16/01/2023 – Thornby Parish Meeting

Thornby Parish Meeting

Date: 16th January 2023
Time: 19:30
Location: Village Hall
Attendees:

Peter Moyes – Chair (PM)	Amanda Day
Paul Gates – Treasurer (PG)	Andy Day
Alison Pallister – Minute taker (AP)	Anna Richards
Lucy Owens – Traffic (LO)	Mike Kingston
Jim Sherlock	Steven Thomson
Rose Sherlock	Norman Grant
Carol Parkinson	Ally Grant
Dave Stacey

Apologies:

Mark Burdett	Michael Hall
Grant Goodladd	Ann Bennett
Miss Barlow	Geoff Bennett

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1. Welcome and Apologies

The chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone, noting the apologies received. Attendees agreed that the meeting may be recorded for the purposes of producing minutes as currently AP has injured her hand so is unable to write; she will be able to type the minutes from a recording. The recording will only be used for this purpose and deleted once the minutes are finalised.

2. Minutes of the prior meeting 27 October 2022

Minutes of the prior meeting had been displayed on the notice board. There had been a financial update which noted a bank balance of £11,755.43, followed by a traffic update, including a presentation of data gathered from the SIDs and feedback on the effect they are having on vehicle speed through the village. A slight reduction in speed was reported. Discussion took place about moving the 30mph signs further out. Tree planting had been planned for 26^th November. Mike Hall had updated the meeting in respect of Police issues. Drivers continue to ignore the parking restrictions at the junctions with the A5199 and cars continuing to park on the double yellow lines outside the pub in Naseby Road, causing an obstruction to traffic turning into the road. The Poors Land Trust appointed Geoff Bennett as a trustee, replacing Jim Sherlock who was stepping down. Defibrillator training was discussed, as well as a social gathering for the village, proposed by Ann Bennett. The poor state of the pavements in certain areas was also highlighted. PM asked if there were any questions on the summary or the broader minutes. No questions were received.  

Jim Sherlock proposed the minutes be approved and Lucy Owens seconded this. PM signed the minutes as a true and accurate record of the prior meeting.

3. Matters Arising

The planning application to relocate a building to Lodge Farm had been approved, the building had not yet been erected. The trees kindly donated by Miss Barlow to mark the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee have been planted and PM expressed thanks to those who helped. In terms of the Yellow Lines, PM confirmed that it is West Northants Council’s role to enforce the restrictions rather than the Police. He has spoken to the Council and is waiting to see what they come back with. The intention is to try to get a visit from an enforcement officer, if a few vehicles received a parking fine, it may deter others from ignoring the restrictions. The state of the pavements is also being followed up with the appropriate authorities. 

4. Finance

The treasurer gave a summary of the financial position; the bank balance currently stands at £11,659.71 but the Parish is still awaiting an invoice from Elancity, the french company who supplied the SIDs.  A grant of £5000 had been awarded for the SIDs and the money is in the bank account. The Chairman and Treasurer asked for a steer from the floor about what to do with the funds, such as open a savings account, whether to chase the invoice or wait for it, as the funds are public money. This was discussed and despite the fact that interest rates are low it was agreed by all that putting the money aside in a savings account was good practice to demonstrate the monies were being held ready to pay the invoice once received from the supplier. JS asked for clarity around the funding and PM explained how the grant application worked and how the money had been issued. PM asked for a show of hands to confirm the proposal to open a savings account to hold the grant money. This was approved, with one absention. PG added that other surplus money in the bank account, that was not needed for the day to day running of the Parish, could also be placed in the new savings account.

Precept: 

Every year the Parish requests an amount of money from West Northantsthe Council to cover expenses for the year. Each Parish sets their own level of precept. Thornby has always tended to keep the precept low. It has been running at £1500 for a number of years and was increased to £2000 last year to help build funds toward the various initiatives around traffic calming in particular. PM recommended not increasing the amount this year but there are expenses to cover. There had been quite a lot of activity in terms of IT and one suggestion had been that it might be appropriate to buy a Parish laptop? PM asked for thoughts and suggestions. The residents of Thornby pay the precept through their rates. AP is in favour of reducing it, adding that if we have not spent the money, why retain this level of precept to have money sitting in the bank earning no interest. The expense target keeps moving whilst things are not spent as the cost of the projects will keep increasing. 

CP asked if the precept is split by household; PM explained it is based on band D properties. There was discussion about what is needed and it was noted that at the previous £1500 level it didn’t get spent so why the need to increase? PG agreed that money should not just sit in an account but advocated keeping it at the £2000 level and looking at spending it on appropriate projects.

PM asked for a vote on the proposal made by the Chair and the Treasurer which is to keep the precept level at £2000. The votes were counted and the results were 7 in favour of the proposal, 5 against and 1 abstention. The vote was carried and the precept will be left at £2000 for 2023/2024.

5. Traffic Update

PM introduced this item and gave a summary of what has taken place to date. Comments from residents along the main road indicated that the signs are making a difference. Messages had been added to the signs and they had been moved around on the North and South sides. PM noted thanks to Mike Kingston for downloading and Lucy Owens for analysing the data. Six volunteers had come forward to help with the battery changing and a rota will be drawn up. The batteries tend to last for circa ten days but this is affected by where the signs are situated. MK suggested that in future, solar power could be investigated to see what would be the most effective to run the signs going forward. MK added that greater analysis of the data will be done to see if a more granular level of information can be extracted.

LO gave an update on the data:

There is an average of 39 vehicles per hour through the village, with  80 at peak, reducing to only 3 off peak. Average speed entering the village is 26.6mph and on leaving increases to 27.1mph.. It was noted that on 26 October the data showed a general slowing down and this has remained, it is not clear what caused this.

There are still some very high speeds, and the plan is now to try and look at individual car speeds to see if there are a high number of vehicles travelling over the 30pmh limit or if it is a few vehicles travelling at very high speeds. Data show some are over 84mph and high speeds are at all times of the day. It was also noted that the peak is not solid, there are gaps. Better information builds a pattern to help support a request for more measures. It was also noted that the police van still attends the village but drivers warn each other so is not as effective as it might be.

Regarding speed limit signs, there is a consultation period for moving the signs which closes at the end of January; if there are no objections they can proceed with moving the signs. LO suggested that if the contractors (Keir) are in the village and have a workforce on site, that it may be possible to negotiate to get the gateways built at the same time as it would be more cost-effective for them.

PM shared a map to illustrate the proposals submitted for moving the 30mph signs. Villagers have until the end of January to give feedback. PM explained that all of the proposed ones shown in red are what the village has requested. The one they would not agree to do is on the south side of the village as it was too close to the nearest house. LO added that the speed data captured in future may help build a case for moving that sign going forward.

The village name sign is a lot further along the verge and the request had previously been made to incorporate the 30mph sign with this but that had been denied. However, it is a positive result that four of the five roads into the village, would be having the signs moved further out. PM continued that the Parish needed to revert and query the decision on the southern side of the village. AD suggested using the data gathered over the last few months from the SIDs, this had not been available when the initial request to move the signs had been submitted. This data would add weight to the original request and it would be appropriate to ask them to revisit the decision based on the stats that are now available.

6. Highgate House, Creaton

PM explained that West Northants Council had been informed by the Home Office that Highgate House was going to be used to house up to 400 asylum seekers. A meeting was called in Creaton on the first Tuesday in January, this was attended by the local MP, council representatives and there was understandably a lot of concern amongst residents. A second meeting had taken place last Tuesday, which was the usual monthly meeting of Creation Parish Council; there were over 200 people in attendance and PM and PG had also attended. The Police were represented but no MP or Councillors. There was a wide ranging discussion. PM reported that he had spoken to the chair of Creaton Parish Council last Friday evening and was informed that the MP had set up an online consultation which had received 500 replies, mostly relating to the unsuitability of Highgate House itself, having only 84 bedrooms, for a proposed 400 people, pressure on local services,i.e. buses and the impact on things like GP surgery, schools etc. Generally this was the consensus. Creaton PC is undertaking a judicial review to challenge the Home Office decision; they are also looking into the new owners of Highgate House. The company owns a similar property in Dunchurch also used for asylum seekers. There are some concerns around the Company validity, the two directors listed on Companies House, had resigned from Companies House some months ago and no new directors added, so there are questions as to whether it is a bona fide company. At 6pm on Friday, Creaton PC received ans email from the MP to say that the Home Office has changed its mind and currently, the plan to house 400 at Highgate House is put on hold; PM emphasised the point that this is on hold, not ceased in entirety.

The correspondence from the MP was shared. PM commented that weather conditions and the time of year affected the number of channel crossings which is why the first available accommodation used for migrants is virtually empty and therefore other venues are not required at this time. PM read out an email sent by the Home Office to Chris Heaton-Harris MP.

There was further discussion about the negative impact of such a decision should it go ahead. Creaton has a population of 500, so the proposals could see this nearly doubling.

7. Defibrillator Training

This had been arranged 26th Nov but clashed with an event at the Pub so the date wasn’t suitable. PM has been trying to arrange a new date but the trainer has not yet responded. It will  almost certainly take place on a Monday in Feb and in the Village Hall or the Red Lion. There was discussion as to what the training entailed, which is the correct use of the defibrillator, CPR and mouth to mouth resuscitation and PM will keep villagers up to date with the arrangements once they are confirmed and publicise it so villagers can book a place.

8. Update on the Bus Service

Normally around this time of year there is discussion about the bus service and whether the villages wish to subsidise it. There is a fear that West Northants Council do not have the money and are not planning to continue running the service. It is safe until March but what happens after that is unclear. Signs are not good as budget proposals at the Council indicate a further cut to bus services. As such, Thornby is not as yet being asked to subsidise the service for the coming year because it is unclear if the Council can afford to pay its share of the costs. 

9. Correspondance

A new App called the Flare Report App has been developed by the OPFCC. This allows women (or men) to quickly report an incident which causes concern or makes them feel unsafe when out and about around Northamptonshire. This App allows people to report such incidents anonymously and quickly; information can be obtained from PM. 

Thornby has been notified that a Parish Lead is now in place.  Alan Burns is the partnership and policy officer at West Northants Council, his role is liaising with 165 Parish town and community meetings, he will be our first point of contact.

External Auditors: the five year appointment ended and a survey was conducted as part of the process to appoint a new auditor; the result of this is that the old auditor has been reappointed for a further five years.

A recent Neighbourhood Alert email states that 65% of households are worried about burglary and offers information on simple measurers to halve the chances of being burgled; PM has this information a should anyone be interested.

Police have issued a survey about how they are planning to focus resources and the top 3 local priorities.  We can express our views if we disagree with these and PM will be responding to the survey. The priorities are:

1. Rural Crime Road Safety and Road Traffic Offences
2. Burglary
3. Rural Crime

10. Any Other Business

Mike Hall was going to update on crime issues but has sent his apologies. PM has listened to a presentation online by the police, and fire and crime commissioners office and updated the meeting about this. Basically they are looking at funding going forward and proposing levels of funding they would require in future to maintain or increase services. It was interesting to note that the population of Northamptonshire has grown by 29.9% over the past 30yrs, against an average of 17.7% throughout England and Wales; funding has not kept pace with this. Since 2019, the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner has invested and increased the number of officers by 330. By March 2023, this will rise to over 1500 in Northamptonshire. The majority of the increase supports visible neighbourhood policing. AP commented that whilst this is positive, the deployment is most likely to be in and around more built up areas and the villages are less likely to benefit. A £15 increase in council tax is needed to maintain the level of 1500 police officers.

Re: the Fire Service, the Commissioner is asking for a one off increase of £5 in funding per household. They are now running balanced budgets but long term will struggle with no increase in funding. The Fire Service has proposed three options for consultation. PM will respond to the online survey which closes at 4.30pm tomorrow.

Andy Day – AOB: 

AD shared some maps illustrating the sewage pipe line around the village; the recent issue affects people more to the North of the village. One of the chambers is on Thornby Hall land and this was found to have sewagebe overflowing out of the manhole cover onto the grass area, this was caused by a huge blockage, it appears to be caused by wipes being flushed down toilets. AD is bringing this to the attention of villagers to ask people to be aware and avoid putting wipes into the sewage system. It was noted this is a national problem with many more households using wipes. It is a surprise that people had not been aware of the problem as the system was very blocked. The Parish Meeting will publicise the issue and put out a request to homes on facebook and by way of a printed notice to highlight the problem and asking people not to flush wipes, to try and prevent the blockages reoccurring.

PM thanked everyone at Thornby Hall for clearing everything up and bringing it to our attention.

JS asked when PM last had contact with the West Northants County Councillors. PM advised we are under the Brixworth ward and his point is timely given that the last item under AOB was to ask about the future of Parish Meetings. Would attendees be interested in having representatives from the Police and the Council to come and address the Parish meeting. It was noted that the County Council Brixworth ward has never made contact directly. Everyone agreed this would be of interest.

Fireworks:

AP raised the topic of Fireworks, asking can anything be done to lobby the Council to limit the type of fireworks that can be purchased and set off domestically, ie using only quiet or noiseless ones and visiting an organised display if people wish to hear the very loud ones. The impact on animals and in turn their owners, is significant. Modern fireworks are excessively loud and terrifying for pets and also wild animals.  AP added that this point is not about people stopping people having the fireworks but it is about the type that can be purchased for domestic use and encouraging people to have consideration for the affect these fireworks have which in many cases lasts well beyond the date they are set off. PM will contact the Council in the first instance. Many people share the same opinion and it was also suggested that the local MP should be contacted for support as well as contacting the Council.

CP raised the state of the verges and road around the family walk, particularly at the T-junction opposite Thornby Grange, asking has the hunt been around that area as the vehicles cause a lot of damage. PM advised the hunt had not been since 28 December. PM agreed the point can be made again.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 9pm.

11. Closure

The meeting was adjourned at 21:00 by PM.

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