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The 2010 Annual Parish Meeting was held in the Parish Hall at 8.00pm on April 19th 2010
Attendance
Mr Ian Smith in the Chair, Mr Robert Cooksley, Ms Kate Smith, Mr Ian Shaw and the Parish Clerk.
Twenty three members of the public attended.
The meeting was also joined by District Councillors David Ireton and Carl Lis (Chairman of the YDNPA), Steve Hastie, Area Ranger with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Dave Padley, Countryside Officer with the Forest of Bowland AONB.
The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming residents and introducing the guests.
1. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on April 27th 2009
The minutes of the meeting held on April 27th 2009 were read out by the Clerk and approved as a true record of the proceedings.
Proposed: Robert Cooksley
Seconded: Pam Smith
2. Matters Arising from the Minutes
The Chairman gave a brief summary, for information only, of progress with various issues arising from the 2009 Parish Meeting.
The Pinfold Project is now complete, a permeable membrane has been laid to discourage the growth of ground elder and Austwick school will plant more shrubs during the summer.
Concern was expressed by the Chairman that North Yorkshire County Council were considering the withdrawal of £70k worth of funding for the proposed Austwick – Clapham bridleway link which was also going to be part of the Way of the Roses cycle route. Councillor Ireton commented that he had objected in the strongest terms to the matter, stressing how important the route was for the safety of walkers, cyclists and horse riders who would otherwise have to negotiate a dangerous section of the A65.
The previously vandalised bench at Flascoe Bridge has now been replaced by a stone and timber one and the Community warden will continue to maintain the area.
The planning application for 5 local needs houses in the grounds of Pant Head House was approved by the National Park Authority in May 2009, but the S.106 agreement has only just been signed. Condition 3 of the approval states that the grass verges in Pant Lane must be restored to their original condition on completion of the building works. Responding to a question from the floor, it can be confirmed that the approved plans are C/04/148E.
Following the National Park’s call for housing sites for affordable and local needs housing, two sites in Austwick were put forward and the land at Pant Lane is still under consideration by the Housing Working Group along with 37 other sites within the National Park. Public consultations will be taking place for 10 weeks between May and July 2010 and Councillor Lis said that after the consultation period was completed the National Park would decide how to take the matter forward. Responding to questions from the floor, the Chairman told the meeting that the Parish Council had not yet had the opportunity of taking part in consultations, and if it was considered to be helpful to canvass local opinion when the form of the consultation became clear, then a public meeting would be arranged for this purpose.
The verge near to Austwick Bridge on Graystonber Lane has been reseeded following recent damage by contractors vehicles whilst repairing the bridge. The area has had to be cordoned off to stop vehicles parking on the new seeds, which raised the issue of parking in this area. There has been a significant increase in the number of vehicles using the verge to park on in the last 12 months, partly due to the ease of access to the Pennine Bridleway down Wood Lane, the lack of space for vehicles in the centre of the village and the fact that National Park guided walk information suggests that visitors park there. The Parish Council have approached both North Yorkshire Highways and the Pennine Bridleway officer at the National Park in the past to try and get a permeable, hard wearing surface laid down so that vehicles can park on the verge without causing damage in the winter months or after prolonged rain, but with no success. Discussions are taking place once again and it is hoped to arranged a site meeting with Mr Ken Martin from NYCC to consider further options.
It was suggested that parking could be prevented altogether by putting down boulders, but this would cause problems for the grass cutting contractors and the option of using the lay-by where the recycling bins are has been looked at in the past but considered unsuitable.
3. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman told the meeting that the Parish Council had met 9 times since the last Parish Meeting, but that attendance by registered electors was low, although all Parish Council matters could be seen on the web site at www.austwickparishcouncil.org.uk Parish Councillors were thanked for their support during the year and the Clerk was thanked for his work on behalf of the Parish Council.
The Austwick and Lawkland Community Warden, Martin Holroyd, continued to do an excellent job in the Parishes and Andrew Lodge kept the bus shelter clean and tidy.
The Parish Precept remained unchanged again this year at £3500 and represented very good value for money for parishioners. The election of Parish Councillors in Austwick is uncontested this year, thus saving some £800 in election costs.
Planning and related issues have been at the forefront again this year, one such matter being the snack bar at Harden Bridge. Despite the fact that planning permission has been refused by the National Park and an eviction order has been served against the owner, the business is still trading on the site and in fact is now up for sale, including the land it stands on, which is a lay-by secured by a recently erected steel barrier. Kate Smith suggested that English Heritage should be informed because the barrier has been secured to Harden Bridge, which is a scheduled monument. Both Mr Lis and Mr Ireton agreed that enforcement in matters such as this is a very slow process, but that the National Park Authority had to remain within the law, a fact that the owner of the snack bar was well aware of and from which he would try to gain maximum advantage. Kathleen Morphet said that the owner was squatting on the land and if the enforcement process took too long he would claim adverse possession. The planning application had been refused partly due to concerns by the police over large vehicles parking on the side of the A65, a matter which had still not been resolved.
The Clerk will write to the National Park enforcement team suggesting that English Heritage are included in negotiations over this matter.
The Chairman concluded his report by raising the subject of the recently published consultation document proposing extensions to the boundaries of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. Councillor Lis commented that Natural England were currently considering whether certain areas between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Parks were worthy of designation as National Park or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The YDNPA did not want to see any boundary changes that would affect democratic representation and that the much publicised dropping of ‘Yorkshire’ from the name was a matter that could only be considered by the Secretary of State, not Natural England.
Dave Padley, Countryside Officer for the Forest of Bowland AONB, told the meeting that the administrative centre for the forest was now in new offices at Dunsop Bridge and that the Natural England Bowland team were also working there. The Sustainable Tourism Charter was currently being assessed and should run for another 5 years. The Bowland Festival has now been redesignated as ‘Festival Bowland’ and rather than being just summer events, will change to a 12 month programme, with full details available at www.forestofbowland.com. Sport England have invested heavily in new mountain biking routes in Gisburn Forest which are proving very popular and may lead to further developments in the infrastructure of that area.
Mr Padley concluded by saying that he hoped that the Austwick & Lawkland Community Scheme would continue to receive funding as in previous years from Lancs CC in 2010.
Steve Hastie, Area Ranger for the YDNPA, brought the meeting up to date with the 3 Peaks Project. The Friends of the 3 Peaks was launched in August 2009 at Ribblehead and currently had 135 members including 45 businesses. Merchandise was also available with all proceeds going back in to 3 Peaks funds. First year income was about £10k as well as donations in kind such as materials for footpath repairs and so on. An agreement has been reached with Yeomans Outdoors to put the 3 Peaks logo on some of their clothing items such as waterproof jackets and fleeces.
Sue Goold asked about the damaged National Park sign at Cross Streets, which was still in need of repair and Mr Hastie agreed to get the work finished.
4. Any other business
The matter of pot holes on Parish roads was raised. This problem has been reported by the Clerk to the NYCC Highways Supervisor on several occasions, but still nothing has been done. The Clerk will take photographs of the worst cases and report them again.
Bob Halstead said that the new arrangements for collecting paper in the blue bags was not working well. The recycling bin for paper is constantly full because residents are not able to store waste paper in the blue bags prior to collection. Councillor Lis agreed that the system needed looking at again and said that ultimately Craven DC would like to have all domestic waste in just the blue bins. Additional blue bags are available from Ingleton Community Centre. The comment was made that waste paper could be taken to the collection point at Settle Swimming Pool.
Michael Southworth asked if all recyclable waste was actually recycled, or did some of it go to land fill? Councillor Lis said yes, it was, unless it was contaminated. This led to a general discussion about contamination of recycled materials and touched on some of the conflicting opinions regarding what was permitted and what was not, such as types of plastic.
Peter Goold raised the matter of Pant Head Barn, saying that it was two and a half years since work was stopped on the barn because the original planning consent was not complied with. Both Mr Goold and the Parish Council have tried to find out what is happening with regard to this matter, without success. There was general agreement that the whole of the Pant Head site was a disgrace and that it was extremely regrettable that the National Park had not done more to prevent this happening. Michael Southworth stated that Parish Councils should have more say in what is happening at a local level because they know what is needed. Councillor Lis agreed to pursue the matter.
In terms of assessing local needs, Councillor Ireton said that the policy that allows anyone within the National Park to live in Austwick, makes no sense and that when green fields are being turned into buildings we must establish the true level of local need.
Sally Edwards asked why the call for housing sites was declaring a 50:50 mix of local needs and affordable, when it all should be affordable? Councillor Lis responded by saying that the Housing Working Group consultation will decide what the final mix will be, but if green field sites are taken up for housing then the type of housing should be determined before work commenced. Molly Preston said that it did not make any sense to say that someone in Ingleton or Settle who lived just outside the National Park did not qualify to live in Austwick, but that a person in say, Richmond, could. Councillor Ireton was of the opinion that the latest housing needs survey did not give a true picture of what is needed in Austwick and that it was vital that Parish Councils were included in the process from the start.
There was then a general discussion about the validity of names for local needs housing being produced by developers, which even if accurate, was seen as being nonsensical because there was an obvious commercial interest in producing as many names as possible. Kate Smith observed that if local authorities were empowered to build affordable housing then the argument would not exist. Some authorities are looking to build ‘council houses’ again, but not many can afford it at the moment. Councillor Ireton was concerned about elderly residents who lived in large family houses and wanted to move to a smaller property within their own communities, but could find no suitable housing, thereby blocking the sale of homes for new families with children to support local schools.
Molly Preston informed the meeting that over the Easter weekend both Slaindale and Thwaite Lane had been gated off, making it difficult for visitors to walk over the cross roads and that the walls on Flascoe Lane were in need of repair where sections have fallen down into the bridleway.
Councillor Ireton asked what the community wanted him to put forward as a priority issue for the police and although there were no serious issues, Ian Greenhalgh reported a recent incident where someone was cold calling on elderly residents. The police were informed and the man was apprehended immediately.
Councillor Lis announced that there was no more Grass Roots money left.
There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.50pm.
The 2009 Annual Parish Meeting was held in the Parish Hall at 8.00pm on April 27th 2009
1. Attendance
All members of the Parish Council were in attendance, with Mr Ian Smith in the Chair.
Thirty three members of the public attended.
The meeting was also joined by Councillors Carl Lis and David Ireton, Steve Hastie, Ranger with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and PC Monika Nagy, Neighbourhood Officer with the North Yorkshire Police.
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on April 15th 2008
The minutes of the meeting held on April 15th 2008 were read out by the Clerk and approved as a true record of the proceedings.
Proposed: Michael Southworth
Seconded: Sally Edwards
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes
The Clerk gave a brief summary, for information only, of progress with various issues arising from the 2008 Parish Meeting.
The Pinfold Project was now almost complete, although ground elder continues to be a problem. Discussions are taking place with the Primary School regarding the planting of shrubs in the area.
The Harden Bridge snack bar has been served with an enforcement order by Craven District Council and the situation will be monitored.
The proposed A65 bridleway link between Austwick and Clapham is still on the drawing board and the National Park are hopeful of securing funding in the near future.
Responding to questions from the floor, the Clerk confirmed that the area around the clapper bridge at Flascoe would be tidied up and that the damaged bench will be replaced with a more robust version and that plans to construct a second crossing of Austwick Beck at that point have been abandoned.
A tree preservation order for the large cherry tree in the grounds of Pant Head House was discussed with Phill Hibbs, the TPO Officer for the YDNPA and the Clerk will pursue the matter once again.
4. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman opened his report by thanking everyone for attending and introduced the guests to the meeting.
The Parish Council had met 9 times since the last Parish Meeting and attendance by registered electors continued to be good. Parish Councillors were thanked for their support during the year and the Clerk was thanked for his work on behalf of the Parish Council.
The Parish Precept remained unchanged again this year and represented very good value for money for parishioners.
Following the recently distributed questionnaire asking residents about current issues in the Parish, a revised Parish Plan was nearing completion and would shortly be distributed to every household in the Parish.
The community warden, Martin Holroyd, had again given good service to the Parish and Andrew Lodge has continued to keep the bus shelter clean and tidy.
The Pinfold Project is virtually finished and Austwick Primary school will soon be planting shrubs and seedlings.
The Chairman said that one planning application had dominated the scene during the year, namely the application to build 5 local occupancy houses in the grounds of Pant Head House. The Chairman, the Clerk and Peter Goold attended the National Park Planning Committee meeting on April 14th 2009 to present objections to the proposals. Any decision was deferred pending a site visit scheduled for April 28th and the application will be considered again at the next National Park Planning Committee Meeting on May 12th.
The making of the ASDA Christmas advert in the village during October had caused little disruption and the donation of £15000 by ASDA to the Parish for community projects was welcomed. The monies have been divided equally between the Parish Church, Primary School, Playing Fields and Parish Hall.
5. Any other business
Michael Southworth asked if the Parish Council had a strategy for the development of the land at Pant Head House because something would eventually be done with the site and perhaps the Council should be more pro-active. The Chairman responded bysaying that the Parish Council have already stated that any development should be for genuine local need or affordable housing. The Parish Council have vigorously objected to the proposal for 5 houses on the adjoining site,but as this is private land itwill beup to the developer to produce a plan for the remaining area that will be acceptable to both the Parish Council and the National Park.
Peter Goold said that residents had given clear indication as to what the main problems were and it was hoped that the developer would heed these.
Carl Lis said that the Austwick representatives at the recent Planning Committee spoke very well, but that it was important that residents had the opportunity to express their concerns at the scheduled site meeting.
Alec Rigby asked if any progress had been made in accurately determining local need, and if these properties were built and could not be sold because of a lack of local need, would they eventually filter through to the open market? Mr Rigby likened the policy of asking developers to determine local need as being akin to ‘putting a fox in charge of the chickens’.
Mary Creaser was of the opinion that local need houses in Austwick are far from being affordable. The only house in the first Pant Lane development that was local needs was reduced, but was still only just affordable for the family in question. Carl Lis observed that there were other local needs houses currently on the drawing board in Austwick and Kathleen Morphet pointed out that not all the names on the local needs lists could be relied upon, a fact that was supported by many of those present.
Sally Edwards said that the remaining houses on the first Pant Lane development were not occupied by local people, but were simply weekend homes.
In discussions around local need and affordable housing, there seemed to be some confusion as to which authority was responsible for the separate issues. The Chairman declared that Craven District Council was responsible for affordable housing and the National Park was responsible for planning applications relating to local need.
Michael Southworth asked if an enforcement order had been placed on the developer requiring the replacement of the grass verges on Pant Lane. Despite regular correspondence with both the National Park and the developer warning of their imminent removal and then requesting their replacement, no enforcement action was taken.
In drawing the open forum to a close, the Chairman asked Steve Hastie and WPC Monika Nagy if they had anything to report to the meeting.
Mr Hastie brought residents up to date with the 3 Peaks Project, a proposal for managing the 3 Peaks Area sustainably by finding additional resources and funding streams to help with maintenance and promotion. Public information meetings will be held in Settle and Ingleton on May 11th and 14th respectively.
WPC Nagy told the meeting that there were now 6 officers covering the Ingleton area and that meant that more time could be spent out on patrol. Rev. Ian Greenhalgh raised the issue of the dog at Pant Head House which had attacked two local dogs and whose owner was due in court again at the end of May to face charges of owning a dangerous dog. There was considerable concern because residents were reluctant to walk along Pant Lane because of this animal. WPC Nagy urged residents to report any incidents to the police immediately.
Alec Rigby raised the matter of the damage done by cars parking on the grass verge near the bridge on Graystonber Lane. The Clerk is already in discussions with the National Park and NYCC Highways about this.
Bob Halstead said that Feizor Beck was in a very poor state and seemed to be polluted, possibly with effluent. The Clerk will contact the Environment Agency immediately. Mr Halstead also said how efficient the grass cutting contractors were this year and the Clerk will pass this on to Andrew Mellor, the area supervisor.
Sue Goold asked about the recently repaired National Park sign at Cross Streets, saying that it appeared to be unfinished. Steve Hastie will investigate the matter.
Alec Rigby informed residents that a road closure notice had been obtained for the Austwick Street Market this year.
There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.12pm.
The 2008 Annual Parish Meeting was held in the Parish Hall at 8.00pm on April 15th 2008
1. Attendance
All members of the Parish Council were in attendance, with Mr Ian Smith in the Chair.
Thirty two members of the public attended.
The meeting was also joined by Mr Steve Hastie, Ranger with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and PC Monika Nagy, Neighbourhood Officer with the North Yorkshire Police.
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on April 23rd 2007
The minutes of the meeting held on April 23rd 2007 were read out by the Clerk and approved as a true record of the proceedings.
Proposed: Catherine Vaughan-Williams
Seconded: Molly Preston
3. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman opened his report by thanking everyone for attending and introduced Steve Hastie and Monika Nagy to the meeting.
The Parish Council had met 10 times since the last Parish Meeting and attendance by registered electors had increased dramatically at the last few meetings. Parish Councillors were thanked for their support during the year and the Clerk was thanked for his work, having been busy dealing with issues in the Parish.
Andrew Lodge, who has taken over responsibility for cleaning the bus shelter was commended for doing such a thorough job and Martin Holroyd, the Community Warden has again given the Parish good service during the year and his efforts have been supported by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Forest of Bowland. He has also been involved in recent work on the Pinfold, behind the village bus shelter, a project that has been funded by the North Yorkshire Aggregates Grants Scheme. These monies are awarded in compensation for adverse effects of quarrying activity on the local environment. Austwick school are very keen to become involved in the scheme at the Pinfold, using it as an educational resource by planting wild flowers and fitting bird boxes.
In regard to planning matters, the Chairman told the meeting that the Parish Council had considered 21 planning applications during the last year, of which 11 were approved, 1 was withdrawn, 3 were refused ( Sandford Barn, Wharfe; Oxenber, Townhead Lane; Pant Head House, Pant Lane ) and 6 have yet to be decided upon.
The application that has generated the greatest level of interest and concern is that relating to the proposal to build 5 local occupancy houses in the garden of Pant Head House. The Parish Council had asked that the application should be decided by the National Park planning committee in the public interest rather than the delegated powers of the planning officer. This request was granted and the Chairman (Ian Smith), Mr Peter Goold and the Clerk (David Dewhirst), in the company of other Austwick residents attended the committee meeting at Bainbridge on May 8th. Mr Goold and the Clerk addressed the committee to highlight local concerns over the proposed development, which was subsequently refused by 10 votes to 2. During the course of the deliberations by the planning committee there seemed to be some difference of opinion within the committee as to the best way to determine and realistically clarify local needs requirement for any proposed development.
Concerning highways, the meeting was told that liaison between the Clerk and Stuart Cracknell, the North Yorkshire area supervisor, had got results, but that it was necessary to keep up pressure to ensure that all necessary works were done within a reasonable time scale.
Councillors have had a meeting with representatives of the Highways Agency and Amey Mouchel at the Cross Streets junction to try and persuade them of the need for double white lines and a 40mph limit along this dangerous stretch of road.
Following the recent government review of the Post Office network it was very pleasing that the efficiency of the Austwick Post Office, together with vigorous lobbying from local residents and the Parish Council, had resulted in the business being retained as part of the network.
The January edition of the Parish Newsletter contained a questionnaire relating to the Parish Plan and the proposal to apply for conservation area status for Austwick and the surrounding area. The key areas of concern to residents were identified as:
Planning control, future development & loss of green space 25
Traffic speed, parking & highways in general 15
Footpaths & verges 5
Housing for young families 5
Affordable housing 4
Support for school & shop 4
Improved bus routes & times 4
Dog fouling 4
A65 junctions 4
Wheelie bins 3
On the subject of Conservation Area status, a total of 61 responses were received in favour of the proposal, with 2 against. It was hoped to have a representative of the National Park present at the meeting to discuss the pros and cons of conservation areas, but he could not attend. It is planned that a public meeting will be held in the near future to look at the matter and agree on a way forward for the proposal.
In conclusion, a busy year for the Parish Council and Austwick Councillors will continue to represent the interests of residents to the best of their ability.
Before opening the meeting to questions from the floor, the Chairman asked Monika Nagy and Steve Hastie to briefly outline their current areas of responsibility.
WPC Nagy explained that she is part of the Safer Neighbourhood Team, with responsibility for Austwick and that she would be patrolling the area on a regular basis. She can be contacted via the 0845 6060247 police number, or through the Clerk who has e-mail and mobile numbers available. There were questions from the floor concerning the new snack bar on the A65 at Harden Bridge and the general issue of unlawful behaviour by individuals in the village. WPC Nagy said that the police were currently looking into the matter of the snack bar from a traffic safety point of view and that any unlawful activity should be reported to her, with details of the persons involved.
Steve Hastie told the meeting that a bid had been made to an opportunities fund to seek finance for the proposed A65 bridleway link between Austwick and Clapham, but that the route may be cost prohibitive if funding could not be secured. A site visit had been made to consider the building of an additional wooden bridge over the beck on Flascoe Lane. Once land owner agreement has been obtained, funding for the project would be sought. He pointed out that the National Park could provide labour for construction of the bridge but could not be responsible for on-going maintenance because a crossing already existed in the form of the clapper bridge. There was a general discussion around the addition of a hand rail to the existing bridge, but this was generally considered to be inappropriate for the type of structure.
With regard to stiles and gates, Mr Hastie said that the maintenance programme now flags up problems based on urgency. The maintenance team were responsible for some 1350 items, of which 70 were in need of attention. Ladder stiles were not currently being replaced by the National Park Authority because of problems people have in negotiating them, but if land owners insist on ladder stiles then only limited funding is available.
4. Any other business
Mrs Sally Edwards drew the attention of the meeting to the recent Settle Transport Strategy document which showed proposals for a bridleway from Cross Streets to the B6480 road to Clapham. Mr Hastie said that the National Park had tried to get the shorter link including in the strategy document and that the Parish Council should pursue the matter. It was generally agreed that a link as proposed in the strategy was unnecessary.
Mr Alec Rigby told the meeting that the money donated by Barbara Hanforth had now been spent on a notice board for the parish hall and banners for the street market. He also said that owing to a new protocol for road closure applications, the cost had risen from £50 to approximately £200.
Mr Ernest Booth asked how much the Pinfold Project had cost and did the Parish Council consider that the expense was worthwhile. Mr Ian Shaw responded by saying that the cost was £1800, of which 75% was reclaimable under the North Yorkshire Aggregates Grants Scheme. Without the grant this work could not have been carried out and that a previously unsightly piece of land would now be greatly improved. Mr Shaw also said that Austwick school were very enthusiastic about using the area for nature studies, planting wild flowers and so on.
Mrs Sally Edwards asked whether there had been any progress on having the verges on Pant Lane replaced. The Chairman responded by saying that the developers had been written to on several occasions, as had the National Park, but unfortunately the verges did not seem to have a very high priority. Mr David Creaser asked who is responsible for ensuring that the law is enforced in cases such as this and also asked if the developers needed permission to erect large advertising signs. The Clerk replied that the National Park enforcement officer was responsible and that permission was almost certainly required for the sign. However, the temporary nature of the item made enforcement difficult. The general point was made that since the removal of the verges had widened Pant Lane, cars were parking in it, making it very difficult for other vehicles to get by. A recent archaeological report related to the application for 5 houses at Pant Head had observed that excessive traffic in the lane could damage the unusually high dry stone walls that bounded it. Mrs Edwards also asked if a tree preservation order could be applied for on the cherry tree in the grounds of Pant Head House. It was agreed to pursue this matter. M
r Bryan Braithwaite-Exley asked if a letter could be sent from the Annual Parish Meeting asking for Harden Ward at Castleberg Hospital to be kept open. This will be done.
Mr Jon Beavan, from the Dalesbridge Centre, asked if the Parish Council could do anything about the new snack bar on the A65 at Harden Bridge. The Clerk informed the meeting that discussions had already taken place with Craven District Council but that there were conflicting views on exactly who was responsible for the land on which the van stood. Mr Beavan was concerned about the adverse impact that such a business could have, both visually and economically, on his own enterprise, in addition to the issue of road traffic safety.
Mr Bob Halstead asked about the pot holes around the village, which were marked up last autumn but were still not filled in. The Chairman confirmed that NYCC highways had been advised of the deteriorating situation and that damage to vehicles as a result of their inaction became their responsibility. The Clerk will contact them again.
Mrs Kathleen Morphet raised the issue of the water leaking out of the verge from around a telegraph pole below the Old School House on Townhead Lane. The Chairman confirmed that the matter had been raised with both BT and NY highways department. The Clerk added that this had been investigated in some depth by highways with coloured dyes to try and determine where the flow came from. After these investigations it was thought that the water was probably from a spring above the road level. NY highways will be urged to channel the water to prevent it spreading right across the road as this presents a potential hazard in freezing winter weather.
There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.05pm.
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