5908 Minutes: of the Annual Parish Meeting (”Parish Assembly”) for the civil parish of Arnside, held on Thursday 24th April 2003, in the W.I. Hall, Orchard Road, Arnside, commencing at 7.30pm.

5909 Present: Chairman - Councillor D. Willacy, the Clerk to the Parish Meeting - P.G. Challenor, the Treasurer to the Parish Council - A. Cookson, and 123 members of the public, including Councillors and persons invited to address the meeting.
5910 Apologies for Absence: Mr Vic Gray.

5911 Minutes: The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Thursday 25th April 2002 were approved and then signed by the Chairman.

5912 Finance

(a) The Treasurer drew attention to the Audit Report for the year 2001-2002 and the comment made to the effect that, at the time of audit, the Parish Council had not conducted a Risk Assessment. Since that time, a Risk Assessment has been carried out by the Finance Committee and the report accepted by the Parish Council.

(b) In respect of the year 2002-2003, the Treasurer distributed copies of a Balance Sheet and a Summary of Income and Expenditure, together with a detailed Analysis of both items. The Treasurer drew attention to the fact that there had been an excess of expenditure over income and that this had been mainly caused by the need to purchase a replacement tractor, for use by the Parish Council’s Contractor.

Questions from members of the public related to the calculation of rents for use of the Playing Field and the wisdom of purchasing a tractor, rather than leasing one. The rents are calculated on the basis of being reasonable, even though the costs of maintaining the facilities are heavily subsidised out of Parish Council funds.

After discussion about the provision of the tractor, a member of the public expressed the opinion that the current contractor provides an excellent service, at a minimal cost, and this view was endorsed by many persons present.

5913 Charities Report:

Attendance of Councillor Hunt had been delayed and it was not therefore possible to present a report from the Beetham Exhibition Trust. The report will be made at a future meeting of the Parish Council.

5914 Chairman’s Report:

The Chairman distributed copies of the Parish Council Newsletter of April 2003, containing his Annual Report and made additional comments, in order to update the items referred to. For most items there was nothing additional to report, but the Chairman wished to draw particular attention to the following matters:

(a) Members had expressed concern that an applicant for Planning Permission had been told by a Planning Officer to withdraw an application for the construction of two ‘affordable housing’ units (proposed as part of a larger scheme), as there was no chance of it being approved. When the revised scheme had been considered by the SLDC Planning Committee a query had been raised about the lack of an element of provision for ‘affordable housing’. It appeared that there was some sort on conflict in the policies being adopted by the planning officers and those adopted by members of the Planning Committee. The Clerk has written to the Chairman of the Planning Committee seeking an explanation.

(b) It has come to the attention of the Parish Council that an application for a grant from the Lottery Community Fund, to assist in the renovation of the W.I. Hall, has been turned down. The reason given is reported as “…the funds are to be directed to communities where there are ethnic minorities and asylum seekers”. This was discussed at the last Parish Council and it was agreed that the Parish Council will give favourable consideration to making a donation under the provisions of Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972. A formal decision will however be made by the newly elected Parish Council, at the meeting scheduled for 12th May. Members also declared their disgust at the reason given by the Lottery Community Fund, which may be seen by many people as being ‘racial discrimination’.

(c) A group of local parents have applied to the Parish Council for permission to provide a Skateboard Park on the Playing Field, the cost of which is likely to be in the region of £40,000. The Parish Council has granted permission in principle, but the group will need to obtain Planning Permission. If the provision is successfully completed, the Parish Council will meet the costs of ongoing maintenance, on a similar basis to those costs which are already met for the maintenance of the children’s Playground Area (subject to there being no charge made for the use of the Skateboard Park). It was noted that the recent Parish Plan Questionnaire has revealed that, out of those answering the question about the provision of a skateboard park, approximately 60% are in favour.

(d) There is ongoing concern about the use of the Foreshore as an area where parking of cars is permitted. Despite the existence of a gate in the sea wall, it is not currently permissible for the gate to be closed in order to prevent cars being parked a times of very high tides and there continue to be many cases of cars being flooded. The Environment Agency will only permit the gate to be closed in order to prevent the incoming tide from flooding onto the roadway. It is also noted that English Nature would prefer the parking of cars on the foreshore to be prohibited completely, but the land is owned by the Parish Council (with a small area being rented from the former Railtrack), and the Council is entitled to permit parking. Further maintenance of the surface is however prohibited by an Enforcement Order from SLDC. During the coming year it is hoped to organise discussions with the various authorities, with the aim of achieving an agreement as to how this area might be sensibly used and maintained.

(e) The Chairman drew attention to the fact that the Coastguard had been called out eight times over the Easter weekend. Without the presence of the Coastguard crew and equipment in Arnside, it seems very likely that there would have been fatalities. It was also noted that one such incident had been aggravated by the fact that the tidal warning siren had been sounded much later than scheduled. Most persons present endorsed the view that the Coastguard crew provide an essential service for Arnside and their continuing existence is to be rigorously supported.

5915 Police Traffic Speed Guns

Chief Inspector Martin Connolly, Sergeant Sean Murphy and Mr Roger Mallett of Cumbria Constabulary gave a presentation about the proposed Community Speed Watch Scheme. The Police are currently willing to loan a Speed Gun and high conspicuity jackets to the community, subject to there being a minimum of six volunteers, including a co-ordinator and deputy. The volunteers will work in pairs and at sites assessed by the Police as being suitable. Insurance will be provided by the Police.

Following a video presentation and further discussion of the scheme, Sergeant Murphy asked for a decision to be taken as to whether or not the community in Arnside wished to take-up the offer of the loan of the equipment for a trial period. It was therefore decided to put the matter to a vote of all the 123 persons present, the results being:

In favour: 46

Against: 2

Abstentions: 75

The vote of the Parish Meeting (not necessarily the Parish Council) is therefore in favour of proceeding with the adoption of the Community Speed Watch Scheme, for a trial period of several months, using equipment provided on loan from Cumbria Constabulary.

If the scheme is to be adopted on a permanent basis, it will be necessary for the community to purchase the equipment. It is noted that the Parish Council resolved on 10th March 2003, at Minute 5881, that “… this Council will not purchase a Traffic Speed Gun…”, and that any purchase would therefore have to be made by a different organisation.

5916 Refuse Collection System

Mr Chris Fidler, Contract Services Manager for South Lakeland District Council gave a presentation about the changes to be implemented in the Refuse Collection System, with an explanation of the need for increased re-cycling.

Government legislation requires SLDC to achieve a 14% recycling rate by the end of 2003 and 21% by the end of 2005. As each household in the District produces an average of one tonne of refuse per year, this presents a major challenge. Government targets are based on weight and the initial need is therefore to either reduce the amount of heavy refuse, or recycle, such materials, eg paper, glass, cans and green or garden waste, before proceeding to lighter materials. The blue boxes have been purchased with the assistance of a grant from the Landfill Trust.

The proposal for the scheme is that each house will continue to receive a weekly collection, but with alternating collections of materials: Week 1 - recyclable and garden waste, Week 2 - residual waste. Existing green wheelbins will be used for garden waste, blue boxes for other specified recyclable waste and new grey wheelbins for residual waste. The total capacity will be at least 480 litres per fortnight.

The trial area of Milnthorpe, Arnside and Kirkby Lonsdale will have the scheme introduced in August 2003 and it is hoped to expand the scheme to the whole of the SLDC area within three years.

Many comments were made and Mr Fidler stated his Department will be happy to attend to any queries or feedback, as the system is introduced. Contact can be made by writing to Mr M. Jones, Director of Customer Services, Canal Head House, Canal Head, Kendal, LA9 7BY, or by e-mail on “badger@southlakeland.gov.uk” or “c.fidler@southlakeland.gov.uk“.

5917 Cemetery Chapel

The Clerk explained that he had received notice from the Disability Rights Commission, last September that any building owned by the Council, to which members of the public are ever admitted, must be provided with adequate facilities for the use of disabled persons, by no later than October 2004. Recognising the heavy financial implications for the Cemetery Chapel, he had written to the Commission, explaining that the Chapel is very rarely used and the building is without heating, power, lighting, water supply, sewerage connection, or telephone connection. He had requested exemption on the grounds of excessive cost. This request had been refused and the Commission reiterated the need to provide a full range of facilities including toilets and had stated “…it is not sufficient to simply provide a ramp at the entrance”. This matter had been considered by the Parish Council and it had been decided to put the matter before the Annual Parish Meeting, in order to seek the views of the community as to whether or not it would be preferable to close the Chapel permanently, or spend a great deal of money on it, possibly extending the scope for use of the building. Since that decision had been made, the Clerk read an article suggesting that the Commissioner does actually have the right to grant exemptions and he had therefore written again. This time the reply had been to the effect that, although an exemption could not be granted, the circumstances described would lead the Commissioner to consider that it would be satisfactory to simply provide a portable ramp, for use as and when required. The urgent need for discussion of this item has therefore passed, but the Parish Council would still like to receive views on the matter, from members of the community.

The Deeds relating to the Burial Ground seemed to indicate that (1) the ground on which the Chapel stands cannot be sold, and (2) any alterations made to the Chapel should be such that the contents of the building can be simply and speedily re-arranged, so as facilitate its use as a chapel in conjunction with the function of the cemetery. The only option therefore is for an additional use rather than a replacement use.

It is understood that 75% of those who completed the question relating to the Cemetery Chapel, on the Parish Plan questionnaire, are in favour of adaptation for an additional use.

5918 Matters raised by the General Public

One member of the public asked about the Planning Application which had recently been submitted for conversion of Ashmeadow House, to accommodate ten apartments. She felt that this would not be of benefit to the residents of Arnside and wondered whether this would be in accordance with the Will of the benefactor. It was explained that this latter aspect is not a matter for the Parish Council and that comments were therefore made in line with normal Planning considerations. The person raising the question was advised to contact the Trustees of the Residual Estate of the Late John Barnes. The Clerk indicated that the person to approach is Mr Peter Thomson and he would supply the lady concerned with full contact details.

5919 There being no further matters raised by members of the public, the Chairman declared the formal part of the meeting to be closed at 21.55.

Before starting his presentation Councillor Keefe paid tribute to the excellent work done by the Chairman of the Parish Council and this was heartily endorsed by those present.

There then followed a presentation by Councillor Keefe, giving some early analyses of the responses contained in the Parish Plan Questionnaire. It was also stressed that it is now imperative for volunteers to come forward to form particular ‘task groups’. There will be a Public Meeting held in June and it is hoped to complete the Parish Plan in July, with copies being circulated to all households during August. In concluding his presentation, Councillor Keefe paid tribute to all those who had worked so hard on the Parish Plan project and thanked them for their continuing involvement.

Peter G. Challenor

Clerk to the Parish Meeting.