Parish Council

Chairman's Report 2008-2009

The Parish Precept for 2008/09 was £9,000, unchanged from last year and will remain at £9,000 for 2009/10. Total expenditure was £13,638, leaving reserves of £2,548.

As usual, most of the precept was spent on the grass cutting of the village green, playing field and verges, lighting and public liability insurance. In addition, two capital projects were carried out. A paved footpath was built from Skipwith Road to the entrance of Gashouse Woods to enable residents to walk in the woods without having to venture onto the road. Secondly, the Victoria Jubilee Fountain at the junction of Main St with the A19 was renovated. Both projects were carried out within budget and have been well received by the residents.

A notice was distributed to all residents following a series of break-ins to both properties and vehicles in September.

Roads and Footpaths: The Highways Dept completed their study to look at the future development of the A19 from Selby to Crockey Hill. Although their initial recommendation was for traffic lights at the junction of Skipwith Road and the A19, a subsequent study found that this was too expensive and we are now expecting Vehicle Actuated Signs on the A19 warning speeding vehicles to slow down.

A questionnaire was sent out to all residents regarding the A19 bypass that had been proposed by a group of local landowners. 90% of respondents rejected the proposal. Our thanks go to all that took part in the survey.

Environment: Serious flooding took place in the village in June at the junction of Carr Lane and Main St which resulted in raw sewage being deposited in the primary school grounds. Parish councillors and local residents have had several meetings with our Member of Parliament John Grogan, Yorkshire Water and Selby District Council to try to persuade Yorkshire Water to upgrade the pumping facility. The seat at the bus stop near the church has been renovated.

Planning: There were few controversial planning applications this year with the majority of the applications for domestic extensions. The proposal for a health facility at the Parsonage was rejected by Selby District Council but this decision has been appealed.

Village Green: We received a grant from Breathing Spaces to improve the village green and its facilities. Work has been carried out on the pond area, the hedges surrounding the area have been layered and recently three picnic tables have been erected around the pond, and further improvements are planned for this summer.

Escrick Playing Field: The 10K run at the end of August was a great success and a significant fund raiser towards the adult trim trail the committee are working towards.