Present:- Cllrs. G. Wilkinson, A.J. Markley, R.W. Allison, C. Baty, A. Emmerson, S. Hart, W. Jefferson, M. Snaith, E. Wannop, A. Weightman & D. Wilson. Also present Wendy Jameson (Town Clerk), Ken Wannop, Brian Irving, Liz Carlisle, John Dyke, James Cook, Julia Cooper and various pupils and representatives from Solway Community Technology College.

864 Apologies:- Cllr. I. Baty. Also PC Andy Robertson & Corrie from Imagemakers.

Cllr. R.W. Allison - re: Allison Designs.

Cllr. A.J. Markley - re: County Council.

Cllr. E. Wannop - re: Ken.

Cllrs. D. Wilson, A. Emmerson & A.J. Markley - re: Solway Mexico Link.

It was agreed to exclude the Press & Public whilst items 21 & 22 were discussed.

The Chairman attended the Rotary Charter Night.

Minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2008 were approved by the Town Council and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

869 Solway Signage Strategy

Dr Brian Irving of the Solway Coast AONB attended the meeting to talk about the Solway Signage Strategy. The consultants gave their final report in October. New signage is needed between M6 and Silloth with a view to opening it up for tourism. There are two main assets - the AONB and the Hadrian’s Wall heritage site. There was a meeting last week of partners

involved. Bowles Green had done a good report. Moving forward now to the implementation phase. Signage will not be on the motorway for another 2 years. The signage will use a consistent logo. The scheme links in with Cumbria Visions plan which brings funding with it. It targets the Solway coast and attracts funding of £600K. There will be development on the marketing side. Hotel development and support will also be involved. Also improvements to the Tourist Information Centre. The aim is to put Silloth at the centre of tourism for West Cumbria. The Town Council funding of £7500 will be spent purely on Silloth - signage, interpretation and signage at front of AONB. It is good to see things moving on. A lot of work has gone into the strategy which will put Silloth on the map.

PC Andy Robertson was unable to attend the meeting but sent a report. The problem with the overnight parking of the motor home continues. This is a County Council matter as it is an offence under the Highway Act. Possibly an environmental health matter also.

Another exchange will be going to Mexico this year comprising of 19 students. Pupils from Solway Community Technology College did a presentation to say why they want to go and what they hope to get from the trip. It is 7 or 8 years since the first exchange. The link is no longer getting British Counsel grants. There has been an increase of £2600 in the cost of flights this year. Three more bag packing events are planned. There has been a Tri-athlon, sponsored swim, 3 mile run, quiz sheets and a karaoke night to raise funds. There are only 2 schools remaining out of the original 8 schools involved in the link.

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

a) HMS Biter - Letter from HWS Botterill introducing himself as the new officer in charge of Manchester and Salford Universities Royal Naval Unit and Commanding Officer of HMS Biter, who will be in appointment for approx. 2 years. Silloth will be the first port of call for the Easter deployment.

b) CALC - Advice on Standing Orders and public participation. Also to advice that the CALC circular will now be sent by email.

c) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Local Development Framework - Consultation Database. Letter to confirm contact details and preferred method of consultation.

d) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Promenade, Silloth. The damage has been inspected and assessed for public safety implications. Repairs will be carried out shortly.

e) Citizens Advice Allerdale - Letter of thanks for donation.

f) West Cumbria Strategic Partnership - Copy of “Future Generation” A Strategy for Sustainable Communities in West Cumbria 2007-2027.

g) Allerdale Borough Council - Annual Report. The survey was completed which is to be returned to Allerdale by 29 February 2008.

h) Communities and Local Government - re: Consultation on orders and regulations relating to the conduct of local authority members in England. Comments to be submitted by 15 February 2008. It was felt that officers should be subject to the same regulations as Councillors.

i) Email from Jimmy Lettice asking when the repairs are to be carried out to the road to the sports area and asking what powers the council have in stopping dog fouling. Any offenders should be reported to the dog warden with details of times, places etc. The Town Council lease the Sports area from the County Council and are currently in negotiations to take over the land. A quote of £20K was obtained to upgrade the road but ownership needs to be established before the matter can be moved forward. It was always the intention to develop and improve the sports area but it was put on the back burner because of the Green project. I improvements to the road need to be part of the improvements to the whole area. We are currently awaiting confirmation from the County Council as to whether the Town Council can purchase the land.

j) Letter from Colin Baty enquiring if he is able to claim back the cost of new doors that had to be fitted to the Fitness Centre. The Town Council do not feel obliged to assist in retrospect. The Town Council should be consulted on any future repairs carried out.

k) Note from the resident of North House with various matters in need of attention. Clerk to deal with the various complaints and any future letters such as this, without the need for the Council’s approval.

l) Cumbria County Council - Cumbria Care Homes Consultation. There are proposals to build six new care homes. Some have been closed in the past because they were not up to standard.

The Town Council have approved the following:-

Ref No: 2/2007/1288 Applicant: Allerdale Borough Council Proposal: Extend existing car parking area by 11 parking bays, erect bollards and access gate to fair ground Location: Car park at the Promenade, Lawn Terrace, Silloth

Ref No: 2/2008/023 Applicant: Mr & Mrs R & K Bervoerts Proposal: Loft conversion including formation of dormer windows Location: 22 Skinburness Road, Silloth.

Allerdale Borough Council have approved the following:-

Ref No: 2/2007/1203 Applicant: Mrs Sandra Gray Proposal: Replace existing wooden framed windows with UPVC windows Location: Silloth on Solway Bowls and Social Club, Eden Street, Silloth

Ref No: 2/2007/1135 Applicant: Mr & Mrs S. Tremble Proposal: Single storey rear kitchen extension Location: 122 Skinburness Road, Silloth

Ref No: 2/2007/1146 Applicant: Hopes Estate Agents Proposal: Advertisement consent for fascia signage to replace existing Location: 8 Station Road, Silloth

None.

None

Primary School No meeting.

Joint Advisory Committee Things have been tricky with Brian being away. Bill has been having to intervene quite a bit. Officers have been working very hard. Modifications are going on inside as the TIC is within the Discovery Centre. Entrance is being altered due to problems with access for disabled. The gradient was too steep.

Silloth Tourist Action Group Meeting next Monday at 6.30pm in the Golf Hotel. There has been a problem with the leaflet. The student at Lancaster University disappeared. Bill James has come up with an alternative which is to cost £2000 to get printed and distributed. Cumbria Tourist Board are involved with it. STAG are hoping to support the food festival and the Kite Festival this year.

Silloth Regeneration Partnership Consultants will be joining the Council meeting later.

North Allerdale Partnership NAP will finish at the end of March when NWDA finishes.

Sea Dyke Charity New shed to be erected at Swinsty Farm.

Silloth Health Matters Meeting on Friday.

Longcake Education Trust No report.

Solway Community Technology College Everything is going along quite well. They were concerned about the drop in numbers but due to closure if schools in Carlisle, Silloth may end up with increased numbers in the future.

Allerdale are refreshing the Corporate Improvement Plan for the umpteenth time in the last 5

years. The Workington town centre development has 32 units, 12 of which are empty. The new Tesco store is hoped to inject some vitality in the area. Concerns over potential spillage from the filling station into the beck which could affect Siddick Pond.

County Council - Cllr. Markley has been away for 2 weeks. Money has gone in to do pot holes. Various roads are to be worked on in the forthcoming weeks. £½m is to be spend before March. Cllr. Markley was asked whether there were any concerns raised about any potential risk due to the storage of nuclear waste in the area? Cllr. Markley visited 3 different sites in America where decommissioning takes place. Safety was extremely good, with community benefits to the local people.

The new machine has arrived and is working well. Rubbish around the bottle banks is to be kept on top of. Three trees have blown over in the recent gales. The gang mowers had to be sent away for maintenance work which will cost approx. £1500 but should not need done again for a number of years. Lead has been stolen off the corners of the roof on the Pagoda which has been reported to the Police. Will Stephenson will be doing a lot more machinery work and it was agreed that he should be sent on a Chainsaw course and also for the spraying certificate. The gang mowers are a good machine and do not need to be replaced.

The worn areas of road to the sports area could be jack hammered out and filled with slag. The safety aspect is a concern.

No report.

The Town Clerk had produced an up to date financial report. Still awaiting payment from Allerdale for grounds maintenance of the Green and work done at Allonby. £2500 was included in the budget for donations etc and £2562.40 has been spent during this current year. £2376.10 remaining in the budget for maintenance of sports areas which could be used to improve the road to the sports area. £2376.10 remaining in the budget for the maintenance of play areas but the new play equipment will be installed in the next few weeks and additional bark will be required. £8000 was included in the budget for Tourism. £5690 has been spent, the bulk of which relates to the Grand Turk visit. There is still an amount to pay to Allerdale for the Town Council’s contribution towards the running costs of Tourist Information Centre.

a) MANA Credit Union - The Town Council have already agreed to allow the group free use of the Community Hall for their weekly sessions which equates to approx. £500. Current years budget has already been spent and therefore the Town Council are unable to provide any financial assistance.

b) Solway Mexico Link - Only 19 pupils are going on the exchange and it was questioned what benefit it had on the whole community. The Mexican kids have an impact on the community. It was proposed that a contribution of £2600 be given to cover the cost of the increased air fares. After some discussion it was agreed that a contribution of £1000 be given.

c) STAG - It was going to cost £2000 + VAT to have the new leaflets printed. STAG are getting involved with the Kite Festival and the Food Festival this year. Cllr. Hart has been getting involved with the school re: music and trying to get the youth club building used. Four professional musicians will be doing full Saturday sessions to get kids involved with music. £2500 funding from Festivals committee has been given towards it. The Town Council agreed to allow permission for the Craft Fair on the Green at Easter. The Town Council pays a contribution each year towards the Tourist Information Centre and it was agree that once the bill has been paid that the balance remaining in the Tourism budget would be given to STAG for this years events.

It was suggested that representations be made to Cumbria Highways, to make the top of Esk Street, coming from Skiddaw Street down to towards Solway Street one way, with 2 way access from the top end of Raglans Court into Skiddaw Street. The upper section of Esk Street has parked cars along the full length almost permanently day and night. It is a problem for vehicles to pass those parked and on many occasion there are almost accidents.

It was also suggested that a further request could be made to Home Housing for the grass to be removed to create parking bays. It was agreed to defer the matter to next month for more consideration.

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.

Dealt with earlier in the meeting.

John Dyke from Chris Burnett Associates Ltd did a presentation to the Town Council on the Silloth Green Project. A meeting is to take place next Tuesday at the Golf Hotel of key partners in the project. Survey and analysis work has been done. Also talked with various groups about the existing events on the Green and how the area is used. Research has been done into the historical background of the town and the key figures involved in the design of the town and port. A master plan has been formulated, the key aims of which are:- to maintain and enhance the visual impact, enhance the appearance, habitat improvement and upgrade the facilities for events etc. Proposals include enhancing nature conservation - North of North House. Restoring ‘Happy Valley’, with the creation of an amphitheatre and screening of the sewerage plant and maintenance depot. Removal of some of the post 50’s features. Introduction of some play facilities. Provision of an area for festivals etc. Relocation and widening of the footpath along the front street. Restoration of pine walks and planting of additional trees. Look to replacing the shelters. Miniature railway. Look to extending the putting green perhaps. Creation of a town garden with areas of hard standing which could provide a facility for market stalls. A water play area is proposed for where the Rose garden is at present, with the removal of the existing Paddling Pool etc.

Cllrs. gave their views on the proposals and asked questions. In principle, the Council are happy going forward with the plan to the wider audience. The plans are a working progress and need to go forward to public consultation etc.