MINUTES OF ORDINARY MEETING OF NEWBY & SCALBY TOWN COUNCIL
held in the Community Hub, 445b Scalby Road,
on Wednesday 17th September 2025 at 7pm.
PRESENT: Councillors J Smith (Chairman), D Bastiman, J Buckley, R Holliday (from 7.05pm), B Marley, N Murphy, R. Thompson, R Towse.
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: K Fanthorpe and L Wimbush (to give Fracking Joint Working Group at agenda item 6.2), 9 members of public, Mrs J Marley (Clerk to Council).
76/25 With Council’s agreement the order of the agenda was varied and it was resolved that agenda item 6.2 (Joint Council Working Group on Fracking) be taken immediately before agenda item 4 (public participation).
77/25 NON-ATTENDANCE OF COUNCILLORS
77/25.1 Apologies received & noted from Cllrs. H Bore, S Foote, G Kendall, J Shepherd, C Thistleton.
77/25.2 Acceptance of reasons for absence:-
Resolved unanimously the reasons for absence given by Cllrs. Bore, Foote and Shepherd (health), Cllr. Kendall (family) be approved. 4 votes in favour, 3 votes against and resolved the reason for absence given by Cllr. Thistleton (work) be approved.
Procedural Note:- Cllr. Holliday joined the meeting at this point.
78/25 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Resolved declarations be received from Cllr. Bastiman (other-registrable, agenda item 6.2 as member of North Yorkshire Council) and Cllr. Buckley (non-registrable, agenda item 6.2 as member of Frack Free Coastal Communities Steering Group).
79/25 MINUTES
79/25.1 Having been previously circulated, with five votes in favour it was resolved the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 18th July 2025 be approved and authorised for signature by the Chairman of Council.
79/25.2 Having been previously circulated, with 6 votes in favour it was resolved the minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held on 20th August 2025 be approved and authorised for signature by the Chairman of Council.
79/25.3 Having been previously circulated, with 6 votes in favour it was resolved the minutes of the Review & Staffing Committee meeting held on 18th August 2025 and confirmed as accurate at the Review and Staffing Committee meeting of 10th September 2025 be approved and authorised for signature by the Chairman of Council.
79/25.4 Having been previously circulated, with 5 votes in favour it was resolved the approved minutes of the Planning Committee meetings of 17th July 2025 and 14th August 2025 be noted.
80/25 Joint Council Working Group on Fracking (EUROPA OIL & GAS Ltd)
80/25.1 This Council’s representative on the Working Group (Cllr. Bore) was unable to attend for health reasons but the report prepared for Cloughton Parish Council had been circulated with the agenda. Cllr. Fanthorpe (Cloughton PC representative on the working group) and Cllr. Lyn Wimbush (Burniston PC representative on the working group) gave an update on that report. The Working Group response to the Environment Agency consultation would be finalised & submitted in early October and copied to this Council. Resolved that Council endorsed and supported the report & updates as presented and urged the Environment Agency to refuse the permit application.
81/25 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
81/25.1 Took place from 7.28 to 7.58. Questions were asked in connection with the report presented Cllr. Fanthorpe and included 1] why was the storage facility on the corner of Barmoor Lane not included in the main planning application or not the subject of a planning application in its own right; 2] what were the implications of the different types of flaring process for the gas produced; 3] what was the National Park authority’s view on the proposals impact of its stated aim to become CO2 neutral. Before leaving the meeting at 7.47pm Cllrs. Fanthorpe and Wimbush answered questions as best they could but stressed they did not have the necessary detailed technical knowledge and urged people to ask or comment on the Environment Agency’s consultation page where matters such as the flaring should be raised direct. Other matters raised included a request for an attendance register instead of having to trawl through minutes and a five-minute tirade accusing the council of denying mishandling a staffing issue, running a fiefdom, trying to curb public involvement by moving business into committees and only holding four full council meetings a year.
82/25 MATTERS RAISED IN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
82/25.1 The questions asked about the working group had been answered by Cllrs. Fanthorpe and Wimbush before they left the meeting. The matter of an attendance register would be considered. Any questions asked within the five minute speech would be responded to within two weeks.
83/25 EXTERNAL REPORTS
83/25.1 Police – resolved the reports (circulated with agenda) for incidents May to August 2025 covered by the Rural Policing Team be received & noted. Chairman suggested creating a page on Council’s website for the Police reports.
84/25 UPDATES ON VARIOUS MATTERS & COUNCILLOR’S REPORT/ITEMS
84/25.1 School Parking (Newby & Scalby Primary School) (Minute 39/25.1 refers) – resolved it be noted that despite two letters to the school on 9/5/25 and 28/8/25 no response had been received. Resolved to ask North Yorkshire Council to re-start the ‘Considerate Parking Initiative’ (formerly run by Scarborough Borough Council) in the parish.
84/25.2 Traffic speed Barmoor Lane (Minute 39/25.3 refers) – the supplying company had stopped trading and sold the company name and various assets (possibly including warranty repairs) had been sold to a company in the HW Martin (HWM) group. HWM had collected the signs yesterday and a report was awaited. Resolved the Clerk’s report be noted.
84/25.3 Cllr. Towse enquired if there had been any update on the disposal of Scalby School playing Field [Minute 24/25.3 refers] and resolved Clerk’s response that an acknowledgement had been received was noted. Cllr. Buckley reported a problem with large puddles at the junction of Newby Farm Road/Scalby Road (Clerk had received a near identical request from the councillor a couple of months ago and responded asking for photographs so the matter could be passed to Highways) and resolved the matter be noted and reported to Highways when photographs were provided.
85/25 CORRESPONDENCE
85/25.1 National Park Parish Member Elections – resolved Cllr. Bastiman be nominated to represent the Coastal area.
85/25.2 Public Rights of Way Route prioritisation – resolved information circulated with agenda be received and item deferred to November meeting for decision.
85/25.3 Allotment Prizes – noted winners were as follows:- Best Plot – A Tadman, plot 6 (shield and £25 cheque), Most Improved Plot – A Tucker, plots 71 and 74North (£25 cheque), largest marrow – weight 78lb – B. Atkinson, plot 33 South. Resolved prize presentation to take place at November meeting, cheques authorised for signature by Cllrs. Bastiman and Thompson.
85/25.4 Letters (redacted and circulated with agenda) from external auditor PKF Littlejohn to the two objectors (A and B) to the 2023/24 Council accounts explaining that none of their objections had been upheld – resolved the letters be received & noted.
85/25.5 Email (circulated with agenda) from external auditor PKF Littlejohn with breakdown of cost (£7,786-75+VAT) of challenge work created by the two objectors to the 23/24 accounts – resolved the email be received & noted.
85/25.6 Correspondence received after 11/9/25 which the Chairman of the meeting deemed it necessary to consider as a matter of urgency – email from Chairman of Review & Staffing Committee (emailed to councillors 15/9/25) requesting a variation to the committee’s Terms of Reference so that minutes were signed by committee instead of being remitted to Council for signature.
The MOTION “to delete the sentence ‘Minutes of meetings shall be submitted to full Council for approval and signature’ and replaced by ‘Minutes shall be approved by the Committee. Approved minutes will be put before the next Ordinary Meeting of Council for information purposes’” was proposed by Cllr. Smith and seconded by Cllr. Thompson.
Recorded vote:- in favour Cllrs Holliday, Marley, Smith and Thompson, against Cllrs. Buckley, Murphy and Towse, abstain Cllr. Bastiman. Resolved the motion be carried.
86/25 FINANCE, REGULATORY & GENERAL MATTERS
86/25.1 Resolved it be noted that the National Joint Council for Local Government Services agreed a 3.2% pay award for the 2025/26 financial year. Resolved the payment of this award (backdated to 1/4/25) to staff employed by Council on 1/4/25 along with any resulting additional pension contributions had been actioned.
86/25.2 5 votes for, 3 votes against and resolved the enclosed Schedules of Accounts Payable for June 2025 (Sch 3 £3,004-63), July 2025 (Sch 4 £9,103-47) and August (Sch 5 £6,683-18) be ratified.
86/25.3 5 votes for, 3 votes against and resolved the Schedule of Accounts Payable for September (£15,431-41) be authorised. Online authorisations to be done by Cllrs. Smith & Thompson.
86/25.4 Resolved a Direct Debit agreement for payment of future invoices from A Brunton be signed.
86/25.5 Resolved the Clerk’s report that a Christmas tree for Newlands was on order at cost of £515 (erect/light/dismantle/dispose) be noted. Cllr. Towse suggested the tree would look better with coloured lights and resolved Clerk to get prices for coloured lights and report to next meeting of either Council or Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Procedural note:- While Standing Order 3y states “a meeting shall not exceed a period of 2 hours” at 9.02pm Council resolved (3 votes against and 5 votes for) to continue with the meeting.
86/25.6 Items from Review & Staffing Committee as per reports:-
86/25.6.1 Payroll provision – a report had been previously circulated with the agenda. With 6 votes in favour and 2 abstentions it was resolved the recommendations of the report be carried.
86/25.6.2 Internal Audit provision – a report had been previously circulated with the agenda. With 5 votes in favour and 3 abstentions, it was resolved the recommendations of the report be carried.
86/25.6.3 Standing Orders and Financial Regulations – a report had been previously circulated with the agenda. Cllr. Buckley presented those present with two pages of his written observations on both SO and FR. Resolved Council accepted recommendation 1 of the Review and Staffing Committee’s report. Council resolved not to accept Cllr. Buckley’s proposed amendment to SO17 (5 votes against accepting, 3 votes for). Proposed Cllr. Buckley, seconded Cllr. Towse and resolved (7 votes for, 1 against) that the recommended Financial Regulations be returned to the R&S Committee for consideration of Cllr. Buckley’s observations; in light of that resolution it was not possible to accept recommendation 2 of the R&S Committee’s report. Proposed Cllr. Bastiman, seconded Cllr. Buckley and resolved that both SO and FR be referred back to the R&S Committee.
86/25.7 Staffing matters:-
86/25.7.1 Resolved unanimously it be noted the Employment Tribunal had concluded and the legal costs and the compensation awarded had both been borne in full by the Council’s insurers; further resolved unanimously it be noted the associated costs application had also concluded and was subject to a confidentiality agreement; payment of the settlement having been shared between Council and Council’s insurers.
86/25.7.2 Resolved the recommendations of the report by the Chairman and Vice Chairman “Moving Forwards” (circulated with agenda) be accepted (recorded vote, in favour Cllrs. D Bastiman, R Holliday, B Marley, J Smith, R. Thompson; against Cllrs. Buckley, Murphy and Towse) and agree action as appropriate
86/25.8 Planter, 4 lane ends – Clerk gave an update on costs (square planter £340 + £132 delivery + VAT; octagonal planter £428 + £132 delivery + VAT; removal of existing, installation of new, soil & compost £140 + VAT). Resolved Clerk’s report and verbal update be received and noted, planter to be replaced. Proposed Cllr. Bastiman, seconded Cllr. Marley and resolved an octagonal planter be purchased and installed as per reported costs. Resolved recommendations 1 and 3 of report be carried.
86/25.9 23/24 External Audit (as challenged) – resolved the final internal auditor report and certificate of completion 2023/24 in respect of Newby and Scalby Town Council NY0408 be received and noted.
There being no further business to be transacted, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.53pm.
Cllr. Jackie Smith, Chairman
Dated: 12th January 2026