Arkengarthdale Parish Council Minutes – 2012/13 14 May 2012 – AGM 14 May 2012 11 June 2012 9 July 2012 10 September 2012 8 October 2012 12 November 2012 14 January 2013 11 March 2013 11 March 2013 – Annual Parish Meeting Arkengarthdale Parish Council Annual General Meeting The annual general meeting was held ON Monday the 14th May 2012, when apologies were received from Mr. Watkins. Election of Chairman – Mr. Stubbs proposed and Mr. Lundberg seconded that Mr. Stones should remain as Chairman. Mr. Stones declared that he wishes to stand down as Chairman to let a younger man take over. He was gently persuaded to stay on even if only for one more year. Reluctantly he agreed. Councillors expressed their continued support in him. There is nobody to replace him with the amount of local knowledge he has. He also has the ability to resolve proems in a most conciliatory way. Mr. Stones said he would stay on the parish council but would then not be Chairman. Councillors were pleased he is staying on for now. He signed the declaration of office form and said he did not wish to claim an allowance. Election of Vice Chairman – Mr Gale proposed and Mr. Lundberg seconded that Mr. Stubbs should remain as Vice Chairman. The standing orders are to remain the same. The dates for the next eight meetings are as follows: 11th June, 9th July, 10th September, 8th October, 12th November, 14th January, 11th March & 13th May. The minutes of the previous meeting were read, approved and signed. This concluded the business and the meeting closed at 8.12 Arkengarthdale parish council meeting 14th May 2012 The parish council meeting was held on Monday 14th May when apologies were received from Mr. John Watkins. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed. Matter arising: Car parking – The problem of cars parked near Lion House was again discussed, it all depends on where the residents park and how many cars are parked there. Repairs to the track on High Green – The water pipe has now been repaired right up to the stop tap. Councillors discussed the next stage of repairs that need doing. It was decided to wait a while before putting gravel over the track until the ground has had a chance to settle. It was suggested that the residents who park cars on the green should put grass seed on the green where the grass has been eroded with constantly being parked on. Friarage Hospital – Meetings were held in different places to make the public aware of the intended closure of the maternity ward and the children’s services. Mr. Gale said he attended a meeting at Hawes. It was well attended. Later on in May there is a rally at Northallerton. Mr. W. Hague will address the meeting, then they will demonstrate at Northallerton town. All this fighting to keep the facilities open is costing a lot of money. Mr. Gale said donations to the fighting fund have been welcomed. The parish council discussed the possibility of donating £100 towards it. The parish council have for some time had a policy of not making donations to charity, it was felt that the hospital is there for all the people from this area and an exception could be made. Winter maintenance – Mr. Andrew Stones has asked that it should be minuted how grateful he was for the snow ploughing that Jack Stones had done during recent bad weather. Other residents shared the same opinion. Jack cleared the main road to Reeth when it was blocked in several places and the dale was cut off. We have good reason to be grateful to him. Councillors discussed the state of repair our snow ploughs are in. They have been repaired many times but still remain in poor condition. It was decided that we write to Mr. Woodford and ask for a new plough for next winter. The clerk was also asked to advise Mr. Woodford that the trees between the Low Row road and the school need pruning back. People have to drive into the middle of the road before they can look out for cars on the main road. Several residents have complained about this. Affordable housing – The clerk said she wrote to Mrs. Madden after the last meeting and left telephone messages but she heard nothing. Mr. Gale said he was given the impression that a new survey would be carried out to establish how many people would still be interested in houses in the dale. Some people were originally interested but later on were not. Memorial seats – We have still not been able to find a site which would suit the lady wanting to donate a seat and to obtain permission to locate it in any of the chosen places. Mr. Gale has been in touch with the Duke of Norfolk’s land agent, but so far no site had been agreed. There was much discussion about the number of seats we now have. Do we continue to accept seats insure and maintain them, or do we at some point put a brake in and accept none for a while. Mr. Lundberg has taken the insurance document away with him to double check on the insurance for the seats. Diamond Jubilee - A letter was received from John Sparke, the treasurer to the jubilee committee, thanking the parish council for the £200 we sent them off to be able to organise the event. Tickets are being sold now for the evening do after the sports, when there will be a hog roast and disco. Correspondence – Two letters were received from Mr. Woodford, one regarding water running on the road in various places and then freezing. The other letter is in response to the clerk’s letter advising Mr. Woodford of the problems there were when the ambulance tried to take an old lady to hospital from Booze and bring her back again. The ambulance driver said quite categorically that if it were not for the stone trough against the house he would have got up. Mr. Gale received an email from the ambulance service to say they have worked hard behind the scenes to resolve the problem of no access to Booze for an ambulance. They have located a 4x4 stretcher vehicle, with which they did a dummy run and found that for future appointments they will be able to use that. It was suggested the clerk should write a thank you letter to the ambulance service. A letter was received from Mr. David Williams advising the council of a mishap a driver of a large yellow excavator had on the way out of Langthwaite on the side of the Arkle. He also wrote to the Reeth Fire Service and the occupiers of Underhill. York and North Yorkshire Waste Partnership wrote to offer composting bins for sale for £8 each. A number of letters were received from the National Park Authority. Financial matters – a cheque was issued for £15 to pay for the school. A cheque will also be issued to pay £225.00 for the insurance for the year to the Zurich insurance when we get documents back from Mr. Lundberg. The clerk said the first precept payment has been sent to the bank of £11.00. Planning – Application R/01/143 for conversion of a barn to a dwelling in Bouldershaw Lane has been refused. Application R/01/145 was received to erect a conservatory at Netherby, Langthwaite. The clerk was asked to write and support this application. Local matters – Complaints were received about the state of the footpath leading through Arkle Town to the river. Some handrails have been requested. The clerk is to contact the National Park Ranger and advise him of this. There is a problem in the dale with telephones. Some very old copper wires have corroded and had to be replaced. We now have a situation where there are no more spare lines available in the dale. All the spare ones are used up. There are now residents waiting for months to get the telephone due to this shortage of lines. Mobile phones don’t work in places of the parish. The clerk was asked to write to Mr. W. Hague MP to enlist his help. The next meeting is on the 11th of June. This concluded the business and the meeting closed at 10.05 Arkengarthdale parish council meeting June 2012 A parish council meeting was held on Monday 11th June when all councillors were present. The chairman was a few minutes late, so the vice chairman Mr. Stubbs chaired the meeting. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed. Matters arising: Car parking – There were the usual problems with holiday makers staying in cottages and parking carelessly; sometimes without realising they are blocking the road. This has happened again at Langthwaite when the road to Storthwaite was blocked. Mr. Watkins said there were some problems in CB Yard, which resulted in more notices being put up and up to now they have worked. There was much discussion on the subject. Repairs to the track on High Green – since the road was dug open for repairs, the infill has settled somewhat and will probably settle some more. Mr. Gale said he would contact the water authority to see if they are willing to level out what they had dug open. Since the metal inspection lids have been lowered the track is improved. Councillors decided not to have High Green put on the agenda for the time being. The vice chairman Mr.