31 Mar DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PARISH MEETING – 28TH MARCH 2018
Draft minutes of the meeting of Chollerton Parish Council held on Wednesday 28th March 2018 at 7.30 p.m. in Barrasford Village Hall.
Present: Cllr Edward Heslop (Chairman); Cllr Jennifer Dover(Vice Chairman);
Cllr Dorothy Pigg ; Cllr Maud Jupp;
Cllr Rupert Gibson(Northumberland County Council) Liz Atkinson (Clerk)
2018-03/1 Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Lee Buckingham, Cllr
Steven Campbell and Cllr Fiona Charlton
2018-03/2 Opportunities for Members of the Public Present at the meeting to Raise Matters.
There were no members of the public present.
2018-03/3 Declarations of Interest from Members.
Cllr Pigg declared an interest in the Insurance matters.
2018-03/4a Minutes of the Previous Meeting.
All agreed these were an accurate and true record and were signed and dated by Cllr Heslop.
2018/03/4b Matters Arising
Cllr Dover had spoken to Stuart Matthews who had previously been the ‘handyman’ for the Parish Council. As he did not hold his own Insurance and had no intention of obtaining any, it was felt the Parish Council could not ask him to do work for them in the future.
Cllr Dover agreed to approach James Dickinson to see if he was able to take on this role.
- The Clerk would contact Cllr Buckingham to find out the progress on cutting back the trees at the school overhanging the footpath.
- The Clerk had received a reply on the day of the meeting, from Gavin Barlow re the street lighting outside the elderly residents’ bungalows in Barrasford.
Quote 1 was for £1500 and Quote 2 was for £2500.
The Parish Councillors felt that neither the options given nor the costs were acceptable and Cllr Gibson agreed to take this back to Gavin Barlow and to express the Parish Councils’ concerns.
- Cllr Heslop thanked Cllr Pigg for all her work on the Insurance policies and especially for organising the Cover for both the Gunnerton and Barrasford Playing Fields.
- Cllr Heslop informed the meeting that he had been asked to attend a meeting of Gunnerton Playing Field committee. The committee are actively looking at ways of making money in the future. Cllr Heslop had agreed on the Parish Council contributing annually 50% of the cost of the Insurance and this would be given to Barrasford Playing Field Committee as well.
- James Feeley was going to erect the recently purchased refuse bin.
- At the last meeting the Clerk was asked to contact the Northumberland Estates to check who actually owned the War Memorial at Chollerton and or the land on which it stood.
A letter had been received from them informing the Parish Council it was not owned by Northumberland Estates and they were not responsible for the upkeep of the Memorial.
Two quotes had been received for the cleaning:
- Heritage Consolidation for £720.00
- War Memorial Restoration Co. for £2898.00
Cllr Heslop suggested that Wray Estates be approached to see if they could help with the cost of the cleaning. Mr Peter Barrett was the man to contact and Cllr Dover would give the Clerk his details. This needed to be done before the 9th April.
- The Clerk had sought the advice of Stephen Rickett from NALC with regard to Data Protection. As this is an ongoing situation more advice will follow but no details should be passed on to anyone i.e. email addresses, phone numbers etc.
Anyone asking for details should be asked for their own details to be passed on to the relevant person who can then make contact with them if they so wish.
2018-03/5 County Councillor Report.
Cllr Gibson ,Cllr Heslop and Cllr Dover had met with Neil Snowdon at the Viaduct . It was decided to put down road markings and very visible chevrons. As it was felt that the majority of those who had gone over the edge were strangers to the area it was felt this would be a good deterrent and make drivers aware of the danger.
Cllr Gibson was given a photograph to give to Neil Snowdon of the latest accident. He asked that the Clerk email Neil to let him know that Cllr Gibson had the photograph with him.
The meeting was aware that Dalla Bank had been resurfaced but were surprised to hear that the potholes had been filled in on Fell Lane as they had expressed concern at the last meeting that this road was being considered. They felt that there were an awful lot of roads in the Parish in much greater need. Cllr Gibson said there was a’ backroad’ fund which needed to be used and this was the reason behind the work being done.
The gully wagon was still needed and although a good job had been done by those snow ploughing recently, routes which should have been worked on, had not.
Cllr Gibson informed the meeting that work on speed signage at Colwell was still moving ahead.
2018-03/6 Items for Discussion
a.Transport-none
b.Highways-
The Clerk had copied to all Parish Councillors the details of the road closure between Wark and Chollerford as sent to her on the 28/3/2018.
i.Cllr. Dover had a copy of the Speed readings taken at Gunnerton. Although there were
some ratings over 30mph, she was sure that little would be done to slow the traffic down. The children playing on Gunnerton Playing Field and those walking on the road round the corner without a footpath were a big concern.
The Clerk was asked to get the price for a sign saying SLOW CHILDREN PLAYING from Glasdon . If this was placed just out of the village, above North Farm it would hopefully be a good deterrent to those speeding through the village.
ii.Kris Westerby from NCC Highways division had replied to the Parish Councils request for road works needed. As mentioned the surface on Dalla Bank had already been done.
The renewing of the SLOW signs at the junction of Gunnerton road end would be done when the weather improved and gully work was ongoing. As this email was dated the 28th Feb 2018 the Clerk would contact Kris again.
Cllr Jupp asked the Clerk for the contact details of PC Lee Davison re; the speedwatch campaign for Barrasford. She would be willing to apply as a volunteer .Up to date there was still only one person who had applied and at least two were needed to begin the training.
As residents within Barrasford had expressed to the Parish Council the speed of traffic going towards the village hall on the evening of the 27/3/2018, with the majority of the traffic dropping children off at Beavers/Cubs. The Clerk agreed to contact the leaders of these groups in order for them to speak to parents.
c.Maintenance
The Clerk would paint over the graffiti in the bus shelter at Barrasford.
Cllr Dover would ask James Dickinson if he was willing to take over the Handyman position.
d.Website.
Hopefully the website would now be a lot clearer for Parishioners to look through as Stu Taylor had tidied it up.
2018-03/7.Correspondence
i.Cllr Heslop was pleased with the number of Parish Councillors attending the consultation meeting at Chollerton School.
He had been asked to write a letter to the Courant about the possible school closure which he was happy to do.
Discussion followed as to exactly how the Parish Council could best help in supporting the school.
Cllr Jupp and Cllr Pigg would draft a letter to be sent to Wayne Daley which they would pass on to the Clerk.
Cllr Dover asked Cllr Gibson why Humshaugh School did not have the possibility of closure hanging over it-but he was not sure.
However Cllr Gibson did say he believed the thoughts of NCC had changed since the beginning of the consultation process.
Cllr Pigg hoped that this was not already a signed and sealed decision.
- The Clerk had copied all the Parish Councillors into the email sent from NCC on the Post 16 consultation document. This document could be filled in and returned individually.
Cllr Gibson informed the meeting that although originally it had been decided to scrap any payment from parents for over 16’s transportation to school-it had now been agreed that they would pay a flat fee and the Council would subsidise the rest.
Chollerton WI had sent a letter of thank you to the Parish Council for the £100 donation to be put towards their planting of bulbs.
Cllr Heslop thanked Cllr Gibson for his report.
2018-03/8 Financial Matters.
i.The invoice had been received and paid to Glasdon for the refuse bin to be erected at Gunnerton Playing Field. The total cost was £125.12 cheque no.100636
ii.A request had been received from Chollerton PCC for a donation towards the upkeep of Chollerton Churchyard for 2018.It was agreed to give £1000.00 cheque 100640
iii.Caris Robson had sent in their invoice for the Land Registry Fee for the land at Chisillways.This payment of £620.00 was agreed cheque 100639
iv The invoice for Barrasford Playing Field from The Northumberland Estates for £25.00 was agreed cheque 100637
v The invoice for Gunnerton Playing Field from Jonathan Elkington for £125.00 was agreed cheque 100638
A copy of the bank reconciliation was given to each Parish Councillor.
The Clerk asked how the Parish Councillors wanted the payment of a portion of the two playing fields insurance recorded i.e. donation, contribution.
It was agreed that both groups needed to know they had the support of the Parish Council and that a contribution of 50% for the Insurance would always be available.
Cllr Pigg would keep checking to see if the policies held for the playing fields were the best deal for them for the future.
2018-03/9 Planning
- Application 16/04296/OUT had been circulated before the meeting as reply needed to be in by the 16th.There had been no objections.
- Lead Member for Planning for April/May 2018- Cllr Maud Jupp.
2018-03/10 Information Items
A letter had been received informing the Parish Council of the availability to Parishioners of Green Waste Bins.The Clerk would post the relevant information for contacts on the noticeboards.
The Clerk had received more information on the audit and reminded the meeting that Mr Roger Parberry, a resident in Barrasford Village was the Internal Auditor.
2018-03/11 Any Other Business.
Cllr Dover asked if anyone knew who to ask about the planting of trees as the WI had hoped to plant some cherry trees. The Water Board had contacted the WI and they would donate some more money if they wanted to extend their project.
The Clerk would find out if permission was needed
Cllr Dover informed the meeting of a public meeting to be arranged by The Water Board at Gunnerton Church. There is to be extensive work at the treatment plant above Gunnerton which will affect water supplies over the next two years while work is in progress. Cllr Dover would ask at this meeting if the Water Board would be willing to help with the cost of signage in Gunnerton to reduce the speed of vehicles.
The Clerk would contact Ed Dixon at Barrasford Quarry to see if they would be willing to extend their grass cutting down to the garage at Barrasford. At present they cut the verge around the quarry entrance and a little way down the highway. Possibly they might be willing to cut further periodically, though as regularly as they did at present for the whole area would not be necessary.
2018-03/12 date and Venue for Next Meeting.
The date of the next meeting of the Parish Council will be Wednesday 30th May 2018 at 7.30.p.m. in Barrasford Village Hall.