Parish Magazine Update - January 2021
The following notice appears in the January 2021 Parish Magazine
Escrick Parish Council Update
Highways:
Skipwith Road speeding: A site meeting was held with a highways representative from North Yorkshire County Council. Several potential speed mitigation measures were discussed, the two most feasible being (a) the construction of a ‘village gateway’ (fences either side of the road, with a narrowing painted on the road), and/or (b) a ‘build-out’ (like at Cawood, where the road is briefly narrowed to one lane). NYCC may have funding for the village gateway, but the Parish Council would need to fund a build out. The Council agreed to initially implement a ‘village gateway’ and to make budget provision for a build-out, if the gateway wasn’t effective alone.
20mph school zones: The County Council has amended its criteria for 20mph zones around schools. The Parish Council confirmed it supported a 20mph zone on Carr Lane in principle, subject to consultation on signage to avoid sign clutter.
Dangerous/inconsiderate parking: The Parish Council has received several reports of dangerous and inconsiderate parking in the village, but also concerns that traffic warden/police action is not very neighbourly given the ongoing pandemic. The Parish Council felt that given the public safety implications, residents should nonetheless report dangerous parking to the police via 101 or the safer neighbourhoods team.
Lorries passing through the village: Concerns were raised that lorries are passing through the village despite the 7.5T environmental weight restriction. It was explained that the 7.5T restriction does not apply to vehicles accessing sites within the restriction area, and that there was a lot of agricultural activity within the area, and the food processing plant near Thorganby, that may account for at least some of the traffic. It was agree to request that the police undertake spot checks to ascertain if there is a problem with lorries using the route unlawfully.
A19: The Parish Council is awaiting further discussion with City of York Council about a pedestrian crossing.
Bus stop:
The 415 is now using the bus laybys outside the SangThai. The Parish Council is working with City of York Council to get options for a bus shelter and lighting as a priority, and has agreed in principle to contribute to the cost of these.
Budget:
The Council has set its budget for 2020/21, increasing the precept from £19,000 to £20,000 per annum. The increase broadly reflects the increase in non-discretionary costs since the last increase 4 years ago. This will allow for around £6,000 of maintenance and discretionary spending. The key items budgeted for being a contribution to the cost of a bus shelter and lighting for the bus stops on the A19 and a contribution to costs of speed calming on Skipwith Road. See https://www.escrick.org/council/budget-2021 for more details.
Planning:
Selby District Council is expected to start a consultation early in the new year on its new ‘local plan’. This is a plan that sets out a vision and framework for future growth of Selby district, identifying where new housing, employment and other development could take place.
In early 2020 the District Council consulted on the issues and options, and in the summer land-owners were invited to submit any land to be considered for development. This allows the District Council to identify potential sites, before evaluating which of these potential sites are preferred. This takes into account a wide range of factors, from access to employment and services, through to flood plain and designations such as green belt. It also considers what infrastructure investments are required to support the proposed sites. For housing, national Government sets targets for the number of houses to be built, and the district council is required to produce a Local Plan that identifies sufficient sites to accommodate these.
In early 2021 the District Council will carry out a public consultation on the preferred sites. Several sites have been submitted for consideration within Escrick Parish. The Parish Council will endeavour to make residents aware and represent residents’ views when the consultation is published. More details on our website: https://www.escrick.org/council/selby-local-plan-2020/
In parallel with the Local Plan, the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group is making good progress on the Neighbourhood Plan for Escrick Parish. This will complement the Local Plan providing more local context, policies and design guidelines.
Playground:
The Council was made aware that the police were investigating reported breaches of social distancing legislation at the playground. As a result, a temporary ‘3pm until dusk’ closure was introduced during November. This has now been lifted. The Council has worked hard to keep the facility open for residents, and it is important that our rules and national legislation are complied with to achieve this.
Vacancies: We have three vacancies for Parish Councillors. Please contact the clerk or chair if you are interested in getting involved.
Parish Council meeting dates: 4th January, 1st February, and 1st March. All meetings at 7.30pm online. Public welcome. Contact: Clerk (Sally Look), clerk@escrick.org, Chair (Richard Rowson), chair@escrick.org; Website: escrick.org