Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 6th October 2008

Present: Councillors Pete Barrass, John Davison, Pete Duncan, Steve Gleadhill, Ian Hall, Diane Hinchcliffe, Norman Hooks, Dave Porter, Julia Sayce. Mrs M Williams, Clerk.

Also present: District Councillor Colin Argent, County/District Councillor Mrs Anne Dale, Mrs G Brown (Hexham Courant), Mrs Daphne Gilbert.

Apologies: Councillor Melna Martin, District Councillor Mrs Eileen Drew

Mr Hall opened the meeting and welcomed Pete Duncan as a new Parish Councillor.

08/47 Declarations of Interest – Norman Hooks declared an interest in the item under 10b – SICA Hire Agreement

08/48 Minutes
Acceptance of the Minutes of the meeting held on 1st September was proposed by Steve Gleadhill and seconded by Norman Hooks. The Minutes were agreed.

08/49 Matters Arising None

08/50 Public Participation
Flooding
Although this matter was an agenda item it was also brought up at this point and the following concerns were raised:

• Flood protection is required from the road bridge to the railway bridge.
• There is a landslip on the roadside behind the station
• The properties at Burnside are now vulnerable – it cannot be assumed that the events of 6th September 2008 will not happen again.
• Repeated problems on New Ridley Road.

A draft letter had been suggested regarding maintenance of drains and gullies and it was agreed to send this to the County Council.

Mrs Dale advised that County are to take a sum £2 million from capital to deal with the current problems arsing from the storm of 6th September.

It was noted that the Stocksfield Burn is now classed as a major tributary of the Tyne and nothing can be done to it without permission of the Environment Agency.

It was agreed to take the problem of Burnside up with the Environment Agency by both writing and arranging a meeting with the relevant officer.

Mrs Dale advised that Tynedale were continuing to look at these problems. She said that there were some legal issues about land drainage to be resolved, Some residents had received letters from Tynedale on this issue.

The Clerk reported that she had asked Street Cleansing to sweep New Ridley Road, although it was noted that parked cars made this difficult.

Other matters
Kate's Plain – Pete Barrass reported that residents were taking dogs onto Kates Plain. The clerk advised that she had requested the Handyman to move the "No Dogs" sign.

Mrs Daphne Gilbert asked if a pedestrian refuge could be built into the road between the Fords and Old Ridley. It was also suggested that width restriction signs be provided and that the existing signs need to be more conspicuous. It was felt that the increase in large vehicles on this narrow stretch of road was caused by Satnav directions. It was agreed to write to the County regarding this and also to add it to the LTP requests. It was stressed that all the lanes around the Fords are heavily used by walkers and horse-riders.

Mrs Gilbert also brought up concerns that the mowing in the Community Woodland had not been done very well. Mr Hooks advised that he is to meet with representatives of Allendale Estates and would bring this matter up with them.

08/51 Correspondence
The correspondence received had been listed on the Agenda and was noted.

Tynedale Council – New Allocations Policy – Mrs Sayce and Mr Duncan are to look at this.

R Peers – Elddis vehicles on New Ridley Road. While it is not thought that there is a real problem with this, Mr Davison is to discuss the issue with Mr Peers.

NALC AGM – no one from the Parish Council attended.

Dept. for Communities and Local Government – Byelaws – Mr Hall is to look at this document.

08/52 Finance
The accounts for September were accepted.

Spend v Budget – this had been circulated and was noted.

2009/10 Precept – Councillors were asked to look at this, advise the Clerk by 10th October of additions, amendments or queries. The precept would then be discussed more fully in November.

08/53 Sustainable Communities Act
It is thought that this should be considered in parallel to the recently circulated NSP document. The response to this document is to be circulated to councillors.

It was agreed that councillors should look at the question of a Parish Development Trust.

08/54 Flooding
In addition to the concerns raised under public participation, the following matters were discussed in relation to the Stocksfield Burn in particular.

Footpath 13 behind the tennis courts. This path was totally washed away at this point. There has to be some remedial work as the property adjacent to the path is now threatened. The County, Environment Agency and Milecastle Housing are discussing this issue.

It was felt that should there be flooding of similar severity then Kates Plain would flood again.

It was felt that the gabions and walls next to Brumwell Court had successful protected these properties but the narrowing of the stream at this point meant that water was higher and faster.

It was stressed that there was little that could be done but to continue to monitor the situation and to keep pressure on relevant authorities as necessary.

08/55 Brief Reports from Advisory Groups and Council Representatives
a) Transport & Highways
Local Transport Programme
To date the priority list of tasks drawn up under the Local Transport Programme had not yet been drawn up. Mr Davison is to liaise with Mrs Dale on this matter. Mrs Dale suggested that the priorities need to include tasks that the County is likely to undertake.

Improvements to Station Car Parking
Mr Hooks gave the background to the bid which had now been submitted to the Department for Transport. County officers were confident that the bid for funding would succeed. The results of the bid should be known in January 2009. It was agreed that should the bid be successful and the work carried out according to the proposal then pressure should be put on the County to provide a footpath on the south side of the B6309 between the entrance to the station and the junction with the A695.

No further information had been received with regard to the construction of the Railway Masts.

Tyne Bridges Study – it was hoped that the results of the study would be presented to the meeting of the Eastern Parishes Forum on 7th September.

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

b) Finance and General Purposes Group
Mr Hall said that a meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Group should be arranged.

Youth Service Grants - Councillors Hall, Hinchcliffe and Gleadhill had agreed parameters for grants to the youth service. These are to be submitted to the Finance & General Purposes Group to approve and recommend to the Council.

War Memorial – Re-dedication Service is to be conducted by the new Vicar, Rev Bill Rigby. As many groups and individuals as possible are to be circulated with the information. A contingent of a Sergeant and 3 soldiers from Albemarle Barracks will be present. Sound equipment is to be arranged. The police have been contacted regarding traffic control. The Chairman of the Parish Council Mr Ian Hall thought that if we were fortunate enough in locating a relative of one of those whose name appears on the Roll of Honour that we would be asking them to lay the wreath. If this is not the case he would see it as a privilege to lay the wreath.

Calor Village of the Year – Feedback for the entry to the national competition is required by 10th October and should be sent to Mr Hooks or Mrs Williams.

Requests for funding from WRVS and Age Concern are to be considered by the Finance & General Purposes Group.

SICA Hire Agreement – it was noted that the fee for hiring the Richardson Room at SICA for Parish Council meetings was £24 per meeting and that a charge of £25 was levied for use of the upstairs store room in which to store Parish Council archives.

c) Sports Facility Group
Sportsfield Users Agreements – The agreement with the Prudhoe & Stocksfield Rugby Union Football Club was tabled and signed.

The agreements with the Football and Cricket Clubs have yet to be finalised.

MUGA – Management Agreement – terms have yet to be finalised, agreed by all parties and signed.

Sportsfield Management Agreement - terms have yet to be finalised, agreed by all parties and signed.

Sportsfield/MUGA Leases with Allendale Estates – the documents for both these leases have been received and it was agreed that these should be signed. Ian Hall proposed and Steve Gleadhill seconded and it was agreed that Mrs Sayce would make the statutory declaration on behalf of the Parish Council.
Request to purchase a piece of the Cricket Field – a request had been received to purchase a small piece of the cricket field bordering Greenfield House. The Sportsfield Management Group are to discuss this and to make a recommendation. Broomley School are to be consulted on this matter.

Former Rifle Club/Snooker Club – following the notice that the Parish Council was to register a caution on this site with the Land Registry, one of the Trustees of this club contacted the Parish Council. It was agreed that Ian Hall and Dave Porter should meet this trustee to find out what plans the club had for the site. If necessary legal advice will be sought from Tynedale.
d) Play Facilities
The Play Facilities Group is to met to discuss the Outcomes Report on BEPA for the Big Lottery and the RoSPA Inspection Report.

It is hoped that the work on the new access to BEPA will start this week.

Kates Plain – no response had been received from J & J Stanley regarding the removal of the tyre.

Welton Close – a letter had been received from Tynedale stating that the designated play space should remain a play space and a notice is to be erected.

e) Sensory Garden - no further progress on this until the new access has been completed.

f) Policy Group –.nothing to report

g) Planning
The Planning Report for September had been circulated.

h) Council Representatives
Dave Porter and Ian Hall are to attend the Eastern Parishes Forum meeting on 7/10.

i) Footpaths, Gardens & the Environment.
The Minutes of the previous RoW Group meeting and a report on the most recent meeting were tabled.

Spare Dog Bin – It was agreed that residents should be asked, through NE43 News where the spare dog bin should be located.

i) Communication
NE43 News – Dave Porter said that pages 2 and 3 had been transposed during printing. He is getting quotes from other printers. The question of advertising, increasing the number of issues, etc. is to be discussed in November.

k) Parish plan
Steve Gleadhill reported that the household survey was about halfway through. The core group is to meet in 2/3 weeks time. It is possible that they will talk to students at the High School as they need feedback from this age group. It is hoped to hold some feed back events and to have the draft plan available early in the New Year.

Steve Gleadhill reported that the display boards and posters had been damaged in the recent flood as they were stored in his garage. It was agreed that the posters should be reprinted.

l) Local Government Re-organisation
A copy of the NCC submission to the Boundary Commission was tabled.

08/56 Other business
It was proposed by Dave Porter, seconded by Julia Sayce and agreed that the Clerk should purchase an HP Colour Laser Printer at a cost of around £220/

Apologies – November meeting – Mr Hall and Mr Hooks

08/57 Date of Next Meeting: 3rd November

The meeting closed at 10.15 p.m.