1
At a Meeting of
WHORLTON and WESTWICK
PARISH COUNCIL
On Tuesday24thSeptember 2013
Present: Cllr. Lucy Hoskyns-Abrahall (Chair) Cllr. Colin Cummins,Cllr. Roger Foster, Cllr. Trevor Honeyman, Cllr. Martin Saville, Cllr. Ian Wilkinson
Apologies: Cllr. George Stastny, Mr. Stuart Laundy (Northern Echo)
Also present at the meeting were:Mr. D. Kinch,Miss Cherry Simpson, Mr. Kendal Mason Mr. Dick Whitwell and Mr. Tom Donnelly
The Chair asked if anyone had points to raise before the meeting started. No one did.
Minutes of the Last Meeting:
These had been circulated and were signed as correct.
Updates:
Teesdale Way
This seems to be finished and acceptable to those who use the Teesdale Way. The Stepping Stones and steps down to them are now back in working order and there have been no further complaints.
Neighbourhood Plan
This is an on-going problem – should the village attempt to put together a Neighbourhood plan or perhaps a Village Plan. Both cost a great deal of money and must involve at least 50% of the village. Help can be got from DCC, but a great deal of planning, and clerical work has to go on before the plan can be put onto paper. The plan cannot be put together by the Parish Council alone but must involve those living in the area involved.
Mr. David Kinch said that he had a lady named Carol Dillon from DCC coming to speak at a meeting specifically to explore the ins and outs of drawing up such plans in the first week in December in Barnard Castle. This would be open to all local parish councils and when he had the full particulars would pass them onto the clerk for transmission onward to Councillors.
Mr. Kinch also said that the new Durham Plan came out on 14th October and would then be published and eventually circulated to parishes.
There was discussion about calling a special meeting in? November to discuss putting such a plan together. As the plan whether Neighbourhood or Village is decided upon, it has to be put together by the village communities, not the parish council alone.
Street Lighting
The clerk read out a letter from DCC stating that all street light bulbs were to be replaced with LED bulbs and that some street lights would be removed and lights would be turned down lower in brightness from midnight to save energy and cost.
Parishes can go on line to have their say in this proposal. After some discussion amongst councillors it was decided that the clerk would fill in the consultation document stating that
the village would not be happy with loosing lighting columns, but that a review would be welcomed and even perhaps extra lights added to the village. This to ensure the safety of those in the village and perhaps to deter thefts.
Village Green:
There are two plans afoot relating to the village green at present. The re-surfacing of the area in front of the Bridge Inn and also a proposal to plant wild flowers under the Chestnut tree.
It was felt that the village as a whole should have a say about the village green and a meeting will be called to try and gauge views of those who might care to come to such a meeting.
There was a brief discussion about planting wild flowers on the green – the overall opinion was that it was not a good idea as it would prevent that area of the green being played on, used for recreation and would have to be cared for differently.
Chestnut Tree Pruning
The clerk had spoken to Mr. Simpson about the pruning of the Chestnut tree. He had very kindly offered to prune the tree free of charge when the leaves are off the tree.
Those present were delighted about this and asked the clerk to contact Mr. Simpson with grateful thanks and ask him to progress when he felt he could.
Bonfire Party Risk Assessment
The clerk had contacted Mr. Peter Lewis to ask for a risk assessment to be produced for the Bonfire party. There is to be a bonfire, but no fireworks this year.
This was presented to those at the meeting. The one thing that did come up was the wonder of what happened if individuals brought Sparkler fireworks to the bonfire party and a child or adult were to be burned by touching the stem of the used Sparkler. Water and sand buckets would be in place as well as first aiders in case of any accidents.
The clerk will go back to Mr. Lewis and request a copy of the Insurance document and ascertain that this has been taken into account.
Planning Applications:
Beckridge and Hunter’s Lodge – Land to the rear, installation of gabions, rebuilding
garage and minor tree works
The result of reinforcements after last year’s flooding -
Livestock barn at Etherley House - Accept
Land adjacent to Greenlea – The plans have been re-drawn by the buyer of the plot
Council members had viewed these plans and the overall view was that the new
plan was now far too close to Greenlea although the alignment was slightly
] different.
The clerk had emailed Durham County Council with the view of council members on all three plans
Mr. Kinch raised the matter of the two wind turbines that are proposed for land adjoining Van Daemon Farm and Hutton Hall farm at Hutton Magna. It was felt that this, though only showing two wind turbines was the beginning of a larger development. The clerk will email the reference number to council members so that they can view the proposal and email the planning officer with their thoughts on this matter.
C44 Road:
The pot holes and rough patches on this road are perhaps to be addressed. Mr. Kinch is to be at a meeting in Barnard Castle on 27.9.13 and will put the views (of very long standing) to the DCC officers who will be attending.
The C44 road, though supposed to be a cycling route, is in a very poor state of repair, there are road markings missing particularly in Westwick and the general state of repair of this road is poor from East Shaws to Barnard Castle.
Cheques for Signature
Three cheques were signed
CDALC – Payment for ‘Good Councillors Guide’ booklets£ 23.90p.
Mill Gardens – 4 cuts of the village green£200.00p.
Mrs. E.C. Trevor – Half year wage£488.79p.
Date of the next meeting
There being nothing further to discuss the date of the next meeting that had been originally booked for 11th November will now, subject to confirmation, be on Tuesday 5th November.
The clerk will email members when the date is safely confirmed.
The Meeting closed at 8.15pm.
5th November 2013
G. Stastny
Chairman