Minutes of the New Hutton Parish Council Annual Open Meeting on Tuesday 16th June 2020

Owing to the covid-19 lockdown, the three meetings were held virtually on Zoom.

1. Election of the Chairman of New Hutton Parish Council for 2020 to 2021
Martyn Welch was re-elected to the chairmanship.

2. The Annual Parish Open Meeting

No comments were made by parishioners.

Minutes of the AGM of New Hutton Parish Council on Tuesday 16th June 2020 following the Open Meeting

1. Present
Pat Bell, Hazel Hodgson, Henry Robinson, Kath Twist, Martyn Welch (Chairman), Stan Collins (CCC), Arthur
Robinson (clerk) and 7 parishioners

2. Apologies none

3. Election of the Vice-Chairman of New Hutton Parish Council for 2020 to 2021
It was decided that a Vice-Chairman is not needed.
4. Minutes of the last AGM held on the 15th May, 2019
These minutes were confirmed to be a true and accurate record on 25-11-2019.
5. Chairman’s report for 2019/20
The year has been quite quiet for the Parish Council with only a few issues being noteworthy.
Although a number of planning applications have been reviewed by the Parish Council during the year none of these
were of significant note other than permissions to allow flexible night-time working at the Roan Edge Inert Landfill and
Waste Recycling Facility.
The condition of road surfaces has been an issue that many parishioners have been concerned about. During the
year there have been a significant number of potholes repaired and thanks must go to those parishioners who report
the existence of potholes to CCC. Particular thanks must also go to Arthur Robinson (and his wife Jean) who
religiously prepare a detailed report on the condition of roads each year which is forwarded to CCC and always seems
to elicit a rapid improvement to the condition of our roads.
During the year United Utilities have continued their replacement of a section of the Haweswater Aqueduct running
through our parish. This work has been significant indeed and has again resulted in disruption of some roads
throughout the year. This work in our parish is, thankfully, rapidly nearing completion now.
During the year discussions have been held, both at PC meetings and on-site, regarding the planting of trees on the
wet part of the Parish Field. It is hoped that a final decision on whether to go ahead with this project or not will be
taken very soon. If it is to go ahead then it is hoped to make a pleasant recreational facility for parishioners to use.
The most significant issue, by far, during the past year was the covid-19 pandemic. This has had enormous effects on
both work and social events for parishioners. The effects of the virus and the associated, necessary, social distancing
and lockdown have been severe and will, no doubt, be long-lasting. As a parish community, people ‘rallied round’ to
help those in need and everyone has stuck together as best they could.
Here’s looking forward to a healthy year ahead and a swift return to ‘as near normal’ as possible.

6. Review and adoption of appropriate standing orders and financial regulations

Revised standing orders were adopted on 20-11-2013; revised financial regulations were adopted on 25-11-2019.
7. Review of inventory of land and assets
The value of these items was reviewed [see the document on the parish website]

8. Review and confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all insured risks
a) The parish council currently has the standard policy from Zurich Insurance (premium £257.60) for the
period 13-10-2019 to 12-10-2020
b) The replacement values of all items on the assets list were reviewed for insurance cover.

9. Review of the Council’s membership of other bodies

a) These are CALC [current subscription £137.72] and the Upper Kent Local Area Partnership [no
subscription].
 b) Pat Bell and Henry Robinson were re-appointed as the two Parish Council representatives to the New
Hutton Lambrigg Wind Farm Funding Committee.
c) Kath Twist was re-appointed as the Parish Council representative to the Armistead Wind Farm
Funding Committee.
d) Martyn Welch was re-appointed as the Parish Council representative to the Upper Kent LAP meeting.
10. Review of the Council’s procedures for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and Data Protection Act 1998
None has been received.

Minutes of the Ordinary meeting of New Hutton Parish Council on Tuesday 16th June 2020 following the AGM

200616-1 Present
Pat Bell, Hazel Hodgson, Henry Robinson, Kath Twist, Martyn Welch (Chairman), Stan Collins (CCC), Arthur
Robinson (clerk) and 7 parishioners

200616-2 Apologies none

200616-3 Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meetings

The chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the Parish Council meetings on 19-03-2020, 24-04-2020 and 18-
05-2020 as true and accurate records [see the documents on the website]

200616-4 Chairman’s announcements

a) Tony Porter has resigned as chairman of the Lambrigg Wind Farm Fund Committee. The Parish Council
thanked him for his many years of service.
b) The annual survey of all roads in New Hutton has been completed and a map of the problems has been sent
to CCC Highways. Stan Collins said that the roads budget has been increased by 60% so many of the
problems will be dealt with in the coming months.
c) CCC will resume issuing fines for parking offences in urban centres and CCC off-street car parks from 22-06-
2020.
d) United Utilities has reported that almost all the new pipeline is in place and work has started on reinstatement.
Road closures earlier in the year were completed and the roads re-opened on schedule. In the coming weeks,
UU will make material available online which was used in the March exhibitions about work in 2021-2024
north west and south east of the current work area. There will also be a further update of those plans.

200616-5 Declaration of interests

Hazel Hodgson declared an interest in item 11.

200616-6 Open session no comments

200616-7 Planning applications

a) Applications submitted requiring council comments:
SL/2020/0379 – Construction of a 20mx40m manège at The Stables, Hayfellside. The Parish Council had no
objection to this planning application.
b) The progress of the following applications was noted:
SL/2020/0154 - Erection of free-standing illuminated digital advertisement at Killington Lake Services building.
Permission granted on 15-05-2020.
SL/2020/0258 – Re-orientation of garage/workshop opening and change to garage door at Paddock View.
The Council had no objections at its e-meeting on 24-04-2020.
SL/2020/0293 - Conversion and alterations including single storey porch extension of existing swimming
pool/storage building to form a new dwelling house with new vehicular access formed off Sedbergh Road at
Greyhound Barn. The Council had no objection to this application.

200616-8 Payment of accounts

Payment of the following amounts was authorised (proposed by Pat Bell, seconded by Kath Twist):
£137.72 to CALC for the 2020/21 subscription
£15.60 to L.A.Robinson for stamps for the Parish Council
£90.00 to MBE Accountancy for the 2019/20 internal audit
£65.00 to SLDC for the parish election in 2019
200616-9 Financial report
a) The CALC subscription is made up of £21.82 for NALC and £115.90 for CALC.
b) From the 24th July 2020, the interest rate for the Business Account will be reduced from 0.10% to 0.01%.
c) The Annual Internal Audit Report 2019/20 was approved (proposed by Kath Twist, seconded by Hazel
Hodgson) [see the website]
d) The Annual Governance Statement 2019/20 was approved (proposed by Henry Robinson, seconded by Pat
Bell) [see the website]
e) The annual accounts, including variances and bank reconciliation, were approved (proposed by Hazel
Hodgson, seconded by Kath Twist) [see the website]
f) The Annual Accounting Statements 2019/20 were approved (proposed by Pat Bell, seconded by Henry
Robinson) [see the website]
g) It was resolved that the exemption criteria for 2019/20 have been met and the Certificate of Exemption was
approved (proposed by Pat Bell, seconded by Hazel Hodgson) [see the website]
h) Monday 22nd June to Friday 31st July was approved as the period for the exercise of public rights (proposed
by Hazel Hodgson, seconded by Henry Robinson) [see the website]
i) It was noted that the Community Account balance on the 1st April 2020 was £2336.45. It is now £3228.13 after
the receipt of the parish precept. A maximum of £305.39 has been authorised to be spent in the broadband
project. The balance of the Business Account remains at £512.65.
j) Dog poo bin quotations – At its March meeting the Parish Council agreed to purchase some bins but the
Institute Committee has not yet decided which model it prefers. Kath Twist will check with SLDC about
regulations governing the disposal of dog waste.

200616-10 Correspondence
The following item of correspondence was received since the last meeting:
17-04-2020 from CALC – April/May newsletter [forwarded to councillors]

200616-11 Possible tree planting on the Parish Field

a) There was a long discussion about whether the field should remain grazing land or be planted with trees. It
was felt that more advice was needed about the capital and maintenance costs of planting trees, as well as
parking at the site. It was resolved that a meeting should be arranged with an adviser from the Woodland
Trust to discuss these issues (proposed by Pat Bell, seconded by Henry Robinson)
b) Because of the uncertainty about the future of the Parish Field, it was agreed that the tenancy agreement
should be for one recurring year from 21-05-2020 (proposed by Henry Robinson, seconded by Pat Bell)

200616-12 Parish Environment Plan

The issue of a proposed environment plan for the parish was postponed to a future meeting.
The Royal College of Art (RCA) and the Transport Planning Society (TPS) are seeking communities and organisations
that are planning for the futures of their communities. They want to help communities to ensure resilience in dealing
with complex social, economic and environmental challenges. Initially, the RCA and TPS are seeking groups to
register their interest. They will then choose three community groups to support over six months and finish in
November. The deadline for entries is 17 June 2020 so the Parish Council has registered an interest.

200616-13 Review of the SLDC Local Plan

Owing to the virus lockdown, this was postponed to a future meeting.

200616-14 Community resilience

a) CCC Highways postponed its review of the priority of roads for gritting because of the lockdown. The
supplying of grit by CCC for a parish-owned gritter or for a hired contractor will not be decided until after the
review.
b) The New Hutton Community Resilience Plan was postponed to a future meeting.

200616-15 CCC Working Together Scheme

Working Together is a CCC-run service to support communities and parish councils to make improvements and
undertake highways maintenance activities within their local area. An invitation was received on 03-02-2020 to start to
develop a specific agreement regarding such activities on the highway. It was decided to ask what might be involved
in such a scheme, and to invite the person in charge to a future meeting.

200616-16 Date of the next meeting

Depending on the agenda, the next Parish Council meeting is likely to be in August 2020

Arthur Robinson, parish clerk, Over Bleaze, Old Hutton, Kendal, LA8 0LU
Telephone – 01539-725955 e-mail – [email protected] www.oldhutton.org.uk