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Minutes of the Copeland Disability Forum meeting held on Wednesday

26th Novemberat 2pm in the United Reformed Church Hall, Whitehaven.

Present: Anne Bradshaw [Chairman] Linda Wilson [Deputy Chairman], Bryan Wilson, Phillip Pattinson, Ossie Coyles, Ian McConnell, Peter Steele, Ken Bradbury, Jim Pullin, Amber Sykes [CCC Highways] Kevin Cosgrove [CCC Highways], Cllr Brian Crawford [CCC].

1Apologies. Paula Ratcliffe [CCF], Eric Urquhart [Treasurer], Cllr Eileen Weir [CCC], Heather Morrison [Access Officer], Cllr John Bowman.

2Minutes of the meeting held on 22nd October 2014. The minutes were noted and signed by Anne after being unanimously accepted as a correct record.

3Matters Arising.

a. There was no further update regarding the problem at Arrighi's Chip Shop with regards to tables and chairs on the pavement

b. Anne had spoken to Celia from the Harbour commissioners regarding the signage and had been told they were awaiting approval from CCC. Kevin was able to give a further update - to say the sign approaching for Kells side would be amended, and a further sign would be put at the entrance. He also said the improvements were good in the Multi Storey car park and he had been in discussions with the new manager of the multi story.

c. With regards to the memorial for Private Acton, Linda reported that the decision had been taken to place the memorial to the right of the gate outside St Nicholas Church, Lowther Street. The plaque would include Braille, and the official public unveiling would be held on Sunday 21-12-14 at 1-30pm. Linda said the road would be closed and that She and Bryan would be attending the ceremony.

d. Anne had received no notification about the proposed AWG meeting so discuss the Local Plan and agreed to email Heather Morrison to a meeting could be arranged.

e. The CDF meal had been booked and it was suggested members arrive by 11-45 and we should be in the room on the left. Anne will take the meal choices in a few days before, Ossie will choose his meal on the day.

f. Coastal Access Report -Anne had read the report and there were no changes from our last consultation and therefore had decided not to bring it back to the meeting for further discussion.

4Enforcement Issues.

Kevin reported enforcement had now been brought back to CCC and there were five full time staff and they were able to move officers around and be more mobile. Since taking the service back 800 parking tickets had been issued across West Cumbria. Members commented that enforcement officers were now visible and that the parking problems in the Market Place had improved. Each member had the opportunity to raise any issues with Kevin - an action sheet is attached to the minutes of all issues raised and which Kevin will report back at a future meeting.

Bryan brought up the issue of parking in loading bays, Kevin said the time allowed had been reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes.

In answer to a question regarding the income from the fines, Amber said this money was not ring fenced for highways but after paying for the service any excess monies went into the central pot to alleviate savings CCC had to make.

5CCC Budget Consultation. Anne read out the proposals she had in a document and it wasn't until she had reached proposal 14 that Cllr Crawford said it was not the document he had. Anne's had been printed from the website, but was last years consultation. Cllr Crawford gave Anne his copy which contained 13 proposals. only proposal 1, 5 and 6 would directly affect people with disabilities, but the wording was completely woolly and there was no substance or explanation of how the proposals were going to be implemented. Anne is to attend a meeting on 1-12-14 in Penrith which has been arranged for people with disabilities to have their say on the consultation. Anne will be asking why meetings are never arranged in the West of the County, why the notification only went out via CVS via email. There are a lot of groups which Cumbria Advice Network have details of and a hard copy invitation should have gone out to more groups. Anne said Rocky from South Copeland Disability Group would be attending but it will be interesting to see how many people turn up. Anne asked members if they wanted her to ask any specific questions or leave it to herself to put forward our views, members agreed unanimously for Anne to speak on their behalf. Also there were no EIA - Cllr Crawford had forwarded one for Copeland area, but it hadn't been filled in . Cllr Weir is trying to get copies before the 1st December meeting.

6 Treasurers Report. Anne read out a written report Eric had submitted. The SLA had now been signed, the six monthly report submitted together with the invoice. We were now awaiting payment. The only expenditure had been £20 for room hire and £18 donation towards the memorial plaque for a bench for Gary Jackson, the chairman of South Copeland Disability Group and Chairman of Cumbria Independent Living Forum.

7A.O.B

a.Phillip and Eric had attended a recent Health Watch meeting arranged at Thornhill Primary School and apart from the initial difficulty with access [the room was booked upstairs with no disabled access - this was quickly moved downstairs] they both found the meeting better structured and productive as a very long list of concerns was compiled from the comments made by those attending. The concerns were prioritised for discussion with Health Managers.

bThere are to be public consultation meetings on the clinical options for future health care in North Cumbria to be held at Cumbria Sports Academy, Overend Road, Whitehaven from 6-30 to 8-30 on Monday 1st and Monday 8th December. Audience capacity is 100 and anyone unable to attend is encouraged to comment online.

c Again Ossie mention the problem of crossing at Parton, Amber said this was on her list.

Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 21 January 2015 at 2pm

The meeting closed at 3-30pm

CCC Highways Issue as discussed at CDF meeting 26-11-14 / Action by K. Cosgrove
1 / check to see if the on street disabled parking bays are limited to 3 hours and that the correct signage is displayed
2 / Check to see what the state of play is with regards the delegated powers from the police to CCC re obstruction across dropped kerbs- speak to Rob Lewis
3 / Check to see if there is a safety issue with cars parked on the pavement on Lowther Street on the private land by the derelict church.
4 / Double yellow lines Church Street Egremont - check to see when this is being done
5 / Holburn Hill no yellow lines - check to see when this is being done
6 / 12 months ago a joint meeting included proposals for enforcement officers to have the powers to look at photo on Blue Badges - any update ?