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COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL
Agendas
& Minutes
Accounts
CHURCHES
LOCAL
GROUPS
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Minutes
Thursday 15th October 2015
7:15pm in the Craster Memorial Hall
Present
Chair Bryn Owen
Vice-Chair and Acting Parish Clerk John Gallon
Parish Council Members Pauline Baird, Elizabeth Pearson, Joyce
Shaw, Martin Smith
Members of the public:
Rosalind Ahrendt, Pam
Owen, William Sutherland
County Cllr. Kate Cairns
There were no public questions.
1890. Declaration of interests.
None
1891. Apologies received
Margaret Brooks, Michael
Craster, Alan Punton
1892. Minutes of the previous meeting
County Cllr. K. Cairns
stated that she had tendered her apologies as she was unable to attend
the meeting but that this was not recorded in the minutes
Elizabeth Pearson stated
that the EJBC report did not accurately reflect her comments and asked
that sentence be deleted.
Subject to these
changes, the minutes of the meeting of 17th September 2015 were
accepted as a true record of the meeting.
Proposer: Joyce Shaw
Seconder: Martin Smith
Unanimous.
Action Point: Clerk to edit the
minutes and obtain signed copy from Chair.
1893. Matters arising from the minutes not covered
elsewhere on the agenda.
None
1894. Co-option of Candidate to be Parish Councillor
William Sutherland was
introduced to the Parish Council. It was resolved that he be
co-opted to the Parish Council.
Proposer: Elizabeth Pearson
Seconder: Pauline Baird
Unanimous
1895. County Councillor’s Update
County Councillor Kate
Cairns updated the Parish Council on a number of matters:
Schools were being
encouraged to take up the Walk on Wednesday scheme with pupils walking
to school rather than using the car.
The County Council Core
Strategy was open for final consultation and the Parish Council was
urged to respond.
The County Council have
received a communication from Yvette Cooper MP urging it to be
proactive in dealing with refugees from the Syrian Crisis.
The telephone number for
contacting the County Council is now 0345 600 6400 which should allow
calls to be charged at the local rate.
Cllr. Cairns followed up
the two requests she had had from the Parish Council. In view of
the High Court decision regarding Section 106 charges, she would let
the Clerk have the latest version of the County Council Section 106
protocol. She was not aware that there had been any chages to the
requirements for the posting of public notices when Planning
Applications were lodged but would assume that the advice given by the
Planning Department was as required by law.
1896. Consultation on Options for Alnwick Schools
Partnership
The Clerk has responded
to the Consultation exercise using the form supplied by Margaret Brooks.
1897. Planning Matters
a) 15/01545/FUL. Change of materials noted.
b) 13/03120/OUT. Section 106 payment agreed as
£30,000. The Parish Council were disappointed this this sum was
well below the normal Northumberland County Council target of 30% of
the value of the development.
c) Access to Pre-Application Information
Action Point: Clerk to
circulate Log-In details for the County Council Planning portal so that
Councillors can access information about Planning Applications.
1898. Administration Issues
The Publication Scheme
proposed by the Clerk was accepted.
Action Point: Clerk to update
web-site with information as detailed in the Publication Scheme.
1899. EJBC
Bryn Owen reported on
the meeting of the EJBC held this week.
The Committee was
pleased to report that the Clerk to the Committee had received a rate
rebate for the last 5 years due to previous overpayments.
Following the partial
collapse of a tree earlier this year a tree survey was being conducted.
The survey of headstones
was continuing.
The Committee were
preparing a Protocol which would lay down the define the requirements
to which both the EJBC and Funeral Directors would work.
1900. Craster Community Trust
Joyce Shaw reported that
the main business of the Trust was currently the project to build a
skiff. A major donation had been promised and the sub-committee
responsible were pushing on as quickly as possible.
1901. AONB
No report
1902. Fixed Asset Maintenance
No report
1903. Tourist Fingerpost
It was possible that
LEADER funding could be obtained not only for the fingerpost and other
signage but also for a footpath from the Arch to the foot of the Tower
Bank to avoid pedestrians having to walk on the road. A draft
LEADER application will be prepared once the feasibility of the
footpath has been established.
1904. Christmas Tree
Elizabeth Pearson and
Martin Smith are to source a Christmas Tree and lights. The
Parish Council would budget £75 for this and it was hoped that the
Community Trust would contribute a similar amount.
1905. Car Parking
Bryn Owen reported that
our previous understanding that the County Council had funding to move
the fencing back in the Quarry Car Park and that work would be
progressed in due course had now been overturned by the County
Council. He will follow this up with Lynne Ryan of NCC to
establish why the funding is no longer available despite previous
assurances.
William Sutherland
wished it to be recorded in the minutes his strong opinion that
increasing parking spaces would not impact on public parking in
residential areas but could simply increase the pressure of visitor
numbers on village amenities.
1906. Mobile Phone Reception
John Gallon informed the
meeting that Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP had noted our correspondence with
the mobile phone networks and had offered her assistance if we required
it.
1907. Village Assets
John Gallon raised the
matter of designation of village assets. This had been brought to
mind by the campaign by the residents of Lowick to retain the Black
Bull as a community asset rather than being sold for housing.
After discussion it was agreed that Bryn Owen should establish what
process is required in order to register a village asset. The
issue should then be raised in the community as it was something which
was not just a Parish Council matter.
1908. Parish Meeting
Bryn Owen referred to
the latest advice regarding unjustified cash balances held by Parish
Councils and warned the Parish Council that we would be in an untenable
situation if we retained the windfall Northumbrian Water monies without
having them earmarked for specific projects. This was of
relevance because we would be responsible for signing off our own
accounts next year and so could all be individually and collectively
liable in the event of any challenge. It would be appropriate for
the whole community to be involved in the discussion about the
disposition of these funds. It was agreed that a Parish Meeting
should be called for Tuesday 10th. November at 7:00pm. While the
agenda for the meeting was very much in the hands of those present at
the meeting the matters of the windfall monies, the future of the
Parish Council and the designation of village assets should be
discussed. The defibrillator DVD could also be shown if time
allows.
Action Point: Clerk to
draft flier for distribution throughout Craster and Dunstan.
1909. Financial Matters
a)
Current Account Balance £4299.39
b)
Spent £393.46 for Clerk’s salary, expenses and PAYE.
c)
Cheques required: G. Newcombe £333.28, HMRC £60.18
1910. NCC Charges for Builders Waste
The Parish Council were
concerned at the potential for increased fly-tipping due to the charges
now being levied for builders’ waste. County Cllr. Cairns
reported that the research the County Council had carried out showed
that there was likely to be a spike in the level of fly-tipping after
the introduction of the charges but that this would revert to historic
levels in a short period of time. This did not alleviate the
Parish Council concerns.
Action Point: Clerk to write
to Northumberland County Council expressing the concerns of the Parish
Council.
1911. Correspondence received
a) NCC Homelessness Survey. It was agreed that this was a matter
where the Parish Council should respond to the Consultation.
Action Point: Pauline Baird
to draft a response to the consultation for review by the Parish
Council.
1912. Items for Next Agenda
It was requested that a
Parish Council website, a report back from the Parish Meeting and the
recruitment of a Parish Clerk should be included in the next agenda.
1913. Information share
John Gallon told the
Parish Council that he would not be able to attend the November
meeting but that Marion Gallon had agreed to be Minutes Clerk for the
meeting.
1914. Date and Time of Next Meeting
19th November 2015 @
7:15pm in the Craster Memorial Hall
Open to Public &
Press
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