Minutes 27th July 2023

Councillor Deighton

None

Councillor Sydall proposed the minutes a true and accurate record of the meeting and Councillor Mallett seconded this.

Please can the clerk purchase 3 afternoon tea vouchers now the bank mandate has been updated.

The Chairman gave an update on the green space application.  The PC have been trying to register all the parishes green spaces as village green in one application and unfortunately each village needs an individual application.  Furthermore, the required proof that a piece of land has been used for at least 20 years for the enjoyment of the Parish (Village) is difficult to justify for some of the smaller patches of land. Village Green registration is not compulsory and something the PC may consider in the future.  It was agreed not to pursue this further at this time.  The Chairman will advise the Solicitor and Council Common Land Registrar accordingly.

The Chairman provided feedback to the MASCG asking them that for next year could the toilets be provided earlier than this year.  They will take this into consideration, but did not want to send them too early in case it looked as though the travellers were welcome early.

Thank you to Councillor McDowall for purchasing and erecting the no parking signs for Eden Bridge.

The Chairman has spoken to the land owner regarding putting another bench along the river near Eden Bridge.  The owner does not want another bench putting there as it is only a footpath through and he does not want to encourage people to stay as the land is part of a working farm.

HS

An application was received regarding common land at Sandford Mire; a former Sandford resident has written to the Commons Registration Office of Westmorland and Furness Council as the demarcations are wrong and need amending.  No objections were raised by the Parish Council.

Income Received: None

To note payments.

The 3 monthly bank reconciliation and bank statement were checked by the Chairman and signed as correct.

·         Website – This has now been updated with all the information needed and is ready to go “live”.  This is now an independent website just for the parish council.  It was agreed to put together some publicity for residents informing them of the new change;  advertise in The Way and update the Facebook page.

·         Website content – In order to ensure Parish Council ‘ownership’ of information on the website, it was agreed to circulate significant draft entries by email for Councillors to comment and/or approve prior to being uploaded onto the website.  A review will be done yearly of the website content.  The account manager will be the clerk.

·         Warcop Parish Cemetery Report – Councillor Mallett has carried out a survey of the cemetery.  There was a discussion regarding priorities given the limited PC resources and it was agreed that safety, particularly leaning headstones in the older part of the cemetery, and structural repairs and precautionary work should take precedent. The stone retaining wall has 3 main problem areas where the stone is bulging out due to tree roots.  Questions were raised whether the PC gets a tree surgeon out to quote for reducing or removing the trees down to 1.5m and does the PC lay the leaning headstones down flat for health and safety reasons or concrete them back in.  The PC noted that responsibility for the repair of gravestones including securing rests with the relatives of the deceased; whilst precautions can and should be taken if any appear unsafe (including taping off and lying down) reasonable attempts should be made to contact any relatives to ascertain their wishes going forward.

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·         It was agreed to write to Westmorland and Furness council to ask for their help and opinion.  Councillor Mallett agreed to produce a costed proposal so that the Parish Council can make a decision on the way forward.

·         St Columba’s Closed Churchyard – The stone wall has come down again.  The Chairman will ask Mr Sowerby if he will repair this.  The back of the church is very overgrown and maintained in a natural state as a wildlife habitat.  Moving forward the parish council need to ask the PCC if this is how they want the churchyard to be.  The Chairman will contact Westmorland and Furness council to ask them if they would consider taking over the maintenance of the closed churchyard as this was something handed over to the PC many years ago.

·         Biodiversity Duty – The parish council have an obligation to consider biodiversity in their decision making.  The Chairman will email the Guidance out to everyone and this will be discussed at a later date.

·         Allotments – Councillor Helvin has a list of 10 people in Warcop who have expressed an interest in an allotment.  If you have 6 signatures then the PC must attempt to find some land and if this is not possible then  the responsibility passes to Westmorland and Furness council for them to decide.  There is no land available in Warcop.  It was agreed to contact District Councillor Simpkins to find out some more information about this.

·         Meeting Duration – It was agreed to change the meeting time to 7pm and to keep the meeting time to 1 ½ hours with a ½ run over time if needed.

·         Parish Action Plan – This is on-going and Councillor McDowall and Parkinson will review this.

FM

MH

The Railway committee have asked to be included on the website as part of the local tourism.  As a registered charity this is permissible.

A resident gave some of his feedback to the parish council

Does the PC have an emergency plan/policy ? (This is something the previous chairman did put together and this will be reviewed and updated)

School parking, the road is blocked by parents parked up or school buses.

Dog fouling in the parish is also another ongoing problem.

Footpaths very overgrown and untidy.

Could another defib be purchased for the middle of the village as if the village floods along Brookside then both defibs are cut off.

Grass is overgrown on the river bank.

Asking if 20mph speed limit could be applied throughout Warcop

village.

All the above points will be taken into consideration and will be discussed at the next meeting.

Thank you to Mr Clee for fixing the playground as some metal plates were exposed and the bolts had no covers on.

Thursday 7^th September at 7pm

Meeting closed at 9.25pm

Chairman …………………………………

Date ……………………………………….