SHAP PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting
Tuesday 5th May 2009 at 7.30 pm
Venue: Market Cross
Attendance:

Chairman: Mrs J Jackson

Councillors: Mrs A Bindloss, Mrs P Watson, Mr H Harrison,
Mr E Hodgson, Mr A Sowerby, Mr G Stainton, Mr W Warburg, Mr M Weightman

District Councillor: Mr N Hughes (until 8pm)
Prospective Cumbria County
Council Councillor: Mr Tom Lowther

PCSOs: none

Clerk: Mrs S Apps

Public: Six

Public participation:

15/5/09 Apologies for absence: Cllr. D Mallinson.

16/5/09 The Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of 6th April 2009 were signed as a true and accurate record, the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of 20th April 2009 were confirmed as a true and accurate record.

17/5/09 Declarations of interest None

18/5/09 Finance

18.1 Council RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation as at 31st March 2009. Proposed Cllr Warburg, seconded Cllr Bindloss.

18.2 Council received the Statement of Accounts to 31 March 2009 and RESOLVED to approve the Statement of Accounts, Proposed Cllr Weightman, seconded Cllr Harrison and authorised the Chairman to complete the Annual Governance Statement on the Annual return for the year ending 31 March 2009. Proposed Cllr Bindloss, seconded Cllr Watson

18.3 Council RESOLVED to approve the Statement of Accounts to 30th April 2009. Proposed Cllr Hodgson, seconded Cllr Warburg.

18.4 Council RESOLVED to authorise payment of the following accounts:
Payments made between meetings:
EDC - car park rates (Direct Debit) [Road Traffic Act 1984.s57] £60.50
BT - telephone account (Direct Debit) [LGA 1972,s111] £59.05
HMRC - Tax & NI [LGA 1972, Litter Act 1983] £448.97
Post Office Ltd - Stamps [LGA 1972, s143] £24.04
Shap Pre-School Playgroup - grant [LGA 1972, s137] £400.00
Wages - 10 April to 1 May 2009 [Litter Act 1983,s5: Public Health Act 1987,s144] £405.92
Total £1398.48
Payments for approval this meeting:
Allianz Insurance [LGA 1972,s111] £680.29
Shap Memorial Hall - room hire [LGA 1972, s134,s150] £20.00
Clerk's salary - April 2009 [LGA 1972, s112] £202.48
Total £902.77

Proposed Cllr Watson, seconded Cllr Sowerby.

19/5/09 Planning applications: none to date

19.1 Mid Town Farm, Reagill, Wind Farm - pre-scoping report. Council decided to form a sub committee to consider our response in addition to Sleagills' response. Meeting Monday 11th May 2009. Councillors Warburg, Watson, Sowerby and Jackson to attend.

20/5/09 Insurance and Assets review - report to council. A review of the cover has been undertaken and a schedule produced in conjunction with the fixed assets register. No amendments to our cover (which is index-linked) are required.

21/5/09 European & County Council Elections. Councillors were advised of the receipt of notification of the forthcoming elections in June and that posters have been displayed on our Notice Board and the Post Office as requested.

22/5/09 Cumbria Rural Housing Trust - Housing needs survey. Judith Derbyshire & Jayne Potts of CRHT attended the meeting to give a short presentation. They are an independent charity and act as a voice for rural housing in Cumbria. They have 3 main areas that they target. They carry out a standard survey on behalf of the Council regarding housing needs and the Parish Council can include a 2nd questionnaire with specific questions that are relevant to the parish. They look at Rural Housing Enabling and look at solutions. They lobby the need for affordable housing in Cumbria.
If Shap is interested in taking forward a new survey, (The Parish Plan and last survey in 2005 shows that Shap does have a need), the LDNP and EDC have agreed to jointly fund a survey.
The Council needs to decide if they wish to go forward with a new survey and this is to be discussed at the next meeting so that the survey could be carried out in late June concurrently with one being undertaken for Bampton Parish Council.
CRHT left various items of literature for Councillors to peruse.

23/5/09 Pavilion Committee - Four members of this group attended our meeting. The Chairman apologised for not attending their last meeting and thanked them for attending this meeting. The background is that the Pavilion is used by the Football and Cricket Clubs and the Pavilion committee maintain the building by fundraising to cover their costs. They have suffered an expensive water burst that was not covered by insurance and even though they appealed to United Utilities their appeal was turned down. The bill was for approx. £1700.00. They are to provide copies of letters between themselves and United Utilities and the Parish Council will write to United Utilities and emphasise the hardship that this first water burst has caused. They have also contacted the Bowling Club who use their metered water but are awaiting a response. The only way that the Parish Council can help is by giving a grant for a specific reason and suggested that the council is always keen to help local groups where we can.

24/5/09 Information Commissioners Office - Freedom of Information Act in relation to Parish Councils. To advise that a DVD has been received which explains the act and the local council's obligations under this act. Councillors are all welcome to borrow the DVD.

25/5/09 Balfour Beatty/United Utilities - damage to swimming pool car park. Letters received advising that work had now been completed. Advised by Councillors that they had swept the area as requested and the tarmac had been re-instated in the car park as promised.

26/5/09 Rosgill Stone Stile - Cllr Weightman reported as requested that a new gate had been positioned on top of the stile in question, and that overall it is an improvement.

27/5/09 Repair to Stone Wall in Car Park - 2 estimates had been received and it was decided to go for the cheaper estimate because both companies have a good reputation. The Clerk to contact the successful estimate which was D E Eastman. Proposed Cllr. Hodgson, Seconded Cllr. Weightman.

28/5/09 Replacement Litter Bins - New bin is required for Springside and a new liner is required for the one outside the Memorial Hall. Glasdons catalogue has been received and Councillors agreed that we should go ahead and order these. Proposed Cllr. Warburg, Seconded Cllr. Hodgson.

29/5/09 Transfer of Money from Nat West Current Account to National Savings Account. The precept for the year has been received and it is proposed to transfer £16000.00 to the NS&I account. Agreed that that this should be done. Proposed Cllr. Weightman, Seconded Cllr. Sowerby.

30/5/09 Correspondence

30.1 Council acknowledged receipt of late notification of a meeting of Lake District Parish Councils on 27 April 2009. Cllr. Weightman requested we contact them and ask for more notice of their meetings.
30.2 Council acknowledged receipt of a publication from Digital UK entitled ‘Get set for digital' giving details of the procedures for the digital switchover.
30.3 Council acknowledged receipt of letters from United Utilities & Cumbria County Council regarding the Cement Road and that no action will be taken to repair the road. Copies of all letters to be copied to M Drinkwater, Parish Clerk for Bampton and to ask for Bampton Parish Council to comment and for ideas on the way they wish to take this matter forward.
30.4 Council acknowledged receipt of Cumbria Highways Spring 2009 Newsletter.
30.5 Council acknowledged receipt of a letter from Cumbria County Council regarding our request for the road to be repaired between Thorney Bank and Green Farm. The letter advises that the work is to be carried out to re-instate the road.
30.6 Council acknowledged receipt of a leaflet from Communities and Local Government regarding Business Rates Deferral Scheme.
30.7 Council acknowledged receipt of an email from Neil Buck regarding Rosgill lighting and that he is arranging a meeting with his contractor regarding the letter we sent to him.
30.8 Council acknowledged receipt of notification from CALC regarding ‘Training for Councillors' being held on 18 May 2009.

31/5/09 Matters for report

31.1 Cllr. Stainton advised that nothing has been done about the puddle on Gayle Avenue. Highways Steward and John Banks, CCC at Skirsgill to be contacted. Bus Shelter - provided a photo of Tebay new shelter advised that funding is to be investigated.
31.2 Cllr. Sowerby advised that the drain is blocked again at Simpsons Garage and at Hillcrest. Highways Steward and John Banks, CCC to be contacted.
31.3 Cllr. Warburg advised that he attended the Eden Area Local Councils meeting on 8 April 2009 and as well as discussing the Housing Needs Survey, Locality working was discussed. This is about whether Parishes should group together. It was felt that we may need to get together as groups of Parishes but no one is sure what this would mean. South Lakeland are piloting this and we need to be aware and keep our eye on developments. NALC is saying that the government sees parishes as the way forward.
31.4 Cllr. Watson advised that the grass is not cut outside her house. The Chairman advised that it is a health and safety issue for the contractor due to the traffic.
31.5 Cllr. Weightman advised that he has been in contact with Edward Holt (United Utilities) and Cumbria County Council regarding a gully under a bridge at Sleddale.
31.6 Cllr. Bindloss advised that there is a problem with the condition of Pow Lane and requested that we seek clarification on what is actually being done to this road between Shap and Bampton. Clerk to contact John Banks at Cumbria County Council.
31.7 Cllr. Jackson has had a meeting with Paul Brunson (architect for the Toilets) - they are looking at installing a barrier to prevent any further damage to the wall. 2 foot square Planters are being proposed in metal and wood to be painted the same colour as the toilet doors, which are to be repainted in green. Parish Council will plant the planters up. There has also been a problem with the drain cover, which has now broken twice and will now be replaced with a heavy duty one. The cleanliness of the toilets is not acceptable and Taskforce Eden have been contacted by Mr Brunson.

32/5/09 Date of next meeting 1st June 2009

The meeting closed at 9.15 pm.