Heversham Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in the Athenaeum, on Monday, 24th May 2004, which started at 7.30.p.m.
Present: Councillors P Johnson, T Parker, R Messenger, A Lucas, G Capstick, District Councillor B Woof, County Councillor R Bingham the Clerk and one member of the public.
121 Apologies for absence, were received from Cllr. A Shepherd.
122 Paragraph 118 of the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 26th April, 2004 were corrected to read that the request for lowering of speed restrictions is on the budget of CCC not SLDC. They were otherwise signed as correct.
123 Matters arising from the Minutes.
The Clerk has sought advice about defraying the costs incurred by the Chairman and although this is normally covered by the ‘Chairmans Allowance’, it was felt that this council did not wish for the Chairman to have one.
124 Clerks Protocol. The Councillors do not want the Clerk to respond to emails from unknown sources. Members of the public must be encouraged to communicate by post. Any important telephone conversations will need to be confirmed by letter.
The Clerk is free to make judgements as to whether to communicate with a correspondent before the letter is discussed at a meeting, though not of course, to make assumptions in such correspondence. The Council wish the Clerk only to present to the Councillors correspondence she feels needs their attention, therefore sifting out the correspondence she judges to be of no interest. This will simply be tabled at the meeting.
125 Parish Insurance cover required.
Following information presented to the Councillors by the Clerk, there was a discussion, in which it was though worthwhile to pay the extra £23.67 and insure the Playground Gates and St Marys Well but not the Indicator on the Head (the cost being quite high and the risk thought to be low). The War Memorial is to be left uninsured by the Parish Council until consultation with the Church Council who may already have it covered.
126 Authorisation was given for payments to be made for the following:
Peter Johnson, expenses - £28.50 – cheque 0552.
SLDC Playground Inspections - £75 for annual inspections – cheque 0553.
Allianz Cornhill, insurance - £496.18 – cheque 0554.
127 Equipment Report. The most recent playground report shows areas that need attention, which Cllr. Parker will deal with. Following advice from Allianz Cornhill insurance, the playground will only need to have an inspection by an Engineer once a year. However the Councillors will undertake to do a weekly inspection for glass and obvious dangers and record the findings and action taken. The Clerk is to obtain a book and set up a rota system, which will require the Councillors to inspect every week for a month, before passing it on to the next person.
128 Athenaeum Financial Report. The Community account holds £3,368 and the Business account £1,465.
129 Playground Financial Report. The fund currently holds £2290.77. A cheque has been received for it today for £90 and the Leasgill Quarry Fund has promised £2,000.
130 Planning Applications since the last meeting: -
Ref. SL/2004/0570 - Crossfield Cottage, Heversham, two storey extension.
Cllr. Gordon Capstick declared an interest and withdrew from the meeting.
The Council believed the garden of the adjoining property would be overlooked quite closely and therefore wish to recommend to SLDC planning department, that the offending windows be eliminated from the plan.
131 Leasgill Quarry Fund. The Chairman wishes to explore the possibility of inviting parishioners to make donations or bequeath to Leasgill Quarry Fund in their Wills. This would increase the amount of money available to help the various local causes. Councillors seem to think this worth exploring and Cllr. Woof advised the Chairman of a knowledgeable person to contact, with whom to discuss the idea.
Cllr. Bingham informed the Council of the sad loss of Milnthorpe Cllr. John Liddell, who serves on the Leasgill Quarry Committee. 132 Correspondence received since the last meeting: -
The Councillors and a local historian present were insistent that the road in question is called Marsh Lane and not Moss Side Lane as shown on the map enclosed. The erecting of street name plates was thought to be unnecessary. The Clerk will write to convey this information.
Noted with pleasure.
Some of the examples, were read out by the Chairman and the letter then circulated for those who wished to study it more carefully. Some Coucillors felt it was an infringement on their private lives and were resentful, particularly as sometimes the information appeared to be irrelevant.
133 Items for information.
A. Cllr. Parker wished to establish who was responsible for the care of the bus shelter on Leasgill side of the bridge, at Levens. It was Levens Parish Council.
Currently five out of the seven applicants for the new Parish Council have been acknowledged by the electoral registration officer. Regrettably, due to the extreme lack of time, two applications weren’t received by the deadline, however, it is believed that they can be co-opted at the June meeting. The Clerk will check that this is in order.
B. Cllr. Brenda Woof stated that she will also be up for election on June 10th and would like to be reinstated, and as she has enjoyed her time with Heversham Parish Council, she hopes it will not be the last time she meets with us. The Councillors responded with their gratitude for her regular attendance at their meetings and Cllr. Bingham emphasised his appreciation of the cordial relationship he has enjoyed with Cllr. Woof.
C. Cllr. Parker reminded those present that this would be the last meeting for Cllr. George Handley and the penultimate one for the Chairman Peter Johnson. Both men had served the community well for a great number of years, and he wished to express, on behalf of those present and indeed the rest of the parish, tremendous thanks for all that they have done. Everyone responded with confirmation and good wishes for the future.
D. The Clerk spoke of her gratitude to all the Councillors for their support and understanding in her first year and said she will miss Cllr. Handley and Johnson as they have both been very encouraging and helpful to her.
It is thought that Mrs Helen Rimmer who runs the post office might become the correspondent for the Westmorland Gazette and that she would be ideal.
134 The date of the Annual Parish Council Meeting is 28th June 2004.