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PONTELAND TOWN COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL HELD IN THE TOWN COUNCIL OFFICES, PONTELAND ON 13 JANUARY 2010

Present: Councillor R G Ramsay (in the Chair)

Councillors A S Cave, P Cowey, R Hutchinson, A Mee, C Rawlings and Mrs E E Thompson.
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Presentation by Angus Ramal
Angus Ramlal from Ponteland CHS Youth Service was in attendance at the meeting and gave a detailed presentation regarding the detached youth work carried out in Ponteland during 2009/10 and proposals for the coming year.
The statistics of those young people who had participated were also provided.

It was suggested that some additional publicity may be necessary to ensure parents were aware of the drop in facility and the detached youth work.

Mr Ramal was thanked for his presentation and for attending the meeting.

Public Question Time
The Chairman invited a question from Mrs Alma Prickett who was in attendance at the meeting.

Mrs Prickett thanked the Clerk for information she had provided regarding necessary tree works in the park but questioned whether the survey carried out by the Council’s contractor had been completed during the bats ‘active season’ which was later in the year.

The Chair replied that preliminary tree works were scheduled shortly but that further survey work was likely to be completed by the contractor during the active season and ahead of any major works requiring the removal of trees.

161. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs E Armstrong,
P M Armstrong, Mrs J Butcher, D Butler and T A Chilton.

162. DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no Declarations of Interest.


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CHAIRMAN DATE
163. MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD 9 DECEMBER 2009

The Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 9 December 2009 were confirmed as accurate and signed by the Chairman.


164. MATTERS ARISING

(i) Minute 145. Grant Applications (ii) Vitalise
A letter of thanks was received from the above organisation in respect of a grant received from the Council towards the cost of an essential break for disabled Ponteland residents.

(ii) Minute 146. Budget 2010/11
Further to the precept agreed at the last meeting, it was proposed to add a further sum of £2,500 to contingencies to cover potential costs relating to the 02 mast objections. This meant a precept request of £336,000 being levied on Northumberland County Council.

RESOLVED - Agreed

(iii) Minute 151. Community Forum
Following the Community Forum discussions and workshops it was announced that a report of its conclusions and initial draft of the Ponteland local plan would be issued in February.

(iv) Minute 156. Environment Working Party Allotments (ii)
As agreed at the previous Town Council meeting letters had been sent out to all allotment holders stating that a revised fee structure was being examined

(v) Minute 156. Environment Working Party Woodland Management (iii)
Plans to obtain a price for the urgent works as outlined within the report were in abeyance pending further details regarding similar works required for the Slope Protection Works.

165. PLANNING

(i) Planning Committee

Minutes of meetings held on 26 November and 8 and 22 December 2009 were circulated for information.




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CHAIRMAN DATE
165. PLANNING (contd)

(ii) Report on recent planning decisions

Councillor Ramsay confirmed he would be attending the forthcoming meeting of the Area Planning Committee West on 14 January 2010 to support two objections raised by the Committee; there was nothing further to report.

166. GRANT APPLICATIONS

(i) Ponteland CHS Youth Service

An application had been received from the above organisation towards provision of a detached youth work service in Ponteland for 2010/11.

RESOLVED - A grant of £5000.00 be approved

167. STANDING ORDERS/FINANCIAL REGULATIONS – To establish a Working Party to examine the above.

Councillors were informed that a Working Party to review the Council’s Standing Orders and Financial Regulations which had not been reviewed for a number of years was required. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillor P Cowey were proposed to comprise the Party and Councillors were asked to submit their comments to them for consideration by the Working Party.

RESOLVED - Agreed

168. PROGRAMME OF WORKS REPORT

The Mayor reported on the progress of projects for 2008/2009 and additional projects for 2009/10.

(i) Welcome signs
Further clarification was being sought regarding NCC Highways objections to the proposed sign design.

(ii) Historical Signs
The completed signs had been installed on Coates Green and at the bottom of Merton Way and featured on the cover of the current edition of Pont News and Views.




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CHAIRMAN DATE
168. PROGRAMME OF WORKS REPORT(contd)

(iii) Skate Park
Information had been received from the company involved, for the pre-application consultations required to facilitate the transfer of land from the County Council to the Town Council. It was hoped that these consultations would be carried out by the Ponteland Community Partnership.

(iv) Ponteland Park Tree Management Plan
A schedule of the urgent work had been prepared for submission to contractors.
A schedule of works for the next one to three years would also be prepared for contractors to enable the Town Council to consider and allocate expenditure accordingly.

(v) Slope Protection Works
The consultants had prepared a project plan for the works and were currently preparing contract documentation.
Certain trees had been identified for removal and the Clerk was asked to obtain exact details and get prices for the works. Delegated authority was given to the Mayor and the Chairman of the Environment Working Party to approve these works due to the need for completion by the 1 March 2010.
Details of these trees would also be forwarded to the Friends of Ponteland Park.
Further clarification was to be sought regarding timing of proposed bat surveys etc.

(vi) CCTV
Three of the cameras had been installed and were operational.
Negotiations were still ongoing with the County Council re the siting of poles for the other cameras.

(vii) Play Area
This project was complete other than the need for a sign. This was supposed to be supplied by the grant awarding bodies however there was a delay and it was agreed to give delegated authority to the Clerk to arrange for appropriate signage as soon as possible.

(viii) Park entrance – Callerton Lane
This project was complete.

169. REGENERATION UPDATE
It was reported that the Executive at Northumberland County Council had approved an exclusivity agreement, the general terms of which had also been agreed by the developer.
A project team meeting was to be held in week commencing 18 January.

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CHAIRMAN DATE
170. POLICE

Unfortunately due to altered shift patterns Community Beat Manager P C Henery was unable to be present at the meeting. Details of his monthly report were available in the current edition of Pont News and Views.

171. NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL REPORT

There were no Northumberland County Councillors in attendance at the meeting to provide a report.


172. MAYORS REPORT ON RECENT EVENTS

(i) Christmas Concert at Ponteland High School
The Mayor had been delighted to attend the above event held at Ponteland High School. The Concert had been a great success and it was hoped the occasion would be repeated next year.

(ii) Wheelbarrow Race
The Annual New Years Day event had been attended by the Deputy Mayor.

The Council wished to express their appreciation to their contractors for their hard work over the recent spell of bad weather. They had carried out gritting and path clearing wherever possible as a supplement to the work carried out by Northumberland County Council.

173. REPORTS BY TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES ON LOCAL ORGANISATIONS

(i) LMAPS Meeting

The above meeting had been cancelled due to the recent cold spell. The next meeting would take place on January 26th at East Hall in Prudhoe.











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CHAIRMAN DATE

174. ACCOUNTS AND/BANK RECONCILIATION

The Accounts Committee approved payments totalling £15836.36 and the transfer of this sum from the Councils Deposit Account. The Bank reconciliation for December 2009 was also approved.


CHAIRMAN

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DATE

DATE OF NEXT MEETING – WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2010 AT 6.45PM AT THE TOWN COUNCIL OFFICE.
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