Tuesday 30 May 2023

Huttons Ambo Parish Council - Minutes for AGM - Wednesday 17th May 2023

HUTTONS AMBO

 PARISH COUNCIL Minutes

AGM

 

Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00pm

 

Agenda

 

1.    Welcome,

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




© 2023 www.huttonsambo.com

Thursday 18 May 2023

Huttons Ambo History Group - Archaeology Week - 27th May to 4th June 2023

Huttons Ambo History Group: Archaeology Week - 27th May to 4th June 2023

Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th May: Test Pits.

Meet behind Netherby Hall at 09:30 for instruction on how to lay out a test pit.

We will provide packs with a trowel, a hand shovel and finds bags.

Participants will need to have a spade, two measuring tapes and four nails.

Could everyone who's interested confirm on the History Group email address (huttonsambohistory@gmail.com) by Sunday 21st May please.

Monday 29th - Wednesday 31st May: Geophys.

Continue the scheme of resistivity survey in areas of interest. If you’d like to help, please email the History Group email address.

Thursday 1st - Saturday 3rd June: Excavation.

The community is invited to take part in the excavation of anomalies identified during the geophys which took place over Easter.

A trench will be opened behind Netherby Hall to investigate potential structures which were seen on both the magnetometry and the resistivity.

Again, if all those interested in taking part could email the History Group account to book a place.

Sunday 4th June The results …

The results of the open trench excavation will be on show and everyone who has participated in the trial digs is invited to bring what they’ve found. Time and location to be confirmed.


© 2023 www.huttonsambo.com

Friday 12 May 2023

Huttons Ambo Parish Council - Agenda for Meeting - 7pm 17th May 2023

HUTTONS AMBO 

 PARISH COUNCIL AGENDA 

AGM 

  

Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00pm 

 

Agenda 

 

  1. Welcome,  

  1. Councillors present – Simon Lealman, Emma Samuel, Clare Messer, Alan Sanders & Anne Lealman (Clerk) 

  1. apologies for absence – Andrew Dorman & Philip Barraclough – approved 

  1. Guests: Rona Charles, Graham Milner 

 

  1. Approval of Minutes of meeting on 22 February 2023  

 

  1. Chair’s Annual Update 

 

  1. Matters arising: 

 

  1. Notice boards update 

  1. Archaeology project update 

 

  1. New Matters: 

Increased price of gardening services from Danny Pickering to be discussed 

Annual Account review due – Richard Green? 

 

  1. Planning:  

None 

 

  1. Finance: 

  1. Balance at 28 April 2023 is £9045.21 (funds received from NYC) 

  1. Ringfenced Funds of £300.00 

  1. Committed spend  

  1. £50 HMRC 

  1. £248.52 Public Liability Ins 

  1. £796.80 Stainless Steel Notice board frames 

  1. £18.75 postage 

  1. £120.00 Danny Pickering 

  1. Balance as of now is £7811.14 

 

  1. Any Other Business 

 

 

  1. Date of next Meeting 

Wednesday 19th July at 7:30pm 

Anne Lealman- Clerk to the Parish Council 


© 2023 www.huttonsambo.com