Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday, 14th October 2014 in the Community Centre, Station Road East, Trimdon Station at 6.30pm.
Present: Councillors M Eadsforth (Chair), Mr G. Elliott, Mrs G. Elliott and B. Ferguson. Also present was Durham County Councillor L. Hovvells and several members of the public. There were no apologies for absence as all Councillors were present.
The meeting began with the introduction of the newly appointed Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer Mr. G. Price.
1100. Minutes
The minutes of the monthly meeting held on 9th September 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.
1101. Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
1102. Opportunity to address the Council
A representative of the Police gave a full report about the recorded crime in the Village over the last month.53 incidents had been reported, but crime was down 9% and anti-social behaviour 15% on the previous month.
Durham County Councillor Hovvells reported about the work that was on-going with the local Primary School regarding litter and dog dirt, the Safe Durham Partnership, the problem with illegal fireworks and the Outside Gym now open at Trimdon.
At this point members of the public asked questions regarding the public liability on the burned-out house in Station Road, where tiles had now fallen in, as well as the chasing of the owner by Durham County Council to re-instate the property to a habitable state: speeding on Thornley Road, and it was decided to ask someone from Highways and the Traffic Police to attend a future meeting of the Council: the missing covers on gas and electric boxes, as well as missing wheelie bin lids: houses being advertised for let when they were obviously not fit for purpose: the need for footpaths around Station Road/ St. Aiden’s to be swept: whether or not the fireworks display would be taking place this year, and it was explained there would not be enough time to organise it due to safety constraints: County Councillor Hovvells agreed to take in hand the matters that should be dealt with by Durham County Council.
The Councillors then gave their reports and highlighted the garage at the end of Luke Street, the blocked gullies in Luke Street, the damage to the linings of the play area bins and the limited access of the gates at the recreation ground. Concerns were also expressed regarding the fencing around the old Purvis building and the drainage at the allotment site.
1103. Correspondence
(a) E-mail from Durham County Planning re Objection PL/5/2013/0123. The County were saying that the matter had been investigated but unless more evidence was forthcoming the matter would be dropped. One resident of the Parish was most concerned that the planning regulations were being ignored and would try to provide evidence of this. Cllr Hovvells would also follow up.
(b) E-mail from DCC re ‘black path’. This was an unadopted path and so did not fall as the responsibility of the County Council. The Parish Council do not have a power to spend on unadopted paths and roads.
(c) E-mail from DCC re salt bin. The County requested a plan of where the bin was to be placed. If acceptable to the County they would maintain it. If not, the Parish would have to adopt it. A question was asked regarding the second bin that had been purchased, but it was said that it could not be placed in Cinnamon Drive as no-one wanted it outside of their property.
(d) E-mail from Civic Pride re proposed planters. It was agreed the Parish would adopt these planters and see to their on-going maintenance.
(e) Request from Mr Lawson regarding an allotment plot. Mr Lawson was present and spoke about his lengthy wait for an answer to his request. The new Clerk would be looking at the whole allotment site as one of his first tasks and would try to find answers to the question.
(f) Update of annual fees from RBS for their accounts software-the new Clerk was familiar with the RBS system and would want to continue to use it.
(g) Request from the Great North Air Ambulance for a donation from the 2015/16 budget. It was agreed to donate the same amount as this year.
1104. Consultations on Planning
There were none.
1105.Accounts
Agreed that the accounts for the past month totalling £4032.79 submitted to the meeting be approved for payment.
The Acting Clerk read out the report of the External Auditor, BDO Stoy Hayward, who had made some suggestions as to improving the accounts presentation in the future. All of these points were very minor and could easily be incorporated into next year’s return. The final accounts for the year ended 31st March 2014 were formally adopted by the Council.
1106 Memorial Garden
Groundwork North East had confirmed that the Memorial Garden would be completed the next day, and requested when the opening ceremony should take place. It was agreed it was too late to fit anything in the calendar in time for the November Remembrance and discussion should take place with Groundwork to agree a different date. It was also agreed that a thorough inspection of the project was needed before the Parish accepted that it was complete.
1107. Exchange of Information
The Acting Clerk gave an apology regarding the placement of notices for the soon-to-be-held election, which had been misunderstood by him and therefore did not appear on time on the Parish Notice Board. They had, however, appeared on the County website and so were legally posted.
The Chair gave information on the PCP Health Buddy project, as well as courses she had attended or was about to attend.
The base of the demolished building at the recreation ground was still in place. The Acting Clerk would check the invoice to see if this work had been included on it.
The Parish Council was reminded that the proposed play area at May Crescent should be discussed very soon and it was decided to include this item in the next agenda.
The Chair closed the meeting to press and public at this point due to the nature of the business about to be transacted.
1108. Report of Acting Clerk on Grounds maintenance contract
The Acting Clerk had met with the contractor and discussed the current arrangements for the Parish work. It was pointed out that this contract should be reviewed at least every three years and should be tendered for. It was agreed that the new Clerk put together over the next few months a specification for the work and it be put out to tender for next April. The current contractor would be asked to tender for the work.
The on-going matter with the Insurance Company over the claim for the stolen equipment had been partly resolved by the Acting Clerk, but it was agreed that Councillor Elliott should discuss the replacement machine with the Insurance Company as soon as possible.
1109. To discuss Workforce matters
Discussion took place with the new Clerk regarding parts of the proposed contract. Agreement was reached.
The meeting closed at 9.10pm.
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Trimdon Foundry Parish Minutes for 14th October 2014
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