Tanfield Parish Council MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

DATE: Wednesday 13th May 2015 TIME: 19.00 hrs LOCATION: West Tanfield Memorial Hall PRESENT: Parish Councillors Peter Hull (Chairman), Steven Houston (Vice-Chairman) and David Webster (also District Councillor). Iona Taylor (Parish Clerk) P.C.S.O. Heather Macpherson Irene Almack, Yvonne Griffiths, David Parkinson Brenda Raw and Bob Trewhitt, Simon and Jill Warwick

1. WELCOME FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARISH COUNCIL Councillor Hull welcomed all those present to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES Apologies were received from Sergeant Jeremy Perrin.

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING The minutes of the last Annual Parish Meeting held on 27th May 2014 were agreed and signed.

4. MATTERS ARISING – none.

REPORT ON TANFIELD PARISH COUNCIL BUSINESS DURING 2014/15 Councillors  Peter Hull (Chairman) and David Parkinson (Vice-Chairman) have served as Councillors for the West Tanfield ward throughout the year. There was a vacancy on the West Tanfield ward throughout the year.  Chris Pennock served as Councillor for the ward until 27th April 2015.  Steven Houston served as a Councillor for the West Tanfield ward until 27th March 2015.  Peter Hull and Steven Houston have been elected to the Parish Council, with effect from 12th May 2015. Further elections will be held to fill the remaining three vacancies. In the meantime the new District Councillor will be temporarily appointed to the Parish Council to enable it to continue to function.

General  A significant proportion of the Council’s time and effort this year has been diverted to dealing with requests for information from the public, made under the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Act. The Parish Council is legally required to process requests of this nature. This has been at a significant cost to the Parish Council which estimates that it has spent in excess of £1,225 dealing with these, and related, matters. This represents over 40% of its annual budget for administration, but does not include Councillors’ time as they are volunteers.  Complaints about the Clerk were not upheld after consideration by the Parish Council. Council’s Standards Hearings Panel (which looks in to allegations that Parish Councillors have breached their Code of Conduct) recommended that complaints made about Councillor Peter Hull and retiring Councillor David Parkinson not be upheld.  The Parish Council has followed advice from The Information Commissioner’s Office about ways it can improve some of its practices for handling personal data.

Meetings The Parish Council has met 11 times since the 2014 annual meetings. 4 of these were ‘ordinary’ meetings when a full agenda of business was considered. The others were extraordinary meetings to consider planning applications and other urgent items of business.

Planning and Development  11 planning applications have been considered for proposals ranging from extensions to properties to agricultural buildings to conservatories to listed building applications and tree works.  The Parish Council has responded to consultations by North County Council on the Minerals & Waste Joint Plan and on various quarrying related planning applications during the year.

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Other Business  In response to ongoing concerns raised by local residents the Parish Council successfully applied take part in the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Community Speedwatch Initiative. Although there have been some initial issues with the scheme it is hoped that it will, in time, have a positive impact in reducing the speed of vehicles travelling along Main Street in West Tanfield. Following speed checks carried out by the Hambleton Community Safety Partnership it has been agreed that a mobile matrix sign and police enforcement will, periodically, be deployed on Road.  The Parish Council has agreed to look at the recreation provision for children and young people in Nosterfield, with a view to carrying out a survey of local residents to identify any needs or improvements.  Superfast North Yorkshire has now brought superfast broadband to West Tanfield. The Parish Council is looking in to ways of bringing a radio signal broadband service to Nosterfield and Thornborough.  The Parish Council has held discussions with Tanfield Estate about regularising the arrangements for maintenance of common land in the parish. All the common land is owned by the Estate.  The Parish Council continues to manage the playgrounds in West Tanfield, Nosterfield & Thornborough.  The Parish Council continued to operate the parish caretaker scheme, whereby 5 hours of maintenance works are carried out in the parish each month. The caretaker resigned at the end of 2014. DTMS Ltd from Fellbeck have been appointed with effect from 1st April 2015.  The Council organised a successful bonfire and fireworks event which raised £372.40. The Parish Council has agreed that these funds will be put towards the cost of purchasing a community de-fibrillator. The Parish Council would like to once take this opportunity of thanking everyone involved in helping to arrange this event.  The Parish Council was represented by Councillor Pennock on the West Tanfield United Charities board.  The Parish Council was represented by Councillor Parkinson on West Tanfield Memorial Hall’s Management Committee & the Lower Ure Conservation Trust’s Liaison Committee.  The Parish Council’s Quarry Liaison representatives were the Clerk and Councillor Houston.  The Parish Council continued to support the work of the Hambleton Citizens Advice Bureau by donating £50.  The Parish Council has begun to meet the requirements of the new Transparency Code for Small Authorities by increasing the amount of information that it routinely publishes on its website: tanfieldparishcouncil.btck.co.uk

5. REPORTS FROM OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS / COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES ON THEIR ACTIVITIES DURING 2014/15 5.1 West Tanfield Memorial Hall. David Parkinson reported on the following points:  The committee has met 3 or 4 times over the past year.  Although activities have been reduced from previous years, two successful events were noted. The hall had been used as a hub during the Tour de France events and a ladies’ fundraising evening had been held. These were in addition to the usual rentals.  As the committee’s funds are in a healthy position it has been agreed to decorate the whole hall.  £100 was secured from Hambleton District Council to help pay for repairs to the recycling area fence.  A number of new members have been recruited to the committee. The new faces are welcomed, whilst retiring members are thanked for their contributions over a number of years.

5.2 West Tanfield Tennis Club. Irene Almack reported that the Club fields 3 mixed teams in the Harrogate League each week. A team is also fielded in the local Ladies’ league. A successful coaching programme is run on Friday evenings, with excellent junior attendance. West Tanfield Memorial Hall has agreed to fund a new goal post to try and alleviate associated issues with children playing near the tennis courts.

5.3 West Tanfield Methodist Church. A report containing the following points was read to the meeting:  The small but loyal church membership continues to meet at 10.30 a.m. every Sunday.  The Junior Church has 4 regular attendees who also meet at this time.  The and Lower Dales Methodist Circuit has developed Focus Groups within the circuit. Our new Minister is Rev. Pat Malham who will live in .  West Tanfield members will work closely with 6 other local churches to develop links and support.  The monthly Lunch Club, which meets on the first Wednesday in the month is well attended and there is an open invitation for anyone wishing for fellowship and discussion over a super lunch to join.  Teas are offered in the Village Hall on 2 Bank Holiday Mondays to raise money for the care and upkeep of the chapel.  A supper and quiz evening is planned for 6th October 2015. Minutes – 2015 Annual Parish Meeting Page 2 of 4 Chairman’s Initials: Tanfield Parish Council MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING 5.4 St. Nicholas’ Church. David Parkinson reported that regular services are held each Sunday. Regular congregation numbers remain static although there is an increased attendance for significant events such as Easter and Christmas. There are flourishing choir and bell ringing groups.

5.5 St. Nicholas C of E Primary School. It was noted that the school had successfully undergone OfSTED and SIAMS (church) inspections during the past year. The school is a positive, thriving environment with a good governing body.

5.6 West Tanfield Flower Club. Brenda Raw reported that the club continues to operate successfully, with a steady membership of 40 – 45 ladies. Although the club is now closed for the summer season there has been good attendance during the previous year’s programme. Notable highlights included the end of programme social evening and mini demonstration and annual excursion which was to Chatsworth’s Christmas display. The Club’s regular bookings help to support West Tanfield Memorial Hall.

5.7 Lower Ure Conservation Trust. Simon Warwick submitted a report, containing the following points:  The reserve was closed for improvement works during some of July and August 2014. Despite this visitor numbers were estimated at 12,000.  The works included improvements to the car park, a new wildlife dipping pond and re-grading of 1000m of footpaths. The works were partly funded by a £29,400 grant from Yorventure.  The Tanfield hide has been damaged twice, unfortunately coinciding with solstice events.  A part time field officer is now employed by the LUCT.  Over 150 species have been seen at the reserve with the Great White Egret and Glossy Ibis hinting at climate change.  This spring (2015) was very dry, resulting in a potentially difficult breeding season. In contrast the wet spring of 2014 helped with a successful breeding season for waders particularly.

5.8 North Yorkshire Police. A detailed report, prepared by Sgt. Jeremy Perrin and read by P.C.S.O. Heather Macpherson was considered. Notable highlights from the report, affecting this parish, were as follows:  There was a drop from 3 to 2 reported crimes during the past year for the parishes covering Well, Tanfield, and Kirklington.  Burglaries were down from 2 to 1.  Theft was up from 0 to 1.  Vehicle offences were down from 1 to 0.  There has been a trend toward heavy plant theft within district, notable two road rollers went missing from the nearby A1 upgrade project.  Operation Ferox is a planned operation to counter dwelling and non-dwelling burglaries, vehicle theft and rural theft.  Road safety will be one of the force’s seasonal priorities until October 2015. This includes enforcement action against the drivers of speeding vehicles. It was noted that speeding on all routes through West Tanfield remains of concern to local residents.  Residents are urged to be on the lookout for and report any suspicious activity or vehicles, using the national 101 non emergency number of 999 if a crime is in progress.

5.9 District Councillor David Webster. Councillor Webster submitted the following report: “First of all, for the fifth year running there has been no increase in Council Tax. Neither has there been any reduction in services, in fact an increase in services with the introduction of a Dog Warden. New arrangements for re-cycling waste will be phased in over the near future, with the supply of an additional bin to improve our waste collection service. Hambleton seems to lead the way in this field, and other Authorities follow! We now have new policies for development in small settlements, whereby such settlements can be "grouped " with nearby larger ones ( e.g. Nosterfield and Thornborough are now seen as sustainable due to their proximity to West Tanfield ). Also the new NPPF allows development outside the Development Line where it is beneficial to the settlement. Also the threshold for affordable housing has been raised to encourage house building so that no affordable housing is required if there are less than ten houses. The May 7th election saw Councillor numbers reduce from 44 to 28. The Tanfield ward now additionally includes Carthorpe, Snape, Firby, Thornton Watlass, Clifton-on-Yore, and . I have now served on the Authority for twenty years, and look forward to being of service in the future.”

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6. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO ASK QUESTIONS OR MAKE STATEMENTS RELATING TO COMMUNITY ISSUES 6.1 Mobile reception in Nosterfield. It was noted that the Parish Council has very recently been approached by the mobile communications company ‘EE’ who have invited Nosterfield to take part in a trial to improve mobile reception. The village has been selected by EE as one of only 10 across the UK. It is hoped that by using new technology they can improve the coverage to a 3G standard. It was agreed that the Parish Council should, on behalf of Nosterfield, confirm interest in this scheme and arrange for the representative to visit to progress the project.

Meeting closed at 19.38 hrs. These minutes were recorded and prepared by Iona Taylor, Clerk to the Parish Council.

SIGNED: ...... (Chairman)

DATE: ......

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