The Formby Blog

Sefton Council: Formby Chapel Lane Trees update

Sefton Council has published the following statement about the future of the Chapel Lane trees.

Formby Chapel Lane Trees update

Sefton Council has agreed to let Formby Parish Council carry out pruning works on two dangerous trees set to be removed in Formby.

Last month Sefton Council wrote to the Parish Council asking for them to agree to a number of conditions that could halt the removal works taking place.

Most of these conditions have now been met regarding the two horse chestnut trees situated outside Cassidy’s and Boots in the village.

Despite an independent report carried out for the Parish Council highlighting how both trees are diseased with bleeding canker and the usual way of dealing with this is by felling the trees, the trees will remain for the time being.

At their own cost, the Parish Council is now planning pruning works in the hope of saving the two trees. Sefton Council will continue to monitor the situation of the two trees as the Council has an ongoing duty as a Highway Authority to ensure that the highway is safe.

Sefton Council had scheduled to remove the two diseased horse chestnuts due to the significant health and safety risk these dying trees pose and before they become structurally unstable.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said:

“While we strongly believe both trees pose too much of a risk giving the impending winter weather, we earmarked them to be removed for the safety of our communities.

“However, after ongoing discussions with Formby Parish Council, they have agreed to a number of conditions where they will carry out maintenance work to mitigate the immediate risk and try and save the trees.

“Our priority is and always will be the safety of residents and visitors to Formby and we will continue to monitor this situation.”

Source: https://mysefton.co.uk/2018/10/08/formby-chapel-lane-trees-update/

Formby Parish Council Meeting Agenda October 2018

Notice of Meeting

All members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend the next Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council, which will be held at Formby Library, Duke Street, Formby, on Tuesday 2 October 2018, at 7.00pm.

Claire Jenkins

Clerk to Formby Parish Council

Agenda 1.0 To receive Apologies

2.0 To Receive Declarations of Interest                                           

3.0 Public Forum (the meeting will be adjourned for this item)

4.0 Previous Minutes

4.1 To consider and approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 4 September 2018.

5.0 Matters of Report from Previous Meeting – for information only                                                            

6.0 Planning Applications – Sefton’s weekly list email, also available on Sefton Council’s website.

6.1 To note the current position on Formby Development Sites in Sefton’s Local Plan.

7.0 To discuss and resolve the following:

7.1 To discuss the report commissioned by the Parish Council regarding the Chapel Lane trees and compare with the statement by Sefton’s contractor who was commissioned to prune the trees. And to determine the next steps:

7.1.1 To authorise the recommended works on the 2 trees outside Boots and Cassidy’s to be undertaken as per the report following the climbing inspection.

7.1.2 To authorise for a statement of indemnity by the independent Arboriculturalist to indemnify Sefton for any costs or claims should any part of the tree outside Boots and the tree outside Cassidy’s cause damage to either person or property during the forthcoming winter period.

7.1.3 To agree to on-going maintenance costs associated with the trees outside Boots and Cassidy’s shops.

7.2 To discuss undertaking a petition for a Community Governance Review regarding the proposed merger with Little Altcar.

7.3 To discuss the Rights of Way Creative (Dedication) Agreements and to decide whether to ask SMBC to endorse the 2017 Application for the Modification to the Definitive Map

7.4 To approve the renewal for the office lease for a 3-year term at £3,500 per annum

7.5 To nominate a representative to the Formby business and community partnership

8.0 To authorise Payments (enclosed)

9.0 Chairman’s Report     

10.0 To receive the following reports – enclosed for information only

        Clerk’s report

        General Projects Group minutes

        Environment Group minutes

        Finance Group minutes

11.0 Date of Next Ordinary Meeting– Tuesday 6 November 2018 to be held in the Meeting Room, Formby Library at 7 pm

Members of the press and public are welcome to attend.

 

Sefton Latest on Formby Village Trees

Sefton Council has published this statement regarding the future of the trees in Formby Village.

Further discussions have taken place between Sefton Council and Formby Parish Council regarding two dangerous trees in Formby village due to be removed next month.

Both trees, situated outside Cassidy’s and Boots, will be removed between October 4 and 15 after they were declared unsafe and dangerous.

However, Sefton Council has written to the Parish Council asking for them to agree to a number of conditions that could halt the works taking place.

This includes the Parish Council using an independent arboriculturalist to inspect the trees and provide a written statement saying both trees can be retained and pose no threat to the public or to property in the short term.

A written statement would also be needed to indemnify the Council for any costs or claims that may arise should any part of these trees cause damage to people or property during the winter period and beyond.

Formby Parish Council would need to cover all costs for the written statements and works and any commitment would need to be received by the Council by October 1, 2018.

In addition all works required to make the trees safe must be carried out by October 15.

If this deadline is not met the scheduled removal will take place between October 4-15.

The two horse-chestnuts are scheduled to be removed due to the significant health and safety risk the dying trees are causing.

A spokesman for Sefton Council said:

“Our priority is and always will be the safety of residents and visitors to Formby.

“We believe both trees pose too much of a risk giving the impending winter weather and have earmarked them to be removed between October 4-15.

“However, following further discussions with Formby Parish Council, we have written to them with a number of conditions to try and draw a conclusion to this matter.

“We have given them until October 1 to meet these conditions otherwise the scheduled work to remove them will take place later that month.”

Sefton Council has published a number of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the removal of these tress and to view it, click here.

 

Formby Parish Council September Meeting

Formby Parish Council meets after the summer break.

 

Members and Clerk of FPC (Source FPC Website)

Members of Formby Parish Council have been summoned to a full meeting of the Council this evening at 7.00 pm in Formby Library. Members of the public are always welcome to attend these meetings, the agenda is suspended for a period to allow them to ask questions or raise issues.

The agenda is posted below:

Notice of Meeting

All members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend the next Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council, which will be held at Formby Library, Duke Street, Formby, on Tuesday 4 September 2018, at 7.00pm. 

Claire Jenkins

Clerk to Formby Parish Council

Agenda

1.0 To receive Apologies

2.0 To Receive Declarations of Interest

3.0 Public Forum (the meeting will be adjourned for this item)

4.0 Previous Minutes

4.1 To consider and approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 3 July 2018.

5.0 Matters of Report from Previous Meeting – for information only

6.0 Planning Applications – Sefton’s weekly list email, also available on Sefton Council’s website.

6.1 To note current position on Formby Development Sites in Sefton’s Local Plan.

7.0 To discuss and resolve the following:

7.1 To discuss the meeting convened by Sefton Council highways regarding the Chapel Lane trees.

7.2 To approve expenditure of approximately £500 to purchase spring bulbs for the village planters.

7.3 To approve a grant of £2,500 for the publication of a book to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the end of WW1 as an historical piece of research into life in Formby at the time of the conflict.

7.4 To approve a grant of £750 to Frack Free Formby towards the cost of a traffic survey to include the Formby by-pass and the junction with Tesco, provided the survey is made available for parish council use.  

7.5 To note the External Auditor Report and certificate for the conclusion of audit for the year ending 31 March 2018. The Annual Governance and Accountability Return has been completed in accordance with Proper Practices and there are no matters to draw to the attention of the authority. 

8.0 To authorise Payments (enclosed)

9.0 Chairman’s Report  

10.0 To receive the following reports 

            Clerk’s report

            General Projects Group minutes

            Environment Group minutes

            Finance Group minutes

11.0 Date of Next Ordinary Meeting– Tuesday 2 October 2018 to be held in the Meeting Room, Formby Library at 7pm

 

Constituency Forum

Local residents now have a new way to engage even further with Sefton Council and its partners.

Our next Constituency Forum takes place on Thursday. Residents in the Sefton Central parliamentary constituency wont want to miss it! More details below #MySefton 🏰 Crosby Lakeside: 6.30pm-9pm (June 28) https://t.co/xeJ8Lk78zz

— Sefton Council (@seftoncouncil) June 23, 2018

Constituency Forums are being introduced as a more relaxed way for residents to talk to agencies, councillors and Council departments about any issues they have.

The forums will be held twice a year in each of the respective Parliamentary Constituencies within Sefton; Bootle, Central Sefton and Southport.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Cabinet Member Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services, said:

After consulting about the old and aged style of Area Committees, we decided to take a look at how we engage with our communities and came up with the idea of the Constituency Forums.

The format of the Constituency Forum will be a market-place style at which there will be a number of tables for ward Councillors, internal Sefton departments and partners to attend.

This will give our valued residents the opportunity to arrive, get a drink and talk to agencies, councillors and departments about any issues they have, moving from table to table depending on the resident’s particular needs.

We hope that this new format will remove the formality of the old Area Committee process and attract residents to a more relaxed public meeting at which they feel that the Council and its partners are more accessible and friendly.

Dates for the forums have been announced and I really hope people take the time to attend them.

The planned dates for the Constituency Forum across Sefton are:

• Bootle – Thursday, June 21 at 6.30pm in Bootle Town Hall’s Ball Room
• Central Sefton – Thursday, June 28 at 6.30pm in Crosby Lakeside
• Southport – Thursday, July 5 at 6.30pm in The Atkinson’s Studio Room

Each forum is expected to finish around 9 pm.