Cllr Iain Pead-Jowett was elected chairman and mayor of Middleham Town Council at its meeting on September 24.
The council expressed its thanks to Honor Byford for the time she had committed to it and to Middleham over the years prior to her recent resignation.
War Memorial. – Cllr Pead-Jowett thanked the group of people who had helped to clean the War Memorial in the church yard.
The Remembrance Sunday service will be at St Mary and St Alkeldas Church on November 9. It was noted that the council had already budgeted for a donation towards the cost of a Remembrance Day wreath.
Town Wastes. – A resident had reported that a car had been parked on the Town Wastes opposite the Castle for a long period of time taking up a parking space there. There were also three cars regularly parked along the wall side of the Castle causing parking issues for residents. The council will report this to North Yorkshire Council (NYC).
It was noted that resurfacing works to the sports field track were due to take place in October and it was anticipated that these would take approximately a week to complete.
Traffic issues. – The council agreed to contact the highways department at NYC about how to solve incorrect traffic movements between St Alkeldas and The Springs. It was noted that satellite navigation systems were sending drivers the incorrect way along that stretch of road.
There were reports of children scratching cars in Park Lane. And that grass had been churned up on the gallops between Ashgill equestrian and Middleham Low Moor car park at the top of Hollins. Councillors were told that this was caused by cars being driven onto the grass as the road was in need of repair.
Christmas Lights. – It was reported that some Christmas Lights had come loose on a building in the town. Quotes will be obtained to get these fixed.
The Christmas Fair will be in the Key Centre from 10am to 4pm on December 7. The Children’s Christmas Party, also in the Key Centre, will be from 2pm to 4pm on December 20.
BT Phone Box. – The council had been informed that the adoption of the BT phone box was now on hold as North Yorkshire Council had requested that BT review the decision to decommission it.
Parish merger. – The councillors agreed to respond to the NYC Community Governance Review that they felt it would be better for Spennithorne Parish Council to merge with that of Harmby due to their proximity. They did not believe Middleham would be a good fit.
Neighbourhood Plan. – It was agreed to not go ahead with creating a Neighbourhood Plan at present due to time constraints and finances. A Neighbourhood Plan working group will not, therefore, be set up.
Community areas. – Following reports that the play area and the burial ground was being misused by dog owners it was agreed to put notices on the cemetery noticeboard and on social media to try and deter such behaviour.
A sign will be purchased stating that no ball games should be played on the Park Lane play area.
It was agreed that one of the benches bought with Lower Wensleydale Area Partnership funding should be placed in the new burial ground. The council is awaiting information on the consent required for placing the second one on the Busks.
Councillors thanked the resident who had placed dog fouling stickers at problem areas around Middleham to try and deter the problem.
Next meeting. – The next meeting will be in the Key Centre at 6.30pm on Wednesday October 29.
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Whingeing about cars parking regularly on the town wastes…probably belong to residents! What a miserable waste of time. There are no time restrictions on the parking in the area and you can’t discriminate and prevent certain cars from being parked there, for whatever reason.
Honestly there are more pressing issues…drug abuse for one thing, the state of the road in front of the castle being another.