MINUTES of the Parish Council Meeting held in the School, Back Lane, Newburgh on Wednesday, 27th January 2010 commencing at 7.30pm.
PRESENT Cllr. Mrs J. Citarella, Chair.
Cllrs. Mrs C. Gillard, Mrs J.M. O’Keefe, C.D. Moore, R.E. Porter, Mrs R.J. Richardson, A. Sunderland and
Mrs M.A. Turner.
Mr B. Howard, Clerk of the Council.
01/10.
APOLOGIES were received from County Councillor D. Westley and Borough Councillor E. Pope, other commitments.
02/10.
DECLARATION OF INTERESTS.
Cllr. Porter declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 7a in that his wife is included in the Schedule of Accounts for Payment in respect of village cleaning. Cllr.Porter also declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 9 Planning in that application 2010/0021 relates to the property of a near neighbour.
03/10.
MINUTES of the Parish Council meeting held on 9th December 2009 were agreed and signed as a correct record.
04/10.
SERVICES, AMENITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.
Date and format of Annual Parish Meeting.
In considering holding this Meeting on 28th April 2010 immediately prior to the regular Parish Council Meeting already arranged for this date, it emerged that there may be issues for which the Annual Parish Meeting could provide a forum for public discussion e.g. village demographics, future of Cobbs Brow Lane Play Area and the provision of Christmas tree and lights. This being so, it would be beneficial to hold the Annual Parish Meeting on a separate date to allow time for discussion and Councillors were asked to consider this with a view to making a decision at the 24th February Parish Council Meeting.
Local Food Project.
The required report has now been submitted to the Local Food funder and the grant has now been paid. However, a small part of the project has not yet been carried out and it is now necessary to obtain some feedback on the effectiveness of the Food Directory. In addition, whilst the Directory has already been given out to local residents, distribution to those businesses featured and outlets such as libraries and information centres needs consideration.
It was RESOLVED to reconvene the Working Group to progress these issues.
Future of Lancashire Locals.
L.C.C. feel that Lancashire Locals do not reflect their priorities as an administration for relationships with other tiers of Local Government or with local communities. Additionally, it is calculated that they cost well over £100,000 in direct costs alone.
Whilst accepting that the West Lancashire Local provides the only real opportunity for the public to interact with both County and Borough elected representatives, many topics attracting public attendance are single subject issues. It is stated that structures are already in place but these should be strengthened and broadened, so that they could replace the work undertaken at Lancashire Locals.
These alternative arrangements expressed as “offers” to District Councils, County Councillors and the public were noted but it was agreed that L.C.C. should be asked how these are going to be developed and how improving the relationships with Town and Parish Councils will be addressed.
Cllr. Porter attended the latest West Lancashire Local held on 20th January 2010 and provided a verbal report on some of the issues discussed.
Training opportunities offered by Team Lancashire.
These were NOTED.
Future of Play Area off Cobbs Brow Lane.
The interest of Newburgh Sports Club in taking over this facility was first to be established before any decision could be made. The Chairman of the Club has been spoken to informally and she has said that their possible interest will be discussed at their Committee Meeting arranged for 25th January 2010. However, no feedback has yet been received.
A file of papers on the Play Area has been examined to determine our legal position. These papers revealed a number of things including that the Lease with Standish Estates is quite simple and says nothing about our obligations if the Play Area Agreement is terminated.
As the Lease is such a simple document, it was RESOLVED that at the appropriate time, this should be referred to a Solicitor for an opinion on what would be expected both from the Parish Council and the Landlord on termination of the Lease. There are, for example, issues of re-instatement and removal of equipment, fence and flags.
The Play Area has been examined in the light of the problems highlighted in the RoSPA 2009 Inspection Report. Very little use is made of the facility in the winter months and it was therefore, RESOLVED not to undertake any remedial work at this time but wait until some progress has been made on the future of the site. Most of the items requiring attention are not deemed immediate and present no danger to children but if a decision is not made on the future of the site by spring, some work will be necessary.
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04/10 (continued).
Future of Play Area off Cobbs Brow Lane (continued).
It was agreed that the past Minutes of Council Meeting would be examined to try to determine responsibilities including ownership and maintenance of the boundary fence, flagged path and public seats on King George V
Playing Field.
Consultation on possible Mineral and Waste Site Locations.
Cllr. Mrs Gillard had studied the Consultation document and provided a verbal report on the implications on Newburgh and Round O Quarry.
The consultation is in favour of policy Option ALC 3 which relates to Non-hazardous waste i.e.
“No new landfill sites to be allocated, but where a site continues to have capacity to take waste and is required to meet short term needs then time extensions to the permission should be allowed up to 2015. This is to ensure that we maintain an adequate supply in the short term and that the industry has sufficient time to introduce and access alternatives to landfill.”
The justification for this is expanded under the heading “Favoured Option” and includes a statement that extension to 2015 would prevent the possibility of consequential temporary closure of other existing facilities or increased impacts on local communities due to increased lorry movements.
It was RESOLVED to object to the proposal to extend the time period of the existing planning permission at Round O Quarry of up to 2015 as this would increase the impact on Newburgh due to increased lorry movement for an additional five years. The current permission expires in 2010.
It was appropriate to draw the Authority’s attention to the current proposal for Round O Quarry to extend the recycling facilities to operate until 2020 and ask what impact the above emerging policy could have on this application. In addition, point out that in order to reduce impact on the community, alternative lorry routing should be agreed and these are currently being considered under planning application 2009/1141.
Streetscene Delegated Services Protocol.
It was agreed that a small Council such as Newburgh is not in a position to take on any delegated responsibilities. However, there was merit in a suggestion made from the floor of the Lancashire County Council Parish & Town Council Conference on 21st November 2009 that Parish Councils could actually engage in the development of service standards whilst such services remain the responsibility of the County.
It was RESOLVED to respond supporting the above suggestion pointing out that we already have a working model in our Streetscene support provided by the Village Assistant.
Date of Civic Service.
The Vicar of Christ Church has suggested holding the Civic Service on Sunday, 2nd May 2010. In discussion it was found that a number of Councillors were not available on that date and also too close to the possible date of the General Election. It was RESOLVED to advise the Vicar accordingly and try to arrange for a suitable date prior to
2nd May 2010.
Newburgh Sports Club, poor state of access drive.
The Sports Club is concerned about the potholes and general poor state of the access drive. It is understood that maintenance is the responsibility of the Borough Council and the Club has already written to them asking for remedial repairs. It was RESOLVED to support the concerns of the Sports Club because of the potential hazard to Newburgh residents and thus write to the Borough Council accordingly.
05/10.
WORK PLAN UPDATE.
The updated Values and Visions statements are enclosed.
The website hits statistics, copy attached to the Agenda, were noted.
06/10.
ISSUES RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
No members of the public were present.
07/10.
FINANCE,
a) Accounts for Payment.
It was RESOLVED to pass for payment those accounts included in the Schedule attached.
b) Finance Committee Meeting.
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20th January 2010 were NOTED.
c) Budget and Precept 2010/11.
It was RESOLVED to: -
d) New Play Area, Back Lane.
The financial reconciliation statement, copy attached to the Agenda, was NOTED.
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08/10.
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Schedule of Correspondence, copy attached, was NOTED. The following were discussed: -
a) Communication from a resident.
The various issues raised by a resident with Living Lancashire have already been addressed by the Council in the
past and the communication was noted.
b) Face the People event, 10th March 2010.
Cllr. Mrs Citarella and the Clerk will attend.
c) Charter Celebration event, 5th February 2010.
In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chairman, Cllr. Porter agreed to attend.
j) Claim for public footpath 33 & 40 to 39 & 34.
L.C.C. has indicated that a report has now been prepared and the claim will be dealt with by the Regularity
Committee in March 2010.
09/10.
PLANNING.
Updates.
2009/1141. Round O Quarry, variation to allow recycling to continue.
This application was not referred to the January 2010 Development Committee Meeting as expected due to, it is understood, ongoing discussions on traffic routing issues. The opportunity to make representation to the Committee will now be: -
or
2009/0701. Farm Shop, Course Lane, proposed development.
This application was dealt with at Planning Committee on 14th January 2010 and was refused.
2009/1100. Mushroom Farm, Course Lane, erection of detached dwellings.
The applicant has withdrawn this application.
2009/1016. 60, New Acres, first floor and two-storey side extension. Granted W.L.B.C.
2009/1026. 1, Acrefield, conservatory to rear. Granted W.L.B.C.
New Applications.
2010/0021. 2, Pine Close, new vehicular and pedestrian access.
Deferred for consideration by the Planning Working Group.
2010/0026. Greenfields, Course Lane, alterations and extensions including raising height of roof and two-storey rear extension (extension of time limit of permission 2005/0198).
No comments to make.
Enforcement Issues.
2009/0003. Vicarage Farmhouse, Course Lane, retention of driveway, wall, gates, etc.
This application was refused and an Enforcement Notice is now being issued by the Borough Council.
1, Woodrow Drive, boundary fence. An Enforcement Order will be issued by the Borough Council in connection with the excess height of the boundary fence.
10/10.
DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING.
24th February 2010 at 7.30pm.
Meeting finished at 9.15pm.
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