EARSWICK PARISH COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the meeting of Earswick Parish Council, held in Earswick Village Hall on Monday 16th May 2022.

Councillors present:                     D Jones

                                                            G Offler

                                                            P Leveson

                                                            A Bell

                                                            E Dowsett

                                                                                                                                   

Parish Clerk:                                    B O’Connor

 

Members of public present: 1

 

1.    Apologies for absence

 Cllr Wiseman

2.    Declarations of Interest and Any Other Declarations

None.

3.    Minutes of Previous Meetings

The minutes for the Extraordinary Parish Council (PC) meeting held on the 28th March 2022, were approved as accurate records by the Councillors and signed.

4.    Ward Councillors’ Reports

 

Ward Cllr Doughty provided a report – see attached Appendix A

 

5.    Clerk’s Finance Report & Authorisation Of Expenditure

 

The following pre-authorised payments (incl VAT where appropriate) have been made from the RBS & Barclays bank accounts since the Parish Council (PC) meeting on 14th March 2022:-

·         B O’Connor’s salary for March & April 2022

·         Feb/March telephone expenses for clerk (BOC)

·         Friends of St Nich – clean around pond  - £300

·         £1,037.76 tennis court wash & moss treatment;

·         £51 to Advance Fire Services – quarterly service

·         £540 for Scented Garden hedge cut

·         For Village Hall cleaning: £127.60 (March), £120 (April)

·         British Gas payments for the Village Hall - £116.56, £77.39, £110.41

·         E-on Next payments for the Village Hall - £58.68; £48.31;

·         £319 for YLCA membership;

·         Business Stream payments for Village Hall water rates - £20.16

·         Public Open Space maintenance - £1,284,

·         Reimburse clerk for plastic boxes to store documents in loft - £48

There were also internal transfers as follows:

·         £17,000 from the RBS current account to the Barclays Account

·         £5,000 from the RBS tennis account to the Barclays Account

·         £5,600 from the VH account to the Barclays Account

 

The following amounts have been received by the PC into the Barclays & RBS accounts since reported at the meeting on 14th March 2022:

·         £13,171 precept from City of York Council;

·         £4,689.20 grant from City of York Council for playground equipment;

·         £256.32 double taxation refund;

·         £978 VH Bookings

·         £885 in tennis membership fees;

·         £0.10 RBS interest to 31.3.22;

·         £0.65 RBS tennis account interest to 16.3.22;

It is now seen as safe to close the Village Hall & the Tennis accounts as they are no longer used. The money from them will be transferred into the PC’s Barclays a/c as soon as possible. Action BSW/PL/BOC

 

6.    Ratification of Payments

 

The PC approved the following payments:

              i.        £28.63 for ink for PC printer – reimburse J Fisher

            ii.        Reimburse J Stevens £10.82 for bank charges related to closing the Scented Garden a/c.

           iii.        £138 to Deighton Electrical Services

           iv.        £168 to AM Hill for salt/grit

            v.        Reimburse H Tate £39.99 for loppers.

 

7.    To discuss & agree action/costs related to appointing an internal auditor

No action/costs were necessary as Jim McTurk was able to complete the internal audit and approve the annual accounts. The clerk was asked to formally thank him on behalf of the PC. Action: BOC

8.    Annual Governance Statement 2020/21

 

The PC approved the Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 which was signed by the Chairman and Responsible Finance Officer.

 

9.    Accounting Statements 2020/21

 

The PC approved the accounting statements for 2021/22 and these were signed by the Chairman and Responsible Finance Officer.

10. Planning Applications

The Clerk used delegated powers to record no objections from the Parish Council on the following planning applications:

·         22/00633/FUL Earswick Grange Moor, Earswick YO32 9LL (Two storey side extension) – no objection;

·         22/00208/FUL 21 Garden Village, Earswick (Install wood burning stove with flue pipe) – no objection;

·         22/00442/FUL 20 Lock House Lane, Earswick (Garden Room To Rear - retrospective) – no objection;

The Clerk used delegated powers to record objections from the Parish Council on the following planning application:

·         None

  The following planning application was approved by City of York Council:

·         21/02809/FUL 11 The Garden Village, Earswick, (Single storey rear extension);

·         22/00208/FUL 21 Garden Village, Earswick (Install wood burning stove with flue pipe)

       The following planning application was rejected by City of York Council:

·         22/00129/FUL Hall Farm Strensall Road York YO32 9SW (Application for the removal of condition 4 of permitted application 18/01979/FUL to allow use of caravans by persons not engaged in equestrian based holidays)

 

11. 258 Strensall Road and the potential need for planning enforcement.

 

The matter was discussed. It was reported that recent alterations to the property at 258 Strensall Road would allow the potential for conversion to a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO). As no planning application has been received, the Clerk was asked to contact CYC to clarify the situation. Action:BOC

 

12. Monthly Equipment Check

 

A check was carried out by Cllr Offler and a report circulated prior to the meeting. We are awaiting the installation of the new rope tunnel

 

13. To discuss/agree action related to frequency of AFS Service visits

 

The matter was discussed and it was agreed that we should request just 2 such visits per year rather than 4 requested in 2021. Action BOC

 

14. CYC’s Parish Charter

 

The clerk was asked to follow up with YLCA as to the formal status of this charter. Action BOC

 

 

 

 

15. Ratification of decisions

 

The PC ratified the following decisions:

              i.        Following an email from the Keep Earswick Rural group, the PC decided not to include the item in the newsletter, nor display notices on the notice boards

            ii.        A reply to our request for a meeting regarding the potential Galtres Garden Village. Meeting expected sometime in June.

 

16. Items for information

 

CYC’s planning enforcement officers have inspected 112 Strensall Road and given the owners 3 months to comply i.e. about the end of June

 

The lease for the bus shelter has now been signed and returned to the solicitors.

 

An email from a resident asking for details of the location of the proposed crossing on Strensall Road. (The details were provided)

 

Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators Tony & Linda Murphy had circulated the report at Appendix B prior to the meeting.

 

 

The meeting closed at 8:00 pm.

 

 

 

 

B O’Connor

Clerk To Earswick Parish Council

 

 

Appendix A

Ward report by Councillor Doughty – for annual and parish meetings of Earswick Parish Council – 16th May 2022

Examination into the soundness of the (draft) City of York Local Plan


The delayed York Local Plan Phase 2 hearings will commence on Tuesday 10th May (for 3 weeks).
Phase 2 will include the following matters; ‘Strategic vision, outcomes and development principles (policies DP1-4), Economic development (policy EC1) and Housing Need and Requirement (Policy SS1).
Phase 3 hearings are expected to start on 11th July for 3 weeks and phase 4 is likely to be from 6th September, dates having been agreed ‘in principle’ between Planning Inspectors and the City Council. We are told “firm dates and detailed timetables for phases 3 and 4 will be issued in due course, as will the Inspectors’ matters, issues and questions for each phase.”    
Updates and documents relating to the preparation of the Plan and examination are available to download or view online at:
https://www.york.gov.uk/LocalPlanExamination

‘Galtres Village’ (east of Earswick) speculative development enquiries for 1,700 homes


Residents will probably have seen communication in the local media and locally, I have been alerting residents in the ward of continued detailed enquiries with the City Council and significant, what I would describe as promotion of land by landowners, for the development of 1,700 homes on greenbelt land east of Earswick (and Fire station), north of the A1237 ring road and an expected forthcoming planning application.
The Council confirmed they had received a “scoping opinion” under the Environmental Impact Regulations. This is a process to determine the content and extent of the matters which should be covered in the environmental information to be submitted with a planning application.    
I have shown my opposition to such development on this land which is not included in the draft Local Plan.
I have asked Officers to keep us informed of future developments.  

Superfast broadband Fibre connectivity
The City Council tell us they have been waiting to receive updates from the likes of CityFibre for their latest build plans which have been delayed on a few occasions. It is noted that work has been carried out recently or is currently being carried out in several locations including Wheldrake, Elvington, Crockey Hill and parts of Guildhall ward.
In the latest communication, the Council’s ‘Digital City’ Executive indicated they had a catch up on 3rd May with CityFibre, that “included a conversation about their ‘potential’ build plans. These are still awaiting board approval and are therefore commercially sensitive and cannot be shared with us (or the council) at this stage.”
They added that they do not have any timeframes on when this approval process will take place other than more work is expected to start in September/October time.
Earswick Parish Councillor Wiseman and myself have asked that we are kept informed.

Appendix B

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH ANNUAL REPORT -MAY 2022.

We have recently taken over the coordination of the Earswick Neighbourhood Watch Scheme from Kate Pace, who has now moved away. We would like to acknowledge the great work Kate has done over the years for the residents of the village.

With the help of the network of NW Coordinators around the village, we recently completed an audit of all the Neighbourhood Watch and Cold Calling signs. This has helped identify where signs are missing, need cleaning or replacing and we will address these.

We continue to circulate relevant information via the NW Coordinators. The main concerns of late have been the high rise in the number of email, telephone and text scams, which many residents have been subject to. Residents are encouraged to report these to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via their website. Suspicious emails can also be forwarded to report@phishing.gov.uk. and texts to 7726.

Will Monkman from Community Speed Watch completed and submitted his assessment of both ends of Strensall Road. The North Yorkshire Police Traffic Bureau have now approved and identified sites for a Community Speed Watch scheme in Earswick. Next steps will be to identify local volunteers who are willing to attend a short training session with us to support the scheme.

We would like to thank the eighteen NW Coordinators for their support in helping Earswick remain a safe and happy place to live.

 

Linda and Tony Murphy,

Earswick NW Scheme Coordinators.