Burton Leonard

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 1st August and will be published in the Parish Magazine in September. 

Planning
6.68.136.A.FUL Erection of single storey extension at 8 West Terrace, Scarah Lane.  This application will be discussed at the next parish council meeting.  You are very welcome to attend the meeting, listen to the discussions and the plans will be available for inspection.  You can also access the plans if you visit www.harrogate.gov.uk.
Information about Village Greens
‘Village greens are vested in and managed by the parish council for the benefit of the inhabitants.  A parish council must not allow a village green which it owns to be encroached upon or to be misused.’  (Taken from the Parish Councillors Guide by Paul Clayden – 19^th Edition)

School signs
‘Burton Leonard is largely free of the clutter of signs and street furniture that disfigure other places.  However, the design and appearance of street furniture and advertisements in the village needs careful consideration in order to maintain the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.’ (Taken from the HBC Burton Leonard Conservation Area Character Appraisal February 2010)

Taking into account the above statement and that the Parish Council has a duty of care to protect the greens; The Parish Council sort to enquire if previously acceptable signs (which were less intrusive than the 2.1m sign Highways proposed) which were discussed at a meeting with Highways last November could be considered.  Highways rejected all the suggestions put forward and it is understood that Highways are to contact BT to ascertain where their cables are under the green, as this will have an impact on the sighting of any sign.  We await their update.  At no time has the Parish Council sort to block the erection of a sign. 

School access
Issues regarding the school access over village green are ongoing.  The Parish Council are instructing YLCA legal advisers to help come to a mutual agreement with the school and to get the problem sorted once and for all. 

Graffiti
The police were notified of the recent graffiti around the village and we are grateful to North Yorkshire Cleansing department who got rid of it very quickly. 

County Council Waste & Quarrying in North Yorkshire
A consultation is currently in progress and consultation documents can be viewed at your local library, district council main offices or on the following website www.northyorks.gov.uk/mwdf .  Please call 0845 8727374 or email mwdf@northyorks.gov.uk for further details.  A poster has been placed on the notice board.

Community Chest
Harrogate Borough Council Community Chest grant aid scheme is open for applications from community and voluntary groups until 23^rd September 2011.  Grants of between £500 and £3000 are available and application forms and guidance notes are available to download from www.harrogate.gov.uk/voluntary. 

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 5^th September 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting.

The Chairman is Mark Snowdon

The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 4th July and will be published in the Parish Magazine in August.

Planning

6.68.174.FUL Extension of existing conservatory at Oldfield House, Scarah Lane; planning was granted on 12^th July 2011.

The following applications will be discussed at the next parish council meeting.  You are very welcome to attend the meeting, listen to the discussions and the plans will be available for inspection.  You can also access the plans if you visit www.harrogate.gov.uk.

a.       6.68.57.B.FUL erection of two storey and first floor extension and installation of 1 roof light (Revised Scheme) at 3 Church Lane.

b.      6.68.128.F.FUL installation of 10 solar panels and heat reclaim to existing roof slopes at Thornfield Farm, Apron Lane, Burton Leonard.

c.       6.68.51.F.FUL demolition of redundant barn and erection of semi-detached dwelling and 1.8m high boundary wall (site area 0.03ha) at Flatts House, Scarah Lane, Burton Leonard. 

Mobile Library Services
Due to cost cutting North Yorkshire County Council are stopping the mobile library service on Friday 16 September 2011.

They are now trying to identify ways to continue to provide a service for those people unable to access the library service by any other means.  This may include having a library service outlet collection in a suitable venue such as your local village hall, as well as extending the Home Library and Information service provided by volunteers to people in their own homes.

If you wish to know more about the Home library service as a user or volunteer please contact library secretaries on 01609 533811 or email libraries@northyorks.gov.uk.

School signs
Discussions are ongoing regarding a suitable sign to identify the school location, which has been agreed by Highways.  Cllrs have a duty to ‘protect and enhance’ the village green and the proposed 2.1m school sign on the corner of the village green does not seem acceptable.  Alternative options are currently being discussed. 

School access
The Parish Council continue to seek a solution to the issues around access routes across the village greens.    The general issues have been raised with MP Julian Smith who has assured us that he will raise the matter with the Parliamentary all-party group for Parish Councils and with the responsible Minister.    In the meantime, the School have been told that unless an agreement for the maintenance of the access road is made, then access may be withdrawn. 

County Council Highways and Transportation Services
Maintaining road surfaces are a priority, limited to safety issues only.  Winter maintenance budgets are being protected.  Road safety education & training reduced.  No maintenance due in this area.  Further information about the new local transport plan (LTP3), which runs until 2015/16 can be found at www.northyorks.gov.uk/ltp.

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 1^st August 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting.

The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 16th May 2011 and 6th June 2011 and will be published in the Parish Magazine in July.

Chairman’s Annual Report from the Open Meeting on 16^th May 2011.

The Parish Council have completed some successful projects over the last year;

a)      Low green drainage
Since the maintenance of the drainage system the low green has been free from flooding.  The Parish Council are grateful to all those volunteers who helped with the various investigations which took place, especially to Nick Sambidge and his extensive knowledge in this area.

b)     Community Resilience Scheme
This scheme has been set up for Burton Leonard detailing how we would respond to an emergency or disaster in the village.  The committee are finalising the details; special thanks to all the volunteers and especially Avril Clarke for making it happen.

c)      Highways
The parking bay on Mill Lane has been completed and is now being used.

d)     Community involvement
The Royal Wedding Celebration was a very successful event; supported by the Parish Council and very well organised by ladies from the Toddler’s group.

      On the down side there are a number of ongoing issues;

a)      Quality of services
The quality of services from County and Harrogate Borough Council are in decline due to the budgets and costs being reduced which has had a negative impact on Highway road maintenance, waste management and the mobile library service which is now no-longer running.

b)     Local Development Framework
The LDF issues are ongoing and in autumn we will be notified of the final submissions.

c)      Dog mess
This is an ongoing problem which is regularly discussed in meetings!

d)     School access
The access road to school over the village green is still an ongoing issue which has taken up a lot of the councillors’ time for over a year.

Statement of accounts.
The Parish Council account is looking reasonably healthy.  There could be some substantial bills that require financial back up in the near future.  Such as if further drainage maintenance is required on the low green this could be costly.  The Water pump near the church wall also needs repairing. 

Planning
6.68.174.FUL Extension of existing conservatory at Oldfield House, Scarah Lane.
This application will be discussed at the next parish council meeting.  You are very welcome to attend the meeting, listen to the discussions and the plans will be available for inspection.  You can also access the plans if you visit www.harrogate.gov.uk.

CE Electric
The post at the bottom of Front Street will be taken down on 23^rd June and they will use a mole to replace underground cables; residents will be notified directly.

School & Village signs
Highways have agreed to position a sign to identify the school’s location; which should be located in the near future. 

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 4^th July 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting.

The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 16th May  2011 and will be published in the Parish Magazine in June.

Planning

6.68.24.D.COU Change of use of land from agricultural field to form extended playground at the Sports Field, High Peter Lane, Burton Leonard.
Planning permission was granted on 11^th April; subject to conditions.

6.68.57.B.FUL Erection of two storey and single storey extension at 3 Church Lane, Burton Leonard.
This application will be discussed at the next parish council meeting.  You are very welcome to attend the meeting, listen to the discussions and the plans will be available for inspection.  You can also access the plans if you visit www.harrogate.gov.uk.

School & Village signs
Communication has been made with Highways regarding the improvement of school and village signs, especially improving the visibility of the school’s location.  Highways have promised to investigate further.  The parish council are awaiting feedback from the County Councillor and Highways.

Pot Holes
Due to the current economic climate and budgetary constraints Highways have informed us that they are only able to attend to defects that present the greatest danger to highway users.  The Highways inspector will continue to monitor the condition of the road and should the condition of the carriageway deteriorate to become dangerous he will arrange for any defects to be made safe.

Household Waste Recycling Centres
As from 1^st July the County Council’s household waste recycling centres will be CLOSED every Wednesday, this decision followed consultation to reduce cost in the waste management service.  A poster has been put on the notice board.  Further information can be found at www.northyorks.gov.uk/hwrc or contact the customer service centre on 0845 8727374.

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 6^th June 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting.

 The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk
www.burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 4th April  2011 and will be published in the Parish Magazine in May.

Village grass cutting
We are pleased to confirm that we have instructed Field & Land services to maintain all of the public grass areas in the village.  We apologise to villagers for the interruption of the grass cutting on the high green, we have taken over this responsibility from the school for the immediate future.  If you have any concerns about this please contact the Clerk. 

Next meeting
The next meeting will be the Open and Annual meeting of the parish council which will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 9^th May 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns, listen to the Chairman’s report and observe the business of the meeting.

The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 7th March  2011 and will be published in the Parish Magazine in April.

Parish Council Notes – April 2011 

6.68.24.D.COU Change of use of land from agricultural field to form extended playground at the Sports Field, High Peter Lane, Burton Leonard.
Initially the play area will be grassed and once ownership of the land and funding is through equipment will be added.  Issues regarding the existing septic tank were raised.  The ongoing maintenance of the playground was discussed.  Cllrs agreed to support the application and also write to the Sports Field Trust requesting that the playground is kept tidy and that the grass, fence and hedge are regularly maintained. 

High Green Grass Cutting & Burton Leonard School
A meeting was held with the school on Tuesday 1^st March, further discussion took place and options were identified.  The school seem to have a greater understanding of the issues and have received legal advice.  We are now waiting to hear back from the school for further progression. 

Litter pick
A Sponsored litter pick will take place on Sunday 3^rd April by Sam and Max Crompton who are raising money for their world challenge trip to Cambodia and Vietnam in July 2012, during which they will be spending a week doing charity work in an orphanage or school.  If you would like to sponsor them there is a sponsor form at the shop.  This is taking place instead of the annual parish council litter pick which may be rescheduled if necessary. 

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 4^th April 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting.

 The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk

These notes are highlights from the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting on 7th February  2011 and will be published in the Parish Magazine in March.

Parish Council Notes – March 2011 

Burglary attempt
Concerns over recent burglary attempt; we urge people to ensure their property is secure, the latest Neighbourhood watch newsletter and information can be found at www.burtonleonard.org.uk. 

High Green Grass Cutting & Burton Leonard School
An update was given and further discussions took place, the parish council hope to meet with the school to agree a way forward. 

Highways
We have ordered a new grit bin to be situated on Mill Lane which we intend to replenish ourselves.  Pot holes on Scarah Lane and Station Lane have been reported to highways, we hope they will be maintained soon. 

Litter pick
We will be holding our annual litter pick on Saturday 2^nd April at 10am.  We would very much welcome your help on the day.  We will have equipment available to use such as gloves, hand picks & high visibility vests. 

Dog fouling
Dog fouling in the village seems to be worse than ever; full bags are being left in hedges and there is lots of mess around the village.  Please can we urge dog owners to pick it up and put it in the bin and not to leave it in a bag in the hedge or on the pavements? 

Mobile Library service
We have been notified that the mobile library service will cease due to the council cuts and it not being much used.  Further information can be found on the notice board and on the website. 

Water fountain
As you may be aware repair works are required in order to have the fountain on and ready to use by villagers.  However, the quotes we have had to fix the internal mechanism and body work have been extremely expensive.  We would like to hear from you if you feel it would benefit the village to pursue this maintenance.  Otherwise, we will keep the stop tap switched off and it can be turned on for specific occasions such as the feast.

Next meeting
The next meeting will be held in St Leonard’s Hall on Monday 7^th March 2011 at 7:30pm, members of the public are invited to raise their concerns and observe the business of the meeting. 

The Chairman is Mark Snowdon
The Clerk is Rebecca Coates, 3 Burnett Close, 677963, clerk@burtonleonard.org.uk
www.burtonleonard.org.uk