Items
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1. |
MINUTES PDF 357 KB
Minutes of the meeting of the
Ashington & Blyth Local Area Council held on 14 July 2021 as
circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the
Chair.
Minutes:
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of
the Ashington & Blyth Local Area Council held on
Wednesday, 14 July 2021, as circulated, be confirmed as a true
record and signed by the Chair.
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2. |
DISCLOSURE OF MEMBERS' INTERESTS
Unless already entered in the
Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are
required to disclose any personal interest (which includes any
disclosable pecuniary interest) they may have in any of the items
included on the agenda for the meeting in accordance with the Code
of Conduct adopted by the Council on 4 July 2012, and are reminded
that if they have any personal interests of a prejudicial nature
(as defined under paragraph 17 of the Code Conduct) they must not
participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must leave
the room. NB Any member needing clarification must contact Legal
Services by email at monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk
Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this
agenda letter.
Minutes:
Councillor L Simpson disclosed an interest in
the planning application as she had already expressed her opinion
on the application and agreed that she would leave the room
during the item.
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3. |
DETERMINATION OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS PDF 225 KB
To
request the committee to decide the planning applications attached
to this report using the powers delegated to it.???
Please note that printed
letters of objection/support are no longer circulated with the
agenda but are available on the Council’s website
at???http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Planning.aspx?
Minutes:
Councillor Cartie
raised concerns that letters of objection/support were no
longer printed and circulated with the agenda but found on the
Council’s website. She requested know who made the decision
and when the decision was made to no longer circulate paper copies
with the agenda.
Councillor Cartie
wished to move a motion that opposed this decision as she felt
paper copies should be circulated. She expressed that the
online portal was difficult to navigate through and paper copies
gave a better indication of the local opinion to the
applications
M
Bulman advised that although a motion couldn’t be put in
place concerns could be raised with the Director of
Planning.
Councillor Cartie
requested that it be raised with Officers as she felt it
should have been a decision made by Council and not just made by
Officers. Other members agreed and felt that hard copies
should be distributed instead of relying on the online
portal. Cllr Gallacher stated
that he had raised the concerns with planning.
RESOLVED that:
a) the concerns would be raised with the
Director of Planning.
b) the information be noted
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4. |
21/01624/COU PDF 323 KB
Change of use of ground floor from retail (use class E) to hot
food takeaway (sui generis) with ancillary storage on the first
floor. 104 - 106 Front Street, Newbiggin-By-The-Sea,
Northumberland, NE64 6AA
Minutes:
R Soulsby, planning
officer introduced the planning application to the committee
with the aid of a power point presentation. He gave the following
updates:
- The application site was within a designated Town
Centre by the Wansbeck Local
District Plan where the provision of Town Centre
facilities were permitted if
they were well located within the community.
This was outlined in policy RTC1 which wasn’t
clearly referenced in the officer report.
D
Brassell addressed the committee
speaking in objection to the application. His comments were as
follows:
- The proximity to residential flats was a
concern. There were two residential flats joined to
the business. The back bedroom window of the upper flat was
approximately 2 metres from
where the proposed extraction unit was to be placed where smells
and noise would be emitted from.
- Due to the change of use, there were
concerns raised regarding noise from the kitchen
and late-night customers, vibrations from the extraction
equipment, bins and pest
control.
- The bins were located close to the residential
flats and would be filled with waste food which could have
encouraged vermin. Mr Brassell stated
there had always been a vermin problem in the area but
this application would exacerbate the situation.
- The premises had always been a business, and
the residents do not oppose another business but the late-night food license brings
a host of concerns.
- The nearby residents were opposed to the
application and feared that it would adversely affect
their lives. There was potential that customers would have to
queue outside resident’s bedroom window which would make them
feel unsafe especially when young children come to stay. The
business has applied for a late-night food license until 12am which
could have meant people congregating outside the residential flats
at this time.
- There was a possibility that groups of people
would congregate outside the business and could encourage
anti-social behaviour.
- Newbiggin was already saturated
with takeaways and another one would only be a
deficit to other business in the town and could have created
unemployment.
T
Carter addressed the committee in support of the application on
behalf of the applicant, his comments were as
follows:
- He thanked the Chair, committee for the
opportunity to speak on behalf of the applicant. He gave thanks to
R Soulsby for giving
a professional and balanced appraisal on the
application.
- He highlighted that there were a number of comments opposing the
application. Comments were encouraged during the planning
application however the objections and comments
received were from a small group of people and it was
felt that canvassing had taken place. The
majority of comments made were regarding perceived
competition and not a true reflection of the public’s
opinion.
- Equally a significant number of the public
supported the application. The Town Council were in
support of the application and
stated “Newbiggin Town Council support the
application for the change of use and find it encouraging that a
business is willing to invest in the local
economy and bring employment opportunities when
... view
the full minutes text for item 4.
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5. |
APPEALS UPDATE PDF 234 KB
For Members’ information
to report the progress of planning appeals. This is a monthly report and relates to appeals
throughout all 5 Local Area Council Planning Committee areas and
covers appeals of Strategic Planning Committee.
Minutes:
RESOLVED that the information be noted.
Members questioned what was meant by the split decision on
page 28 of the update. It was clarified that some
advertisement notices were allowed to
remain, and some were not which was the split
decision.
A short break was held at this point and the meeting
reconvened at 6:02 p.m.
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6. |
POLICE CRIME & COMMISSIONER
Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness will
be in attendance to give an overview and answer questions
about policing and community safety matters in the Ashington and
Blyth area.
Minutes:
Kim McGuinness, Police and
Crime Commissioner gave an update on policing in the Ashington & Blyth area. She gave
the following information: -
- She acknowledged that
the pandemic had been challenging for the Police
force but highlighted that it had not taken away from the
work the force was doing.
- The new police
and crime plan was consulted across the entire region and the PCC
highlighted that there was a good representation from
the South East are of the County. Public
engagement was higher than in previous years despite the
pandemic which caused a change in plans.
- The main concerns
raised were common issues such as anti-social behaviour.
It was highlighted that there were different levels of anti-social
behaviour that ranged from fly-tipping to low level drug
dealing.
- A new system had been
introduced to allow a slicker process for Councillors
to report grievances. It was hoped that it would
help bridge the gap for reporting crimes.
- County lines was
still high on the agenda of the PCC plan and there was
a two-pronged approach through prevention tactics
and more police presence.
- She was
pleased with the progress of a number
of operations including; momentum which led to five
people evicted from the area.
- It was acknowledged
that drug crimes lead to other crimes and there was a drug problem
in the South East area. It was emphasised
that it would not be tolerated.
- There was ground-breaking work being
undertaken in response to violence and women and girls (VAWG).
The vast majority of reported violent crimes were domestic
violence. The work around VAWG included perpetrator work
which was to break the perpetrator cycle to
prevent reoffending.
- The Police Crime and
Commissioner highlighted concerns regarding funding into
the police. Funding was annual and often a one-off fund.
Policing needed more sustainable funding.
- The communication
with residents was highlighted as a success; open surgeries
and surveys were done to help those affected by
crime.
- Youth services were
working closely with Councillors. A great example of this was
work with Councillors to create a motorbike club which helped with
motorbike disorder in the area.
The following comments were
made in response to questions:
- Members
echoed the sentiments that the police hard worked hard and
done a good job throughout the pandemic.
- It was agreed that
the engagement bus was a great
addition to force. It was requested that
the engagement bus visit other areas in South
East Northumberland.
- The ANPR
(Automatic Number Pate Recognition) cameras across the County were
used as a covert police tactic.
- The handheld speed
cameras that Blyth Councillors had invested in were working
well. It was agreed that there were would
be more updates in relation to crimes reported to
Councillors.
- Post pandemic
the community speed-watch voluntary programme was to
be relaunched. There was going to be a push on
recruitment for the volunteers as there was an
acknowledgement that there needed to be more.
- There were
initiatives put in place with the Council as
a long-term deterrence for anti-social
...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Minutes:
No questions from the public
had been received in advance of the meeting.
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8. |
PETITIONS
Minutes:
(a) Receive any new petitions – no new petitions had been
received.
(b) Consider reports on petitions previously
received - no reports to consider.
(c) Receive any updates on petitions for which a
report was previously considered - no updates to
consider.
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9. |
LOCAL SERVICES ISSUES
To receive a verbal update from
the Area Managers from Technical Services and Neighbourhood
Services in attendance about any key recent, ongoing and/or future
planned Local Services work for the attention of members of the
Local Area Council, who will also then have the opportunity
to raise issues with the Area Managers.
The Area Managers have
principal responsibility for highway services and environmental
services, such as refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds
maintenance, within the geographic boundaries of the Local Area
Council.
Minutes:
The Local Services Director and Local
Services and Neighbourhood Services Divisional Manager
were in attendance to provide verbal updates about any key recent,
ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work and to respond to
issues raised by members.
Neighbourhood Services
Mr S Wardle, Neighbourhood Services Divisional Manager
provided an update as follows:
Grass Cutting
- Grass cutting remains on
target and the required standard of
between 10 to 13 grass cuts in all areas should be
achieved.
- There were challenging periods with near
perfect conditions for grass and weed growth but teams had recovered
well.
- In Blyth they were on cut 10 and cut 9
in Ashington areas.
- Street sweeping was still on the usual schedule
but was expected to move over to leaf hot spots in the near future.
Winter Works
- Winter planning was in place which
included all routine path edging, shrub bed pruning and hedge/tree work however any
suggestions from Councillors were
welcomed.
Weeds
- Weeds had proved difficult this
year throughout the whole County but particularly
within Ashington, Blyth and
Newbiggin.
- The third and final round of weed treatment
activity to hard surfaces was on-going at the time and details
of locations being covered were available if
requested.
- Staff had been deployed with some new
weed ripping equipment which seemed to be working well, but was very labour intensive to use and was therefore
being deployed to tackle particular
problem areas.
Glyphosate alternative trial
- The trial was coming to end with one more
treatment to be done in the area.
- All results were being recorded and a
note of the outcome of the trial would be produced that
could be shared with members.
Waste Collections
- There were some staff shortages due to Covid
and some minor vehicle breakdowns had also caused
difficulties, however residual recycling and garden
waste collections had gone well.
- Income from garden waste had exceeded target with
many residents buying into the scheme.
- Income from commercial and bulk waste had also
exceeded target.
- Teams were continuing to review current
rounds and were to evaluate the effect of new houses on
the collections. Also, they were to review the
rounds in regards to the
increased uptake of garden waste to assist with budget
and service planning for next year.
- Bottle recycling facilities were in high demand
and the collections from bottle banks had to be increased
to meet this.
- Bulky waste services were also in high demand and
extra time slots had been added in order
to reduce waiting times for collections. The
service was also being operated for an additional
day per week on overtime to meet the
demand.
In response to questions the following information was
provided:
- A third weed treatment spray
was taking place and it was highlighted that specific
problem areas could be targeted with mechanical weed
rippers if needed. It was always going to be a challenge
as the chemical used required the weather to
be calm and dry and the weeds to be visible
as it is a ...
view the full minutes text for item 9.
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10. |
NORTHUMBERLAND LINE CORRIDOR
An update to be
provided on the rail link corridor and what impact this could
have on Town and Parish Councils including the Ashington &
Blyth area.
Minutes:
Mr S. McNaughton, Head of Economy and
Regeneration, gave an update of the Northumberland Line project. He
gave an overview of the proposed Northumberland line
which included; six stations
with two trains per hour. It was hoped it would be open by
2024.
Achievements were outlined; public consultation gave a good
amount of feedback with 92% of the responses were
positive. The final outline had been submitted to Network Rail
for approval and planning applications were being submitted for all
proposed stations. An application to the secretary of state was
submitted and accepted and an enquiry was going to
begin in the near future. Funding
was received which had accelerated design and negotiations with
landowners. They were in the final stages of creating the business
case.
Planning and consent was already received
for a number of applications;
Chase Meadow Footbridge, Ashington Station and Northumberland Park
station. Bedlington, Blyth Bebside and Seaton Deleval stations were still awaiting
determination. Other applications were going to be
submitted in the near
future.
In response to questions, the following information was
provided:
- Designs of the stations and carparks were based on
existing use. The parking strategy would take into consideration
the demand predicted upto 2030 so therefore is a long-term
strategy. Carparks would be monitored to see when they reached
capacity and would inform officers if they needed to implement
strategies to control the use of carparks.
- The trains would initially be diesel due
to the current availability of rolling
stock. However moving forward
new stock would be introduced, hopefully from 2026. The
council will be working with the Department
for Transport to find out what the options were regarding new
stock.
- Concerns were acknowledged regarding the hospital
underpass however it was assured that it would go through the
appropriate planning protocol. If the underpass was to be diverted
it would delay the programme.
- It was requested that another survey be done for
the level crossing to measure how many people were using
it.
Members thanked Mr S.
McNaughton for the detailed update.
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11. |
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Minutes:
As the meeting approached
the 3?hour?limit Members were asked
if they wished to suspend standing orders in order to continue the
meeting.? Upon being put to the vote it was:?
?
RESOLVED?that in accordance with the
Council's constitution, standing orders be suspended and the
meeting continue over the?3
hour?limit.
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12. |
LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN UPDATE PDF 210 KB
This report provides an update
on the Local Transport
Plan (LTP) programme 21/22 and the preparation
for the 22/23 programme.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Mr P. Jones introduced the report of the local
transport plan update. The report provided an update on the plan
and the process for setting out the next years plan. He outlined
the key points as follows:-
- More funding was received from
the Department of Transport than expected which
allowed for some approved schemes to be extended and
some reserve schemes to be added to the
plan.
- Countywide work was complex and focused on safety
and maintenance. As well as work on structures such as
bridges.
- There were some complex and challenging
schemes being undertaken, such as a large amount of
geotechnical work being carried out on a landslip
at Todsteads in the Coquet
Valley.
- Looking forward there was a plan to provide a more
detailed and tailored feedback report on LTP scheme
progress o the area Councils
on a regular basis, the work required to achieve this was
on-going.
- There were 31 integrated transport projects being
undertaken in the financial year; 7 of the projects had been
completed, including 2 urgent safety schemes requested by
the police;
- A speed reduction scheme was introduced
between Lynemouth and Woodhorn; A traffic management
scheme in Cottingwood Green
was completed; parking signage was improved in
Newbiggin.
- There were 3 schemes integrated transport
projects where the works order had been issued and
18 schemes were in design.
- Works for the slipway at Newbiggin were
almost finalised with
costings being confirmed in the near future;
- On carriageway maintenance there were 18 schemes
on-going at a range of sites including Bedlington Station,
Newsham and Ashington; 10 schemes were completed, including
major resurfacing works at a range of sites; 5 microsurfacing works had been completed
in Ashington and Blyth. There
were 3 schemes in design for resurfacing activity in Swaledale Avenue, Blyth; Simonside Terrace,
Newbiggin; Laverock Hall Road, Newsham;
- Areas were being assessed and prioritized for the
next financial year, with submissions from Town and Parish
Councils, the deadline for submissions was
8th October 2021. There was an LTP workshop once
the submissions had been ranked and they would be discussed with
members. The draft programme was then presented to LACs in
February and then signed off in March.
The following comments were made:
- Members were pleased the LTP workshop was
happening again and new
members were urged to attend.
- It was felt that the report highlighted how little
money was invested in Ashington & Blyth compared to other areas
within the County.
- Members approved of the tailored report that would
be provided to the Local Areas.
- Local Area Councils were originally set
up with the intention of being a decision
making body but it was felt that they had been given
limited decision making powers..
- It was suggested that there was a need for
refreshed road markings throughout the South East of the
County with Rotary Way, Blyth being mentioned. Additional funding
had been allocated to refresh signs and lines but they were being prioritized on a
safety basis.
- Micro-surfacing was a nationally recognized
treatment to ...
view the full minutes text for item 12.
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13. |
APPOINTMENTS TO OUTSIDE BODIES PDF 142 KB
To make appointments to outside
body organisations within the Local Area Council’s
remit.? The following volunteers have been
received:
- Blyth Valley Disabled Forum – K
Nisbet
- Briardale Community & Training Centre Community
Association - Margaret
Richardson
- Community and Voluntary Action Blyth
Valley - A Wallace
·
Northumberland Community Voluntary Action -
TBC
Minutes:
Members
considered a list of appointments to outside bodies for
2021/22.
RESOLVED that the following list of appointments be
confirmed:
- Blyth Valley Disabled Forum – K
Nisbet
- Briardale Community & Training Centre
Community Association -
Margaret Richardson
- Community and Voluntary Action Blyth
Valley - A Watson
- Northumberland Community Voluntary Action – To be
confirmed
RESOLVED that the information be noted.
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14. |
LOCAL AREA COUNCIL WORK PROGRAMME PDF 241 KB
To note the latest version of
agreed items for future Local Area Council meetings (any
suggestions for new agenda items will require confirmation by the
Business Chair after the meeting)
Minutes:
Members received the latest version of agreed items for
future Local Area Council meetings.
Concerns were raised regarding the amount of business set
for the November LAC meeting.
It was acknowledged that certain items must remain on the
agenda but was suggested that the work programme be looked at.
It was suggested that it would be better if planning was a
separate meeting to avoid long meetings.
RESOLVED that the information be noted. Suggestions
would be taken forward.
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15. |
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held
on Wednesday, 13 October 2021 (Planning
only)
Minutes:
It was noted that the next meeting was for planning items
only and, subject to there being any planning business, would take
place on Wednesday, 13 October 2021 time to be
confirmed.
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