Minutes of Meeting held in the Library on Monday 19th November 2007

PRESENT: Councillors – P Hill (Chairman), D Coxon, Mrs A Hall, Mrs E Kelly, H Lakin, J Stoddart and L Tarr; Clerk – Mr C Sargeant; and, 3 members of the public (D Adams, E Barrow and J Loxham).

1. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Mr Loxham provided an up-date on NT local developments: Jessica Worlock has been working with children from the primary school to plant trees by the Sports Centre and around the school grounds; the new walk through Monk Coniston to Tarn Hows has been well used; work on the developments at Tarn Hows (new loo block and visitor centre) will start in December and take about 16 weeks to complete, with minimal disruption to visitors; the Head of Lake path is well-advanced and will be fenced and hedged and a planning application will be made to extend it to the footpath that follows the beck by Atkinson Ground; Kevin Fairclough has replaced Ed Forrest as full-time warden; tree clearance at Tarn Hows has opened up views of the fells; a programme of hedge planting is under way at the Head of the Lake and Yew Tree Farm (where there will also be some individual tree planting); it is recognised that tree at Far End are in need of attention; a tree survey has been started; David Preston is moving to New Zealand to pursue an interest in conservation; concern has been expressed about parked vehicles blocking the footpath gate at the Sunbeam Cottages cattle grid. Cllr Coxon asked about the new tree at High Yewdale; Mr Loxham explained the siting was necessitated by the demands of field maintenance needs. Mr Barrow asked about hedge cutting along the B5285 Hawkshead Road; Mr Loxham said an agreement had been reached with Highways for the NT to cut the hedge twice a year for 5 years from 2008. The Chairman thanked Mr Loxham for his contribution.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: None.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Cllr Hill (all matters relating to E.ON Energy), Cllr Coxon (all matters relating to LDNPA and Cumbria Landscaping) and Cllr Mrs Hall (Plan. App. 7/2007/5621).

4. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: The Chairman was authorised to sign, as a correct record, the minutes of the Meeting of 15th October 2007.

5. MATTERS ARISING from that Meeting:

5.a. PLAYGROUND: (i) No response as yet from the Charity Commission for the amalgamation of the Defibrillator and Amenity Funds with a view to creating one charitable fund to serve the broad needs of the community, and initially to provide charitable status for the applications for grants to complete the playground refurbishment.

(ii) Cllr Hall spoke of Paul Mountford, SLDC monitoring officer, indicating that financial support is more likely to be given to innovative projects.

(iii) Cllr Hall reported on the Chief Executive’s visit Coniston on Friday 16th November. Cllrs Hall and Stoddart met Peter Ridgeway at Fire-Station and then toured the village together: Pre School Childcare Facility/Collingwood Close; David Coxon/Lake Management/RST/café; JRS(180pupils)/ Playground; CDC Barbara Hill/ meet School Head Steve Jackson; Sports Centre/services/social/MUGA/Nick Mathews; Back Road via Housing Site; Community Tourist Information Centre/Geoff Dowker; Shops/Co-op/Services in Yewdale Road; Carers/ Institute development plan/ Nick Monk; Museum then by car to next venues; Furness Rd Factory units/ housing site/rock face. Mention was made during conversion re- Church Room, Hydro Plant, Bus Services/2 taxi services; Crusader Youth Groups/Youth Club Drop In; Small Business/employment/outdoor centres; Walking/Water Festivals/Coniston14/Charity events; Parish Council Annual Report; Pilot Scheme/ Mechanics services; Cricket Ground/ bowling/Responders.

5.b. HOUSING: (i) Cllrs Hall and Hill attended the site meeting at the Old Furness Road car park on Thursday 1st November: future of development here may be deferred until proposals for Church Rooms and Cemetery Field are concluded.

(ii) It is hoped that the conversion of the Church Rooms will now be to two 3-bedroom dwellings.

5.c. ‘BLUEBIRD’: Cllr Hall said the advertisement for the contract to build the extension will be published in December for selection by early next year. It is hoped that the reconstructed ‘Bluebird’ will be completed within 12 months.

5.d. HIGHWAYS: (i) Cllr Kelly spoke of the agreement reached about the disabled parking bay on the Garth. A notice will have to be erected by the parish council.

(ii) Tony Beaty, Capita, said the closure of the A593 between Torver and Coniston in January should cause little disruption to local movement before 9.30am and after 4pm.

(iii) The clerk is to request publication in the Newsletter of details of the closure and the proposals for dates for road works in the area in 2008, with a notice for villagers to help the parish council compile a list of all work needed on pot holes, drains and verges in the village.

(iv) Mr Loxham spoke of Tim Farron’s concern about the money for highways going in the main to the north of the county.

(v) It was noted that the dip in the road outside the Institute had been marked for repair.

5.e. TWINNING: There is to be a meeting in the Yewdale Hotel on 6th December at 7pm to consider the recent visits to Illiers-Combray and Solto Collina.

5.f. LIBRARY: Discussions with Bruce Benison are on-going. The Rawdon-Smith Trust has indicated a willingness to provide financial support to upgrade the Institute facilities. Jonathan Longstaffe, Head of JRS, has said he would be interested in providing a ground floor facility to combine the village and school library facilities.

6. MATTERS ARISING Since that Meeting:

6.a. CONISTON COMMUNITY TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE The parish council had received a letter from Geoff Dowker, Centre Manager, about his Concern for Accommodation & Future Visitor Numbers: As I have been in my role of Tourist Information Manager' for over 18 months, I have become aware of certain trends that have developed, which may be of concern to the Parish Council. The council will be aware that booking visitors into accommodation within the area on a Saturday is increasingly difficult, as it is everywhere else within the Lake District, especially in Keswick. I feel the need to report that Coniston is more likely to lose visitors staying in the area due to the lack of beds available on a B+B basis. Once all accommodation has been booked within the area, we tend to place them elsewhere working out from this central point - thus losing their custom for the village in general. As we are a Community Tourist Information Centre now, we can be bias in decisions made for the benefit of the village. My concern for the future is that many B+B owners are either giving up their businesses or are turning them into self catering establishments. (E.g. The Waverley/ Sheppard's Villa) Although with these actions taking place, you may think that numbers of bed nights will still be the same, however it is the people that arrive on the day; that on the 'spur of the moment' decide to stay will suffer as there is no vacancies for them. These are the specific visitors that bring in the most capita spend per head in the area. I believe the Parish Council should take note of this trend as if it continues; Coniston will see a fall in staying guests and valued business, but not necessarily in visitor numbers. The TIC will have seen 220,000 visitors through its doors & an estimated footfall of 3-450,000 visitors per year through Coniston, Accommodation made by the TIC will have seen a total value of bookings reaching £75,000. Nearly one third of this figure can be attributed too 'over-the-counter one-night bookings', and the trend is increasing exponentially as many people will simply wait for the outcome of the weather. It may interest you to know that there are approx 147 beds available on a B+B basis currently in Coniston, although this does not include non-inspected properties; you can see that there is a shortage of beds to suit a potential 1236 visitors per day on average. I hope that I have drawn your attention to this increasing problem that I will monitor and hopefully work towards solving in the future. If you have any concerns or would like to converse over the following matter, please don't hesitate to contact me. On a more personal note, I have located a Coniston residence which I intend to move into in early December, and hence will be available in the village on a full time basis.

6.b. CONISTON POST OFFICE: An article in the Westmorland Gazette of 9th November was a timely reminder that the parish council needs to register its desire to retain a post office in the village. The clerk was instructed to write to the Post Office and Tim Farron MP.

6.c. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: (i) Transforming Passenger Transport: letter (12 Nov 07) from Cheryl Cowperthwaite, Principal Passenger Transport Officer, Cumbria CC - I am writing to inform you of the current position regarding the scheduled bus services which are supported by the County Council because they are not commercially viable. This support is part of the £20m a year the County Council spends to take children to school and adult social care clients to day care etc. The funding provided for scheduled bus services is supplemented by the government in the form of Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG). In the past additional funding has been provided to support transport initiatives which has unfortunately now come to an end. In the light of changes to funding and the rising cost of transport the County Council has need to review how it uses resources to support passenger transport services. Work was carried out (The Transforming Passenger Transport Review) which looked at all settlements in the County and assessed how people could access essential services. The intention being to have an equitable level of services across the County, the level of service being related to the size of settlement. The review also took account of the use of voluntary car schemes, rural wheels and community bus schemes and the enhanced role they can play. The criteria for providing passenger transport was agreed by Cabinet on 28 November 2006. At this stage no changes have been made and they will not be until April 2008 at the earliest. Detailed research is being undertaken with people who use the services so that we can properly evaluate changes and assess alternatives. In the next few weeks bus surveys will be undertaken on all services that are subject to potential changes. There will also be work going on in communities to run "drop-in" sessions for the public to ask questions about passenger transport services. Decisions regarding services will need to be taken in the light of the level and conditions relating to the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, which are awaited from central government. This will be part of the overall budget process for 2008/9. This matter was discussed at a recent meeting between the County Council and CALC and it may be useful for you to be aware that CALC is represented on the Cumbria Accessibility and Transport Partnership. This multi agency group provides advice to the County Council on issues around accessibility and passenger transport. It is also anti- cipated that regular reports will be provided on this matter to the District Associations.

(ii) The clerk represented the parish council at a meeting in JRS on Friday 16 November at which Cumbria CC officers Mark Hodgkiss and Cheryl Cowperthwaite explained the pressures on them to cut the services through Coniston. Jonathan Longstaffe emphasised the school’s dependence on the service to get pupils to and from Coniston. Cllr Les Higgins demonstrated how the figures given by the officers were distorted by not including the significant numbers of children using the service in the morning and afternoon. Dianne Whitehead, Interim Area Support Manager, proposed a forum of interested local representatives to discuss problems and solutions regarding community and school transport. RESOLVED: to support such a forum; the clerk to contact Dianne Whitehead.

7. FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS: RESOLVED:

7.a. To issue cheques:

101372 R J Airey for bus shelter maintenance £60.00

101373 E.ON Energy for street lighting (October) £80.00

101374 C Sargeant for clerk’s salary £540.00

101375 Air Ambulance (A) for support £50.00

101376 Air Ambulance (B) for support £50.00

7.b. To approve statement of accounts for signing by the Chairman.

7.c. To submit a Precept of £13,875 for the year 2008-09: Clerk £3240; Conveniences £2765; Fees & Subscriptions £630; Local Grants £2530; Insurance £1060; Lighting £1750; Maintenance £1900.

8. PLANNING ISSUES:

8.a. PLANNING APPLICATIONS:

Planning Application: 7/2007/5586 Location: Brantwood House, Coniston LA21 8AD Observations: CPC is of the opinion that the work intended is discreet, sympathetic to the history of the building and motivated by an awareness of present and future variations of proper use.

Planning Application: 7/2007/5621 Location: Land rear of Kirkdale House, Tilberthwaite Avenue, Coniston LA21 8ED Observations: CPC agrees that the blue slate roof will not be out-of-place with the surrounding buildings and that this is likely to be a time- and cost-saving variation. CPC accepts the applicants’ statement that no changes will be made “regarding the access to the properties off the highway”. Please note: Councillor Mrs Anne Hall made a declaration of interest and did not participate in the decision making process regarding this application.

8.b. PLANNING DECISIONS: PlanApp 7/2007/5396 Hill Top, Bank Terrace - refused

PlanApp 7/2007/5449 High Ground Farm, Little Arrow - granted

PlanApp 7/2007/5467 Coniston Sailing Club - granted

PlanApp 7/2007/The Village Pantry - granted

PlanApp 7/2007/5500 Howe Farm, Days Bank - granted

9. CORRESPONDENCE: (other than that referred to elsewhere in the Minutes)

SLDC For information only: Agenda (30th October).

Ton Class Association Newsletter October 2007

CALC Circular November 2007

CALC South Lakeland District Association notice of meeting 29 November with Agenda.

CALC New Parish Liaison Officer – letter of introduction from Amanda McCleery.

10. PUBLIC QUESTIONS: Mr Adams asked for information about the appearance of an information board and a bench on the quay of the Old Furness Road. He was told that it was part of the Local Heritage funded programme.

11. REPORTS:

11.a. POLICE REPORT: None.

11.b. CLLR TARR: Expressed concern about poor state of railings around the village; the clerk to seek support in Newsletter.

11.c. CLLR KELLY: Had received information that the dental practice in Ambleside would be retained as a NHS service.

11.d. CLLR HALL: (i) Spoke of the availability of 2 Lakeland Housing Trust dwellings (a 3-bedroom property and a 2-bedroom property) in Torver becoming available.

(ii) Expressed concern about the frequent failure of the street lamp above the Brow steps.

11.e. CLLR STODDART: (i) Enquired about the progress of the repairs to the Lake Road benches: on-going.

(ii) Asked if the appearance of the blue Brantwood signs on Church Beck Bridge were in keeping with parish council policy to keep the railings free from anything that might obscure the view for traffic along Yewdale Road: enquiries to be made.

11.f. ALASTAIR CAMERON: Proposed Coniston Health Centre: Because of the problems the Coniston Practice has faced with the illness of Dr Wood, little work has progressed during the past month with the plans for a Coniston Health Centre. However Ashley House Associates are still keen to progress with the project to develop the Health Centre and are continuing to liaising with the Primary Care Trust and the Coniston Practice. One reason it is important to push on with this project is that the present surgery does not meet the disabled access criteria. Understandably the new doctors will need to settle in before we can expect any development. Negotiations about the proposed site adjacent to the Sports and Social Club have been more or less completed. Coniston Housing: A favourable response was received from the planners about the proposed development of affordable housing on the site off Old Hawkshead Road. The final number of dwellings will only be known after the Parochial Church Council decide how much land can be given over to the development and how much needs to be retained for grave space. The development will be overseen by the Church’s own developers, Mitre Housing. There is still a delay with the development of the Old Furness Road site caused by the issue of ownership and responsibility for the rock face. However planning permission has been received and we are led to believe sufficient funding is available, so other than the problem of the rock face this project is complete. The old Mandalls Slate Office and even older paved track-way beside it will remain. The Church Room development has received planning approval for 3 homes. As you know the outside appearance of the building will not be allowed to be changed. One important thing to consider is that there is a clause within Section 106 of the Planning Act called 'Planning Gain'. It encourages rsl's such as Home Housing or Mitre Housing to donate funds to a community for e.g., improvements to community facilities. This can often take the form of providing a play area (with facility for on-going maintenance) and this has already been proposed for Torver with the John Young’s Field development. However I don’t think it can be used for things such as helping to finance the TIC or developing the Institute. The Coniston Housing Project Team has another meeting planned for the end of November and this would be a good time to put any proposals forward. Other points - Coniston Old Man survey: The project to carry out an historical survey of Coniston Old Man and to develop an oral-history archive of those who worked on the Old Man is now complete. The project was run under the auspices of the Coniston Local History Group and was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It has taken oven two years to complete and those involved will be describing their work at an open meeting of the Local History Group in February 2007.

12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: RESOLVED: to confirm that the next Meeting will be held on Monday 17th December 2007 at 7pm in the Library.