HUTTONS AMBO
PARISH COUNCIL Minutes
AGM
Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00pm
Agenda
a.
Councillors
present – Simon Lealman, Emma Samuel, Clare Messer, Alan Sanders & Anne
Lealman (Clerk)
b.
apologies for
absence – Andrew Dorman expressions of good wishes sent to Andy for a speedy
recovery & Philip Barraclough – approved
c.
Guests: Rona
Charles, Graham Milner
2.
Approval of
Minutes of meeting on 22 February 2023 – The two emails received from the
Village Hall committee were discussed in detail by the PC and it was decided to
remove the ‘minor amendment to remove the reference to no charge for the drum
kit housed in the village hall store room’. Reminder that any member of the
public are encouraged and welcomed at the Parish Council meetings.
3.
Chair’s Annual
Update
Chairman’s Report May 2022 to May 2023
A quiet and (relatively) uneventful year
in comparison to previous ones. There have been a couple of issues to note and
reflect upon:
Parish Councillors:
We welcomed a new Councillor in May
2022, after co-option. They unfortunately felt that this conflicted with their
domestic situation and resigned soon afterwards. Since then we have welcomed
two new Councillors, both with a wealth of knowledge and experience to ensure
we have a broad and insightful view of the topics discussed, to help share the
work of the Parish Council going forward and reduce the chance of not being
quorate, as we now number 6, rather than 5 as before. Hopefully this will also
mean there is a level of succession planning for Councillors, as we have
previously highlighted this as an issue, including having a rotating chair.
Telephone box & Defibrillator:
The telephone box was on the cards to be
the new, more central location to hold the defibrillator at some point over the
last 12 months. Unfortunately, due to the mobile phone signal in the lower
parts of the Low village still being deemed poor to non-existent, the telephone
box is still being retained. The call count has been reset and until usage can
be ascertained to be minimal or zero, rather than just anecdotally, it will
remain as an active telephone kiosk.
Broadband:
Over the last 12 months the
infrastructure for the village appears to be now sufficient for anyone who
wishes to have a fibre connection to have one. This is a significant
improvement over the position we were in a couple of years ago, as lack of
broadband was one of, if not the biggest, issue highlighted by parishioners in
the pre-Covid survey.
Information Boards:
We can almost count this as a success,
as the finish line is in sight. A great deal of work, especially by Andy and
Philip, has meant that there is now a design for the information boards that
just needs a final proof-read and validation. The cost of printing and the
quote for making the stainless steel structures to hold the boards have largely
been met by the grant we received by the outgoing Ryedale District Council.
Local Government Review
The amalgamation of the 7 District &
Borough Councils into a single Unitary Council for North Yorkshire happened on
1st April 2023. This created the largest Unitary Council in the Country by
area. The implications for HAPC is that we were offered the chance to take over
responsibility for delivering services to our Parish for an increased amount of
funding. We (as a Council) felt that it was not financially viable to deliver
these services for the funds offered, nor did we have the resources to deliver
more than we currently did.
Precept & Reserves
The precept for the previous financial
year (22/23) was declined, meaning that the Parish asked for no money, as the
amount held in reserve funds was significantly above what was required. These
reserves were therefore spent during the year to reduce them to a more
reasonable value. The precept for the financial year 23/24 was set at £3950.
This figure was chosen due to it being the approximate value of the previous
year’s spend, mainly on grass cutting, plus a small contingency. This increase
was unfortunate timing, as it coincided with both the increase of Council Tax
by 4.99% and Bank of England interest rate rises, adding to the cost of living
of all parishioners. With hindsight it would have been preferable to reverse
these precept funding requests.
Wildflowers & Culvert
The wildflowers on the village green
have, so far, made a good start in their first full season of growth. Between
them, Rona, Jem and Danny have a plan for cutting and managing these patches
going forward. Thanks to all of them for their efforts.
Also thanks to Graham for organising the
grille to prevent the culvert between the railway bridge and suspension bridge
blocking up due to leaves and other detritus. This should improve the dryness
of this area significantly.
a.
Chair remains as Simon Lealman
b.
Vice Chair remains as Emma Samuel
c.
New Chair and Vice Chair to be voted in May 2024
4.
Matters
arising:
Wild
Flower patches
In the minutes of the last meeting it
was agreed that:
“In the spring Rona will mark out the
wild flower area on the green to leave wild until they have died off and
markers removed.”
You may have noticed that I didn’t put
out any white markers after all. Danny has a good idea of where the boundaries
lie and I’m quite happy with that.
I have been a bit surprised at how few
of the wildflower plugs I put in last spring and autumn seem to have survived
the winter. There could be one or two weather-related reasons, but I have a
feeling that rabbits with their selective grazing may have been a significant
factor, over winter and maybe beyond. I am hoping that the seedlings now
pushing through will prove more resilient; time will tell. There are some
plants coming into flower now in both patches, so worth a look if you’re
passing.
Notice
boards update – Simon and Philip to meet to get the final version to
inprint
Footpaths
- All 20 public footpaths and bridleways
in the parish have been walked by the volunteers over the last year. All were
passable, though with varying degrees of attractiveness and difficulty! As in
previous years, small issues have generally been resolved locally, but more
major ones referred to the County Council. I haven’t heard that any of these
recent problems have been resolved yet, but two broken signposts that had been
notified previously are now present and correct.
One slightly surprising success affects
a route which isn’t a public footpath as such, but a path linking the footpath
and bridleway network on either side of the A64. It provides a relatively safe
route for a pedestrian, cyclist or horse-rider to get from the Hutton Hill area
to High and Low Hutton without needing to go along the A64 carriageway. This
path used to be maintained but has recently become overgrown, to the detriment
of both users and the flora. Many thanks to Andy Dorman who cut back the
brambles in the autumn, but annoyingly they started to grow back quickly. I was
impressed that National Highways agreed to cut it and seem to have made a
special trip to do so within a few weeks. They have made a reasonable job of
cutting the route and adjacent grassland and brambles, which should keep it
clear for several months at least.
Archaeology
project update – Rona to send to PC Clerk to include
Geo Phys went well over the Easter break
Half Term at the end of May there will a week long
activity plan
27th & 28th propose test pitting
BBQ
Show and tell
Send an email to the history group email if
interested in getting involved – huttonsambohistory@gmail.com
5.
New Matters:
Increase
price of gardening services from Danny Pickering increase from £15 to £20 an
hour
8
hours per cut both greens at Low Hutton and 1 green at High Hutton, speak to
Danny re giving him 5 days notice of the green cutting. Footpath and lane ends
to strim and drop not to be collected and disposed of. Reminder to wear H&S
equipment. Will be instructed as and when.
Footpath
and lane ends within the end of the month but not before to protect the
wildlife.
Annual
Account review due – Anne to ask Richard Green if he would be happy to do the
funds verification.
6.
Planning:
None
7.
Finance:
a. Balance at 28 April 2023 is £9045.21 (funds received
from NYC)
b. Ring fenced funds of £300.00
c. Committed spend
i. £50 HMRC
ii. £248.52 Public Liability Ins
iii. £796.80 Stainless Steel Notice board frames
iv. £18.75 postage
v. £120.00 Danny Pickering
d. Balance as of now is £7811.14
8.
Any Other Business – keep
the filing cabinet storage at the village hall
9.
Date of next Meeting
Wednesday 19th July at 7:30pm
Anne Lealman- Clerk to the Parish Council
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