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COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL
Agendas
& Minutes
Accounts
CHURCHES
LOCAL
GROUPS
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Minutes
Thursday 16th October 2014
Craster Village Hall 7.15pm
Present
Chairman
Bryn Owen.
Clerk
Helen Brewis.
Parish Council Members Joyce Shaw, Elizabeth Pearson, Martin
Smith, Margaret Brooks, Richard Pearson, Michael Craster, Alan Punton,
John Gallon & Pauline Baird.
In Attendance County
Councillor Kate Cairns.
Members of the public Mrs P Owen, Mr D Banister & Ms S Paul.
1726. It is resolved that the word "Executive" be
removed from paragraphs 3.14, 10.1 and 10.2 of the Standing Orders of
the Parish Council.
Proposed by Bryn &
seconded by John. All in favour.
1727. It is resolved that the Parish Council has confidence in
the Officers of the Parish Council and considers that they operate in a
legal and appropriate manner.
Alan proposed that
Michael Craster should Chair item 1727 & seconded by Joyce.
All in favour.
Michael was sorry that
it felt necessary to do this debate as he always felt that there was a
degree of courtesy, understanding & doing best our for the
community within the PC.
John - Why is this on
the agenda - because over the last few months the Chair & Vice
Chair have felt criticised & neither feel they can carry on without
full support from the PC. First how do we carry out our duties
the bus time changes were discussed & noted, but a number of
residents were upset with the changes & so a Special Meeting was
organised so we could discuss this issue further & contact NCC.
We have failed in our
duties concerning the Burial Committee finances ie: insurance costs
& burial charges.
In the past the Chair
& Vice Chair would discuss matters with NCC members & were
thanked for doing so but now they are criticised. The Chair has
other duties & in the past, previous meetings motions were proposed
& passed without agenda notification, now we are trying to make
sure PC & BB runs as the law demands.
The Parish Clerk as the
proper officer to the council should be the engine behind the PC doing
all the work, but the PC is too small to pay all the hours necessary so
the Chair & Vice Chair have taken on more hours.
NALC recognise the extra
work which the clerks now carry & they give emergency powers to the
Chair, our standing orders state that ‘should it not be appropriate to
convene a special meeting then any emergency business will be handled
by at least 2 of the officers of the council in consultation. If
only one officer of the council is available that officer must consult
at least 2 further councillors. Actions will be reported promptly
to the council. The Chair, Vice Chair & Clerk will become
officers of the council when they take up those positions & will
cease to be officers when they relinquish their positions.’
Accountability in Public
Life (The Nolan Principles) list the standards to adhere to as:
selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty
& leadership – the Chair & Vice Chair would hope to abide by
all of them.
Both the Chair &
Vice Chair are working many hours in order to discharge
responsibilities in a proper manner (20-40 hours per week each), they
have complied with all of the legal & procedural rules &
regulations & have always tried to behave in accordance with the
Nolan Principles. They also hope that this will enable the Parish
Councillors to have confidence in the way that they conduct PC business.
Michael – Does anyone
felt that they are working against the definition?
Elizabeth - Can we not
talk about this in an appropriate way, we want to encourage people to
come onto the PC, but this would put them off. I have always
assumed that the PC was a method to sort out small things not all this
red tape. We are here to help residents.
Michael – Elizabeth your
points go to the heart of what this is about, the work that has been
carried out with best interests of the heart, but its not helped that
the work is not being shared the way that people wish it to be.
We need to accept that the duties have changed significantly &
accept more responsibilities & that there are strict time limits on
a great deal of the work. We are a voluntary organisation which I
believe that we should decide that the officers are appointed &
allowed to work & report back at council meetings & not take
actions until agreed by the council. They are volunteers &
they should not have to work all these hours & we should trust them
that if they organise to meet people it is for the best intention for
the PC.
Pauline – In preparing
for this meeting I am in no doubt that they are doing their best, no
one could produce an opposition to this as the Vice Chair’s speech has
not been circulated. The objection however is that when asked
what was going on a councillor was told that it would be discussed at
the meeting & not given an update. They should have emailed
all the councillors to let them know & update with any new info
& they should be able to give jobs to other councillors to ease
their load. I never thought that they have done anything underhand just
request being kept updated in case Im asked by a member of the public
what was happening. It is a courtesy to let all the other councillors
know what’s happening.
Joyce – I have been both
a clerk & councillor & it has completely changed now & we
always did what we could for the village, then AOB was removed from the
Agenda & that was the most useful item on Agenda.
Martin- My impression of
the issue was that of communication – when do we wish to be told
things? Are we looking at knowing everything or updates before
meetings? I feel that ½ the things on the Agenda would not have
been done as quickly if the Chair & Vice Chair had not worked to
move things along. To move forward now how much communication do
we require? Possibly email updates & ring Joyce?
Bryn – why on
agenda? Two weeks ago we met NCC to look at a potential coach
park which had been discussed at our PC meeting, we were not going
behind anyones back as we had received an email from a NCC officer
& we met her & within ½ hour we sent an email out & within
2 hours we were criticised by email.
Bryn – the first PC
meeting I attended was when our house plans were going through &
Pam was told she could not speak, I enjoyed the debate but it was moved
that the public should leave for a planning decision to be made – I was
not sure if that was legal. I joined the PC & worked actively
when NCC were looking to run down the areas so villages would not be
sustainable, I attended the Dunstan Steads Protest Committee Meetings,
& researched the facts concerning this plan & afterwards when
the press got involved I had to fend off their questions concerning the
public not being included at the PC Meeting decision. I worked on
a small sub-committee concerning the Neighbourhood Plan, but when the
PC decided to absorb the SC back into the PC the plan never developed
further.
Both the Dunstan Hill
caravan plan & Church St B&B I spoke to the planning officer
& went to the land registry to get information, I was more than
happy to get the facts & bring them to the meetings, but I never
made any decisions.
There had been no risk
assessments done so I took that on & picked up on the car park work
with Michael Robson when Michael Craster was ill. I nominated
Michael Craster for the AONB which at the time was illegal as I was not
an officer. When I was elected as Chair I got involved in all the
ongoing items CC John Taylor had been involved in, which with his
passing needed bringing on. I believe that PC decisions should
flow & then a motion will immerge consensual. I had concerns
that vested interests were not always being declared & at the last
meeting Joyce seconded the motion for the CCT plaque donation.
When I joined the Burial
Committee there were no terms of reference or house deeds & after
speaking to NALC - Burial Committees had ceased in the 1970s & I
have been helping the Chair on the BB to make it all legal.
When I found out that
notices had gone out to the residents on Heugh Wynd concerning parking
on the grass I emailed all the councillors suggesting dropped kerbs, I
asked for responses & received 3. Having talked to residents
re: dropped kerbs the following day John & myself had a meeting
with Lee Baxter from NCC to view the problem & no decisions were
taken. We received complaints concerning the meeting & I feel
that the way I operate hasn’t changed since I joined the PC & if I
can’t carry on like that I don’t feel I can carry on as Chair.
Pauline objected to
being castigated for not stepping forward to take on more work, Michael
as Chair asked for the Meeting to remain civil & for the motion to
now be voted on.
Richard felt that
Michael was stopping Pauline from speaking.
It is resolved that the Parish Council has confidence in the Officers
of the Parish Council and considers that they operate in a legal and
appropriate manner.
John proposed the motion & seconded by Bryn.
(Neither Bryn nor John voted)
In
favour 5
Against
2
Abstain
1
Motion carried.
Bryn to chair remainder
of meeting
1728. Apologies for absence. None.
1729. Confirmation of minutes of last meetings.
1719. CCT Matters. £250
donation towards the proposed Craster War Memorial Plaque - there was a
procedural error not picked up on by the Clerk whereby Joyce who is on
the CCT seconded the donation proposal. The PC however are happy
to re-vote on the £250 donation proposed by Richard Pearson & now
seconded by Martin Smith. All in favour.
1730. Planning Matters.
NCC Stage 2 Complaint concerning 13/03499/FUL – Emblestone, South Acres
extension. Bryn spoke to NCC on
Monday at the Joint Town/Parish Council Meeting & went over the
complaint with one of the attending Officers & he will look into it
& report back.
All in favour of
continuing with the complaint.
14/02919/FUL Harbour Lights alterations to rear & balcony.
At the Special Meeting
on 9th October it was agreed for the Clerk to enter ‘no objection’ on
the NCC website.
1731. Parking in Craster & Double Yellow Lines. Ongoing with NCC.
1732. Embleton Joint Burial Committee.
The 3 Parish Councils
(Embleton, Craster & Newton by the Sea) attended the Meeting on 6th
October & all agreed on all the resolutions & to repair
Cemetery House. The Burial Committee have arranged their next
Meeting for next Tuesday.
1733. Craster Community Trust Matters.
Joyce passed on the
CCT’s thanks for our donation & the memorial plaque is going
ahead. John & Bryn spoke to Kevin Bartlett from NCC at the
Joint Meeting who deals with The Community Chest Fund.
Action Point: John will email
Michael Gibbs (CCT’s Secretary) with his details.
1734. Matters arising from minutes of last meeting.
Dunstan Water Leak & Road Surface. Ongoing.
John Gallon – Maintenance of fixed assets.
No response has been
received concerning the vacancy.
Action Point: John will contact NCC & request a quote. All in favour.
B Owen – Footpath marker post by the arch pointing
along the cinder path is on the floor. Ongoing.
NCC consultations on School transport. Clerk to remove from Agenda.
Defibrillator for Craster – The Stephen Carey Fund.
The RNLI support Craster
having a defibrillator & in principle they are happy for it to be
sited on their building.
Action Points: Martin will
contact the Trust.
Clerk to put on the
Agenda for the November Meeting the proposal to donate £1000 towards
the defibrillator cost.
Clerk to email Kevin
Brown to have the RNLIs agreement to site the defib in writing.
Northumberland Town& Parish Conference 25th Sept County Hall
Morpeth 2-6.30pm.
Pauline attended the
Conference in September & thought it was very good & hoped it
will be run each year. They discussed the grass cutting not being
cleared up & other Clerks spoke of their ongoing problems &
points of view, the double yellow lines & parking problems also.
Pauline thought it would be helpful to have 2 people attend next year.
One sign at Harbour.
Possible attractions to
go on the sign: Gallery, Pub, Kipper Yard, Playpark, Toilets &
Public Car Park.
Action Point: CC Kate Cairns will
find out how many names we can put on the sign & a rough idea of
the price.
AONB Parish Chairman Meeting Mon 8th Sept 6.30pm WI Hall Beadnell.
Michael attended
alongside 15 other PCs & the AONB are happy for PCs to contact them
on routine matters or direct to their management team for more
important issues.
NCC– Joint Town/Parish Council Meeting Mon 13th Oct 6pm St James Church
Hall Alnwick.
John & Bryn attended
& there were seven sets of Officers working the room, Steven Bridge
Councillor for Rothbury is looking into mobile phone reception.
Action Point: John will email
him details of Crasters mobile reception problem.
They spoke to
Neighbourhood Services concerning the flooding at the bottom of Tower
Bank - if blocked they will deal with it but if it’s a collapsed drain
it will be the Highways Dept.
Action Point: John will email
NCC concerning the drains at Tower Bank & Whin Hill.
NCC Public Transport Letter Aug 2014 & changes to services 418, X15
& X18. Travelsure’s buses
aren’t always running to the advertised timetable – have they changed
to winter times & the timetables not changed by NCC?
Action Point: John to write a
query letter to Travelsure & forward to the Clerk.
AGE UK Silverlinks Wooler Meeting.
Attended by Pauline.
Mr M Taylor – CPC Standing Orders & Councillor Accountability.
Clerk to put on the
Agenda for the November Meeting.
Mr R Pearson – Clarification of the SO’s & the EO’s role under the
“Open-ness
& Accountability Law August 2014”.
Mr R Pearson – Clarification of the process of “Decision Making &
Resolutions”.
Mr R Pearson – Clarification of “Rules of Debate”.
All 3 items covered in
item 1727.
1735. Financial Matters.
Current Acc Balance
£23,180.40
Higher Interest
Acc
£
0.00
Cheques required:-
Embleton Joint Burial
Committee
£ 1,284.80
Great North Air
Ambulance (donation)
£ 50.00
Money received:-
2nd half of
precept
£ 2,500.00
High Int Acc £18k +
interest
£18,063.86
A bank form was
completed for Martin to become a signatory on the cheque account,
whilst at the bank he will organise the transferral of the £18,000.00
back into the Higher Interest Account for another 6 months.
1736. Correspondence received.
Clerks resignation.
Resignation letter dated
19th Sept 2014 has been circulated. A job description will
to be created covering 15-25 hours approx. per month & to look
towards training from NALC & NCC, salary negotiable.
Action Point: Michael, Elizabeth
& Alan will create the job description & will conduct the
interviews (Pauline will act as substitute). All in favour.
Great North Air Ambulance donation request.
Richard proposed a
donation of £50 seconded by Alan. All in favour.
Legacare donation request.
Noted.
Joyce Shaw – NCC location moving from Morpeth to Ashington.
NCC’s move from Morpeth
to Ashington to cut costs will make it very difficult for people
relying on buses to visit & this will deter people from going to
County Hall.
Action Point: Pauline will
send a letter voicing our concerns.
NALC & CAN Annual Report 2013-14.
Action Point: John will look
at the subs change.
Creation of a Parish Council Website.
Bryn suggested that if
we had our own website containing all emails & council business,
all Councillors could log on & view the current stage of items
& we could run an up to date diary all in the public domain.
Michael proposed that we
should look at the options available & seconded by Alan.
Craster pillars give way sign.
The sign has rotted
significantly.
Action Point: Clerk to email
NCC to check over the sign.
The
next Meeting will be on Thursday 20th November 2014.
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