Minutes of Meeting - Wednesday 20th January 2021

Meeting held by Zoom - 7pm

Councillors Present: Cllr Allen, Cllr Wilkinson, Cllr Dickson-Green, Cllr Tilley, Cllr Irving, Cllr Kirkbride, Cllr Huddleston, Cllr Moore

In attendance: Clerk, Cllr Riddle, 1 member of the public

Part A - Public Participation

None

Part B - Parish Council Meeting

1. Apologies for Absence - None

2. County Councillor Report 

Cllr Riddle attended the meeting in order to provide an update on upcoming developments in Bellingham.

Cllr Riddle confirmed that the Mart Field site has been sold to a developer, who is currently in confidential pre-planning discussions with Northumberland County Council (NCC). It is anticipated that the development will involve retail and housing development and is expected to provide additional parking facilities for the village.

Bellingham has been put forward as an exemplar for the Borderlands fund, meaning that development funding may be available soon for projects across the village.

Parking is a key issue being considered at the moment. Current plans include placing double yellow lines along the high street and marked parking bays in Manchester Square. The Parish Council noted that this would need to be done in consultation with local businesses and residents and ideally should be part of expansion of parking elsewhere in the area.

Cllr Riddle confirmed there were early talks between the National Park and NCC about the possible expansion of the Hareshaw Linn car park into the area of grassland facing Foundry Farm. It was noted that the current car charger in the Hareshaw Linn car park is out of order and there are no plans to repair it - instead the National Park is looking for alternative suppliers.

Cllr Riddle confirmed that he would release the housing needs assessment survey results from 2018 to the Parish Council, as well as confirming that the need for rapid car chargers would be considered as part of parking developments in the village.

Cllr Riddle confirmed that the NCC budget would not see cuts to front line services in the coming year.

He also confirmed that he had requested additional grit bins at the request of local residents on the Boat Road and St Oswald’s Court (as had the Parish Council), but they did not meet the criteria set by NCC. It was agreed to look into what these criteria were. (Cllr Dickson-Green to action)

3. Declarations of Interest - Updated DOI to be received for Cllr Allen (Cllr Allen to action)

4. Minutes of February meeting - agreed with no amendments

5. Matters Arising from the Minutes -

5.1 Cllr Dickson-Green noted that he had placed information on the proposed precept rise on Facebook, the website and the notice board, asking for feedback. Cllr Tilley had also advertised the proposals through his Facebook page. There had been no negative comments, though several supportive ones had been received. Cllr Kirkbride noted that it was important that the council also looked to ensure that its operations were as cost effective as possible. It was agreed that when circumstances allowed, work would be undertaken to engage with the community and look into their priorities for the parish council’s operations in more detail. A precept rise of 7.7% was agreed unanimously. (Clerk to action)​

5.2 It was noted that the cemetery fees had not been updated in decades and were now out of date. Work had been undertaken to identify the charges levied by other local cemeteries and updated fees were agreed to bring the cemetery in line with the low end of these. The money raised was to help maintain the two cemeteries in the village and the chapel going forward. The clerk was to send the revised price list to J Dickinson. The clerk noted that they had been unable to get a quote for any other safety reviewers for the cemeteries and it was agreed to proceed with NCC. (Clerk to action)​

5.3 It was agreed that on the basis that the land was owned by NCC and could be the site of future development, the parish would no longer pay for the grass cutting for the time being. Clerk to contact Chris Mowatt to cancel the cut. (Clerk to action)​

5.4 It was agreed to look at tree planting in the area around the Fairstead. Cllr Allen and Cllr Moore agreed to view the site and estimate the number of trees required. The Clerk is to look into sources of funding/trees from NCC and the Woodland Trust. The member of the public in attendance also had some saplings available for use in the project. (Cllr Allen, Cllr Moore, Clerk to action)

Other matters arising:

There was a delay to the fly tipping signs for the railway line due to absence of staff at NCC with COVID-19, but it had been raised again.​

The clerk had followed up on a review of the level of street lighting in Bellingham from last year but still had yet to receive a reply. 

The fencing quote from Bellingham Timber and Fencing had been accepted and work was expected in mid February (weather permitting).

The public toilets had been closed as agreed at the last meeting and no feedback had been received on this from residents or members of the public.

A quote along with details of the proposed work for drainage at the new football pitch on the Fairstead had been received. It was agreed that, subject to a discussion between the contractor and Cllr Allen, permission would be granted for the works. However, it was not going to be possible for the parish to fund the works with a grant. Instead, the Playground Committee would be provided with information for alternative sources of funding to approach to raise the money. (Cllr Allen, Cllr Kirkbride and Clerk to action)

​Cllr Dickson-Green had spoken to local businesses about issues with overflowing rubbish bins on Lockup Lane and an approach to dealing with this had been agreed.

A contractor had been found to repair the slabs at the seating area opposite the petrol station. They were just waiting for better weather to undertake the work.

Local businesses who were advertising in Jubilee Field noticeboard had been contacted and told that they would get their adverts free for the rest of this year in order to make up for COVID-19 lockdowns.

Cllr Dickson-Green had done extensive work to improve the website and make it more useful and easy to follow for users.

6. Planning Applications

6.1 20/04062/FUL - R Nixon Burnside Workshop - the Clerk noted that this had been received between meetings and that councillors had reviewed and approved this by email. The clerk had put supportive comments on the planning portal regarding this application.

6.2 20/04216/FUL - 20KV substation at land North East of Bridgeford View - it was noted that the plans had errors as they showed access direct from Bridgeford View which ran through people’s gardens. It was agreed to not support the planning application for this reason, as well concerns over the stability of the ground, flooding and environmental issues. (Clerk to action)

7. Correspondence

Several residents had been in touch regarding concerns over the number of people visiting Hareshaw Linn during the pandemic as well as the inability to socially distance on the route through the site. Based on advice from Cllr Kirkbride and the police, the Clerk noted that he had been directing people to call 101 if they felt anyone was specifically breaching lockdown rules. The Parish Council had been asked to discuss the possibility of closing the site with the National Park. Councillors felt that the National Park would not close the site as it was a public right of way, but it was agreed to ask the National Park for their risk assessment/mitigation. (Clerk to action)

It was agreed to publicise the work of Arthritis Action and Cygnus Support charities on the website, Facebook and the notice board. (Clerk to action)

The Clerk reported that quotes had been received for putting pay locks on the toilet doors. However current quotes were for between £3k and £5k per door. One final quote is currently waiting to be received.

Several emails had been received regarding the upcoming election. NCC confirmed that they were working towards the 6th of May and would be contacting all households and electors to offer them postal votes in order to maximise voting even during the pandemic - although they stated that they would ensure that in person voting was also safe. The clerk noted that NCC had yet to release information regarding costs of the election to the parish council. Cllr Dickson-Green suggested that money should be set aside in future election years in case of a contested election.

A resident had been in touch to suggest the possibility of bottling and selling water from Cuddy’s Well to improve local finances. Unfortunately the parish council does not currently have the legal power to run a profit-making enterprise.

A local resident noted serious issues with access down Percy Terrace - with delivery vans being unable to get down the road due to parked cars. It was agreed to flag this with NCC’s Highways department to look at widening options for the street. There are serious concerns over the ability of emergency services to access the street. (Clerk to action)

• An update was received from a local resident regarding the development of new houses near Bridgeford View. Complaints about NCC’s planning process are now with the Government Ombudsman and a response will be received in a few weeks. Advance Northumberland have submitted revised plans regarding environmental impact and flooding which have raised objections from the Local Flood Authority and Highways. The resident expressed concerns about NCC building houses that do not meet local needs and putting profit ahead of residents.

Local resident on Redesmouth Road had expressed concerns about new lighting at the school shining into their properties all night. The Clerk had contacted the school and Cllr Wilkinson agreed that this had now been resolved.

The clerk noted that a local resident had been in touch with a number of councillors regarding concerns over inaccuracies in the published list of Bellingham school governors and a lack of detail in the school’s financial position. Cllr Kirkbride noted that he had been in touch with the head of the Board of Governors and that the school was working extremely well under difficult conditions. Cllr Kirkbride agreed to draft a reply to this effect and noted that the Parish Council had no ability to influence the school, its finances or its decisions. (Cllr Kirkbride to action)

The Clerk noted that he had sent round NCC’s draft private housing strategy document for councillors to review. Comments could be made on this up until early February.

8. Reports - 

8.1 Cllr Dickson-Green noted that while the toilets were closed the issue of cleaning could be reviewed. The current cleaners used are not under contract with the Parish and could be changed at any time. It was agreed to review the possibility of hiring a subcontractor local cleaner to do the job and/or consider examining other cleaning companies to ensure the work was done well and as cost effectively as possible. It was noted that the Parish did not want to have a formal employee and that the role would need to be a subcontractor. It was agreed that whoever the contract was given to, local shops would be used to buy cleaning products and consumables for the toilets. (Cllr Dickson-Green and Clerk to action)

8.2 Cllr Dickson-Green noted that two companies had expressed an interest in using Government funding under the Rural Broadband Fund to bring faster, cheap broadband to the whole village. He was in contact with them and was waiting for a response.

9. Finance

9.1 The following items of income and expenditure were noted:

Income:

• Allotment rental = £112.50
• Interest = £0.09
• Advertising income = £25.00
• Burial Fees = £20.00

Expenses:

• Clerk pay = £193.39 (including £14.39 expenses for Zoom)
• B Dickson-Green = £118.80 (ILCA training fees)
• Water rates = £32.00 (DD)
• C Mowatt (Landscaping) = £798.00 (£851 invoice received but to be amended to £798)
• M Dickson-Green (grit spreader, stickers and Christmas cards) = £262.97
• E Taylor (handyman) = £353.00
• Redeswood Farm (taking down Christmas lights and tree and storing lights) = £417.00
• B J Condliffe (toilet cleaning) = £282

Bank balances as at 13th January were: Main account £31,012.17, Jubilee Field account £2216.84, Instant access account £6,295.71.

9.2 The Clerk noted that the initial trial of internet banking had been a success, but Lloyds had managed to misplace Cllr Tilley’s forms. It was agreed to set up Cllrs Allen, Tilley, Wilkinson and Irving as able to approve payments online. Clerk is to send round the relevant forms for them to fill in, sign and return. It was agreed to allow the Clerk to process and authorise the payments for the current month, along with Cllr Dickson-Green to set up all the payments. Next month as a control, the bank statement will be circulated with all payments as a control. (Clerk to action)

10. Any Urgent Business

Cllr Kirkbride noted that the council had decided not to proceed with the gritting contract as it was not deemed good value for money. Instead the focus had been on supporting the use of grit bins and NCC’s snow warden scheme. 16 residents had currently signed up for this and he planned to discuss with local businesses to see if they wished to join as well. Facebook and the website would be used to try and find out who had signed up as snow wardens. (Cllr Kirkbride and Cllr Dickson-Green to action)

It was agreed to contact the prospective councillors who had applied for co-option and mention that due to the ongoing pandemic and the inability to meet in person, any decision on co-option would now be delayed until after the elections. (Clerk to action)

11. Date of Next Meeting - February 17th