Parish Council Minutes September 2008

You can download a copy of these minutes here (PDF file).

Broomhaugh & Riding Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8th September 2008 in the Supper room of the Parish Hall at 7.45pm

Present: Councillors Mills, Tulip, Williams, Heslop, Reid and Stephenson. Also present were County Councillor Dale, District Councillor Latham (for part of meeting), 4 members of the public and one member of the Press.

1. Apologies were received from Cllr Dunhill.

2. Minutes of last meeting: The minutes were agreed as a true record subject to small grammatical changes.

3. Matters arising: There was nothing to report on either the Village Green application or Millfield Road. Cllr Tulip noted that there was to be a meeting at County Hall on Millfield road the following week.

4. Playpark: Cllr Tulip gave the report in the absence of Cllr Dunhill. The annual safety inspection from ROSPA had highlighted a couple of concerns. It was agreed to ask Playdale to visit (as the installers of the equipment) to conduct a thorough inspection as well and recommend any actions which should be taken, or what might be safely left alone but monitored. The inspector adjusted the gate which was one of the main comments ROSPA had made. Cllr Mills noted that a number of children were playing over the stile and sliding down to the Burn. It was agreed to note that although this could be risky, it was an acceptable risk in children’s play. The gaps in the fence are to be repaired.

5. Bridge over Railway at Wentworth Grange: in response to the proposed closure of this bridge, Cllrs Reid and Mills had written in their personal capacities objecting. The Parish Council had also written in support but had not had a reply. Cllr Reid had received a confusing reply. There is no public ROW across the bridge, confirmed by the County Council. Network Rail suggest the public could use the public road more (the one not going over the bridge). Cllrs Reid and Mills have researched the matter showing that in 1828, 5 months before assent to the railway was given, the proposed railway line cut an existing road at this point and the bridge must have been a requirement for this route to be taken. Furthermore the next map of 1842 shows both the bridge and the lane so they must have coexisted for more than 150 years without it being considered that one could supplant the other. Cllr Mills has paperwork to apply for the rest of the road to become a PROW. It was agreed to wait and see what response Network rail made before considering the PROW application. The Clerk would chase up the matter of parking on the line of sight on the main road.

6. NALC Committee/AGM: It was agreed to nominate the Clerk to continue to sit on the County Committee. Cllr Reid expressed a possible interest in attending the AGM on 4th October subject to other commitments, and it was believed that Cllr Dunhill might also be interested. The Clerk would forward their names. She also reported very briefly on two points from the recent meeting:1) that there would only be 3 Area committees in the new Unitary Structure, and 2) that there was a concern about inequities in possible charging methods for services such as grass cutting for example across the County. NALC would be writing to comment on this.

7. Planning:
08/00086/TPO 3 Meadow Park Consent given
2008/0531 Freshfield, Sandy Bank (extension) Conditional permission
2008/0491 Oaklands Lodge, extension Conditional permission
2008/0437 Broomhaugh House, portacabin Conditional permission
2008/0501 Shepherd’s Dene, listed consent for internal works, Consent given under delegated powers
2008/0560 Shepherd’s Dene, external changes Consent given under delegated powers

8. Correspondence:
a) General – for circulation.
b) Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership/AGM: Cllr Reid expressed interest in attending and possibly Cllr Dunhill as well. The Clerk would write to acknowledge this and include that items for consideration should include reopening Gilsland Station and that timetables should be better scheduled so that connections to mainline services can be better achieved.

9. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
b) The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-

M F Anderton/Sal/August – £382.13
M F Anderton/Exp/July – £46.32
M F Anderton/Exp/Aug – £57.70
VHT/rent – £77.00
ROSPA/Ann. Inspection – £77.55
Wardhadaway – £587.50
Northumbrian Water – £12.85
CWC/knotweed – £176.25

10. Minor matters: Cllr Stephenson talked with Tynedale to ascertain our inclusion in a windfall sum of money in the absence of the Clerk and Chair on holiday. This would be ~ – £1700 and would have to go to infrastructure such as bus shelters. It was also agreed to add on a stretch of grass cutting on Millfield Road as per a map supplied by Cllr Stephenson. Cllr Heslop reported that Mrs Niven is standing down as Chair at the VHT AGM. It was agreed the Parish Council should write and thank her in appreciation of her hard work. Because of the recent flooding it was agreed to ask the Environment Agency if there is anything the Parish Council and the village could do to mitigate future problems. The matter of the light on the footpath from Broomhaugh to the station was raised again and Cllr Dale agreed to follow this up at County Hall as it is a Public Footpath. It was noted that thanks should go to Michael Hinds for his grasscutting efforts round the planters and beyond.

Cllr Reid asked to see the correspondence on the bus shelter and to be consulted on its siting. The Chairman and Clerk were congratulated on the new clearer presentation of the accounts and the arrangements to post them publicly.

The meeting closed at 8.30