Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Meeting Space - Block 1, Floor 2 - County Hall. View directions

Contact: Lesley Little 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bawn, Darwin and Dickinson. 

 

2.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 280 KB

Minutes of the meetings of the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council held on Monday 14 February 2022 and Monday 14 March 2022, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council held on Monday 14 February 2022 and 14 March 2022, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and be signed by the Chair.

 

3.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

To reply to any questions received from members of the public which have been submitted in writing in advance of the meeting. Questions can be asked about issues for which the Council has a responsibility. (Public question times take place on a bimonthly basis at Local Area Council meetings: in January, March, May, July, September and November each year.)

 

As agreed by the County Council in February 2012, the management of local public question times is at the discretion of the chair of the committee.

 

Please note however that a question may possibly be rejected if it requires the disclosure of any categories of confidential or exempt information, namely information:

  1. relating to any individual;
  2. which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual;
  3. relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person
  4. relating to any labour relations matters/negotiations;
  5. restricted to legal proceedings
  6. about enforcement/enacting legal orders
  7. relating to the prevention, investigation of prosecution of crime.

And/or:

?      is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;

?      it is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of this or another County Council committee in the past six months;

?      the request repeats an identical or very similar question from the same person;

?      the cost of providing an answer is disproportionate;

?      it is being separately addressed through the Council's complaints process;

?      it is not about a matter for which the Council has a responsibility or which affects the county;

?      it relates to planning, licensing and/or other regulatory applications

?      it is a question that town/parish councils would normally be expected to raise through other channels.

 

If the Chair is of the opinion that a question is one which for whatever reason, cannot properly be asked in an area meeting, he/she will disallow it and inform the resident of his/her decision.

 

Copies of any written answers (without individuals' personal contact details) will be provided for members after the meeting and also be publicly available.

 

Democratic Services will confirm the status of the progress on any previously requested written answers and follow up any related actions requested by the Local Area Council.

 

Minutes:

No questions had been submitted.

 

4.

PETITIONS pdf icon PDF 394 KB

This item is to:

 

(a)    Receive any new petitions: to receive any new petitions. The lead petitioner is  entitled to briefly introduce their petition by providing a statement in writing, and a response to any petitions received will then be organised for a future meeting;

 

(b)  Consider reports on petitions previously received:

 

           i.           Petition - Speed Reduction Northern Bypass - St Georges roundabout - Northgate roundabout, Morpeth

 

(c) Receive any updates on petitions for which a report was previously   considered: any updates will be verbally reported at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

(a) Receive New Petitions

 

Mandy Trotter (lead petitioner) was in attendance and handed in a written petition and advised of an e-petition which had also just closed which requested a pavement/cycleway connecting Red Row Drive to Barrington Road.  She provided an introduction to the petitions which included the following information:

 

·       Red Row Drive was the connecting road from Barrington Industrial Estate, through a residential area, avoiding the town centre and providing access to the A1147 and Spine Road. It was a very busy, short stretch of road with blind bends with industrial traffic to horses using the road.

·       There was only a limited stretch of pavement and for approximately 400m there was no pavement and no alternative but to walk on the road against oncoming traffic as using the grass verge was unacceptable and impossible for those with pushchairs, mobility issues and wheelchair users.

·       It linked the community to Bedlington Station, Bedlington and Choppington giving access to local shops and transport etc and to the east linked with Bomarsund, Stakeford and the A1147 giving access to TT Electronics Welwyn Components, Rutherford Cancer Centre and Earth Balance.

·       Barrington Industrial Estate was part of the community and it was understood that access was needed to the Spine Road along Red Row Drive. Remondis were supporting the request and had pledged a contribution of £1500 towards the cost of the scheme, should it go ahead.

·       A pavement/cycleway would provide a safer route to the new rail link rather than using the Welwyn Bridge, with the increased traffic accessing the new car parks.

·       The e-petition had received 286 signatures and the paper petition had another 34 signatures and showed the strength of feeling from local residents.

·       Pedestrians were the most vulnerable of road users and were owed a duty of care. There should always be sufficient space for a wheelchair or twin set pushchair to pass comfortably without being forced to step into the road.

·       Northumberland’s Local Transport Plan 2011-2026 promoted safer and healthier travel, including walking and cycling.

·       The petition was not a complaint regarding the level of traffic using Red Row Drive, but was a request from the community for a pavement/cycleway to rid the anxiety and make it safe and fit for purpose.

 

Councillor Foster, local Ward Member thanked the lead petition for bringing this forward stating that she fully supported the request.  This had been requested for a number of years, however due to costs involved had not been taken forward.  There was a risk to pedestrians having to walk on the road with the high number of large vehicles using the road and the speed of vehicles.  Anyone with mobility problems could not use the safe school route over the bridge as they needed to use a flat route. The road also provided access to the Industrial Estate and to a café.  It would be a natural route for users of the new railway station and demand would increase with its opening. She advised that she would be willing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

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:

P Lowes, Neighbourhood Services Area Manager, provided an update as follows:-

 

Waste Services – residual and recycling were performing well other than strain due a shortage of HGV drivers, but services were continuing to be provided and recruitment for drivers ongoing.  There was a high demand for bulky waste removal and there had been an increase of 400 new customers for garden waste removal, taking the total up to 6,800 paying customers this year.

Grass Cutting – seasonal workers had been recruited with cutting commencing at the end of March/beginning of April and it was now the third cut of the season. There had been some delay due to inclement weather and bank holidays but the team had recovered well.

Weed spraying – obstacle spraying had finished and hard surface spraying had commenced.  Verge cutting would be commencing shortly with the schedule as previous and assistance by farmers provided.  Visibility splays would be monitored and Members should report any issues.

 

Information in response to questions from Members was noted as follows:-

 

·       Plans had been sent to Councillor Dodd regarding the proposals for the flashing 20mph signs to be provided from West Woodburn and new countdown markers and existing refreshed in Belsay.   Mr Snowdown was happy to attend the Parish Council meetings with Councillor Dodd regarding proposals and any additional work which could be undertaken.

·       Riverside Close in Ponteland, intend notices were being issued and after three weeks if no objections were received then the orders could be made.

·       Legal clarification would be sought on the use of non-Northumberland parking discs in Council owned car parks allowing free parking for a prescribed time.

·       There were no weed spraying trials this year and supplies for this year had been purchased at a good price last year.  A report was currently being written regarding the trials and would be circulated in due course.

·       The Highways Inspector would be asked to visit the vacant Co-operative building in Lynemouth to ascertain responsibility for weed management and a notice would be served to the owners should it be found to be their responsibility.

·       It was not possible to provide a timescale regarding the Safer school initiative in Ellington, it was generally approximately three months, however the scheme was with the Design Team who unfortunately were experiencing some illness in the team. 

·       In respect of the schemes which Councillor Jones highlighted which were not showing up on her Members Schemes, Mr Snowdon advised that the Halton Shields was listed as an LTP Scheme and he would ascertain progress on the others. 

·       In respect of works with utility companies, the main legislation used in respect of works in the highway was the New Roads and Streetworks Act and specifically within Section 59 of this the Local authority was obligated to coordinate all works within the highway and Section 60 the utilities companies are obligated to work with Local Authorities to minimise disruption in the highway.  There was a North East Highways and Utilities Committee (HUC) where all Local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

MEMBERS LOCAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEME pdf icon PDF 1 MB

An update on the progress of Members Local Improvement Schemes in the Castle Morpeth Area is provided for information.

 

Minutes:

A progress report dated 1 March 2022 had been circulated with the agenda.  Members were advised that a new version had been received after the agenda had been published and was now available on the Council’s website. Clarification would be sought on the current position in relation to the installation of bollards to prevent the use of land by motorcycles in the Lynemouth area as requested by Councillor Dunn.

 

RESOLVED that the information be noted.

 

7.

LOCAL AREA COUNCIL WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 183 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:

The Chair advised that this was for information and should Members wish to ask for any items to be added to the agenda, then they contact either himself or Democratic Services.

 

RESOLVED that the information be noted.

 

8.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting (Planning only) will be held on Monday, 13 June 2022.

 

Minutes:

The next meeting was scheduled for Monday 13 June 2022 and would be planning only.