|
COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL
Agendas
& Minutes
Accounts
CHURCHES
LOCAL
GROUPS
|
Minutes
Thursday 21st. January 2016
7:15pm in the Craster Memorial Hall
Present
Chair Bryn Owen
Parish Council Members
Pauline Baird, Margaret Brooks, Michael Craster, John Gallon, Elizabeth
Pearson, Alan Punton, Joyce Shaw, Martin Smith, William Sutherland
Acting Parish Clerk John Gallon
Members of the public
In Attendance: Roslynd Ahrendt, Pam
Owen, Jackie Reeves, Fiona Robson, Michael Doherty
County Cllr. Kate Cairns.
The meeting opened with
Public Questions. Although a statement rather than a question,
Jackie Reeves explained the circumstances leading up to a Planning
Application being submitted for her property in Dunstan.
Cllr. Owen then
explained to the meeting that the Acting Parish Clerk, Ruth Younger was
unable to attend due to the illness of her son. Cllr. Gallon
would again sit in as temporary Clerk.
1936. Declaration of interests.
Margaret Brookes
declared an interest in Item 1941(c)
Michael Craster,
Elizabeth Pearson, Alan Punton and Joyce Shaw declared an interest in
Craster Community Trust matters
Action Point: Clerk is to
investigate process for dispensation from rules regarding declarations
of interest for councillors also involved with Community Trust.
1937. Apologies received.
None
1938. Minutes of the previous meetings.
a) October 2014
County Councillor Kate
Cairns asked that it be noted that she believed that the statement in
the minutes that “the surveyor who had been met by Cllr Owen the
previous day had been arranged by Cllr Cairns” did not fully explain
the matter correctly. The Chair ruled that the minutes for the
October meeting should reflect what was actually said at the meeting
but that County Councillor Cairns’ comments would be recorded in the
minutes of this meeting.
Cllr Cairns pointed out
that the Newton Parish Councillor, Cllr Cato, was not on the list of
attendees while she was present at the meeting. The hard copy of the
minutes was amended to reflect this omission.
Resolution : The minutes be accepted
as an accurate record.
Proposed: Cllr.
Gallon
Seconded: Cllr.
Punton
Carried
b) November 2015
Resolution : The minutes be
accepted as an accurate record.
Proposed: Cllr.
Shaw
Seconded: Cllr.
Craster
Carried
1939. Matters arising from the minutes not covered
elsewhere on the agenda.
No items raised.
1940. County Councillor's update.
a) The
Section 106 payment for the Bark Potts planning application was agreed
on the principle that the developer would not need to make any
contribution if only 5 dwellings were built, so the payment only
becomes applicable on the 6th. dwelling in the development.
b) The
status of the grasscreted area along the churchyard wall has not
changed. The area is still part of the highway.
c) The
contractor previously used by the County Council has withdrawn from the
book recycling scheme. The County Council are in discussion with
local charites about book recycling schemes and are advising people to
contact local charities directly if they have books they wish to
recycle.
d) The
County Council will be working over the next 3 to 5 years to introduce
20mph speed limits outside all schools in the County.
e) The
County Council will be progressing the creation of the Coastal Path
section from Amble to Bamburgh between now and 2019.
f) The
Fire and Rescue service are currently conducting a consultation in
regard to downsizing the appliance at Seahouses and one of the two
appliances at Alnwick.
g)
Street lights are currently being upgraded to LED lights. While
the process is taking place new street lights may be installed at a
cost of £900 rather than the normal £2000.
1941. Planning Matters
a) 15/03707/FUL Change of Use Chapel to 5 bedroom
dwelling.
Still pending.
b) 14/04120/OUT Outline application for redevelopment
of land and buildings for up to six dwellings, with all matters
reserved; The Bark Pots Tea Room 9 West End Craster Alnwick
Northumberland NE66 3TS. Section 106 Agreement.
Item closed following
County Councillor Cairns’ update.
c) 15/04309/FUL Demolition of existing outbuilding
and conservatory; erection of single storey bedroom wing with link
building; first floor rear extension; installation of 2 no. dormers to
front. (as amended 08/01/16) | 2 Church Street Craster Northumberland
NE66 3TH
Concerns were expressed
regarding the inadequate provision for parking and the loss of amenity
for neighbouring properties due to the scale of the changes.
County Councillor Cairns reported that she had been contacted by a
local resident who had similar concerns. It was proposed that the
Parish Council should object to the application on the two grounds
noted above.
Proposed: Cllr.
Smith
Seconded: Cllr.
Shaw
Carried
NOTE: It was agreed
at the Parish Council meeting on 18th February that these minutes
should be changed to show that the Parish Councillors formally
requested that Cllr Cairns call this application into the Planning
Committee for review.
d) Notification of Planning
Applications
The current County
Council policy that Parish Councils could receive notice of planning
applications either by hard copy or by e-mail was discussed.
County Councillor Cairns was asked to investigate why we could not
receive both hard copy and e-mail notification.
Action Point: County
Councillor Cairns to investigate County Council policy.
1942. Parish Meeting
Noted.
1943. Dunstan Road Works
The drainage work is
scheduled to take place in March 2016 followed by resurfacing.
The Parish Council will need to see what plans for traffic management
and diversion are proposed by the County Council.
Action Point: Chair to
maintain contacts with County Council re traffic management etc.
1944. EJBC.
Following an informal
meeting of the Chairs of the 3 constituent Parish Councils with Dr.
David Francis of NALC, draft TORs would be discussed at the 01/02/16
EJBC meeting. Subject to agreement, they would be referred to the
three Parish Councils for clearance. Cllr. Pearson was
disappointed at the format of the informal meeting and felt that other
EJBC members should have been involved.
1945. Craster Community Trust.
The Trust has agreed to
be the umbrella organisation within which the Craster Coastal Rowing
Club is constituted.
The playpark is to be
resurfaced at a cost of £28000. Cllr. Punton queried the scope of
the resurfacing work and expressed the view that £28000 seemed a very
high figure when it would be possible to do the work in a different and
cheaper manner.
The kickabout area is to
be fenced to the same standard as the playpark.
1946. AONB
Two new Marine
Conservation Zones have been proposed off the North Northumberland
coast at Farnes East and Alnmouth/Amble. Any measures proposed
for the Farnes East MCZ could have an impact on those fishing from
Craster, Beadnell and Seahouses.
1947. Fixed asset maintenance.
a) Contractor Maintenance
The January inspection
report was still required from Nigel Fairbank. The contract is
due for re-tender; the new tender will include the painting of the
seats which the Parish Council carries out annually.
Action Point:
Clerk to contact Nigel Fairbank
Action Point:
Cllr. Gallon to draft new tender form and advertisement for review and
publication.
b) Tender for grass cutting
This is the tender for
the additional grass cutting over and above that carried out by the
County Council
Action Point:
Cllr. Gallon to draft new tender form and advertisement for review and
publication.
1948. Tourist Amenities / Grant Funding
Cllrs. Craster, Gallon
and Owen had met Ivan Hewitt who is responsible for the LEADER fund
grants from the County Council. He confirmed that the work we
would like to do to improve the signage for visitors and create safe
walking routes from the Arch to the village would fall within the scope
of the LEADER funds. Cllr. Owen will draft an application once he
has all of the required information. This application will be
reviewed by the Parish Council before it is submitted to the County
Council.
1949. Car Parking
The County Council are
still going through the procurement process to appoint a geological
surveyor to examine the quarry walls.
1950. Byway Open To All Traffic, Dunstan Hill
As far as can be
ascertained, the consultation is designed to regularise the current
situation in order that access can be maintained to the same level as
currently if anything changes in the future. The County Council
has no plans to metal the track or carry out any other improvement work
which could cause an increase in traffic.
1951. Parish Council Website
Cllrs. Gallon, Owen and
Sutherland attended a NALC training session at Wooler on 19th.
January. It was explained there that it was now a legal
requirement for Parish Councils to make a lot of their information,
agendas, minutes etc. available on a web-site although this need not
necessarily be their own web-site. Funds would be available to
purchase the hardware, create the site and train users. NALC
would be creating a generic template which Parish Councils could use
and maintaining a site where the Parish Council information could be
held. Further details of this proposal including outline costing
proposals would be forwarded in February. It was agreed that the
Parish Council should bid now for a scanner and computer but withhold
decision about a web-site until the NALC proposals were received.
Action Point:
Cllr. Sutherland to work up bid for scanner and computer for Clerk to
pass to NALC.
In 2016-2017, Parish
Councils would still require to have an external auditor. The
National Association of Local Councils had implemented a scheme to
carry out this audit, replacing the audit by BDO which had taken place
in previous years. Craster Parish Council would be part of this
scheme. Beyond 2016-2017 Parish Councils with turnover of less
than £25000 would not require to be audited. However, a lot more
financial information would have to be provided on the Parish Council
web-site including all expenditure of over £100.
1952. Recruitment of Parish Clerk
There had been 3
applications to date. Closing date for applications is 29th.
January.
1953. Circulation of Parish Council Paperwork
The way that Parish
Council paperwork was circulated was discussed. The availability
of e-mail meant that much of the paperwork could be circulated to most
councillors electronically. However, the Parish Council had to
retain a system to ensure that those without internet access still
received the required information. Concern was also expressed
that large printouts like plans accompanying planning applications were
easier to read in hard copy than on a computer screen. It was
agreed that in future there would be a second, smaller circulation
sheet for documents which had been circulated by e-mail and which would
only contain the names of those without internet access. Planning
applications would still be circulated to all councillors.
1954. Financial matters.
The setting of the
precept was discussed. If the Parish Council wished to match the
precept to the level of expected expenditure the precept could be
reduced to £3000 from the current £5000. It was agreed that this
choice would be put to the Parish Meeting and that the precept would be
set in accord with the decision of the Parish Meeting.
Proposed: Cllr.
Craster
Seconded: Cllr.
Smith
Carried.
a) Current Account Balance - £1991.05
b) Spent & Received
Spent - £130.00,
Christmas Tree
Received - £65.00,
Community Trust contribution for tree
c) Clerk/HMRC wages & expenses - Nil
d) Cheques required
Stableyard Landscapes -
£340.00, grass cutting May to November
Michael Craster -
£358.80, Advertisement in Journal for Clerk
Craster Coastal Rowing
Club - £1000.00, donation to Skiff
e) Appointment of an Internal Auditor
The temporary
appointment of Cllr. Smith as internal auditor had been an emergency
measure and could not be sustained for this year. Cllr. Owen
reported that he had been advised to ask Fraser Suffield from Embleton
if he would be willing to add our internal audit to the work he already
carried out for Embleton PC and the EJBC. Mr. Suffield would be
willing to carry out the work without charge. It was proposed
that Mr. Suffield be appointed as internal auditor.
Proposed: Cllr.
Smith
Seconded: Cllr.
Baird
Carried
Action Point:
Cllr. Owen to confirm appointment with Mr. Suffield.
1955.
Correspondence received.
a) Hospice Care North Northumberland
No further action.
b) NALC e-mail re audit arrangements
Noted
c) Craster Community Trust re Playpark
Noted.
1956. Items for Next Agenda
Trees around turn.
1957. Information Share
a)
Cllr. Gallon reported that the NALC training meeting at Wooler had also
informed him that it was now legal for anyone to record or film a
Parish Council meeting openly or in secret and then publish the
recording.
b)
Cllr. Brookes noted that some of the gullies on the way into the
village looked as if they were blocked by leaves.
c) The
statement made by Jackie Reeves in the public question session
regarding the planning application for a conservatory at her property
in Dunstan was noted. The planning application had been received
too late to be included in the agenda for this meeting. It was an
application made by the supplier of the conservatory after the supplier
had told Mr. & Mrs. Reeves that no application was required.
Although the meeting could not take a decision about the application
because it was not an agenda item, the Clerk informed the meeting that
he had listened to the discussion and felt empowered to take action
within his powers and make an entry to the application that the Parish
Council had no objection. This action would formally be reported
back to the Parish Council as soon as possible after it had taken place.
1958. Date and Time of Next Meeting
Thursday 18th February
@ 7:15pm
in the Craster Memorial Hall
Open to Public &
Press
|
