Aysgarth and District Parish Council will apply for a grant from the Upper Dales Area Partnership to help towards the cost of maintaining the four community defibrillators in its area.
The parish council was informed by Pip Land (one of the community defibrillator guardians) that in the next year it was possible that the batteries and the pads for those at Aysgarth, Thoralby, Thornton Rust and Newbiggin in Bishopdale, will need replacing. The cost of a battery is £165 and £21 for a set of pads (excluding VAT).
The original agreement was that Yorkshire Ambulance Service would supply the first battery and the first two sets of pads for each community defibrillator and that has been done, she said.
Cllr Peter Windle enquired as to when the parish council had agreed to pay for the ongoing maintenance costs.
County councillor John Blackie said that another Dales’ parish council had successfully applied for a grant from the Upper Dales Area Partnership (UDAP) towards such maintenance costs.
It was agreed, therefore, to apply for a grant from UDAP for the cost of the batteries and that the parish council would pay for new pads.
Phone boxes. – Cllr Blackie delivered the paint kits for the BT phone boxes at Castle Bolton and Thoralby. These were supplied as part of the BT Paint a Phone Box Project.
The chairman, Cllr John Dinsdale, reported that the phone box at Thornton Rust was painted by Mark Sheard last year.
Village benches. – At the Aysgarth Township and Thornton Rust parish meetings there were requests for village benches to be maintained.
The parish council agreed that Cllrs Dinsdale and Robert Walker would carry out an inspection of benches in both villages and that a barrel of varnish could be purchased.
Thornton Rust. – Cllr Dinsdale reported that villagers had finished tidying up the Outgang car park and had benches installed. He said that Thornton Rust parish meeting had requested another dog waste bin.
Thoralby. – At Thoralby parish meeting Cllr Linda Cooper had proposed that extra parking for up to six cars could potentially be provided if an area of raised ground in Low Green Lane was levelled and suitably surfaced.
The discussion at the parish meeting included the need for a site meeting, the cost, the practicality of the project, and whether planning permission was needed. It was agreed that Cllr Cooper and Cllr Brian McGregor should hold a site meeting during which the area would be measured. They will then report back to the parish council.
It was reported that Low Green Bridge and Westfield Lane needed repairing.
Newbiggin. – The county council’s highways department had informed the parish council that patching work would be carried out on the road between Street Head Inn and Newbiggin.
Funds were not, however, available to do any more than the local safety repairs currently being actioned, it stated.
Aysgarth. – It was reported that Yorkshire Water had found that a fat trap was not causing the drainage problems beside the George and Dragon. The parish council’s clerk and District councillor Yvonne Peacock will ask for further investigations to be carried out.
Cllr David Wood said that there was a blocked drain outside Kelspring on the Thornton Rust road.
The details of a sign to be placed on a wall overlooking the parking spaces near Aysgarth Surgery were agreed. This will state: Doctors Surgery, patient parking only Mon -Fri.
Cllr Walker reported that he had replaced the bulb in the solar-powered street light near the surgery but it had stopped working after three weeks. He hoped the next bulb would last longer! Both he and Cllr Wood were thanked for fixing the light.
Parish council. – At the beginning of the meeting a one-minute’s silence was held in memory of two former parish councillors, Tom Knowles and Fred Thwaites.
Fran Cartwright was welcomed as the new clerk. She and Gill Harrison, who she is taking over from, shared the clerk duties at the meeting.
Next meeting. – The annual general meeting of the parish council will be held in Aysgarth Institute at 7.30pm on Thursday May 31.
