Minutes of a meeting of the
FINANCE, PLANNING & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
OF RAINFORD PARISH COUNCIL
held in the Council Chamber at Rainford Village Hall on Wednesday 10 July 2024 at 6.30pm
Present: Councillors: Bardsley, Long (Chairman), Stockton-Pugh
In attendance: Sally Powell (Clerk)
- Apologies for absence:
Councillor Bimpson (Away), Councillor Denton (Away), Councillor Dodson (Business), Councillor Lee (Business)
- Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2024:
The minutes of the meeting held on 12.06.2024 were agreed as a true and accurate record, proposed by Councillor Bardsley, seconded by Councillor Stockton-Pugh and carried unanimously.
Action: The Clerk
- Plans:
The following application has been refused:
P/2024/0217/HHFP Two storey side extension, single storey rear extension and a single storey front extension (amended proposal)
8 Whalley Avenue
The proposed two storey side extension by virtue of its scale, design and massing would have a detrimental impact upon the residential amenity for the occupiers of the dwellings on Pilkington Street, reducing the openness of the corner junction, and would not respect the character of the original dwelling contrary to the Householder Supplementary Planning Document and policy LPD04 of the St Helens Local Plan.
- Miller Homes Development:
A small group of Councillors and 2 residents met on 27.06.2024 to discuss the discharge of conditions by Miller Homes for P/2022/0461/FUL. The Parish Council is sending comments regarding each application to discharge a condition. See Appendix 1 for full details
- Clerk’s Report:
The following report was circulated with the agenda. Additions are in italics:
- Information regarding the air-conditioning units is still awaited.
- Work continues gathering photographs and other memorabilia for the 50 years of the Parish Council exhibition.
- The electricity meter needs to be upgraded. A large hole was dug at the side of the building blocking the disabled access. The work was completed on 11.05.2024. The smart meter will be installed on 11.07.2024. The planning appeal submission for 169 Ormskirk Road was lodged on the Planning Inspectorate portal.
- The Co-op Community Funda and Whitemoss grants are open for applications. Consideration will be given to the criteria, and applications submitted as appropriate.
- The images for the Reception Room have been submitted.
- A letter was sent to The Golden Lion asking them to contact the Parish Council regarding the marquee that has been erected at the rear of the pub. No response has been received to date. There was a short discussion. The situation will be monitored to see if the marquee is taken down after the Euros have finished.
- The software used in the Clerk’s office has been upgraded to Microsoft 365.
- The subscription for QR codes has been taken out.
- Rainford CE Primary was contacted, and the school is not looking for funding for the additional
2.5 hours for the School Crossing Patrol.
- The Events Manager’s probation period ends on 31.07.2024. There was a short discussion. It was agreed that The Chairwoman, the Chairman of the FPA committee and the Clerk would meet with her on 31.07.2024.
Action: The Clerk
- Income & Expenditure for June 2024:
See Appendix 2 for full details
Receipts: £ 12,881.73
Payments: £9,489.26
Bank balances @ 30.06.2024:
Current Account: £ 5,555.87
Business Savings Account: £106,380.98
The payments do not include staff costs for as the documentation had not been received from St Helens Council before the end of the month.
Other financial matters
- The Clerk requested that the agreement to reduce her hours was implemented from 01.08.2024. Following a short discussion, this was agreed.
- Little Italy have spoken to the Event Manager about the possibility of having a ‘Pop-Up stall’ outside the Village Hall on a regular basis. There was a short discussion, and it was agreed that this would be a good idea and the Event Manager should continue negotiations.
- There was a discussion regarding the used of the Main Hall by Rainford Band for rehearsals. The Clerk had been informed that the band may not be available for the usual Chairpersons fund-raising concert. As there is no longer a Councillor involved with the fund-raising for the band, who has keys to the hall, it was considered inappropriate for the band to have free use of the hall for rehearsals. The Clerk had reminded the band that it has free use of the hall once a year for a fund-raising event.
- There was a short discussion regarding Rainford organisations having free use of the hall once a year for a fund-raising event. It was agreed that this should be advertised to local organisations, so that they are aware of this option.
- The year end accounts for 2023/24 had been approved at an extraordinary Parish Council meeting on 10.07.2024.
- Village Hall Lease:
No further developments.
- 5-year Income Comparison:
As requested by Councillor Denton, the Clerk had produced a 5-year income comparison document:
There was a short discussion. As Councillor Denton was unable to attend the meeting, this will be further discussed at the meeting on 14.08.2024.
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 7pm
_______________________________
Councillor John Long
Chairman, Finance, Planning &Administration Committee
Rainford Parish Council 2024/25
APPENDIX 1: Submissions to St Helens Council regarding the discharge of Conditions for P/2022/0461/FUL
The erection of 307 dwellings with associated access, public open space, sustainable urban drainage systems and other infrastructure.
Land Opposite 55 To 85 Rookery Lane Rainford St Helens
Condition 15: Discharge of Condition 15, ref C/2024/0059/CON
Miller Homes
Except for site clearance and remediation, no development shall take place until a scheme for the design of the internal walk and cycle paths and their connection works into the Rainford Linear Park has been submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Council as Local Planning Authority. For the avoidance of doubt, the works shall include:
- Location of least impact to existing trees for tie-in to Rainford Linear Park; and
- LTN1/20 compliance in terms of any surfacing, signage and any barriers, etc.
- LTN1/20 compliance in terms of visibility splays for tie-in to Higher Lane
- LTN1/20 compliance in terms of gulley covers for tie-in to Higher Lane, to ensure they do not catch bicycle wheels
The approved scheme(s) shall subsequently be constructed (to agreed course surfacing levels) and completed in accordance with the phasing plan approved by condition 9. The routes shall be kept available for use at all times.
Rainford Parish Council wish to object to the discharge of Condition 15 on the following grounds:
- Problem 1-5 item (2) of the Road Safety Audit carried out by Jonathan Birkett of Meraki Alliance Ltd, raised concerns regarding the visibility of cyclists exiting the cycleway onto Higher Lane. Richard Skitt from Mott Macdonald also commented on this.
Miller Homes even state in their application that the proposed visibility splay clashes with the existing stone wall and piers. Additionally, the drawing produced by SCP also indicates this problem. Rainford Parish Council suggest that to solve this issue, Miller Homes should be instructed to dismantle the stone piers and stone wall and reconstruct them further back on the development land, in the same way as they are doing at the site entrance on Higher Lane. This would only need to be done from the stone piers east to the boundary of Dial House Wood. The stone wall adjacent to Dial House Wood can be retained and would therefore not have an impact on Dial House Wood and the existing TPO trees. Furthermore, moving the wall would mean that the issues with the narrow footway on Higher Lane at this point, would be resolved as the footway on the side of Dial House is <1m. It is not possible to widen the footway at this location. The footway opposite Dial House is also <1m in some places. Therefore, moving the stone piers and stone wall will allow Miller Homes construct a 2m footway in this section, as they are doing around the perimeter of the development. The road safety issues of the narrow footway along this section of Higher Lane were recently illustrated when a school bus broke down and the children had to walk to school along Higher Lane.
There appears to be one section on the development where there is no footway, and as there is no footway on Higher Lane at this point, there should be one within the internal development, and there is space for a footway in this section. This would also provide fulfilment of the condition in the Local Plan that there must be a footway opposite Footpath 831.
The Miller Homes development will create a greatly increased amount of pedestrian traffic across and around the surrounding roads. It is essential that a 2m footway is constructed to provide safety for pedestrians, including pushchair and wheelchair users. Rainford Parish Council request that these imperative road safety matters are considered when reviewing this application from Miller Homes.
- There is no schedule for the phasing aspect of the condition. As the agreed public open spaces and amenities will be providing facilities for the site during the course of the build, the timetable of their provision, particularly for earlier residents, is crucial.
- The diagrams show that the builders’ compounds are located where the play area will be. If this is not altered, it will not be possible for the applicants to deliver Condition 15.
- It would appear that Condition 15 cannot be approved until Condition 9 is submitted, which it has not been, as yet.
Sent 01.07.2024
Condition 3: Discharge of Condition 3, ref C/2024/0061/CON
Notwithstanding the approved plans, a detailed scheme shall be submitted and approved in writing to the Local Planning Authority of how the existing boundary will be re-built to accommodate the new vehicular access on Higher Lane. This scheme needs to incorporate exact locations, elevations, and material details.
The approved scheme shall be implemented in full prior to first occupation.
Rainford Parish Council is very much in favour of the changes made to the new site entrance on Higher Lane. Members applaud St Helens Council for recognising that the existing stone walls and piers in this location are part of Rainford’s heritage, and insisting that they are removed by hand, stored safely, and used to rebuild the entrance curved wall, with the remaining stone wall retained as shown on drawing RAIN-EFW-01 Issue C.
Sent 03.07.2024
Appendix 2: Receipts and Payments for June 2024
