CHAIRMAN'S REPORT TO THE ANNUAL ASSEMBLY -14TH APRIL 2005

The Parish Council met on 10 occasions during the past year; three of these were attended by District Councillor Bayliss, and four were attended by County Councillor Brewis. Parishioners were present on three occasions. The Council would like to see more Parishioners attend future meetings, and once again I would like to say that Parishioners are welcome to attend meetings.

During the past year our long serving Clerk to the Council, Pam Hubbard retired, and Christine Woodman replaced Pam as the Clerk. A presentation was made to Pam last May. A large number of Parishioners attended this presentation, which was made by the Mayor of Harrogate. Christine Woodman has settled in to her new position very well, and has made a positive contribution to the Council. On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank her for her excellent contribution, which has been made at a time of many changes to Parish Councils.

Peter Lupton also retired as a Councillor during the year. Peter had been a Councillor for many years, and worked very hard during this time. I would like to thank him for his efforts during his many years service, on behalf of the Council. Mike Mitton replaced Peter as Councillor, and we welcome him to the team.

I would like to thank all the Councillors for their hard work during the year. It can sometimes be a thankless task, but I do very much appreciate the support they have given me, and the support they have given to the Villages of Follifoot and Plompton.

PLOMPTON – The road safety scheme at Plompton was completed during the year, and we are satisfied with the end result. The tree planting was also completed during the year, and this will ensure a woodland for many years to come. The residents are to be congratulated on their efforts and thanked for their financial contribution.

A new road sign is to be placed at the entrance to the village, and this will be installed during the next month or two.

YORKSHIRE WATER – work was carried out in installing a new and larger pump at Kitty Corner, and since the installation of this there has been no complaints of smells. We will continue to monitor the situation throughout the summer, but we do hope that the new enlarged pump has solved the problem. A number of complaints have been made to Yorkshire Water about a water leak on the Plompton Road, about a hundred metres past the Church, where the water flows across the road right on the bend in the road. During periods of cold weather this freezes and creates extremely dangerous conditions. We will continue to complain to YW until they stop this leak.

HIGHWAYS – there have been a number of complaints by residents about the condition of roads, pavements, and overhanging trees during the year. Most have been dealt with promptly, however there are a number of problems still outstanding, and we continue to talk with NYCC about these problems. We still receive complaints about the noise created by heavy lorries passing up and down the Main Street. We have talked to NYCC about this, and various suggestions to alleviate the problems have been made to NYCC. We have also discussed the problem with the owners of the lorries, who do

everything they can to minimise the noise problem. We do feel that the best way forward is one of discussion and cooperation, and we do hope that NYCC will listen to our suggestions so that this problem is resolved for once and all.

The contribution of both The Rudding Estate, and Rudding Park, in supporting the village is greatly appreciated by the Parish Council. Both continue to cut verges for us, and clean and cut Kitty Corner, plus they contribute in many other ways. This is carried out on a voluntary basis.

GRASS CUTTING – the grass surrounding the Pound and the Village Green was satisfactory during 2004. Grant aid of £70 was made available towards the cost.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT – The Village clean-up was a great success last April , although it has to be said that the volunteers cleared a record amount of rubbish. I would like to thank all those volunteers who helped with this difficult, and messy task. This year there was not quite so much litter, although the day after the clean-up, quite a lot of litter had been deposited down the Knaresborough Road. It is our intention to try and obtain some litter bins from HBC.

Rudding Estate have resurfaced the area leading to and underneath Rudding Arch and re-grassed either side. This area really does look nice now, and the Arch is particularly beautiful at night when it is floodlit. It really does enhance the village.

A new bench has been placed on the public footpath which “runs” from The Paddocks to the old railway line. It is located in a place where anyone who sits there can have an excellent view of the Village. The Bench was donated by Mark Mackaness, in memory of his father.

The new footpath along the old railway line has now opened, and this creates a circular public footpath through some lovely countryside. It is a lovely path and will continue to improve with maturity. For those who have not taken this walk, I would thoroughly recommend it.

A Permissive footpath around the Cricket ground and through the woods to the Pannal Road was opened during the year, and this also has been deemed to be very successful, with many Parishioners now using this path.

It is possible that a children’s playground will be built on land near to the Cricket ground. This is in the very early stages of discussion, and there are a number of problems to be resolved, however this an exciting project, and will be a definite enhancement to the village.

FINANCE – generally our finances are in reasonable shape. As a Council we are very aware of our responsibilities, and we do keep a tight control on our costs.

A donation of £500 was made to the Village Hall Committee towards some new chairs that were badly needed in the Village Hall.

National Auditors completed the 2003/2004 to their satisfaction. Thanks are due to Peter Carney for continuing to act as our Internal Auditor.

A detailed Register of Village Assets was completed during the year, for Insurance purposes. The Register is available to any resident for inspection at any time.

PLANNING - thirty two applications, including appeals and re-submissions were referred to the Parish Council for comment. Most applications were for alterations or extensions.

GENERAL – numerous Government publications, both from Central and Local Offices, continue to be sent to the Council. All need to be assessed, as some are relevant to us, however many are not. We are sometimes nearly “buried” in paper.

We now have systems in place to comply with “The Freedom of Information Act” thanks to much hard work by Christine Woodman. Parishioners, or indeed anyone else, are able to see anything they wish from the Parish Council.

At the time of detailing the village assets, it was decided to sift through the Parish Council records that were stored in the basement of the Village Hall. Minutes of every Parish Council Meeting since 1896 have been maintained, and there were many records, photographs, old documents, maps, books, financial accounts and receipts dating back many years in the basement. These were slowly deteriorating in the dampness of the basement. NYCC offers a free archiving service, at North Allerton, where any old documents etc are stored in temperature and moisture controlled conditions. The Council decided to make use of these facilities, and all of the documents and Minute and Account books etc, are now there where they should remain in good condition. We are hoping that NYCC will carry out an inventory for us. I should stress that all that has been deposited by the Council remain in the ownership of Follifoot with Plompton Parish Council, and they are available for inspection at North Allerton during normal working hours by the general public.

The Council continues to use the Follifoot website to “post” information and notices. Thanks are due to Kevin Duckenfield for maintaining this on our behalf.

Meetings of the Local Councils Association have been attended. Their advice has been sought on numerous occasions, and we thank them for this.

I would like to thank David Hinchley for ensuring that the flag is “flying” on all occasions it is required. Brian Swailes and Peigi Kendall are due thanks for helping to keep the bus shelters clean and tidy. Thanks to Ann and Andy Dewsnip who help so many in the village, and also for their help to the Council. Thanks are also due to

Mr Leeming for keeping the area around the Stocks neat and tidy.

We welcome all newcomers to the village, and we do hope that they will become involved with village activities, and we hope that they enjoy living in our lovely village. Neighbourly involvement not only fosters good relations but it does help with security. We do have a new Community Policeman, and I have already had a meeting with him. We will welcome his involvement with Follifoot and Plompton. We do have a Neighbourhood Watch scheme and I, on behalf of Councillor Martin, will give a brief update on the Scheme later in the meeting.

Last, but not least, our District Councillor, Caroline Bayliss has been appointed the Mayor of Harrogate for the next 12 months. We are obviously very pleased about this, and we do pass on our sincere congratulations on behalf of the residents of Follifoot and Plompton.

As I mentioned before, special thanks are due to the Councillors for all their hard work, and for the support that they have given me.

Thank you.