Holme Low Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 15 January 2019 at 7.30pm at Silloth Community Hall
Present : Cllr. J. Graham (JG)
Councillors
Cllrs. D. Findlay (DF), M. Wright (MW), A. Sowden (AS), M. Pearson (MP) & N. Dainton (ND).
Also present: Wendy Jameson – Parish Clerk (WEJ), Cllr. John Cook & Cllr. Tony Markley.
1. Apologies
None.
2. Declaration of Interest
None.
3. Exclusion of Press & Public
None.
4. Minutes
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 9 October 2018 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
5. Matters Arising
Whinclose – It looks more like a scrap yard now, with cars and caravans everywhere. The matter was initially brought up as a planning issue but very little action has been taken. It had been passed to the legal department. The Parish Council is concerned about the lack of action taken in the last 2 years since it was originally raised. Further email to be sent to Allerdale and copied to Cllrs. Bill Jefferson and John Cook.
Longwood – No amended plans have been received yet for the house being built on land West of Longwood. Further email to be sent to Allerdale and copied to Cllrs. Bill Jefferson and John Cook.
6. Police Report
No report.
7. Public Participation
There were no requests from members of the public to speak at the meeting.
8. Financial Report
The Clerk provided an up to date financial report which showed a balance of £502.73 in the bank.
9. Requests for financial assistance
None.
10. Payment of Accounts
Cheque payments to 15 January 2019 were approved for payment by the Parish Council.
11. Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2018
PKF Littlejohn have completed the review work on the AGAR and supporting documentation. A final report has been provided with the certificate of completion. Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR is in accordance with Proper Practices and no other matters have come to their attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met. They mentioned that an adequate explanation for variances between prior and current year values in Box 6 of Section 2 had not been provided. The Clerk checked the information that had been submitted and the information had been provided.
12. Budget
The Clerk produced some draft figures based on previous year’s accounts and the current year’s spending. After some consideration, it was agreed to raise a precept of £4,000 for 2019/20 – £2,500 to cover the Council’s usual expenditure and £1,500 for possible Community projects. If the funding is not spent by the end of the year, then the precept would be reduced for the following year.
13. Correspondence
a) Tidelines – newsletter of the Solway Firth Partnership -Issue 49 Winter 2018.
b) North West Coastal Access Monthly Update: October 2018.
c) Clerks & Councils Direct – November 2018.
d) ACT Gazette – Issue 31 Autumn/Winter 2018.
e) CALC Newsletter – November 2018.
f) CALC Training – Developing your skills – Jan to July 2019.
g) CALC Newsletter – December/January 2019.
h) North West Coastal Access Monthly Update – December 2018.
i) Clerks & Councils Direct – January 2019.
j) Allerdale Borough Council – Allerdale Local Plan (Part 2): Site Allocations. Comments to be received by 16 November 2018.
k) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Whinclose, Seaville. The matter has not yet been pursued by Legal but they will be serving an enforcement notice, a copy of which will be sent to the Parish Council.
l) Cumbria County Council – Working Together Programme – Webpage launch and briefing paper – https://cumbria.gov.uk/yourcommunitysupport/workingtogether.asp
m) Invitation to CALC’s 2018 AGM on 10 November 2018 at 10.30am at Newbiggin Village Hall, Penrith.
n) Volunteers are being sought by Cumbria’s Police & Crime Commissioner for Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) Scheme.
o) CALC – Details of LEADER call for projects from Cumbria Fells & Dales and Solway, Border & Eden.
p) CALC – Invitation to ACT Annual General Meeting and “Neighbourliness Works” Launch on Friday 19th October at Braithwaite Institute, Keswick.
q) Great North Air Ambulance – Letter of thanks for donation of £100 from the Parish Council.
r) CCC – Urgent Road closure – Seaville, Silloth for 1 day on 25 October 2018.
s) CCC – Reactivation of road closure – Seaville, Silloth
t) Cumbria Road Safety Partnership – Copy of the new policy for the use of Vehicle Activated Signs.
u) Minutes of the annual meeting of the Allerdale district of the Cumbria Association of Local Councils held in September 2018.
v) Citizens Advice – Email thanking the Parish Council for the donation of £30.00.
w) CALC – Link to the Rural Services Funding guide.
x) CCC – Urgent Road Closure – Whinclose, Seaville nr Silloth for 1 day on 7 January 2019.
y) NALC have just issued the S137 Expenditure limit for 2019-20 which is now £8.12.
z) Update to NALC’s Model Standing orders according to amendments set out in the Legal Briefing no: L09-18. Parish Council’s Standing Orders to be updated to reflect the amendments.
aa) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Transfer of Footway lighting to Town & Parish Councils. No action to be taken until further information is provided after the survey of lighting has taken place. The light between Silloth Farm and Viv Lightfoot’s appears to have been removed. Email to be sent to Allerdale, as this was an essential light for those walking to Barracks Bridge.
bb) CALC – re: Allerdale BC Footway lights letter. Further information about the proposed transfer of footway lighting to Parish/Town Councils.
cc) Allerdale Borough Council – Budget 2019/20 and Priorities Consultation. Responses required by 17 January 2019. Cllrs. to send their individual responses in.
14. Planning Applications
The Parish Council considered the following application and recommended that it was approved:-
Ref No: 2/2018/0489 Applicant: Mrs Joanne Edmunds Proposal: Change of use from church to residence with minor external changes Location: St Paul’s Church, Causewayhead, Silloth
15. Reports from Representatives on Outside Bodies
Longcake Education Foundation – At the last meeting grants were given of £200 to Abbeytown Pre-school and £300 to each of the four schools.
Coastal Team – route of the new cycle path between Allonby and Silloth has been planned.
Sea Dyke Charity – No meeting.
16. Allerdale & County Councillor Reports
Allerdale – There is an Executive meeting tomorrow and Scrutiny on Thursday. Alan Smith will be giving a talk on the AIP and the new stadium.
County Council – Highways are rolling out a ‘working together’ scheme whereby local council can undertake work within the parishes. £12m Government funding for potholes has to be spent by March. £1.68m allocated for Allerdale. Projects which were pencilled in to do will be brought up the list. Various speed consultations taking place. Mawbray is going to be 30mph. Allonby 30mph speed limit will be brought back towards the village. Waverbridge is to remain 30mph. Letter has gone to the Government from the County Council about becoming a unitary authority.
17. Parish Plan
Nothing to report. It will be considered at the annual Parish meeting.
18. Building at Causewayhead Cemetery
To be discussed in the Holme Low Parish Projects Group meeting.
19. Chairman’s Announcement
The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting and thanked the Clerk for all the work she has done.
20. Reports from Councillors
It was suggested that a letter be sent to Allerdale planning about Harrison’s cement works, to ask if they were planning to do it. They are replacing one cement plant with another. They don’t need planning permission because it is within an industrial area. If there is an issue with noise or dust then it would become an Environmental Health issue.
Sign at Causewayhead is in need of attention.
21. Annual review of Salaries
Following the agreement reached by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC), it was RESOLVED that the Clerk’s hourly rate be increased to £11.00 p/h from 1 April 2019, in line with the NJC recommendations.
22. Date of next meeting
Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 9 April 2019 at 7.30pm in Silloth Community Hall.