MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF BILLINGTON AND LANGHO PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON
Monday, 30th June 2025 at 7.15pm
AT THE COMMUNITY HALL
PRESENT
Parish Councillors. Brian Haworth (chair), Martin Hincks, Eva McPrice, John Aspden, Dennis Johnson, Michael Collins Cllr Steve Farmer, Cllr Tony Austin. Katie Swingewood.
In attendance – Two members of the public. R Greenwood clerk
ITEM 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
There were no apologies for absence .
ITEM 2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
- Register of Interests – Councillors were reminded of the need to update their register of interests.
- No members disclosed a personal interest in any matter to be discussed at the meeting.
ITEM 3 ACCEPTANCE OF THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING
3.1 Minutes of the meeting held May 26th 2025 were accepted and signed as a true record.
ITEM 4 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
4.1 Mr Baron, speed campaigner for Whinney Lane and Snodworth Road, attended the meeting to request that is there was unallocated money in the Community Infrastructure Levie Fund (CIL) that it was a project to reduce speed on Snodworth Road / Whinney Lane be considered. Cllr Tony Austin will look into this, and if it is available will be put on a future agenda.
4.2 Mr Renwick of Luna Developments, Whalley, attended the meeting to discuss a planning application proposal. This will be for the land opposite Northcote Hotel. The development proposed is for a petrol station, EV station, and employment units (as they have previously done in Barrow and Altham). With this will be an obligation for employing local people and for the units to be occupied by local residents.
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ITEM 5 PLAYGROUNDS
5.1 No report was received from the Lengthsman.
5.2 There were more reports of dogs in Langho Playground.
5.3 The grass cutting contract with RVBC was signed for the next financial year. This will be £2520.17
5.4 An incident was reported to the Police and the Parish Council where a car was driven onto the playground at Langho. From this the Parish Council is looking to install bollards on the ginnel at Bushburn Drive to prevent vehicles entering the playground.
5.5 A further incident of vehicles was reported, this was that parents are driving onto Langho Playground to the children’s area to pick up their children, this is not allowed and will be reported to the Police if seen.
ITEM 6 ACCOUNTS
6.1 The following cheques were presented for payment.
| Cheque 202651 | Void | |
| Cheque 202652 | C Walton Lengthsman | £318.00 |
| Cheque 202653 | N Haworth Old Langho Church | £500.00 |
| Cheque 202654 | Nurture for Cronshaw Common Knotweed | £120.00 |
| Cheque 202655 | Travel and office | £25.46 |
| Cheque 202656 | HMRC | £7.00 |
| Cheque 202657 | Clerk salary | £532.50 |
| Cheque 202658 | Community First Insurance | £788.17 |
6.2 The Concurrent Form was signed and will be processed to RVBC
6.3 The bank reconciliation and cash flow was presented.
ITEM 7 PLANNING
7.1 The following applications were received and considered.
| 3/2025/0432 | Birtwistle Terrace |
| 3/2025/0195 | 14 The Drive |
| 3/2025/0838 | St Augustines School |
| 3/2025/0304 | 2 Chapel Close |
| 3/2025/0487 | 19 Pendle View |
| 3/2025/0422 | Highwoods park |
7.1 The application for 300 homes was refused. Cllr Steve Farmer was thanked for his work.
7.2 Padel Courts at Mytton Fold – whilst the parish council recognises the need for economic development it was asked to represent the views of local residents who objected to this application. The application is to go back to the planning committee with a recommendation to grant the application.
ITEM 8 HIGHWAY
8.1 The sign at Pashmire Brow is buried in the hedge and will be reported to repair.
8.2 A59 towards Langho Roundabout – more reports about the state of the road, these have been unsuccessfully reported via the Love Clean Streets App but have been closed off. However the volume of potholes plus the large channel along the road make driving dangerous with cars swerving to avoid.
8.3 The blocked drains on Northcote Road have been cleared.
ITEM 9 SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE.
9.1 Stuart Howarth at RVBC was thanked for helping the clerk with the website and email issues now fully resolved.
9.2 It was resolved that the minutes of the meetings would not be put on social media – these will be placed on the notice boards and also on the website.
ITEM 10 OFFICERS REPORT
10.1 It was resolved that Cllr Austin represent the Parish Council at Parish Council Liaison Committee meetings.
10.1 There has been a report of cold callers knocking on doors on St Marys Drive asking to buy gold jewellery. This is a no cold calling area.
10.2 Fraud – Five local residents have been issued with solicitor’s letters demanding £10,000 for ground rents. Cllr Tony Austin is leading on this as this is a fraudulent request. Residents experiencing this are asked to contact either the clerk or Cllr Austin.
10.3 Digital Switchover Landline phones are switching to digital, which could stop telecare alarms working. Landline providers are here to help. If you or someone you know uses a telecare alarm, you must call the landline provider. They will help make sure alarms keep working through the switchover, for more information please see www.digitalphoneswitchover.com
10.4 It has been announced that former Cllr. Kathleen Robinson passed away earlier this month. She had represented the village on Ribble Valley Borough Council.
ITEM 11 FLOOD CONCERNS AND UPDATE
No items were discussed.
ITEM 12 CORRESPONDENCE.
12.1 All correspondence has been forwarded by email.
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ITEM 13 DATES OF NEXT MEETING. All at 7.15pm.
28th July 2025
25th August 2025 (additional date and bank holiday)
29th September 2025
27th October 2025
24th November 2025
The meeting closed at 20.18 hrs
