LOWER ALLITHWAITE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting held in The Village Hall, Cartmel on Thursday, 8th December 2011.

PRESENT: Cllrs Huggett (Chairman), Allen (Vice Chairman), Anderson, Barker, Bird, Drinkall, Naylor, Pascall, Robinson, Shepherd, Unsworth, M Wilson, M E Wilson, County Cllr R Wilson, S Sim, PCSO Howard Firth and 5 members of the public (for part of the meeting).

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Bramwell.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AS CIRCULATED The Minutes of the Meeting held in the Village Hall, Cartmel on Thursday, 10th November 2011 as circulated were approved. Proposed by Cllr Allen, seconded by Cllr Pascall and signed as a true record.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST in respect of items on Agenda. Cllr Naylor Item 10) ii, Cllr Unsworth Planning Application SL/2011/0857, Cllr Huggett Planning Application SL/2011/0873.

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN RELATION TO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Not at this point.

5. POLICE REPORT PCSO Howard Firth gave a report on reported calls. He confirmed that shop lifting was the most reported. Also reported car park meters tampered with and door to door aggressive selling techniques. He recommended the Messaging system again. Cllr Drinkall was concerned that her sister and also her neighbour had received strange telephone calls from occupational therapy services who had somehow obtained medical records. They had arranged appointments to call but had not turned up. She confirmed that this was very upsetting. PCSO Firth advised contacting the telephone preference service to prevent these types of calls. A new telephone number 101 for non-emergency calls would start on 12/12/11which would be dealt with from Penrith. Cllr M E Wilson confirmed being stopped for Police check outside Cartmel Primary school and considered this was the wrong place and could this be fed back.

6. LOCAL AREA PARTNERSHIP Report. No meeting had taken place since last month only a Broadband meeting.

7. BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES i) Steve Sim, new Councillor for Allithwaite Ward Signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office. ii) Stopping-up of Highway – U5156 Low Frith A letter had been received from Kim Chambers, Livingstons Solicitors regarding an objection to this stopping-up from Mr & Mrs Chambers who lived at High Frith Farm. Mrs Chambers attended the meeting with Kim Chambers (daughter-in-law). Kim confirmed that she was attending and would be speaking for Mrs Chambers in a personal capacity. She confirmed that misinformation had been quoted, Mr & Mrs Chambers had never consented to the application. It had been quoted that this road only served land in the ownership of Holker Estate. This was not the case as it was the sole means of vehicular access to High Frith. Evidence was provided in Minutes of the PC and letters to and from the CC/ Holker that the application had been made as early as October 2008 which Mr & Mrs Chambers had no knowledge of. Holker had agreed responsibility to keep the private road between Low Frith and High Frith in good repair and had offered a private right of way over the stretch of road which was the subject of this stopping-up. It was confirmed that maintenance had not been done and has resulted in 20 years of neglect and a road in a poor state of repair. The Chairman pointed out that the maintenance agreement on the road between High and Low Frith was a private matter between the Mr & Mrs Chambers and Holker. Mr & Mrs Chambers did not perceive that the grant of a private right of way over U5156 Low Frith was an equal substitution for a publicly maintained highway. A private right of way would mean another stretch of highway which Holker assert they would maintain in good repair. Proposed by Cllr M E Wilson, seconded by Cllr Allen that the Parish Council object to this stopping-up. Unanimous. iii) Parish Plan The meeting had a visitor from Norman Bailey from Grange who wished to gain an insight into the groups activities as Grange were looking to develop a community plan. The traders were not represented again and it was agreed that they play an important part in the community. Tiffany Hunt was due to attend a meeting of the traders and would attempt to gain a group response. More work had been done with the schools and the children had given a presentation. John Evans will put together a draft questionnaire taking into account all responses. It was agreed that one questionnaire will be used for both villages but separate questions could also be added for each village. iv) Parish Council Cottage Work was progressing. Decorating had started and kitchen units needed to be chosen. Discussion took place regarding the rent to be charged. It was agreed that this would not be full market rental prices and the Clerk suggested £450 could be a reasonable figure. An advert to be included in Church Magazines and in Grange Now. Only written applications would be considered. v) Cartmel Village Toilets Cllr Unsworth confirmed roof light repairs had still not been done. Cllr M E Wilson to ask SLDC for permission to get repairs done and send account to them. PCSO Firth suggested the toilets should be locked at night. vi) Review of Standing Orders To approve/amend Complaints/Code of Practice/procedure for consultations. Proposed by the Chairman and Unanimously agreed no amendments. A trial of consideration for consultations would take place. The Clerk would email to all Cllrs and they should feedback their opinion on whether the consultation should be included on the Agenda for a response or just included for information. vii) School Zone highway plans To consider proposals. C Cllr R Wilson confirmed that the scheme had been approved by CCC local committee and ordered for funding. This would be a minimal scheme with the funding available. A public drop-in session had been held on 29/11/11. Two phases were proposed for the Primary School. Phase 1 would include for the Primary and Secondary School an advisory 20mph speed limit when lights flash and reduced parking spaces for parents delivering and picking up children due to sight lines and bus parking. A coloured crossing point and a pedestrian guardrail would be added at the Priory School. The second phase for the Primary school would include a narrowing of the road and a priority give way system. Considerable discussion took place and both C Cllr R Wilson and District Cllr M E Wilson strongly recommended the schemes should be approved. Cllrs Allen, M Wilson and Unsworth were all concerned about the narrowing of the road for the second phase. This would be the subject of a second round of public consultation for a traffic regulation order to be applied for. Concern was also expressed regarding the knock on effect reducing parents parking would have on the surrounding roads. Suggestions made regarding this would be for the schools to discourage parents from using their vehicles and to walk or use the bus service provided. Could staff cars at the Priory School be parked around the school to free-up spaces in the opposite lay-by. Unfortunately funding would not be available to extend the lay-by. Proposed by Cllr Barker, seconded by Cllr Naylor that the schemes should be approved. Carried by Majority, 3 objections. viii) Priorities for small highway improvement schemes Cllrs R Wilson & D Huggett had considered the lists of improvement schemes, some had been superseded or are still ongoing. Carriageway surface dressing on the Causeway and Aynsome Road should be included and it was suggested Cartmel Road also needed looking at.. Areas subject to flooding were also discussed. This to be finalised at the next meeting although the deadline was 31st December Cllr R Wilson suspected it could be slightly delayed. ix) Neighbourhood Planning & Community Infrastructure Levy Cllr M E Wilson suggested the Neighbourhood Planning consultation was very complicated and that no response would be made. The community infrastructure levy consultation questionnaire had been completed by Cllr M E Wilson and the answer as to whether it should be a duty to pass on a meaningful proportion of levy receipts to the parish council for the area where those receipts were raised was yes with 50% of the receipts passed on to the parish. x) Allithwaite Playing Field Cllr S Sim, the new Councillor for Allithwaite Ward was not willing to be a representative on this committee. Cllr Pascall would remain the only representative. xi) Clerk’s Report LDF confirmation had been received that there would be a Parish Council briefing on 12th January 2012 (time and place to be confirmed). Corner Causeway/Aynsome Road Confirmation from previous owner that the pavement outside the Health Stop Shop was private property – this was contrary to confirmation that this was Cumbria Highways. Next meeting this would be held at Cartmel and not Allithwaite as previously confirmed. The Village Hall was not available in July therefore June, July and August meetings next year would all be held in Allithwaite. Environmental Enhancement Scheme in Allithwaite A letter from Mr C Flindall, who came to live in Allithwaite in July, enquired about what was happening to the triangle of bare soil at the road junction near the wood yard. This had been cleared by the Lengthsman ready for shrub/flower planting. Mr Flindall offered to plant perennial plants/shrubs and keep the area tidy afterwards. Cllr M E Wilson had contacted him and Mrs D Knipe had also offered to help. District Councillor Cllr M E Wilson confirmed £5 million had to be cut from SLDC budget by 2015. Service reviews were taking place to cut services in all departments, work was being reallocated in an attempt to avoid making anyone redundant. Cllr Wilson also reported on “Lakes Alive” (see correspondence after agenda). County Councillor Report Cllr R Wilson confirmed that County Highways had looked again at a STOP sign for Haggs Lane but this had not been approved.

8. FINANCE i) Parish Council Community a/c £5,341.40. Business Base Rate Tracker £3,349.07. ii) Money Received Livingstons Solicitors £3.00 (photocopying). Saunders & Son Burial (A Fagan) £196.00. Postlethwaite’s Burial of Ashes (D Baldwin) £80.00. Repayment of VAT £1,441.98. SLDC Landlord Improvement Grant £8,000. iii) Cheques for Approval Clerk November Salary £388.00 + £16.66 Expenses. SLDC Council Tax £67. Cumbria Waste Recycling Bin Hire £5.52. CALC Training (Cllr Naylor) £48.00. David Huggett (Shower for Cottage) £79.99. Cartmel Village Hall Meetings & Parish plan Meetings £110.50. Allithwaite Community Centre (Sept meeting) £16.00. The cheque issued last month to Lakes Electric had gone astray in the post and a replacement cheque had been issued. It was proposed that the first cheque is stopped which would incur a charge. Proposed by Cllr Drinkall, seconded by Cllr M E Wilson that Finance be approved. Unanimous. iv) Budget & Precept Consideration of budget and precept allocation for 2012-13. More figures had now been received and a draft budget produced. All Cllrs had received a copy with their Agenda. Cllr M E Wilson was concerned that not enough had been budgeted for the Lengthsman. A further £500 was added, £500 was also added to the Cemetery budget. Proposed by the Chairman and Unanimously agreed that a Precept of £11,000 be applied for. He proposed this be held over for confirmation at the next meeting.

9. PLANNING i) Consideration of relevant planning applications SL/2011/0873 Approved. SL/2011/0875 & 0945 Approved. SL/2011/0882 Approved. SL/2011/0891 (retrospective) No comments. SL/2011/0857 Comment. SL/2011/0862 Refused (Cllr M E Wilson abstained). SL/2011/0941 Approved. ii) Applications Approved by SLDC: Removal of conditions – planning permission SL/2011/0299 Blenkett Wood Park. Installation of additional window Hillside Farm, Allithwaite. iii) Applications Refused by SLDC Widening of Vehicular Access & replacement gates Fairfield, Cartmel. iv) Aplications Recommended for Approval by Parish Council Installation of additional window Hillside Farm, Allithwaite. v) Applications Recommended for Refusal by Parish Council None to Date. vi) Application CC 5/11/9013 Storage of Stone land at Holme Lane, Allithwaite. Comments. vii) Application 5/11/9013 storage of stone land at Holme Lane, Allithwaite. Further information Previous comments remain.

10. CORRESPONDENCE i) Establishing a new Internal Drainage Board in South Cumbria Consultation. This would be a new Board in South Cumbria. The environment agency had decided not to keep the pumps in the Lyth Valley running. Usually a drainage scheme is supported by the people who directly benefit from it but this scheme proposed asking some residents in the wider area to pay to support it which would mean £8 per property for something that they would receive no direct benefit from. It was suggested to object to the way the scheme had been drawn up with concern that the scheme would be against the encouragement of wild life in the area. ii) Citizens Advice Bureau Request for funding. Linda Wilkinson, Bureau Manager confirmed that costs had been cut to the bone to keep the service going and it was one of the most cost-effective ways of helping the local community. Proposed by the Chairman that £250 donation be made. Carried by a majority vote. iii) Technical Reforms of County Tax Consultation. Giving principal authorities the power to levy full council tax on second homes; allowing billing authorities to levy an “empty homes premium” in respect of dwellings which have been left empty for two years or more; allowing council tax to be paid in 12 equal instalments rather than 10 as is the norm at present. All in favour of agreement.

OTHER CORRESPONDENCE i) Lakes Alive in Cartmel This will be a family-friendly weekend street arts camping festival to be held at the Racecourse from Friday 17th – Sunday 19th starting 6pm Friday and ending around the same time on Sunday. The target for audience profile and size is 2,400 people camping i.e. 600-800 tents or camper vans and 1,000 additional visitors per day. Cllr M E Wilson considered this would be a fantastic event – good for traders. Concern was expressed about traffic management and parking in the Village if not managed effectively could have the potential for severe congestion in the Village. Member of the Public considered this was a for-runner for what Cartmel was in for! ii) The Priory Church of St Mary & St Michael Request for approval for additional planting in the closed churchyard by Cartmel Village Society & Cumbria in Bloom group. No objections.

11. OTHER MATTERS None.

12. QUESTIONS/ANSWERS/REPORTS/COMPLAINTS Cllr Unsworth Reported that the hedge at the lay-by opposite Cartmel Priory School needed cutting. The hedge at top of Holme Lane was also mentioned. Cllr R Wilson would make enquiries about this. Cllr Pascall Confirmed that Cartmel had been accepted for Cumbria in Bloom. A small committee had been formed to run the bid. Cllr Naylor Reported King George V Playing Field would hold a “Christmas in the Park” event which he considered would be very good and asked for support for the event. Cllr Bird Reported fly tipping on road to Cartmel (this had been reported) and also pile of leaves at Hancocks Corner. Cllr Shepherd Reported flooding at Village end of Wartbarrow Lane. Cllr Allen said “goodbye – see you in April”!!

The Meeting closed at 10.15pm and the Chairman thanked everyone for attending. The next meeting of the Council will be held at The Village Hall, Cartmel on Thursday, 12th January 2012 at 7.15pm.