LOWER ALLITHWAITE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting held in The Community Centre, Allithwaite on Thursday, 11th August 2011

PRESENT: Cllrs Huggett, (Chairman), Allen, (Vice Chair), Anderson, Barker, Drinkall, Pascall, Shepherd, Unsworth, M Wilson, M E Wilson County Cllr Rod Wilson (for part of the meeting). 3 Members of the Public & Inspector Kevin Spedding.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllrs Bird, Bramwell.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AS CIRCULATED The Minutes of the Meeting held in The Village Hall, Cartmel on Thursday, 14th July 2011 as circulated were approved. Proposed by Cllr Allen, seconded by Cllr Shepherd and signed as a true record. Minutes of the presentation on Thursday, 21st July 2011 as circulated were approved. Proposed by Cllr Pascall, seconded by Cllr Allen and signed as a true record.

3.  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST in respect of items on Agenda. None.

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN RELATION TO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Mr & Mrs Hackney would speak in planning re application SL/2011/0379. Ms Joy Lo would speak at 5 iv) Allithwaite Allotments.

County Councillor Report The Chairman asked Council permission to allow the County Councillor’s report at this point. Agreed. Cllr R Wilson confirmed a meeting with Victoria Leper, County Highways and that she had looked at the dangers highlighted at corner of Haggs Lane. Other issues on Haggs Lane were looked at i.e. new exit formed and height of fencing installed. Looked at parking in Back Orchard Road, Allithwaite and whether parking at the top space should be stopped. He asked if Police could keep eye on parking in The Square, Allithwaite in the evening particularly at Rock View and Dilly Garth. The landowner had been contacted re the use of weed killer on the verge at Applebury Hill and he had confirmed that he would speak to his tenant about this. Cllr Wilson mentioned the funding that could be tapped into which was available for schemes for children.

Inspector Kevin Spedding gave his report at this point Inspector Spedding confirmed that all crime was down including anti social behaviour, burglary, theft from vehicles. Good work was being done including proactive work at Car Parks to prevent crime. No specific trends had been identified in the area but he requested ringing in to report incidents. Police were engaging with children and he considered the Police areas seemed to be working and were more focused and structured. He explained that charges were made for policing events including Cartmel Races and cycling events. He was pleased for the feedback regarding the general increase of a Police presence around the area. Inspector Spedding was made aware of problems which occurred at this years Cartmel Show. Traffic management had not been able to cope and the Village was congested. He confirmed he would link in with the show committee and could instigate an advisory group. Cllr Huggett confirmed that Highways knew nothing about the show and considered the show committee should have planning in place for next year. It was questioned which side of the road should a mobility scooter travel on for safety?

5. BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

i) Co-option of 3 Councillors for Allithwaite Ward No applications had been received. The Clerk suggested that a Newsletter should go out appealing for nominations. Cllr Shepherd had received comments that all business conducted concerned Cartmel! Cllr Allen was upset to here this as she considered a lot of work was done for Allithwaite.

ii) SLDC Land Allocations – Further Consultation Friday 29th July – Friday 9th September 2011. This further consultation would seek views on 3 additional matters. Alternative sites proposed by people responding to the recent consultation; whether the land allocations document should cover a shorter period to an earlier end date, for example to 2020 instead of 2025; whether sites for development should be allocated in small villages and hamlets. SLDC will take account of responses to the earlier consultations and also those from this further consultation before completing its assessment of sites. It was stressed by SLDC that there was no need to repeat any comments previously made. SLDC confirmed they have not yet decided on the final preferred sites. A final draft plan will be published later in 2011. Cllr M E Wilson considered the consultation time frame was very tight and that an extension of the deadline should be requested. She suggested that the Parish Council let SLDC know when a response could be provided. Cllr Drinkall questioned the alternative sites outlined in Allithwaite and considered that it had not been agreed by the Parish Council to suggest these sites. It was confirmed that these were sites suggested by the Allithwaite Steering Group which had been accepted by the Parish Council. Discussion took place regarding the best method of consulting residents again and it was decided that an Open Day should be arranged - meeting in Allithwaite and Cartmel on Saturday, 3rd September 2011 at Cartmel Village Hall and Allithwaite Community Centre. A Newsletter to be published to advertise the Open Day to all residents.

iii) Parish Plan Progress Report. Cllr Allen and Tiffany Hunt were well received at the Cartmel Over 60’s and had ten responses back. A meeting had been held with Julia Wilson to complete the application grant form. Still work to do on this and Minutes of meetings were requested by Julia, Barbara Copeland volunteered to do this. It had been arranged to talk to people visiting the Cartmel Food Market on 19/8/11.

iv) Allithwaite Allotments A further request for a greenhouse had been received and this was approved. Ms Jo Loy who resided at the property opposite the allotments confirmed she had huge privacy issues since the allotments had been formed. She considered it was not nice when people congregated there and looked into her property. The Chair sympathised with her but he considered there was not a lot could be done as this was not a planning consideration. The allotment holders had been asked to arrange an organisation but as yet this had not happened. Asked why the allotments could not have been positioned at the top of the field the Chairman confirmed that the site chosen had a water supply which had been an important consideration. The Chair confirmed to Ms Loy that the allotment holders would be made aware of her concerns and be asked to respect her privacy.

v) Parish Council Cottage Progress report. United Utilities had replaced the water stop tap in the highway. Cllr Huggett had met with builders regarding waterproofing inside of Cottage. An increase in the price of the electric central heating had taken place due to the letter regarding a discount to Bertie Wycherley not being received because of problems with his postman. It was still hoped this discount could be claimed.

vi) Cartmel Village Toilets As yet the final repairs had not been done. NPS to be contacted regarding this. A letter had been received from Rachel Beadling, Estate Property Manager at Holker Estates, confirming that the Car Park toilets had been opened on 7th July 2011. As per the Lease agreement Holker had promised to continue to contribute towards the cleaning of the village toilets until the new block was open. She asked for a final amount owing to 6th July 2011. The Chair confirmed that the sub-lease was now ready to go to Cartmel Village Trust but there was a need to formalise how the running of the toilets would be done and what was their long term commitment. Cllr Anderson who is a Trustee of the Village Trust considered that all negotiations regarding the running of the toilets had been on an ad hoc basis and that there was a need to have everything on the table and for the Trust to know what money they were committing to. The draft sub-lease would be forwarded to David Unsworth, c/o Cartmel Village Trust with a request for a meeting with the Trustees and representatives from the Parish Council.

vii) Review of Standing Orders To approve/amend 18 – 29. No amendments. Proposed by Cllr Unsworth, seconded by Cllr Pascall. Unanimous.

viii) Review of Financial Orders To approve/amend Part 2. Amendments were needed to banking arrangements to read “One current account and one Deposit account shall be maintained at the Bank”. “Internal account transfers can be carried out by the RFO online. “All invoices shall be passed to the RFO”. “The Council is registered as an employer and will be responsible for NI and Income Tax to HMRC”. Proposed by the Chair and Unanimously agreed that these amendments should be made.

ix) Meeting with Duncan Peake, Holker Estates Co & Jonathan Garratt, Cartmel Steeplechases Thursday, 21st July 2011 at 7.00pm in Cartmel Village Hall. It was generally felt that it had been good to engage with them at this meeting. A question not asked had been about the Scout Hut and it was questioned what was to happen to this? Cllr M E Wilson considered that the question should be asked “how does the community value the use of the park”.

x) Vehicle Parking in Cartmel Village Feedback from letters to traders. Unfortunately Cllrs Huggett and M E Wilson had not had chance to deliver the letters to traders.

xi) HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons 2012 To discuss the possibility of a beacon. The Clerk confirmed that Grange Town Council had not yet discussed this but it would be on their Agenda in September. Cllr Drinkall confirmed that there was an interest in Allithwaite as some type of fun day was being arranged. To be on the Agenda next month.

xii) SLDC Parking Services Consultation Reminder – 6th July to 28th September 2011. All Councillors with emails had received the consultation and 3 paper copies had been printed for other Councillors.

xiii) Projects for Local Area Partnership Funding Cllr M E Wilson suggested signage at Village entrances and the Clerk suggested hard footpaths at the entrance to Allithwaite from Flookburgh instead of tufted long grass and also hard footpaths further along on Flookburgh Road.

xiv) Clerk’s Report The Clerk had printed copies of the letter re Cartmel Institute for any Councillor who wanted one. An urgent request had been received regarding a consultation on revised proposals for modernising HM Coastguard. Support had been sought against the closure of the rescue centre at Liverpool which would mean the voluntary bases along the west coast of England would be left without a mainland co-ordination centre. A response had been forwarded on behalf of members stating that the proposed closure did not represent a good strategic operational and geographical spread of co-ordination centres. Urgent support had also been requested from Leiston-cum-Sizewell PC, the Suffolk Association of Local Councils and Steve Shaw, National co-ordinator of Local Works for the inclusion in the new planning guidance to empower local councils when faced with major developments to (1) request that the developer attend a council meeting to answer questions about their planning application if the council wishes and (2) provide resources (if councils wish) to enable them to assess their applications – which may be over 1000 pages long – based on a professional critique of their evidence. Support had been given on behalf of the Council. District Councillor report Cllr M E Wilson covered her report when discussing the LDF – Further Consultation. Asked about the development at Berners, Grange Cllr Wilson confirmed that progress was very slow and that developers would be taking on a big challenge.

6. FINANCE

i) Parish Council Community a/c £6,788.11 Business Base Rate Tracker £14,961.26.

ii) Money Received Allotment Rent Mark Peacock £15.00. Allotment Rent Dave Hemmings £15.00.

iii) Cheques for Approval Clerk July Salary £388.00 + £20.00 Expenses. Broadband £18.35. SLDC Council Tax Cottage £67.00 (3rd payment). Proposed by Cllr Pascall, seconded by Cllr Drinkall that Finance be approved. Unanimous.

7. PLANNING

i) Consideration of relevant planning applications SL/2011/0570 Approved; 0584 & 0585 Refused; 0611 Approved. 0604 Recommendations made. 0379 (Amended) Site visit and extension of time requested.

Mr & Mrs Hackney who live in the property next to The Pheasant at Allithwaite made representations about the amended planning application. Mr Hackney was under the impression that his letter to the planning officer regarding application 0379 explaining his concerns had been forwarded to the Parish Council, but this was not the case. He considered that his quality of life had been impacted by the proposal to further extend at The Pheasant. He believed the previous expansion had changed the nature of this tranquil part of Allithwaite and a further expansion would change the character. He was concerned about safety when vehicles slowed down on a bad corner to read the numerous A boards outside and also he considered noise was a huge issue and invasion of his privacy. He asked for these concerns to be taken into account to help maintain his privacy and help maintain tranquillity. Cllr M E Wilson suggested that a request be made to the Planning officer for them to conduct a site meeting. An extension of the time limit to be requested to allow members of the Parish Council to visit also. Cllr M E Wilson confirmed that the enforcement officer would be looking at the A board issue.

ii) Applications Approved by SLDC: Garage, Car Port and Potting Shed Fairfield Lodge, Cartmel. Extension to house including conversion of barn as an extension, moving vehicular access onto road, new domestic garage and change of use of field into garden Garret House, Cartmel.