Agenda Item No. 4(1)
AGENDA ITEM NO. 4(1)
GRANGE AND CARTMEL COMMUNITY BOARD
NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 MARCH 2008 AT 6.00 PM AT THE HAVERTHWAITE PARISH HALL, HAVERTHWAITE
PRESENT
NAME REPRESENTING
Colin Barr Colton Parish Council Robin Brown SLDC Councillor for Lyth Valley Colin Day Staveley and Cartmel Parish Council David Huggett Lower Allithwaite Parish Council Andie Matthews Upper Allithwaite Parish Council Howard Martin SLDC Councillor for Cartmel Ted Walsh (Chairman) County Councillor for Cartmel Bill Wearing County Councillor for Grange
Also in Attendance:-
Janine Hounslow - Senior Democratic Services Officer, Cumbria County Council Elaine Moneypenny - Resident of Backbarrow Peter Ridgeway - Chief Executive of South Lakeland District Council Dianne Whitehead - Area Support Manager, Cumbria County Council Julia Wilson - Voluntary Action Cumbria
ACTION
37. APLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were submitted from Ms H Allen (Lower Allithwaite Parish Council, Councillor W Barr (Lake District National Park Authority), Councillor T Harvey (South Lakeland District Councillor for Grange), Councillor J Manning (South Lakeland District Councillor for Holker), Mr M Smith (Cartmel Fell Parish Council) and Mr R Shapland (Grange Town Council).
38. DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST BY ELECTED MEMBERS
There were no declarations of interest on this occasion
39. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Elaine Moneypenny a resident of Backbarrow informed the Board that the Post Office (PO) in Backbarrow had been earmarked for closure by the government She asked Board members what they
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ACTION closure by the government. She asked Board members what they were doing to ensure that local POs remained open for the good of the community. The chairman informed her that there was work going on behind the scenes to find out how those communities could be supported if they lost their local PO. It was probable that in some small villages the loss of the post office would potentially mean the closure of the local shop as well. Councillor Wearing informed the Board that as a member of the County Council’s Cabinet they were going to request an extension to the consultation period which would give them longer to investigate other avenues for funding, perhaps some regeneration funding through the Cumbria Rural Infrastructure Support Programme (CRISP) could be a way forward to try and keep the POs or at least rural shops open. It was hoped that instead of the 10 weeks consultation period this could be extended to 16 weeks. It was imperative that people wrote to the government to tell them how it would impact their daily life by closing the PO in their village, rather than putting their signature to a petition, which would not be given much weight. The chairman believed it would be beneficial to have a standardised approach across the county so that as many people as possible could write letters that would be considered by the government. Dianne Whitehead (ASM) added that the project group established to help the community following PO closures was meeting on 7 April and that Councillors, MPs, the PO and Post Watch would be meeting in May. The chairman asked that a report be brought back to the next meeting of the community board in May following the outcomes of those two meetings. Dianne AGREED, that an update report on the post office closures be Whitehead prepared for the next meeting of the Board in May.
40. BUSINESS ITEMS
(1) Notes
The notes of the 12 February 2008 meeting were AGREED as a correct record.
Julia Wilson, Voluntary Action Cumbria (VAC) informed the Board Julia Wilson that all 9 parishes in the community board area had now either completed a Community Statement or a full Community Plan. She would report back to the next meeting in May once she had collated the information from the statements and plans.
Dianne Whitehead (ASM) informed members that the May meeting of the Community Board would be followed by a workshop. She informed members that the free transport for young people aged 11 to 16 in the Community Board area had been approved by the
County Council Local Committee for South Lakeland and a flier had been sent to every child at Dallam and Cartmel Priory School’s. A member asked what had happened to funding for the sports hall at Cartmel Priory school. Dianne had spoken to the school and they had said they would invite her to the next meeting to discuss the
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ACTION funding arrangements for the sports hall but she had, as yet, heard nothing.
(2) Locality Working
The Board received a presentation from Peter Ridgway, Chief Executive, South Lakeland District Council (SLDC). He believed that the Community Board’s should have been rolled out across the district rather than just in pilot areas. In parts of Cumbria locality working was already happening. In SLDC and the County Council are working together on a joint proposal for South Lakeland to the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) that sought between 3 and 10 boundaries in South Lakeland.
He believed that if there was to be an emphasis on locality working then it was important that the community felt they had a say in where resources for services were utilised. SLDC were keen for decisions to be made in the locality and 4 areas had expressed an interest in taking over some district functions they were Kendal; Kirkby Lonsdale; Ulverston and Windermere. They represented one small rural, one crossover and 2 urban areas in South Lakeland. They would be supported by SLDC and if they were a success more functions could be devolved to them. A member surmised that the community would have to be consulted if any new boundaries were to be defined. The Chairman asked Members if they should encourage SLDC to engage with the Board.
AGREED,
(i) That the presentation be received
(ii) The Community Board engage with South Lakeland District Council for the benefit of the community in Grange and Cartmel.
(ii) Highways Stewards
The Board received a report that set out the proposals for highway stewards who would work with County Council members and parishes to improve the delivery of the highway services at a community level.
The chairman was hopeful that the highway steward would work hand in hand with the Parish Lengthman and believed it would free up more of the Parish Lengthmans time, so he could focus on more of the amenity work in the area. A member asked how much funding was available for the Parish Lengthsman Scheme in the next financial year. He was informed that £4,850 had been allocated from the Community Board budget to the Parish Lengthsman
Scheme. The Chairman asked members if the scheme should be rolled out to other parish councils. Members agreed to open up the parish lengthmans scheme to other parishes in the Community Board area but only if they had the finances to fund the scheme in the 2008/09 financial year, if not they would have to wait until
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ACTION
2009/10. Cartmel Fell Parish Council had agreed to allocate £3,000 to the scheme. The chairman asked if the community board budget allocation of £4,850 should be divided equally between the parish council capable of delivering the parish lengthmans scheme in the next financial year and this was agreed by the Board.
AGREED,
(i) to note the report
(ii) that the £4,850 in the Community Board budget be divided equally between the 4 parish council’s capable of delivering the parish lengthman scheme in the 2008/09 financial year.
41. ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS
These were identified as:-
(1) Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) preferred options consultation (2) Voluntary Action Cumbria – Parish Plans report
42. DATES FOR FUTURE MEETINGS
Following a discussion on the start time of the Community Board meetings it was agreed that the next meeting of the Community Board would be held at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 6 May 2008 in Haverthwaite Parish Hall.
43. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Dianne Whitehead informed the Board that the 2 youth representatives Sophia Lacey and Farah Sandbrook would no longer be able to attend the Community Board as they were focusing on their GCSEs. She informed the Board that there had been 6 young volunteers from the Grange and Cartmel Community Board area to Dianne attend future meetings of the Board. The Chairman asked Dianne to Whitehead pass on the Board’s thanks to Farah and Sophia for their input over the last year.
The Meeting ended at 7.55 pm.
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