Work on a Community Led Plan began in autumn 2011 and the plan was completed last year. The plan showed that people in the town wanted to see the former library building in Church Street refurbished for community use. Subsequently the Town Council had plans drawn up and these were displayed in the library in order to give everyone the opportunity to comment on them. The plans were displayed again after they had been approved and regular updates have been given so that the community has been kept fully informed throughout the work
The subject of parking was identified as a concern in the CLP and discussed at the town meeting last year. We have tried to improve the situation in a number of ways but little progress has been made. We discussed buying the carpark from RDC. However they valued it at £100,000 and we did not consider it feasible to pursue this option.
We were unsuccessful in our discussions with the British Legion about making their car park available for businesses, as they wanted to keep the area free for use by the blood bank and mammography vehicles. We have had lengthy discussions with NYCC about on street parking and consultation with the residents of Piercy End was carried out in February 2014, with 82% of respondents in favour of the proposal of having markers on the cobbles. These findings have been submitted to NYCC Highways to progress the matter.
In June last year the council resolved to ask NYCC to consult people in the town about imposing short stay restrictions on the cobbles in the centre of the town between West End and Tinley Garth and on the road from Spa to the Methodist Church. This consultation has not yet taken place and the reasons given by the NYCC are a backlog of other projects and staff shortages. They say they hope to begin the consultation shortly.
The Town Council has taken on responsibility for administration of the Sportsfield and has set up a committee to facilitate this. Savings have been made for the clubs by including the field on the council’s insurance schedule and we are in the process of signing a lease with individual clubs for their buildings and the areas of the field that they use.
The Council keeps a close eye on expenditure throughout the year and always endeavours to provide good value for money. When the budget was set for the current financial year we agreed to reduce our expenditure from £77,000 last year to £76,500 this year. However you will have noticed that there has been an increase in the amount that you pay to the Town Council through your council tax. This is due to RDC passing on only 50% of the grant that they receive from central government for town and parish councils, rather than the 100%, which they passed on last year.
During the past year the council has awarded grants to All Saints Church, Ryedale Carers Support, Next Steps a mental health group that meets in the town, the Kirkbymoorside Cricket and Junior Football Clubs, the 10K Run, the history group and the Environment Group.
It has been necessary to replace streetlights on Westfields, repair lights on Swineherd Lane and replace litterbins at Old Road and the play area.
The design for new “Welcome to Kirkbymoorside” signs was approved last year and the signs were erected in the summer. Feedback has been positive and market traders have said that they noticed an increase in trade after the signs went up.
Issues regarding the application by Gladman to build on fields to the west of the town have taken up a great deal of time during the past year. The current situation is that RDC’s planning committee refused Gladman’s third application and Gladman have now appealed against that decision. The judicial review into the granting of permission for the second application is on hold pending the outcome of the appeal. One piece of good news is that Gladman have withdrawn their challenge to the Local Plan Strategy.
There is nothing new to report regarding the Tesco store. Their spokesperson has told us that they plan to open the store next year.
In November last year the town clerk collected grant applications for section 106 funding from a number of organisations in the town and submitted them to RDC. Last month we heard that the applications have been successful and Ryedale will be contacting each club individually about how the money will be paid to them.
I would like to give you details about the cost to the community of the work that has been done here in the Moorside Room. The total cost of the work is just less than £80,000. Of that £40,000 was received from NYCC for refurbishment when the library moved to Church House, we will receive a grant from RDC of £20,000 through section 106 funding. The cost to the community and the money that will be paid from the Town Council’s reserves is £20,000, which I believe represents excellent value for money.
As you can see the Moorside Room has been beautifully refurbished and it is now available for community use. Booking forms are on the worktop and are available from Lisa at the Town Council office. We are keen to hear from any group or organisation that would like to use the room.
The open day last Saturday was very successful and the Made in Kirkby exhibition was seen by a large number of people. I’m grateful to Jim Wright for taking part in the exhibition and for leaving his beautiful paintings in place so that we can all enjoy them this evening
At this point I want to thank Lisa very much for all her work in putting the exhibition together, promoting the event, setting it up last Friday and doing everything to ensure it ran smoothly. This involved a great deal of extra work for Lisa at a very busy time of year. So thank you very much Lisa for your contribution to a very successful day.
I also want to thank our architect John Paul and the builders, Buffoni Hemmingfield for all their work on the project and also all our Town Councillors for their commitment to turning this building into something that would be a real asset to our community. In the Moorside Room I believe we have something of which the whole town can be very proud.
I would like to end my report by saying that it has been a great privilege to be your Town Mayor during the past year. I have enjoyed working with the Town Clerk and my fellow councillors and want to take this opportunity of thanking them for their work during the past year.
Mayor Chris Dowie.