Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 7th June 2010

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

Also present: Mr F Harris, Mrs G Brown (Hexham Courant)

Apologies: Dave Porter, Katharine Russell, County Councillor Mrs A Dale

10/20 Declarations of Interest
Mrs Russell advised that she works at Tynedale Community Hospice.

10/21 Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th May 2010
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th May 2010 were proposed as correct by Helen Morris, seconded by Norman Hooks and agreed.

10/22 Matters Arising
Congratulations and best wishes were extended to Councillor Pete Barrass and his wife on the birth of their son, James.

10/23 Public Participation
Mrs Sayce advised that she had received a message from a resident offering to pay towards the cost of the hanging baskets. As the matter had been resolved she offered to make a donation to the 10/24 Community Garden.
Mr Hooks advised that concerns had been raised about indiscriminate cutting of the vegetation in the Community Woodland. He is to find out more from the resident concerned.

10/25 Correspondence
Correspondence received since the May meeting had been listed on the Agenda and was noted.
NALC Charter for Local Councils and circular re Standing Orders – The Chairman is to look at these and draw up a response for ratification in July.
NCC – Surface dressing of A68 – this was welcomed – new pot holes should be reported to the County.

10/26 Vacancy for a Parish Councillor
One application had been received and was tabled and it was known that a second letter had been left with the Chairman who had been out and not received it. It was agreed that this should be deferred until July and in the meantime the Chairman would contact the applicants and arrange to meet them.

10/27 Finance
The Accounts for May 2010 were approved. Councillors were happier with the presentation which included a balance sheet..
The additional cheques listed on the agenda were approved:
AON – increase in insurance premium - £851.48

10/28 Brief Reports from Advisory Groups & Council Representatives
a) Finance & General Purposes Group
The report from the Finance & General Purposes Group was tabled.
Station Car Park – Mr Hooks gave the background to the question of paying a Management Fee to Northern Rail. He said that the County had agreed to pay the fee but that Northern Rail might lose out as a result because they could be excluded from future contracts. Mr Hooks felt that the Parish Council should still send a further letter to Northern Rail outlining the Parish Councils concerns about how the project had been managed and outlining particular concerns. It was agreed that the purpose of the letter was to try to ensure that treatment of other small communities by Northern Rail was better. It was stressed that our dissatisfaction was with Northern Rail’s senior management and not the operational staff. It was agreed to send the letter.
Mrs Martin said that the Parish Council was indebted to the small group of councillors who had driven this project forward. She said that it was a shame that Mr & Mrs Hall had been unable to attend the opening event.
Asset Transfer
Branch End Play Area – it was proposed by Julia Sayce, seconded by Melna Martin and agreed that the Initial Expression of Interest Form should be sent to County to start the process of transferring Branch End Play Area to the Parish Council.
Branch End Toilets- it was proposed by Pete Duncan, seconded by Norman Hooks and agreed that a letter be sent to County stating that the Parish Council would be interested in acquiring this site and that the Initial Expressions of Interest Form would be sent within 28 days. Mr Hall is to complete the form.
Insurance – the Clerk had produced a paper on this and the matter had also been discussed by the F&GP. It was agreed to pay the increased premium but also to look at exactly what was insured and what could perhaps be removed from the schedule in the hope of reducing the premium. Once the review of the schedule had been complete further quotations will be sought.
Project Funding – A paper had been circulated and the question of discussing the proposal with other potentially interested parties was debated. It was felt that such a Regeneration Group might detract from the formation of a Development Trust. Although some councillors supported the suggestion in principle, it was finally agreed that no action would be taken for the present and that the proposal would lie on the Agenda as pending. It was further agreed that Pete Duncan would draw up a brief paper on the proposal to set up a Development Trust including his thoughts on what he sees its role would be.
(John Davison arrived)
Funding Requests as listed on the Agenda – the F&GP to look at these and report to the next meeting.
b) Planning
In the absence of Dave Porter, Mrs Sayce commented on the Planning Report, with particular reference to the latest application for the Burnside site. It was reported that the Environment Agency is to report to the County on this latest application.
An e-mail had been received from the County regarding the Employment Land Review. The Clerk stressed the importance of responding to this but said that she felt that the Parish Plan had been published recently enough to make up the basis of the response.

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

c) Sports Facilities
Mrs Sayce reported that she had attended a meeting of the Sportsfield users regarding proposals that the senior football team should return to Stocksfield and the requirements of the Football League now that they are in a high league. She said that the Football League required that the pitch needs to be four metres wider and that this could be achieved by roping off the boundaries. However, this might damage the rugby pitch. It is hoped that the two groups can work together to achieve their individual needs and aims. They will need to liaise over home fixtures. By co-incidence a meeting of the MUGA Group and the FA is to be held and Mrs Sayce will raise some of these concerns with the FA representative.
Mrs Sayce advised that at the end of the 2010/11 season it will be necessary to spend some money on both the football and rugby pitches. The Clerk said that we would need to bear this in mind when setting the precept for 2011/12 and asked if this was the responsibility of the Parish Council and should the clubs themselves at least make a contribution.
d) Council Representatives
The Clerk had circulated a paper on the meeting at Newton on youth provision. She stressed that she believed as a result of this meeting that what councillors felt the Youth Service should be doing was not the same as what the Youth Service thought its role was. She said that from her understanding of the meeting the role of the youth service was much more supportive of those who were not catered for elsewhere and also more as a part of the education service in its widest concept and less about “table tennis” as it had been in the past. Norman Hooks is to attend the meeting arranged by County Councillor Mrs Dale to be held at Stocksfield shortly.
e Transport & Highways
Station Car Park – this had been discussed earlier.
VATS Machines – these had now been installed. The Clerk advised that a payment of £50 had been received from the Court.
Repairs to the Fords – work had now started and was expected to take around six weeks. It is hoped that a fish pass will be included in the work and it is expected that repairs to the road to New Ridley are also included.
New Ridley Road Flooding – Mr Hall reported that Mrs Dale had advised that this matter was being handled by the County Legal Department. No response had been received to date to our letter to County on this topic.
Drains & Gullies – Mrs Dale had advised that the County continue to respond to concerns about drains and gullies.
Mr Davison requested and it was agreed that the County should be contacted on the following points:
Progress on providing double yellow lines at the top of Painshawfield Road
Progress on providing double yellow lines at the junction of New Ridley Road and the A695
Requesting that consideration be given to providing designated parking areas on New Ridley Road. He stressed that recently parking had been so restrictive that it would have been difficult for fire engines and ambulances to get through. When writing safety of other road users should be stressed.
f) Footpaths Gardens & Environment
Councillors were reminded of the meeting of the Group on 21st June when there would be a discussion about windfarms.
Seat Replacement Birkdene - it was agreed to replace the seat at Birkdene with a recycled seat at a cost of around £380.
g) Play Facilities
The opening event of the Community Garden at Branch End is on 19th June.
Dogs on Kates Plain – it was noted that this problem had reduced. It was also agreed that there were adequate notices at Kates Plain banning dogs.
Vandalism – Mr Barrass said that the repairs had not yet been effected. The Clerk advised that the Handyman had this in hand. It was agreed to replace the picnic table at Kates Plain with a recycled one.
h) Communications
It was agreed that flyers for the Bywell Arts Festival could be included with the NE43 News distribution.
i) Parish Plan Action Group – deferred to July

j) Development of a Village Trust – nothing to report

k) Policy Group – nothing to report
l) Community Development – Mrs Sayce advised that although there would not be a Festival this year, the Festival Committee had felt that it was important that the second Saturday in September be recognised as a Community Day in Stocksfield and the Fun Run had therefore been arranged for this day. She also reported that the Festival Committee had purchased a marquee.

10/29 Any Other Business

10/30 Date of Next Meeting
5th July 2010

The meeting closed at 10.00 p.m.