Present: Councillors P Johnson, A Parker, R Messenger, A Shepherd, G Capstick, G Handley, B Woof, the Clerk and four members of the public.

050 Apologies for Absence. A letter of resignation was received from Councillor A Rimmer. The Councillors wish to acknowledge the valuable contribution he has made to the village, over the past three years. This opens up a vacancy, which will be advertised forthwith.

051 The Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 18th August 2003 were approved as a true record.

052 Matters arising from the Minutes.

Replies to correspondence on Crop Spraying and Horncop were discussed and two Councillors have agreed to help with the ‘Lost Ways’ project if required.

053 Leasgill QuarryTrust Fund

The chairman gave the following account of the Sub Committee meeting held on 22^nd September, to discuss the Accounts for the year and the grant applications.

		Amount		Amount
Applicant	Purpose	Requested		Recom'ded
1.Milnthorpe Methodist Church	New Kitchen	£ 1,000.00		£ 500.00
2.Milnthorpe Parish Council	Two new Bus Shelters	£ 2,000.00		£ 1,000.00
3.Milnthorpe Christmas Committee	Xmas on the Green Event	£ 300.00		£ 300.00
4.Milnthorpe Family Centre	Furniture and Storage equip.	£ 1,000.00		£ 500.00
5.Heversham Parish Council	To erect a Sheltered Seat	£ 700.00		£ 700.00
6.Milnthorpe Steel Band	To Purchase a Collapsible Marquee	£ 500.00		£ 500.00
7.Miln. & Hev. First Responders	Equipment for 3 bases	£ 2,000.00		£ 1,000.00
Heversham Playground Committee	Playground Equipment	£ 2,000.00		£ 1,000.00
Heversham Primary School	Special Needs Room	£ 2,000.00		£ 1,000.00
Total		£ 7,500.00		£ 6,500.00

The remaining £197.13 to be retained for administrative purpose

The £2,700 granted to Milnthorpe Parish Council in 2002 but now withdrawn, will be made available out of 2004 Funds. The Chairman explained that the committee faced a problem with regard to unclaimed Grants, as the interest must be distributed, otherwise the Charity could face tax penalties. It was therefore decided that grants must be claimed by the 31^st August or a letter applying for an extension of time should be submitted, for consideration at the September meeting

The Councillors approved the decisions taken, and thanked Cllr. Handley for all the work undertaken with regard to the proposed sheltered seat and waymark in the copse on Heversham Head.

054 The Following Payments were authorised: -

Clerks expenses and salary - £467.54,cheque no. 534

Balance of playground fund - £1790.77, cheque no. 533

Chairman’s expenses - £78.75, cheque no. 535

SLDC (Playground Inspection) - £206, cheque no. 536

055 The Playground Funds have now been transferred to the playground committee for investment in a new account of their choosing. £500 has been raised for it recently, by Mr Pickhall of 1 Woodhouse, through participating in the London Marathon and the Councillors wish the Clerk to write a letter of thanks for such a valued contribution.

056 The Projected Accounts to 31/03/04 were considered and it was shown that there will probably be a balance remaining of approximately £2,300, which is lower than budgeted, and it was felt that this must be taken into account, when calculating the amount of precept required next month.

057 Purchase of a Replacement Mowing Machine. This is likely to be £2,000 and was consider to be rather a burden for the tax payers to bear in one year, so it is likely that there will be an amount requested in the Precept to give the present machine a thorough overhaul, instead.

058 Planning Application: Ref:SL/2003/1970/JCH. Hill Brow, Dugg Hill, Heversham. Replacement Conservatory of the same size. - No objections were recorded.

059 An Addendum to Standing Orders was made, as follows: -

In the event of the Parish Councils comments on a ’Planning Application’ being required before the next P.C. meeting, the Clerk shall circulate the plans to all available Councillors and submit their comments to the Planning Department.

060 A Request to Change the Speed limit on the stretch of the A6 which bypasses Heversham (Princes Way) has been received from a parishioner. The meeting was adjourned at this point to allow the members of the public to put forward their points of view. After considerable discussion the Councillors felt that Princes Way was intended to allow traffic to by-pass Heversham quickly but a hazard was created when traffic joined Princes Way from Marsh Lane. Therefore the Clerk is to write to ‘Highways Department’ to request that a short portion of Marsh Lane,from the Church to the A 6, should be made one way, allowing no traffic onto the bypass.

061 Remaining Correspondence requiring attention.

• Annual Precept – SLDC request to complete form and return. – An agenda item for October.

• Parish Allowance Scheme/Councillors – letter alerting the need to register. The chairman explained that from the end December 2003 no expenses of any sort will be paid to Councillors under the existing scheme. However, the Clerk has applied to SLDC for an assessment of allowances payable under the new scheme. These could not only cover expenses but also payments to Councillors for their activities. The general feeling of the Council was, that whilst it was reasonable for their costs to be reimbursed they did not want to accept payment for their service to the community. It was felt that this would be another burden on the Council Tax payer.

• A letter to introduce ‘The Local Channel’, which can help the Council and local residents get online successfully at no cost. Parishes claiming their website before 1/10/03 will receive 15% of advertising revenue from their site for ever, providing adoption is completed buy 31/12/03. – Not required.

• Playground reports for August and September. –Passed to playground committee member.

• Request for sponsorship for the project of the ‘South Lakeland Hydrotherapy Trust. – Clerk to write a letter of protest to Cumbria County Council who intend to relinquish their responsibility for management of the pool by April 2004.

• Information about the availability of ‘Zurich Municipal’s’ Advisory service and CD-ROM on risk assessment for local councils. Both at a price. – Not required.

• Request from ‘AmeyMouchel’ for a list of Parish Council Meeting dates. – Clerk to supply.

• Cumbria County Council’s Contracts Guide to Presentation Products. – Thought to be a costly diversification - the Clerk to write.

062 Items for Information.

The northern sliproad on the Kendal by-pass will be closed by Capita at Brettargh Holt for six weeks from mid October. The traffic will be redirected to travel back to J36 of the M6 and then back towards Kendal.

Various areas of the Parish in need of attention are: overgrown hedges on Greengate Lane; mud on the road at the Woodhouse junction, dying trees lining the road between Milnthorpe and Heversham and the 30 m.p.h. road sign by the playground concealed with shrubbery. Clerk to write.

063 The date of the Next Parish Council Meeting is Monday, October 27th at 7.30 p.m

L. Denise Challenor (Mrs)

Clerk to the Council

Tel: 01524 761824