1.
Notice
convening meeting.
This was posted as normal.
2.
Signing
of the attendance register.
The attendance register was signed by Cllrs. Greaves, Southworth, Park, Baumber
and
3.
Apologies
for absence.
No apologies received.
4.
To sign as a correct record the
minutes of meeting held on 16th March 2009.
The minutes were approved by the Council and signed by the Chair.
5.
To
receive Declarations of Interest from the Councillors concerning items on this
agenda.
None were received.
6.
Report
from the police representative.
No report was received from PCSO Madden.
The clerk was asked to contact PCSO Madden about activity at Aldingham
toilets, the unauthorised parking at Leece car park, and about the crash
barrier at Scales.
7.
To
receive comments from the Public (Limited to 10 minutes).
No comments received.
8.
Parish Plan
No report was received from
9.
Planning.
The clerk reported
that one planning application has been received:
SL/2009/0312 – Stonecroft,
Cllr. Southworth took this application and will give
comments to the clerk.
10.
Highways and footpath matters.
Cllr. Baumber highlighted a problem with potholes at
Gleaston - around the
Cllr. Greaves raised the issue of road sweeping and
expressed his disappointment at the continuing lack of road sweeping services
in the outlying villages. The clerk was
asked to write to SLDC in the first instance to ask about this.
11.
To receive reports not included in
the above items from the County and District Councillors.
No report received.
The clerk admitted that he’d forgotten to send the agenda to Dist. Cllr.
Airey.
12.
Liaison with
The clerk reported on an-e-mail exchange between him
and Joan Stocker, ex-leader of the Liberal Democrat party in Cumbria County
Council. Ms. Stocker said that she’d
asked Cllr. Hemingway to contact the Parish Council to answer the criticisms
levelled at him. The clerk said that no
contact had been received. As Cllr.
Hemingway is not standing for this ward at the forthcoming elections, it was
agreed that no further action should be taken.
However, the Council are keen to make links with whoever should be
elected in June. The list of candidates
is not yet known.
13.
Handyman.
The Council discussed the work done by Mr. Davis at Leece playground and
the letter he issued regarding the overhaul of the area. Three of the Councillors held a site visit
prior to the meeting and agreed that they were not happy with the effort or
approach of Mr. Davis and asked to the clerk to liaise with Crest Recruitment
to find a replacement. The clerk
reported that he’d left a number of messages on Mr. Davis’s answering service
asking him to ring back but no response had been received.
14.
Playground updates.
The clerk reported that Mr. Rushton has advised him
that the hand mower at Baycliff is beyond repair and a new one has been ordered
from Armers.
Cllr. Baumber reported that she had contacted a bark supplier
in Penrith and discovered that they charge £25.90 per m³ + VAT plus £70.00
delivery. Their minimum order is
4m³. The order for both Scales and Leece
playgrounds would be held over for discussion in May.
15.
To discuss the forthcoming Annual
General Meeting to be held in May.
The Council considered who they would like to invite
as guest speaker for their annual general meeting in May. The clerk was asked to contact Susannah
Bleakley from Morecambe Bay Partnership with a view to her coming to give a talk. The Council recognised the Partnership’s
important work in this area and would be interested in hearing more about their
work.
In the event of Ms. Bleakley not being available, the
Council suggested that someone from the local Sports Development agency or the
Air Ambulance as alternatives.
16.
Appointing a new Councillor.
The clerk said he’d spoken to the person from Leece
who’d expressed an interest in becoming a Councillor – she feels that she would
not be able to devote the time required to be an effective councillor.
He will also contact the interested person in
Roosebeck to ascertain her position on the matter.
Cllr. Butler said that she has had conversations with
a third interested party in Newbiggin about becoming a Councillor. She will investigate this further.
17.
Liaison with Urswick Parish Council.
This is a standing item on the agenda. The clerk had nothing to report.
18.
Highway Steward.
Cllr. Southworth reported that he’d tried to contact Rob Lawley several
times by various means without success.
The council agreed that their initial positive opinion on this scheme
has been diminished by the continued irregularities in communication and
service. Cllr. Southworth handed the
clerk a letter outlining the actions he’d taken to try and get some information
on the service that the Parish Council could expect to receive. It was noted that Parish Councils were
specifically invited to attend a launch event for this service where it was
announced that close working with Parish Councils was vital for the success of
this service. The Council asked the
clerk to write a strong letter to Mr. Lawley explaining its view of the service
and Mr Lawley’s performance as manager; and asking for his views on the future
of the Highway Steward scheme.
19.
To receive feedback on the
LAP meeting in February.
Cllrs. Greaves and Southworth attended a consultation event for Local
Area Partnerships held by SLDC in February.
Their feeling was that this is, in principle, a good idea. The concept is to split the Council’s
geographical district into “areas” and asking the Parish and Town Councils
within the areas to liaise as a unit.
The Areas would have more influence in taking action on common
issues. However, Cllrs. Greaves and
Southworth noted that certain local Parish Councils were absent from the
event. This gave rise to concerns that
if only one Parish or Town Council didn’t engage with the process the whole
thing would fall apart. Further
information would be received after SLDC had processed the feedback on this
phase of consultation.
20.
Accounts.
The following accounts were approved for payment by the Council.
To Gleaston village hall committee for hall hire 2009/10 £250.00
To Russell Rushton for petrol for Baycliff mower £46.96
Clerk’s April salary £388.58
The following monies were received.
Scales collection box £23.48
21.
To
sign the account books and the 2008/09 Audit.
The clerk reported
that he’d done a lot of work over the last month to get the accounts ready for
this year’s audit. The timetable set by
the external auditor, BDO Stoy Hayward, had been brought forward two months
from last year so there was no room for slippage. The Chairman signed the Accounts book for
2008/09 as a correct record. The Clerk
has signed the Statement of Accounts, and the Statement of Assurance section of
the audit form was completed and signed by the Chairman and Clerk. The Clerk
will take the books to
22.
To
review the Council’s Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Risk Assessment.
The clerk reported
that he’d ordered an accident book as agreed at a previous meeting. The clerk will hold the book. It was noted that a formal process of
reporting accidents should be formulated and agreed. The clerk will put together a draft accident
process for discussion.
The Council noted
that there should be a lifebelt at Leece Tarn.
Cllr. Butler has one that can be installed – she will liaise with the
clerk and the next handyman to get this installed.
23.
Correspondence.
Various pieces of correspondence have been received including:-
·
Information regarding Public Sector equality duties. This should be discussed in greater depth at
a future meeting.
·
Notification from Cumbria County Council re: the
modification of a public right of way at Newbiggin near Sea Wood.
·
The clerk’s resignation. The clerk has already let the Council know
that he intends to move out of the area and tendered his resignation at the
meeting. The Council accepted and will
begin the process of appointing a new clerk.
24.
To receive items for the next
agenda.
·
Disposal of items currently in lay-by on A5087 leaving
Baycliff towards Ulverston.
·
Appointing a new Councillor.
·
Liaise with PCSO Madden re: crash barrier at Scales.
·
Bark at Scales and Leece playgrounds.
·
Handyman.
·
Aldingham toilets.
·
Footpaths.
·
Appointing a new clerk.
25.
To confirm that the Annual Parish
meeting will be held in Gleaston Village Hall on Monday 18th
May 2009 at 7.00pm., and that the Annual
Meeting of Aldingham Parish Council will follow this at 7.45pm.
Agreed.