The town has seen a number of events and activities including a number of civic events with the Ryedale District Council Chairman holding two events in Kirkbymoorside, presentation of the ‘Long Service Awards’ at Age UK and extending birthday wishes a resident on their 100^th birthday.

The last year has also seen the opening of the new community library on the 1^st of April which was a huge success and well supported by the town with support by the Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band offering the occasion with a true feel of community spirit. The adoption of the library services by Friends of Kirkbymoorside has also facilitated the relocation of the Town Council office to Church House. In March 2017, Kirkbymoorside became the first and only town in Ryedale to offer free wi-fi in the town centre.

Grants

Since the Annual Town meeting on 25^th April 2016 the following grants have been awarded by the Town Council:

All Saints Church, £2000 to contribute towards the maintenance of All Saints Churchyard;

Kirkbymoorside History Group, £1200 to purchase one wasp waisted mannequin, made to order, two child mannequins and six sets of archival storage containers for hat/dress combinations;

Kirkbymoorside Bowling Club, £439.92 for the purchase of 8no. Henselite Bowls Gatherers to satisfy safety criteria;

Friends of Kirkbymoorside Library, £1500.00 to contribute to the annual cleaning costs of the Community Library;

Kirkbymoorside Cricket Club, £2096.51 to contribute towards the cost of the installation of showers and mixer valves in the home and away changing rooms;

Moorsbus Community Interest Company, £400.00 to contribute towards 2017-18 contract costs.

At the instigation of the Kirkbymoorside Bowling Club the Town Council is proud to have supplied and installed a Community Defibrillator, which is located on the exterior wall of the bowls club at the Sportsfield, New Road.

New business

The year welcomes the addition of two new businesses to Kirkbymoorside with the Bils and Rye Gallery on Market Place and Mark John Barbering in Crown Square.

Parking

The Town Council has successfully negotiated with Ryedale District Council for 1 hour free parking in the Town Farm car park between 12midday and 2pm. Further negotiations are underway to extend this free parking to any period during the day.

Royal Mail vans – The Town Council has made efforts to determine the feasibility of the post vans parking in the Town Farm car park as an alternative to occupying the parking spaces on the cobbles on High Market Place and subsidiary streets. The Town Council, in conjunction with Ryedale District Council, endeavoured to negotiate with Royal Mail for the postal vans to utilise the Town Farm car park. Unfortunately the response to all proposals was that Royal Mail would not be willing to move to paid parking in Kirkbymoorside until such time as all free parking is repealed in the local area.

Old Highways Depot, Manor Vale

The site at the former NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL Highways depot, Manor Vale is an ongoing concern for the Town Council and residents alike. The Town Council continues to represent the best interests of the residents in response to proposals for development on the site.

Ings Lane investment

2017 sees the proposed £475,000 scheme to upgrade Ings Lane, including alterations to the A170 roundabout to allow better access to Marshall Advanced Composites. Kirkbymoorside is the only area in Ryedale to benefit from this funding.

Precept

Despite the absence of any grant funding from Ryedale District Council the Town Council has retained the precept at £73,500. Despite continued reduction of support from Ryedale District Council and North Yorkshire County Council, and for the fourth year the Town Council have retained the same precept whilst not compromising on service provision and with a resultant reduction in the council tax bills for 2017/18

Code of Conduct

Introduction
Pursuant to section 27 of the Localism Act 2011, Kirkbymoorside Town Council ('the Council') has adopted this Code of Conduct to promote and maintain high standards of behaviour by its members and co-opted members whenever they conduct the business of the Council including the business of the office to which they were elected or appointed or when they claim to act or give the impression of acting as a representative of the Council.
This Code of Conduct is based on the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

Definitions
For the purposes of this Code, a 'co-opted member' is a person who is not a member of the Council but who is either a member of any committee or sub-committee of the Council, or a member of, and represents the Council on any joint committee or joint sub-committee of the Council, and who is entitled to vote on any question that falls to be decided at any meeting of that committee or sub-committee.
For the purposes of this Code, a 'meeting' is a meeting of the Council, any of its committees, sub-committees, joint committees or joint sub-committees.
For the purposes of this Code, and unless otherwise expressed, a reference to a member of the Council includes a co-opted member of the Council.

Member obligations
When a member of the Council acts, claims to act or gives the impression of acting as a representative of the Council, he/she has the following obligations.
1. He/she shall behave in such a way that a reasonable person would regard as respectful.
2. He/she shall not act in a way which a reasonable person would regard as bullying or intimidatory.
3. He/she shall not seek to improperly confer an advantage or disadvantage on any person.
4. He/she shall use the resources of the Council in accordance with its requirements.
5. He/she shall not disclose information which is confidential or where disclosure is prohibited by law.

Registration of interests
6. Within 28 days of this Code being adopted by the Council, or the member's election or the co-opted member's appointment (where that is later), he/she shall register all interests which fall within the categories set out in Appendices A and B.
7. Upon the re-election of a member or the re-appointment of a co-opted member, he/she shall within 28 days re-register any interests in Appendices A and B.
8. A member shall register any change to interests or new interests in Appendices A and B within 28 days of becoming aware of it.
9. A member need only declare on the public register of interests the existence but not the details of any interest which the Monitoring Officer agrees is a 'sensitive interest'. A sensitive interest is one which, if disclosed on a public register, could lead the member or a person connected with the member to be subject to violence or intimidation.

Declaration of interests
10. Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to an interest in Appendix A the member shall not participate in a discussion or vote on the matter. He/she only has to declare what his/her interest is if it is not already entered in the member's register of interests or if he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it.
11. Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to an interest in Appendix A which is a sensitive interest, the member shall not participate in a discussion or vote on the matter. If it is a sensitive interest which has not already been disclosed to the Monitoring Officer, the member shall disclose he/she has an interest but not the nature of it.
12. Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to an interest in Appendix B, the member shall withdraw from the meeting. He/she may speak on the matter before withdrawing only if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting.
13. A member only has to declare his/her interest in Appendix B if it is not already entered in his/her register of interests or he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it or if he/she speaks on the matter before withdrawing. If he/she holds an interest in Appendix B which is a sensitive interest not already disclosed to the Monitoring Officer, he/she shall declare the interest but not the nature of the interest.
14. Where a matter arises at a meeting which relates to a financial interest of a friend, relative or close associate, the member shall disclose the nature of the interest and withdraw from the meeting. He/she may speak on the matter before withdrawing only if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting. If it is a 'sensitive interest' the member shall declare the interest but not the nature of the interest.

Dispensations
15. On a written request made to the Council's proper officer, the Council may grant a member a dispensation to participate in a discussion and vote on a matter at a meeting even if he/she has an interest in Appendices A and B if the Council believes that the number of members otherwise prohibited from taking part in the meeting would impede the transaction of the business; or it is in the interests of the inhabitants in the Council's area to allow the member to take part or it is otherwise appropriate to grant a dispensation.

Appendix

Any interest which relates to or is likely to affect:

(i) any body of which the member is in a position of general control or management and to which he/she is appointed or nominated by the Council;
(ii) any body:
(a) exercising functions of a public nature;
(b) directed to charitable purposes; or
(c) one of whose principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union)
of which the member of the Council is a member or in a position of general control or management;
(iii) any employment or business carried on by the member;
(iv) any person or body who employs or has appointed the member;
(v) any person or body, other than the Council, who has made a payment to the member in respect of his/her election or any expenses incurred by him/her in carrying out his/her duties;
(vi) any person or body who has a place of business or land in the Council's area, and in whom the member has a beneficial interest in a class of securities of that person or body that exceeds the nominal value of £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital (whichever is the lower);
(vii) any contract for goods, services or works made between the member's Council and the member or a firm in which he/she is a partner, a company of which he /she is a remunerated director, or a person or body of the description specified in paragraph (vi);
(viii) any gifts or hospitality worth more than an estimated value of £50 which the member has received by virtue of his or her office.
(ix) any land in the Council's area in which the member has a beneficial interest;
(x) any land where the landlord is the Council and the member is, or a firm in which the member is a partner, a company of which the member is a remunerated director, or a person or body of the description specified in paragraph (vi), is the tenant;
(xi) any land in the Council's area for which the member has a licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy for 28 days or longer.

Since the Moorside Room was opened just over a year ago it has been used by a variety of groups and there have been very interesting exhibitions by the History Group and Camera Club.  There are now plans for a Film Club which will I think be a great addition to facilities in the Town.

Planning

During the past year the Council opposed plans to build a large residential development on fields to the west of the town, otherwise known as the Gladman development. Despite the best efforts of our District Councillor Sarah Ward and the Town Council the inspector’s decision was to grant planning permission subject to a number of conditions. The role of the Town Council and our two District Councillors will be to ensure that the conditions are met and to consider and comment on the more detailed plans when they are submitted.

We now know that Tesco will not be building a store in the town and at our meeting on Monday evening the Town Council agreed to contact the company to find out if the site is being sold for residential or commercial use. We want to ensure that it is not left in its current state any longer than necessary.

Recently the Council held a meeting with officers from RDC to discuss the selection of sites for future development. It was agreed that the Town Council would encourage the development of sites that do not jeopardise the character of the town and small to medium in size. It was also agreed that the Economic Officers of NYCC be asked to clarify why employment/industrial development in Kirkbymoorside has been restricted and the focus for this development has been prioritised in Helmsley. We would like to meet with the Economic Officers to discuss how we can be more involved in the consultation for economic development in Kirkbymoorside.

We have had lengthy discussions with the Brass Band, the Scouts, Ravenswick Estate and the owner of the former Highways site in Manor Vale. I understand that there is now a proposal for a building for combined occupation by the Band and the Scouts.  

You may be aware that an application has been submitted to use the former highways depot for light industrial use and storage. This application has been considered by our planning committee and it was agreed that the site is not suitable for such use.

Fracking has been on our agenda several times and we held a very well attended public meeting on the subject. The Council agreed the following policy “We have a number of unresolved concerns about important aspects of fracking, and therefore are opposed to any fracking activities in our locality until such a time as satisfactory answers are forthcoming”.

Kirkbymoorside Brass Band

I want to congratulate the Band on the 200 Anniversary which is being celebrated this year. To mark the occasion they have had a piece of music, “Chirchebi Tales” specially written for the Town. This is a celebration of Kirkbymoorside and a ‘thank you’ to people in the Town for the support they have given the Band. The World Premier of the piece will be at a concert on Sunday 14 June at Helmsley Arts Centre.

The Library

The proposal by NYCC that our Library be funded by the community and run by volunteers is of great concern to the Town Council and I’m sure to many of you.  We strongly oppose the proposal and have sent a detailed response to North Yorkshire. The scrutiny committee of the County Council will consider all responses on 5 June and then make recommendations to the Executive Committee, which will meet in July. Cllr Brampton has agreed to go to the meeting on 5 June to put the case for maintaining County funding for our Library.

The Sportsfield

The Town Council is now responsible for the administration of the Sportsfield and there is a Play Areas and Sports committee dedicated to this task.   Leases have been drawn up with the individual clubs for their buildings and the areas of the field that they use. Discussions are taking place about the way in which the clubs can work together to improve the facilities.

Grants

During the past year the council has awarded grants to All Saints Church, Next Steps, a mental health group that meets in the town, the History Group and the Skatepark

In 2013 Lisa collected grant applications for section 106 funding from a number of organisations in the town and submitted them to RDC. Last year we heard that the applications had been successful and in total £107, 400 has now been received. The groups that have benefitted are:

Initiatives

Two new initiatives that Lisa suggested and that the Council has supported, have been Canine Watch and Clean Up Our Town. Lisa has put a lot of time and energy into them and I want to thank her for that.

Precept

The Council keeps a close eye on expenditure throughout the year and always endeavours to provide good value for money. This year when setting the precept we noted the withdrawal of a £4,000 grant from Ryedale District Council and the near total withdrawal of funding from NYCC for grass cutting, amounting to almost £9,500 loss of income. The Council considered it important to maintain the grass cutting service and in order to achieve this, agreed savings across the budget. It was agreed that the precept be set at £73,500. This is £24,500 per annum less than 4 years ago.

I would like to end my report by saying that it has been a great privilege and a pleasure 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 to thank them for their work during the past year.

Mayor Chris Dowie