Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in the Public Room on Tuesday May 8th 2007 at 7pm. Also of the Annual Parish Meeting which was held at 8pm.

Present: C. Cripps chaired the meeting. Other members present were G. Duxbury, T. Foster, T. Roberts, R. Bragg, D.Angus, J. Fleet and L. Dalzell.

Apologies of absence: were received from Roy Fisher

Declarations of acceptance and Register of interests forms were signed by all councillors.

Declarations of interest: none.

Cooption – It was proposed by Trevor Roberts that John Fleet be co-opted onto the council, this was agreed.

Election of Officers: It was proposed by Mr. Foster that the existing officers remain the same. This was seconded by Mr. Fleet. The officers are as follows-

Chairman – Carolyn Cripps

Vice Chairman – Guy Duxbury

Towngate Trust – Donald Angus and Tim Foster

School Board – John Fleet

School Masters House – Les Dalzell

Public Room Committee – all

Jubilee Croft – all

Recreation Field Trust – Donald Angus

 
Public Representations-none

Minutes of the previous meeting: these were accepted as a true record.

Recreation Field Trust – Mr. Hume has complained to several councillors that he was unhappy with the tone of the letters he has received from the parish council. The letter which caused upset was read out to the meeting and it was agreed by everyone present that it was not rude and there was not a bad tone to it. It was agreed that no reply was needed as Mr. Hume had only complained verbally.

Unlicensed Vehicle – This has now gone.

Kiln Howe: awaiting outcome of funding application.

Cumbria In Bloom: On going. Tim Foster has emailed some photos to Alison which will be passed on to John Fleet.

Public Room Constitution – Copies of the proposed constitution had been circulated, and the document was discussed. It was agreed that it would be beneficial to adopt a more up to date constitution. There were two queries about the proposed document, which Trevor Roberts will look into. Once the necessary amendments have been made the Parish Council agreed to endorse this new constitution. It will also be discussed at the next Public Room meeting in June.

The Parish Council are the “custodian trustee “of the Public Room and as such they own the building. It was agreed to seek advice on gaining a valuation for the building and land which will be added to the Parish Councils list of assets.

The Annual Parish Meeting – This began at 8pm.

The Chairman’s Report -

Carolyn Cripps gave a summary of the years events and achievements. The Parish Plan continues to be a useful resource and has been instrumental in many of the initiatives that have taken place in the year. The walks leaflets and booklets have been much appreciated and Threlkeld has been held up as a good example of the parish plan process. The revitalization of the Public Room is a long project but one which is well supported and has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the community.

Threlkeld continues to do well with recycling with the bins at Jubilee Croft and the plastic and garden waste skips being well used. The Parish Council was pleased that EDC recognized this and allowed Threlkeld to be one of the places to retain the garden waste service.

The new houses at Town Cross have been a bone of contention, but this year should see them completed.

Cumbria In Bloom is becoming a good part of the summer, and one which sees a lot of village involvement.

The new website is a great asset and is already attracting good comments

Kiln Howe is steadily improving and is becoming a really lovely area.

It was very sad to lose Alan Davidson and his involvement on the Parish Council was much appreciated.

It is good to have a new councilor, Trevor Roberts, who is a great asset.

Lastly all the parish councilors and the clerk were thanked for their help.

The Annual General Meeting resumed.

Village Notice boards- Donald will have a look at these and see if he can mend them.

New Houses at Town Cross – John Fleet and Alison Critchlow went to a meeting at the site with Bill Murray and Alan Holdsworth. They have agreed to remove the steps onto the village road. They also agreed that the boundary wall has been built in the wrong place, and this will be rectified. When finished this wall will be faced in stone and the footpath will be tarmaced. Generally the site manager is being very helpful and trying to minimize the problems on site. The height of the buildings is a problem which the LDNPA think is acceptable given that the windows have been changed to be more in line with the agreed plan. It was agreed that everyone would like to see the buildings finished now.

Consultation on Unitary Cumbria Proposal – It was decided not to comment on this proposal.

Small Gate by the bungalow at Town Cross – Graham Standring has looked at this and said that it is not on a public right of way and is not a gate which the LDNPA have responsibility for. EDC will be contacted, as it needs to be replaced.

Bank Mandate Form- It was agreed that the three signatories on the new mandate form will be Carolyn Cripps, Trevor Roberts and John Fleet. Carolyn will ring Barclays to instruct them to open a new account for - “Threlkeld Parish Council village hall revitalisation fund”.

Finance -

Monies Received-

27.04.07 £10 Mr. Stevens Ground rent

27.05.07 £17 Adverts and donations to newsletter

8.05.06 £125 Mr. Singleton Rent – Old Fire Station

8.05.07 £10 Rodney Howe Ground rent

8.05.07 £5 Mr. Airey Ground rent

8.05.07 £30 Mr. Salkeld Ground rents

Cheques Made Out –

8.05.07 £120 Frances Clark Internal Audit

8.05.07 £152 John Fleet Grass cutting

Internal Audit Report –

This was discussed and the recommendations were considered

Financial Regulations – these will be amended to allow for payment from the petty cash system.

Risk Assessment –This was reviewed. There was a query about the land at Wescoe, which has a lot of farm machinery on it. The clerk will bring the map of village greens and common land along to the next meeting to check this area.

Public Room – It was agreed that the public room committee need to consider more regular health and safety checks for the building. They will be asked to put this matter on their next agenda.

Budget – It was agreed that when discussing the budget councillors should consider the actual results from the previous year against the budget set. It was also agreed to that a reason would be given for any precept increase above the rate of inflation.

Public Room – it was agreed that this building does belong to the Parish Council and as such should be listed as an asset.

External Auditors Form-This was completed and signed.

Correspondence:

Mrs. Horder – Has responded that the school would be happy to be involved with planting on Kiln Howe, and could arrange to do this in school time. It was agreed that John Fleet and Les Dalzell would speak to Mrs. Horder directly to arrange this.

Standards Board- The Parish Council need to adopt the new Code of Conduct. It was agreed to put this on the next agenda.

Ann Davidson – has asked where to site the other bench. It was agreed that just above the willow theatre up on the mound would be a good place.

Skiddaw House – Tim Foster declared an interest in this matter. A reply was received from Mr. Sellers asking if he might come to a Parish Council meeting. A letter will be sent letting him know when the meetings are held.

Amey Mouchel – Have sent a standard form asking for comments on the road works “recently completed” at Greta Bridge. Another letter will be sent to them asking when the rest of the works will be carried out and making sure that a barrier for the footpath down to the railway track will be included.

Dog Bin – A resident has asked if another dog bin could be provided at the west end of the village. It was agreed not to ask the council for this as there is one already not that far away.

To Circulate-

CALC “Serving Town & Parish” leaflets

CALC County Circular May 07

CALC Good Councils Guide

Local Council Review

Kompan Play area information

LDNPA Lakes Messenger

Clerks & Councils Direct

Representatives Reports- None.

Matters To Be Placed on the next agenda-

Adopting the new Model Code of Conduct

Public Room Update

Kiln Howe

LDNPA Study of services and employment opportunities in Threlkeld.

Village Green & Common Land maps – Land at Wescoe.

There being no further business the meeting was declared closed at 9.25pm. The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 26th June.