Minutes of the Parish Council and AGM held on 10th May 2010 in the Supper
Room of the Parish Hall at 7.45pm
Present: Councillors Mills, Reid, Dunhill, Eakins and Stephenson. Also present
were Cllr Anne Dale, 8 members of the public and one member of the press.
1. Apologies: Cllr Heslop
2. Approval of Standing Orders: Agreed
3. Election of
Officers: Chair: Cllr Mills was proposed by Cllr Reid and seconded by Cllr Dunhill.
Approved
Vice Chair: Cllr Reid was proposed and agreed by all
Planning subcommittee: Agreed to continue as Cllrs Dunhill and Mills.
VHT: this was deferred until a later date when Cllr Heslop would be asked if
he will continue in this role.
4. Minutes of last meeting: These were agreed as a
true record.
5. Matters arising: a) Grass cutting: Although grass cutting
in the village had been approved for this year, East Tynedale Forum were considering
plans for next year. Cllr Dunhill agreed to ask about this. Cllr Reid asked about
the use of weedkiller near living plants as apparently the previous request was
being ignored.
b) TPOs: Cllr Dale had asked three months ago but applications were still not
being forwarded for consultation. She would ask again. ADe
c) Potholes: A number of potholes have been filled but not very well. A letter
from the Sandy Bank Residents Association had been sent to David Laux of County
Council Highways regarding the junction of the Slaley Road and the A695.
d) Himalayan Balsam: This is growing slowly. Cllr Reid will put up repeat notices
for volunteers to help in destroying it when it grows higher. MR
e) Clean Up Day: The 19th June was fixed for the village clean up day - a week
before the Village day. People would be asked to clean their own frontages. Cllr
Stephenson agreed to lead the clean up. LS
f) Website: Cllr Eakins explained that Blogs and forums were undesirable as they
could not be sufficiently monitored. Dave Porter is considering migrating our
website to a content management system in the future – this would make
it easier to update. Updating of information is difficult as village societies
do not keep contact details up to date.
g) Moles: At least one mole is still active. The state of the Playpark will continue
to be monitored.
h) Spinney: Cllr Reid reported as follows: Following the clearing of the spinney
on 26th September 2009, parishioners were invited to put their names forward
for planning the Spinney. Alma Bundick, Kevin Charman, Ros Charman and Malcolm
Reid volunteered. They have met on three occasions – for initial ideas,
for a site visit and to put suggestions to those whose properties overlook the
Spinney. There was broad agreement as follows: the character would be between
managed and wild; it would provide a linkage to surrounding woodland for wildlife;
it would be a place of tranquillity with a circular woodland walk which would
involve moving a very small number of trees. The Spinney would be allowed to
develop naturally; there would be no change to access for the time being, but
consideration of alternative access and /or disabled access may arise in the
future. Cllr Reid will approach NEDL for used wood chips to lay to mark out the
path. MR
i) Church Lane sign: Cllr Dale had asked for a replacement. A ‘Broomhaugh & Riding’ sign
to replace the existing Riding Mill sign had also been requested by a parishioner,
but the cost of this, which would fall on the Parish, would be prohibitive as
all road signs in the near area would need to be changed. Cllr Stephenson agreed
to explain this to the parishioner who had made the request. LS
6. Traffic matters
raised by Sandy Bank RA: this links into the item on the Parish Plan. The
main problem is where the Nick joins the road from Slaley and the A695. There
have been near misses and there consultation with Alan Bawn from the NCC established
that re-alignment of the junction could cost in excess of £50,000.
Another option is to put a flashing radar-controlled warning sign in the area.
Cllr Stephenson has talked with Mr Stefan Bell from the Highways department about
this. A sign would have to be erected within the 30mph zone; the cost could be
as low as £3200 and the manufacturer could erect the sign, subject to conforming
to the requirements of the County Council. It was agreed this was a good idea
in principle but the details should be checked out. The possibility of putting
a similar sign at the other end of the village should also be considered. The
other matter raised was increased dog fouling. It was suggested that reminders
about dog owners duties could go in the Parish News and on the website. (Since
the meeting, the County Council have advised that a consultation on the issue
is to take place which will tighten local laws).
7. Parish Plan: The two Working
parties are looking at several other issues. The 20mph speed limit on side roads
is a non-starter as most of the roads are cul-de-sacs. The only place likely
to be considered is outside the school and the Parish was advised to add the
matter to the next Annual Local Transport plan to place the costs with the County.
Cllr Eakins also mentioned give way lines at the junction at the top of Millfield
Road, Church Lane and Meadow Park. A traffic census is to be carried out by the
Parish Council in the next few days to collect evidence of the need for a pedestrian
crossing.
8. Trees, Weir and Odd Job Man: It was agreed to proceed
with removing fallen trees from the Marchburn. Cllr Eakins wanted to know which
trees were actually included in the quote. It would be sensible to remove any
which were likely to be carried downstream in future flood. It was agreed to
go ahead and Cllr Stephenson would contact the tree surgeons.
The necessity of repairing the weir was discussed as a large sum of money has
already been spent on it. It was agreed to investigate this more thoroughly and
Cllr Reid would talk to the Tyne Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency to investigate
the long term implications especially if it is decided to do no further work.
With respect to an odd- job man, Cllr Stephenson suggested a year’s contract
for 4 hours per month at £70 per month. Points discussed included the type
of work proposed, the number of jobs throughout a year and if the potential contractor
had insurance. Time sheets and an audit trail would be necessary. It was agreed
to try the arrangement for a year following further investigation. Councillors
to email LS with suggestions for jobs he could do. ALL
9. Planning:
20091040 Extension, Briarlea, Marchburn Lane. Conditional permission
20091053 Pitched roof, Ash Lee, Church Lane. Conditional permission
10. Correspondence: a) general
11. Finance:
a) The financial statement and receipts were accepted.
b) The following payments were authorised:
M F Anderton Salary/Mar £407.74
MFAnderton Expenses/Mar £80.70
ATAC (moles) £110.00
Clerks Direct/subs £11.00
MFAnderton Salary/Apr £420.36
MFAnderton Expenses/Apr £55.71
Richardsons/trees £47.00
Insurance premium £2320.42
VHT/rent £22.00
Hexham Courant APM ad.(to MFA) £38.48
VHT – Annual Grant/S.137 £2000.00
c) The above grant to the VHT was approved.
d) The 2009/2010 Annual accounts were approved
e) The annual governance statement, as appended to the minutes in full detail,
was approved.
f) The Chairman was approved as a new signatory to the bank accounts, following
the resignation of Fred Tulip. Cllr Dunhill and the Clerk continue as signatories.
g) It was agreed that the Clerk would present the accounts as approved by council
at the Annual Parish meeting. A more detailed analysis of annual income and expenditure
based on the monthly spreadsheets would be available for use next year.
12. Minor matters:
~It was agreed to have
the talk on Bees at the beginning of the APM meeting;
~ Some Japanese Knotweed had been found near the Tennis Club;
~ A Broadband report has been forwarded to BT and the County Council for consideration;
~ Northumbrian Water will repair the pipe under the bridge in Millfield Road
between April 2011 and April 2012.It was agreed the Clerk would write to Northumbrian
Water expressing disappointment at the delay as the first complaint was made
in November 2008.
~ It was agreed to invite Mr Downs and Mr Gibson, who had raised points about
the width of the narrowed Millfield Road bridge.
~ it was agreed to change the date of the next Parish Council meeting to the
21st June and to cancel the July meeting.
13. Confidential matters: Pursuant to section 1(2) of the
public Bodies ( Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 it is resolved that, because
of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press
leave the meeting during consideration of these items.
Meeting closed at 9.35pm
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