You can download a copy of these minutes here (PDF file).
Broomhaugh & Riding Parish Council
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
MF Anderton Expenses/Mar – £80.70
ATAC (moles) – £110.00
Clerks Direct/subs – £11.00
MF Anderton Salary/Apr – £420.36
MF Anderton Expenses/Apr – £55.71
Richardsons/trees – £47.00
Insurance premium – £2,320.42
VHT/rent – £22.00
Hexham Courant APM ad. (to MFA) – £38.48
VHT – Annual Grant/S.137 – £2,000.00
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
