Sledmere and Croome Parish Council
Website: sledmereparishcouncil.co.uk
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 25th September 2023
at Triton Cottage Sledmere
Present: John Southwick - Chairman
Colin Treen - Vice Chair
Adrian Robson - Councillor
Annie Jones-Stork - Councillor
John Jones-Stork - Councillor
James Fenwick - Councillor
Michael Lee - Councillor Driffield Council
Mark Blakeston - Councillor Driffield Council
Jennifer Douglas - Clerk
Apologies: None
ACTIONS
The Chair welcomed both Cllr Lee and Blakeston to the Parish Council meeting
- Minutes of Previous Meeting – The minutes of the previous meeting were read, approved and signed by the Chairman
- 2. Arising – the clerk reported that there were a couple of matters which
arose from the last meeting. The light outside the Triton Inn was now back and
working, although it had taken a few attempts at getting it back and she wanted to
thank Cllr. Lee for assisting in this matter. Blocked drains and gullies, the Clerk had
written to the Estate on this matter and Cllr Lee had been in touch with ERYC and
asked them to contact us. This had been done and a meeting held. Details to be
discussed in Chairman’s report.
Mrs. Jones-Stork reported that the minutes had noted Mr. Stork’s name incorrectly
and it should be Jones-Stork. She further commented the finger post sign missing
was not Driffield to York but Fimber. The Clerk reported that it was the
Wetwang/Beverley part of the signpost, which was missing, and ERYC were
in the process of attempting to locate and replace all posts missing or damaged
within their area.
- 3. report –
· The Chair confirmed that a meeting had taken place with Steve Roberts from
ERYC to discuss the issue of blocked drains and gullies and he was pleased to
report that within a week the Council was out cleaning the drains. However,
- drains on the road where the only ones cleaned and the pipes which discharge into the soakaway is the responsibility of the Estate as they fall on Estate property and the Council are not insured to go onto private land. Cllr. Lee who attended the meeting, reported that this was his understanding of the situation. The Chair explained the issue to Cllr. Blakeston. The Chair reported that one idea put forward by Mr Roberts was to block all the drains up and let it run down to the well where it can escape into the field. The Council had also trimmed back some of the branches of the trees which hopefully will stop the straw when being transported, blocking up the drains. He further reported that during the meeting two soakaways were located and were full and the remaining ones had yet to be located. Mr. Robson queries why it was the responsibility of the Estate when the problem was flooding of highways. Cllr. Lee stated that although there had been an agreement between the Estate and the Council, today there were protocols which the Officers needed to follow. Mr. Fenwick reported that the issue appears to be worse towards the Lodges and if these soakaways were kept clean, it hopefully would alleviate any future problems. The Clerk agreed to contact the Estate again. JD
· Phone box – the Chair confirmed that the painting was almost complete. The back panel would then be removed; a decision would need to be made on what to do with the box. The Clerk had commissioned three pieces of glass with Sledmere engraved on them. The Chair reported that he had attempted to get the school interested in doing something with the box but despite the Clerk speaking to the secretary and writing letters and he personally speaking to the Headteacher nothing had been achieved. Mrs. Jones-Stork suggested that the phone box be made an information box, a history of the village, direction to shop etc.
- Highways – the Wetwang Sledmere road, Keepers Hill, had been closed on 29th August for a week for resurfacing. However, after a few days many of the deviation posts had been knocked down. Mr. Treen had taken photographs which the Clerk had forwarded to Cllr. Lee who in turn had been in touch with the highways at ERYC, who to date had not responded. Mr. Treen produced photographs of the state of the road which he had recently taken. Mr. Fenwick reported that when you drive up to the top of the hill the Council had dug out two large gullies but with the camber of the road, being below the gullies, no water is being discharged into these gullies and surplus water is being thrown across the road and running down the side of the gravel which has been put in place. Mr. Treen reported that there were now only two deviation posts standing. Cllr. Lee agreed to follow the matter up again the following day. ML
Mrs. Jones-Stork reported that following the walkabout with Steve Roberts, he had given her a name, Denise Flint, who should be contacted regarding the parking on zig zag lines by the school. An email had been forwarded together with one to the Highways Management which had been passed on to the Chief Engineer. Cllr Lee reported that parking on zig zag lines was a police matter. However, Cllr. Blakeston reported that double yellow lines and zig zag lines were no longer police enforceable, and the responsibility of East Riding Parking Enforcement Officer and he suggested that maybe to get an Enforcement Officer to come out even if only once. The Clerk reported that she had reported this to the Council and had received a phone call back confirming that they would look into the matter. Mr. Treen commented that to be enforceable he understood that there needed to be a sign which said “no parking” at certain times, which there wasn’t. Mrs. Jones-Stork suggested a mirror on the Estate wall opposite Bridlington Road. The Clerk reported that she had contacted ERYC a number of years ago who had confirmed that this was not possible as they felt it often created more problems.
· Planning Applications – nothing to report
- Community Bus – the situation was explained to both Cllrs. Lee and Blakeston and it was asked if they might be able to help. Both Cllrs Lee and Blakeston thought that they might have contacts who they thought might be able to assist with this matter. ML/MB
- 4. Report: covered in Chairmans report
5. Farmwatch Mr. Treen reported that it continued to do sterling work however, the
biggest issue appeared to be the theft of GPS’s. Mrs. Jones-Stork reported that she
and her husband had recently attended a neighbourhood conference where the
rural taskforce spoke. Sgt Jones, the Rural Taskforce Officer, had stated that he was
more than happy to visit farms to discuss rural matters. Mrs. Jones-Stork enquired
as to how the Counsellors can have access to Farmwatch. Mr. Treen said that the
£20 paid was for one person to have access to the service however, a dispensation
had been made to include the Estate. Cllr. Blakeston reported that My Community
Alerts was probably the answer as they give alerts based on various crimes and you
are able to tick boxes which are of interest to the person receiving the alert.
Mr. Treen reported that the role of Farmwatch is to report incidents which might
have already taken place and to alert people to be aware of problems in their area,
rather than incidents currently taking place.
6. The Kings Coronation the Clerk reported that she had competed the necessary
report forms for the grant which had been forwarded with photos to ERYC and had
under separate cover sent an email to the Council thanking them for the grant. She
reported that she had stopped on a number of occasions so speak to people using
the bench who had commented how much they were enjoying it. Mrs. Jones-Stork
asked why the photos hadn’t been in the paper and the Clerk stated that she
had explained at the last meeting that the photos were for the purpose of the
report and no suggestion had been made about sending them to the Wolds Weekly.
7. Accounts: The Clerk report that she had returned £54 to ERYC as although the full
amount of £500 had been received from the Council we were able to claim the VAT
back to the difference between the nett amount and £500 was returned. A price had been obtained for £250 for the glass for the phone box but she had been able to
negotiate this down to £180 plus VAT.
8. Any Other Business: The Chair reported that the lights at Castlegate Green were not working. It would appear that they had been disconnected by the Electricity Board whilst painting was being undertaken and had since not been reconnected. He
suggested that ERYC would need to come back to reconnect them. The Clerk pointed
out this was not covered under the Service Lighting Agreement with the Council and probably an Estate issue. However, she would contact them to report the matter. JD
- Mrs. Jones-Stork queried the Parish Council website and the lack of information on it. A discussion took place. Mrs. Jones-Stork commented that she felt more information on activities on the Estate should be included including Sledmere Estate, The Bowls Club and Village Hall. The Chair and Mr. Fenwick reported that both the Bowls and Sledmere had their own website and Mr. Robson confirmed that the Village Hall also had their own. Cllr. Blakeston reported that if the Parish Council has a website there is a statutory duty to publish agendas, minutes, and AGAR reports and that was all what was needed. Cllr. Lee said that he always liked to check websites to see if there was a meeting and look at the agenda which sometimes was missing. Cllr. Blakeston commented that there was a website for Parish Councils, minutes and agendas and other documentation would be emailed into them at ERYC and they would upload any necessary documents onto the Sledmere and Croome Parish Council website. Mr. Treen reported that the IC application team leader at ERYC is Steven Carter. The Clerk thanked him and said she would contact Mr. Carter to ascertain how to go about this process. Mrs. Jones-Stork also raised being part of neighbourhood watch which both Messrs. Robson and Treen confirmed the Parish Council and ERYC had forwarded the necessary signs which had been erected in the village.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting
Date of Next Meeting – date of next meeting 11th December at Triton Cottage at
1830
John Southwick
Original Copy Signed