Craster Parish Council

COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL

Agendas & Minutes
Accounts

Minutes

MEETING OF CRASTER PARISH COUNCIL
Thursday 16th June 2016 - 7:15pm in the Craster Memorial Hall

Present
Chair: Cllr Gallon
Parish Council members: Cllr Pearson, Cllr Smith, Cllr Baird, Cllr Punton
Clerk: Ruth Younger


2057.    Declaration of interests
Cllr Punton has been elected onto the Development Trust. He will amend his dispensation request accordingly.

2058.     Apologies received
Cllr Sutherland, Cllr Owen, Cllr Craster, Cllr Brooks, County Cllr Cairns

2059.     Minutes of the previous meetings
Resolution: unanimous vote to accept the minutes as an accurate record.
Proposed: Cllr Smith
Seconded: Cllr Baird

2060.    Matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda
None

2061.    Parish Council vacancy
The Clerk has not received any expressions of interest for co-option to the Parish Council.
Action: Cllr Gallon will change the notices on the notice boards to show a vacancy for co-option.

2062.     County Councillor's update.
Cllr Cairns sent a written report, which was read out by the Clerk. It has been summarised below.

•    I have worked with the Parish Council and officers at County Hall on the recent closure of the quarry car park for the filming of Vera in the village. Following the close of filming I have conveyed the long list of concerns and areas for improvement written up by Cllr Gallon to officers at County Hall. I shall keep the PC informed of any response.
•    I have chased again by phone and email a follow up on the parking issues raised at the recent meeting at County Hall with members of the PC and officers from parking service and highways.
•    I have taken up comments about omission of weeding around the new grasscrete along the wall of the Church.
•     I noted that a section of the grasscrete on Heugh Wynd had been sprayed with weed killer during spraying of the footpath and this has been raised with the contractor to ensure more care is taken not to impinge on the grasscrete.

2063.    Planning Matters
The Clerk reported that planning permission had been granted for the applications submitted for Dunstan Hall and 9 Whin Hill.

The new planning application circulation guidelines were adopted following a unanimous vote in favour.
Proposed: Cllr Punton
Seconded: Cllr Smith

2064.     Neighbourhood Plan Parish Meeting
Cllr Gallon reported that Cllr Jennifer Hall from Beadnell Parish Council and David English from Northumberland County Council will be our speakers. The event will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 12th July in the Memorial Hall.
Cllr Gallon will draft an agenda and circulate it to Parish Councillors. The meeting will cover Neighbourhood Plans and Residents Parking.

2065.     Location filming of ‘Vera’
The summary circulated by Cllr Gallon formed the starting point for the discussion, which was wide-ranging. Councillors all expressed their disappointment over the management of the filming. They shared past experiences of when filming had been carried out in the village but the community had been more involved in the process. Councillors were particularly frustrated by the lack of consultation with residents and businesses on this occasion. However, they also wished to make clear that they were not against filming taking place in Craster.

Cllr Cairns sent the concerns raised by the Parish Council onto Officers at Northumberland County Council. Cllr Gallon shared their initial response, which thanked the Parish Councillors for their efforts.

It was agreed that the Parish Council would share a summary of the lessons learnt from this experience, both bad and good, with other Parish Councils in Northumberland. Cllr Gallon will prepare this letter and share it by email with other Parish Councillors for their approval, before the Clerk circulates it more widely. This letter will also be shared with the Northumberland Gazette.

It was also agreed that the Parish Council would allow Northumberland County Council to lead discussions with ITV to get a full response before they took any more formal action with the film company.

Cllr Gallon reported that news of the filming was shared with the Clerk by telephone late-afternoon on Monday. To allow the Parish Council to act, he had to consult with at least one Officer of the Council. When Cllr Owen and the Clerk were unavailable, he consulted with Cllr Punton and Cllr Craster to agree the action that should be taken by the Parish Council. The Parish Councillors agreed that this action was reasonable.

2066.    Proposed repairs to Craster Public Footpaths 17 and 24
It was agreed that the Clerk should respond to Northumberland County Council to suggest they consider revising their plans as the main walking route is along the coastal path. If possible, improvements to the path should be concentrated along the busiest part of the path rather than the lightly used link from the coastline to Heugh Road.

2067.    Minute archive
The Clerk brought the minutes from 2001 – 2016 and they are now being stored alongside the previous minute book in the Memorial Hall. It was agreed that the plan to take them to Woodhorn should be discussed at the next meeting.

2068.    Dunstan Road Works
Cllr Smith reported that water is lying across the road, which will cause problems in the winter when it is icy. A camber should be installed to resolve this issue. It was agreed this should be discussed at the next meeting.

2069.     EJBC
Cllr Pearson raised a query about the cost of internment for ashes. This will be discussed again at the next meeting, after the EJBC have resolved it.

2070.     Craster Community Trust.
Cllr Punton reported that new chairs had been purchased for the Memorial Hall, and they were currently looking into replacing the tables. A donation was received from ITV / Vera filming for the Recreation Area.

2071.     AONB
Nothing to report

2072.     Fixed asset maintenance.
Cllr Gallon will submit a report to the next meeting.

The issue of water-logged gravel bins was raised.
Action: The Clerk will contact Northumberland County Council to ask what remedial action can be taken.

2073.    Tourist Amenities / Grant Funding
Cllr Brooks sent a written report which was read out by the Clerk. She is continuing her discussions with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust about signage.

Cllr Punton expressed the need to make progress with the signage in the village. It was agreed this would be discussed in more detail at the next meeting, with reports from Cllr Owen about costs and Cllr Punton about those willing to contribute to the signs.

2074.     Car Parking
Nothing to report

2075.    Transparency Fund
The Clerk has submitted the grant application for a printer and scanner. The Parish Council are not eligible for a grant for a new laptop.

Cllr Gallon reported that NALC should be providing a template website soon.
       
2076.     Financial matters.
•    Current Account Balance: £11,247.89
•    Spent & Received: none
•    Clerk/HMRC wages & expenses: £162.21
o    The  Clerk submitted a claim for £3.00 without a receipt, covering a payment for insufficient postage. It was unanimously agreed this should be accepted.
Proposed: Cllr Smith
Seconded: Cllr Baird
•    Cheques required:
o    NALC annual subscription was approved.

The Annual Return was presented by the Clerk. It was agreed that Cllr Smith and the Clerk would have delegated authority to sign off the final form, once issues surrounding access to the Parish Council bank account had been resolved.
Proposed: Cllr Gallon
Seconded: Cllr Baird
   
2077.     Correspondence received.
a.    Start-up funding grants from Seahouses Development Trust
b.    CAN Training – 8th September
Both items were noted.

2078.     Items for Next Agenda
Signage 
Footpath access

2079.     Information Share
The Clerk reported that Northumberland County Council had not acted on the report submitted about the footpath and missing sign at the Harbour Lights.

2080.     Date and Time of Next Meeting
Thursday 21st July 2016 at 7:15pm in Craster Memorial Hall

Open to Press and Public