Neasham Parish Council

21/101- WELCOME

J Weighell welcomed Councillors to the meeting. Apologies for absence were accepted from  P Dunn (Prior Commitment), E Miller (Sickness).

21/102 – DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no Declarations of Interest.

21/103 - MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 5 October 2021 were confirmed as a correct record. The clerk clarified the position on date of confirmation of the minutes. The minutes are posted on all notice boards and the website as soon as available. These are regarded as Draft Minutes until confirmed at the next parish council meeting.

21/104– MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING / PROGRESS REPORTS

Darlington BC have been informed of a vacancy on the council and the relevant notice has been issued and posted on the noticeboards and websites. The notice advises that ten electors from the parish can request the returning officer to hold an election to fill that vacancy. The request must be made in writing within 14 days of the date of the notice and received by the returning officer no later than midnight 19 November 2021.

21/105 – PACT REPORT

No meeting was held in October.

 

21/106 – ROADS AND FOOTPATHS

1. Issue of the public right of way and associated signage across the New Lane development. In view of the confidential nature of the subject for discussion, a motion was tabled to exclude members of the public and press from the meeting, while this item was being debated. Members unanimously resolved to accept this motion and the minutes for this item will be recorded separately. Exclusion of the public and press from the meeting ended with the conclusion of the debate on this issue.
2. Repairs to surfacing of Dibdale Road and road adjacent golf club. The Chair reported that Darlington BC had recently obtained a specialist piece of plant specifically for repairing potholes which they had used to repair Dibdale Road and other roads in the area. L Tostevin confirmed that Highways’ regularly inspected all roads to ensure they are maintained at an acceptable standard.

21/107 – ENVIRONMENT AGENCY MATTERS

No matters to report on.

21/108 – VILLAGE GREEN

1. Trees to made available by Darlington BC to parish councils for planting. The proposed site inspection by Darlington BC is still awaited and therefore no approach had been made to the Woodland as an alternative source of supply. G Crute commented that only a limited number of trees could be accommodated in the area put forward by Neasham PC and that a further area suggested at the east area of the green was not suitable as it would soon fill with debris making it difficult to maintain.
2. The bench donated by Mr and Mrs Dobinson have now been anchored down and fixed in the agreed location at the east end of Teesway. They had also installed a commemorative plaque. It was agreed that two existing planters should be re-sited to be adjacent the seat to enhance the visual effect.
    
3. The three-tiered planter had been removed by a parishioner and the ground made good. It was agreed that there was no requirement to allow for the purchase of new planters within next year’s precept, but an allowance should be made for the additional compost that will be required.
4. G Crute stated that he is satisfied with the overall estimated cost of £2500 for construction of the proposed shrubbery, the allocation of funding will be set out in the budget to be presented for approval at the December meeting.  G Crute also stated that he had received prices for the lectern and aluminium panels amounting to £632 and for which he will be exploring alternative sources of funding prior to inclusion in the precept total.

21/109 – PLANNING

1. Applications received since last meeting: -
   None
2. Decisions received since last meeting:- 
   None
3. An email received from Darlington BC (via G Crute) setting out the Planning Inspector’s comments on the Darlington BC Local Plan. G Crute had prepared a series of comments on the plan on matters that could affect Neasham PC. This document has been circulated to the members for information and is currently not part of any correspondence with Darlington BC.

21/110 – RISK MANAGEMENT

1. There was one scheduled Inspection due in October which was the Planters and which had been deferred from September. This was subsequentially carried out in conjunction with the end of season planter maintenance.
2. No defects were raised in October. One Defect remained open and has now been closed following the remedial works carried out by Darlington BC described in paragraph 21/106.2 above.

21/111 – FINANCE

1. The balance in the current account stood at £8,533.80 as at 25 October 2021 with three cheques unpresented totalling £533.93.
2. Previously approved payments were confirmed as having been made in October of £280.00 Miss Trees (autumn tree works), £38.93 NALC (remote course), £432.00 Marmax (bench seat - funding donated), £75.00 M Harrison (fixing seat), £25.00 Harrison Flagpoles (commemorative flag), £63.00 G Crute (expenses). It was agreed that a donation of £20 be made to the RBL poppy fund.
3. Following a preliminary discussion on budget and precept levels for 2021/22, it was agreed that funding for the shrubbery should be partly funded from reserves and part from the precept. Additional monies were requested to be included in respect of lectern, IT issues, climate change issues and an increase in printing costs. The allocation of these costs between precept and reserves is to be agreed prior to the budget presentation at the December meeting.

21/112 – UPDATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES DOCUMENTS

1. An email had been received from Luke Swinhoe (Darlington Borough Council) advising that they are currently revising their Code of Conduct which will be based on the LGA form and attached their draft documentation. We had only recently revised our code and which was now based on a simplified NALC form that was more readily convertible into HTML format for use on the website. Therefore G Crute had prepared a note (as circulated) setting out the recent history on the revised code’s development and listing three alternative courses of action a) Reserve our position until after the debate or b) fall in line with Darlington BC proposal or retain our current code or c) Join discussions in negotiating a code acceptable to parish councils. There is currently no urgency for a decision on which option to follow.
2. A further email had been received from Luke Swinhoe advising of a remote briefing on 3 November 2021 outlining the proposed revisions to the Code. It was agreed that G Crute should represent Neasham PC, but all councillors are welcome to attend by following the link previously circulated.
3. The CE Bulletin issued by NALC on 24/10/21 refers to a new guide with a link to their new Website Accessibility and Publishing Guidelines. There may be implication for the Neasham PC website which has only recently been completed and therefore an allowance is to be made in the budget for IT matters.

21/113 – WARD COUNCILLOR MATTERS

L Tostevin reported that Leader and Deputy Leader of Darlington BC are touring all villages within it’s boundary and would like to come to Neasham to meet several councillors. They are considering in the future to move staff out of the Town Hall and have them based in the community and were assessing what facilities may be available. L Tostevin to agree a date for the visit.

21/114 – CORRESPONDENCE

1. Various emails from NALC regarding Online Events (October 5), Newsletter (October 6, 13, 20, 27), Chief Executive’s bulletins (October 11, 18, 24). Previously circulated with no matters arising raised by members.
2. Other correspondence is included separately in the agenda.

21/115– OTHER VILLAGE MATTERS

1. 13/10/21 An email had been received from A Denderfield (clerk to Darlington Association of Parish Councils) suggesting future meeting dates, which was forwarded to K Sandick. The first meeting of the re-organised Darlington Association of Parish Councils is now to be held on 24 November at 6.30pm in Sadberge Village Hall.
2. The clerk has emailed Doug Oliver (Constituency Officer of Paul Howell) to advise him that, because of lack of internet at the location where parish council meetings are held, it would not be possible to accept Paul’s offer of a Zoom meeting, unless circumstances change in the future.
3. Remembrance Day Service in Neasham. G Crute outlined the progress on the arrangements and presented an Order of Proceedings for the approval of the members. G Crute also requested two volunteers to help marshalling on the day. J Grainger volunteered and the Chair was to ask G Conlin to agree. P Howell and a representative of the Lord Lieutenant’s office would be in attendance, where wreaths will be laid.
4. The Neasham Facebook page regularly posts the latest news on progress on the sale of poppies and tribute crosses.  The “Poppy Mobile” would continue to be on site at The Square on the dates advertised for the sale of poppies. It is hoped that the weather will be kinder than the previous weekend. A glass artwork entitled “Poppy Fields” had been donated by Tina Murray for auction with profits going to the RBL. A vote of thanks for Tina was recorded. G Crute outlined the rules of the auction and how the winning bid would be decided. The “Remembrance Sunday” flag has been delivered and has been flown at the “The Square”.
5. G Crute reported that he had now deposited another box-full of archived documents with Durham County Records Office. Some of which date back to 1961. It was noted that one minute book for the period 1977 to 1983, still had not been located.
6. No Airport Consultative Committee meeting had been held in October.
7. Following the October meeting a copy of the Darlington BC Draft Action Plan Levelling the Environment through Biodiversity had been forwarded by L Tostevin. G Crute had examined the document and produced a note setting out comments (as circulated). A remote course on Levelling the Environment through biodiversity had been held on 27 October 2021 and was attended by G Crute who provided a set of comments in his note 2 (as circulated). It was felt that a person would be required to lead the Neasham PC involvement and it was agreed that an allowance should be included within the budget in respect of this.
8. A suggestion that Neasham hold a carol service at The Square in mid December was agreed. K Sandick volunteered to arrange a date and organise the event itself, possibly in conjunction with the Reading Rooms. Mulled wine and mince pies would be available afterwards at the Fox and Hounds.

21/116 – DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The date of the next ordinary Parish Council meeting was set at Tuesday 7 December 2021.

The meeting concluded at 8.00pm.