Elwick Parish Council
Minutes of meeting held at 7.00pm on Monday 29th February 2016 at Elwick School
Present: Cllrs J. Hall, P. Hutchinson (chair), B. Irving, R. Musgrave, H. Thompson, R. Thompson
In attendance: Ward Cllrs. B. Loynes & R. Martin-Wells, M. West (Clerk); 4 members of the public
1. Apologies: Cllr. A. Waugh, PC K. Robinson, CPSO C. Jones – accepted.
The police submitted a written report as follows: 11 road related incidents, 8 on the A19 and 3 in the village; 1 incident where a school bus clipped a car, a report of a speeding vehicle and a drink driver, all on the green. 1 assistance call, 4 domestic-related incidents, 2 suspicious incidents – 1 a cold caller trying to sell door-to-door at the end of January. 1 report of poachers walking through the village.
The police asked that everyone always keep cars, sheds and outbuildings locked as most crime is committted by opportunist thieves.
2. Public Forum: Mr. K. Shaw: (a) cars parked across the pavement in North Lane are mostly not residents' – Action: Clerk to write to the school asking parents to park with more consideration for wheelchairs and prams; Mr. Shaw further noted that the land is actually owned by the householders but many years ago , when Elwick was within the Rural Borough of Stockton, Stockton Borough Council agreed to maintain it – HBC has therefore inherited this responsibility; (b) 25% increase in precept not acceptable – not the actual amount of money but the principal of such a large increase – noted; (c) the HBC road sweeper has not been through the village since before Christmas – Action: Cllr. Loynes to investigate; (d) PC minutes need to be placed lower down on the Notice Board – already actioned by the Clerk.
Prof. B. Footitt: A public notice in the Friday 26th February issue of Hartlepool Mail, informed that G. Cracknell Ltd, has applied for a change to an exisiting licence to add an operating centre to keep 2 goods vehicles and a trailer at Martindale Farm. Many of those who live in the roads leading to Martindale Farm are deeply concerned about this – The Paddock and Manor Close are fairly narrow residential roads and not suitable for heavy vehicles. Cllr R. Thompson thanked Prof. Footitt for bringing the matter to the notice of the PC and noted that many villagers had already expressed concerns since reading the notice. Cllr. Hutchinson noted that part of the track into Martindale Farm was actually owned by Mr. Bailey and not G. Cracknell.
Ward Councillors agreed to look into the matter and to lodge a formal objection with the Traffic Commissioner's Office. Mr. C. Banks proposed that the police be asked to look into the matter, agreed. Action: Clerk to contact PC Robinson.
7.35 pm - Members of the public left the meeting.
3. Declarations of Interest: None
4. Minutes of 25th January 2016: Approval proposed by Cllr Hall, seconded by Cllr Irving and unanimously agreed. Minutes signed and dated by the Chairman.
5. Matters Arising:
a) Awards for All – the Clerk reported that the carved bench was now in situ in the Wildlife Garden and was a wonderful piece of art as well as a functional bench. As the interpretation boards were not yet ready, the Lottery had agreed to a further extension for the final report, which will now be submitted in April.
b) Anti-dog waste stencil – Noted that this still had not been painted. Action: Cllr Loynes to follow up.
c) Rural Refuse Collections – Clllr Loynes informed that the Borough Council were still investigating options, and that the purchase of smaller collection vehicles was under consideration. Cllr. Irving reported that recycling was not being collected from Bee Cottage, on Church Bank as the refuse collectors deemed it to be a farm; clearly not the case. Action: Cllr. Loynes to investigate.
d) Bye-laws – The Clerk informed that she had spoken to an officer within the DCLG, who had stated that responsibility for the introduction of new, or amendment of existing, Bye-laws was next week, to be transferred from the Secretary of State to Local Authorities. The process for amending Bye-Laws would still be complex, and should only be undertaken if really necessary. The Local Authority is responsible for enforcing Bye-laws, the breaking of which is a criminal offence. Councillors agreed that it was not necessary at this time to amend the Elwick Bye-laws.
e) Clerk's Appraisal – Cllr. H. Thompson tabled an appraisal form based on the current job description of the Clerk. All Councillors were asked to complete the confidential form, and to return them to her by 14 March. She will then collate the responses and use these to undertake the formal appraisal, before the April PC meeting. The Clerk was also invited to complete a self appraisal as part of the process.
f) Salt Bins – Cllr Loynes reported that the broken salt bins were to be replaced, but that the request for an additional salt bin at the top of the village (Hartlepool end), had been refused on the grounds that it did not meet the criteria. Parish Councillors strongly protested this decision; it appears that the actual site requested was incorrect and Ward Councillors agreed to ask for the decision to be reviewed in the light of this.
6. Chairman's Report: The chairman reported on a meeting he, and the Clerk, had attended with officers of HBC in regard to a plan for an Elwick By-pass; future developments, such as the High Tunstall Farm proposals, would be dependent on an alternative route being found for the increased traffic which would result from any such developments, as Highways England had expressed concerns about the level of traffic through the village. The propsed by-pass would run from North Lane around the north of the village to the top of Craddon Bank. Consultation with all affected landowners was now underway. Highways England were planning to install a flyover, by 2020, to take traffic from the south onto the new road.
7. Ward Councillor's Report: (a) The lamposts around the green are to be painted; Cllr Hall informed that the lampost outside No 28 currently had no lamp or cover. (b) Ward Councillors would be attending a meeting called by Paul's Travel to discuss the future of the bus service 65; (NB: Clerk had this under Correspondence). Parish Councillors reaffirmed their decision not to fund the service again, but would manage any contract if other funders so wished. (c) Cllr H. Thompson informed that the hedgerows along the road to Hartlepool are full of rubbish and Cllr. Irving that all the roads into the village have large potholes and there is another just at the 30mph sign on the road into Hartlepool. Action: Cllr Loynes to raise these issues with officers.
8.10 pm Cllr Martin-Wells left the meeting.
8. Village Maintenance Report: Cllr Hall raised concerns about fallen trees on the bank overlooking the playing field; these were now a danger to children and needed urgent action. The Clerk informed that the land belonged to Mr. Fleming of Deerness Heights. Action: Clerk to write to Mr. Fleming on this issue.
9. Village Design Statement: The draft document, produced by Planning undergraduates, was tabled by the Clerk, who felt it still needed some work. It was agreed that it should be circulated around the Parish Council, with comments submitted to the Clerk within the next 14 days. The final amended document to be presented to the Parish Meeting in May for consideration, before being added as a formal Appendix to the Rural Plan. Action: All Parish Councillors to read the Draft Village Design Statement and submit comments to the Clerk by 12 March, for collation.
10. Financial Reports: The Clerk presented the finanacial reports, which were accepted.
Income: £ Expenditure: £
Computer Club fee 15.00 Broadband Line 23.94
Total 15.00 Bus 616.00
Petty cash 40.00
Skip Hire 312.00
Books & hardware for Computer Club 203.97
Total 1,195.91
The Clerk reported that there were still funds available within the Computer Club element of the A4A grant – Councillors suggestions included a digital projector and a community membership of a genealogy website. Agreed Clerk to investigate costs and to purchase as appropriate, and to circulate village with information about potential Family History Club, Thursday evenings at WI hall.
One company had already responded to the invitation to tender for the tarmacadaming of North Lane pavements and relaying of paving in Martindale Close; they had made a site visit and concluded that much of the pavement in North Lane, north of Hillcrest Drive and also on the opposite side of the road, north of North Close, was illegal, as the current tarmac was below the level of the curb making it dangerous. It was agreeed that the Clerk should inform HBC of this. Action: Clerk to inform HBC Highways officers.
11. Correspondence: (i) Paul's Travel – request for funding for service 65 from April 2016 and notice of meeting at the Central Library, 1.00pm Friday 18 March – noted. Action: Clerk to write (see Item 7).
(ii) CE & CM Walker - notice of fee for grasscutting for 2016 season – agreed to accept but to ask for cutters to be raised to prevent bald patches on the green. Action: Clerk to write.
(iii) HBC- notice of Community Forum meeting, 10.00am Wednesday 2 March- noted.
(iv) Tower Mint Ltd – information on a commemorative medal for QEII 90th Birthday – noted.
(v) Fair Play for Children – request for donation – refused.
9.05 pm – Cllr. Loynes left the meeting.
12. Planning: H/2015/0551 - up to 153 dwellings (in detail) and up to 55 self build dwellings (in outline, all matters reserved), a sales area (in detail to include cabin and car parking) and associated access, landscaping and engineering works, Land south of Elwick Road HARTLEPOOL – concerns about increased traffic through village.
H/2015/0372 – 14 residential dwellings etc, Wynyard – no comment
H/2016/0025 – Plot 5 Manorside, Phase 1, Wynyard – no comment
13. Matters of Concern to Councillors: Cllr. R. Thompson suggested that the Parish Council should produce an annual information Sheet, explaining what the Parish Council had achieved and what was planned for the next year. This was agreed. Action: Clerk to produce for the Parsih Meeting.
Cllr. Hall suggested that the Parish Council should take the lead in organising a village event to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday. It was agreed that an event should take place and that the ideal date would be the 12th June. Action: Clerk to invite all village organisations to participate and to join a Steering Group, first meeting to be at 7.00pm on either Monday 14/Tuesday 15 March, depending on availability of WI hall.
The Clerk asked for the date of the Annual Parish Meeting to be confirmed. It was agreed that this should be 7-9.00pm on Tuesday 10 May at Elwick School, with refreshments as in the previous year. Action: Clerk to book school and organise invitations.
13. Date of Next Meeting: 7.00pm, Monday 21 March at Elwick School.
Meeting closed at 9.37pm.
