Minutes of The Rountons Parish Council Meeting
East Rounton Village Hall Monday 4 September 2006

Present were Councillors D Lawton, C Hinton, A Gaudie, Anne Simpson and C Spencer, the Parish Clerk and 5 members of the public.

1 Apologies for Absence

There were no apologies for absence. The Chairman, Cllr D Lawton, welcomed Cllr Bridget Fortune and Cllr T Swales to the meeting.

2 Minutes of the meeting held on June 6 2006.

The Minutes of the last meeting which had previously been circulated were accepted by those present and signed by the Chairman.

3 Matters Arising

Some time ago, a letter concerning paintball activities had been sent by Cllr D Lawton to Crathorne Parish Council. No reply has as yet been received.

4 Planning

The website run by the Planning Department of Hambleton D. C. has proved difficult to use but hopefully the problems will be overcome and so allow easier access to planning documents. In yet another twist to the development of Swan House, it has been rumoured that it might revert to a public house once again. Apparently the licence had never been handed in when the present owners bought the property.

5 Finances

Mr R Semain has produced a balance sheet for the Rountons Parish Council. The new insurance policy has been taken out with the District Council with a saving of £ 63.52 It was noted that the War Memorial is now included on the Bell Estate policy. The ownership of the memorial is still unknown. Any replacement would cost in the region of £20 000 - £30 000.

Cllr Simpson proposed that a donation should be made to The Rountons website. She had been asked by Mr M Brown, who designed the site, to approach the Council on this matter. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Hinton and it was agreed to send £50 to the Village Hall Committee.

6 Election Charges

Some confusion over these charges had arisen partly as a result of the unclear wording of the letter which had been sent to all parish councils by the district council. Cllr Fortune and Cllr Swales were confident that in the case of the Rountons the charge would more likely to be in the region of the lower figure mentioned, that of £200. They were very critical of the manner in which the information ad been given to the parish councils, but indicated that all local authorities were to charge for parish council elections. These charges would be to cover the cost of printing voting cards etc.

7 The Appleton Wiske Trust Fund

Mrs M Spencer told the council that the fund was not running as smoothly as the committee would wish. Very few meetings had been held and in one instance money had not as yet been paid to a successful applicant. In addition the Trust Fund had lost its financial adviser. An advert for this post is to be placed in the parish magazine .

8 Correspondence

Early Day Motion. A letter has been received asking for support for high street businesses and against “out-of-town” developments. Cllr Lawton proposed that the Parish Council supports this motion and this was seconded by Cllr Simpson.
Local Development Framework. This had been discussed in Parish Council meetings on previous occasions. It would seem unlikely that any development would take place within the Rountons Parish except in special circumstances e.g. for the provision of dwellings for employees.
Cllr Lawton has emailed Ms M Foster of the Highways Agency for up-to –date information regarding the Black Swan crossing. It would appear that they are awaiting geotechnical information before the design can be finalised. It was thought possible that work could start by Christmas 2007. Cllr Simpson expressed the hope that the effects of increased traffic on local roads has been taken into account.

9 AOB

Cllr Lawton had sent thanks to Mr Eddy Hayward of the Thirsk Depot of the Environmental Services for repairing the tarmac footpaths in West Rounton. The signs for the re-routed footpath around Carrbridge Farm have now been erected. The route has not been totally finalised and comments can still be put forward until the end of September. Cllr Hinton asked if Cllr Lawton would write to the Village Hall Committee thanking them for an enjoyable Festival weekend. The Chairman thanked the Clerk for all her work over the last few years. She did indicate that, commitments permitting, she would help us out in the future.

The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Monday Dec 4 2006 The meeting ended at 20.50hrs