21/09/2023 – Thornby Parish Meeting
Thornby Parish Meeting
Date: 21st September 2023
Time: 19:30
Location: Village Hall
Attendees:
| Peter Moyes (Chair) | A Bennett |
| P Gates (Treasurer) | G Bennett |
| A Pallister (Minute taker) from item 6. | M Burdett |
| C Parkinson | M Hill |
| J Sherlock | S Cottle 8.30pm |
| R Sherlock | B Brooks |
| M Kingston | L Bucciero |
| A Richards |
Apologies:
| Apologies: | Guest attendees: |
| Miss Barlow | Kevin Parker WNC |
| G Goodlad | Jonathan Harris WNC |
| R Musson | |
| J Musson | |
| S Miller | |
| L Owens | |
| C Irving Swift WNC |
1. Welcome and Apologies
The chairman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone, noting the apologies received.
2. Minutes of the prior meeting 29th June 2023
The Chair summarised key points discussed at the prior meeting. JS proposed the minutes should be signed as an accurate record and this was seconded by AB. PM duly signed the minutes.
3. Matters Arising
The Chair noted matters discussed at the previous meeting.
The decision on the planning application for use of the proposed service station road to access three warehouses had not been decided.
The chair had been in contact with Guilsborough Surgery to ask if they would be able to provide some training in defibrator use. They hadn’t been too positive, but thought they might be able to help.
We will try to arrange for a representative of Northants Police to attend the meeting.
PM had been in contact with the Safer Roads Team about the Speed Camera van visiting the village again now that the Red Lion entrance works are completed. They have agreed to visit the village regularly and will vary the time of day in which they visit.
4. Finance
PM updated the meeting that the Annual Governance & Accountability Review had taken place and all stages complied with. We had received an acknowledgement of receipt.
PG as treasurer updated the meeting that the bank balance stood at £6238. PM thanked PG for all his work as treasurer of the meeting.
5. Traffic Update
MK updated the meeting on the latest data collected from the SID and shared a document (attached) that showed each SID location and the percentage of vehicles travelling between different speeds – 0-30, 31-40, 40+, both with the SIDs turned on and off. All of the locations showed a reduction in speeds between 5 & 22%. Following the decision taken at the last meeting, the working party will meet later in the year to discuss ways of purchasing a further SID/s to site on the A5199 in the dip below the Red Lion. The meeting expressed thanks for all that was being done to reduce vehicle speeds through the village. Concern was raised that when the new ring road, north of Northampton was finished more traffic will end up coming through the village to get to the A14.
PM had tried to contact Helen Howard – Kier/WNC re the new village gateways, but had been unable to. KP said that he had spoken to her recently and that the gateways are ‘in hand’, but he was unable to give any update on installation dates.
6. WNC new electoral arrangements
The re-drawing of West Northamptonshire’s Ward boundaries is now completed, apart from rubber stamping at government level; Thornby’s new ward is smaller and will only have one councillor, but it will include Guilsborough, Creaton and Spratton. This comes into effect in 2025, until then it remains as Brixworth ward with three councillors. It is the largest rural area in West Northants.
A Community Governance review will take place in 2024. PM confirmed that Thornby had been invited to take part in the process and we had responded to say yes, the village wished to take part. PM has now responded based on the questions posed – the response was ‘no’ to all questions, in that we wished to remain as we are. A Parish Meeting, with no changes to our Parish boundaries and no wish to merge with another Parish.
7. Discussion with WNC Ward Councillors
Cllr. Jonathan Harris introduced himself and went on to explain there are three councillors in the ward. The budget for this year had received a £50k uplift, as WNC is now a unitary council, it must fund Adult and Child Social care. These services are expensive and account for 54% of the total annual budget. The Children’s Trust is paid for by WNC and there are 1200 children in care at significant cost. Foster care is £800 per week and for special needs this rises to between £8k and £10k per week. This adult and child social care is a statutory cost, and this year will amount to £23m across the West and North Council areas.
Temporary housing has seen a spike in demand and the cost-of-living crisis has been a factor in this. PG asked if all the new houses being built are generating rates; JH confirmed that this is built into the budget but whilst it increases income, these houses also create additional cost, such as refuse collections for example.
There was a question about the development at Boughton Crossing and that it had stalled, this is because the builder went bust.
JH reported that spending on the roads is on budget at WNC.
AB raised a point about the house building plan for Naseby which expires in 2026 and the worry about the huge development proposed which is concerning the whole village and will affect the surrounding villages. JH confirmed that Naseby has just agreed to create a development plan and the current plan is still in place until 2029. The new development could see 6k to 10k house on top of the current plan, potentially being built up to 2041. Neighbourhood plans are part of the mix.
Cllr Kevin Parker gave an update on the budget figures; the Children’s Trust is a Charity with independent trustees and is not accountable to WNC. JS asked what the ‘opportunities’ are that are alluded to in the budget and KP advised that he would send a full response to the Chair (PM) for circulation to villagers as required. Some concerns were raised about a Charity which is taking such a huge share of the council budget and is not accountable to the council in respect of this taxpayers’ money. KP confirmed that this has also been raised internally at the council.
8. Village Events
This is a standing agenda item, to talk about new or planned events, as well as those that have taken place. The most recent event has been the Beer Festival, held at the Red Lion. Simon Cottle has attended to update the meeting from his perspective, to let everyone know how it went, issues raised and any modifications for future.
SC has been landlord at the Red Lion for thirteen years and 2023 was the ninth year the Beer Festival has taken place. The additional car parking available made a positive difference and SC noted thanks to Miss Barlow for the use of the field. SC also thanked the villagers for their support, particularly on the Sunday of the weekend, which had breakfasts, a bike meet, lunch and a quiz. Having this variety of activity on the Sunday made the day more successful.
Some issues had been raised over the course of the event, these were related to car parking, noise and music, litter and the amount of people attending. SC has noted the points raised and considered what can be done in future to make it better. Plans are as follows:
- Additional parking facilities
- Attendants on the road to direct traffic to the correct parking areas
- Police coning off areas of the village – to be explored
- Monitoring of the sound levels to try and control it further – sound tests had been undertaken to assess the noise levels based on current regulations
- Finishing promptly at 11pm – this will continue, there are no plans to extend the hours
SC added that licencing regulations for the event allows up to 499 visitors on a temporary basis. This number includes staff and is per day, although the number of attendees over the three days was 814. SC explained that he wants to rethink tickets sales to ensure locals and regulars attend and avoid groups coming in from further afield. It was noted that the new layout of the car park and outside area at the Red Lion had helped create more space to hold the event. There is a possibility of getting additional security, but this can sometimes cause issues that would not otherwise have arisen. Litter picking takes place every morning.
SC finished by informing the meeting that the event is very important for the pub’s business annually, adding he would be happy for the village to share in fund raising efforts over the weekend, for the good of all.
BB paid tribute to how the event is run and managed and the hard work of SC and his team, it is a great event and good for the village to have such a nice pub.
AB commented it was unfortunate that residents who had raised complaints anonymously were not in attendance at the meeting to discuss it.
AP added that it is important that villagers who do not go to the pub regularly are not all considered to be against it, as this is not the case; it is just that some people are regulars, and some go much less frequently but are nevertheless in support of having a village pub.
It was agreed that parking for safety and congestion reasons is an issue, and it would help to improve that, potentially by having parking attendants as SC had alluded to.
PM thanked SC for his helpful update and commented that there is so much more that unites village residents than divides.
9. Thornby website
At the previous meeting Russell Carr had raised a point about a village website, like those set up by neighbouring villages. There would be benefits for the Parish Meeting if there was a website to house various information, and to upload the agenda and minutes of the meetings etc. RC has offered to build and maintain a website at no cost to the village. PM asked for views about this idea. There was a discussion about the benefits of a website vs using the current village Facebook page; it was agreed that whilst many people do not use Facebook, it was felt that most village residents would have access to the internet and be able to access a website. It was agreed that a website would be beneficial only as long as it is kept up to date.
PM will speak to RC to progress this
10. Correspondence
PM noted the various items of correspondence received, which can be viewed by anyone who is interested. It has been recommended that the Public Spaces Orders should be passed. An update had been received about County Lines and a summary of recent crimes committed. Towcester Library has jobs available should anyone be aware of someone in that area seeking employment.
11. Any Other Business
RS pointed out that the drains down Naseby Road are blocked, particularly those along the verges going down the hill to the cottages on the right. PM noted this and reminded everyone that items like this can be reported on the Street Doctor website.
PM advised that the renovation work on the cottages on Naseby Road is due to begin, with the major work beginning from 9th October. Villagers expressed concern about works vehicles being parked along Naseby Road that may cause an obstruction and PM advised that an area was to be dug out in the Cottage drive area to accommodate site vehicles and future resident’s vehicles as far as possible.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.10hrs.
defibrillator festival finance Naseby parking planning police Red Lion traffic website WNC