Minutes of the Meeting of Coniston Parish Council held in the Library on Monday 16th March 2009.

PRESENT: Councillors David Coxon (Chairman), Mrs Anne Hall, Ms Rosemary Hext, John Stoddart and Lee Tarr; the clerk, C Sargeant; 21 members of the public, including Bill Bateman, Mrs Sara Coxon, Philip Dixon, Judith Dixon, Novie Dzinora, Duncan Fisher, Brian Fox, Alan Hewitt, Philip Johnston, Mrs Judy Jones, Mrs Angela Knutton, Jim Loxham, Mrs Liz Loxham, Mrs Joan Milburn, Malcolm Pittwood, Mrs Claire Salisbury, Ms Vicky Slowe, and Ms Julie Ward.

Guest Speaker: Suzy Grindley, LDNPA Catchment Projects Coordinator, on Bluebird Project Consultation (summary done separately).

1. Public welcoming and receipt of matters for debate: Chairman welcomed the public. There was one matter for debate offered by Mrs J Milburn: during surgery times, vehicles are parked at the entrance to Campbell House obscuring the view of pedestrians wanting to cross the A593 and motorists who wish to exit. RESOLVED: the clerk to ask Highways if safety measures could be introduced.

2. Apologies: P Hill (health problems) and Mrs E Kelly (incapacity); PCSO K Largue.

3. Declarations of Interest: of members’ personal and prejudicial interests in respect of items on the Agenda: Cllr Coxon (matters relating to LDNPA). Cllr Mrs Hall (matters relating to planning). All councillors as Trustees of the Coniston Institute and Ruskin Museum.

4. Minutes of the Meeting of 16th March 2009 were approved, and signed by the Chairman.

5. Matters arising from that Meeting with reports of action taken:

5.a. Bridge Conveniences There has been no developments and are unlikely to be any until after the start of the new financial year.

5.b. Twinning with Solto Collina Councillors expressed their delight and satisfaction at the visit (12-14 March) of representatives from Solto Collina and the formal ceremony of twinning with the signing of a contract (13 March) between the two communities.

5.c. Surgery (April) An approach is to be made to the Rev. Mark East and Mrs Phyllis Graham to repeat the presence of councillors at the Fairtrade coffee morning.

5.d. Mothers & Toddlers Having received accounts from the group, a token grant of £50 was awarded.

5.e. The Garth Parking The clerk had written to the wrong housing association and will correct his mistake.

5.f. Primary Care Trust Nothing has been received from the PCT regarding nursing provision in Coniston.

5.g. Lane Head Cllr Mrs Kelly visited (3 March) Janet Prier at Lane Head to register council’s concern about parking on and blocking East-of-Lake Road. RESOLVED: to monitor the situation.

5.h. Little Moss Close The clerk had written to the wrong housing association and will correct his mistake.

5.i. Grass Cutting Contract The clerk is to advertise the contract with a deadline of 31 March for responses.

5.j. Old Hawkshead Road Development (site visit) Cllr Stoddart attended (16 March) the site visit. He reported a favourable reaction to the plans from the PA representatives.

5.k. CALC District Association Meeting (5th March) – Land Registry The clerk attended the meeting and stressed how important it was to explore the registration of land belonging to the council. The clerk has registered the council’s interest in a follow-on meeting.

5.l. Locality Working RESOLVED: the clerk to collect and collate councillors’ responses to the questionnaire (9 April deadline).

5.m. Institute Committee/Parish Plan Meeting Alastair submitted a report (see below Item 10.a.). The clerk expressed his disappointment at the failure of the meeting to reach a positive agreement to move the development forward. Cllr Mrs Hall said it has been in the discussion stage for 8 years. The Village S.O.S. is to be given consideration.

5.n. White-lining A593/B5285 Junction Cllr Mrs Kelly has been given dates of 1st April and 15th May between which the work will be completed.

5.o. Rawdon-Smith Trust The clerk reported on the appointment of Cllr Ms Hext to the RST board of trustees and the fullness of the information to be obtained from the RST website.

5.p. Bowmanstead Ghyll Bridleway Gates Park Ranger, Tony Hill, acknowledged (20 February) the problem.

5.q. Coniston & Torver Housing Group Meeting, 13th February 2009: The clerk has attempted to explain that no decisions have been made or are likely to be made without consultation about extending the Old Furness Road to link with the road to the Banks.

6. Matters arising since that meeting:

6.a. Le Fleming Coat of Arms / CPC Letter Heading Following correspondence between the clerk and Richard Le Fleming and his agents Carter Jonas, acknowledgement was made of the council’s inappropriate use of the Le Fleming coat of arms and its resolution to stop. The clerk, with the council’s approval, has created a letter-heading that will not contravene the regulations of the College of Arms.

6.b. Coniston Market An approach from Philip Dowling of Cowran Estate to explore the possibility of a market has been shared with the Association. RESOLVED: to invite Mr Dowling to address a council meeting.

7. Financial Transactions: RESOLVED:

7.a. To issue cheques: To E.ON for Street Lighting (Nov) £80.00

To R J Airey for bus shelter maintenance £36.00

To C Sargeant for clerk’s salary & expenses £300.00

To SLDC for Bridge Conveniences (4th Qtr) £691.31

To SLDC for extra litter bin emptying £394.68

To CALC for subscription 09/10 £187.00

To LCR subscription 09/10 £13.50

To Mothers and Toddlers a grant of £50.00

7.b. To approve accounts for signing by Chairman: Done.

7.c. To note donations received: from Henkel for Playground £903.00

from Sir John Fisher Foundation for Playground £1,000.00

From Rawden-Smith Trust £5,000.00

8. Planning:

8.a. to receive Notice of Grant of Planning Permission: 7/2008/5643 bridge and path near Pier Cottage

8.b. to receive Notice of Grant of Planning Permission: 7/2008/5632 alterations to Sun Hotel

9. Correspondence: RESOLVED: to note that since the last meeting the clerk had received and informed councillors of the following (Items marked (**) were taken as read):

901 Cumbria CVS News Feb/March 2009

902 Rural Services Community Weekly News Digest 18 February 09

903 Cumbria CC Grants for Bus Shelters

904 LDNPA/Clive Wickham Planning Training – Investing In our Communities

905 Standards Board Newsletter Issue 4

906 LDNPA/ Penny Ozanne Undergrounding electricity lines at Hoathwaite Beck to Outrake

907 Russell Leisure Ltd Playground equipment publicity

908 Cumbria CC Minerals and Waste Development Framework

909 SLDC Notice of Meeting 26/2/09

910 Cumbria CC Highway Stewards

911 SLDC Minutes of Standards Committee Meeting

912 Rural Services Community Weekly News Digest 26 February 09

913 CALC Strategic Partnership

914 Rob Swyer Housing Update - Old Furness Road Scheme

915 Cumbria CC X12 bus timetables

916 High Furness Neighbourhood Forum Notice of Meeting at the Victory Hall, Broughton-in-Furness at 7pm on Wednesday 18th March

917 Clerks & Councils Direct Magazine March 2009

918 CALC Exchange" Project for South Lakeland and Eden

919 CALC ‘The Experienced Chairman’ training 18/3/09 at Gilpin Bridge Hotel

920 CALC Conference (28 Feb) Notes

921 ACT Cumbria Calor Village of the Year Competition 2009

922 CALC Circular March 2009

923 CALC "Exchange" Project for South Lakeland and Eden

924 R H F Le Fleming Le Fleming Coat of Arms

925 The Clerk Magazine March 2009

926 SLDC Waste Bin Empty Price Increase

927 LCR Magazine March 2009

928 CALC Village SOS

929 Digital UK Coniston Switchover

930 Rural Services Community Weekly News Digest 6 March 09

931 Torver PC Leaflet and letter speed limit proposal

932 CALC Final Clerks’ Salary scales from 1 April 2008

933 ICO Receipt

934 Cumbria Tourism Lakes for Living, Lakes for Life International Conference, Low Wood Hotel, Windermere, 18-21 May 2009

935 Sue Lidington Housing Update - Old Furness Road Scheme

936 Great North Air Ambulance Appeal for funding

937 LDNPA Parish Council Tours 09

938 Cumbria Tourism South Lakes Car park stats for Jan 09

939 ACT The Gazette: Community Led Planning

940 Cumbria CC Cumbria Landscape Character Toolkit

941 SLDC Electoral Register March Update

942 Cowran Estate Coniston Market

10. Reports:

10.a. Coniston & Torver Housing Group: Alastair Cameron (16 February) submitted the following: Report for Parish Council meeting, 16th March There has been some progress on Coniston’s housing schemes since my last report to the Council but as more progress is anticipated in the next few weeks I will report fully next month. I will also do a short note for May’s newsletter. Notes on visit by Parish Plan Team to Institute Committee Meeting On Tuesday 10th March four members of the Parish Plan team attended the Institute Committee Meeting by invitation of the committee. The proposals for the upgrade of the Institute were discussed. Plans recently drawn up were displayed. The plans would require a major internal re-build with loss of the library but did address a number of problems that the site has at the moment (no second meeting room, no disabled access etc). There followed a good discussion which was mainly positive. A number of queries were answered about the plans. Alastair pointed out that European funding would require providing a copy of the Parish Plan. The present Plan (2004/5) identified and expanded on the division in the village between those who want a major internal re-build and those who want an upgrade of the existing structure. The split was about 50:50 and this will not be looked on favourably by fund-givers. We all agreed that no scheme would get 100% of support from the community but at least 75% should be aimed for. Lorna (Parish Plan) pointed out that village families would not look favourably on another questionnaire coming through the letterbox requiring attention. Alastair suggested that the draft plans could be displayed in the Co-op window with some means of commenting. Anne thought this was a good idea and added that we could also display a 3-D cut-out model of the proposed re-development along with the plans. Chas was concerned about the fact that a survey carried out on 16th August 2008 by two councillors at an Institute coffee morning showed hardly anyone in favour of a re-design. He felt that this survey had been disregarded by the Institute Committee. Subsequently Alastair had become concerned about the enthusiasm of the Ruskin Museum to push ahead with developing a facility that could be used as a conference and meeting centre. Vicki attended the meeting and her keenness for the development was clear. Chas drew attention to The Big Lottery Fund are support for Village SOS, a 'make over/Restoration' type TV reality programme fronted by the BBC. The Big Lottery Fund are putting £3-£5m into the scheme which is to be launched via a one hour special on the One Show on BBC and followed by a series transmitted in Spring 2010. The theory is that in any given village or collection of villages there is a regeneration project waiting to happen. A short list of 6 British villages, each in need of visionaries with the right skills and ambition to save them will be identified and matched up with 6 entrepreneurs who believe they have the business plan that can save them. Local people with small businesses (such as food producers, builders, craftsmen) are intended to be the primary beneficiaries of the regeneration project by being directly employed in the subsequent restoration. The Big Lottery are looking for some NW suggestions as none have come forward thus far. My recommended action: Make sure plans are displayed in the Co-op window well prior to progressing with the project. Provide slips of paper for comment. Give short details of the proposals in the Newsletter, referring to the display to be put in the Co-op window. Comment on the plans should be collected by Elaine and Rosie. Assuming returns show a reasonable majority in favour, pass details to Alastair for including in a Parish Plan supplement to be sent to V.A. Cumbria (ACT).

10.b. National Trust Update: Jim Loxham, Coniston Property Manager, provided a few updates on access projects: 1) After some of the worst winter floods for some time and where much damage has occurred across the Trusts Coniston properties, a 200 metre section of the bridle way, which links Glen Mary to the Tarn Hows one way road was washed away. In conjunction with the NPA, work to repair this dramatic damage was undertaken by the Coniston Estate Team with financial help from NPA. The essential work was to rebuild the drainage along the length and to resurface the route. The work was completed in February. 2) Work has just started on a NPA 'Miles without Stiles' project from Lake Road to Torver jetty (part of this already forms the cycleway route from LR to Hoathwaite/Torver). This is a partnership project with the NPA, who are providing the funding, with the Trusts Coniston Estate Team doing the practical ground works. When completed, this upgraded route will provide 'access for all', with the added bonus of being able to access the CFS ferry service back to Lake Road. Surfacing upgrades will be completed by the end of April 2009, but structures, including new bridges and gates will be supplied and fitted by the NPA. It is hoped that all the work will be completed later in 2009. A further part of this project will ultimately be the section running north from Coniston Boating Centre via Pier Cottage to link with the off road route to the head of Coniston Water. (NPA are responsible for the whole of this section of the work) 3) NT funding has been secured for the proposed bridle way/cycle link between Tarn Hows and the Mountain road via Torver intake. This will create a high level route from Coniston to Ambleside/Skelwith/Elterwater, which incorporates Tarn Hows. The route will compliment the existing 'Route 37' cycle route, which also runs via Ambleside/ Coniston/Ulverston. It is hoped that work will start on this route (subject to planning permissions) in Sept/Oct 2009 and be completed by the end of the year. 4) Update on Monk Coniston Garden: I will leave this one for when we come to CPC a little later into the year 5) CPC will be pleased to learn that the Trust have purchased both a small estate tractor and a flail and trained staff to use the kit, so that the management of the verge/hedges along the length of the off road path from Coniston to Boon Crag will occur in a timely fashion. Mr Loxham requested support from the parish council for repairs to Low Hall Garth road from the ford on. RESOLVED: the clerk to write to Tony Beaty.

10.c. Police Report: P.C.S.O Kayleigh Largue reported the occurrence of thefts in the village: On Saturday 14th March a white gas box was stolen from the side of a house in St Martins court. A male was seen in near the house, and was described as small stocky wearing dark clothing with short grey hair. On Sunday 15th March 16 a large quantity of fuel was stolen from Hodge close quarry. If anyone knows anything about these thefts, seen or heard, the info would be much appreciated. We are taking all thefts seriously and detecting them the best we can. There has been an increase in all areas, mainly in isolated areas, so we are targetting isolated areas when patrolling but we do need the help of residents to report anything suspicious to 0845 33 00 247 and get details if any e.g. vehicle registration. Thank you, also if anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to phone or e-mail me.

10.d. Highways Report: Cllr Mrs Kelly has given the Highway Steward a list of jobs to be done in the parish during his time here (16 – 20 March).

10.e. Cllr Stoddart: Expressed concern about the state of the A593 between Skelwith and Brathay. Although outside the parish, many Coniston people use the road to go to Ambleside. RESOLVED: the clerk to write to Highways.

10.f. Cllr Ms Hext: Drew attention to the poor state of the Coppermines Valley Road between the Museum and Holywath and the failure of Highways to use the money (£1,000) donated by United Utilities for the repair of it. RESOLVED: the clerk to write to Highways.

10.g. Cllr Mrs Hall: Reported an enquiry she had received regarding a triathlon event (5-6 September). RESOLVED: Cllr Mrs Hall to investigate. Spoke of a site visit to Old Furness Road and the possibility of change of ownership of the rock face, the units and the raised area between Station Road and Mike Myers’ garage. Said there was a possibility of Coniston being considered for ACT “Well-Being” award.

10.h. Cllr Coxon: Expressed concern about speeding through the village of white unmarked coach belonging to Ricky’s Coaches, Millom. RESOLVED: the clerk to write.

11. Public questions and comments: Nothing.

12. Date of next Meeting: RESOLVED: to be held on Monday 20th April 2009, 7.00pm in the Library.

Meeting closed at 9.10pm.

Signed: David Coxon, Chairman Date: 20th April 2009