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Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 19th January 2009 in the Supper
room of the Parish Hall at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Tulip, Williams, Mills, Reid, Dunhill, Heslop and Stephenson.
Also present were 4 members of the public and one member of the Press.
1. Apologies were received from Cllr Eakins, Cllr Latham
and Cllr Dale.
2. Minutes of last meeting: The minutes were agreed
as a true record subject, in this instance, to the Chairman and Councillors agreeing
to a small amendment from a member of the public.
3. Matters arising: a) Trees at the Wellington: It
was noted they had been cut back.
b) The No-Smoking signs were now up in the bus shelters.
4. Playpark: The repair on all the washers was nearly
complete. A quote from the fencer to replace the roofs on the small climbing
frame had been received and was about £100 less than that from Playdale.
It was agreed to leave the repair for now as the situation was not serious and
the money should be conserved. There was some discussion about the mole problem.
Although details of two mole catchers had been provided, it was agreed to see
what they could do and for how much. It was also agreed that chemicals were not
desirable in a Playpark. There was consensus that brushing the soil was possibly
the best thing that could be done. With respect to the cut saplings, it was again
agreed to avoid the use of chemicals but to manage them better from now.
5. Pedestrian Crossing: Cllr Tulip had met with Cllr
Dale at County Hall about this issue. The person dealing with the matter had
now left. As previously reported the survey last summer indicated the County’s
criteria could not be met. The implication, however, was that if we paid, and
it was safe, we could have a crossing. In September they did a second survey
with that in mind. Generally, a Zebra crossing cannot be placed on an ‘A’ class
road. The school are in favour of a crossing so the Parish Council will continue
to pursue the issue.
6. Working Groups: Cllr Tulip had suggested that there
be several Working Groups of Councillors to look at a number of issues. Some
Councillors had expressed interest in certain groups so it was agreed that they
should be as follows:
Finance: Cllrs Eakins and Williams
Covenants: Cllrs Reid and Mills
Charter: Cllrs Dunhill and Heslop
Community : Cllrs Stephenson and Dunhill
Cllr Tulip and the Clerk would liaise with all Groups. Each
Group will develop Terms of Reference and bring them to the table for discussion.
7. Village Green: Cllr Tulip presented an update on
this matter. There had been a meeting held recently, called by the County’s
principal solicitor Stephen Rickitt, and he chaired the meeting. Essentially
the application is likely to fail and he is not prepared to hold a public enquiry
on a point of Law which would fail. This followed Counsel’s Opinion relating
to another village green enquiry the County are involved in which highlighted
a particular legal point. He had brought copies of the Opinion for the applicants
and other parties. Mr Tully had written about the Declaration of Trust and it
was noted the application had to run its course. However, Mr Rickitt was of the
opinion that the Declaration of Trust was inherent in the 1973 conveyance. One
possible outcome was for the Parish Council to register the land, outside of
the tennis courts, as village green. Mr Rickitt would write summarising the position
and the options. It was agreed to wait until this was done before considering
further action.
8. Freedom of Information: The new template was agreed
by Councillors and would go onto the website. A summary sheet would be placed
on the Notice Board.
9. Correspondence: a) General.
b) Hexham Courant: Cllr Stephenson agreed to do the piece for the Spring publication
about the village.
c) The quotes for the Grass cutting in Millfield Road were accepted.
10. Finance:
The financial statement and receipts were accepted by all Councillors.
The following payments were authorised by all councillors:-
M F Anderton/Salary/December £391.00
M F Anderton/Expenses/December £48.56
Village Hall trust/rent £55.00
Tynedale council/dog bin £299.23
Transfer to D/Ac of Beacon Fund
Towards bus shelter £1700.00
S.137 Donations: It was agreed to give £50 to
each of the following organisations: Samaritans; Mencap; Age Concern; Northumberland
Theatre Company; Tynedale Community Hospice and Tynedale CAB.
11. Minor matters: Cllr Reid raised the possibility
of a bus shelter at the west end of the village. It was noted this had not been
included in the budget for next year but could be looked at at the end of the
current financial year
Cllr Heslop raised the matter of a village Clean up day.
It was agreed to leave to the Community Group to liaise on the matter though
all were in general agreement.
Cllr Dunhill summarised the recent meeting re Charter.
He was of the opinion, and Councillors agreed, that the existing relation with
the East Tynedale Forum was probably the best way forward but it appeared to
be a very flexible situation with a lot of scope for accommodation.
Date for APM: the Clerk would check on the availability of the Halls in May
so that more Councillors will be at the meeting.
The meeting closed at 8.40.
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