Craster Parish Council

COMMUNITY TRUST
PARISH COUNCIL

Agendas & Minutes
Accounts

Minutes

Thursday 18th September 2014
Craster Village Hall 7.15pm

Present
Acting Chairperson        Pauline Baird.
Clerk                    Helen Brewis.
Parish Council Members    Joyce Shaw, Elizabeth Pearson, Martin Smith, Margaret Brooks & Richard Pearson.
In Attendance    County Councillor Kate Cairns.
Members of the public


1714.    Apologies for absence.
Alan Punton, Bryn Owen, John Gallon & Michael Craster.

1715.     Confirmation of minutes of last meeting.
The August Minutes were accepted with one alteration:-
1710. Richard Pearson made 3 proposals which were seconded but were not voted on or shown in the Minutes.

1716.  Planning Matters.
NCC Stage 2 Complaint concerning 13/03499/FUL – Emblestone, South Acres extension.
No response has been received from NCC.
Action Point: Clerk to email Francis Wilkinson at NCC.

The Strategic Land Housing Assessment.
Pauline having viewed the NCC criteria looked for possible sites within Craster & Dunstan.  The main problems with the majority of the sites is access & the wildlife impact.  Possible sites are – the back field owned by Craster Estates, Smithy Bank & The Common in Dunstan.  The field behind Dunstan School & the field along from The Cottage Inn (windmill field).
Action Point: The best plot by far is the Former Nursery at Whin Hill, Clerk to contact NCC with recommendation.
Proposed by Martin Smith & seconded by Elizabeth Pearson.

1717.     Parking in Craster & Double Yellow Lines.
Action Point: Clerk to contact NCC concerning the double yellow lines & the broken double yellow lines outside the kipper yard opposite the Jolly Fisherman & find out when they will all be done.

1718.  Embleton Joint Burial Committee.
There will be a Meeting of the 3 Parish Councils on Monday 6th October 7pm in the Main Hall at the Creighton Hall.  It will be a discussion to decide on the best way forward with the house repairs as there have been a great deal of suggestions received.

1719.     Craster Community Trust Matters.
The CCT have requested a donation towards the cost of the proposed Craster War Memorial Plaque, Richard Pearson proposed £250 seconded by Joyce Shaw.  All in favour.
Action Point: Clerk to raise a cheque for £250 payable to the CCT.

1720.  Matters arising from minutes of last meeting.
Dunstan Water Leak & Road Surface.
Action Point: Clerk to email Lee Baxter & Terry Garnick at NCC concerning the state of the potholed road through Dunstan & Proctor Steads.

John Gallon – Maintenance of fixed assets.
The vacancy notice has gone up on both noticeboards for a contractor to carry out a monthly asset check & repair.

B Owen – Footpath marker post by the arch pointing along the cinder path is on the floor.
Action Point: Clerk to check on the posts progress with NCC.

NCC consultations on School transport. Ongoing.
 
Defibrillator for Craster – The Stephen Carey Fund.
Martin Smith has contacted Dougie McEwan about the defibrillator & Kevin Brown will bring up the siting of the unit at the next RNLI Meeting.

Northumberland Town& Parish Conference 25th Sept County Hall Morpeth 2-6.30pm. Pauline Baird plans to attend the Conference.

One sign at Harbour.
We need to work out what we all wish to have on the sign.
Action Point: Clerk to email Alan Punton to see if there was already a list done when CC John Taylor had started the sign request.

AONB Parish Chairman Meeting Mon 8th Sept 6.30pm WI Hall Beadnell.
Michael Craster attended the Meeting.

Mrs M Gallon – Harbour litter bins. NCC plan on reviewing the frequency the bins require emptying.

NCC– Joint Town/Parish Council Meeting Mon 13th Oct 6pm St James Church Hall Alnwick.  Bryn Owen & John Gallon to attend.

1721.     Financial Matters.
Current Acc Balance         £  3,252.10   
Higher Interest Acc            £18,000.00

Cheques required:-
Clerks wage & expenses        £316.76
HMRC                    £  68.80
CCT Memorial plaque donation    £250.00

The Annual Return has been approved & accepted by the Council & the Auditors found no matters which came to their attention.
The Auditor invoice was for £0.00 as our precept is under £10,000.

1722.     Correspondence received.
NALC AGM Sat 18th Oct 1030am Storey Pk Community Centre Morpeth. Noted.

NCC Craster Tourist Info Centre donation request towards 3 benches.
The old picnic tables were damaging clothes outside the TIC & CC John Taylor had them removed by NCC who were to replace them like for like in March 2014.
The TIC would prefer new ornate locally made oak sitting benches (which cost between £700-£900 each), but with these benches being owned & on NCC land the Parish Council felt that NCC should replace them as originally organised.
Richard Pearson proposed that the Clerk should contact the TIC requesting they approach NCC to replace the picnic benches as already agreed like for like, seconded by Joyce Shaw.
Action Point: Clerk to email Carol at TIC with our decision.

NCC Public Transport Letter Aug 2014 & changes to services 418, X15 & X18. Noted.

St Oswalds Ultra Run 20th & 21st Sept.
There will be approximately 60 runners finishing at Craster.

NCC temporary road closure 22.30pm on 22nd Nov until 9am 23rd Nov at Little Mill level crossing. Noted.

AGE UK Silverlinks Wooler Meeting. Pauline Baird to attend.

J Hargreaves letter to Howick Estates concerning a stile/gate. A letter has been sent to Howick Estates requesting a stile gate on their land so walkers can remain off the road.

Mr M Taylor – CPC Standing Orders & Councillor Accountability.
Mr R Pearson – Clarification of the EO’s role under the “openness & transparency Law August 2014”.
Mr R Pearson – Clarification of the process of “Decision making & Resolutions”.
These three topics were discussed together.
Richard Pearson has looked into the role of Executive Officer. An EO on a PC is not appropriate, but with the volume of work on a Town Council – the Councillors can give work to EO’s & then the EO’s report back with updates, but an EO can’t do work off their own back. They are there to take the pressure off the TCs Chairman, Vice Chairman & Clerk but they must act on behalf of the whole TC.
Martin spoke of how the role of EO at our Meetings was to make sure that urgent items or items with deadlines were not left till the next Meeting without being progressed.
Richard explained that the EOs must report back to the whole Council otherwise its illegal according to the ‘Open & Transparency Law.
Elizabeth could not tell members of the public what was going on when NCC were walking around Craster looking at the parking & grass problems with the Chairman & Vice Chairman last month & felt disappointed & would have liked to have attended that site visit. Even instant requests Councillors can be contacted, if they wish to take on anything they can still contact the majority.
Ultimately everyone is working for the best possible results for the community & all ongoing information should be passed to the Clerk to forward on to all the Councillors.  Concern was also raised about the need to be civil & open when questioned by fellow Councillors for updates & information.  The Clerk voiced her concern that with all Councillors having more than one Committee/working it is difficult to allocate the increasing workload from NCC & the majority tended to fall back onto the Chairman & Vice Chairman to complete.
Martin Smith proposed that the Parish Council request clarification of the Executive Officer role from the Chairman & Vice Chairman, seconded by Richard Pearson.
Action Point: Clerk to put on the October Meetings Agenda.

The next Meeting will be on Thursday 16th October 2014.