allocation of the SID unit.

1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

RESOLVED to note that the 2012 Annual Parishioners Meeting will be held in April 2012 on a date to be agreed by the Parish Council, when their meeting dates are set in November 2011.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 7.41pm.

APM Minutes 19 April 2011