MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETINGS -  Tuesday 7th January 2014     


At the Meeting of the Council held at Acklington Village Hall on Tuesday 7 January 2014

Present: Cllrs J Newton, D Barras, G Budge, L Craig, T Corson, G Orr, A Sharpe and L Welch.
County Councillor Watson
The Parish Clerk in attendance – Miss E Brown
1 Member of the public was present.

52. Apologies for Absence: Cllrs E Critchlow and I Monkhouse - Illness

The Chair wished all a happy new year.

53. Declarations of Interest on the Agenda – None.

54. The minutes of the meeting 5 November 2013 were agreed and signed as a true record.

55. Standing Item – Public Questions

56. Matters Arising from the meeting on 5 November 2013:

a. New posts for signage – A letter had been sent to NCC regarding the condition of the posts and the health and safety concerns. A further email was sent to NCC on 24th December reporting the 30mph speed limit sign at North Broomhill which appeared to be sheared off at ground level and the urgent need for other road signs throughout the village to be inspected. This was chased up again on 7th January. Cllr Orr reported that the sign had been removed that morning. It was agreed that an urgent report would be made to Barry Rowland, stating that it was unacceptable that the posts be left in such condition which was dangerous in terms of pedestrians and vehicles

b. Trees in Quarry Avenue and on the new land – The trees would be checked in the spring.

c. No dogs signs at Play Area – Cllrs Newton and Barras offered to install the 2 ‘no dog’ signs on posts at the playground.

d. Over grown trees at Guyzance Bridge to Brainshaugh – no progress following request to NCC

e. Request for coal trucks at the entrances to the Village – Cllr Budge advised that coal trucks were almost finished and ready for delivery.

f. Guyzance Landslips - The carriageway reconstruction works at the Guyzance cottage was initially delayed as a result of NWL delaying their water main diversion works due to a mix up in notifying some of the affected residents of the stop to their water supply. NCC planned to open the road during the Christmas holidays 24th December to 6th January but may have to close the road again for a short time in the new year to complete the repair. NCC Highways apologised for this delay which has been out of their hands and promised to work as quickly as possible to reopen the road.

g. Bus shelter stop Acklington Road – NCC had cleared the hard stand at the bus stop of weeds and grass. The Clerk was making enquiries about the placement of a bus shelter.

57. Report by County Councillor – The items County Councillor Watson had to report were discussed under matter arising from the previous meeting.

58. Finance

a. Financial Summary
The balance on account at 9 December 2013 is £3936.16

b. Payments
The following list was put before members and approved for payment:
Date      Cheque No    Creditor                     Description                Amount
8/11/13  000346         Royal British Legion     Wreath                      £25.00
8/11/13  000347         GN Air Ambulance        Donation                   £20.00
2/12/13  000348         Farmway Trading Ltd   Posts                        £19.39
2/12/13  000348         B & Q                       Slate /gravel              £39.37
070114   000349        Post Office                 Postage                    £6.00
070114   000349        E Brown                     Wages                      £98.66
070114   000350        HMRC                        PAYE                        £132.60
070114   000351        NALC                        Training                     £5.00

The Clerk explained that cheque no 000350 covered PAYE for the Nov/Dec wages but also the re-issuing of previous cheque no. 000338 and 000341 (338 & 341 were subsequently destroyed at the meeting. This was as a result of no employer payment book being received and the requirement for the payments to be made direct to HM Revenue & Customs rather that the regular method of paying via the Post Office.

c. Receipts –
Date        Ref        Debtor         Reason                        Amount
211113    BACS      NCC            Non re-current grant      £158.00
281113    BACS      HMRC          VAT                            £246.00

59. Planning

a. To report on any planning decisions:
13/01306/VARYCO - Guyzance Hall – remove cond 2 restricting the number of events – objections GRANTED
12/03345/FUL – Land West of Village Hall - 4 no. new build affordable units GRANTED
12/02766/FUL – Cavil Head – Conversion of traditional farm buildings to 11 no. residential units (in conjunction with 4 no. new build affordable units) - GRANTED
13/02120/OUT – Land West of 14 Churchill Way – Nine 3-bedroomed houses - objections
13/03043/FUL – 5 Bank House Farm – ground floor extension – no objections-REFUSED
13/03052/FUL – 4 Bank House Farm – ground floor extension – no objections - REFUSED
13/03062/FUL – 3 Bank House Farm – ground floor extension – no objections- REFUSED
13/03097/VARYCO - Plot 12 Bank House Farm – remove cond 3 – change to permanent residence - objections
13/03104/VARYCO - Bank House Farm – remove cond 2 – change to permanent residence – objections
13/03069/LBC – 5 Bank House Farm – Re-submission- ground floor extension to south of property along with no.s 4 &3 – REFUSD
13/03064/LBC – 4 Bank House Farm - Re-submission- ground floor extension to south of property along with no.s 5 &3 – REFUSD
13/03063/LBC – 3 Bank House Farm – Ground floor extension to south of property along with no.s 4 and 5 – REFUSED
13/02356/FUL – Land West of 14 Churchill Way – Proposed residential development for nine three bedroomed houses – APPLICATION WITHDRAWN

Cllr Craig expressed her concern over conditions being revoked on applications which resulted in residents being subjected to unacceptable working hours. She urged for careful consideration of wording on future applications concerning the removal of conditions.

b. To consider any planning matters:
13/03530/FUL – 5 Bank House Cottages – Proposed first floor rear extension (resubmission of A/2011/0021) – It was resolved that there were no objections.
13/03908/FUL – Brainshaugh Farm – Creation of 2 no. new holiday cottages to existing farm steading – It was resolved that there were no objections.

60. Requested Agenda Items

Draft Budget – Final consideration. It was resolved that the budget for 2014-15 be set at £4750.

Chicane Damage – The Clerk reported this to NCC in November and again on 7th January.

Signage – Field House Close – Cllr Barras stated that the estate was not identifiable enough due to a lack of street name signage, which often caused confusion for delivery drivers. It was resolved to request that NCC provide adequate signage indicating the range of house numbers per sign.

Meeting with Sodexo – The Clerk had arranged for a joint meeting to be held for Acklington PC and Amble TC on 13th February 2013 this would start at 5.30pm. The press and public would be welcome to attend this meeting and the Clerk would details the time and venue in the next Pelican.

61. Correspondence Received

DEFRA Common Agricultural Policy Consultation – This consultation concluded on 28th November.

Acklington First School – request for financial support for toddler group – Cllr Sharpe informed that the Community Team had agreed to provide funding for the first 2 months of the year. It was agreed to defer this to the March meeting of the Council.

North East War Memorials Project – It was agreed not to contribute any funds on this occasion.

NCC – Winter Services. The Clerk informed of the position regarding the provision of grit bins and circulated the information leaflets among members.

NCC - Working with Town and Parish Councils

NALC – December e-news – This was noted for information.

NALC – Change to subscription formula – The Clerk informed that the increase for 2014-15 was 5% which was inline with the previous year increases.

St. Cuthbert’s RC First School Amble – Consultation – It was agreed to support the views of the Governors and note that any pupils would be welcomed to join Acklington Village First School should such a transition be available.

62. Urgent Items

Cllr Corson reported pot holes at the entrance to Churchill Way and one in front of the bus shelter.
Road marking needed redone, road sweeping had not been done for some time and the bins at the playground had not been emptied.

Cllr Barras would attend the next meeting of the British Legion on behalf of the Parish Council.

The Clerk informed of the recent Playground Inspection Course she attended, where it was state that playgrounds should be inspected once a week and records retained for 21 years.

63. Items for Next Agenda – None.

Chairman closed the meeting at 8.40pm
Next meeting: Tuesday 4 March at 7.30pm in Acklington Village Hall