Minutes of the Parish Council held on 12th October 2009 in
the Church Cottage at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Tulip, Mills, Reid, Dunhill, Eakins, Heslop, and Stephenson.
Also present were Cllr Anne Dale, and 4 members of the public and one member
of the Press.
1. Apologies: None
2. Minutes of last meeting: These were agreed as a
true record, subject to several small amendments.
3. Matters arising: a) Trees: Alder
tree – the exact location needs to be
noted as this will decide the responsibility for treatment, whether the Parish
Council or the Tennis Club. Cllrs Tulip and Stephenson would look. FT/LS
b) Spraying of verges etc. – Cllr Dale was still checking over the list
of grass cutting areas; the loose kerbstone is part of the transition area; the
footpath light is being looked at.
c) Cllrs Tulip and Reid had walked the area that Cllr Heslop said was dangerous
and felt there were insufficient problems to call out the Highways people. However,
Cllr Dale had asked them to have a look next time they were in the village. A
small piece had been put in the Parish News asking homeowners to check the overgrowth
and if necessary cut it back;
d) Car parking at the entrance to the small lane leading over the iron bridge
to join the lane to Wentworth Grange is also being looked at by NCC.
e) Work has been started clearing the Spinney. It was agreed to put a letter
on the Notice Board and a piece in the Parish News to thank all those involved.
Further work remains to be done and Cllr Reid suggested a date be found when
the councillors could complete the work. Discussions about opening out the Spinney
for walking was discussed and there are varying points of view – wild versus
park like. It was suggested a meeting be held, of interested parties, before
anything else is done. Cllr Reid agreed to organise something for the Parish
News and the website. MR
Following a number of letters against the proposal to
create a footpath through the Spinney and a petition of a further 40 signatories,
it was agreed that the plan might not be viable – at any rate in the immediate future. Cllr Heslop
insisted that Mr Niven’s letter on this be read out. There is a safety
issue with extra parking being a problem at school starting and finishing times.
A much bigger safety issue is the need for a pedestrian crossing on the A695.
It was noted the council had tried to progress this on several occasions, but
without success so far. However, it is intended to continue pursuing the issue.
4. Millfield Road – update: Cllr Tulip advised
the meeting that at the request of the County Solicitor, Mr Rickitt, a meeting
had been called for frontagers only to be held on 28th October in the Millennium
Hall to discuss options for the way forward.
5. Covenants Policy: (Cllr Stephenson
declared an interest); some comments had been received on the Legal advice but
it was reiterated that this was not for discussion. Some comments had been received
on the Policy and more were made at the meeting. These covered details of wording
to prevent parishioners objecting for the sake of it, the methods used by the
District Valuer’s office to calculate the
amounts charged and clarification between consent and release. Thanks were noted
to Cllrs Reid and Mills for their ongoing efforts on this matter. It was agreed
to put another note out about the Policy on the Notice board and in the Parish
News and leave it open for comment for another month in the hope of ironing out
most of the niggles. JM/MR
6. Parish Plan review: Cllr Eakins and Cllr Reid had recently
looked again at the Parish Plan drawn up in 2003/4. While some issues have been
addressed and others were now of doubtful relevance, several still remained to
be tackled. A brief note listing some of these had been circulated to Councillors.
Various ways of tackling these were discussed, including working parties drawn
from any interested parishioners, not just councillors. It was agreed each councillor
would email Cllr Eakins with their top three priorities for action. Cllr Eakins
would then collate these into a single priority list to be discussed at the next
meeting. JE/All
7. Planning:
20090579 3 Hollin Hill Terrace, listed consent; (replacement roof lights): Consent
Given
10090388 Saward, Long Rigg Variation of building conditions: Withdrawn
8. Correspondence: a) General
9. Finance:
The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-
MF Anderton Salary/Aug £407.74
MFAnderton Expenses/Aug £99.04
MFAnderton Overtime/backpay £150.62
VHT S.137 Grant £2000.00
Viking Stationary. £155.87
Wardhadaway Legal advice £6,900.00
10. Minor matters
~Remembrance Day – Cllr Heslop agreed to lay the wreath again and would
tidy up. The Vicar was proposing a slightly different format. CH
~ A skip for Christmas trees was requested. Cllr Dale agreed to ask about this.
( Since agreed).
~ Cllr Helsop had raffle tickets for sale but so did other Councillors. It was
agreed to sell what was possible and return the rest. All
~ Cllr Reid had attended a meeting in Whittonstall where there are two planning
applications for a wind farm and for open cast extraction: the latter is still
at the scoping stage. As a neighbouring parish , views will be requested. There
is along lead in time to make views known. Cllr Dunhill will be getting information
from the East Tynedale Forum on this and will keep Councillors in touch. He was
thanked for his continued attendance on this. AD/MR
~ Cllr Stephenson had arranged for some grass cutting to be done at the west
end of the village by the planters. Mr Hinds who had been doing the cutting at
the Broomhaugh end had been thanked for his hard work. Cllr Dunhill raised the
matter of weed killer, which had been raised at the East Tynedale Forum as being
a widespread issue. He also asked that the trees at the Pack Horse Bridge be
looked at again.
~ the High Plains footpath need clearing.
~ a flashing speed sign on the A695 has also been suggested. It was agreed to
exhaust the full pedestrian crossing solution first.
~ A complaint about the bus shelter opposite the Wellington had been received.
Cllr Tulip had looked at it and although the supports were solid, a panel had
been removed and vandalised. This would be looked at further. FT
~ Cllr Dale also reported on a drain problem which was being sorted and some
speeding complaints and the problem of parking in Station Close.
~ Cllr Mills agreed to attend the joint NALC/NCC meeting for Parish and Town
Councils in Hexham on the 27th October.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
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