BROUGHTON MOOR PARISH COUNCIL
Chairman: Mr Rob Ives Clerk: Mrs Jean Sorensen
Minutes of the Meeting held at 7.00pm on Tuesday 21st June 2016
Present: Parish Councillors Rob Ives, John Berry, Thomas Armstrong,
Marjorie Harrison, Elaine Martin
County Councillor: Keith Little
Parish ClerkJean Sorensen
Also PresentCath Clark (Cumbria Youth Alliance), Mr & Mrs Levens and
Rev Judith Morgan
18/16Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Sharp and Clare Thinnesen and Allerdale and County Councillor Carni McCarron-Homes
19/16 Requests for Dispensations – there were none.
20/16 Declarations of interest – there were none.
21/16 Public section
Mr and Mrs Levens raised concerns for a number of issues regarding the tidiness of the village in general. In response, County Councillor Little explained that the County Council had been late in awarding the contracts for grass cutting and drains cleaning this year with the result that verges had only been cut in the last three weeks. He further explained that the contract is to clear visibility splays for traffic, approx.
1-metre-wide, and is to cut and leave the grass as clearing away would double the cost of the contract. Cllr Little agreed to take up a number of Mrs Levens’ concerns, including concerns for the overgrown hedge on Church Road which is causing a pedestrian hazard, and issues concerning the cleanliness of road drains. Cllr Little promised to have County Highways send a report to the Clerk outlining what works had been carried out in the village in the past two years. The Chairman reported on recent works carried out by the village handyman which included strimming around and under public seats and cleaning bus shelters. Cllr Berry advised Mrs Levens that the Parish Council is well aware of the issues that she had raised but had, unfortunately, had to deal with a number of other matters which took priority in recent months and had meant that there had been a delay in some work which the Parish Council wishes to carry out in the village. Mrs Levens also raised concern re speeding in the village and it was agreed that this was a police matter.
Mr and Mrs Levens were thanked for their attendance and left the meeting at this point.
22/16 Police Report – no police officer was present. The Clerk advised that she had been contacted by the new police officer for the village who would attend Parish Council meetings when possible and had asked that any concerns be passed to her for attention.
23/16 Minutes
i)AGM 10th May 2016
On the proposal of Cllr M Harrison, seconded by Cllr E Martin, the minutes of the AGM were approved and signed as a correct record.
ii)Parish Council Meeting 10th May 2016
On the proposal of Cllr J Berry, seconded by Cllr T Armstrong, the minutes of the meeting held 10th May 2016 were approved and signed as a correct record.
24/16 Matters Arising
Further to minute 12/16 ii) Cllr E Martin reported on a very successful and well supported day for the celebration of the Queen’s 90th Birthday which had seen several groups working together and had raised £591.91 which would be used by the school to purchase a cooker for the children to use. In addition, Bill and Sharon Barnes had been delighted to garner over 200 signatures for their ‘Save Our Beds’ petition and some of the children had written letters of support. A follow up meeting had been held to thank all those who had helped with the event and it had been noted that more bins on the welfare field would be helpful for future events. The group which organised the event formally requested use of the Community Centre for a meeting on Tuesday 13th September 2016 to begin planning the next event, which it had agreed would be in support of the St Columbas’ Church renovation appeal; the Parish Council approved this request.
25/16 Community Centre – Update and discussion
The Chairman recapped the situation so far and reported that he and Cllr Sharp had held a meeting with Milburns’ Solicitors as a result of which, Milburns had written to Mrs Ferguson – a copy of that letter was read to the meeting. Milburns had confirmed that they had no record of a lease being granted and had advised that a 25-year lease would have to be registered with the Land Registry – there was no evidence to support this. Friday 17th June had been given as the deadline for Mrs Ferguson to produce evidence of a lease and the Chairman reported that a letter from Mrs Ferguson had been delivered through his door by hand on 17th June, with a copy of a letter the Parish Council had sent to a Mr Fellows on 11th September 2003. The letter was read to the meeting. Mrs Ferguson’s letter had requested copies of parish council minutes evidencing the lease. The Clerk explained that she had trawled through the last 15 years’ worth of minutes and could find no evidence of a lease. Mrs Ferguson’s copy of the letter to Mr Fellows had been sent to Milburns’ who stated that this may evidence that there was contemplation of a possible intention to grant a lease but that no lease had ever been granted, so their advice remained unchanged.
Cath Clark asked whether the Village Activities Committee was a registered charity? Was it incorporated? Does it have a constitution? She further offered that it is against all the rules of Charitable organisations for relatives to be the only signatories on a bankaccount. Mrs Clarkadvised that she is a funding expert and would be willing to work alongside the Parish Council in accessing funding should it wish to instigate any youth work in the village and outlined both the ‘Dream Scheme’ and ‘Friday Night Project Money’ which she felt the Parish Council may well be eligible to bid for.
After further discussion and on the proposal of Cllr J Berry, seconded by Cllr R Ives, it was resolved that the Parish Council would arrange for the locks to be changed on the Community Centre and would instruct Milburns’ to inform Mrs Ferguson that the Parish Council is taking on responsibility for the building with immediate effect and that she should not, under any circumstances, order any further works to be carried out on the building.
It was further agreed that a Key Holders’ Agreement be drawn up for all those parties who regularly use the Community Centre, that the burglar alarm settings be changed and that the Chairman would contact Mrs C Ferguson and Mr ATyson for the return of the keys for the noticeboard.
It was resolved that a meeting of the Community Centre Trustees be held at an early date.
Cath Clark left the meeting at this point.
26/16 Communication and Transparency
Cllr M Harrison shared with the meeting some of the content of the ‘Broughton Moor Crack’ Facebook page in which Mrs Dawn Cunningham and Mrs Christine Sharples (daughters of Mrs C Ferguson) had made a number of offensive and slanderous statements about members of the Parish Council. County Cllr K Little agreed that these comments were both appalling and slanderous and advised the Parish Council to place the matter in the hands of the solicitor.
Concern was also expressed that some of the comments had been made about Parish Council business which these two ladies ought not to have had access to at the time as the comments were made before the parish council minutes had been published.
The Clerk made reference to one allegation in which it had been asserted that she had claimed an extra 4 hours per week pay to cover work previously carried out by
Mrs C Ferguson; The Parish Council agreed that this claim was simply not true.
Cllr Little left the meeting at this point.
27/16 Monitoring Officer Update
A letter from the Monitoring Officer had been circulated to members of the Parish Council prior to the meeting and its content was discussed.
On the proposal of Cllr J Berry, seconded by Cllr R Ives, it was agreed that the Clerk would draft a letter in response and circulate it to all members of the Parish Council for comment and/or approval before sending it to the monitoring officer. The Council resolved that no apology was due to Mrs Ferguson and none would be issued.
The Council also took note of the four probable breaches of the Code of Conduct which Mrs Ferguson had made (as detailed in the monitoring officers’ response to the Clerk’s complaint against Mrs Ferguson) and noted that the Clerk had experienced difficulties in carrying out her work in the last year or so that Mrs Ferguson had been Chairman.
Cllrs Ives and Berry reported on a training event which they had attended recently. Cllrs Harrison and Martin are to attend a similar course at a date to be arranged.
28/16 Footpaths
Cllr Martin reported that she had followed up on information given in the Times and Star re funding for footpaths and had discovered that the Parish Council was not eligible to apply.
Cllrs Harrison and Armstrong reported access difficulties on a number of public footpaths in the village and it was resolved that the Chairman would contact the County Footpaths Officer and ask for remedial action to be taken.
29/16 Maryport Cottage Hospital Save Our Beds Campaign
On the proposal of Cllr Martin, seconded by Cllr Ives, it was resolved that the Clerk should write to Mr and Mrs Barnes at Ewanrigg Community Centre in support of the ‘Save Our Beds’ campaign.
30/16 St Columba’s Church
Rev’d Morgan presented an email from Lynsey Murray outlining the position for St Columba’s Church. Rev’d Morgan explained that it had been necessary for the building to close whilst funding is sought for urgent repair work in order that Public Liability Insurance could be reinstated. In the meantime, the congregation were seeking an alternative venue for Sunday worship and for their weekly Tuesday coffee morning as it was imperative that the congregation stick together or no case could be made for financing the repairs. The email from Lynsey Murray requested use of the Community Centre for an initial period of 6 months, in which time it was hoped the repairs could be made and the congregation return to the Church building. Some storage was also requested for the essential items for Church services (not to include the church silver which would be stored safely elsewhere), and permission to hang the St Columbas’ banner in the Community Centre was also requested. On the proposal of Cllr Berry, seconded by Cllr Martin, it was resolved that St Columba’s Church be given use of the Community Centre on Sunday and Tuesday mornings free of charge for an initial period of 6 months, to be reviewed thereafter, and that storage be offered to the church in the small room at the back of the hall and permission be granted to hang the church banner in the main hall.
31/16 Correspondence
The following items of correspondence were received:
i)Letter from Sue Hayman, MP, requesting information on broadband coverage in the village – Clerk to reply that reception is acceptable.
ii)Letter from Mr David King giving details of a service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, St Mary’s Church, Maryport, Saturday 2nd July at 7pm. Cllrs Martin and Harrison to represent Broughton Moor Parish Council at this event.
iii)Letter from Mrs A Winter, raising concerns re drains, pathways and roadsigns – Clerk to request County Highways repaint the sign at the end of Heatherfields and to write to Mrs Winter addressing her concerns, many of which echoed those discussed in the public section of the meeting.
iv)Letter from St Columba’s Church requesting financial assistance with grass cutting in the churchyard. On the proposal of Cllr Ives, seconded by Cllr Berry, it was resolved that a donation of £500 be sent to the Church.
v)The Clerk reported that a contract for the Gas Central Heating boiler maintenance was now in place for the Community Centre and had been paid. Cllr Armstrong suggested that an improved maintenance contract to include water and electricity would be advantageous – Clerk to make enquiries about this.
vi)The Council reviewed correspondence dating back to July 2015 regarding the contract awarded to Messrs Minshaw to install a public seat on Seaton Road. It was noted that this work had not yet been carried out and in view of the long delay it was resolved that the Clerk should write to Messrs Minshaw advising that the contract had been rescinded and would be awarded to another contractor.
32/16 Planning
The following notifications were received:
i)2/2014/0868 erection of 64 dwellings on land adjacent to Heatherfields, (Strategic Land Group) – full permission granted.
ii)2/2016/0237 Agricultural building at Bracken Ridge (Kevin Thompson) – full permission granted.
iii)2/2016/0232 Outline permission for erection of bungalow at Glen-Craig (Sarah Tunstall) – outline permission granted.
One new application was received:
i)2/2016/0349 Proposed new highway access at Newhall Farm, Sunnyslack (Robert Skelton) – no objections.
33/16 Windfarm Update
The Clerk reported on discussions with Annalee Holliday of the Cumbria Charitable Foundation and it was agreed that an early date be sought for a meeting with her to progress matters further.
34/16 Finance
The Parish Council formally approved the Annual Accounts for 2015/16 and the Risk Assessment from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. The Council considered the auditor’s points raised following the 2014/15 accounts and noted that no action was necessary. The Notice of Public Right of Inspection of the Accounts is to be displayed in the noticeboard from 1st July.
The following cheques were approved for payment:
Cheque NoAccountAmount Paid
101407ISS £1191.15
101408Audit Fee£ 40.00
101409S Small (handyman)£ 82.50
101410J Sorensen (salary)£289.42
101411HMRC (PAYE)£ 68.80
Date of next meeting: Tuesday 19th July at 7.00pm
The meeting closed at 9.25pm