Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday, 12th May 2008

Present: Councillors Pete Barrass, John Davison, SteveGleadhill, Norman Hooks, Dave Porter Dianne Hinchcliffe, Melna Martin, Julia Sayce,

District Councillors, Mrs E Drew, Mrs A Dale, County Councillor Mrs A Dale, Tom Walling, Hexham Courant. Mrs M Williams, Clerk.

08/01 Nomination of Chairman The Clerk, Mrs Williams, invited nominations for Chairman.

Pete Barrass proposed and Norman Hooks seconded Mr Ian Hall The Clerk advised that Mr Hall had intimated that he was happy to accept the nomination should no other councillor be proposed. No other nominations being received, Mr Hall was duly elected to the Chair.

08/02 Election of Chairman of the meeting As Mr Hall had submitted his apologies for this meeting, it was necessary to elect a Chairman. It was proposed and agreed that Mrs Sayce should Chair the meeting.

08/03 Election of Vice Chair Mrs Sayce proposed and Mr Hooks seconded and it was agreed that Mrs Martin be Vice Chair. Mrs Martin accepted the nomination for one year only.

Mrs Sayce took the Chair.

08/04 Apologies for Absence – Ian Hall, Barbara Gravenor

08/05 Declarations of Interest - none

08/06 Public Participation Mr Barrass advised that residents of Brumwell Court were concerned about the new trees that had been planted at Kates Plain. Mr Barrass advised that residents were concerned that the light to their properties would be restricted when the trees grew to full height. The Clerk is to check the species of trees that have been planted. It was explained that these trees had been planted as a result of a grant that Broomley School had received from the Woodland Trust. Some of the trees had already been moved within Kates Plain. Other sites for some of these trees are to be considered.

Mrs Drew advised that tea chests and a roll of lino had been left at the Recycling Area after the bank holiday. She had arranged for it to be removed. An item is to be included in the next issue of NE43 News pointing out that only recyclable waste could be left at this site.

08/07 Election of Advisory Groups and Council Representatives. All appointments to advisory groups and other bodies are listed on the attached sheets. It was thought that Mrs Gravenor would continue to be involved with the Parish Plan even after she moved away.

08/08 Finance
a. Responsible Financial Officer - It was agreed that the Responsible Financial Officer would be the Clerk, Margaret Williams.

b. Internal Auditor - The appointment of Mr Peter Basnett as Internal Auditor was agreed.

c. 07/08 Accounts – The unaudited Accounts for 2007/08 had been tabled and were accepted and Section 2 of the document duly signed.

08/09 Calendar for 2008-09 The Calendar for 2008-09 had been tabled and was accepted. It was agreed that the Annual Parish Meeting would be held on 20th April 2009.

08/10 Management of land adjacent to Branch End Terrace It was reported that during 2007/08 Broomley & Stocksfield Parish Council has continued to maintain this site, keeping the grass cut and the planting and shrubs cared for appropriately.

08/11 The Minutes of the meeting held on 7th April were agreed with two amendments

08/12 Matters Arising Dave Porter asked why it had been felt necessary to write to Faber Maunsell when he had submitted a report on the Eastern Parishes Forum meeting outlining their plans for a traffic survey. It was said that the letter was written to emphasise Broomley & Stocksfield's continued interest in the possible replacement of Prudhoe Bridge. It was noted that it was felt that the only way to re-open the Mowden Hall junction would be to build a flyover. It was also felt that in order to get a true picture of the traffic flow it would be necessary to monitor both the morning and evening flows.

Communication – There is an urgent need to increase the number of people delivering NE43 News in order to reduce the number of copies in each "bundle". Any suggestions should be passed to the Clerk.

Post Office Closures – District Councillors Mrs Dale and Bill Garrett had met with representatives of the Post Office. They are to make a report to Tynedale on their meeting. It was thought that there will be probably more closures than originally thought in Northumberland. Mrs Dale said that she believed that the Post Office would not be consulting with Parish Councils on this matter. However, Tynedale are to hold an open meeting for Parish Councils towards the end of June. Tynedale will be the conduit for Parish Council's concerns and opinions. Mrs Dale said that the Post Office is open to listening. Concern was expressed that the Post Office were actually "consulting" about closures – some members felt that the word "consulting" did not correctly describe the procedure. The period of public consultation starts on 1st July.

Damage to War Memorial After some discussion it was agreed that the damage to the War Memorial should be repaired like for like (i.e. in bronze). A quotation up to £1500 would be accepted. It was also agreed that a grant should be sought from the War Memorials Trust towards the cost of the repair. It was agreed that although the Parish Council would fund this damage, residents would be asked if they would like to contribute to the repair. It was also agreed that the War Memorial would be re-dedicated on Remembrance Sunday. It was noted that the Police were no longer actively pursuing this theft.

08/13 Brief Report on Annual Parish Meeting/Spring Clean Event Annual Parish Meeting. Around 25 residents and councillors attended the meeting to hear Dr Maguire speak. This was not as many as the last time that Dr Maguire attended the meeting. No concern were raised.

Spring Clean Event Only a few councillors had collected litter on the day. Other residents had tidied areas of the parish on other occasions and the Cubs had carried out a litter pick. It was agreed that this event was more successful if held in term-time. It was agreed to write to the cubs thanking them for their efforts and making them a grant of £25.00.

08/14 Finance The Accounts for April were agreed and the queries explained.

The payment of the following additional cheques was approved: Brambledown Landscape Services - £33505.50 NALC £285.92 Dorman Varitext £9593.88

It was noted that use of MUGA was going well.

[Suspension of Standing Orders – at this point of the meeting it was agreed that Standing Orders should be suspended and the meeting should continue until 10.00 p.m.]

08/15 Correspondence Correspondence received had been listed on the Agenda. It was agreed that non-urgent correspondence be transferred to the June agenda.

A letter had been received from NHS North of Tyne regarding a public consultation on urgent health care. Mrs Martin, Mr Davison and Mr Hooks are to look at this. It was stressed that our response should make it clear that this is a parish council view. Individual councillors were asked to complete the questionnaire and pass their response to Mrs Martin.

A letter had been received from Tynedale advising that BT are proposing to close two phone boxes in our parish, one at Broomley and one at Branch End. It was agreed that circumstances had been changed since the last time these proposals had been made 5 years ago. A vote was taken and 5 councillors felt that the box at Broomley should be kept. It was agreed that although it was regrettable, the closure of the box at Branch End should be accepted. It was felt that in rural communities it was important to keep as many services as possible.

08/16 Brief Reports from Advisory Groups and Council Representatives. Reports had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Planning - The Planning Report had been tabled.

Transport & Highways - It was agreed that County Councillor Mrs Dale would meet with the Highways Group to discuss the requirements within the Parish.

VACS – Once she has spoken to Dorman Varitext Mrs Williams will keep Mr Barrass informed as to progress.

Railway Masts – nothing further to report.

Problems with Satnav – no further problems had been reported with regard to large vehicles using the B6309. It was felt that although there was a sign at the junction with the A695 there should also be a sign from the A68 stating that this road was unsuitable for large vehicles. The situation will be continue to be monitored.

Bus Stops – It was noted that the East bound bus stop at Birches Nook and the West bound bus stop at Branch End will be marked as clearways.

Improvements to Station Car Park – in response to a request from Northern Rail, Norman Hooks offered to obtain technical specifications from Debmat for the proposed improvement to the Station Car Park. It was noted that we have received £5000 towards the cost of these improvements from the former County Councillor Ray Thompson's small capital grants fund. It was noted that should charging for the use of the car park be introduced the reason would be to discourage non-rail users from using the car park.

Council Representatives – Nothing to report. Mrs Sayce had attended the SCA Forum but there was nothing to report.

Footpaths Garden & the Environment Sheep Worrying – A problem where two sheep had been killed by dogs in the Hindley area had been reported to the Clerk. It was agreed that there was little that could be done by the Parish Council.

Dogs in Large Numbers in the Community Woodland – a problem where a walker and her dog had been accosted by a large number of dogs not under the control of their handler had been reported to the Clerk. Again it was agreed that there was little that could be done by the Parish Council.

Calor Village of the Year – The Clerk had done some work on the entry for this competition. If time allows she and Norman Hooks will liaise to complete the entry otherwise thought will be given to entering the competition next year.

Communication - The next issue of NE43 News will be published at the end of June.

Play Facilities – Branch End Play Area A fence panel at the bottom of the field, next to the telephone exchange has been damaged and James Robson is to be asked to repair it.

New Entrance - a report is awaited from Guy Rawlinson.

Sensory Garden - no progress to report.

Sports Facilities - Agreements for the Management of the new MUGA facility and the Sportsfield are still to be finalised.

Lease of Sportsfield and MUGA – the final lease is still awaited from the solicitors. Councillors confirmed the decision to accept the terms of the lease as drafted in February i.e. exclusion from the security of tenure provisions

Finance & General Purposes - An agreement with the Youth Service relating to the payment of their grant is to drawn up. Mr Hooks reported that the Youth Club is now meeting regularly. SICA Management, in conjunction with the Youth Leader and a group of parents, is considering other ideas for working with young people such as "band" days where music is the focus for attracting participants.

Policy Group – Nothing to report

Parish Plan – Action Events are planned for 24th July – Baptist Church hall 26th July - SICA

Councillors are asked to promote these events.

08/17 Any Other Business A letter of resignation had been received from Mrs Barbara Gravenor. She is moving away from the Parish at the end of July. Councillors were asked to consider who might be co-opted to the Parish Council. Mrs Gravenor's resignation means that there are now three vacancies.

Date of Next Meeting: 2nd June 7.30 p.m.

The meeting closed at 10.00 p.m.