Present:- Cllrs. G. Wilkinson, R.W. Allison, I. Baty, A.J. Markley, A. Proud, M. Snaith & E. Wannop. Also Ken Wannop, Wendy Jameson-Brown & PC A. Robertson.

384 Apologies:- Cllrs. C. Baty, S. Hart, W. Jefferson & A. Weightman.

Cllr. Allison re: Allison Designs

Cllr. Wannop re: Ken’s wages.

It was agreed to discuss items 24 & 25 at the end of the meeting after the Press & Public have been excluded.

The Chairman had attended the following:-

Allerdale Mayor making ceremony.

Workington Mayor making ceremony.

Took part in the parade which marked the start of Wigton windows week.

Workington Mayor’s civic service.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2006 were approved by the Town Council and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

PC Robertson provided a report on incidents of crime since the last meeting. Parking on Lawn Terrace - meeting has taken place with 2 gents from Carrs Mill and the issue has now been resolved. Police Station - Andy rang property services. Old Police Station has been sold. Offer is under way, accepted and paperwork to be exchanged. No set date yet for moving into Fire Station. Need to sort out licences. Letter to be sent to Mrs Twigg at Carleton Hall from the Council, to ask that the situation be sorted out as soon as possible. Pubwatch is working quite well and is having a positive effect. Meeting on Tues 20 June at Rugby club at 4.30pm. There are 5 people excluded from pubs in the town. ASBO’s - one was granted in May. Applying for 6 more over the coming weeks, the majority of which relate to teenagers aged 15-21.

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

a) Local Works - Campaign for the Sustainable Communities Bill - Spring 2006.

b) Clerks & Councils Direct - May 2006.

c) CALC - Circular May 2006.

d) Solway Coaster - Issue Five SPRING 2006.

e) Allerdale Borough Council - Corporate Improvement Plan 2006-2011.

f) Cumbria Community Foundation - Spring Newsletter 2006.

g) Wigton News & Views - Issue 4 - May.

h) Cumbria County Council - School Organisation Newsletter.

i) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - Local Authority Byelaws in England: A Discussion Paper.

j) North Allerdale Partnership - Minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2006 at Royal Oak, Wigton.

k) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Street sign at Links Close. Sign has been ordered for “Links Close leading to Bridge View”.

l) Cumbria Police Authority - Independent Custody Visiting Scheme. Advertisement to be placed on the notice board.

m) Allerdale Borough Council - Letter to confirm that the public toilets will be open on August Bank Holiday Monday. Copy sent to the Carnival Committee.

n) Cumbria County Council - re: Speed Indication Device (SID) Scheme. Meeting to be held on Thursday 25 May in Wigton Community Centre.

o) Skinburness Leisure Hotel Ltd - Copy of a letter sent to suppliers and coaches asking them not to use the marsh road to get to the Hotel due to the 6’6 width restriction.

p) Silloth Carnival Committee - Letter of thanks for the Town Council’s cheque for £2000. Also copy of the minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2006.

q) Cumbria County Council - Cumbria Second Local Transport Plan 2006-2011.

r) Silloth Tourism Action Group - Letter of thanks for the contribution of £500.

s) DEFRA - Getting to grips with the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 - a parish council guide to environment enforcement.

t) Letter from Mrs Joan Timperon to complain about the state of the grass at Silloth Cemetery. Copy of letter sent to Allerdale Borough Council.

u) Letter from Mrs Jean Milroy to complain about the condition of Silloth Cemetery. Copy of letter sent to Allerdale Borough Council.

v) Email from Inspector Barr about the Speed Indication Device (SID) Scheme. SID used at Allonby has helped to reduce speeds of traffic and there has been a lot of positive feedback. It is a good deterrent. May be look at joining forces with Abbeytown and Holme Low Parish Councils. Cllr. Markley to obtain more information and Clerk to liaise with other Parishes.

w) Email from Eddie Woodthorpe re: Silloth Sunday Street Market asking for the Council to reconsider its previous decision and agree to allow up to 5 stalls on the edge of the Green. The market causes congestion around the Station Road area and confusion with caravans ending up in the Dock area, if the street is closed. It was agreed to defer the matter to next month, when the relevant minute will be found to confirm that the Council asked for the Sunday market to be finished.

x) Rotary Club of Silloth - Letter requesting permission to use the Green on 29 & 30 July for a Kite Festival. The Council agreed to grant permission for the use of the Green.

y) Allerdale Borough Council - Copy of proforma for a closing order in respect of Silloth Carnival on 28 August 2006. Comments requested. The Council had no comments to make.

z) Zurich Municipal - Letter to confirm that repairs to the Pagoda be commenced and the invoice be forwarded to Zurich Municipal on completion. It was agreed to go ahead with the necessary repairs to the fire damage which would at least make the building safe but need to look at a long term plan for the building.

The Town Council approved the following:-

* Erection of pair of semi-detached dwellings at Plot 12 & 13 Acre Bank Close, Silloth

* Erection of dormer bungalow at Plot 14 Acre Bank Close, Silloth

* Erection of dormer bungalow at Plot 17 Acre Bank Close, Silloth

Allerdale Borough Council approved the following:-

* Demolition of existing garage and erection of new extension to provide new garage, kitchen, utility and toilet at Acredayles, Blitterlees, Silloth

* Erection of portal frame building with integral offices (2 units) at unit 2a and 2b Station Road Industrial Estate, Silloth

* Extensions to provide bay window and front porch, bedroom and dormer and detached garage/workshop at Sunnyhurst, Barracks Bridge, Silloth

* Unit extension and storage shed on Land at Station Road, Silloth

Allerdale Borough Council refused the following:-

* Listed building consent of conservatory in rear garden of East Cote Cottage, Skinburness, Silloth

Houses on the former Wrathall’s site are being sold as ‘Epsom Green’ but the Council named the development Greenrow Meadows.

Allerdale Borough Council - Street Trading Consents re: August Bank Holiday. Clerk to write to Allerdale and object to the applications. It is Town Council policy to object to Street Trading Consents by traders from outside the town.

None

Primary School OFSTED inspection recently carried out.

Joint Advisory Committee No report.

Silloth Tourist Action Group No report.

Silloth Regeneration Partnership No meeting.

North Allerdale Partnership Meeting in the Albion last Thursday. Monies are in place for plans at Wigton, Silloth & Aspatria. Aspatria are waiting to buy the cinema. Allerdale received notification from NWDA - need to find another accountable body to manage the funds. Aspatria spent £20K on project development for Viking Centre but money went to a project at Thursby.

Sea Dyke Charity Cllr. Markley received a letter and is waiting to go to his first meeting.

Silloth Health Matters Applying to Allerdale Community Fund in July for funding. There is an active list of projects to do.

Allerdale - situation will take some sorting out.

County Council - Tony is Chairman on Allerdale Local Committee and it is hoped that money will come this way rather than always going to Workington.

Everything is going okay. There have been a lot of complaints recently about the local drunks making a mischief of themselves. Police need to enforce the street drinking ban. Letter to be sent to Andy to ask that action be taken.

A letter has been received from the Golf Club asking for permission to use the area near the Rugby club for parking, during the R&A Open Qualifier on 5 July 2006. In line with previous years, Clerk to write to the Golf Club to say there are no objections but that the club needs to consult the Rugby Club and Football Club to confirm there are no other events planned for that date.

The Town Council approved the list of cheque payments to 5 June 2006.

400 Grassed areas on Esk Street
The Town Council considered a request from a local resident for the grassed areas at the bottom of Esk Street (nr Solway Street) to be tarmaced to provide additional parking for residents. The Town Council received a similar request in the past for the top of Esk Street which was turned down by the landowner. If the Council support this request, it could open it up to further requests for other streets. Letter to be sent to the local resident to ask that they contact the landowner with their request.

The Town Council received a request from Workington Taxi Association to hold a fun day on the Green on 8 August 2006. The Council agreed to grant permission for the use of the Green.

Following last year’s audit, the Clerk put together a written procedure re: Internet Banking which was considered and then approved by the Town Council.

The Town Clerk is the only person authorised to have access to the Town Council’s bank accounts via Internet Banking, specifically for the following purposes:-

a) to monitor the Town Council’s bank accounts, transactions and balances etc.

b) to make transfers between the Town Council’s bank accounts to ensure balances are maintained at practical levels.

c) for the payment of salaries and pension contributions, by BAC’s and DD, in accordance with the payroll records on the appropriate dates.

The Town Council complies with the requirement of Section 150 (5) of the local Government Act 1972 by two Councillors signing a monthly sheet listing the wages and pension payments, at the next available Council meeting.

Following previous audits, the Clerk had received information and advice from various sources which included Allerdale, CALC, Cockermouth, Wigton & Maryport Town Councils, also Peter Wilson (Internal Auditor). A Risk Management Policy was agreed by the Town Council and a review carried out of any potential risks which face the Town Council. Clerk to look into the cost and implications of taking out business interruption insurance.

Cllr. Bill Jefferson has been removed from the Executive Committee at Allerdale. The matter has been reported to Scrutiny and there will be a thorough investigation. Cllrs. can personally offer Bill their support. The Town Council do not know the in’s and out’s of the matter and therefore item 21 was withdrawn from the Agenda.

405 Derelict property on Waver Street

It is now seven months since we last raised the matter and reports have been received of rats in the area. Also children have been seen entering the property which is dangerous. Allerdale was in discussions with the landowner but nothing has been done. Letter to be sent to Allerdale asking that action be taken.

The Town Council have received complaints re: the amount of weed growth around the footways within the town and the Crofts areas. It was agreed that a letter be sent offering CAPITA a contract for us to do the work. Ken to work out a price to do the work.

According to guidelines received from NALC and SLCC, the way that Clerk’s salaries are worked out has changed. Rather than being based on population, the salary ranges are identified by reference to benchmark profiles. The Town Council need to consider the matter in more detail and it was agreed to defer to the next meeting. The Council may need to consider having a pay review committee.

408 Amounts owing to the Town Council

There is £5766 outstanding which relates to the Grounds Maintenance contract at the school. Clerk to send a reminder.