HAVERAH PARK WITH BECKWITHSHAW PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE OPEN MEETING HELD ON Tuesday 11 April 2023

Location: The Village Hall, Beckwithshaw

Present: Councillors – Cllr D Spence (Chairman), Cllr A Ellis, Cllr M David, Cllr J Parish, Cllr Mrs S Swires, Cllr Steven Swires and Cllr N Hull.

Parish Clerk – Mrs J H Galloway

Commencing at 7.30pm the Open Meeting was held and 1 member of the public was present.

1. Apologies: None.

2. Minutes of the last Open Meeting:

The minutes of the last Open Meeting on 12 April 2022 were incorporated into the immediately following Parish Meeting (10 May 2022).

3. Chairman’s Report:

Good evening and welcome.

During the last year the Parish Council has seen changes in membership. We have welcomed Steven Swires into the Council, said goodbye to Borough Councillor Victoria Oldham and welcomed our North Yorkshire Councillor Nathan Hull.

We have carried out maintenance to the grassed areas which fall under our responsibility. Maintenance and refurbishment of the Copse has been carried out, including the realigned boundary fence with Beckwithshaw School by working with the County Council.

Under the leadership of Cllr Jo Parish we have worked with “Twenty’s Plenty” in an attempt to persuade North Yorkshire to introduce 20mph speed limits through villages like ours and near schools. This campaign has succeeded in in making the County Council to undertake a review of speed limits across the county.

We have contacted developers Charles Church about the road works on Otley Road

requesting completion dates etc.

The Parish Council has worked with the Western Arc Group as a pressure group to highlight road, school and health care provision to support the proposed housing schemes on this Western Boundary of Harrogate. We have made limited progress but this has been now held up with the creation of the new unitary authority, North Yorkshire Council. Reports by Harrogate Borough Council (now defunct) were promised but never delivered but through our relationship with Cllr Nathan Hull we will continue to fight the cause and hopefully get Section 106 monies for Road Safety improvements in the village.

We continue to report road defects like pot holes, blocked drains and broken Road Signs though the Parish Portal and have had recent success with getting the drains and gullies through the village cleaned.

We have been awarded a Grant from Cllr Hull to purchase and install a bench at the entrance to the Charles Church Estate. We are in negotiation with the developers about the siting of the bench and also a notice board.

We have successfully obtained a Grant towards the provision of a Defibrillator to be placed at the Squinting Cat Public House. The exact siting is under discussion with Greene King.

We have commissioned a survey of the trees in the Copse complying with our insurance liabilities. A tree surgeon has been employed to obtain planning permission and then carry out the actions required as a result of this survey.

We have reviewed our requirements for verge cutting in the village and are preparing to enter into a contract with Chevin Landscapes to undertake this work.

Leaves, overgrown hedges and rotting vegetation in the area near the roundabout and copse has been cleared and it is intended to make this an annual late autumn event.

Looking ahead:

We will continue to comment on Planning Applications which refer to our area and report road defects.

Following our recent Litter Pick, we are reviewing our litter picking policy due to the dangers conditions that our aging volunteers experienced whilst walking along the roadside grass verges.

I would like to remind residents of their responsibilities for cutting back overgrown hedges to keep footpaths free for pedestrian use.

All residents of the Parish are invited to join in the activities of the P.C. and to attend our monthly meetings.

Thank you all for your attendance.

4. Comments/Questions from the floor:

A comment was made about taxing our car use and restricting our freedom of movement.

North Yorkshire has 5 years to replace the Harrogate Local plan, which will remain in

place until then. Larger Planning Applications will go to Northallerton for consideration.

The Open Meeting closed at 8.10pm