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COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL
Agendas
& Minutes
Accounts
CHURCHES
LOCAL
GROUPS
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Minutes
Thursday 19th November 2015
7:15pm in the Craster Memorial Hall
Present
Chair Bryn Owen
Parish Council Members Pauline Baird, Margaret Brooks, Michael
Craster, Elizabeth Pearson, Alan Punton, Joyce Shaw, Martin Smith,
William Sutherland
Acting Parish Clerk Marion Gallon
Members of the public
In Attendance:
Sue Chapman, Mark and
Sarah Green, Roslynd Ahrendt, Neil and Sheila McKellar.
County Cllr. Kate Cairns.
The meeting opened with
public questions. Sue Chapman asked if the parish council would
make a response to the correspondence she had sent. The
chairman Bryn Owen said it would be covered at the appropriate
point in the agenda.
1915. Declaration of interests.
Pauline Baird
Fixed asset maintenance
Margaret Brooks
Embleton School
1916. Apologies received.
Apologies were received
from John Gallon
1917. Minutes of the previous meetings.
The minutes were
accepted as a true record of the October meeting.
Proposer Joyce Shaw
Seconder Martin Smith
Unanimous
1918. Matters arising from the minutes not covered
elsewhere on the agenda.
Elizabeth Pearson had
sourced a 15ft Christmas tree at a cost of |£130 tree delivered.
This was nearly half the cost that Heighley Gate would charge for the
equivalent. The CCT will donate £75. Martin Smith said that
he would gift the lights. It was agreed that the Parish council will
contribute £65.
Action Elizabeth will order the
tree on behalf of the CPC and the CCT will reimburse the Council
1919. County Councillor's update.
Bryn Owen thanked her
for getting the extra work done in the village.
Councillor Cairns had
just been at a meeting regarding the local traffic plan and was pleased
to report that the resurfacing in Dunstan is number 2 on list.
Councillor Cairns said they will inform her when they are to start the
job. Questions were raised about how Arriva and Travelsure would
be informed and how buses would access the village. This is the
responsibility of the County Council not CPC. Hopes were raised that
this might address the Dunstan water leak.
No response had yet been
given to the enquiry as to how the figure of £30,000 for the section
106 payment had been arrived at. Research had revealed a low
payment was given if the site was severely polluted. The CPC
would obviously be concerned if this was the case.
Action Councillor Cairns would look
further into the matter.
Blyth Crematorium will
reopen on 7th December.
It was agreed at a
meeting on 10th November that Embleton School will stay open.
In regard to Freedom of
Information and local accountability, there is DCLG funding available
for smaller councils. NALC has funding for equipment and
establishment of website including training and laptops etc.
New planning protocols
are available these include the facility for preapplication
engagement. NCC will be running a series of training sessions
regarding Section 106 communication with major developers.
New parking enforcement
comes into play outside schools from Jan 2016.
1920. Planning Matters
a) 15/03707/FUL Change of Use Chapel to 5 bedroom
dwelling
The full application has
been received. Bryn Owen pointed out that the CPC can only
address matters relevant to planning issues. In terms of
planning there is really nothing to object to. There are two issues to
be addressed one of these is for change of use to a residential
dwelling. CPC were agreed that it was much better that the
building be used rather than left to dilapidate. Permanent
residents will be an asset to the village and a new home is probably
the best use of the chapel. The other issue is that
of access. The current access road is unadopted and in a poor
state of repair. It is in the interests of everyone for the road to be
put into a good state of repair. From the floor Mark Green stated that
he was aware of the need to repair the road and was prepared to
contribute. Short term repairs and long term maintenance are both
essential. There appears to be a will on the part of owners of
property who use the road to contribute. Contractors usually are
required to reinstate the road although this has not happened with a
previous development on Chapel Row. Would it be possible for the
CPC to make it a requirement for the road to be reinstated?
There was a comment from
the floor that entry and exit is a problem. Entrance and exit
will also be an issue for any further development. Increased
traffic will increase concerns of public safety.
Mark Green informed the
members that they intend to restore and keep the memorials on the
outside of the chapel
There was discussion
about the public footpath that may exist across the land. This
will remain in place if it does exist.
It is hoped that the
work will start next autumn.
The proposal was
accepted but consultation would take place over the access.
Proposer Michael
Craster
Seconder Martin
Smith
Unanimous vote.
Action Clerk to notify County
Council that the Parish Council supports the application for changes of
use but has concerns about the state of the access road and the access
arrangements onto Dunstanburgh Road.
Action Bryn Owen will further
investigate the mechanism for adoption of roads as there is more than
one unadopted road in the parish.
Action The attention of
Highways will be drawn to the issue of access.
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.
There is no further information as to why the payment so low
c) Notification of Planning Applications
There is to be a change
in way county council notify Parish councils. The information can
be by email or by letter. Letters would go to the clerk which
could cause problems if the clerk is unavailable for any reason the
electronic copies can to go to all parish councillors
automatically. The problem with electronic versions of
planning application means that the drawings will be very small and
could be difficult to interpret. Councillor Cairns was asked to
investigate why we cannot have both. She seemed to think that we
should be able to have both an electronic and a hard copy if we thought
it worthwhile e.g. in the case of planning applications as she thought
a precedent had been set.
Action Clerk to enquire if we can
have both e-mail and hard copy in the case of planning applications.
1921. Parish Meeting
John Gallon has put the
notes on website as promised. There was a write up in
Gazette.
The next meeting will be
on Monday 25th January at 7pm. Matters arising from the parish
meeting will be discussed at the January meeting. Elizabeth
Pearson expressed some disquiet as she thought that NCC had been
undermined at the meeting and stressed how important it was we worked
well together.
Action Flyers will be distributed
to the community as they were for the last meeting.
1922. EJBC.
There had been no
meeting so there was nothing fresh to report.
1923. Craster Community Trust.
There was nothing to
report
1924. AONB
The annual forum last
week and neither Michael Craster nor Councillor Cairns could
attend. Michael had attended the board in October and there was
nothing new to report. The management plan has been
adopted. Much work is taking place on Operation Peregrini on Holy
Island,
Dark Skies funding is
available for designated Dark Skies areas.
Sustainable development
fund money is available for villages for small projects.
AONB are commencing a
big project looking for volunteers to help with all aspects.
[including dog waste.]
1925. Fixed asset maintenance.
a)
Contractor Maintenance
Clerk has been in
contact with Nigel about unsatisfactory state of new cork backing to
notice boards.
1926. Tourist Amenities / Grant Funding DCLG fund
Held over pending
preparation of LEADER grant application.
1927. Car Parking
Correspondence has been
received from A&J Coaches and circulated to members. They are
not happy they cannot park in car park. The expected extension of
the car park by shifting the fence had not yet happened. It had
not been expressed as one of the three main priorities on our traffic
management plan for next year as when this was submitted we thought it
was happening this year. Concern was expressed about rock
falls. In order to minimise the risk there will be netting in
place and the fence will only be moved on the south side of the quarry.
The issue of a drop off
point for coaches was again addressed including the possibility of one
on the outskirts of the village. A drop off point is part of the
traffic management plan.
Action Councillor Cairns will
check. Bryn Owen and John Gallon have a meeting with Lynne
Ryan on Monday and will raise the issue then.
AJ coaches will be
contacted stating we may reconsider once the fence has been moved.
Margaret Brooks enquired
as to why the grassed area outside the church had been converted to
hard standing when on John Taylor’s advice the CPC had voted against
such a proposal. Councillor Cairns replied that she had the money
available and thought that it would benefit the wider community by
allowing more people to park. There was discussion as to whether
there should be restrictions on the waiting time. There was some
concern as to whether the work that was being carried out would
maximise the potential use of the area.
Action Councillor
Cairns will enquire as to whether NCC has plans to put restrictions on
the use and will have a look at the area to ascertain the problem.
Leave the verge as it is
for a year to see how things develop.
1928. Dog Waste
Dog waste is permitted
in the black rubbish bins but visitors may be unaware of this.
Action Alan Punton will find
out if labels are available
1929. Parish Council Website
Thanks to William
Sutherland for preparing the outline paper.
Action William Sutherland
will draw up something more detailed with confidential indicative
quotes for next meeting.
1930. Recruitment of Parish Clerk
Embleton have gone solo
and the Burial committee is linked to Embleton clerk. Different models
for the role expected of the clerk were discussed as some aspects of
the work are complicated and/or time consuming. There is a spinal rate
of pay for this post. Parish councils are at liberty to decide
how much to pay. £10 an hour was thought to be too low to attract
a high calibre clerk who would presumably be able to work more
efficiently and quickly.
Action John Gallon, Martin
Smith and Bryn Owen will to draw up the job specification and
indication of job hours and Michael will advertise when this
available.
Action Michael Craster will
investigate methods of free advertising e.g. It is possible to
advertise free through both NALC and NCC.
Since John Gallon is now
temporary acting unpaid clerk Martin Smith will act as the responsible
financial officer to re–establish a safeguard in order to get proper
checks and balances on how the money is spent.
1931. Financial matters.
a)
Current Account Balance £3973. 07p
b)
Spent & Received
No money has been
received; Cheques for £266.14 and for £60 are needed.
Action Martin Smith will get
the cheque book from John Gallon
c)
Clerk/HMRC wages & expenses
There are no wages
d)
Cheques required
There are no cheques
required
It was suggested that in
future the PC should set a budget for the following year. The golden
rule would be that the precept for the next year would be established
in December by looking at the previous year’s expenditure. We have
enough reserves to enable us to do this.
This was agreed in
principle. Martin Smith will come back with figures from the last
four years for the next meeting.
Proposer
Michael Craster
Seconded Alan Punton
1932. Correspondence received.
a)
Northumberland Draft Strategic Plan
This is a huge document
consisting of 391 pages plus addendum. It is still in
circulation.
Action 25th of November is
deadline for response.
b) CAN
News
This is in circulation
c)
Craster Coastal Rowing Club
A letter has been
received from them requesting a grant of £1000. CPC are limited
by the local government Act 1972 Section 137 as to the maximum amount
that can be donated to charity per year. This meant that CPC
needed clarification as to the exact status of the club.
Bryn Owen has consulted with Michael Docherty. Apparently the
rowing club is not a charity. They are a club accredited to a
charity. They are on the point of placing an order for the kit
for the skiff. The PC are allowed to donate for recreational
purposes. Since it is public money and Craster Rowing Club is a
brand new organisation it was decided to donate £1000 subject to a
closer scrutiny by the treasurer and officers of the PC. The
cheque would be officially presented in front of the press.
Proposer Alan
Punton
Seconder William
Sutherland
Unanimous vote in favour.
We can give some money
to the playpark next year but not this as it is a registered charity.
d) NCC
re Public Toilets
Elizabeth Pearson has
rung and had confirmation that there is no change in status of our
public toilets.
1933. Items for Next Agenda Precept and promises made
at parish meeting
The 5 items arising will
be discussed at the parish council meeting in January. Other
items to be kept to a minimum otherwise an emergency meeting will be
necessary.
1 skiff
2 car parking
3 playpark
4 website
5 village assets
1934. Information Share
No matters raised.
1935. Date and Time of Next Meeting
21st. January 2016 @ 7:15pm
in the Craster Memorial Hall
Open to Public &
Press
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