MILLOM WITHOUT PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON

MONDAY 5^TH FEBRUARY 2018 IN THE HILL VILLAGE HALL, COMMENCING AT 07.30PM

PRESENT: Cllr D Savage (Chair), Cllr B Wright (Vice Chair), Cllr W Huck, Cllr M Kitchingman, Cllr I Lockwood, Cllr G Napoletani, Cllr P Murray, Cllr J Gray, and Cllr L Butcher,

Cty Cllr K Hitchen

Borough Cllr G Scurrah

117/17 APOLOGIES: Cllr A Nugent, Cllr A Calsy and PCSO Booth

118/17 Exclusion of Press and Public

None required

119/17 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None declared

120/17 Minutes of Meeting held on 8^th January 2018.

The minutes of the 8^th January 2018 were approved and signed by the Chair

121/17 Police Liaison Report

A report had been received from PCSO Booth and previously circulated. Cllr Savage stated that comments had been made that in light of the recent event in Millom that confidence in the police to respond to incidents was a cause for concern. After discussion it was proposed by Cllr Wright and seconded by Cllr Napoletani that letter from the Chair be sent to the Police Commissioner expressing concerns with regards to the level of policing in the area and inviting the Commissioner to attend a future Parish Council meeting to discuss the issues. A copy of the letter to the Police Commissioner to be sent to Cty Cllr Hitchen so that he may raise it at the Rural Police Group meeting.

122/17 PROGRESS REPORTS

122/17.1 Fell View

Cllr Savage reported that he had received an email from Mr N Hayhurst Planning Officer at Copeland BC for an update.

CBC were still waiting for the application to be submitted.

Cllr Murray reported that another caravan had arrived on site on 29 January 2018.

Cllr Savage reported that he had attempted to make contact with the owner as per the actions from the last meeting. He did made contact on 2 February18 and a meeting was hopefully to be arranged for the weekend of 10 February between the owner and Cllr Savage to discuss the issues.

122/17.2 Street Lighting The Green

Cllr Kitchingman reported that no further progress had been made at the moment.

Cllr Savage reported that a resident had raised concerns regarding the lack of lighting from the 40mph speed limit to The Green. They were concerned there would be a serious accident on this stretch as there was no footpath. It was noted that the request for a footpath had been added to the County Highways list and was subject to future funding commitments. The Traffic Management Group would continue to monitor the situation.

122/17.3 England Coastal Pathway

Cllr Savage reported that a letter had been sent to Natural England requiring feedback on the actions raised, the deadline for the response was 9 February 2018. The consultation process on the project had been pushed back to April/May. South Copeland Partnership was also getting involved with this issue as it impacted the whole of South Copeland.

122/17.4 Dunningwell Hall

There was no progress on this project. It was reported that a tree had come down in the ancient woodland and the developer had sought approval from Peter Fox of the Woodland Trust to deal with the tree appropriately

122/17.5 United Utilities – response re water supplies

The letter that Cllr Huck had received was reported. The Clerk to chase United Utilities for a response.

123/17 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No members of the public were present.

124/17 COUNTY COUNCIL AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS

Cty Cllr Hitchen reported that the Highways budget had been reduced by £400k and now stood at £1.8m. this meant that all key jobs had to be prioritized. It was noted that some roads were in a poorer state than others and he disagreed with the 10% cut on all District Budgets that had been imposed without consideration on the impact and priorities for each Distirct. He was particularly concerned with regards to the lack of infrastructure in South Copeland which was a barrier for redevelopment in the South Copeland area.

A question was asked with regards to the Ghyll Scaur Quarry funds which were allocated to highways improvements. At this point the Chair elected to bring forward Agenda item 11.4 Traffic Management to enable Cllr Hitchen to contribute and take away comments

125/17 Traffic Management

125/17.1 Cllr Lockwood reported that he had attended by kind invitation of Millom Town Council to meet with Cumbria County Highways issues along with a representative of Whicham Parish Council. It was reported that the existing proposals required a budget of £23.5m to address the full scope of road issues within Copeland. It was also agreed that further meetings between the Parish Councils should continue as they had common concerns on highways issues.

125/17.2 It was noted that with regards to the water running across the road near the lay-by. Close to the Quarry entrance, was the responsibility of landowner to prevent this occurring and that each landowner was expected to address the issue with each other, rather than County Highways addressing the problem directly.

It was considered that a major issue with regards to the maintaining of the roads was the lack of a local depot and that contractors and workers travelled down from Lillyhall daily which led to inefficient and poor use of working time.

Therefore it had been suggested that letter be sent to County Highways requesting a local depot. County highways still own the depot located at Bootle Fire Station.

125/17.3 Road signs Cllr Lockwood had located a company at Hawkshead that made road speed awareness signage and it was suggested that Ghyll Scaur be approached at the next meeting to release funds from the Highways fund to purchase one.at a cost of £2k + vat. There was an option to use existing poles or purchase additional poles and the unit could be powered by either solar or battery.

125/17.4 Cty Cllr Hitchen reported that there would be a review of speed limits in April 18 and he was aware that some communities were now actively exploring average speed cameras. Cllr Hitchen was asked to report back on developments and provide contact for this Parish Council to at what is being done in other areas. Cty Cllr Hitchen agreed that when he got notes from the meeting he would respond to any comments raised.

125/17.5 Cllr Savage reported that he had spoken to Kevin Cosgrove as to progress on the Parish Council work list. Mr Cosgrove reported that a white line assessment from The Hill to The Green had been undertaken, but it was unclear yet what actions would follow from this assessment. The Satnav signs for Broadgate were awaiting to be put in place.

125/17.6 Cllr Savage reported that a meeting had been arranged in early March between Kevin Cosgrove and representatives of the Parish Council to discuss ongoing progress as to the work list which had been presented to Mr Cosgrove

126/17 Copeland BC wards boundary changes

Cty Cllr Hitchen reported that the Council were voting on the proposed ward boundary changes on Wednesday 7^th February 2018, which would then be submitted to the Boundary Commission. He reported that in the proposal being put forward by Copeland that Millom without Parish would be split between two wards.

The Parish Council expressed disagreement with this arrangement and were concerned that there had been no consultation with the Parish Council on this proposal. The Parish council were of the opinion that there should be only 1 councillor per Parish Council/ward. Cllr Savage to email to Cty Cllr Hitchen and Borough Cllr Scurrah the concerns of the Parish Council with a request that these be voiced at the meeting. Cllr Savage was also requested to write to Mayor Starkie expressing concerns.

127/17 Cty Cllr Hitchen was thanked for his input and left the meeting. Borough Cllr Scurrah reported that he had nothing further to add and also left the meeting.

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128/17 APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT:

128/17.1 To examine applications for development and submit observations to the Planning Authority

None received

128/17.2 To ratify the observations submitted by the Clerk under devolved powers since the last meeting.

None undertaken

128/17.3 To note the decisions of the statutory planning authority with regards to recent applications

None received

129/17 FINANCIAL RECORDS

129/17.1 The following payments were approved:

Copeland BC Landscape delivery £601.20

Express Computers Set up of Google Drive £ 30.00

129/17.2 To note the receipt of payments

None received

129/17.3 To receive and note the bank reconciliation statement dated 5 January 2018

This was checked and verified by Cllr Kitchingman

129/17.4 To consider the Budget Comparison Report as at 31 January 2018 and determine action need to address deviations from the budget.

None were required

129/17.5 To approve the Transparency fund Claim

The clerk reported that a claim had been submitted to the Transparency Fund for a sum of £674.36 which had been approved by the Chair prior to submission. The Council thanked the Clerk for her work on this matter and now awaited the outcome of the application.

129/17.6 To consider the Application from Citizens Advice bureau for S137 monies and consider any other potential applications

After discussion and Proposed by Cllr Lockwood and Seconded by Cllr Wright it was resolved to make the following S137 monies payments:

Citizens Advice Bureau (Millom) £100.00

Northwest Air Ambulance £100.00

Age UK (Millom) £100.00

129/17.7 Grass Cutting contract for 2018/19

The Clerk had obtained comparative quotations from Copeland BC and Dream Landscapes for the contract of grass cutting at The Green. It was proposed by Cllr Butcher and Seconded by Cllr Gray and resolved that the contract be awarded to Dream Landscapes.

129/17.8 Priorities for the next Financial Year – FY18-19

The Chair asked the Councillors to consider the Parish Council priorities for the following year and to discuss at the March meeting.

130/17 PARISH MATTERS

130/17.1 Pylons

There was nothing to report currently

130/17.2 Community Plan

Cllr Murray reported that 12 organisations/individuals/groups across the community had been contacted and there had been 7 positive responses returned at the time of the meeting. It was suggested that there be a representative from one of the youth groups. A timeline was being developed with a target deadline of April 2019 for the completion of the plan. It was expected that there would be 4 meetings over that period of time. A questionnaire had been formulated and this will be distributed via Out and About and other options that may be considered.

130/17.3 Website

The Clerk reported that the new website had gone live and there was a link to the old site to steer people to the new one. There were some ongoing implementation issues to resolve.

130/17.4 Traffic Management

See 125/17 above

130/17.5 Emergency Plan

A copy of the Draft Emergency Plan had been previously circulated to all Councillors for comments. It was proposed by Cllr Lockwood and Seconded by Cllr Murray to accept the plan. The Council resolved to accept the plan. The Clerk to send copies to Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council

130/17.6 Parish Projects

1. Telephone Box

The Clerk reported that she had contacted North West Ambulance regarding the installation of a defib and was awaiting a response.

The Clerk had also contacted a local painting contractor for a quotation to repaint the telephone box with red paint and was awaiting a response.

2. Tree Maintenance

The Clerk reported that nothing more had been received regarding the enquiry on responsibility. The Council resolved to undertake the works, as another tree branch had fallen. The Clerk to contact the agreed contractor for this agreed scoop of work and instruct him to commence works as per the tree survey.

3. Notice Board, The Hill

The Clerk reported no further progress

131/17.7 Policies, Procedures and Consultations

1. Proposed new General Data Protection Regulations 2018

The Clerk reported that she was booked onto a course re the above on 8 March 2018

2. Copeland Borough Council Boundary Changes Consultation draft response

A copy of the draft response had been previously circulated to Councillors. It was agreed to formally submit the response.

3. Consultation on Highways England report draft response

A copy of the draft response had been previously circulated to Councillors. It was agreed to formally submit the response.

132/17 Reports from outside Bodies

Cllr Savage reported that there had been a meeting of the South Copeland Partnership, where the terms of reference had been agreed and the focus was to be on the key issues in the area.

133/17 CORRESPONDENCE

The Clerk reported that the following additional correspondence had been received:

• A request had been made that local churches are contacted to join in the 11 November celebrations to commemorate the end of World War 1.

The Council instructed the Clerk to contact the Landscape contractors to suggest a simple, cost effective and visible commemoration that be considered by the Parish Council.

• The Clerk reported that a letter of thanks had been received from the family of Peter Cheshire.

134/17 COUNCILLOR MATTERS

• Cllr Huck reported that the footpath over the Pinnel Hole was being used by Horse riders and the path was being churned up as a consequence, this was particularly bad at the main road end. This to be placed on the Agenda for next month’s meeting for discussion

• Cllr Lockwood reported that someone had been dumping sapling cutting on Hill Brow. The Contractor who will be undertaking work in this area to be asked to dispose of them when he undertakes works on the trees.

• Cllr Napoletani reported that another large branch had fallen on this land.

• Cllr Wright requested a list of Highways Issues within the Parish.

• Cllr Gray sought permission to chop down the tops of the trees on Hill Brow that was blocking his view. It was suggested that nothing be done until the works on the trees had been undertaken and the implications on the Woodland Plan be known before the proposed work can be possibly sanctioned.

135/17 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting to be held on 5 March 2018 at Thwaites Village Hall, the Green at 7.30pm

There being no other business the Meeting closed at 21.20

Signed ................................. Date......................