Craster Parish Meeting: 25th January 2016
A Parish Meeting was held
on Monday 25th January at 7pm in the Craster Memorial Hall. The
following notes summarise what was said.
The meeting was well
attended by approximately 30 local electors, as well as County
Councillor Kate Cairns.
• The
meeting was opened by Parish Council Chairman Bryn Owen.
• Cllr Kate Cairns gave a short report.
This is a summary of the
points she raised.
o
Cllr Cairns has spent significant proportion of her members fund in the
village – particularly Heugh Wynd, the area around the church, and
accessible parking for local people and residents, who use the church
for various activities.
o She has instigated an investigation into the
flooding at Dunstan
o The car park in the quarry was discussed at the
last parish meeting in November with the minutes and a subsequent
report in the press expressing disappointment that the County
Council had “back-tracked” on expanding the car park. She clarified
that the council construction team is carrying out a feasibility study
prior to agreeing action. There are concerns in relation to the
safety issue of placing cars closer to the quarry walls; to the scale
of the actual works required; and to the cost. As such there would need
to be a balance in terms of the number of spaces achievable against the
costs, hence the need for the study.
o The skiff is a very exciting project, and has
clearly created a real buzz in the community. Congratulations to all
those who have given time, energy, effort and different areas of
expertise to bring this to fruition.
• The minutes of the last were accepted as an
accurate record and signed by Bryn Owen
•
Proposer: Michael Craster
• Seconder: Marion Gallon
• Ian
Stanners of Northumberland County Council gave a presentation on
affordable housing. He covered four main topics:
1. What
is affordable housing?
2. How is it funded?
3. How is it allocated?
4. How does Northumberland County Council measure
demand and need?
This is a summary of key
points Ian raised:
o
Affordable housing is designed to satisfy needs not met on the open
market.
o The Government are currently looking to make
significant changes to affordable housing. It wants to broaden the
definition of what constitutes affordable housing, with an emphasis on
houses for sale, rather than to rent. It is also looking to remove
covenants that keep houses in the affordable bracket. There is
uncertainty about the grants that will be made available to build new
affordable homes.
o Northumberland County Council’s Core Strategy has a
target of 30% affordable housing from all successful planning
permission submissions for two dwellings or more. This is achieved
through a Section 106 agreement. In the case of smaller developments, a
cash equivalent to the 30% target is taken. This money is spent as
close to the development as possible, but goes to the area with the
greatest housing need within Northumberland.
o Because of the number of permissions granted,
Northumberland County Council have now reduced the requirement for
affordable homes to 15%.
o Homefinder is the system used by Northumberland
County Council to find people affordable homes to rent. Those with the
highest priority need are looked at when a house becomes available. The
system of ‘bidding’ was discussed, with Ian answering questions from
the floor about some identified flaws in the system.
o The need for affordable housing is assessed by
surveys, but these have not been carried out since the introduction of
the Unitary authority. They will be dovetailed with neighbourhood plans
from now on and concentrated on major settlements only. The demand for
affordable housing in rural areas of Northumberland has declined – due
largely to the aging population.
o Issues around the development of affordable homes
in Embleton was discussed. There were questions from the floor on
purchasing former Council houses; the Council spend on homelessness;
how redevelopment projects are affected by the 15% rule and how
communities like Craster can be revitalised.
• Setting
the 2016 Precept was discussed, alongside the distribution of Parish
Council reserves.
• Bryn Owen explained that the current precept is
around £32 per house, on average. A proposal was put forward to reduce
it to around £20 per house. The Parish Council have made savings,
particularly by running the cemetery more efficiently, making their
yearly spend around £3,000. The Parish Council asked for views on
whether the precept should reflect this or whether they should collect
more (keeping the precept at the current level) to be used for
community projects.
• A mix of views were voiced; some in favour of
keeping the precept at the current level to support sound and sensible
projects, others in favour of reducing it to reduce a further surplus
being accumulated.
• A vote was taken after a further discussion about
what the Parish Council funds could be used for. The meeting voted in
favour of keeping the precept at the current level.
• There was support for an annual discussion about
the precept, to allow residents to have their say.
• A particular issue was raised about a residents
parking scheme. It was suggested it should be officially added to the
list of projects that could be supported by the Parish Council
reserves. It was decided a task force consisting of Michael Craster,
Kevin Brown, Michael Robson and Margaret Brooks would look to put
together a scheme that was acceptable to all residents. Cllr Kate
Cairns will assist, using the example of the new schemes in Newton and
Ellingham.
• There was positive support for the planned footpath
down Tower Bank, and the resurfacing of the footpath from the carpark
into the village.
• Bryn Owen explained that the Parish Council is
looking to deliver their projects by applying for available grants.
• There was support for the Community Trust receiving
funds to assist with the renovation of the play park.
• There was broad agreement that members of the
community should be and were prepared to work alongside Councillors to
make things happen in the village.
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