Present:- Cllrs. G. Wilkinson, A.J. Markley, R.W. Allison, C. Baty, S. Burns, S. Hart, W. Jefferson, M. Snaith & E. Wannop. Also Ken Wannop & Wendy Jameson.

634 Apologies:- Cllrs. I. Baty & A. Weightman (working).

R.W. Allison - re: Allison Designs.

E. Wannop - re: Ken.

It was agreed to exclude the Press & Public whilst items 24 & 25 are discussed.

Welcomed the crew and officers of HMS Biter, who had a good time during their visit.

Attended the Junior schools choir evening at Distington.

The Mayor was welcomed back by the Council after his illness.

Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2007 were approved by the Town Council and signed as a true record.

No report received. PC Yvonne Benson had planned to attend the meeting. A price has been obtained for 2 drinking ban signs at a cost of £58.16. It was agreed that an order be placed to purchase the replacement signs.

Representatives from the Rugby Club were to attend the meeting to discuss concerns about

the ground rent and lack of financial support from the Town Council. Email has been received from Jimmy Lettice informing the Council that after consultation with the rugby club committee, all letters and correspondence are to be retracted regarding funding and lack of support etc, also to confirm that the rugby club will not be asking the Town Council for any financial assistance or otherwise again. Reply to be sent to thank them for the email. The Council do not wish to sever connections with the rugby club.

There had been no requests from members of the public to raise any matters of interest in the meeting.

a) Local Council Review - March 2007.

b) Clerks & Councils Direct - March 2007.

c) CALC Circular - March 2007.

d) Cumbria in Bloom - Bloom Review Autumn 2006 and information about Cumbria in Bloom 2007.

e) Watchtree News - Spring 2007 Edition.

f) Friends of the Lake District - Annual Report 2006.

g) Cumbria Highways - re: Lighting unit 319, Eden Street. Allerdale are responsible for this light unit and are considering the options of replacing the equipment or installing a lighting column in the area.

h) Carlisle City Council - re: Better Government for Cumbria event on 24 February. Notes of the discussions in the workshops at the event.

i) Solway Community Technology College - Letter of thanks for the Council’s support towards the annual Prize Giving Evening.

j) British Nuclear Group - re: Demolition of Chapelcross Cooling Towers. Information on the project to demolish the cooling towers currently planned for Spring 2007.

k) Email from Liz Carlisle confirming that her fees will be 4 x £400 per day + Vat. Invoice to be sent at end of March.

l) Email from Jimmy Lettice to confirm he will be attending the Council meeting.

m) Allerdale District Association meeting will be held on 22 March at Village hall, Bothel at 7.00pm.

n) Cumbria County Council - re: Silloth Library Opening Hours. Letter of reply to our request for an extension to the opening hours.

o) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Mechanical Street Sweeping. Letter explaining the operational reasons for the mechanical sweeper being in Silloth. Survey recently done and it came out that there were not a lot of problems with large build ups of litter etc.

p) Information Commissioners Office - re: Data Protection Act 1998. Confirmation of renewal.

q) Allerdale Borough Council - re: The Dog Control (Procedure) Regulations 2006. Order has now been made making it an offence for the person in charge of a dog which fouls on any land open to the air and to which the public are entitled to have access (with or without permission) to fail to remove any faeces forthwith.

r) Childline North West - Letter acknowledging receipt of the Council’s contribution of £38.

s) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Corporate Improvement Plan 2007-2012. Copy of the plan.

t) Audit Commission - Letter to confirm the appointment of Michael Newbury as auditor for the financial year 2006/07.

u) Cumbria County Council - re: Cumbria Minerals & Waste Development Framework Consultation. Comments to be received during the period 1 March to 13 April 2007. The document highlights places throughout Cumbria which could be used should the need arise. An area has also been highlighted on the airfield.

v) Cumbria County Council - Building Stronger Local Government in Cumbria. Letter asking to meet with the town council in an informal session. Cumbria County Council have got the amber light to go for unitary authority. Cllr. Markley will keep the Council informed of progress. Town Council is already pioneering with our grounds maintenance. Decision will not be made until June and is open to consultation until then. Local activities will be the same whatever happens to the levels of government above. It was agreed that the Council will meet with representatives of the County Council.

w) Letter from Mrs M. Blair re: Highway Flooding on Skinburness Marsh road and Skinburness to Silloth road and asking for the Council’s support. Money has been put aside for drain cleaning. Letter to be sent to Andrew Butler regarding the matter.

x) Fletchers Funfairs - Letter from Rayner Fletcher asking if he can book the bouncy castle and crazy golf on the Green for summer 2007. The Town Council agreed to Mr Fletcher’s request.

y) Cumbria Constabulary - Invitation to stakeholder event from 4pm to 7pm on Thurs 26 April 2007 at Rheged Discovery Centre. Police are invited to our monthly Council meeting. New community officer will be strating shortly.

Allerdale Borough Council have approved the following:-

* Extension to the existing slipway at The Boathouse, Lawn Terrace, Silloth.

* Change of use from mixed use café/domestic dwelling to domestic dwelling and replacement of shop front with domestic frontage to match neighbouring properties at 14-16 Eden Street, Silloth.

None

None

Primary School Jonathan is now back after having had pneumonia. Deputy heads had ran the school well in his absence. Attended the choir evening at Distington which was a marvellous and was conducted by Jonathan Dennison.

Joint Advisory Committee Brian Irving is now back at work. Everything ois back on track. Trying to get Graeme Proud back full time. There has been a complaint about the signs outside the Discovery Centre - vision is blocked by the signs when people are coming from the library. The building is now under Allerdale control.

Silloth Tourist Action Group Meeting tonight. Brochure will be distributed at beginning of June. 30,000 print run. 75,000 for next year. Want permission from the Council to move the date of the food festival to 5 August. This was agreed by the Town Council. Tourism is a priority for Allerdale. Letter has been sent to Allerdale by STAG to find out exactly what that means. Letter received from STAG regarding the road closure at Dubmill Point. Highways authority intend to maintain the road to the best of their ability. It provides a vital link to the west coast. There is a complaint that closure signs are not being taken down once the danger has passed. The road is a main artery and should be kept open. The Aspatria/Silloth road would not be able to cope with the sheer volume of traffic if the coast road were to close permanently.

Silloth Regeneration Partnership Cllr. Allison has been asked to go on to North Allerdale Partnership. P2M consultancy were appointed by NAP. Their report didn’t make good reading. Only 30% of money had been used and they have put together a programme of how to spend it in the following year. £100K allocated for Silloth. Picked on a few items which include:- Commercial facelift scheme (still going on); renewing exhibition in the Heritage Centre; signage strategy; regeneration of area to south of Lifeboat Station. Report to Allerdale on Wednesday. Letter of support required from the Town Council to support the proposal to have the area south of the Lifeboat Station tidied up. Funding of £40K from NAP and hopefully £40K from Allerdale. It was agreed that a letter of support be sent from the Town Council.

North Allerdale Partnership No report.

Sea Dyke Charity Cllr. Markley couldn’t attend the last meeting. The Sea Dyke charity is a trust of people set up to put a sea dyke up. They have property and give donations out.

Silloth Health Matters Meet quarterly now. Money is being obtained from the usual sources and grants are being given to health projects.

Longcake Education Trust Jim is pleased to continue as the Councils representative.

Allerdale - Cllr. Snaith has been expelled from the Labour party and intends to stand as Independent councillor for Silloth. It is hoped that May brings a change of heart all round. 66% of the population in Allerdale live in rural areas and need to be taken notice of.

County Council - County Council have been given the amber light re: white paper. Roads have been surfaced with Ralumac which is far superior to tar and chippings. Some roads were marked out but have not been done.

General maintenance work has been done over the last month.

Town meeting will be in May and reports from Councillors for the Annual Town Report are needed by the end of April. Nomination forms for the elections need to be at Allerdale by noon tomorrow.

The Town Council approved the payment of the following annual subscriptions:-

a) CALC 2007/08 - £272.50

b) Local Council Review Magazine 2007/08 - £13.50

The Town Council considered the following applications for financial assstance:-

a) Soldiers in Silloth - It was agreed to provide funding of £1000 from the Tourism budget towards the project.

b) Silloth Open Door Group - Funding has already been obtained from various funding bodies. The Town Council have no problem in supporting the group but it is important that other fundraising etc is done to sustain their activities. It was agreed to provide funding of £500 from the S137 budget.

c) Silloth Festivals Ltd - It was agreed to provide funding of £1800 from the Tourism budget, towards the cost of training staff to run events

The Town Council approved the list of cheque payments to 2 April 2007.

654 Item 20 on the Agenda was discussed earlier in the meeting. See Silloth Regeneration Partnership report - Min 647.

A request has been received from Christ Church Silloth for permission to hold a service on the Green on Sunday May 6^th (weather permitting), as part of the Walk Cumbria event. The Town Council agreed to grant permission for the service.

In view of the nature of the business to be transacted it is advisable in the public interest that the public be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw.

Allonby Parish council were summoned to a meeting at Allerdale. Cllr. Markley and Jefferson also attended. Only £3000 has been precepted for grass cutting. Allonby Parish Council want us to cut the grass for them. Officers at Allerdale want Mitchell & Struthers to be given the chance to rectify the work. It would cost £6500 to cover the grass cutting. Matters have been left in abeyance. Waiting for Ian Payne to get back in touch with them. Work needs to be specifically listed as to what is to be covered. Could hire a side flail to do the sides of the becks. Ron Denby has praised Silloth’s work. It was agreed that a letter be sent to Allonby to confirm that we will do the necessary grass cutting and wait their instructions.

Bought a brand new tractor and trailer which are on order. Only an extra £250 to buy a brand new tractor rather than an ex demo machine. Need another £3500 to buy a flail. The Town Council agreed to the purchase of flail at a cost of approx. £3500.

Following the previous meeting, a letter was received from Guy Richardson re: the new salary recommendations by NALC/SLCC. The recommendations made by Guy were accepted by the Town Council. In view of Clerk’s years of service, Clerk’s salary to be increased to SCP 35, with no further increments in future years (only any national pay awards applied to the salary point). Extra increment (i.e. to point 36) to be paid on the Clerk obtaining the Certificate in Local Council Administration.

Nothing of any concern.