Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Rebecca Little 

Items
No. Item

70.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors: Bridgett, Swinbank and Watson.

71.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 282 KB

Minutes of the meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council held on Thursday 23 September 2021, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of the North Northumberland Local Area Council held on Thursday, 23 September 2021, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair. 

 

72.

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 the monitoring officer by email at monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk . Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

Minutes:

Councillor Mather advised members that he was an approved winter contractor.

 

73.

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; 
  1. Which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual; 
  1. Relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person 
  1. Relating to any labour relations matters/negotiations; 
  1. Restricted to legal proceedings 
  1. About enforcement/enacting legal orders 
  1. 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:

Councillor Castle informed members that he had received questions via an email from a member of the public but had not accepted them for this meeting but had passed them on to the relevant officer to accept as part of the full Council public question time.

 

74.

PETITIONS

This item is to: 

 

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

       

(b) Consider reports on petitions previously received: no reports are due to be considered at this meeting; 

 

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

 

Minutes:

The committee were informed of a new petition that had been received “petition against inappropriate development in Beadnell”, however this was a petition which related to the wider Northumberland area in relation to planning issues so it would be referred to the Petitions Committee.

 

Members were also informed of a petition that had closed on Change.org and had been submitted to the Chief Executive, with 689 signatures, approximately 150 with a full Northumberland postcode. “Houses for permanent residents – Beadnell, Seahouses and North Sunderland”.

 

75.

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:

Highways

 

G. Bucknall – Lead Highways Delivery Manager, informed members that highways had completed 26 out of 31 major resurfacing schemes in the Northern area for the financial year, and since the last North Northumberland LAC, the following schemes had been completed:

·       Bamburgh to Glororum

·       Hepburn junction to Harehope, south of Chillingham

·       Latest phase of Harwood road

·       Elsdon to A696

·       Swarland Mill

·       Millfield

·       Main Street – Spittal

·       Rock Mid Stead

 

G. Bucknall also advised members that localised work had been completed in Alnwick, Berwick, Branxton and the U4035 near Simonside Hills, with Embleton, Brunton Village, C92 from A1 to Lemmington Bank and Denwick lane were scheduled for the upcoming weeks.

 

The team had also continued to deliver schemes such as the Berwick Leisure Centre access, removal of a ford in Wooler, delivering a new footpath near Alnwick Football ground and Berwick Quay Walls carpark, as well as replacing damaged signs, potholes, and road markings.

 

Members thanked Graham and the team for their hard work.

 

Neighbourhood Services

 

B. Hodgson – Neighbourhood Services Manager, informed members that grass cutting would continue until it became too wet, there had been a good effort by the team and that all core and additional cuts that had been requested by parish councils were achieved. The neighbourhood team were beginning to look into leaf hot-spot areas and work around flood prevention.

 

In relation to waste recovery he advised that staffing shortages, vehicle breakdowns and Covid restrictions had been an issue but garden waste and household waste had exceeded targets and the team were working to develop new routes to include additional housing developments. The kerbside glass recycling scheme had been extended for another twelve months to help gather more data on volumes collected, efficiency and participation rates.

 

Members thanked Bob and the Neighbourhood Services team for their work and the update provided.

 

76.

WINTER SERVICES PREPAREDNESS AND RESILIENCE REPORT pdf icon PDF 156 KB

To receive a report which provides an overall update of the pre-season preparations ahead of the forthcoming winter services season.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that this report was noted.

 

77.

DUALLING OF THE A1

Highways England to provide an update on the dualling of the A1.  

 

Minutes:

M. Stoneman – National Highways, Project Manager and S. Culley – Costain Jacobs Partnership, Community Relations Manager, introduced themselves to the committee and gave an update on the dualling of the A1 in Northumberland: Morpeth to Ellingham. 

 

Scheme overview

 

The scheme had been split up into two sections, the first section being Morpeth to Felton and the second being Alnwick to Ellingham.


Morpeth to Felton: There would be 12.6km of dualling to take place including 6.1km of new offline construction, five bridges - three of which would be new junctions, a new subway and bridge over the River Coquet, new and extended access tracks and culverts and significant compensatory woodland.

 

Alnwick to Ellingham: There would be 8km of dualling to take place, one new junction and an accommodation bridge and new and extended culverts and access tracks.

 

Progress update

 

The Development Consent Order application had been submitted in July 2020, and that then went through public examination from January 2021 to July 2021 which was successful. National Highways had completed surveys of the ground conditions, archaeology, and environment, which no items of great interest were found. National Highways had started working alongside Costain Jacobs Partnership to develop a detailed design for works to be started Summer 2022.

 

In January 2022 the Secretary of State decision is to be expected which would allow work to commence in Summer 2022 and the project completed by 2024/2025.

 

 

Planned engagement

 

National Highways had planned to engage the local community around the dualling project, including holding public information events, start of works ceremony, engagement with Northumberland County Council, Parish Councils, landowners, and other interested parties and using social media, newsletters, and the National Highways website.

 

 

Following members questions, the following information was provided:

 

·       The planning inspector has a three-month window to make their recommendation to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State then had a three-month period to make their decision based upon the recommendation from the Planning inspector and evidence. The final decision would be received in January.

·       Clear signage would be in place for strategic diversion routes.

·       National Highways had completed 11 junction improvements north of Ellingham in preparation for the dualling of the A1.

·       There had been engagements events which potentially using local resources for building materials.

 

Members thanked M. Stoneman and S. Culley for their attendance and for their presentation.

 

 

There was a 5-minute comfort break while officers left.

 

78.

NORTHUMBERLAND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER

To receive a presentation on the work of Northumberland Communities Together.

 

Minutes:

M. Taylor - Executive Director, Wellbeing, Adult Services, and P. Brooks – Head of Northumberland Communities Together Hub, introduced themselves to members, and gave a small introduction to Northumberland Communities Together.

 

P. Brooks provided a presentation (a copy of which would be filed with the signed minutes) and informed members that NCT had been born out of the Covid pandemic to support the community, vulnerable residents and being able to do more for residents.

NCT operated as a service and has completed projects and had supported the Test and Trace system, provided emergency food parcels and distributed PPE and Lateral Flow Tests.

 

A hub in Cramlington had opened to provide a place where vulnerable residents could be supported to become more independent and resilient, the hub had also engaged with the community to identify families who needed support and provide holiday activities such as cinema tickets, trip to the beach and to provide food parcels.

 

NCT were looking to open more hubs in Haltwhistle, Newbiggin and Alnwick.

 

Members thanked M. Taylor and P. Brooks for coming to the meeting and for their hard work over the past year.

 

79.

LOCAL AREA COUNCIL WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 116 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:

RESOLVED that this report was noted.

 

80.

URGENT BUSINESS

Minutes:

Cllr Renner-Thompson asked the chair on when the committee would be returning to meetings outside of County Hall, Cllr Castle had informed the committee that it was the Chief Executives decision and that a letter would be drafted to the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive with the views of the North Northumberland Committee.

 

81.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Committee is scheduled for Thursday, 23 December 2021.

 

Minutes:

It was noted that the date of the next meeting was scheduled for Thursday,

23 December 2021 at 3:00 p.m.