Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed representatives to the meeting.

The Chairman to inform Members of the Public of the emergency evacuation procedure.

This was noted.

The minutes of the last Parish Liaison Meeting held on 28 June 2010 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the Parish Liaison Meeting held on 28 June 2010 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

John Wood – Census Area Manager

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting John Wood, Census Area Manager. Mr Wood gave a powerpoint presentation, a copy of which appears in the minute book.

In answer to two questions, Mr Wood confirmed that he was able to attend parish council meetings on requests and that staff were available to help people complete the census form.

Beckie Bennett, Streetscene Manager

Beckie Bennett, Streetscene Manager outlined the Christmas Waste Collection Arrangement which were circulated at the meeting, as follows:

·        In December, January and February garden waste will only be collected on a monthly basis. From March collections will move back to four weekly.

·        Refuse collection the week before Christmas will continue as normal.

·        In between Christmas and New Year no collections will take place.

·        If bad weather occurs and containers cannot be collected, they will be left, but collected at the next available opportunity.

Beckie Bennett, Streetscene Manager

The Chairman welcomed Richard Marr, North Yorkshire County Council. Richard Marr outlined that during the winter weather there is a priority system for gritting roads:

1.    Main Roads

2.    Interconnecting Roads

3.    Estates/Cul-de-sacs

Weather updates were received at lunchtime and during the evening which then determined the gritting. 14 gritters are available in the county.

Streetscene will be helping with footpath clearance of town centres.

Richard Marr was asked several questions as follows:

·        Why are school bus routes not a priority?

·        Some routes were never gritted last winter during the bad weather, how are elderly residents who rely on a bus service expected to get their provisions?

·        Footpaths are not cleared, are we allowed to clear our own?

·        Can more farmers be employed to assist with snow clearance and then spread grit at the same time?

·        Some salt bins stopped being filled in January, what do we do then?

Richard Marr answered the above questions as follows:

·        There are a number of school bus routes. The network has been looked at but it is too large a network for the number of gritters available. Bus operators are asked to check the road conditions before setting off.

·        All routes cannot be gritted as there is a limited resources even though we have the largest gritting fleet in England.

·        If clearing snow from a footpath please act responsibly, the County Council has the duty but householders efforts are an additional benefit. There is a snow code available on the County Council website. The County Council is running a trial in Hovingham on footpath clearance this winter.

·        At present 29 farmers are employed to help clear snow which is done with their tractors using red diesel. Salt spreading is classed as carrying a load and therefore white diesel needs to be used. This has been check with Customs and Excise.

·        If slat bins/heaps do run out, please ring and they will be restock.

The Chairman thanked Mr Marr for attending and answering questions.

Katie Speed, Emergency Planning, NYCC and Danielle Wheatley, Environment Agency

The Chairman welcomed Katie Speed, Emergency Planning, North Yorkshire County Council and Danielle Wheatley and Matt Hodkin from the Environment Agency.

They all showed a powerpoint presentation a copy of which appears in the minute book.

www.budgetsimulator.com/ryedale

Clare Slater, Head of Transformation

Clare Slater, Head of Transformation reported that a budget simulator was available on the Council’s website and encouraged people to use it. It was noted that the Council wanted views from the public on the budget as there were some difficult decisions to take in the future.

It was reported that there was a joint public meeting on Tuesday 9 November at 6.30pm between North Yorkshire County Council, the Council and Police Authority to discuss working together and budgets.

Item submitted by Parish Councils

A representative from Whitwell with Crambe Parish Council asked “why the press had been informed before Parish Councils with regards the car park sale?”

Paul Cresswell, Corporate Director (s151 Officer) noted that a copy of questions and answers had been distributed at the meeting.  It was noted that a lot of information was available and that a public meeting of the Council would be held on the 17^th November starting at 6.30pm at Malton School to discuss the sale.

The representative also noted that if signage to the car park was better then perhaps it would be better utilised. Richard Marr confirmed that a review of signage had taken place 2/3 years ago which concluded that it was well signed.

The Chair noted in future the Council would try to inform Parish Councils before the Press.

A representative of Malton Town Council noted that the Town Council was opposed to the sale of Wentworth Street Car Park.

A representative of Willowby Parish Council noted that the County Council had done well in difficult circumstances during last winter.

Beckie Bennett reported that an improvement programme for the public toilets in Ryedale was taking place. Malton was close to completion, Eastgate Car Park, Pickering and Borogate, Helmsley would soon be started. It was hoped by the end of Spring next year that the standard in all toilets would be the same.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm.