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Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8th September 2008 in the Supper
room of the Parish Hall at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Mills, Tulip, Williams, Heslop, Reid and Stephenson.
Also present were County Councillor Dale, District Councillor Latham (for part
of meeting), 4 members of the public and one member of the Press.
1. Apologies were received from Cllr Dunhill.
2. Minutes of last meeting: The minutes were agreed as a true record subject
to small grammatical changes.
3. Matters arising: There was nothing to report on either the Village Green
application or Millfield Road. Cllr Tulip noted that there was to be a meeting
at County Hall on Millfield road the following week.
4. Playpark: Cllr Tulip gave the report in the absence
of Cllr Dunhill. The annual safety inspection from ROSPA had highlighted a couple
of concerns. It was agreed to ask Playdale to visit (as the installers of the
equipment) to conduct a thorough inspection as well and recommend any actions
which should be taken, or what might be safely left alone but monitored. The
inspector adjusted the gate which was one of the main comments ROSPA had made.
Cllr Mills noted that a number of children were playing over the stile and sliding
down to the Burn. It was agreed to note that although this could be risky, it
was an acceptable risk in children’s play. The gaps in the fence are to
be repaired.
5. Bridge over Railway at Wentworth Grange: in response to the proposed closure
of this bridge, Cllrs Reid and Mills had written in their personal capacities
objecting. The Parish Council had also written in support but had not had a reply.
Cllr Reid had received a confusing reply. There is no public ROW across the bridge,
confirmed by the County Council. Network Rail suggest the public could use the
public road more (the one not going over the bridge). Cllrs Reid and Mills have
researched the matter showing that in 1828, 5 months before assent to the railway
was given, the proposed railway line cut an existing road at this point and the
bridge must have been a requirement for this route to be taken. Furthermore the
next map of 1842 shows both the bridge and the lane so they must have coexisted
for more than 150 years without it being considered that one could supplant the
other. Cllr Mills has paperwork to apply for the rest of the road to become a
PROW. It was agreed to wait and see what response Network rail made before considering
the PROW application. The Clerk would chase up the matter of parking on the line
of sight on the main road.
6. NALC Committee/AGM: It was agreed to nominate the Clerk to continue to
sit on the County Committee. Cllr Reid expressed a possible interest in attending
the AGM on 4th October subject to other commitments, and it was believed that
Cllr Dunhill might also be interested. The Clerk would forward their names. She
also reported very briefly on two points from the recent meeting:1) that there
would only be 3 Area committees in the new Unitary Structure, and 2) that there
was a concern about inequities in possible charging methods for services such
as grass cutting for example across the County. NALC would be writing to comment
on this.
7. Planning:
08/00086/TPO 3 Meadow Park Consent given
2008/0531 Freshfield, Sandy Bank (extension) Conditional permission
2008/0491 Oaklands Lodge, extension Conditional permission
2008/0437 Broomhaugh House, portacabin Conditional permission
2008/0501 Shepherd’s Dene, listed consent for internal works, Consent given
under delegated powers
2008/0560 Shepherd’s Dene, external changes Consent given under delegated
powers
8. Correspondence:
a) General – for circulation.
b) Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership/AGM: Cllr Reid expressed interest in
attending and possibly Cllr Dunhill as well. The Clerk would write to acknowledge
this and include that items for consideration should include reopening Gilsland
Station and that timetables should be better scheduled so that connections to
mainline services can be better achieved.
9. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
b) The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-
M F Anderton/Sal/August £382.13
M F Anderton/Exp/July £46.32
M F Anderton/Exp/Aug £57.70
VHT/rent £77.00
ROSPA/Ann. Inspection £77.55
Wardhadaway £587.50
Northumbrian Water £12.85
CWC/knotweed £176.25
10. Minor matters: Cllr Stephenson talked with Tynedale
to ascertain our inclusion in a windfall sum of money in the absence of the Clerk
and Chair on holiday. This would be ~ £1700 and would have to go to infrastructure
such as bus shelters. It was also agreed to add on a stretch of grass cutting
on Millfield Road as per a map supplied by Cllr Stephenson. Cllr Heslop reported
that Mrs Niven is standing down as Chair at the VHT AGM. It was agreed the Parish
Council should write and thank her in appreciation of her hard work. Because
of the recent flooding it was agreed to ask the Environment Agency if there is
anything the Parish Council and the village could do to mitigate future problems.
The matter of the light on the footpath from Broomhaugh to the station was raised
again and Cllr Dale agreed to follow this up at County Hall as it is a Public
Footpath. It was noted that thanks should go to Michael Hinds for his grasscutting
efforts round the planters and beyond.
Cllr Reid asked to see the correspondence on the bus shelter
and to be consulted on its siting. The Chairman and Clerk were congratulated
on the new clearer presentation of the accounts and the arrangements to post
them publicly.
The meeting closed at 8.30
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