Neasham Parish Council

21/117- WELCOME

J Weighell welcomed Councillors to the meeting. The Chair then tabled a motion to exclude members of the press and the public from the meeting during the debate on the public right of way and associated signage through the New Lane development. In view of the inclement weather a second motion was tabled to move the debate on this matter down to be the last item on the agenda in order to avoid the one member of the public waiting outside the meeting room. The members unanimously resolved to accept both motions.

21/118 – DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no Declarations of Interest.

21/119 - MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

1. The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 2 November 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.
2. The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 2 November 2021, to which press and public were excluded, were confirmed as a correct record.

21/120 – MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETING / PROGRESS REPORTS

The vacancy for a councillor had been advertised on notice boards and websites with a deadline of 19th November for parishioners to request of an election. This deadline has now passed and Darlington BC have confirmed that a suitable candidate can now be co-opted to fill the position. To date nobody has submitted their name for consideration. The Chair reported that historically there had often been a Wrightson on the council and his suggestion that he should sound out Barnaby Wrightson about being a member was met with approval.

21/121 – PACT REPORT

No meetings had been held in recent months due to the unavailability of the normal premises because of covid concerns, however the organisers are actively seeking an alternative location.

21/122 – ROADS AND FOOTPATHS

1. General update on the Issue of the public right of way across the New Lane development. Because of the confidential nature of the issue, the members had resolved to accept a motion to exclude the press and public for the duration of the debate of this item. (See item 21/117).
2. Debate on this issue had been moved to the last item on the Agenda, as item 21/117 above.  A parishioner who was in attendance of the meeting had requested to be allowed to make representation. Despite the requirement set out in the Agenda that written notice of at least two days should be given of their wish to speak, the Chair, supported by the members, waived this requirement and invited him to speak. The parishioner indicated he was here hopefully to help to facilitate a way forward on the issue. He felt that the issue had gone on for a considerable period of time and queried whether it merited all of this debate and it could have been resolved. Councillors made it clear that the only issue was the red bar on the sign affixed to the pedestrian gate which indicate “no through road” and was known to be confusing to pedestrians unfamiliar with the location. Councillors had no issue with the principle of a gated development. The parishioner indicated that he understood the Council’s concern but suggested that it was not unreasonable for Mr Ryan to decline to change it. At the end of the discussion, the parishioner thanked the members for their time and left.

21/123 – ENVIRONMENT AGENCY MATTERS

1. The Chair had reported an intrusion of moles into the river embankment to the agency, who had responded promptly. Nine moles were trapped, which was more than anticipated.
2. The Chair reported that a large conifer on a private property had blown over in the recent storm and which was blocking the Teesdale Way running along the embankment at the eastern end of the green. The owners requested permission for access by their contractor’s vehicles for the removal of the tree. However, in view of the live flood warning making it dangerous to work in that area, the owners the Chair was unable to grant immediate access. It appears that the owners felt this was a permanent refusal and the Chair would contact them to explain the position and reassure them this was not the case.

21/124 – VILLAGE GREEN

1. K Sandick outlined the arrangements for the Christmas Carol service to be held on 13 December, starting at 6pm and lasting approximately 1 hour, 5 or 6 musicians had agreed to participate. This would be followed by mulled wine and mince pies at the Fox and Hounds for which a budget of £100 was approved. Keith had published a set of cards advertising the event for distribution the residents, J Grainger agreed to assist.
2. Christmas tree lights were Illuminated 30 November, but as the tree had grown, additional lighting was required and those normally used on the shrubbery were transferred to the main tree. Additional lights would need to be purchased next year.
3. Trees made available by Darlington BC to parish councils for planting in agreed areas of the parish. Proposed site inspection by Darlington BC still awaited. The Chair reported that a large tree branch had fallen in last week’s storm and which had been removed by Darlington BC. A second large branch had fallen today.
4. E Conlin had reported to the Clerk that NEAS had advised her that the defibrillator now needs to be registered with the Circuit (the National Defibrillator Network). E Conlin had supplied the required information and the clerk had completed the registration. The defibrillator had been removed from the cabinet by NEAS on 29th September and had been returned unused. However due to a mix up between the Circuit and the NEAS it was subsequently classified as “unavailable”, which has now been resolved. The Chair his thanks to Liz for her work in maintaining the unit.

21/125 – PLANNING

1. Applications received since last meeting: -
   None. However the Chair advised that a planning application for the demolition of an existing bungalow and the erection of two detached houses on the site at 40 Teesway, is expected to be submitted shortly. As the next parish council meeting is not until February, it was agreed that when the application is forwarded to ourselves, it is circulated to our member for comment to ensure there is no delay in our response to Darlington.
2. Decisions received since last meeting:- 
   None
3. G Crute had sent an email (16/11/21) to Darlington BC regarding the modifications to the Darlington Local Plan document which had been discussed at the Neasham PC meeting on 7 November. The email confirmed that the concerns raised on the original consultative document had been addressed by the modified document and other matters clarified. Therefore, Neasham PC had no further comments except an expression of support for the modifications.

21/126 – RISK MANAGEMENT

1. There was one scheduled Inspection due in November which was the Christmas tree light pre-use inspection and has been carried out.
2. No defects were raised in November and no defects remain open. It was agreed to raise a retrospective defect to the spot lights which were tripping out during the Remembrance Day event and have now been isolated

21/127 – FINANCE

1. The balance in the current account stood at £7,529.37 as at 19 November 2021 with one cheque in the sum of £20 as yet unpresented.
2. To confirm one previously approved payment made in November of £20.00 to the Royal British Legion as a donation for the wreath.
3. The budget and precept for 2021/22 as draft circulated on 29 November 2021, this included £250 for prizes for any event for children as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The 2021/2 precept was agreed at £9515 which represents an 18% increase on 2020/1, but includes several projects. The budget was also agreed, but the allocation of funding between general and ring fenced funds would be reviewed when further details are developed. This would not affect the overall budget total. G Crute was given approval to formally request a contribution from the Reading Rooms towards the proposed lectern and honours board.
4. The members approved a request by G Crute for authority for the expenditure of £60 for early preparatory works for planting to the new shrubbery area in early summer. This would be financed in this financial year from the village green contingency sum.

21/128 – UPDATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES DOCUMENTS

1. Following the publication by Darlington BC of their draft revised Code of Conduct, G Crute had an exchange of emails on the draft with Luke Swinhoe and had also participated in a remote briefing. G Crute had prepared a report and recommendation on the subject which had been circulated.  On 30 November L Swinhoe circulated a Code of Conduct which he was suggesting should be adopted by all parish council. G Crute had briefly examined the document and had some minor issues which he would take up with Luke. G Crute stated that the main problem with it is that it was too long to be compatible with our website. Geoffrey suggested that the solution would be to post the major parts of the document on the website, with the other items included in our procedures. The principles of this approach were agreed and Geoffrey would take this up with Luke. There was also an amendment to the rules on Disclosure of Interest which would need to be adhered to in the future.
2. Civility and Respect Newsletter issued 19/11/21 – page 3 suggests a Bullying and Harassment statement should be added to websites. G Crute stated that the statement is about how representatives should expect to be treated by the public and it was agreed to post the statement.
3. G Crute has requested that we re-visit the issue of official email addresses for members and outlined the reasoning behind it. However many of the members still had reservations and it was agreed to re-visit the issue next year.

21/129 – WARD COUNCILLOR MATTERS

L Tostevin informed the meeting that they had been advised not reveal addresses and other personal information as part of general tightening of the security of public representatives after recent events.

21/130 – CORRESPONDENCE

Various emails from NALC regarding Newsletter (10), Chief Executive’s bulletins (8, 15, 22, 29), Online Events (23), LGA Survey (12) Funding Bulletin (15). As circulated with no matters raised by members.

21/131– OTHER VILLAGE MATTERS

1. The inaugural meeting of the Darlington Association of Parish Councils was to be held on 24 November but had to be cancelled at short notice due illness of Lee Tate (Chair Elect) and will be re-arranged for January. DAPC were informed that K Sandwick would represent Neasham.
2. The Neasham Remembrance Day Service held on Sunday 14th November was undoubtedly successful with A MacConachie,  P Howell and J Weighell laying wreaths. Many attendees showed their appreciation of the event in their acknowledgements to Neasham PC which have been circulated to the members. It was agreed that this should be an annual event. The Chair proposed a vote of thanks for all those involved in making this event such a success.
3. G Crute reported on the successful “poppy” fund raising activities in support of the RBL which had raised a total of £168.15. G Crute suggested the members should decide early next year whether this should be repeated in the future. The Chair extended his vote of thanks to include this activity. K Sandick advised that re-using wreaths affected the workload of disabled soldiers who make them and re-using wreaths was detrimental to them. In view of this information, the proposal not repeat this was accepted.
4. No Airport Consultative Committee meeting had been held in November.
5. G Crute raised the issue of climate change and was proposing a joint approach with the Reading Rooms and had spoken to Lee Punchela on the matter. G Crute suggested a programme of three meetings to result in an action plan which could be included in the agenda for the Parish Assembly in May. The broad outline of the suggested meetings were 1) Meet with Darlington BC who could advise on what is applicable to Neasham. 2) Attempt to differentiate between honest information and misinformation 3) If established that Neasham can do anything effectively then attempt to draw in members of the younger generation to discuss what action can be taken and implement it, whilst supported by Neasham PS and the Reading Rooms. L Tostevin stated Darlington BC now employed two climate change officers and that 2050 was their target for achieving net zero carbon neutral. E Miller suggest that a retired scientist who had addressed their church on climate change may interested.

21/132 – DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The date of the next ordinary Parish Council meeting was set at Tuesday 1 February 2022.

The meeting concluded at 8.30pm.