THE annual parish meeting, the annual parish council meeting and the usual bimonthly meeting of Crakehall with Langthorne Parish Council were held on May 5, 2021, by Zoom video conference). All six parish councillors, county councillor John Weighell, district councillor Mike Barningham, John Noone, and three parishioners were present.

The main points from the meetings are:

Cllr Shaw and Cllr Neale were re-elected as chairman and vice-chairman respectively for 2021/22. Lead responsibilities were assigned to members as follows: Road safety – Cllr Shaw; Grass cutting and trees – Cllr Mallinson; Village maintenance – Cllr Mallinson (Crakehall) / Cllr Stirke (Langthorne); Cemetery – Cllr Wilson; Playgrounds – Cllr Beal; Footpaths – Cllr Stirke; Social media – Cllr Mallinson.

The council noted with a mixture of annoyance and despair the lack of progress in repairing fences in Crakehall. The clerk will keep the pressure on North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) in an attempt to get matters resolved.

The work to a number of trees on The Green should be completed within a couple of weeks. The contractor will also be asked to have a look at the overhanging branch on a tree at the junction of Station Road and the A684 (although it was accepted that work to this tree and another one on The Batts may require an application to Hambleton District Council for approval).

No response had yet been received from NYCC about the concerns that heavy vehicles were causing significant damage to the road through The Green to Langthorne. The annual governance and accounting statements for 2020/21 which form, part of the external audit requirement, were approved. And, as income and expenditure both fell below £25,000 for 2020/21, an “exemption” will be claimed. However, all information will be posted on www.crakehall.org.uk as usual.

The police speed patrol had only visited the village twice (Little Crakehall only) in 2021 and had recorded only 23 speeding offences. Cllr Shaw will contact the police to ask if they could attend more frequently in future (and also at weekends when incidences of speeding seemed to be more frequent).

Councillors thanked Alan Godlee for his work in producing a new noticeboard for The Green and indeed for securing the supporting posts.

The flags on The Green marking the parking area for the police speed patrol van have been removed. Cllr Shaw will mark the entrance to the area off the road by white marking on the curbs. The vehicle activated sign has been deployed in the three locations in Crakehall in March, April and May. Eighty fifth percentile speeds remain around the usual levels: Great Crakehall – 30.9 mph; Little Crakehall – 32.3 mph; Hackforth Road – 29.3 mph.

Concerns about the erosion of The Green outside Manor House Farm were noted. The situation had deteriorated since the removal of white stones with cars now being parked on The Green whilst their owners collected their children from school. This had led to occasions where access to driveways was not possible for residents. Councillors agreed that additional posts were necessary and also some signs on some posts to ask that access to properties should be maintained at all times. The council had also been alerted to the fact that “Residents only” parking signs have been attached to white posts alongside The Green near the garage and the Old Post Office. As these had not been authorised and it was not known who had placed the signs, it was agreed that letters should be delivered to all nearby properties asking for the signs to be removed. A resident had raised concerns about cars parked on the lane alongside the church and very close to the junction with the A684 at school drop off and collection time. The head of the school will be asked to advise parents of the concerns. Cllr Beal suggested that consideration be given at the next meeting to the relationship between the reality of increased motor vehicle use and the on-going protection of The Green.

Approval for the use of The Green was given to the Bay Horse for a summer festival to be held on July 17 and 18.

And finally, after many years of voluntary service, Myra Shield has announced that she would like to retire from her work as cemetery administrator sometime within the next year. The council and the community are immensely indebted to Myra for her commitment, competence and sensitivity. The council is keen for a smooth transition by identifying a replacement asap (so that they may shadow Myra to “learn the ropes”). Anyone interested is asked to please contact Myra (myrashield@btinternet.com) or the clerk (cwlpc.clerk@gmail.com) for further information about the role.

The next meeting of the parish council will be held on Wednesday, July 21 (all being well) in the village hall at 7.30pm.

The day after the meeting, Highways confirmed that road markings on the A684 through the village will be “refreshed” as soon as possible (pending a full re-surfacing now scheduled for mid-October at the earliest).