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