2020-09 September – Minutes

Minutes Uploaded on April 6, 2021

MINUTES OF THE ONLINE MEETING OF MATFEN PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 AT 7.00PM

PRESENT: Cllr Stuart Mills, Chairman of the Council together with Mrs Ann Gregory Smith, Keith Irving

In attendance: Mrs M Senior, Clerk to the Council

920.01 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. None.

920.02 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE – Cllrs F Robson and K Mavin.

RESIGNATION OF A PARISH COUNCILLOR. Chris Austin had resigned with immediate effect. Cllr S Mills expressed thanks to Cllr Austin for his help and support over the last 4 years. Action: The clerk will contact NCC and display the statutory notice for 15 days.

920.03 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None

920.04 COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT – Cllr Mrs Jones was unable to attend the meeting.

920.05 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 28 JULY 2020. It was proposed by Cllr S Mills, seconded by Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith and AGREED that the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th JULY 2020 be signed as an accurate record.

920.06 ACTIONS ARISING FROM THE MEETING HELD ON 19^th MAY 2020 AND 2^ND JUNE 2020.

a) Benches/Notice Boards. Minute 720.06a refers. The benches and notice board are still to be installed. It was noted that one of the benches outside the Village Hall was rotten and the seat opposite the War Memorial needs to be removed. Action: Cllr K Irving to contact Chris Austin to arrange transporting the benches/picnic table to Matfen and Mrs Senior will arrange for someone to install the notice board at Ingoe. Cllr K Irving will arrange to remove the two rotten benches.

b) Street Lighting. Minute 720.06b refers. NCC is still to provide a date for the installation of the new columns.

c) Overgrown Hedge. Minute 720.10a refers. Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith had been to the Estate Office twice however the hedge had not been cut back. Action: Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith to chase this up.

d) Tree Works. Minute 720.10f refers. The permission for the tree works on the Village Green has still not come through. This is expected within the next week or so.

e) Public Toilets. Minute 0720.10h refers. After discussion, it was AGREED to keep the public toilets closed during the current restrictions.

f) To receive update on list of improvements requested by residents. Minute 720.10g refers. Cllrs S Mills and K Mavin had met to discuss the list of requests. These have been prioritised and categorised into what are NCC responsibilities and those which can be carried out by the Parish Council.

920.07 FINANCE

a) ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT. It was proposed by Cllr S Mills, seconded by Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith and AGREED to approve the expenditure on the list circulated.

PAYEE	DESCRIPTION	NET OF VAT	VAT	CHEQUE AMOUNT	CHEQUE NO
Northumbria Pest Control	Mole trapping – Village Green	180.00	30.00	150.00	101134
Mrs A Senior	Clerical Services	455.40		455.40	101135
H M Revenue & Customs	PAYE	114.00		114.00	101136
Mrs A Senior	Play area inspections – April – Sept 2020	150.00		150.00	101137
Kompan Scotland Ltd	Play area equipment – Village Green	23345.96	3890.99	19454.97	101138
J Dempsey	Repairs/refurbishment to picnic bench	130.71		130.71	101139
R H Irving Industrials Ltd	Play area fence	6130.12	1021.69	5108.43	101140
Income
Northumberland CC	Precept payment	5250.00		5250.00	07.09.20
Barclays Bank	Bank Account Interest	1.07		1.07	07.09.20

920.08 CORRESPONDENCE received since the July meeting had been circulated to all councillors by email and noted.

REQUEST FOR DONATION. A request for grant aid was received from the Great North Air Ambulance. After discussion, it was AGREED to donate £300.00.

SENDER	DETAILS
National Assoc of Local Councils	Rebuilding Communities – Online Event Series
Northumberland County Council	Northumberland Local Plan Examination: Consultation on additional evidence
Northumberland County Council	New Pavement Licensing Regime
Northumberland County Council	Local Transport Plan 20202021 Feedback on submissions
Age UK Northumberland	Update on services and activity packs for older people
Northumberland Local Plan	Phase 2 Examination hearings
Great North Air Ambulance	Request for donation
Information items
NALC	eNews – weekly
Community Action Northumberland	CAN eNews August 2020 – September 2020
Clerks and Councils Direct	Publication – September 2020 Issue 131

920.09 PLANNING MATTERS. All applications received since the last meeting are listed below together with the decisions on outstanding applications.

Reference Number	Location	Proposal
20/01368/FUL	2 North Side, Matfen	Installation of an Air Source heat pump to provide domestic central heating and hot water. No objection
20/01776/FUL	Land parcels to East and West of Vallum Farm, Wallhouses	Installation of four cabins for provision of visitor accommodation including use and retention of existing access road and bases. GRANTED
20/02774/FUL	Land to North of High House Farm Brewery, Matfen	Construction of services building to serve tents, provision of decking for tents, erection of tents for camping, form pedestrian gateway through existing wall and mixed use of land for agriculture and campsite. GRANTED

920.10 TO CONSIDER PRIORITIES FOR INCLUSION IN THE LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN PROGRAMME 2021- 2022. Northumberland County Council is once again giving Parishes the opportunity to submit 3 priorities for inclusion in the LTP 2021-2022. It was agreed to submit the following priorities:-

Resurfacing of Burnside Road.
Resurfacing of the Military Road from the Matfen junction to the Corbridge Junction.

The feedback from the priorities submitted for the 2020-2021 LTP programme are as follows:-

Resurfacing of the road from the junction to Great Whittington into Matfen Village – to be carried out.
Improvements to the pavements from the junction to Great Whittington into Matfen Village – The maintenance issue has been recorded and will be considered when developing future planned maintenance programmes.
Formalised parking in Ingoe. Cars parked on the grass verges – Parking bays do not score highly enough to be included in the LTP Programme.

920.11 VILLAGE ISSUES

a) Ingoe Village Green. Complaints had been received over cars parking on the Village Green. It was AGREED during the current restrictions not to take any action however the Parish Council will continue to monitor the situation.

b) TO RECEIVE UPDATE ON NEW PLAY AREA. The new play area equipment had been installed and the fencing is currently being installed. The trees need to be cut back from the equipment however permission had not been received before installation. It is hoped that the play area will be open in the next 2 weeks once the post installation inspection had been carried out.

c) BRIDGE REPAIRS. The repairs to the bridge had not been carried out. Action: Mrs Senior to contact Northumbrian Water again and request they carry out the work as a matter or urgency.

d) GENERAL VILLAGE MAINTENANCE AND THE ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS. Clarification was requested on the Parish Council funding local improvements that volunteers are willing to undertake. There are several volunteers who in Matfen who are willing to get involved in projects however do not have the resources available. It was AGREED that the Parish Council would support projects that would benefit the community where volunteers were willing to carry out the work. Each project would be reviewed on a case by case basis however the Parish Council would be very supportive where the local community are matching a monetary contribution from the Parish Council with a physical contribution. A request had been received to fund a bag of gravel to improve the path between The Oaks and Matfen Cricket Club. After discussion, it was AGREED to fund this. Volunteers will carry out the work. After a suggestion from County Cllr Mrs V Jones, the clerk had requested road planings from NCC to help improve this path further.

e) TO DISCUSS PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE AND COMMUNICATIONS. It was AGREED that the Parish Council website does not serve the parish well and needs a complete overhaul. It was AGREED to create a Matfen website that encompasses other parties/interests in the Village i.e. Village Hall. Cllr K Mavin had approached the Village Hall Committee who would be open to the idea of sharing costs. It was noted that all Parish Council websites needed to be WCAG 2.1AA compliant by September 2020 which the current website is not. The aim is to make all public sector websites accessible to all users – especially those with disabilities. It was AGREED that the Parish Council would look to create a new website although further discussions would be needed.

920.12 ANY URGENT ISSUES (FOR INFORMATION ONLY).

a) PARKING. A complaint had been received about parking outside the Village Shop and Village Hall. After discussion, it was AGREED that the Parish Council had no control over this and no further action would be taken.

b) MATFEN HALL. It was noted that Matfen Hall had been sold. It was AGREED to write to the new owners, welcoming them and introducing the Parish Council.

c) MATFEN TABLE TENNIS CLUB. A letter had been received from Matfen Table Tennis Club regarding their booking at Matfen Village Hall. It was noted and no further action will be taken.

920.13 DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING. The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held online on Tuesday 24^th November 2020 at 7.00pm. The link will be circulated and made available to residents 7 days before the meeting. The advice from NALC/SLCC is still for Parish Councils to meet remotely however should the advice change before the date of the next meeting the venue of the meeting will be publicised in advance.