Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 1st March 2010

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 Anne Dale, Mrs Gemma Brown Hexham Courant, Mr Harris.

Apologies: Steve Gleadhill

The Chairman, Ian Hall, welcomed Mr Harris to the meeting

09/88 Declarations of Interest - None

09/89 Minutes - The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1st February were agreed.

09/90 Matters Arising
Dog Bin, Meadowfield Road - The Clerk had been in discussion and correspondence with the County regarding the fact that the dog bin on Meadowfield Road and the litter bins at the play areas were not being emptied on a regular basis. She had copied County Councillor Mrs Dale into the correspondence and Mrs Dale advised that she was taking the matter up with the Scrutiny Committee. It was proposed and agreed that a letter be sent to the County saying that the response to our queries had not been acceptable and suggesting that in 2010/11 we would not pay for the servicing of the new sixth dog bin in compensation for the poor service received in 2009/10.
Repairs to the Fords - it was noted that the Tyne Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency were looking at providing fish passes for both fords. It was felt that the repairs to the second ford should go ahead but stressed that any repairs should include the road from the ford to New Ridley as this was now virtually impassable. Mrs Dale advised that as the road is an adopted highway then the County was responsible for its condition and upkeep. It was reported that despite the barriers a route across the ford had been forced through.
Road Salting - Mrs Dale is to circulate the revised salt usage guidelines.
Brown composting wheelie bins - Mrs Dale advised that the letter to residents had not been sent out in time and therefore the first collection of this season was likely to be before at least some residents received the notification. It was noted that the bill for this service have been sent out.

09/91 Public Participation
Mr Harris advised that the most recent meeting on 8th February regarding the proposed Hoodsclose opencast mine had been attended by around 20 people. He said that until the planning application was submitted the Committee was “a bit stalled”. It was thought that there would be extended consultation on this planning application. He advised that the proposals for the coal depot at Wolsingham had been in the planning process for 3 years. It was noted that an American company had invested money in the Wolsingham rail link. Mr Harris said that there was a feeling of pessimism as no coal extraction planning applications had been refused recently.

09/92 Correspondence
Correspondence received since the February meeting had been listed on the agenda and was noted.
A letter had been received from a resident regarding the content of the Painshawfield Estate Committee page on the Parish Council website. The Finance & General Purposes Group is to look into this and draw up a response to the letter.
Notification of the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership Stakeholder meeting had been received - Norman Hooks volunteered to attend.

09/93 Finance
The Accounts for February were accepted.
The Bank Reconciliation was noted.
The Spend v Budget was noted.
In order that as many cheques as possible for March could be despatched and presented before the end of the financial year, preliminary accounts for March were also tabled and agreed.

09/94 Brief Reports from Advisory Groups and Council Representatives
a) Parish Plan Action Group
As agreed in February the Simplified Action Plan was discussed in some detail. Amendments were made to the Plan and will be circulated to member.
Steve Gleadhill was thanked for the work he and his group had done to bring the Plan to this stage.
b) Council Representatives -
Young Peoples’ Services - a meeting had been held at the High School. At this meeting it was reported that the County have produced a “package” which will concentrate all resources at the East Centre in Prudhoe. It was hoped to do better and more at the East Centre. There would be three hours of out-reach work on one night per week when a caravan would visit Stocksfield Ovingham and Wylam for an hour each one evening. The youth service will continue to do work at the High School (the West Centre). The next meeting will be held on 16th March. Any questions should be sent to Ian Shaw, through Diane Hinchcliffe/Norman Hooks, by the end of the current week. One question raised was what was the levy per child from Stocksfield spent on. It was also suggested that county youth officers were not aware of the facilities that were available in Stocksfield in general and SICA in particular. A further report will be circulated for the April meeting of the Parish Council.
c) Transport & Highways
Station Car Park - the most recent planned meeting with railway and council officers had been cancelled. The next scheduled meeting is on 12th March. Norman Hooks brought councillors up-to-date with the current situation and advised that lighting was still to be installed on both sides of the track and that the pedestrian access from the A695 to the car park still needed to be improved. He also advised that it was hoped that the station and the footbridge would be painted but acknowledged that major maintenance work on the foot6bridge was unlikely to be carried out until 2013-18.
Drains & Gullies - County Highways are aware of the problems at Branch End but maintenance is behind schedule because of the bad weather. Drains and Gullies are cleaned once a year. Mrs Dale advised that the LTP budget for 2010 is £18m.
Mrs Dale advised that the LTP for 2010 in Stocksfield included: Resurfacing the Hindley to New Ridley and Baliol to Painshawfield Roads, resurfacing the road to Hedley and safety measures for Guessburn.
VATS - a meeting was held this morning with the representative from Dambach and it is hoped that the installation of the equipment on New Ridley Road would now go ahead.
Local Transport Plan - no comment to make
[Suspension of Standing Orders -it was agreed that Standing Orders should be suspended and the meeting should continue until 10.00 p.m.]
d) Footpaths Gardens & Environment
Spring Tidy Up - The Chairman and Clerk had discussed this and plans are now in hand. It was noted that the County would not be able to supply a skip but that large wheelie bins would be provided.
Hanging Baskets - a paper had been tabled. Mrs Sayce said that she felt that the cost under Option 3 should be £1000. It was proposed that with this amendment Option 3 should be adopted. A vote was taken: 8 in favour - 1 against. The motion was carried.
e) Communication
Information Card - The Clerk advised that a total of £310 had been received towards the cost of producing this. Dave Porter’s help in designing and setting the card had been greatly appreciated. Katharine Russell’s role in the production of the card was also acknowledged. There was a debate about whether or not plumbers and electricians should be included. Various quotations for the printing of the Information Card had been sought. Currently the most competitive is Abbey Press at £259.
NE43 News - Copy for the current issue is very thin at the moment. Councillors were urged to submit items for inclusion at the earliest opportunity. Councillors were also reminded that this issue will be largely distributed by them.
Annual Report - as this is the Annual Report of the Parish Council it was agreed that there may well be some duplication of items in NE43 News.
f) Planning
It was felt that the recent meeting with the County Planning Officers had been very helpful.
g) Finance & General Purposes Group.
Annual Parish Meeting - Charlene Kane of Northern Rail had agreed to be the speaker.
h) Play Facilities - nothing to report
Community Garden - Planting Day - 13th April
i) Community Development - nothing to report
j) Sports Facilities - nothing to report
The MUGA AGM will be held on 12th March.
k) Proposal to set up a Development Trust
Norman Hooks and Ian Hall are to attend a meeting next week.
l) Policy Group - Nothing to report
Mrs Sayce had looked at the consultation documents issued by People and Places on Economic Strategy. She felt that it overlapped with the Perfect 10 and that it was badly presented. No comment would be made.
It was felt that a letter should be sent to the County pointing out that Parish Councillors did not have the time to give proper consideration these types of consultations. Mrs Dale agreed to take these comments to the County.

09/95 Any Other Business - None

09/96 Date of next meeting - 12th April 2010 at 7.30 p.m. Annual Parish Meeting - 26th April

Councillors, Hall, Morris and Barrass gave their apologies for the meeting on 12th April.

The meeting closed at 10.00 p.m.