Minutes of the Committee Meeting of the Federation of Cumbria Commoners held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 2ndNovember 2010 at Threlkeld Cricket Club

Present: Dave Smith (Chairman), Carl Walters, William Steele, Ernest Coulthard, Edward Thomas, Marianne Teasdale, Julia Aglionby,John Jackson, John Rowland,Pauline Blair, Duncan Ellwood, Viv Lewis (Administrator)

Apologies, Charles Raine, Harry Hutchinson,John Atkinson

  1. Previous Minutes: the minutes of the last meeting were agreed.
  1. Matters Arising:
  2. We received acknowledgement of receipt of our response to the consultation on animal welfare on the commons
  3. We received acknowledgement of our submission to the EFRA select committee on the Commission for Rural Communities Upland Report
  1. Chair’s report: Dave reported back on two meetings he attended:
  • Defra Common’s team visit to Bampton Common organised by RSPB, with Friends of the Lake District, UU and Natural England in attendance – Julia and Carl were also present
  • Informal dinner with Poul Christensen Chair of Natural England – with representatives of the organisations mentioned above and others.

The message from both these meetings is that these organisations see the value partnership working and are realising that they can’t achieve their aims (improved biodiversity, water quality, carbon storage etc) if they don’t involve farmers.

Action: Viv to follow-up with Pat Thompson, RSPB on ways to work together

Dave will be attending the National Common Land Stakeholder Group meeting in London at the end of November.

  1. Administrators report: Viv gave a brief report on the work she has undertaken over the last two months including: responding to enquiries and consultations, organising and attending meetings, updating the website, database, preparing the newsletter. Viv handed round a draft version of the newsletter for committee members to review.
  1. Finance update: We have £16,230.18 in the bank and £50 left in the old Barclays account. We are still owed £1305 from Caldbeck Common – it is likely that we will be paid when they are paid their agri-environment monies and £360 from Brantfell.

Action: Viv to follow up with Brantfell secretary.

  1. Planning for 2011AGM: We agreed to hold the AGM on Friday 4th March 2011– venue to be confirmed either Melmerby Village Hall, Penrith Rugby Club, or Penrith Auction Mart (whichever is cheapest).

Theme for the event ‘What future for the Commons after CAP Reform 2013?’

Potential speakers: Gwyn Jones, Will Cockbain and Alistair Mackintosh

Action: Viv to book venue and contact Gwyn and Will; Duncan to contact Alistair

Re-election of Committee Members: Viv produced a table of current committee members showing how long they have been in post – see Appendix A. Our constitution states that every member who has served for the Committee for three years in a row shall stand down and will not be re-elected for at least 12 months.To remain within the constitution the majority of current committee members would have to stand down at the next AGM and new committee members would need to be found. We had a brief discussion and agreed that continuity of membership, experience and knowledge is important at this juncture as the Federation will play an important role in the consultation process and possible setting up of a Commons Council for Cumbria. This needs further discussion and resolution before the AGM. It is also important that committee members begin to identify and recruit successors for the future.

  1. Progress on updating the database: Progress has beenslow as this is a big job. Members will be asked via the newsletter to check that their contact details are correct; they will also be encouraged to provide their e-mail. This is an ongoing process and Viv will report back at the next committee meeting on progress.
  1. Cumbria Grazing Group: The first meeting will take place on Wednesday 24th November. Further clarification is needed on membership of the group the type and availability of support and resources provided by Natural England.

Action: Julia to liaise with Dan Hunt

  1. Working with the Lake District National Park: Viv reported back on the meeting she attended with Andrew, Bob Cartwright and Martin Curry of LDNP and Dan Hunt of NE to discuss the actions in the Lake District National Park Management Plan that relate to commons – see below.

22.101 / Promote understanding of the value and management of common land / Establish a series of case studies and public awareness events exploring the range of Commons types in Cumbria. / 2012 / Cumbria Commons Federation / LDNPA, Natural England, Foundation for Common Land /
  • Initial meeting of partners in 2010 to draft a list of potential case study sites and awareness raising events
  • Run a programme of pilot events in 2011
  • Evaluate effectiveness of programme in late 2011/ early 2012

22.102 / Undertake a pilot project to understand the condition of common land in the National Park / Establish a joint programme for monitoring the condition of commons, starting with the identification of a representative sample of commons to form a pilot programme. / 2012 / Cumbria Commons Federation / LDNPA, Natural England, RSPB, NWDA (RDPE), Foundation for Common Land /
  • Initial meeting of partners in 2010 to identify a representative sample of commons to form a pilot programme
  • Establish criteria for monitoring the condition of the sample commons in early 2011
  • Run a monitoring programme on the pilot commons in 2011/2012
  • Evaluate effectiveness of programme in late 2012

We agreed that while both activities are worthwhile, the Federation’s current priority is to support the Common’s Council consultation process - see item 13 in the minutes. Also we were unclear on how this work is to be funded. Mungrisedale has been suggested as a potential case study site for Activity 22.101 and nobody had any objections. We recognised that there is considerable overlap between the purpose of the Cumbria Grazing Group and Activity 22.102. It is likely to make sense to deliver this activity through the Cumbria Grazing Group.

Action: Viv to e-mail Bob Cartwright, Julia to liaise with Dan Hunt as above

  1. University of Cumbria project – Beyond 2013 for rural land management: The University have been successful in their bid to but are still awaiting an offer letter from RDPE. It is likely that the Federation will deliver some of the activity and we agreed to have a more in-depth discussion when it has been confirmed that this project will go ahead.
  1. Providing support to local commons associations on entering UELS: Viv updated the situation with Dartmoor Commons Council (DCC). At the last committee meeting we agreed to buy a copy of their IMA and guidelines and offer it to members. Viv contacted DCC and they sent her a hard copy, she asked for an electronic copy so that it could modified to take out references to DCC (as this could be confusing) but has had no response from Dartmoor. We agreed that we no longer wanted to buy the IMA

Action: Viv will return the hard copy to DCC.

There will be a short article in the newsletter on key stages needed to make a submission to UELS, including a recommendation to seek advice and use an agent, unless the common is small with few graziers and no complex issues. The Federation is seeking to share IMAs between members and if they do will ensure that there is a disclaimer.

  1. Draft marketing strategy; We didnot have time to discuss the document prepared by Sally Seed fully. Dave commented that it is a useful document and recommended that other committee members read it.
  2. Commons Council update: The Request for Quotation for preparation of Submission for Establishing a Commons Council from Natural England was released on the 1st of November to a number of contractors. We agreed that it is crucially important that the Federation can work well with whoever wins the tender and, if possible, would like to have a say in the selection process.

Action: Dave to e-mail Graham Bathe suggesting that the Federation has an input into the bid selection process

We also agreed that it is important to inform members that the consultation process will be happening in the 1st quarter of next year. The consultation process could also coincide with meetings for the Chairs of Local Associations.

The Committee has agreed that the Federation supports the establishment of a Commons Council for Cumbria. We will need to be actively involved in promoting Commons Councils to our membership during this consultation phase. We will also need to exert a strong influencing voice to ensure that all sections of the potential submission to the Secretary of State are in the best interests of active graziers. This will be discussed at the next meeting when we know who had got the tender.

Action: Viv will write a short article for the newsletter. She will also see if she can get copies of the information leaflet ‘an introduction to commons councils’ from Natural England to send out with the newsletter

  1. AOB: Duncan asked for an update on the progress of The Foundation for Common Land. They have submitted a 3-year funding application to Esme Fairburn Foundation and are awaiting the result.
  2. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 14th December There being no further business the meeting ended at 10.00 pm

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Appendix 1: Committee Members

2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010
Lakes North / Elizabeth Moore (Chair) / John Rowland / John Rowland / John Rowland
Lakes North Central / Richard Harrison / Richard Harrison / Carl Walters / Carl Walters
Lakes West / Kevin Holliday / Duncan Ellwood / Duncan Ellwood / Duncan Ellwood
Lakes South Central / Gavin Fearon / Joe Relph
Lakes South West / John Atkinson (treasurer) / John Atkinson (treasurer) / John Atkinson (treasurer) / John Atkinson (Treasurer)
Eastern Fells / William Steele / Dave Smith (deputy Chair) / Dave Smith (Chair)
Kirkby Stephen / George Brownrigg / Ernest Coulthard (deputy Chair) / Ernest Coulthard / Ernest Coulthard
Crosby / Harry Hutchinson / Harry Hutchinson (Chair) / Harry Hutchinson (chair) / Harry Hutchinson
Howgills / Roger Bainbridge / Roger Bainbridge / Roger Bainbridge / Roger Bainbridge
Coastal / Norman Bowe / Norman Bowe / Norman Bowe
Non regional / Joyce Reed / Will Rawling / William Steele / William Steele
Pauline Blair / Pauline Blair / Pauline Blair / Pauline Blair
Carl Walters (deputy Chair) / Carl Walters / Marianne Teasdale / Marianne Teasdale
John Jackson / John Jackson / John Jackson / John Jackson
Lancs - co-opted / Andrew Thorpe / Jane Hilditch / Jane Hilditch / Jane Hilditch
John Whitworth / Edward Thomas / Edward Thomas / Edward Thomas
Northumberland - co-opted / Charles Raine / Charles Raine
Owner Rep - Co-opted / Robert Benson / Robert Benson
Co-opted / Julia Aglionby / Julia Aglionby / Julia Aglionby / Julia Aglionby
Andrew Humphries / Andrew Humphries / Andrew Humphries / Andrew Humphries
Elizabeth Moore

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