Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed representatives to the meeting and appropriate introductions were made.

The minutes of the last Parish Liaison Meeting held on 17 October 2012 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the last Parish Liaison Meeting held on 17 October 2012 be approved and signed by the Chairman as an accurate record.

The Parish Clerk for Ampleforth, Ms Ellis, asked whether the Register of Interests for parishes had been published on the Council’s website. Janet Waggott, Chief Executive, replied that this matter would be progressed with the Council Solicitor.

A parish representative from Amotherby requested information with regard to the funding of closed churchyards for the financial year 2013/14. Gary Housden, Head of Planning and Housing, replied that the situation was unchanged for the current financial year but would be reconsidered as part of the overall budget setting process for 2014/15. The representative from YLCA requested that an officer attend the next meeting of the Association, to discuss the issue as part of the budget setting process.

A parish representative from Rillington reported that, with regard to Minute 43, they had been unable to obtain planning documents by email. Gary Housden replied that this matter would be investigated with the Managing Development team with a view to resolving the problem.

Update given by Julia Mulligan - Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire.

Julia Mulligan, the Police and Crime Commissioner, outlined the responsibilities of her role and gave an update on current projects, plans and initiatives. These included;

·         Working with the Health Service to develop a place of safety for people detained under the Mental Health Act

·         The appointment of a new Chief Constable for North Yorkshire, Dave Jones

·         Collaboration with other services including a pilot scheme in Bedale which involves retained Fire Service Officers working with PCSO’s to identify and assist vulnerable members of the community. Information from other partners and voluntary groups was welcomed to inform this work

·         Development of a new Force HQ which will offer reduced running costs, improved facilities and custody provision

·         Restructuring of PCC offices to make financial savings and reduce bureaucracy

·         Examining how best to communicate with partners and other agencies. Ms Mulligan encouraged direct contact via email and attendance at local surgeries, which were promoted on the website

There were a number of questions to Ms Mulligan from the floor.

Q. Councillor Arnold asked whether CCTV was value for money?

A. It was a community decision on what works best for that particular community, including consideration of funding issues.

Q. What can the community do about speeding vehicles in local villages?

A. Aware that this was a big issue for many communities, although statistics show it was often locals who were responsible. Three camera safety vans were now deployed in the county(previously only one), focussing on areas where casualty and death statistics show there was the greatest problem. Further work was taking place to make deployment more responsive. Training was also taking place for PCSO’s and community volunteers on the use of speed guns.

Q. It had been noticed that there was often trouble contacting the Police on the 101 non-emergency number, was this issue being monitored?

A. Statistics show that the Force was one of the top performing in the county. Ms Mulligan welcomed any specific examples of problems with the 101 service, in order to investigate any localised problems.

Q. Could Ms Mulligan confirm that a Wildlife Crime Officer had resigned after being involved with a Hunt and could she say how many other officers participated in Hunts?

A. An officer had resigned. Confirmation of how many other officers were involved with a Hunt would be provided.

Update by John Moore on Superfast North Yorkshire (high speed broadband).

Ian Marr from Superfast North Yorkshire gave a presentation on the implementation of Superfast Broadband across the County.

This included background to the project, the vision, information on the various technologies available, the lessons learnt so far, the outstanding issues, which included questions regarding State Aid and other challenges ahead. A further meeting was due to be held with a legal expert in State Aid to try to overcome any outstanding issues.

Delays to the roll out of a solution for the Wolds area were explained.

There were a number of questions from the floor.

Q. A representative from Luttons Parish Council asked whether the current BT upgrades in the area would fragment the areas identified for other schemes and also questioned whether, because BT has a point of presence already in the area and NYnet does not, would BT be offered as an ISP as part of the project?

A. The competition process would decide the sources of access.

Q. A representative from Willerby Parish Council asked how it was intended to contact Parish Councils to assess what was wanted?

A. Forums such as this were a useful tool and parish councils would be contacted direct when targeting the area and when resources were in place.

Q. A representative from the South West Broadband Steering Group reported that the group was very frustrated at the apparent lack of progress, especially as they have a team of volunteers undertaking surveys and gathering information to help, which had been active since late 2011.

A. NYnet understood and shared the frustration but problems with State Aid and identifying and minimising risks had caused delays. The Wolds area was top of the list for going to competition.

Q. A representative from Luttons Parish Council asked that account be taken of both download and upload speeds.

A. The speeds were dependent on the provider.

Gary Housden, Head of Planning and Housing gave an update on the latest stage of the Local Development Framework, with a focus on the Local Plan Strategy.

The final report from the Inspector was expected June / July this year and would be presented to a future meeting of the Council, hopefully for adoption.

The next consultation to take place would be for the Helmsley Development Plan Document, in partnership with the National Park Planning Authority.

A representative from Rosedale Parish Council asked about potholes, gullies and salting arrangements on rural roads. There was a perception that the work was not being carried out to a good standard and it was concluded that rural roads were subject to a lesser priority than more urban areas. Issues with 4 x 4 vehicles accessing Chimney Bank when the road was closed were also raised.

Richard Marr, Highways and Transportation Area Manager NYCC, replied that the potholes repair were being undertaken as per the contract. No cutting out was being done in order to speed up the repairs and to enable more to be completed. Any real issues / failures should be reported to Mr Marr for investigation.

Salting was undertaken on a priority basis with 50% of the network being covered. Priorities were decided on traffic volumes.

However, any suggestions for changes in the wording of signage used on Chimney Bank during periods of bad weather would be welcomed.

A written series of questions from Oswaldkirk Parish Meeting were submitted. Gary Housden supplied the following answers.

Q. Planning Applications/Consent - the issue of 'Retrospective Planning Applications' is an increasing occurrence in our experience.

A. After investigation, it was found that there were only 2 retrospective planning applications in the Oswaldkirk area out of 19 applications submitted since 2011

Q. Council Tax Precept 2014/15 - many of us were caught unawares by the late Government removal of The Council Tax Benefit Support Grant. What is going to be the position for 2014-15?

A. The budget planning round for 2014/15would begin in June. So it  is too early in the process to comment. It would be likely to be an item for the next meeting in October, although details would be likely to continue into the following new year.

Note: this question was also raised by Staxton & Willerby and Rillington Parish Councils

Q. Grants available to Parishes - considering the squeeze on finances.

A. A report on possible Community Grants was to be considered at the next meeting of the Commissioning Board to be held on 6 June 2013.

A representative from Rosedale Parish Council asked when rural roads would receive a full resurfacing/repair. Richard Marr replied that the County Council has a duty to maintain all roads in a safe condition but reduced resources meant that works had to be done in order of priority.

Councillor Acomb asked whether the cats eyes on the A170, removed during the recent repair works, would be replaced. Richard Marr replied that they would be replaced after completion of surface dressing in the summer.

Pauline Reve issued an open invitation to all Parish and Town Councils to the next meeting of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association, due to be held on 18 June 2013 at Ryedale House, Malton.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.05 pm.

The next meeting of the Parish Liaison Committee will be held on Wednesday 23^rd October 2013 at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Ryedale House.

The next meeting of the Parish Liaison Committee would be held on Wednesday 23 October 2013 at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Ryedale House.