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Minutes of the Parish Council held on 8th June 2009 in the Millenium Hall
at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Tulip, Williams, Mills, Reid, Dunhill, Heslop, Eakins
and Stephenson. Also present were Cllr Anne Dale, who arrived later, and 3 members
of the public and one member of the Press.
(In the public question section before the meeting, Mr Young reiterated that
he thought the Council, amongst other things, were guilty of extortion).
1. Apologies: None.
2. Minutes of last meeting: Agreed as a true record,
subject to some small amendments: to note a difference between the two advertisements
in the Courant, to note the payment to the SLCC of £56.35 for the regional conference and
to insert ‘were’ in front of ‘extra measures’ in 7(d).
3. Matters arising:
a) A letter had been received from
the County Council re the garden waste charges. Councillors were generally of
the opinion that this was still unacceptable. If something was considered to
be fair and consistent for one service, it should be so for all services throughout
the area of the unitary authority, such as car parking. It was agreed to write
again to the Waste department and also, relating to Car Parking, to the Chief
Executive, the Leader of the Council and Richard Robson, Director of Place, which
includes parking issues. The letter would also be sent to other PCs to try and
ensure consistency.
b) Cllr Mills had met with Mr Castelow about the mirror for
opposite Hollin Hill. It was agreed to purchase another mirror with fittings
to go on a pole. The Clerk would try and sell on the wall-mounted mirror to another
Parish in the County.
c) Cllr Heslop agreed to continue to sit on the VHT Management
Board.
4. Footpath Light: The estimate of costs for this from
the County was very high and in the current climate was considered too expensive
by Councillors. Cllr Dale had suggested that directional lights could be fixed
on the existing pole as an alternative. This might give a lot of glare, but it
was agreed an estimate should be obtained from the County. Cllr Dale was thanked
for her continuing efforts on this matter. The possibility of solar lamps was
also suggested and it was noted that Network Rail had said they were making upgrades
to the station in 2010 – possibly the light could be raised with them.
5. Spinney: Cllr Reid is suggesting that a footpath
be created from the Old Playground, through the Spinney, through the Churchyard
and into the School grounds. This would make a much safer route for children
to be delivered to school as parents could drop them off without long –term
parking. Cooperation between the Parish Council and the PCC would be required
and the School Headteacher and the Vicar are in favour. There was some discussion
on the idea, and as Cllr Reid was asking for support in principle, this was agreed
unanimously. He agreed to set up a working group of interested people who would
look at all the issues in more detail and do some provisional costings. Cllr
Heslop expressed concern about future vandalism in particular by opening up access.
Parking arrangements near the school would be improved by the creation of such
a path.
6. Verge Treatment: The treatment of verges in the village
by the County Council in areas where they are no longer using strimmers has caused
concern and the issue was drawn to the Parish Council’s attention at the
previous meeting. Cllr Eakins suggested that a few councillors walked round the
village to look at which areas are affected in particular. More details can then
be presented to the September meeting for further discussion.
7. Planning: 20090227 Watermead, Millfield Road Conditional permission.
8. Correspondence: a) General; Cllr Reid asked that any invitations be scanned
and circulated if in a short time scale.
9. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts
were accepted by all Councillors.
b) The following payments were authorised by
all councillors:
Audit commission: £6,865.50
P Basnett/internal audit: £103.20
Allianz/annual insurance: £2,161.99
Sandy Bank RA/insurance: £220.00
M F Anderton/Salary/May £403.90
M F Anderton/Expenses/May £90.99
Northumbria water £11.43
c) Approval of 2008/2009 Accounts; These were
formally approved by all the Councillors.
d) Governance Statement: This was circulated
to councillors prior to the meeting so that any queries could be considered.
Each section was taken in turn and accepted by all councillors. It was noted
that there was still room for improvement and that further changes in the presentation
of monthly statements would be positive. It was also noted that the Parish was
required to complete a 5% additional financial survey as well. The Risk analysis
was also approved.
10. Minor matters:
The road sign at the bottom of
Sandy Bank was missing.
A lot of rubbish on the A695 was noted between Low
Shilford and the roundabout. Cllr Dale said she would take up the matter with
the County.
Cllr Stephenson mentioned that the water had apparently a lot of
Chlorine in it. It was agreed she’d follow this up in a personal capacity
at first.
Attention had been drawn to a large Alder near the tennis courts
on the bank of the Burn which was dying. This is a very large tree. As the matter
is not too urgent as yet, the Tennis Club would be approached as it is their
responsibility and the Clerk would ask the Forestry Commission to look at it
and give an opinion as to the best long-term treatment.
The meeting closed at 9.00.
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