AMBLE TOWN COUNCIL – OCTOBER 2015

The Meeting of the Council held on Thursday 8th October 2015 at 6.00pm in the Town Council Office, Fourways 2, 6 Dilston Terrace, Amble.

PRESENT:

Cllrs J Dargue(Chair), I Hinson, H Lewis, J Watson with the Clerk, Miss Brown and Administration Assistant Vicki Smith

5 members of the public were present.

APOLOGIES: Cllrs C Weir – Dagger money presentation on behalf of ATC, K Cassidy - Holiday, K Morrison - Holiday, P Robinson – unable to attend. These apologies were accepted.

APOLOGIES NOT ACCEPTED: Cllr R Arckless – NCC Commitments

Actions

101. ACCEPTANCE OF DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Cheque No 103356 listed in the payments paper related to purchases made by Cllr H Lewis on behalf of the Council - Accepted
102. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME: (maximum 15 minutes)
Michael Walters – NE650NF – Mr Walters reported to the meeting of 2 street lights that were not working on Acklington Road. After reporting this to the County Council numerous times a repair was carried out but was unsuccessful as the connection wires appeared to be damaged. Brenda Craigs also of NE650NF reported that she was now frightened to leave her home in the dark after her bag was attempted to be snatched and she was pulled to the ground. Mrs Craigs was encouraged to report this incident to the police and obtain a crime number. Cllr J Watson agreed to pursue this issue and would also contact Lorraine Kersop in the relevant department at NCC.
102.1 Mr Spowart – NE65OAU – Mr Spowart attended the meeting to discuss the condition of the road of Gordon Villas. The ownership of the road and responsibility for repairing it was ambiguous. Conversations have taken place with NCC and the Land Registry and clarification is to be sought. As Mr Spowart uses a mobility scooter to get around, he is finding it difficult to navigate the pot holes and damaged road surface in Gordon Villas, especially during the dark nights. ATC to liaise with NCC around ownership and repair responsibility and to report back.
103. MINUTES: TOWN COUNCIL
103.1: The minutes of the meeting held 10 September 2015 were discussed. After amendments, the minutes were agreed as a true record.
104. CLERK’S REPORT:
RECOMMENDATION – That the Council noted the contents of the report and consider actions where necessary.
104.1: ‘Revamp of website – the Clerk requested more steering as to the types of things we would like to see on the website. The Clerk reported that the website needed to be future proof so that as we develop in the future, the website has to capacity to grow with us. Some agreed features were, linking with the pear mapping software, responsibilities and services provided by ATC, the ability to store WW1 / WW2 information, data and research, visual and audio recording and a reporting feature for repairs etc. Future features might include online payments and this could be investigated but it was not felt necessary at present. It was acknowledged that this would be budget dependant and would need to be flexible, fast and user friendly.
104.2: Parking and Traffic regulations; notes of meeting held 23 September 2015 – the notes of the meeting had not yet been provided by NCC. At next meeting NCC would be reminded that ATC are to receive copies of these minutes in a timely fashion. Cllr Lewis provided a verbal summary of the content of the meeting which included: formulating the one way system consultation, residents parking permits and the temporary traffic order on Queen Street becoming permanent. The issue around a town centre car park is to be progressed. The minutes of the meeting would be circulated when received.
104.3: Pension Auto-enrolment update – the Town Clerk along with Cllrs Lewis and Weir met with a financial advisor who recommended they seek further advice from a local accountancy firm. The Accountancy Firm are hosting a free Pensions seminar which is taking place in the Conference Room of the Fourways 2 building on 23 October 2015 and members are encouraged to attend should they wish to know further information. The details would be circulated.
104.4: Trees for Acklington Road – Lime trees are to be planted around November / December
104.5: Local Democracy Week – Due to a poor response rate likely due to other commitments in the school timetables, the Clerk had written to the school and withdrawn the offer of Councillors visiting during Local Democracy week. Amble First School, Amble Links First School and JCSC had responded that they keen to meet therefore it was agreed that ATC would develop a theme of discussion for March 2016 and would meet with schools then. This would allow for Cllrs to free up diaries. Dates are to be communicated to Cllrs once arranged.
It was agreed there was to be a competition for the time capsule which would be buried at Paddlers Park with schools encouraged to get children to write about their home life / school life and winners will be chosen from each school with an overall winner chosen by members. It was agreed that the prizes would total £100 and would be divided up appropriately. This would be communicated to the schools.
104.6: Section 278 Agreement (of the Highways Act 1980) with persimmon homes – The Town Clerk is awaiting a copy of the legal agreement from Peter Ware at NCC. It is believed that funds should be ring fenced for a period of 7 years. Clarification is needed on this , what happens if the funding has not be utilised by then? If the bus route does not include the A1068 Mark’s Bridge in the future, can the funding be used for other bus shelters elsewhere in the town? The Town Clerk will clarify and report back.
104.7: Dandsfield Square play area site visit – a site visit had taken place with colleagues from HfN, Cllrs Lewis, Morrison, Watson and the Town Clerk. Members are delighted that many of the properties are now occupied. It is believed that the responsibility of ground and environmental maintenance around the play will to be NCC NEAT teams. Members were concerned that the football pitch surface remainsuneven and the fencing had been omitted around it. There was concern that the gable end of Charles Road which was next to the pitch may have problems with footballs hitting their wall in the future. Discussions are ongoing between the contractor and HfN around the levelling of the pitch. At the meeting Members suggested that trees were removed from the corners of the playground as the tree roots would ruin the wet pour as they grow, they also queried the vehicular gates that opened onto a highway – the curb was not dropped and suggested that as no heavy vehicles or grass cutter would need to enter the playground it would be prudent to permanently lock the gates. No formal approach had been made to ATC regarding adopting the play area although ATC had been consulted on the design with this in mind for the future.
105. CHAIRMAN’S COMMUNICATIONS and REPORT:
To receive the communications and report of the Chairman pertaining to Council Business: -
A meeting with Neighbourhood Services took place on 6 October and priority areas for litter bin emptying was agreed as Queen Street, Dilston Terrace, The Links, Leazes Street,the Harbour area and Harbour Village. NCC Operative Bob Patterson has located several bins that were found in the NCC compound around the town and EB has requested to be kept informed of the placement of these in the future in order to be able to maintain the internal database. It was agreed that ATC could locate a litter bin on the grassed area at the junction of Philip Drive/Percy Drive – permission had already been granted from Isos who owned the land.
ATC have recently replaced the bins on Queen Street with Gull proof bins and has highlighted the Leazes Street and the promenade bins for replacement in the next financial year. The railings on the promenade are in need of painting and thishas been highlighted to NCC. The footpath at Dilston Terrace over the mound requires edging as well as the footpath along the A1068 from Marks Bridge to South Avenue. This is also being progressed. the Town Clerk requested costs for hanging baskets on the TIC; in previous years this had been funded by ATC. Some of the shrubbery next to the TIC would be removed in preparation of the noticeboard being located there. A quotation is being sought via NCC for the installation of birds’ mouth fencing on the grass verge outside JCSC South Avenue site. It was agreed at the meeting to Zone the town for the purposes of Neighbourhood Services using the same areas identified in the 3 wards of the Parish.
Amble is a finalist for the Great British High Street Awards in the Coastal Communities category. Judges will be visiting Queen Street in the coming weeks and we will be given 10 days’ notice prior to their arrival.
It was reported at the meeting that the B6345 road going out of Amble passed the high school site is not curbed and this is churned into a muddy mess during the winter months. This is to be queried with NCC Highways.
105.1 Chairman’s Report – Cllr Weir attended the 75th RAF Battle of Britain on 15th September and feedback has been excellent.
A meeting of AONB took place on 21st September 2015. They are in the process of updating their input to the Core Strategy and will use this to update their design guide for the future. Communications with Town and Parish councils have improved and they have offered to visit to do a presentation at January Full Council if required. A survey of all underground electrical cables is being carried out, T&PC can help by identifying which cables are obstructing the views of natural beauty. Survey forms are available on request. It was acknowledged that parking issues are a problem in some small villages and the LTP is to be used as a starting point for action. The AONB are in the process of using funding from the Coastal Communities Fund to solve some issues in areas such as Seahouses, Beadnell and Bamburgh. Other communities are encouraged to use this fund and others like it.
Cllr Weir attended the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme meeting on 30 September. The session was run as an open forum and then discussion on major points of interest.
It was highlighted that the work carried out for surfaces and potholes is very reliable in the County.
However the main point of dissent is with communications, it was felt that Highways have a problem keeping T&PC informed. This process is for both planned and reactive work. Signage and the lack of some form of audit was also highlighted as a problem.
Cllr Weir was in attendance at the St Nicholas Dagger Money event tonight,8 October.
It was agreed that condolences were to be sent to the family of Michael Pearson from LMAPS. Michael was a valued colleague and was very helpful and supportive to ATC.
106 REPORTS FROM COUNTY COUNCILLORS:
106.1: No report received from Cllr R Arkless
106.2: A verbal report was given from Cllr Watson: The grass and hedge at Robsons Way has been cut. The ‘coal tub’ planter outside JCSC has been damaged by an attempted theft. This has been reported to the police and a repair is being arranged. Feedback was given from the Harbour Village meeting. The Harbour Village is going well with a full programme of activities available and a lot of Christmas activity. The seafood centre is potentially being looked at to hold more pop up shops and it was reported that the fish business is doing better. The issue with parking on the bend adjacent to the Harbour Village was discussed and they suggested a white lined boxed area for deliveries only be implemented.
Training for Amble – Good attendance ahead of training targets, several apprenticeships ongoing with conversations between organisations looking positive with further opportunities for young people.
107. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES & REPORTS OF MEETINGS ATTENDED BY MEMBERS AS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS:
The notes of the AONB are attached below:

Notes of the Town and Parish Council Meeting are below:

Planning and training notes including pre application information is below. - sorry, understand this now but think better if abbreviationa aren't used so public understand immediately. It was agreed that Clerk, Chair & Vice Chair be delegated as outlined

Neighbourhood Plans notes attached:

Amble History Trail – notes attached

108. FINANCIAL REPORT:
108.1: To consider the accounts for payment, and note receipts for information (Appendix 2). The payments of the month were agreed.
Receipts – The remainder of the Heritage Lottery grant has been received as has the 2nd part of the precept. Item 49 issue has been resolved with Santander. Queries were raised around tenancies income. The commemorative events budget figure required amending. The receipts were noted and agreed.