Craster Parish Council

COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL

Agendas & Minutes
Accounts

Minutes

Thursday 17th October 2013
Craster Village Hall 7.15pm

Present
Chairman                Bryn Owen.
Clerk                       Helen Brewis.
Parish Council Members    Joyce Shaw, Elizabeth Pearson, Alan Punton, Margaret Brooks, Michael Craster, John Gallon, Michael Robson & Roy Brown.

In Attendance    CC John Taylor.

Members of the public   

1604.    Apologies for absence. Pauline Baird.

1605.     Confirmation of minutes of last meeting.
The Minutes for the September Meeting were accepted as a true record.

1606.     Craster Community Trust Matters.
CC John Taylor talked with Terry Garnick from NCC about the playpark grass cutting problem, Mr Garnick explained that NCC are behind with their grass cutting & raking up the cut grass after mowing is not within their job specification.  At the Joint Meeting NCC were asked if they could start cutting the grass & spraying the weeds earlier in the season.
Action Point: CC John Taylor will find out how much money is spent on grass cutting from NCC.

1607.     Parking in Craster.
Michael Craster discussed the latest Meeting held with Paul Mckenna from NCC Traffic Safety:-
1.    Removal of ‘Seasonal No Waiting’ restriction to be replaced by ‘No Waiting At Any Time’.
2.    Removal of ‘No Waiting At Any Time’ double yellow lines along the grass strip alongside the Church on Heugh Wynd.
Mr McKenna will discuss with his superiors our request for the car park to carry on charging & the money to be used for traffic management.
CC John Taylor discussed the Members Capital Money Fund & how it could help our parking problems – he will look at costings for the overflow car park & suggested improvements to the grass strip outside the Church.  (Although it will take approximately 6 months to lift the double yellow lines from the grass strip so this item will be discussed again once completed.)
CC John Taylor explained that NCC are looking to extend the quarry car park & create more spaces & if we take on the running of the car park we will also have to maintain it & re-surfacing is costly.
An email was read out from Michael Taylor concerning the double yellow lines at the bottom of Whin Hill/Haven Hill which are broken due to a power cable being installed & cars now parking there.
Action Point: CC John Taylor will get the double yellow lines put down asap at these areas & also at the bus turn.

1608.     Neighbourhood Plan.
The NCC Core Strategy Drop in Events – Wednesday 20th November at the Council Chamber, Clayport in Alnwick (3pm to 6pm, followed by a discussion session between 6.30pm to 8.30pm).

Northumberland Coast AONB Management Plan 2014-19.
Action Point: Clerk to put at the top of Novembers Agenda as a representative from AONB will attend the Meeting to create an accurate picture of second home ownership, holiday homes & holiday lets in the Craster area. They will have a large map of the parish & a series of pens to get a snapshot, in addition this could be an opportunity for the PC to input into the draft new management plan.

Neighbourhood Plan – Craster, Embleton & Newton By The Sea Parish Councils.
Bryn Owen will attend a joint Meeting at the end of the month concerning the creation of a Joint Neighbourhood Plan, although Embleton covers a vast area which is not in the AONB, Bryn will be looking more from the AONB angle.
CC John Taylor explained that within the Core Strategy there are 1000 new housing units allocated to the Alnwick District (30% local) = 300 affordable housing units, he also reminded us that we need to complete our Neighbourhood Plan as soon as possible.

1609.  Matters arising from minutes of last meeting.
Dunstan Water Leak & Road Surface.
The Dunstan road surface is caused by a major drainage problem, NCC will need to sort this first before re-surfacing, CC John Taylor has spoken to NCC Highways Dept. & the work will be started shortly.

Broadband for Craster.
Hopefully we should be getting good BT broadband coverage by December 2014.

Bryn Owen - Register of Assets.
The bus shelters & rubbish bins are now owned by us but NCC still own the land they’re on.
Action Point: Clerk to send copies of all correspondence to Robert Twyford for his opinion.

Bryn Owen - Risk Assessment.
Currently all the Parish Council documentation is held on the Clerks personal laptop & a backup kept on her usb stick.  John Gallon has spoken to CAN to see what they recommend & has come up with two suggestions:-
1)    Two usb backup sticks where one is backed up & swapped with the previous months back up held by the Chairman at the start of each Meeting. Costing approximately £20 for the two sticks.
2)    The Parish Council to use Google Drive online – the Clerk puts all the documentation on for everyone to access 24/7, it will email everyone each time there is a new document to view & each Councillor can leave a comment which will be visible to the other Councillors.
Action Point: John Gallon to put documents onto Google Drive for Councillors to look at & get a feel of the site.
Purchasing a new laptop for the Parish Council was discussed which would hold all the documentation & will be passed from one Clerk to the next making transitions easier.  It is estimated it will cost between £300-£400 for the laptop/Microsoft Office etc.
Michael Craster proposed that the Clerk & John Gallon price up a laptop, antivirus & Microsoft Office, seconded by Bryn Owen.  All in favour.

Bryn Owen – Maintenance of Land.
John Gallon declared an interest.
Locating the North Side Owners of the Burn Hill is ongoing.

Elizabeth Pearson – Overgrown bushes at Windyside Bridge.
Terry Garnick at NCC has issued an order for the pruning & haunching to be done.

1610.     Planning Matters.
12/03359/FUL – 43 Dunstanburgh Road – creation of a holiday home.
Although this planning application was passed earlier in the year, at the time the National Trust would not let their land be used by this development for parking.
The building work has now begun.
Action Point: Clerk to contact the National Trust & Craig Ross at NCC Planning Dept for clarification of planning permission.

1611.     Financial Matters.
Bank Balance                              £  5,242.10  
LTSB Higher interest account        £18,000.00
Cheques required:-
Embleton Joint Burial Committee   £     811.45

NCC balance of precept received on 12 Sept £2,500.00
Action Point: Clerk to complete the LTSB Form for John Gallon to become a cheque signatory.

1612.     Correspondence received.
AONB – Coast Management Plan Review First Consultation. In circulation.

Michael Craster – NALC Local Councils Explained book £49.99.
Michael Craster proposed the purchasing of the book, seconded by Bryn Owen.
All in favour.
Action Point: Clerk to purchase the book.

CPRE – Autumn 2013. In circulation.

CAN AGM–5thNov 2pm Village Hall, Bardon Mill & Annual Report. In circulation.

NCC Joint Meeting 14th Oct 6pm Northumberland Hall.
Attended by CC John Taylor.

AONB – Parish Council vacancy. In circulation.

NALC AGM 19thOct 10.30am Storey Park Community Centre Morpeth & Annual Report. In circulation.