SPRING NEWSLETTER

March 2019

 

Village Litter Pick Saturday 13 April 2019

 

We are joining in the Great British Spring Clean by holding a village litter pick on Saturday 13 April 2019.  This also covers the surrounding roads.  Please come and help in this very important job which greatly enhances our village.  We meet in the village hall car park at 10.00am.  We will provide litter pickers, high vis vests and plastic bags.  We suggest you wear strong foot wear and bring your own gloves.  Your help is needed.  Please contact Jean Galloway on 522606 if you can join us.

 

 

Village Emergency Plan

 

The Parish Council is progressing with the Emergency Plan. We need to  identify those residents who would be in need of assistance should an emergency arise and to increase the number of residents who have the necessary skills and/or knowledge to give assistance.  We ask for your help in this task by either volunteering your skills, or passing on the names of any resident who you feel would need help, to our Parish Clerk.

 

 

Speeding and Traffic in the Village

 

This subject has been one of the main concerns of the Parish Council for many years and unfortunately will get worse if nothing is done.  Jo Parish with her Speedwatch team have been about with speed guns, catching a number of motorists exceeding the 30mph limit.  Jo will always welcome more members to join her team and if you feel you would like to help please contact Jo on beckspeedwatch@gmail.com

 

We have placed two large signs asking motorists to Slow Down, these are at the mini roundabout and opposite the Shaw Lane junction.

We are still looking into flashing speed signs in the village.  This will not only warn motorists of their speed when entering the village but will also collect data on the speed and volume of traffic.  We are waiting for the protocol from NYCC.

 

Please Turn Over

 

 

Parish Open Meeting Thursday 11th April 2019

 

We are holding an Open Meeting of the Parish Council on Thursday 11th April 2019 at 19.45 in the village hall.  All residents of the Parish are invited to attend. This will be followed by a normal Parish Council meeting to which you are all welcome to stay and observe.

 

 

Parish Clerk Retiring

 

The Parish Clerk is retiring, so if anyone would be interested in taking on this paid post please contact the Clerk.

 

Local District Plan (LDP)

 

We have supported the Western Arc Consortium (WAC) both financially and assisting in sourcing material to support our collective objections to the proposed large scale housing developments surrounding Beckwithshaw, Pannal, Burn Bridge, North Rigton, Hampsthwaite and the Duchy Estate. The primary basis of our objections being the inadequacy of the existing road infrastructure to support the additional car journeys which would be generated by the extra housing.

 

On behalf of the Parish Council I attended the enquiry on 15th January to observe and support the debate. The presentation team for the WAC made an excellent delivery in support of the professional Traffic Report which we collectively commissioned and which formed the basis of our objections.  

 

The Inspector, Richard Scofield, listened carefully and without bias, to the arguments put forward by WAC and the counter proposals advanced by Harrogate Borough Council. Two important opinions proposed by WAC seemed to have a serious impact on the Inspectors deliberations. The first opinion was that although HBC have identified mitigating actions for junctions and roundabouts which would have more than 100% capacity, following the completion of all the proposed developments, they were not tested for viability by rerunning the traffic model with the mitigation actions in place. The second opinion of interest to the Inspector was that the HBC traffic model did not take into consideration the wider impact of the additional traffic on our village or the other villages.

 

 

 

I look forward to meeting you at the Open Meeting and the village litter pick.

 

 

Derek Spence

Chairman