Minutes of Parish Meeting - 18th May 2022
Meeting held at Bellingham Town Hall - 7pm
Councillors Present: Cllr Dickson-Green, Cllr Huddlestone, Cllr Kirkbride, Cllr Wilkinson, Cllr Moore, Cllr Brebner
In attendance: Clerk, 1 members of the public
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
1. Chairman’s Report
Cllr Dickson-Green presented the Chairman's report to Councillors and this is to be published separately. Link to Report
2. Election of Chair and Vice Chair
Cllr Dickson-Green was re-elected as Chair. Cllr Wilkinson was re-elected as Vice Chair.
3. Discussion of policy amendments
It was agreed to amend the grant awarding policy to ask for photographs of whatever the grant had been spent on to enable the Parish Council to publicise its grants, aiding transparency. Grants would also reserve the right for the Parish Council to make capital purchases itself and provide goods rather than cash as a grant. It was noted that Councillors needed to apply the policy carefully when deciding on whether to accept grant requests.
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
One resident had submitted ideas for future Parish Council projects. These were:
- a shuttle bus for residents with poor mobility twice a week to the village centre for shopping. The possibility of extending this to nearby villages was also discussed and it was decided to investigate the cost and logistics of this (Clerk to action)
- a regular collection for recycling of electrical goods - this was to be investigated with NCC (Clerk to action)
- a regular place for residents to ask questions re: housing services, benefits, well-being services, etc. It was felt that this could be investigated with other local charity organisations (Clerk to action)
MAY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Part A - Public Participation
A resident attended the meeting to thank the Parish Council for the work undertaken to the Jubilee Field playground. The resident stated that the gravel laid on the path at the Jubilee Field was too rough, leading to difficulties for people with pushchairs, etc. It was agreed to investigate surfacing the gravel with a smoother topdressing. (Clerk and Cllr Moore to action).
Part B - Parish Council Meeting
1. Apologies - Cllr Irving, Cllr Riley
2. County Councillor Report - Cllr Dickson-Green had been updated by Cllr Riddle who had stated that the yellow lining in the village centre had been agreed and that the final design would be circulated shortly to the Parish by NCC. Cllr Riddle had also mentioned that all of the new car chargers were now working in Bellingham centre, but Cllr Dickson-Green noted that one of the fast chargers was not working and the concrete on these units was also already in poor repair. This was to be fed back to NCC. (Cllr Dickson-Green to action)
3. Declarations of interest - None
4. April minutes - agreed with no amendments
5. Matters arising from the minutes
5.1 The Clerk noted that he was awaiting contact details for the Tarset Ukraine support group and once this was received this would be advertised. (Clerk to action)
5.2 The Clerk had been in touch with NCC Highways regarding locations for cycle racks in Bellingham centre, but had not received a response. He had also accepted the quote for amendments to the war memorial at the Croft cemetery, but had also yet to receive a response.
5.3 Unadopted road information had been passed to Cllr Irving for local residents and the Clerk had booed the internal audit with TyneRede accountants.
5.4 Planning concerns over the development at Noble Street had been flagged to NCC’s Director of Planning and a response had been received stating that a response would be forthcoming.
5.5 The sheds owned by Karbon had been flagged to Karbon Homes and a cleanup was due to start this week. Cllr Brebner was to check this had been done by the end of the week (Cllr Brebner to action).
5.6 A local resident, the Clerk and local MP Guy Opperman had chased NCC for information regarding parish transport priorities and the reduction in speed limit/new signs for Redesmouth village, but NCC Highways had as yet not responded.
5.7 The Clerk had been unable to find a tradesman to undertake the painting of the railings at Briar Hill play area. He noted that the site was in extremely poor repair with rubbish and weeds. It was agreed to continue trying to find a tradesman to paint the railings, with pricing for a new covered bin as well as new flooring and weed management. There had been some concern over loose stones near the entrance - this was found to be the responsibility of the adjacent homeowner. (Clerk to action).
5.8 The new policing app had been advertised, and Cllr Kirkbride agreed to provide suitable wording for a post regarding oil tank security (Cllr Kirkbride to action). The Clerk confirmed that test areas had been created for wildflowers as discussed the previous month and it was agreed he would get an update for the next meeting (Clerk to action).
5.9 The Clerk had discussed with two local ministers if there would be any issues with new burials being made outside of the C of E and Non-conformist sections within the cemetery and there did not appear to be any issues with this.
5.10 Bird boxes had been purchased for the cemetery but had not yet been put up. Cllr Moore suggested the installation of bat boxes as well and this was agreed to be investigated for cost (Clerk and Cllr Moore to action).
5.11 The Clerk had raised concerns over the number of signs at Catholic Corner and this was currently being investigated by NCC's planning department.
5.12 Cllr Dickson-Green had ordered a new metal Welcome to Bellingham sign and this was being manufactured. The village directories had been reprinted and placed in the relevant notice boards. He also noted that confirmation about chargers and NCC’s involvement in them was still awaiting more information from NCC.
5.13 Cllr Moore agreed to investigate appropriate new trees for the Croft Cemetery to replace the tree brought down in the storms (Cllr Moore to action).
5.14 The Clerk noted that he had received a list of activities for the Jubilee events and was in the process of passing these onto the insurers.
5.15 After feedback from Cllr Tilley, it was agreed Cllr Moore would get in touch with Bellingham Golf Club to attempt to finalise plans to plant a Jubilee woodland (Cllr Moore to action).
5.16 Cllr Kirkbride raised the issue of a Parish Beer. It was agreed this could be useful supplementary income for the Parish and up to £200 would be ring fenced for the setup of this. Cllr Kirkbride would investigate further to provide final figures and local interest by businesses (Cllr Kirkbride to action).
5.17 The discussion with the schools regarding relocation of the defibrillator to improve village access was carried forward.
5.18 It was agreed to meet with a local resident to discuss improvements to both cemeteries to increase wildlife (Cllr Dickson-Green to action).
6. Planning applications -
6.1 22/00429/FUL - 6 Redesmouth Road conservatory demolition and replacement update. The Clerk confirmed that this had been approved.
7. Finance
7.1 Income, expenses, bank balance and budget review
Income for the month:
- Interest - £0.05
- Indoor Market income - £80.00
- The Clerk noted the indoor market did not run in May as a range of issues had affected trader numbers. It was expected to restart in June.
- Toilet Honesty box - £49.35
- Grant Income - £500.00
- Pod-Point (EV Chargers Income) - £114.41
- Cemetery Income - £180.00
Invoices to be paid:
- B Dickson-Green (clerk pay) = £189.74
- CM Commercial (landscaping) = £957.60
- E Taylor (handyman) = £440.50
- Town Hall (rental for May) = £20.00
- DD - Wave (water rates) = £19.00
- N Green (cleaning) = £137.80
- D Bland (chapel repairs and decoration) = £2,300.00
- M Dickson-Green: £126.13
- Paint for cemetery railings - £44.00
- Memorial plaque - £15.95
- New directory posters - £66.18
Bank account balances at 13/5/22 were:
- Current account £41,290.95
- Jubilee Field Account: £2,217.17
- Cemetery Maintenance Fund: £3,890.91
Investment fund available at the end of September was approximately £19,400
7.2 Grant Requests
An application for £100 from Messy Church for a Jubilee children’s event was approved.
An application for £100 from Bellingham School for a Jubilee picnic was approved
7.3 2021-22 Account summary
This was presented to Councillors. The Clerk noted that the books would be passed to the internal auditor shortly (Clerk to action).
8. Correspondence
8.1 A local resident had queried the progress of planning relating to extension of Hareshaw Linn Caravan Park. The Clerk had noted that the Parish was not informed of progress or changes to planning matters.
8.2 A resident had been in touch relating to the development at Noble Street. The Clerk had noted that feedback on this had been requested from NCC and would be shared when received. The resident had provided information from board meetings of the developer which stated that the original plan for housing at the site had been for affordable housing, though this had been dropped before the planning stage.
8.3 The Clerk noted that the Hexham Courant had been in touch regarding the bench dedicated to Graham Beatty. Cllr Dickson-Green thanked Cllr Tilley for liaising with them.
8.4 North Tyne Youth had been in touch and provided their annual report. The Clerk noted this could be forwarded to any Councillors who wished to review it.
8.5 NCC's planning department had been in touch to confirm that they had not yet received a response relating to planning for a property in the village centre and that they had written again before commencing enforcement action.
8.6 Tynedale Hospice had invited Councillors to a charity lunch on 31/5/2022 and details can be circulated to any Councillors wishing to attend.
8.7 Advertising had been received relating to the Local Power Project Fund which could offer grants towards local power system resilience for rural areas. It was agreed to investigate this further (Cllr Dickson-Green to action).
8.8 A resident had contacted the Parish Council with ideas for use of the Borderlands funds and had been referred to the ongoing consultation. They had also been querying the ongoing Bellingham Middle School transport funding.
8.9 MP Guy Opperman had contacted the Parish Council to ask if there were any areas of concern he could help raise. This was to be checked monthly with Parish Councils in the area.
8.10 NCC is in the process of setting up climate change support website for Parish Councils and it was agreed to have the Clerk fill in the survey on this (Clerk to action).
9. Borderlands
Cllr Dickson-Green noted that the survey was now live and had been publicised through the Parish website and Facebook page. He encouraged all Councillors and residents to fill this in as well as publicising it to others.
10. Reports
10.1 Westlands Dog Waste Bin - This had now been repaired.
10.2 County Councillor Visit in June - Glen Sanderson from NCC is to attend the June meeting to discuss issues of concern to Parish Councillors. Cllr Dickson-Green asked for all questions from Councillors to be sent through to the Clerk so that there is an organised approach to querying issues of importance. (Action ALL)
10.3 Power sockets on lamp posts - It was agreed to install a socket on the lamp post at Joe’s Corner to allow Christmas lights to be installed this year. The lights would be taken from the trees opposite the Greengrocers as no suitable power was available there. NCC would charge £450 for this and this was approved. (Clerk to action).
11. Any Urgent Business
11.1 Cllr Moore noted that some tourist areas had put limits on the number of properties that could be offered as holiday lets. It was agreed for him to find more information on this topic for future discussion (Cllr Moore to action).
11.2 Cllr Huddleson raised the issue of the installation of bunting through the village centre for the Jubilee. It was agreed she would look for a suitable person to help undertake this (Cllr Huddleston to action).
12. Date of next meeting
Wednesday 15th June
Meeting was closed at 8.13pm
