Loweswater Parish Council Meeting

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 9th May 2019 at Loweswater Village Hall, which commenced with parish council AGM

Meeting opened: - The chairman declared the meeting open at 7.30pm,

Present: Cllrs K Mitchell (chair) K Leck (vice chair), L Meadley, D Robinson.

Cumbria County Councillor and Allerdale District. None present

Clerk: Mike Milner, no members of the public.

124.00 Apologies for absence R Thompson (LPC) A Bowness (CCC)

125.00 Councillors to sign their new acceptance of office declaration forms. 125.01 All forms signed by councillors present.

126.00 To appoint a chairman and a vice-chairman for the coming year. 126.01 Cllr D R proposed that Cllr K M continue in the chair. Returned as chair unanimously and signed the declaration of office form 126.02 Cllr D R proposed that Cllr K L be re-elected as vice chairman. Cllr K L was elected unanimously and signed the declaration of office form. 126.03 Both elected officers stated that this would be their last year’s as chairman and vice- chairman respectively.

127.00 Declarations of interest. None

128.00 To read and approve the minutes of the last meeting of Loweswater parish council held on Thursday 7th March 2019. 128.01 Resolved to approve the minutes as a true and accurate record.

129.00 Public participation. 129.01 No members of the public present or reports from March meeting.

130.00 Police Matters 130.01 Clerk read out the logs report. Cllr K L asked if it was parish relevant as no specific locations. Clerk confirmed it was, as completely different from Lorton report of the previous evening. No matters to refer back to the police.

131.00 Applications for development. 131.01 There were no new applications to report, but clerk confirmed that 7/2019/2063, barn conversion adjacent to Rosewell House had been granted upgraded foul water drainage and new sewage plant. 131.02 There had been an application 7/2019/2027 Godferhead, errection of timber sheds for rearing game birds April 19 – August 19. This application withdrawn 7th May.

132.00 Matters concerning District and County Councillors. 132.01 None present.

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133.00 Receive and approve the parish council accounts for financial year 2018/19. Internal auditors report, Annual Governance Statement, Accounting Statement for the year all to be resolved. Bank reconciliation and variance report. 133.01 Clerk had circulated all the necessary documentation prior to the meeting and he then proceeded to go through each section with the councillors. 133.02 Certificate of Exemption, AGAR 2018/19 Part 2. This confirms that the parish has neither income or expenditure exceeding £25k. Document duly signed by chairman and parish Responsible Finance Officer, the clerk. 133.03 clerk presented the signed Annual Internal Audit Report. Internal audit had taken place 16/10/18 and 18/04/19. All boxes correctly ticked, and no issues or recommendations raised. 133.04 Annual Governance Statement. RFO read out the content of the 9 boxes on the form and at each statement ticked the Yes box with Cllrs approval. Form then duly signed by chair and clerk. 133.05 Finally the accounting statement, which had been circulated was approved by councillors and duly signed by RFO and chairman. 133.06 Clerk confirmed that he would make the appropriate returns to the external government auditor, put necessary document required in the village noticeboard for the appropriate period and ensure they are displayed on the parish council website pages. Cllr L M joined the meeting at 7.50pm

134.00 Parish council renewal, Zurich Insurance 134.01 Clerk advised Cllrs that the annual parish insurance was due 1st June 2019. The insurance last year had been with Zurich through brokers Community Lincs. Zurich had taken all parish insurance in house and at the other parishes he was clerk for the renewals had been under exactly the same terms, fixed price until 2023, unless there was a change in insurance tax. 134.02 Clerk advised last year’s premium was £165.76 and he anticipated the same this year from Zurich. Based on that assumption he requested councillors to approve that on receipt of the renewal documents with a premium figure of £165.76 he could pay it, ensuring that there was no lapse in cover as next meeting is not until 4th July. 134.03 It was resolved that premium was to be paid on receipt of demand by the clerk.

135.00 Progress reports, clerk 135.01 Waste bin collection by Allerdale BC had been a constant topic of phone calls and emails to the clerk since the revised collection schedule introduced at the beginning of April. Bins collected on one day, had now in places in the parish gone to 3 separate collection days. 135.02 Clerk had eventually emailed directly the Operations Manager of Allerdale and hopefully the “rubbish” collection would return to an established and predictable weekly sequence and importantly be as reliable as the old system was. Clerk to monitor the progress across all parishes, as it was a problem across the area not just Loweswater parish. 135.03 Clerk had been in contact with the Openreach manager about broadband speeds in Mockerkin. The power to cabinet 1 had been final connected and clerk was just waiting confirmation of the speed test results the engineers were running. 135.04 The fence at Thackthwaite Green has been completed and clerk had seen the workmanship as well as other Cllrs who agreed it looked very good.

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135.05 As per minute 119.05 Fangs Brow, clerk still chasing for details about the drainage improvements the original contractor is due to complete. He had been around the parish as promised photographing potholes and submitting the evidence and requests for repairs to Highways dept. Cllr D L confirmed there was evidence of potholes being filled, but usual cold tar treatment so they would soon become potholes again. 135.06 Clerk had received an email requesting advance warning at the entrance to Mockerkin coming from Loweswater. There is a hill which has an 11% warning gradient sign, but vehicles and cyclists are still entering the village at speed. Bearing in mind how narrow the road is in the village itself, additional warning prior to “the narrows” a SLOW sign perhaps on the road, maybe appropriate, clerk to follow up on the suggestion. 135.07 Numerous emails and forms dealing with the recent parish elections, all of which had been acted on and appropriate public notices on display in Mockerkin, Loweswater and Thackthwaite noticeboards.

136.00 Loweswater Councillors reports. 136.01 Chair reported having received an email from Lorton chair Chris Poate concerning the condition of the road from Loweswater to Lorton via Thackthwaite. Cllrs K M and K L had that afternoon gone along the route, taken photographs and they would be forwarded to the clerk to enable him to get action and repairs from Highways. 136.02 Chair had had emails and comments about the atrocious bin collections for the past few weeks. All had been forwarded to clerk who had had numerous contact with ABC on the service or lack of service. 136.03 Chair also aware of the concerns of Mockerkin residents about the speed of vehicles in the area. 136.04 Chair had been in contact with the chair of Blindbothel about the 10 weekly meetings with the police and had advised Blindbothel that there was no enthusiasm to attempt to get the police to reinstate the system.

137.00 Correspondence 137.01 Clerk had received the annual subscription request from Calc. This year it was for £102.71 which was as anticipated lower than last year’s £111.00. 137.02 Clerk had received a letter and brochure about Merchant Navy Day, 3rd September, requesting that a red ensign be flown from a public building or flagpole, with local dignitaries present. Clerk to take no action. 137.03 Tom Lindsay fencing contractor had submitted his invoice for the fence and gate he had installed at Thackthwaite Green. £400 plus Vat, £480 in total as per his quotation.

138.00.00 Payments for approval. M Milner Intpay 21, £163.29, salary £108.36 expenses £54.93. Salary April + expenses HMRC PAYE Intpay 22, £27.00 PAYE April Calc Intpay 23, £102.71 annual subscription 2019/20 Tom Lindsay Intpay 24, £480,00 new fence Thackthwaite Green. Zurich Insurance Intpay 25, £165.76 Parish annual insurance premium. Paid end of March M Milner Intpay 19, Salary £106.00 March salary. HMRC Intpay 20 £26.60, PAYE March All approved 139.00 Date and time of the next meeting Thursday 4th July 2019 at 7.30pm, Meeting closed 8.03pm

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