Present:- Cllrs. G. Wilkinson, S. Hart, W. Jefferson, A. Proud & E. Wannop. Also Ken Wannop, Wendy Jameson-Brown and two Police officers.

238 Apologies:- Cllr. R.W. Allison , E. Baty, W. Johnston, A.J. Markley, M. Snaith & A. Weightman. PC Andy Robertson.

None

Last item on the Agenda.

The Chairman had attended the following:-

CALC AGM

Remembrance Day Service

Presentation to students at CDC Centre

After some minor amendments the minutes of the meetings held on 7 & 28 November 2005 were approved by the Town Council and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

PC Andy Robertson had compiled a report of incidents over the last month but was

unable to attend the meeting. There have been forged £20 notes circulating in and

around Silloth which are very good forgeries. Comment was made that it was nice to see the Police report was a bit shorter than normal. The Pubwatch scheme is now in operation. There has been a problem with a scrambler bike around the town and the Police will be watching the situation. Drink drive campaign started at the beginning of this month and the Police are stopping people.

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

a) Outstanding - Magazine for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - Autumn/Winter 2005. Put on circulation.

b) CALC - Quality Parish Development Programme - Update 4. Put on circulation.

c) CALC Circular - November 2005. Put on circulation.

d) Clerks & Councils Direct - November 2005. Put on circulation.

e) Cumbria Highways Working Together magazine - Autumn 2005. Put on circulation.

f) Voluntary Action Cumbria - Annual Report 2004/05. Put on circulation.

g) Great North Air Ambulance Service - 2001-2005. Put on circulation.

h) Rural Regeneration Unit - re: Food Co-operatives & village hamper schemes. Letter of thanks for support for the project. They are looking for a realistic start date some time in February 2006.

i) Copy of a letter to Cllrs. Markley & Wilkinson from Mr Suggett of Esk Street regarding the state of the trees in Silloth. Copy of Mr Suggett’s correspondence sent to County Council for their attention.

j) Living Streets - Information about the Community Street Audit Workshops 2006.

k) North West Air Ambulance - Letter of acknowledgement for the donation of £200.

l) New Local Government Network - Information about the conference to be held on Thursday 2 February at London.

m) Letter from Mr Jimmy Lettice acknowledging receipt of the cheque for £3000 towards the refurbishment works at the Rugby Club.

n) CALC - Survey about computer/internet use by Parish/Town Councils. Completed and returned by the Clerk.

o) Cumbria Highways - Re: Experimental 2.01 metre/6’6” width restriction order 2005 (Various roads, Wigton & surrounding area) Second experimental TRO was made on 11 Nov and will become operative on 28 Nov.

p) Cumbria County Council - Solway Coast Neighbourhood Forum meeting to be held on 30 November in Mawbray Village Hall from 6.45pm.

q) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Complaint against Mr Eddie Woodthorpe, Corporate Services Manager. The matter has been investigated and can only conclude that there has been a misunderstanding regarding the letters. They do not consider there any cause for taking the matter further.

r) WRVS - Letter requesting up to date contact information. Completed and returned by Clerk.

s) Letter from Dr Colin Murray thanking the Council for their support in the upgrading of the B5301 Aspatria road.

t) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Dubmill Point. Letter from Mr Mike Faulkner who is also concerned that repairs have not been completed. The matter is the responsibility of Cumbria County Council but Allerdale are always happy to co- operate and have freely offered advice on the Dubmill problem. Mr Faulkner is confident that work will be undertaken in the near future.

u) Cumbria County Council - re: Dubmill Point. Temporary repairs were carried out following the storm damage but permanent repairs were no possible until the mechanism for funding repairs was sorted out with Government Office North West. Works on site will start on 5 December 2005. Cumbria Highways fully support the view that the road should be kept open. The current position in the Solway Management Plan is to “hold the line” as far as coast erosion is concerned.

v) Letter and petition from Mrs Crooks of Skinburness Drive, for the return of the seat in the Eden Street bus shelter.

w) Letter from Mr & Mrs Scott of Solway Street thanking the Town Council for removing the seat in the Eden Street bus shelter.

The Council considered items v) and w) together. It has been a lot quieter for local residents following the removal of the seat from the bus shelter but the Council do sympathise with the elderly and disabled who need the seat when they are waiting for a bus. The seat was removed due to vandalism. People in the area have thanked Ken for removing the seat and it has taken ½ an hour off the days work as broken glass and litter etc are now less of a problem. The kids that were causing a nuisance have simply moved on now but will no doubt return if the seat is re-instated. The Council sympathise with both sides of the argument and it was agreed that the matter be deferred until a more representative Council are present.

x) North Allerdale Partnership - Letter requesting financial support to cover the ongoing costs for the partnership over the coming years. There needs to be support from the three Town Council’s i.e. Silloth, Wigton & Aspatria. It was agreed that funding of £833 be provided as requested.

y) Cumbria Police Authority - Update on the position with regard to the possible merger of Cumbria Constabulary with either Lancashire or Lancashire or Merseyside Constabularies. The merger is supposed to lead to better efficiency but there will be no money made available to do it. It seems to be totally unworkable.

z) Email from David Whitfield re: West Silloth being short changed on Council affairs. If residents of West Silloth have any grievances then they should let the Town Council know what the problems are. There are Cllrs. on the Town Council who are from West Silloth. Re: 30 mph speed limit signs - it was suggested that the matter be taken up with the County Council. There is a vacancy on the Town Council and Mr Whitfield can stand for election if he wishes. His comments were noted by the Council.

aa) Churches To-gether in Silloth - Town Carol Service will be held on Friday 16 December at Christ Church at 7.00pm. Invitation to attend the service and invite to the Mayor to read one of the lessons. Letter to be sent informing Rev. Byrom that Cllr. Wilkinson will be attending the service and requesting a copy of the lesson which is to be read.

bb) Letter from Mr Edmondson from Skiddaw Street regarding the loss of the footpath in front of the Golf Club following the extension of the car park. The footpath is not on the Definitive map and is not a public Right of Way. The land belongs to the Golf Club and they have done what they need to with regard to planning permission which has been granted. The other footpath has been left and also the ramps extended for the disabled/prams etc.

cc) Allerdale Borough Council - Environmental Satisfaction Survey. To be completed and returned by 23 December 2005. Cllrs. to return the completed survey to the Clerk by Friday 16 December.

246 Planning Applications

a) The Town Council have approved the following:-

* Porch extension and alterations to roof to provide first floor accommodation at Verona, Blitterlees

* Erection of detached garage at 49 Skinburness Drive, Silloth

* Change of use from retail to beauty salon/hairdressers at 3 Wampool Street, Silloth

* Erection of garage/workshop at Norsands, East Cote, Silloth

* Change of use of ground floor flat to museum and attached residential accom. together with opening up of original access door on Caldew Street at 1 Marine Terrace, Silloth

* Erection of 30 dwellings on land at Fell View (Amendment)

* Listed Building consent for change of use of ground floor flat to museum and attached residential accom. Together with opening up of original access door on Caldew Street at 1 Marine Terrace, Silloth

* Sub-division of dwelling to form two dwellings at 15 Wampool Street, Silloth

* Alteration and extensions to form garage, kitchen and additional bedroom at 78 Skinburness Road, Silloth (retrospective)

b) Allerdale Borough Council have approved the following:-

* Construction of covered storage area, removal and replacement of air conditioning plant in new position. Construction of a trolley park at Spar Stores, Solway Street, Silloth

* Change of use from retail to beauty salon/hairdressers at 3 Wampool Street, Silloth

* Conversion of railway bothy to dwelling at Old Railway Station, Silloth

* Erection of detached garage at 49 Skinburness Drive, Silloth

* Erection of garage/workshop at Norsands, East Cote, Skinburness, Silloth

* Porch extension and alterations to roof to provide first floor accommodation at Verona, Blitterlees

c) Notification that an appeal has been made against the refusal to grant Listed Building consent by Allerdale Borough Council for the installation of mock sash top hung timber window frames to front elevation at 4 Marine Terrace, Criffel Street, Silloth

None

a) Play Equipment Committee - 27 November 2005. Ongoing maintenance is required. After some discussion, it was agreed that a disabled swing and one harness be purchased. Tracy to be asked if the harness can be kept in the Pet Shop and made available to members of the public on request. It will be necessary for there to be a sign, to be clearly visible notifying people where the harness can be obtained.

b) Allotment Committee - 28 November 2005. The increase in rents were approved by the Town Council.

Primary School No report.

Joint Advisory Committee No report.

Silloth Tourist Action Cllr. Hart didn’t attend the last meeting but STAG seems to have had a new lease of life, with a new Secretary having taken over (from the AONB)

Silloth Regeneration Partnership No report.

North Allerdale Partnership No report.

Sea Dyke Charity No meeting.

Longcake Educational Trust No report.

Silloth Health Matters No report.

Allerdale - Cllrs. Snaith and Jefferson have been objecting to the number of £1s being spent on consultancies. If the Borough Council needs re-organising again, it should be the job of the Chief Executive who is already on a high salary.

County Council - No report.

General maintenance has been carried out, including trimming shrubs. Re: wooden stubs up Skinburness. 120 need to be replaced. Can use strainer posts which are 6-8 inches across which can be cut in half and a point put on the end - cost £7 each i.e. £420 in total. This was agreed by the Council and also that a digger and man be hired for 2 days at a cost of £160 per day to put the wooden posts in. Posts will not be concreted in as this would be a hazard for motorists. The purchase of a chainsaw will also be required. Ken has looked at the tennis courts fence. The holes could be repaired but it would not look any better than it does now. Need to replace every 2^nd post i.e. 20+ posts. The flower bed opposite the Balmoral is damaged by kids walking over it and over £240 of plants wasted. Council needs to consider what to do with the flower bed. Ken thanked the Council for agreeing to the purchase of the new Mower which is good buy and should give a few years trouble free use. A quotation has been received from Steadmans for the supply of plastic coated tin sheeting to cover the tennis shed, amounting to £555.77 incl. VAT which was agreed by the Council.

Risk Management Policy - Mr Peter Wiseman from Allerdale will be coming through on Wed 14 December to advise on the provision of a risk management policy. The Town Clerk has also spoken to the Clerk’s of Workington and Cockermouth who have provided some useful information.

Dog Fouling - Allerdale dog warden has been in Silloth last week but did not catch any offenders. Difficult in the winter months due to the shorter days but they will continue to plug away at the problem.

Vacancy on the Town Council - A letter of resignation has been received from Cllr. J. Snaith which was read out at the meeting. Allerdale has been notified and the vacancy will be advertised in due course. The complaint sent to Allerdale by the Town Council, about Mr Woodthorpe was not sent with a view to him being sacked. Any letter sent to him often resulted in a 2 page reply which didn’t always reply to the points raised. Letter to be sent to Longcake Educational Trust to check situation re: representative of the Town Council being on the Trust.

The Town Council approved the list of payments to 5 December 2005.

The Budget for 2006/07 was approved by the Town Council which results in a Precept of £71,500. The Precept is £500 less than last year. Concerns were expressed about Silloth being the highest Council tax in the Borough last year but it is impossible to know what other Town’s precepts will be or what the figures will be for Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria County Council.

After 2006/07 there will be no provision for Tourism within the Concurrent Grant system. Tourism is coming back as a priority at Allerdale. Silloth is in the centre of the AONB and needs to be promoted as such for Tourism. Tourism is very important to the town and Silloth is one of the main beneficiaries. We don’t want to be lose money but need more investment. It was agreed that representation be made to Allerdale Borough Council regarding the loss of the provision for Tourism within the Concurrent Grant system which will come into effect after the 2006/07 grant claim.

The Town Council considered whether to site a litter bin between the football and rugby pitch. It was agreed that a metal bin would be needed as a plastic one would be more likely to be set on fire. It was questioned what happened with regard to the bins from Cockermouth which the Town Council were promised over 12 months ago. Cllr. Jefferson to chase the matter up at Allerdale.

257 Amounts owing to the Town Council

Current amounts outstanding were discussed by the Council and it was agreed that statements be sent to any that have not yet been paid.