Cllr Darren Peacock & District Councillor Yvonne Peacock

Minutes of the meeting held on 7^th May 2019, together with Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of the same date and the Extraordinary Meeting held on 25^th June 2019 had been circulated to all councillors.  Cllr Kettlewell proposed that they were a correct record and Cllr Brown seconded this.  The Minutes were therefore signed by the Chair.

Cllr Kettlewell declared an interest in discussions relating to common land in Stalling Busk.

There was no Clerk’s Report presented as all relevant matters were included on the Agenda for this meeting.

The Clerk had contacted Ian Beighton at NYCC and he had offered numerous dates for a site meeting with councillors to discuss car parking at junctions (in particular at the end of Back Syke) and also the one-way system beside the Rose & Crown as well as speeding motorcycles and road markings.  Cllr Kettlewell said that he would also like to discuss the re-surfacing of Raydaleside.  A date was chosen for the meeting of Thursday 18^th July at 10.30 am, starting at the Cornmill Tea Room initially.  The Clerk will confirm this with Ian Beighton. 

Sycamore Hall, Bainbridge – It was noted that there is no signage to Sycamore Hall which has led to many enquiries elsewhere in the village.

Parking – Karen enquired whether it was now acknowledged that the YDNPA car park could be used for public parking outside of office hours.  This will be discussed with Ian Beighton at the site meeting.

The following payments were authorised:-

1.       John Banks – £100 for one cut of the Cemetery (an additional invoice had just been received and a second payment of £100 was therefore agreed)

2.       GB Sport & Leisure – £264.00 for extra strong brake spring for the zip wire

3.       Noticeboard Company -£298 for new noticeboard at Countersett

4.       H Metcalfe & Son – £373.15 – Fuel for grass cutting and repairs to mower

5.       John Ogbourne – £100 for moving website to secure server

6.       Carperby Parish Council – £179 contra payment which had been paid to Bainbridge in error in respect of clerk’s salary

NB:  A grant of £400 has been received from NYCC for the playground

        The Transparency Grant will pay for the work to the website

David Ballinger offered to install the new noticeboard at Countersett which the clerk will pass to him.

Everyone was in agreement to the above payments and cheques were signed at the meeting.

Bainbridge Parish Council Account – £3,753.92

Bainbridge Parish Council No 2 Account – £5,149.39

Bainbridge Parish Council Current Account – £9,861.87  (ring-fenced for Cemetery extension work)

With no banks now in the area, the Clerk had sought agreement from the Chair to pay the cash from the donation boxes into her private bank account and transfer it immediately to the Parish Council bank account.  This process was agreed by the Councillors but disappointment was expressed that it was necessary due to the withdrawal of banking facilities locally.

The bank statements were reviewed and signed by Cllr Tennant.

The new forms to amend the bank mandate had been rejected once again and it is now necessary for all councillors to go to the branch in Northallerton with their identification.  Frustration and disappointment was expressed at this process and it was suggested that a review of the Parish Council banking should be undertaken in the hope there was a better alternative.

There was nothing to report in respect of the Cemetery.  There has been no further contact from the landowner in respect of purchasing the land for an extension.

PC Julian Sutcliffe had been invited to attend this meeting to de-brief on the visit of the travellers to Appleby Horse Fair.  The following comments were made:-

·       The preparation work had been successful with information provided on the website and by flier helping to ensure travellers arrived and left on time.  It was noted there was a group of late arrivals but these had deliberately chosen to travel separately from the earlier group who had caused a lot of trouble.  The late-comers ensured that before they left the green was clean and tidy.

·       NYP know who the trouble-makers are.  They caused considerable trouble at Scorton who had made no plans for their visit. 

·       Incidents reported to NYP during the travellers stay in Bainbridge included damage to a sign and littering at Low Mill Guest House, loose horses, a wall outside the village damaged by horses (subsequently paid for), the theft of chickens, litter in the playground, shouting and noisy generators on the Saturday night.

·       The Rose & Crown had been closed after obnoxious and drunken behaviour with staff refusing to serve customers.  There was damage to one window.

·       Kevin Chinn from RDC Licensing had visited David Collinson prior to the visit as well as Neil Daykin at Worton to advise on how to handle the travellers.  Neil had opted to close the pub for the duration of the visit, but David had not.  It was suggested that Kevin Chinn should be emailed prior to next year’s visit to have discussions once again with David Collinson.  It would not be possible to force the pub to shut.

·       There had been damage to the public toilets but this was not reported.  Children were seen to be deliberately smashing glasses in the toilets.

·       Three quarters of all calls to NYP involved a breach to the terms of the managed site but as this was private land, NYP were unable to do anything.

·       PC Sutcliffe had spoken with Inspector Gee who had been at a meeting in Scorton.  Because they had done no preparation they had a lot of issues which need changing before next year.

·       Hawes had more problems than in previous years.

·       Bainbridge had undertaken excellent preparation which did help.

·       If the Lords Trustees wished to ban the travellers from stopping on the village green, they would need to take measures to prevent them accessing it, which would be difficult.

·       The only way to prevent travellers from stopping in the village would be to close all amenities for the duration, ie, the pub, garage, shop and tea room.  Clearly this would not be welcomed.

The Way Forward

·       It was agreed that the Parish Council should invite the Lords Trustees to meet and discuss proposals for next year’s visit.  The Clerk will email Muriel Lambert with information regarding the date of the next Parish Council meeting and invite attendance from some of the Lords Trustees.

·       Lords Trustees could issue a questionnaire to canvas views of the community.

·       It would be beneficial if holiday cottage companies could include information in their brochures/website of the dates of the visit and alert tourists to potential disturbances.

·       Contact David Collinson to discuss next year’s visit and seek his views on closure of the pub.  The Clerk will write to him.

·       PC Sutcliffe offered to come to the meeting with the Lords Trustees.

·       It was agreed that the arrangements made this year did help and would be continued next year.

The repair to the zip wire is essential work to allow its continued use, following inspection.  The new spring is currently with Cllr Peacock ready for fitting.

There is slight damage reported to the castle slide and future repair of the log walk and balance will be needed but this is not urgent.  Also, the two cradle swings will require repair in the future, but again this is not urgent.

Cllr Kettlewell and David Ballinger met with Jackie Masterman (in Shane’s absence).  She passed the agreement on to Shane for him to sign and this has now been done.  The agreement is for one year dated 28^th May 2019.  The Parish Council will make payment of £1 to the Semerwater Sports Association via David, and this will fall due every May.  It is believed the YDNPA have re-hung the gate and Jackie has strimmed the area which is now open to the public.  The Clerk will email Geoff Keeble to ask him to reinstate the plaque.  It was agreed that this annual licence should be reviewed by the Parish Council every year at the March meeting.

The Parish Council had received a letter from Maureen Orme regarding waste deposited on an area of land at Stalling Busk that she believes to be common land.  She has said that this looks a mess and needs clearing.  Following discussion it was agreed that this area was in all probability common land and as such the Parish Council had jurisdiction over it.  Cllr Kettlewell agreed to speak to Ken regarding the matter.

Methodist Chapel, Bainbridge – The Clerk informed Councillors that although the YDNPA Planning Officer had agreed to the EGM held on 25^th June, she did not await the comments from that meeting before producing her report the following day.  The Clerk had submitted the comments from the meeting at 10.30 am but the Planning Officer had not included them as her cut off had been 9am.  Councillors were disappointed to hear this, however most of the matters raised had also been raised by residents in their letters to the YDNPA.  The decision is now going to Committee level and Yvonne Peacock had suggested that the Parish Council ask for their comments to be sent to the Committee along with the other notes and reports on the application.  All Councillors were in agreement to this proposal and are keen to have their comments registered, and the clerk will contact the YDNPA with this request.  It was noted that it was pleasing that the Methodist Church were keen to return something to the community by way of local housing.

New Local Plan – Cllr Yvonne Peacock and Cllr John Dinsdale are keen to get our local Parish Councils together so that they can submit their views to the development of the new Local Plan.  The meeting is going to be held at West Burton Village Hall and all councillors agreed that Bainbridge Parish Council should be involved.  Collective comment may carry more weight than individual comments.

Development at the Rose & Crown – The Clerk reported that in the last correspondence she had received from Randall Orchard, she had been advised that David Collinson had written to the YDNPA and copied the Parish Council into this communication.  However, the Clerk reported that she had not received a copy of this letter.  Randall Orchard had advised that the ‘application was in limbo for private reasons’. 

None.

UCI Cycle Race – This prestigious cycle race will pass through Bainbridge on Sunday 29^th September.  Cllr Peacock reported that a grant had been obtained to hire a big screen for the day.  This will cost £1,824 but 100% of the cost will be covered by the grant.  There will also be stalls etc on the village green in the hope of attracting a big crowd for the day.

Footpath to Primary School – There has been no progress on this, however it will be necessary to obtain three quotes in order that the funding application can be submitted before the deadline sometime in August.  Cllr Brown agreed to ask NAD, Paul and Colin if they would like to provide quotes.

·       Travellers Visit 2020

·       Footpath to Primary School

The next meeting will take place at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 3^rd September 2019 at Sycamore Hall, Bainbridge.