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Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 12th May 2008 in the Supper
room of the Parish Hall at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Mills, Tulip, Dunhill and Reid. Also present were District
Councillor Latham, 5 members of the public and one member of the Press.
1. Apologies were received from Cllrs Nitsch, Williams and Heslop.
2. Resignation & Standing Orders: It was noted that Cllr Horton had resigned
owing to the pressure of work. Councillors readopted Standing Orders for the
coming year.
3. Elections: Chairman: it was proposed and agreed by all
that Cllr Tulip be elected Chair.
Vice-Chair: this was deferred until more Councillors were present.
Planning sub-committee: It was agreed that Cllrs Dunhill, Tulip and Mills would
form the sub committee.
Play Park: Cllr Dunhill agreed to continue the inspections
for the time being.
VHT: Cllrs Williams and Heslop would remain as representatives to the Management
Board.
Correspondence Officer: Cllr Tulip agreed to continue in this role. (It was noted
that the correspondence file had gone missing; the Clerk would check on its location).
Local elections: It was agreed to formally write and thank Prof. Ray Thompson
as outgoing County Councillor for his hard work. It was noted that the District
councillors would continue in their role until April 2009.
4. Minutes: The minutes were agreed as a true record with
the amendment of Resolution 2 being written in full. The following brief points
were noted as Matters arising: There was nothing to report on Millfield Road
but it would be kept on future Agendas; Nothing had been heard about the pedestrian
crossing but Cllr Reid agreed to chase that up; the letter to the PCC had been
sent re the Pack Horse Bridge but a reply had not yet been received; the current
Covenants Policy which is due to be rewritten will be circulated, for information,
to the new Councillors; Councillors agreed to look at the trees along the station
approach as there was some confusion as to whether the Wellington had had them
cut back.
5. Planning
2008/0152 Hill House Conditional permission granted
2008/008 Wentworth Grange Conditional permission granted
2008/0143 Woodside, Sandy Bank Conditional permission granted
There was a brief discussion about the new Planning application
for the Post Office. Cllr Latham declared an interest at this point and left
the meeting. Councillors had been briefed on the previous application and the
outcomes. It was noted they could only comment on planning points specifically
but if Tynedale granted approval then the issue of the covenant would have to
be considered as the deeds of the property were very specific relating to only
retail use of the premises. It was agreed that the Planning subcommittee would
look at the application and the outcome from Tynedale would be awaited before
any decisions were made.
6. Correspondence:
a) General – for circulation.
b) Stocksfield Post offices: All the neighbouring Parishes had received a letter
from Stocksfield PC concerning their two Post Offices, either of which might
be up for closure. The PC was trying to estimate usage of either of them by non-residents
of Stocksfield. It was agreed that the Clerk would put a note into the Parish
News and also a tick questionnaire into Bobby’s for a short time.
c) PlayPark: A letter had been received from Mr Young concerning some shards
of glass he’d found when playing there with his grandson. This was drawn
to the Parish Council’s attention and he had asked to view the inspection
sheets for the last year which Cllr Dunhill brought for him to look at. It was
noted that inspecting Councillors kept an eye out for such hazards but it was
difficult to spot glass in a molehill. Cllr Tulip thanked Mr Young for his letter.
d) Tynedale Council: Telephone Boxes: Tynedale are coordinating responses to
BT about a number of public phone boxes they intend to close. The one outside
the Post Office and the one up at Broomley were in our Parish. From a safety
point of view it was felt they should stay for break downs, emergencies which
might occur after the shops and the pub are closed for instance. It is known
there is not a good mobile signal from some networks either in Riding Mill or
in Broomley. The Clerk would also attempt to find out the numbers of times the
phones have been used in the last 12 months.
e) Tynedale Planning Forum: no Councillor was available to attend and
apologies would be sent.
7. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
b) The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-
M F Anderton/Saaryl/Apr £382.13
M F Anderton/Expenses/Apr £40.40
Radiopages £224.00
NALC/Ann.subs £139.50
Allianz Insurance prem. £1883.56
APM/notice 342.59
Playpark reserves £500.00
VHT – annual grant£ 2000.00
VHT – rent £22.00
Ward Hadaway £470.00
Sandy Bank RA/Ins. £210.00
Mills Glass – repair <£100
c) It was agreed that Cllr Dunhill and Cllr Tulip be the
additional signatories, with the Clerk on the bank accounts and the mandates
would be changed accordingly.
8. Minor matters: It was agreed the Clerk would look at the costs of a tape
recorder with a view to purchase in accordance with the decision of an earlier
meeting.
Cllr Reid raised the matter that Network Rail was suggesting downgrading the
road/bridge over the railway next to Wentworth Grange. This is the safest route
from there at present. The footpath is frequently used by residents from Broomhaugh.
It was agreed the Clerk would write to Northern Rail objecting on safety grounds
and she would also check if there was a PROW on the road. It was agreed to copy
the letter to the County Council as it was believed the road was put in in the
1860s as a condition of receiving permission to run the railway on that route.
The Clerk would also write to the County about the possibility of placing a mirror
opposite the other exit from Wentworth Grange and look into the costs; and ask
that they look at keeping the footpath clear in some manner to improve the line
of sight at the exit from Wentworth Grange opposite Broomhaugh.
The meeting closed at 8.50
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