Holme Low Parish Council
Minutes of the annual meeting held on Tuesday 8 May 2018
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).
Also present: Wendy Jameson – Parish Clerk (WEJ) & Cllr. Tony Markley.
1. Election of Chairman of the Council
Cllr. J. Graham was elected as Chairman of the Council.
2. Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Cllr. Graham signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
3. Election of Deputy Chairman of the Council
Cllr. D. Findlay was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Council.
4. Apologies
None.
5. Declaration of Interest
None.
6. Minutes
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 13 February 2018 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
7. Matters Arising
Wolsty – only three potholes were fixed and there is still a lot of work needing done. Check that Cumbria Highways have got the right area. There is flooding and mud on the road. The tarmac they used to fill the potholes didn’t last.
Road down to Mike Pearson’s is collapsing due to the size of the vehicles.
Street lights at Barracks Bridge were switched on after the last meeting.
Road at Seaville has not been done.
8. Appointment of representatives to outside bodies
Longcake Education Foundation – Cllr. M. Wright.
Sea Dyke Charity – Cllrs. J. Graham & D. Findlay.
Hellrigg Community Fund Panel – Cllr. A. Sowden.
Silloth Coastal Community Team – Cllr. M. Wright.
9. Standing Orders & Financial Regulations
RESOLVED that the Standing Orders and Financial Regulations be accepted, with the next review in 3 years.
10. General Data Protection Regulation
The Clerk provided a report regarding changes to the new General Data Protection Regulations which come into force on 25 May 2018. The General Privacy Notice, Privacy Notice, Data Protection Policy, Consent Form and Subject Access Request form were accepted and adopted by the Council. Clerk to also attend some CALC training when available.
11. Banking Arrangements
RESOLVED that Cllrs. J. Graham, M. Wright and D. Findlay continue as cheque signatories.
12. Asset Register
Assets comprise of 2 x noticeboards, 2 x parish seats and 1 x laptop & printer.
13. Annual review of risk assessments
The Clerk had produced a risk assessment and management report which was reviewed by the Parish Council. The risk assessment report was agreed by the Parish Council.
14. Insurance
The Parish Council’s insurance cover is with Zurich Municipal at a cost of £235 for the year.
15. Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2018
a) Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2018 were approved by the Parish Council.
b) RESOLVED that the Chairman sign the Annual Governance Statement 2017/18.
c) RESOLVED that the Chairman sign the Accounting Statements 2017/18.
16. Appointment of Auditor and review of effectiveness of the internal audit
The Parish Council reviewed the effectiveness of the internal audit and is satisfied with the current system, whereby Mr Thackeray carries out the annual internal audit on behalf of the Parish Council.
17. Budget for the Financial Year 2018/19
RESOLVED that the Budget for 2018/19 be noted which showed a total funding requirement for 2018/19 of £2,000.
18. Annual Subscriptions
The Parish Council agreed to renew the Annual subscription to CALC for 2017/18 of £137.00.
19. Calendar of Meetings
Meetings to be held on 10 July 2018, 9 October 2018, 15 January 2019 and 9 April 2019.
20. Exclusion of Press & Public
Item 33 on the Agenda.
21. Police Report
No report received.
22. Public Participation
There had been no requests from members of the public to speak at the meeting.
23. Requests for financial assistance
None.
24. Payment of Accounts
Cheque payments to 8 May 2018 were approved for payment by the Parish Council.
25. Correspondence
a) Radioactive Waste Management – News Bulletin – Issue 1 – February 2018.
b) Clerks & Councils Direct – March 2018
c) ACT Gazette – Issue 29 Spring 2018.
d) CALC Circular – March 2018.
e) Radioactive Waste Management – News Bulletin – Issue 2.
f) Tidelines – Newsletter of the Solway Firth Partnership – Issue 48 – Spring 2018.
g) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Light at Barracks Bridge. Allerdale are in the hands of ENW as to when the lights will be connected and will chase them up again next week.
h) Cumbria Highways – HIMS Ref: W1880917525 – re: Surface or road breaking up and in particular at corners. This will be investigated as soon as possible.
i) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Whinclose, Seaville. No reply received from land owner and the matter is now with the legal section pending prosecution action.
j) Cumbria Highways – HIMS Ref: W1880917667 – re: footpath in need of being cleaned. This will be investigated as soon as possible.
k) Cumbria County Council – Wolsty Road, nr Seaville. Road is not currently identified for any upcoming works but now that they are aware of the concerns/issues an Officer will have a look at it and determine what can be done.
l) Allerdale three tier meeting will be held on 22 March 2018 at Allerdale House, Workington at 7.00pm. Agenda to be sent out a week before the meeting.
m) NHS England consultation in relation to over-the-counter medicines. Ends on 14 March 2018.
n) Cumbria Highways – re: Emergency road closure at Abbeytown which will take 2 weeks to complete.
o) Cumbria Constabulary – re: speed of wagons along Causewayhead. Peter Nichol has forwarded concerns to traffic sergeant so that traffic officers covering Silloth are aware.
p) ACTion with Communities – As part of the Rebuilding Together programme ACT is supporting communities across the county with Community Resilience & Emergency Planning activities.
q) Cumbria Constabulary – re: speed of wagons along Causewayhead. Hannah has spoken to Armstrongs. Memo to be displayed in office windows and sent out in payslips advising drivers to watch their speed and drive with care. Vehicles are fitted with tracking and cameras and any drivers caught speeding or on mobile phones will face the consequences. Harrisons have stated the same. Both companies were warned that without notice a marked or unmarked patrol could be in the area and anyone driving other than in accordance with the law risks prosecution.
r) NALC – Copy of new General Data Protection Toolkit.
s) Cumbria County Council – re: West Causewayhead. Traffic team will look into the request for a weight restriction on West Causewayhead lane and respond back.
t) Cumbria County Council – re: Smoke Free Allerdale 2018. Information about the aim to make Allerdale and Cumbria smoke free by 2022.
u) Allerdale Borough Council – Land West of Longwood, Harrison’s & Whinclose. Kerry McCartney is to investigate queries regarding Longwood this week. Meeting to be arranged with Harrison’s this week. Legal are preparing cases for court in relation to Whinclose and will receive an update with regard a court date in the near future.
v) Cumbria County Council – re: West Causewayhead Lane. Email from Philip Groom to say the matter is being looked at and he is in dialogue with Cllr. Markley. Will update in due course. Preferred route for wagons should be around Blackdyke to Seaville crossroads to avoid West Causewayhead. The Parish Council are free to apply for a width and weight restriction.
w) CALC – General Data Protection Training Information. Copy of training information provided at recent training session.
x) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Harrison’s. Works carried out on site are within permitted development limits therefore no planning application is required. The plant does not materially affect the external appearance of the premises having viewed them within their wider context of the existing units and airfield. Measures were agreed to alleviate concerns about dust and noise. This is something Environmental Health will be following up.
y) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Harrison’s. Changes have been made to their operation to alleviate the problems of noise. DA Harrison’s have been issued by Allerdale with an Environmental Permit for cement batching activities. The Permit conditions specific operational practices of Best Available Technique to mitigate dust produced.
z) CALC – Notice of joint meeting with ABC and CCC on 22 March 2018 and minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2017.
aa) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Land West of Longwood. Land is within separate ownership to that of the chicken shed. Condition 6 requires that the dwelling to be occupied by somebody solely or mainly employed in agriculture or forestry or last employed in agriculture or forestry and is not tied to the chicken shed. The person living in the caravan is the owner of the land and who is constructing the dwelling. She is associated to the chicken shed and has CCTV within the caravan which covers the shed. The dwelling is not in the same position as that approved and has been advised to submit a revised planning application. Allerdale are expecting this within 28 days and the Parish Council will be consulted. The Parish Council thought the land was tied to the chicken shed but is now in separate ownership. Need to ascertain what condition 6 actually says. There is a caravan at Meadow Lodge and it was questioned whether if they would be applying for planning permission.
bb) Guide to how to share Public Health Promotion Campaigns.
cc) CALC – Revised version of Practitioners’ Guide for 2018/19 and Schedule of Amendments.
dd) Public Health Promotion Campaigns – Information about the ‘One you couch to 5K’ campaign.
ee) PKF Littlejohn – 2017/18 AGAR and external auditor instructions.
ff) NALC – Consultation: Review of Local Government Ethical Standards.
gg) CALC – Draft notes from the 3 tier meeting held on 22 March 2018.
hh) News from Cumbria Community Foundation.
ii) Cumbria Constabulary – Email from Peter Nichol about a ten weekly meeting for Parish Councillors on Tues 17 April at 7.00pm at Cockermouth Police Station. Any concerns can be forwarded to Peter.
jj) CALC – Email from ACTion for Communities regarding a Cumbria snow survey.
kk) CALC – NALC consultation: unauthorised developments and encampments.
ll) NALC – Chief Executive’s Bulletin 15 – 13 April 2018.
mm) Tour of Britain 2018 Projects & Activities – Tour of Britain will be visiting Cumbria during the tour. Cumbria County Council is encouraging communities and organizations to develop projects and activities around the Tour of Britain and there is grant funding available to help facilitate these ideas.
nn) Allerdale – Confirmation in relation to report of dog fouling along the lane near Colt Park Field and entrance to Tanglewood.
oo) CALC – Slimmed down version of the GDPR toolkit that NALC produced.
pp) Cumbria Highways – HIMS Ref: W1880928679 re: surface of road and corner erosion at Blackdyke. This will be investigated as soon as possible. The full road is in need of attention, not just the corner. Condition of the farm lonning at Blackdyke to Story’s and Holliday’s is bad. It was suggested that Cumbria Highways be asked for investigation results in relation to the Windmill road and the Wolsty road.
qq) Cumbria County Council – re: number of vehicles coming and going from Unit 25, Causewayhead, Silloth. The matter will be investigated. Letter to be sent to ask for results of the investigation.
rr) Allerdale Borough Council – re: the current position in relation to footway lighting across the borough. There has been a reduction in the budget by £12,500 for the 2018/19 financial year.
ss) NALC – Copy of 2018 Model Standing Orders and briefing note.
tt) CALC – Update on GDPR and Data Protection Bill. There is to be an amendment to the Data Protection Bill to exempt all parish and town councils and parish meetings from the requirement to appoint a Data Protection Officer under the General Data Protection Regulation.
uu) CALC – The new legal briefing L05-18 on Data Protection Fees, which explains the new fee structure.
vv) CALC – Planning Training events. CALC are looking to deliver some generic training sessions on planning aimed at local councils and are trying to identify councils who would be interested. Noted.
ww) Allerdale Borough Council – re: Harrison’s. In their opinion the silos do not materially affect the appearance of the premises and the works were within the premises permitted development limits. The site will be re-visited with regards to the fence panels. There is no restrictions regarding hours of operation but should there be any noise disturbance due to operating hours, this is something that could be pursued by Environmental Health Section. Environment Agency would be able to advise of any licence requirements for the bore hole. Fencing is going up which is to protect the site as diesel was recently stolen.
26. Planning Applications
The Parish Council approved the following:-
Ref No: 2/18/9002 Proposal: Electrical control kiosk for improvements to wastewater treatment works Location: Silloth WwTW off B5302 Silloth CA7 4PA
Ref No: 2/2018/0088 Applicant: Mr Robert Schooler Proposal: Extension/replacement of general agricultural building Location: Park Head, Silloth
Ref No: HOU/2018/0106 Applicant: Mr R Shaw Proposal: Summerhouse Location: Blackdyke Farm, Blackdyke, Silloth, Wigton
Allerdale Borough Council approved the following:-
Ref No: 2/2018/0088 Applicant: Mr Robert Schooler Proposal: Extension/replacement of general agricultural building Location: Park Head, Silloth, Wigton
Cumbria County Council approved the following:-
Applicant: United Utilities Water Ltd Proposal: Siting of an electrical kiosk on Silloth Wastewater Treatment Works Location: Silloth Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) off B5302, Silloth, CA7 4PA
20. Reports from Representatives on Outside Bodies
Longcake Education Foundation – No report.
Coastal Community Team – Meeting next week.
Hellrigg Community Fund – No meeting.
Sea Dyke Charity – Next meeting is on 29 May.
21. County Council Report
CCC have done a response to the green paper re: farming. Restructuring going on re: chief officers. Older and younger services are being merged together. Elections taking place in the south of the county and in Eden. There is a lot of work programmed for the roads. Hudson Bomber project in Silloth was a successful event to commemorate 100th birthday of the RAF.
22. Parish Plan
Nothing to report.
23. Reports from Councillors
Letter to be sent to Environment Agency regarding Helldike beck which is black. It was reported previously but nothing was done. When the beck gets round Causewayhead it clears slightly.
24. Chairman’s Announcement
The Chairman thanked everyone for voting him to be Chairman again and thanked the Clerk for all the work she has done.
25. Date of next meeting
Parish Council meeting – Tuesday 10 July 2018 at 7.30pm in Silloth Community Hall.