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Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on14th July 2008 in the Supper
room of the Parish Hall at 8.00pm
Present: Councillors Mills, Stephenson, Tulip, Dunhill, Williams, and Heslop.
Also present were County Councillor Dale, District Councillor Latham, 8 members
of the public, one member of the Press and Stephen Rickitt, Principal Solicitor
for Northumberland County Council was in attendance before the meeting.
1. Apologies were received from Cllr Reid.
2. Resignation of Councillor: Peter Nitsch had written to
resign, owing to pressure of work. It was agreed to write and say thank you on
behalf of the Parish Council.
3. Minutes of the previous meeting: The minutes were agreed
as a true record.
4. Village Green: Mr Rickitt gave a brief presentation to
Councillors and to the public about the processes involved once a Village Green
application was submitted. After answering some questions, he left before the
Parish Council meeting began. Councillors do not have a problem in principle
with the idea of a village green but it was felt that a meeting should be held
with the Tennis Club representatives to find out their intentions. It was noted
that the Tennis Club were dropping their proposals to move to Broomhaugh for
the time being. Cllr Dunhill noted that he had supported the sale of the amenity
land originally but rested on the will of the majority following the consultation.
5. Millfield Road: Cllr Tulip reported that a useful meeting
had been held at County Hall with the head of Highways and Cllr Dale. Cllr Reid
and the Clerk were in attendance. Mr Walton has agreed to look closely at other
options under which they would adopt both the road and the bridge. It would be
necessary to await their response. Cllr Heslop thanked Cllr Tulip and Cllr Dale
for their efforts.
6. Pedestrian Crossing: A meeting had also been held at County
Hall on the matter of the Pedestrian Crossing. There is a serious problem with
the configuration of the road making the location a problem. According to the
survey done, the desired crossing point does not meet the strict criteria. The
school were also supporting a crossing from a safety point of view. There are
three options, a refuge in the middle of the road, a Belisha Beacon crossing
and a Pelican crossing with signals. There are increasing costs associated with
each category. The County have agreed to do further studies to check the viability
of the simple crossing versus the Pelican crossing. Cllr Dale will look into
the problem that the proposed crossing does not meet the County Council criteria.
7. Trees, Weir and Fence: Following the comments made
at the previous Council meeting, Cllr Tulip had met with both representatives
of the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency. Their views were that
the wood should be left as it is with the exception of the two trees across the
footpath. With respect to the trees in the Burn and the stones, it was the view
of the Environment Agency that both could be safely left Cllrs Stephenson and
Dunhill expressed a wish to have the retaining wall repaired but the majority
decision was to leave it for the time being. The bridge over the Weir needs some
repairs and these would be organised. Additionally the fence within the hedge
on the Parish Hall side of the Playpark has breaks in it. It was agreed to repair
these and extend the fence to the tree line.
8. Planning: 2008/0138 Change of use of Post Office Conditional
permission
2008/0404 5 Oaklands Conditional permission
9. Correspondence:
a) General – for circulation.
b) Safety mirrors: It was agreed to purchase two safety mirrors, one to go opposite
the westerly lane leading to Wentworth Grange and the other to replace the one
opposite Hollin Hill Terrace as the current one is in poor condition. It is hoped
that Wentworth Grange might contribute either financially or by supplying labour.
c) Community Policing: PC Robertson had requested that the Parish Council help,
in the short term, by allowing the use of the Supper room for an occasional surgery,
at their expense. It was agreed to try this for a period of 12 months.
d) Knotweed: The current course of treatment was finished but there were still
traces of rhizomes which could take hold again. CWC’s letter would be circulated
to Councillors and a decision be taken afterwards on the continuing of treatment,
albeit at a much lesser cost and frequency.
e) A report from Cllr Williams was noted following his attendance at a meeting
at County Hall on Boundary Commission changes.
10. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
b) The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-
M F Anderton/Salary/June £382.13
M F Anderton/Salary/July £382.13
M F Anderton/Expenses/June £91.74
Allianz/addnl premium £51.97
Carter Bus.Syst. £18.51
RM Allotment Ass.insurance £58.50
M Stewart/benches £260.00
J Harding/Spinney £235.00
F. Tulip(exp) £6.20
CWC/knotweed £323.13
c) It was agreed that from September, a summary of the financial statement
would be put up on the notice board.
11. Minor matters: The date for the Councillors village
walk was changed to 23rd July. The name sign at the west end of the village had
been damaged. The County would be informed. Cllr Dale noted that she had suggested
an outreach Post service for Riding Mill. Mr Young asked whether questions would
be allowed at this stage. The Chair agreed. Mr Young asked about copies of the
relevant conveyances etc. relating to the Council’s purchase of the proposed ‘village
green site’. It was agreed to forward the information. Mr Young then requested
the Council to take action to solve intermittent flooding on Millfield Road.
Cllr Dale offered to take this matter up with the relevant authority at County
Hall.
The meeting closed at 9.00
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