Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 1st June 2009

Present: Councillors Pete Barrass, John Davison, Pete Duncan, Ian Hall, Diane Hinchcliffe, Norman Hooks, Melna Martin, Helen Morris, Dave Porter. Katharine Russell, Julia Sayce, Mrs Margaret Williams, Clerk.

Also Present: County Councillor Mrs Anne Dale, Gemma Brown, Hexham Courant.

Apologies:
Steve Gleadhill The Chairman advised that Steve Gleadhill had requested leave of absence for at least the next three months owing to pressure of work and this was agreed.

09/16 Declarations of Interest
Mrs Russell declared an interest in discussions on the Welton Close Play Space.

09/17 Minutes
Acceptance of the Minutes of the meeting held on 11th May was agreed with the deletion of the item 09/15 Any Other Business regarding the transfer of funds from the Kate's Plain Regeneration Group.

09/18 Matters Arising
Jim Davidson had been on the River Watch Course - the Cubs are to take an active part in this project.
Signs to the Highland Cattle Centre - Mrs Sayce had spoken to the owners of the Centre who agreed that the B6309 through Hindley was not suitable and had in fact argued against the signing of this route. They would like a sign on the A68/A695 roundabout at Riding Mill and suggested that the preferred route from the east was along New Ridley Road. Mrs Sayce tabled a response to the County Council's consultation along these lines which was accepted.
Damaged Fence Panel at Branch End Play Area - Pete Barrass proposed and Julia Sayce seconded and it was agreed that steps should be taken to have this repaired.

09/19 Public Participation
Concerns had been raised over the abuse of parking at various sites, in particular at Birches Nook Road. The Chairman had had a meeting with the Police to discuss this issue and it was agreed that the Traffic Warden would patrol the problem areas more frequently and that offenders would receive warnings. The Chairman had suggested that initially the Police should take a 'softly, softly' approach. The Traffic Warden will look at the parking outside the butchers at Birches Nook, Birches Nook Road, Birches Nook bus stop and outside the Sportsfield. It was suggested that the problem of parking on New Ridley Road and at the junction of New Ridley Road and Painshawfield Road was worst in the evenings. Mrs Dale advised that consultation on the provision of double yellow lines on the junction of Painshawfield Road and New Ridley Road will be sent out shortly. She advised that the proposed yellow lines will be shorter than proposed previously.

It was suggested that cars might be parked on the edge of the Sportsfield and that 'matting' would need to be put down - the Clerk is to obtain a price for 'matting'.

09/20 Correspondence
Correspondence received since the May meeting and correspondence carried over from that meeting had been listed on the Agenda and was noted.

CAN Spring Meeting - Norman Hooks had attended and reported that it had not been particularly informative on this occasion.

09/21 Finance
May Accounts - the accounts for May 2009 were agreed. The Clerk explained that although the Accounts suggested that money had already been transferred to the Unity Trust Bank the cheques had yet to be signed. This was accepted.
Spend v Budget to 31/03/09 This document had been submitted as part of the audit. Concern was expressed that there were apparent differences between the agreed budget and actual spend. The Finance & General purposes Group are to look at this in more detail.
Approval of 08/09 Unaudited Accounts Sections 1 and 2 - the documentation for submission to the external auditors was discussed and approved and signed.

09/22 Brief Reports from Advisory Groups and Council Representatives
a) Annual Parish Meeting - Around 20 residents had been present. Steve Gleadhill and Pete Duncan had given a short presentation on the Parish Plan and asked for comments by the end of the month. Mr Hall said that he felt the presentation had gone well and that the Parish Plan should stand the test of time.

b) Parish Plan - Pete Duncan advised that there was nothing to report on the progress of actual publication but that he would discuss the subject with Steve Gleadhill.

c) Stocksfield Festival - Helen Morris up-dated the meeting on the plans for the Festival. The competition schedules are now in circulation. The programme is being developed - there are more musicians than time slots available! She stressed that there would be limited parking for those attending the Festival. A Ceilidh band had been organised for the Saturday evening. Mrs Dale suggested that the Committee should apply to the County Council Community Chest for Funding - £150,000 was available to groups in the western area of the County.

d) Planning - An appeal against the decision to build a swimming pool at 14 Batt House Road had been received and it was agreed to write to the Planning Inspectorate re-iterating the comments made previously.

e) NE43 News - Items for the June issue need to be with Dave Porter immediately.

f) Transport & Highways:
Station Car Park - Norman Hooks up-dated the meeting on the progress of the improvements to the Station Car Park. The Minutes of the last meting with County and Rail company staff had been tabled. Mr Hooks advised that he had spoken to the County Officer and expressed concern that it appeared that work by the railway companies had slipped by a month. This is a concern and pressure is to be put on Northern Rail. The Parish Council has to report to the DfT by the end of June. The work on the North side of the station is expected to go ahead soon.

Railway Mast - work has started on this but the mast itself has not yet been erected.

Drains & Gullies - these are now the responsibility of the Neighbourhood section of the County Council.

Purchase of additional VACS - it was agreed to chase Dorman Varitext as we were in danger of losing the grant aid.

Parking outside BEPA and the Sportsfield - a paper had been tabled but in view of the discussions with the Police outline above, it was agreed to leave this matter for the time being. Mrs Dale advised that it has been proposed to put double yellow lines outside this entrance to the Sportsfield.

g) Footpaths, Gardens & the Environment - The Rights of Way Group had met on 18th May and the Minutes of the Meeting were tabled. Footpath Leaflet the new leaflet was available and would be put into the shops, etc. It would not be sent to every household, but would be published on the website. A second leaflet is planned with longer walks.

Footpath 13 - Milecastle Housing are looking to employ the County to do the work to re-instate this path. Milecastle will meet the majority of the costs and will let the contract for the work. The burn is a 'main river' and the Environment Agency specify what work can be done.

River Fly testing is going well- the cubs and scouts are involved in the testing.

Garden waste collection service - the letter from the County on this matter was tabled.
Seats - The seats at Branch End and at the Tennis Courts both need to be replaced and it was agreed to replace them both with seats made from recycled material. It was also agreed following a vote (6 in favour 2 against) that having sought agreement with Allandale Estate a seat made from recycled materials be situated at the top of the Round Hill. It was agreed that funds for all these seats would be taken from the Beacon Fund.

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

h) Play Facilities Welton Close Play Space - The F&GP Group is to look further at this problem. The safety and cleanliness of the stream near here also needs to be investigated. Community Garden - BEPA - A paper on progress to date was tabled. It was agreed that there should be three quotations for the work and that a specification for the tender should be drawn up - Mr Hall agreed to draw this up. It was also suggested that sponsorship should be sought.

i) Finance & General Purposes Group Are to meet to discuss: Welton Close Play Space Spend & Budget for 08/09 The Rifle/Snooker Club Snooker/Rifle Club site - it had been agreed previous that the District Valuer would be asked to value the site. It was noted that the District Valuer had been advised that this site had no planning restrictions on it. Branch End Toilet site - defer to July meeting Statement of Internal Control - this had been tabled and was agreed and signed.

j) Policy Group Electoral Review - No comment. Proposals to develop Hospital services in Northumberland - Mrs Martin is to attend a meeting in Hexham on 23rd June. There is a general fear that comments submitted might not be taken into account when decisions are made.

k) Local Government Re-organisation - Parish Council Nominations to NSP - Councillors felt that at present they were unable to commit their time to another organisation and no one was willing to accept the nomination.

l) Council Representatives East Tynedale Forum - the Minutes of the last meeting had been circulated. The date of the next meeting was noted. Dave Porter is to attend and John Davison volunteered to attend as well.

09/23 Any Other Business
An e-mail had been received advertising a one day conference - Rising to the Challenge (Moving away from Grant Dependency) - it was agreed that Ian Hall, Norman Hooks and Margaret Williams should attend and that the Parish Council would pay the fees.

09/24 Date of next meeting 6th July and 7th September

The meeting closed at 10 p.m.