Venue: East Hartford Community Centre, Institute Buildings, Scott Street, East Hartford, Cramlington, NE23 3AP.
Contact: Heather Bowers
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ferguson, Flux, Taylor and Wilczek. |
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Minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington, Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on 22 November 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington,Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on 22 November 2023, as circulated were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair. |
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PETITIONS Minutes: No petition had been received, there were no reports or updates to consider. |
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PUBLIC QUESTION TIME To reply to any questions received from members of the public, which may be received in writing in advance of the meeting or asked at the meeting. Questions can be asked about issues for which the Council has a responsibility. If questions are received in advance of meetings it will increase the likelihood of an answer being provided at the meeting. (Public question times take place on a bimonthly basis at Local Area Committee 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 Committee. Minutes: Joe Coyne, East Hartford referred to lack of demarcation lines in the East Harfford area.
Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager stated that roads were inspected and prioritised. He would take back as an action and check if any work was planned for the area. |
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FIX MY STREET To receive a presentation on Fix My Street by Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager. Minutes: Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager, gave a presentation on the new web based reporting system, Fix My Street (FMS), which had been launched in May 2023. (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes.)
The presentation outlined:
i. Roads – potholes ii. Flytipping iii. Hedges / Overgrown vegetation iv. Blocked gullies v. Grass cutting
Following the presentation, members raised the following questions/comments:
Mr Westerby gave the following responses:
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PARISH/TOWN CLERK DISCUSSION Discussion item to ask how the LAC can look to improve communication and relationship where possible between NCC and the town and parish councils. Minutes: This item was to ask how the LAC could look to improve communication and relationship where possible between NCC and the town and parish council.
Bob Baker, Clerk of Cramlington Town Council was in attendance and made the following comments:
Rob Murfin, Director of Housing and Planning stated that as part of the LAC review, working with NALC, a survey had been carried out with parish and town councils, which had asked questions about the relationship. From the results of the NALC survey, there had been no consensus. Some of the smaller parish and town councils had wanted to be communicated via the local area committees.
The Review report would be circulated to Parish and Town Clerks.
An area of interest to the public was that if Local Area Committees had a more strategic local role, eg Neighbourhood Planning, Affordable Housing. But the role for each local area committee, eg rural areas would not work here.
Members raised the following:
(Councillor Chicken left the meeting at 6.47 pm).
Mr Murfin stated that he would raise the suggestion of assigning officer support with the Executive. However, there was no single approach as different areas would have different issues, eg, Leasehold issues in Cramlington and Holiday Homes in Berwick.
With regard to legal issues, the main issue was Parish and Town Councils were 3rd party. Local Area Committees were not statutory consultees in licensing matters but could give ... view the full minutes text for item 55. |
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BUDGET 2024-25 AND MEDIUM-TERM FINANCIAL PLAN This presentation will outline the Council’s strategy to the 2024-25 Budget within the context of the Corporate Plan.?? The presentation will provide details of the approach to setting the budget for the next financial year and the broad impact this will have on the delivery of services. Minutes: Councillor Wearmouth, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services gave a presentation to outline the approach being taken to set the budget for the next financial year with focus on its key priorities including achieving value for money, tackling inequalities and driving economic growth as well as working towards net zero.
He outlined the consultation process taking place between 12 December 2023 and 26 January 2024 which included presentations at all 5 of the Local Area Committees, an online questionnaire, policy conference, briefings for the political groups and individual meetings, and an online Question and Answer session by the Leader on 31 January 2024. The detail regarding initiatives and schemes would be presented at a meeting of the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee which all members would be invited to. (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes.)
Members were referred to 3 important documents which provided relevant information to the budget consultation:
The presentation outlined:
Many areas of the Council were experiencing:
The following comments were made in response to members questions:-
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LOCAL AREA COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME To note the latest version of agreed items for future Local Area Committee meetings (any suggestions for new agenda items will require confirmation by the Chairman of Council after the meeting). Minutes: RESOLVED that the work programme be noted. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next Local Area Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 20 February 2024 in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Morpeth immediately following the Cramlington Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Planning Committee. This is an additional meeting to discuss the Draft Local Transport Plan. Minutes: Tuesday 20 February 2024. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To consider such other business, as in the opinion of the Chair, should, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency. Minutes: Councillor Daley raised the issue of fallen trees in Cramlington and residents’ concerns over safety and requested that an audit of trees be taken.
The Chair would raise this at the LAC Chairs meeting. |