19th April 2007 
8910 Minutes: of the Annual Parish Meeting (known as the Parish Assembly) for the Civil Parish of Arnside, held in the WI Village Hall, Arnside on Thursday 19th April 2007. 

8911 Present: Chairman - Councillor D M (David) Willacy, Acting Clerk to the Meeting - J M (Jayne) Beaumont and approximately 33 members of the public.

8912 Minutes of the Previous Annual Parish Meeting:
The Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting held on Thursday 29th April 2006 were approved and subsequently signed by the Chairman.

8913 Police Report:
No representative of the police force attended the meeting, however the Chairman reported on the following:- (1) 10 incidents over 10 days including drunkenness and vandalism, particularly on the playing field where two swings were damaged and the climbing frame dismantled, (2) motorcyclists on the shore claimed to have had permission from the farmer owning the land but, upon further investigation, this was found not to be the case, (3) a car was written off on the playing field, however the owner will not report this due to possible recriminations, (4) the Chairman urged people to please contact the police when they see anything untoward happening so immediate action may be taken, (5) a new PCSO policewoman has been quite active in the village, but unfortunately, was attacked by a dog on the playing field on her first day.

8914 Chairman’s Report:

The Chairman’s Report had been combined with the Annual Newsletter distributed to every dwelling in the Parish and the Chairman apologised for late delivery of this due to problems with the printing.  The Chairman presented his report to the Meeting and gave verbal updates on the matters contained therein.  Items mentioned were (1) the indicator at the station is only partially working with no indication being given as to when trains are arriving, (2) no road closure order has been given for 8th May for the hedge cutting and traffic lights will be in force and parking cones will be placed along Station Road the night beforehand, (3) the coastguards are currently on strike in relation to insurance problems but it is hoped that this will be resolved shortly, (4) due to the lack of the Tide Siren the coastguards were called out on 4 days over the Easter weekend - steps are currently being taken to rectify the situation, (5) over the next 8 weeks Murphys will be working under the viaduct in connection with Network Rail to reinstate the embankment on the Sandside side, (6) the new PCSO seems to be quite keen and will be an asset to the village, (7) Network Rail have been looking into disabled access to the station with CCC possibly altering the access, (8) lottery sales will start at Premier on Monday 23rd April 2007, (9) thanks were given to those members of APC who are standing down on 7th May, for their time and work.

8915  Parish Council Accounts:

Copies of the accounts for the year ended 31st March 2007 and budget for 2007/08 were circulated.

8916 Matters raised by the General Public:

(1) Concerning the Tide Siren, it was suggested that possibly the National newspapers and television companies could be approached regarding this and the Parish Assembly was unanimous in supporting this decision.  The Chairman will put a petition in local shops for people to sign.  County Councillor Ian Stewart is aware of the problems with the Tide Siren and our local MP would be interested to know the outcome and is prepared to offer assistance.

(2) A query was raised regarding the solar wind powered lamp along Red Hills Road.  APC is aware that this light does not work due to being placed incorrectly and is currently awaiting permission to relocate it.

(3) The collapsing wall along Station Road was mentioned and the Chairman confirmed that this matter is being pursued at monthly council meetings with Nick Raymond of CCC, Highways Dept via Cllr Stewart. 

(4) Clarification was asked for regarding the situation with the speed limit to 20mph on Silverdale Road and particularly by the playing field.  Matters of speed limits in Arnside are governed by CCC and this request needs to go to the Deputy PM’s office for approval.  The Chairman urged the public to obtain the numbers of speeding cars and phone Milnthorpe police who will act upon information given - there are 4 cars repeatedly offending and known to the police, but they need to be caught.  This matter will be put on the agenda for the next APC meeting.

(5) A query was raised regarding progress of the skateboard park and the Chairman confirmed that planning permission has been given, with an estimated cost of £60,000 to build the park.  APC would like to see the total amount of money raised, or a good percentage of it, before work can commence - at present approximately £6,000 has been raised. 

(6) It was asked if the general public were being by-passed in their opinion regarding the proposed Unitary Authority bid.  The Chairman stated that APC had not been consulted regarding this and it is awaiting for more information from SLDC.  General feeling is that the Unitary Authority will cover too large an area and control must be made more localised.  In the meantime, the Chairman will speak to the local MP’s office in Kendal for clarification on the situation and to register concern of Arnside residents.

Being no further queries, the meeting closed at 8.20pm.

Jayne M Beaumont
Deputy Clerk to the Parish Meeting