1.

Apologies for Absence: None
 

2.

Declarations of Interest on the Agenda – None

3.

The minutes of the meeting 12th May 2010 were agreed and signed as a true record.

4.

Standing Item – Public Questions – A request for an update on the play area funding situation was made. The Clerk read out the letter from NCC stating that due to the demise of the Department for Children Schools and Families, which provided the funding, the money has now been un-ringfenced and can be used by the Local Authority for other purposes. Due to the requirement to make cuts of £10m this year all projects have been put on hold until further notice. A decision should be forthcoming in September/October as to whether the funding is still available for the play area. CC Watson has met with Mr Stewart the Chief Executive of NCC to put forward the case for Acklington. A letter is to be sent from the Parish Council to NCC stating the need for the funding as the project is now well advanced and has significant support from within the community, including the children. An urgent decision by NCC is required as further funding cannot be sought from other agencies until this matter is resolved. It was also stated by the Clerk that letters of support from the residents would also help the case.

5.

Matters Arising from the meeting on 12th May 2010:

a. War Memorial Information was sent to Rev Janet Brearley on sources of funding for repair works. Rev Brearley stated that at present there are larger priorities for the Church to work on however she is prepared to work with the Parish Council to look at the War Memorial and Cllr Barras offered to contact Rev Brearley to progress this. CC Watson also stated Cllr Barras should contact his wife as she has experience in this area.

b. Road Repairs  Pot holes have been patched on the C100 but work is still required through the parish. This will be an ongoing situation for some time as there are huge demands on NCC for road repairs throughout the County.

c. Red squirrel signs Cllr Craig reported that at a Guyzance Village meeting a discussion took place as to who would host squirrel signs on their land. Awaiting confirmation of volunteers.

d. Pathway repairs The Clerk has requested that the pathway from the Village to The Railway Inn be repaired – awaiting confirmation that works will be undertaken.
 

6.

Report by County Councillor

CC Watson reported receiving a letter in relation to changing the speed limit to 40mph from The Mart into the Village. This is an agenda item to be discussed.
Road Repairs – CC Watson had put in a request for two areas as priorities - the bank to the Bridge and from Mill Cottage up to Guyzance. Confirmation from Mr Cherrie of NCC had been received that this would be a priority however Mr Cherrie is leaving NCC so CC Watson has forwarded this to Mr Hayes at NCC to ensure this promise is upheld.
Black Bridge was opened and publicized in The Gazette. Acklington PC was represented by Cllr Critchlow.
NCC is undergoing more cuts with a reduction of 25% of the budget to be found. Staff have been informed that there are to be more job cuts and NCC are looking for voluntary redundancies and early retirements to cover these. This is going to be a very difficult time with £10m in cuts this year and £30m next year. No decisions have been made as yet as to where cuts are to be made but as soon as any information is available CC Watson will feed this back to the Council.
Cllr Budge stated that there are HGV lorries going over the Guyzance Bridge which is causing concern and asked if there is any way of redirecting these vehicles. CC Watson stated that if the road is deemed strong enough then it is very difficult to impose restrictions.
Cllr Budge stated that the grass at the central reservation on the A1 by the Guyzance turn off is very long and causing visibility problems and is this a NCC issue. CC Watson and the Clerk confirmed this is the responsibility of AOne and the Clerk will report the matter to them.
 

7.

8.

Planning

a. To report on any planning decisions:

A/2010/0038 – Guyzance Hall – break out former window opening to form an internal door and widen external door (retrospective) - APPROVED

A/2010/0020 - Guyzance Hall - Change of use from residential to residential and function – APPROVED

A/2010/0082 - Railway Inn - Change of use for 26 touring caravans- APPROVED

A/2010/0130 - Cavil Head - Free standing board - REFUSED

A/2010/0132 - Hemmel land South of Bank House - Restore Hemmel - add camping – APPROVED

b. To consider any planning matters: None
 

9.

Requested Agenda Items

• Publication in Gazette and Pelican of Parish Council News – It was agreed that should there be no issues with the minutes after one week of submitting to the Parish Councillors then the Clerk would forward the minutes to the Gazette. Also the Clerk to produce an update for The Pelican following each meeting.

• Names and details of Councillors in the notice boards – A request was put forward that Councillor names and addresses be included in the notice boards. The Clerk confirmed this had been discussed when she took over the role and due to the sensitive work situations of many of the Councillors this was not deemed appropriate. The Clerk is to put a specific notice in the boards with her contact details on.

• Parish Council representation at external meetings – All Councillors were reminded that if they represent the Parish Council at any external meetings they should inform the Clerk before attending as there is normally paperwork to be completed to confirm attendance at meetings, especially NCC meetings. Also if meetings are attended a report should be given at the next PC meeting as to what meetings were attended and a brief summary of the meeting.

• Vandalism to Benches – The bench at the cross roads was vandalized along with the bench by Inglenook, other petty vandalism was also reported with signs being removed and plants stolen. This was reported to the police who feel there is little hope of finding the culprits. It was agreed to see if the Prison would be able to repair the bench and also the for Clerk to contact Togston PC to find out where they had sourced their new benches in case a replacement bench is required.

• County Committee Reconstitution – email to be circulated with the information for Councillors to respond to by 14 July.

• Disposal Policy – The Clerk informed the Parish Council that a Disposal Policy should be devised to protect the Parish Council under Freedom of Information Act. Some documents should be stored at Woodhorn Archives (ie minutes and financials) and it should be decided how long correspondence etc should be kept for. Clerk to draft a policy for discussion/adoption at the September meeting.

• Children’s Play Area – Covered in item 4 above but Clerk will continue to monitor other funding opportunities and continue to resolve the land issue.
 

10.

Correspondence Received

• NCC – Playbuilder funding suspended – covered in item 4 above.

• NCC – Proposed speed limits – NCC is proposing to reduce the speed limit to 40mph from The Mart into the village. It was agreed that the Parish Council support this proposal.

• NCC – Adoption of Alnwick Landscape Character Assessment – a copy of this document is available to purchase now for £16 or it can be seen in libraries or online – Clerk to circulate the link for viewing online.

• NSP – Sustainable Community Strategy – to be put on circulation for comments.

• Letter from users of Guyzance Bench – two regular cyclists have written to thank the Parish Council for arranging the new bench – they state it is a most comfortable seat and they look forward to using it for many rests in the future.

• NCC - Rural Business Survey Meeting – Monday 26 July at 10am in Council Chamber. Please inform the Clerk if you wish to attend as NCC require numbers for parking arrangements.

• NCC – Joint Meeting of NCC and Parish Councils on 11 October 2010 – more details to follow nearer the time.
 

11.

Items for Circulation

CAN News

NALC – Being a good employer guide

Clerks and Councils Direct

Cllr Davison handed out a photo of the newly pruned black poplar tree. This is the tree that was threatened with removal however it has had tree management works undertaken. It is believed to be the most northern example of a black poplar tree in the British Isles.
 

12.

Urgent Items

Cllr Budge stated there was a circular going around about banning dogs from beaches. The Clerk and CC Watson confirmed this was the case and CC Watson stated there are a number of petitions against this that have been submitted to NCC. The Parish Council agreed to write to NCC stating they would prefer dogs are not banned from the beaches but if a ban is to be imposed that it should not be a blanket ban – have some areas that are dog friendly.

CC Watson confirmed he is moving into Acklington Parish (Brainshaugh).

CC Watson informed the Council that Mr Bill Batey has taken up the position of Clerk to Alnwick Town Council.

Cllr Critchlow confirmed he had met with Tony Derbyshire the Rights of Way Officer for NCC. Mr Derbyshire confirmed that when the land at the open cast is reinstated more footpaths will be put in place. Cllr Critchlow asked about establishing a path along the Coal Road – NCC cannot get involved until ownership of the land is established and then it would be a case of working with the new owner to try to establish a pathway. NCC cannot get involved in permissive rights of way and it is up to the Parish Council to talk to the landowners in relation to these. Clerk to check on the exact date for the ending of the Defra agreement on the permissive right of way alongside the Village Hall. Cllr Critchlow also confirmed that discussions had taken place in relation to the path from The Mart through the woods – there is an issue with drainage here but there is no feasible way of draining this area.
Cllr Budge asked if the Definitive Rights of Way maps can be displayed in the Village Hall. It was agreed that this would be undertaken. It was also agreed that Cllr Critchlow would hold onto these maps at present.
 

13.

Requests for next agenda
None