9th January 2006
8522 Minutes: of the Ordinary Meeting of Arnside Parish Council, held in the Parish Council Office, Church Hill, Arnside on Monday 9th January 2006.

8523 Present: Chairman - Councillor D M (David) Willacy, Councillors, J (Jack) Baker, P E (Ted) Casey, S V (Sue) Gibson, K (Ken) Hargreaves, T (Terry) Keefe, R J (Ros) Lishman, P A (Pete) McSweeney, the Clerk - P G (Peter) Challenor, the Treasurer - A (Tony) Cookson, the Deputy Clerk - J M (Jayne) Beaumont, County Councillor I (Ian) Stewart, P C Alan Salter and 6 members of the public.

8524 Apologies for Absence:

Written apologies were received from District Councillor R (Richard) Rollins (work commitments). Verbal apologies were received from Councillor J (John) Gallagher (work commitments).

8525 Receipt of Declaration of Members’ Interests relating to any items appearing on the Agenda:

It was NOTED that there were no declarations of interest.

8526 Minutes of the Previous Meeting:

The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 12th December 2005 were approved and subsequently signed by the Chairman.

8527 Matters arising from the Minutes of previous meetings:

It was NOTED that there were no matters arising.

8528 Advertisement of Casual Vacancies:

It was NOTED that casual vacancies have been advertised as a consequence of the resignations of Cllrs Colwell and Pierce.

8529 Receipt of notice of Resignation from Mr Anthony Cookson, Responsible Financial Officer:

a). The above resignation was NOTED to take effect immediately following 31st January 2006. The Chairman thanked Mr Cookson for all his hard work over the years and said that he would be sorry to see him go.
b). It was RESOLVED that Mrs Jayne Beaumont would be appointed to be the Acting RFO for a timescale of two months in the first instance, following Mr Cookson’s resignation, and being paid an additional 20 hours per month.

8530 Matters raised by Members of the Public for consideration:

One member of the public asked for clarification as to whether Leighton Beck Bridge fell in the Arnside or Beetham ward - this was confirmed by the Chairman as Arnside. The same member of public had noticed that the drains in Arnside had been cleared out, however, the leaves were now on the road and would get flushed back down the drains again during heavy rainfall. The Chairman confirmed that Cumbria County Council clean the gulleys and South Lakeland District Council clean the roads, which had both been done recently but in the wrong order. Cllr Rollins to be requested to ask SLDC to sweep the roads again.
8531 Police Report:

A written report had previously been circulated to members by PC Alan Salter. The report referred to (1) graffiti being sprayed on the garage door at the coastguard station, which is being investigated, (2) a window at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks was smashed in the early hours of Christmas Day - a visitor to the village has been identified as responsible, who will be dealt with in due course, (3) a prowler entered a house on Mount Pleasant but left immediately when the householder made a noise - nothing was taken, (4) a non injury road accident occurred in Black Dyke Road when a vehicle left the road due to ice, (5) police attended a report of vehicles causing an obstruction in Swinnate Road and were moved on request, (6) a group of youths were advised regarding their behaviour outside Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, (7) a fail to stop road accident occurred on the road from Arnside to Silverdale when a motorcyclist was forced off the road by a Citroen Berlingo - the motorcyclist was uninjured and police are trying to trace the offending vehicle, (8) the problem of two seemingly abandoned vehicles at the entrance to the beach car park is still unresolved and steps may be taken to impose a seven day notice for removal on them, (9) there has been a positive response to the speed awareness device which has been situated on Silverdale Road.

8532 Report from County Councillor Ian Stewart:

Cllr Stewart’s report covered the following: (1) the budget has now been set with just under a 5% increase in council tax expected, (2) approximately £70/£80,000 from the capital budget has been put aside in relation to Arnside Library and the possible relocation - Cllr Stewart to look into possible sites, (3) there are no proposals this year for Arnside fire station to be closed, (4) Cllr Stewart will pass on the concerns about Leighton Beck Bridge and hopes this will become a priority - it was pointed out that this is a school bus route, (5) there is a problem with too much waste going to landfill sites and CCC plan to make a proposal with regard to an alternative to landfill - the difficulties of Kendal recycling centre were pointed out to Cllr Stewart who replied that CCC has plans to make the disposal of waste easier for South Lakeland residents, (6) there is nothing to report on the tide siren at present.

8533 Report from District Councillor Richard Rollins:

Cllr Rollins did not attend the meeting, therefore there was no report.

8534 Finance:

(1) The Financial Summary for December was received and approved.
(2) After a discussion regarding past VAT charges (made in error) being refunded to all known allotment tenants, the following proposal was made:
That the VAT refunds be taken from the 2006/07 budget and where reasonably practicable, allotment holders will be reimbursed accordingly.
It was therefore RESOLVED that Cllr Lishman would send out the refunds along with the annual allotment invoices.

8535 Correspondence:

Receipt of the following items were noted and action determined, by resolution, as indicated:
1. Citizen’s Advice Bureau - request for a donation.
It was RESOLVED not to send a donation.
2. Tim Farron MP - request for identification of sites for Affordable Housing.
3. Network Rail- map showing ownership of land around Arnside Station.
4. North West Air Ambulance - thanks for donation.
5. Home Office - reply to email regarding underage drinking in Arnside.
It was NOTED that the Home Office is looking into our request for clarification as to why Arnside has been omitted.
6. Mr A Cookson - notice of resignation (agenda item).
7. English Nature - “Sitelines”.
8. CALC - “Circular”, December.
9. FLAG - Newsletter, December.
10. NHS - consultation: “Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS”.
11. SLDC - submission draft: “Statement of Community Involvement: (repeat item).

8536 Planning Matters:

a). It was NOTED that no applications had been dealt with under the provisions of Standing Order 25 since the last meeting.
b). It was NOTED that there were no applications to be considered at this meeting.
c). It was NOTED that no decisions had been taken by the District Council since the last meeting:

8537 Action taken in accordance with Standing Order 25 (other than Planning):

It was NOTED that the estimate from L Stephenson & Sons for the dismantling of the chimney at the Cemetery Chapel and making good the roof for a total of £950 + VAT was accepted, subject to the stone being retained on site for possible future use.

8538 Proposals submitted by Arnside Parish Plan Trust:

Cllr McSweeney had attended the APPT meeting in October. Arnside Parish Plan Trust have suggested that a nominated councillor attends boards meetings as APC’s representative for an initial period of 12 months. They would also like the representative to provide APPT trustees with written copies of reports on APPT meetings before they are presented to the councillors at the APC meeting - members were in disagreement of this as it was felt that there could be distortion of the report and censorship. It was RESOLVED that a representative would attend APPT meetings on behalf of APC for an initial period of 12 months. It was further RESOLVED that on those occasions when a written report is produced, it should be submitted simultaneously to APPT and APC, subject to agreement from APPT.. Cllr Keefe will attend the next meeting of APPT on 12th January 2006 as the representative of APC.

8539 Renewal of the Children’s Playground as proposed by Playdale Playground Ltd:

Cllr Gibson reported that the plans submitted by Playdale are currently on the wall of the Parish Council Office for perusal. More toddler equipment is required so the current plans would be subject to amendment. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Gibson obtain two more quotes from other playground construction companies in order that a comparison could be made. Cllr Lishman enquired about the possibility of relocating the playground to another area of the playing field, ie, on the site of the old scout hut. It was further RESOLVED that Cllr Gibson and Cllr Lishman form a sub-committee in relation to the improvement of the children’s playground and invite parents, carers and other interested parties to become involved in the sub-committee.

8540 New Web Site:

As the current web site for APC needs updating, Cllr McSweeney has been investigating web site design firms and has obtained a number of quotes. It was RESOLVED that the quote of £295 is accepted and Cllr McSweeney organises to have the new web site implemented.

8541 Request for a donation to the Great North Air Ambulance Service:

The Clerk advised that new information had come to his attention and members might wish to re-consider their previous decision. There is now a rescue helicopter based at Penrith and dedicated to Cumbria. It was RESOLVED that a donation of £50.00 should be sent to this charity.

8542 Response to SLDC regarding the “Core Strategies” Planning Document:

The Chairman reported that very little on the report affected Arnside and although it was a well constructed document, deemed to be meaningless. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk write a letter of reply to SLDC also indicating that the Council was unhappy that it didn’t have sight of the document until 4th January 2006 and a reply was expected by 17th January 2006. 8543 Reports from the following committees and/or meetings:

a). Foreshore
The Chairman reported that (1) the bollards are now in place but cars are still able to drive through the middle, therefore a chain needs to be added, (2) there was a sewerage problem at Beechwood on Boxing Day which the Chairman dealt with himself, (3) the Highways Department are to be contacted with regard to the seemingly abandoned cars on the beach car park.

b). Highways
The Chairman reported that (1) as previously mentioned, Cllr Stewart is to look into the problem at Leighton Beck Bridge, (2) the relevant person has been spoken to with regard to the light on Black Dyke Road and this will be rectified shortly.

c). Playground Working Group
There was nothing further to report.

d). Playing Field Advisory Committee
Cllr Baker reported that there had been no meeting since November and was therefore nothing to report. The next meeting for this is Monday 30th January 2006.

e). Cemetery
There was nothing to report.

f). Cemetery Chapel Development Committee
Cllr McSweeney gave an update of the works in progress at the Cemetery Chapel. The roof is now weatherproof and the slates are in place, no rot was found in the timbers of the roof. The stone is to be used to face the water tank. The chimney breast on the inside is to be sealed within the next two days. The building work is due to finish at the end of February. The electricity installation has commenced. The CCDC received a grant of £1,000 from Kent Estuary Forum.

g). Allotments
There was nothing to report.

h). Any other committee
There was nothing to report.

8544 To receive items for information:

The Chairman reminded members about a meeting on 19th January 2006 at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal regarding the Sustainable Communities Bill.

8545 Date of the next Meeting:

It was NOTED that the next Ordinary Meeting will be held on Monday 13th February 2006 at 7.15pm. Items for the agenda and reports to reach the Clerk before Friday 3rd February 2006.
Jayne M Beaumont
Deputy Clerk to the Council