CHAIRMAN’S REPORT TO THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING FOR THE YEAR 2024/25
PRESENTED 14TH April 2025
I am Neil Lawrence, the Chairman of Upper Poppleton Parish Council. This report covers the activities of the Parish Council which have taken place over the last 12 months. The minutes of all Parish Council meetings are available on the Upper Poppleton website and the minutes of this Parish Meeting will also be published on the website.
In January of this year came the sad news that Stuart Robson had died.
Stuart had been a member of Upper Poppleton Parish Council since 2005. He was the chairman from 2014 until he stepped down in 2023. He was well known around the village and was very active in his chairman’s role. As well as chairing the Parish Council meetings with the attendant background work, he took the lead in organizing a number of major events such as the Queen’s Jubilee and the King’s Coronation celebrations on the Green. In addition to his Parish Council duties Stuart was a member of the Village Show committee and developed the vintage car display which drew in many visitors.
As the chairman who followed him, I am grateful for his friendly advice and clear point of view. He was a very good man.
He was a husband, father and grandfather and he will be missed by his family and his friends.
The first item is to report that the parish council has a full complement of nine councillors. All councillors are busy in various ways to try and improve life in the village.
An overview of all Parish Councillors can be found on the website.
Whilst we are on the subject of people, I would once again like to give thanks to the clerk James Mackman for the work he does not only for the Parish Council, but also for the village. As I have said previously his hard work and phenomenal memory is a great asset. He is of invaluable assistance both to me and also the whole parish council. I would like to thank him personally for all the help and support he provides.
On to Parish business.
Our income for 24/25 was just over £46,000 and £47,189 was either spent or committed. The overspend was caused by a payment which carried over from the 23/24 budget. Any residual money is in the Parish bank account. Some of this will be used for future projects and some is held in reserve to ensure that any unexpected expenditure can be covered.
The largest percentage of income at £36,000 comes from the City of York precept. The rest is from various sources including grants, VAT refunds, etc.
Over £10,500 of expenditure went on activities to maintain and improve the village such as grass cutting, tree planting, repairing and replacing seats and a host of other items.
The largest group of expenditure goes to donations to village activities and organisations. In 24/25 we donated over £13,000 to worthy causes such as the Community Trust, the Youth Club, All Saints Church and other local organisations. Again the details are on the website.
Last year we spent over £5,000 on repairing and making good the entrance to the car park at the Lord Collingwood pub. The car park is the responsibility of the Parish Council and we will be spending a significant amount of money re-surfacing the entire car park in 2025.
We also ensure that the Green is kept in good condition and the parish council is trying to find a solution to the mole problem on Chantry Green.
All the details of council expenditure can be found on the website.
Parking remains a problem in the whole village. As well as being an eyesore, some of the poor parking increases the risk to pedestrians and can also cause problems on the bus route.
The Parish Council continues to object to the daily parking fee at the station car park on the basis that it encourages people to park on Station Road which adds to an already congested thoroughfare.
A working group comprised of parish councillors and members of the public has recently been set up to review possible actions and activities to reduce and ultimately stop the village being used by motorists as a short cut or ‘rat run’. Using the village in this way leads to unsafe situations caused by speeding and congestions and also adds to the air pollution. Lobbying of York Council has started and proposals will be made by the parish council of steps which may be of use in stopping motorists from cutting through the village.
However, the village parking issues are intractable and until a workable and affordable solution can be found, it is up to residents to do their best to park correctly and considerately
The plan for Upper and Nether Poppleton to group together to form one Parish Council to represent the whole village has made little progress. The two Parish Meetings held in January 2024 voted unanimously in favour of grouping. Representations have been made to the City of York Council as a result of the vote but as yet and despite many emails, no progress has been made. The local MP Luke Charters has also become actively involved in trying to help. A new application was submitted to CYC on the 4th April and a positive and helpful reply is hoped for.
A joint biodiversity working group has recently been established with Nether Poppleton Parish Council. An article about biodiversity was included in the December 2024 Centrepiece. A good number of villagers have expressed an interest in joining this group and the first successful meeting was held last week. Basically, the purpose of the biodiversity group is to improve and increase animal, plant, tree, fungal and micro-organic life in the village. This is not only beneficial for these life forms but will also improve the amount of wild life and plant life in the village for the benefit of everyone. Progress will be included in forthcoming Centrepiece articles and it is hoped that more villagers will volunteer to get their hands dirty.
Another joint working group has developed plans for the VE Day celebrations on 8th May. This is not a Bank Holiday so festivities will start at 7 pm and finish at 10.30. More details will be displayed on the notice boards.
During the last year, the Parish Council reviewed around 44 planning applications. These include 30 building applications, 12 which are related to trees and 2 miscellaneous ones.
It is important to note that the Parish Council is not the final arbiter of planning applications. York Council makes the final decisions. The Parish Council is a consultee and whilst our opinion may be taken into consideration, CYC has no obligation to do so. However, the Parish Council will maintain its vigilance particularly for applications which may be at odds with the Neighbourhood Plan.
Finally, discussions are ongoing with the Haxby Group about another public meeting and question and answer session with members of the management team. More of this will be reported in Centrepiece, social media and on the village notice boards.
That ends this year’s report.
Are there any questions?
Neil Lawrence
Chairman Upper Poppleton Parish Council