Brafferton & Helperby Parish Council
Chairman’s report for the year ending 31st March 2021
Welcome to the Annual Parishioners’ Meeting and the first ‘in person’ public meeting in our village hall since our last socially distanced Parish Council meeting in March 2020. Today is a very welcome step back towards some semblance of normality. Let us hope progress continues.
This is my Chairman’s report for the period 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021.
Covid – 19
I can’t start this report without first mentioning the pandemic as it has had such a dramatic impact on all of our lives in countless different ways. We have had to undergo many restrictions on our freedoms. The pain of not being able to see family and friends. Restrictions on where we could go and what we could do. The impact on businesses and jobs. Worst of all, the fear of losing loved ones to Covid and for some the actual pain of losing someone close to us. This situation made so much worse by not being able to say goodbye in the way that we would have wished and not to have been able to comfort those we love in the normal way.
Thinking back to the early days of lockdown when everything was so uncertain and there was a genuine apprehension in the air, I can remember thinking to myself how lucky I was to be living in our village and to be able to count on such a robust community spirit. We are truly fortunate to live where we do because it has a close and caring community which steps up when things need to be done. It is a special place to live and work.
So, I’d like to start with some thanks:
- Firstly, I’d like to thank those in our community who are key workers and who have kept things going for us all throughout the ups and downs of lockdown.
- I’d like to thank Roger Clements our Clerk who put so much time and effort into organising our Council’s response to the lockdown, organising volunteers, liaising with the local Authorities and generally being proactive to identify anyone who was having difficulties and then doing something about it.
- Thank you to the 50 or so people who put themselves forward as volunteers without hesitation to help in whatever capacity was needed, for example picking up prescriptions for those who were vulnerable. Many of you were not needed, but your willingness to help was an important example for everybody.
- Thank you Sue Smith for having the get up and go to establish the Foodbank which is still running and recently celebrated its 1st anniversary.
- Thank you Paul Considine for painting the village’s benches and the gates to the Sports Ground during lockdown. Everything looks much smarter.
- Thank you Liv Spilman and your team for putting together a village grocery supply drop at the village hall in the early days of lockdown when it all felt rather uncertain how we would maintain our grocery supplies and there were large queues everywhere. You even had loo paper – that precious commodity!
- Thanks to the postmen and ladies for boosting village morale with their costumes.
- Finally, I’d like to thank those of you in the village who have just got on and helped out your neighbour or your friend because that what you do in a village. It all made a difference.
Parish Council Business
The country entered the first lockdown shortly before this period started on the 23rd of March 2020. Since that time until now your Parish Council has met virtually on Zoom and continued to conduct all its business without interruption. The ability to have virtual Council meetings has been a real success.
From 6th May 2021 onwards it is a legislative requirement that we meet in person. However, your Council would support the introduction of new legislation that would allow flexible hybrid meetings enabling both Councillors and the public to attend virtually.
Parish Councillors
The Parish Council had two Councillors step down during the year:
- Councillor Andy Topps
- Councillor Chris Owens
I’d like to thank them both for their service to the community and wish Chris and Lynn Owens well in their new home.
We welcomed onto the Council:
- Councillor Jean Featherstone
- Councillor Dierdre Brown
I’d like to thank them both for putting themselves forward to serve the community as Parish Councillors.
Transfer of Assets to the Community
Some of you may be aware that the Lord of the Manor of Helperby is represented by the Church Commissioners. Over the years the ownership of the majority of land in the Manor of Helperby has been disposed of and is now in multiple private ownerships. However, there remained areas of what is termed ‘manorial waste’. Importantly for the community most of the manorial waste in the township of Helperby were the cobbles. In a way this historic and opaque ownership has resulted in the preservation of the cobbles and our striking street scene which is very much the hallmark of our village. In another way the lack of clarity meant that the street and the cobbled areas could not be managed effectively and the condition of the cobbles were deteriorating as individuals did their own thing. Had this been allowed to continue it would have threated our historic streets.
An important event has now happened which is the transfer of any interest that the Lords of the Manor of Helperby have in a number of areas to the Parish Council including:
- The cobbled public areas in Helperby on Main Street, Dunroyal, Drury Lane and the southern side of Bridge Street – with the exception of specific properties where ownership had been previously registered.
- The land on which the Fountain is built
- The Docks
- The Hornby
The trustees of the Village Hall also transferred the area of the cobbles around the war memorial to enable the Parish Council to manage the area properly. The users of the village hall of course retain full access rights.
For the first time ever, the Parish Council is able to manage Main Street and to implement a plan for the cobbles. This is a major step forward.
The renovation of the cobbles is a long-term project that will take many years, indeed the maintenance of the cobbles will be a continuous job. But the essential thing is that your Council now has the power to act and to preserve our history for future generations. It has been unable to do this for decades. This legal transfer was made possible through a grant of £4000 from Hambleton District Council’s ‘Making a Difference’ fund.
Registration of Allotments with the Land Registry
Some years ago a process of registering the allotments down the Raskelf Road was started by Helperby Parish Council. This Parish Council can report that the registration by the Land Register of the majority of those allotments is substantially advanced and we now await final first registration to be confirmed.
For those few allotments which are not yet registered because of disputes in ownership, your Parish Council will seek to clarify the position in the coming year.
Repairs to the cobbles
Work has commenced to improve the cobbles around the war memorial with the installation of the cut-off drain at the end of the village hall driveway. It is designed to take the surface water run-off from the driveway which was doing so much damage to the cobbles and causing widespread puddling.
The Parish Council worked with North Yorkshire County Council Highways Department and their Contractor to carefully plan the removal of the cobbles and the installation of the new drainage system. Thanks to the sterling work of two volunteers Steve Laux and John Featherstone the cobbles were removed the new drain installed and the cobbles re-laid using traditional methods. The drainage in that area is now much improved.
During the relaying of those cobbles a hitherto unknown medieval well was uncovered. It generated a good deal of interest from the community and the Yorkshire Post ran an article about it. The cobbles over the well have been re-laid in a circular pattern to mark the spot.
All the drainage work was completed through a grant of £5,000 from North Yorkshire County Council secured on our behalf thanks to Councillor Peter Sowray.
We learnt a great deal about the relaying of cobbles from the work that Steve and John did, and we will use that experience in formulating the plans for the repair and renewal of the cobbles going forward. The important thing to note is the importance of not using cement to embed the cobbles as this does not provide the flexibility to enable repairs and inevitably leads to significant deterioration.
A series of small repair works are planned this year which will make incremental repairs to some areas of cobbles. It is intended to undertake major repair work around the war memorial / Kirkholme when sufficient funds are in place and a contractor has been identified.
Trees
A tree survey has been carried out of all the trees in public areas in the village, including the small copse on Swale Green and along the riverbank. Following the survey some work was undertaken to address the issues raised. The Council now has a programme of surveys every 2 years to maintain the condition of the trees and the safety of the community.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s records show that there were approximately 20 trees lining village streets. Unfortunately, many of these were Ash and Elm which succumbed to disease. There was widespread public support for the idea of re-planting trees in the village to replace those that had been lost over many years. The Council wanted native trees and those which would not outgrow their location. We also decided that the trees we planted would be protected by tree guards. The risk of the trees being struck by vehicles is very high, and in the past, has resulted in trees being killed off.
We gave residents a choice of Rowan, Wild Cherry, Bird Cherry and Purple Leafed Plum and identified 5 x locations based on previous locations. I’d like to thank Steve Laux and John Featherstone for carefully removing the cobbles to enable the trees to be planted and for installing the tree guards. I think you will agree that the five trees planted along Main Street have added to our streetscape and will make Main Street even more attractive in the future as they grow.
Christmas Tree
Still on the subject of trees, you will remember that in December 2020 the Country was not in a great place with lockdown, closures and multiple restrictions on our lives. We needed cheering up and the subject of a village Christmas tree was raised. The Council received unanimous support for the idea of erecting a Christmas tree outside the Old Brewery next to the Parish noticeboards. Because we now owned the cobbles, we could place the Christmas tree there. Thanks to support from David Moorey and sons, Steve Laux, John Fox from Pete Nelson’s Garage and the Community Association the tree was duly erected and decorated. The HADDS owl was also given a starring role and a new perch. Chris and Lynn Owens were given the honour of switching the lights on before they moved away from the village. It was good to see it as a focal point for the village at Christmas.
I think this was a great example of the community coming together to do something worthwhile, and it cheered people up. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Parish Council and the Community Association we now own good Christmas tree lights. We shall erect another Christmas tree this year.
Village signs and flowers
As part of the Parish Council’s drive to improve the environs of the village three sets of volunteers have undertaken to look after one of the village entrance signs each. You will have seen areas being tidied up, bulbs being planted and planters arranged. Hopefully, everyone will have enjoyed seeing a splash of colour when entering the village as the daffodils bloomed, and all of this will no doubt develop over time. I’d like to thank the Lauxes, the Featherstones and the Costellos for their time and effort in improving these areas.
Neighbourhood Watch
We are fortunate to live in a low crime area here in the village, but there have been peaks of criminal activity in the past and vigilance is needed to keep people aware of current issues and to keep a look out particularly for vulnerable members of our Community.
The village had a Neighbourhood Watch scheme for many years, but recently it was inactive. I’m very pleased to report, that thanks to the efforts of Councillor Matt Boyle the village Neighbourhood Watch has been reactivated. We now have regular bulletins for the Village Magazine and on the village Facebook page.
I’d like to thank Matt for rejuvenating this important part of our village network, liaising with the police and for raising our awareness of things that contribute to community safety and security. If you want to report anything to the Neighbourhood Watch, Matt can be contacted through Facebook, his contact details are also published in the village Magazine and we will be posting his contact details on the Parish noticeboard.
Village Magazine
I have just mentioned the Magazine. We have had an unfortunate gap in the production of a village magazine in recent years and we felt the absence of a Parish magazine during lockdown. I’d like to thank Roger Clements our Clerk for producing a series of Parish Council newsletters during the lockdowns which served to keep people informed, but we knew that this was not the same thing as a proper village magazine.
Jess Haynes has kindly stepped up to be the editor of the new Village Magazine and it is a much welcomed return to something that many people in the village have missed.
We were fortunate in having the support of Councillor Peter Sowray and North Yorkshire County Council with a grant of £358 from the Locality Budget to help kick start the first couple of month’s production. We wish the Magazine well. After lockdown we all understand the importance of this village based communication.
Traffic management
One of the very few plus points of Covid has been the reduction in traffic volume through the village. Traffic speeds and volume of traffic cause concern for many families. Main Street is a particular concern, especially for those walking young children to/from school.
In order to plan a suitable response to try and reduce traffic speeds, we need to be able to prove our case and for this we need data. The Parish Council agreed to undertake traffic speed and volume testing on Main Street last year, but due to the reduction in traffic volumes because of lockdown it was felt that we would not obtain data that properly reflected the normal traffic situation in Main Street.
Now we are beginning to open up, we will be capturing traffic speeds and volumes in Main Street which will inform the Parish Council how best to proceed with managing traffic.
Neighbourhood Plan
The Parish Council and the community in general have had to consider a number of planning applications for housing in the village in recent months. We know that our village is a special place to live and work but at times it feels that these developments are just imposed on the village and people don’t have any say. We live in a conservation village which needs to be protected and enhanced.
The development of a Neighbourhood Plan would give our community more direct power to develop a shared vision for our neighbourhood and to shape the development and growth of our village. It must align with the District Plan, but the development of a Neighbourhood Plan enables the community to choose where they want new homes, shops, or offices to be built, have its say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided. It does not mean that new development can be necessarily be blocked, but it does mean more of a say in what happens and being able to determine where development takes place and what can be developed. Your Parish Council felt that it would be a good idea to start the process of formulating a Neighbourhood Plan to enable the community to have more of a say about development that is proposed here.
We passed round a proposed Neighbourhood Plan area to every property in the Parish and we are in the process of submitting this for approval to Hambleton District Council for approval as the designated Neighbourhood Plan area. We hope to be able to report progress next year.
Conclusion
As you have heard, in spite of lockdown, the Parish Council has been busy and much has been achieved and we have a busy programme to undertake this year.
To conclude, I’d like to thank all the Councillors who have each played their part in actively serving the community and supporting me as Chairman. We will continue to do our best to keep Brafferton & Helperby as a special place to live.
Nigel Denison
Chairman
