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

258 Apologies:- Cllr. E. Wannop & PC Andy Robertson.

Cllr. Allison re: Allison Designs.

Cllr. Jefferson re: Tree Preservation Order at Marsh House.

There were no press or public present at the meeting.

The Chairman had attended the following:-

Town Carol Service

Judged the Christmas Lights

Allerdale Mayor’s social night

There is a meeting to be held on Wednesday night at the Golf at 7.00pm with Tim Barker to drum up support and get people interested in the museum project. Anyone interested from the Council can attend. David Thomas who is portfolio holder for Tourism at Allerdale will be attending. Bill Allison will also be attending.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2005 were approved by the Town Council and signed by the Chairman as a true record.

Concerns were raised about the work planned to the trees in the town and it was felt this should be discussed by the full council before it is agreed. A planning application has been submitted which is currently being circulated round the planning committee, as work is to be done to trees which are in the conservation area.

PC Andy Robertson had compiled a report of incidents over the last month which was circulated to the Council. Item to be included on the next agenda regarding the old Police Station. On 22 December an officer had struggled whilst waiting for assistance. 8 vehicles and 12 policemen attended the incident. The reports are detailed but

concern was expressed about the length of the reports and the occurrences of violence. It was suggested that a letter be written to the Police expressing concerns that the Police are not taking enough action.

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

a) Cumbria Highways - Working Together - Issue Two: Winter 2005.

b) Cumbria County Council - Getting Around Cumbria - The Lake District.

c) Highways Agency - North West Roadworks and Traffic Information Leaflet (December 2005 to February 2006).

d) CALC Circular - December 2005.

e) Childline North West newsletter - Winter 2005.

f) Clerks & Councils Direct - January 2006.

g) Local Council Review - January 2006.

h) CALC - The Survey of Local Council Functions in Cumbria - The Results.

i) North Allerdale Partnership - Details and application form for the NAP Commercial Facelift Scheme, The NAP Official Report - September 2005, Information on Cumbria Infrastructure Support Programme and NAP Executive Minutes of the last meeting. Funding Fair is to be held at Carlisle on Thursday 26 January 2006 in Solway Business Centre.

j) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Silloth Markets. Copy of a petition received by Allerdale against the closure of the street market.

k) Copy of a petition received against the closure of the street market - copy forwarded to Allerdale Borough Council.

l) Cumbria County Council - re: Solway Coast Neighbourhood Forum. Minutes of the last meeting held on 30 November 2005.

m) Letter from Cllr. Proud in response to the letter of resignation by Cllr. J. Snaith. Copy send to every Cllr.

n) Allerdale Borough Council - Letter acknowledging receipt of the notice dated 6 December advising of the vacancy on the Town Council.

o) Longcake Educational Foundation - Mr Snaith’s term of office as trustee is effective for 4 years and is not dependent upon his being a town councillor. Term of office ends in June 2007.

p) Cumbria County Council - re: Trees in Silloth. A bid for funding for a scheme to replace or cut back trees has failed. Mr Marr agrees with the Council’s and residents’ concerns and has requested an estimate to pollard the problem trees on the side streets. Work will hopefully be done this winter.

q) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - Standards of conduct in English Local Government: The Future.

r) Copy of a letter sent to the Planning Department at Allerdale by Mrs Henderson of Beaconsfield Terrace raising concerns about the plans to build houses on the land behind Beaconsfield Terrace.

s) Society of Local Council Clerks - Regional one day conference to be held on 31 January 2006 at Chorley.

t) Cumbria Police Authority - update on the Police service restructuring and a copy of the most recent letter from the Police Authority to the Home Secretary.

u) CAPITA SYMONDS - Copy of the proposed works schedule for the street trees in Silloth. It is envisaged the work will be completed by the end of February 2006.

v) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Vacancy on Town Council. There has been no request to hold an election therefore the Council must co-opt to fill the vacancy as soon as practicable.

w) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Provision for Tourism. Allerdale does regard the industry as an increasingly important component of the Borough’s economy. The Council are in the process of finalising its Corporate Improvement Plan which will identify its priorities and ensure budgets are closely aligned with those priorities. Work is to be done over the next 3 months to align budgets with priorities and a report will be made to the Allerdale Full Council on March 8 by which time the situation will be clearer.

x) Cumbria County Council - re: The Cumbria Countryside Access Strategy. Suggestions requested for actions to go in the Rights of Way Improvement Plan for Cumbria by 28 February 2006. It was suggested that the document be passed to Dr Brian Irving of Solway Coast AONB for his comments.

y) North Allerdale Partnership - Information on the Business Improvement Districts programme. Suggestion that the Town Council consider the potential of developing such a programme in Silloth. The idea comes from America and has been tried out at Keswick. This is more relevant to Silloth Regeneration Partnership.

z) Allerdale Borough Council - re: Tree Preservation Order No 8 - 2005. Land to the rear of Marsh House, Skinburness. On 14 December the Council decided to confirm the Order. Anyone aggrieved by the Council’s decision can challenge it by applying to the High Court within 6 weeks of the above date. The TPO relates to an Ash tree which is 150-200 yrs old. There have been no objections to the TPO.

aa) Wigton Town Council - re: closure of Wigton Hospital. Letter seeking support from the Town Council in objecting to the proposals. It was agreed that a letter be sent urging for the retention of the hospital in the strongest possible terms. Many of our local residents have benefited from the services provided at the hospital.

bb) Consultation on organisational (boundary) changes to Ambulance Service NHS Trusts in the north west of England. Formal consultation period runs from 14 December 2005 to 22 March 2006. The changes are similar to the changes being made to the fire service and Police services etc. The Town Council are not in favour of the changes and don’t feel there should be any restructuring. Silloth is the most north westerly town in England and doesn’t want to be run by people in Warrington.

cc) Fletchers Funfairs - Note from Raynor Fletcher asking if he can hire the facilities on the Green for the 2006 season. It was agreed that Raynor be allowed to hire the facilities for 2006, at a rent of £525 for the season. It was questioned whether we should legally be putting it out to tender.

dd) Silloth First Response Team - Letter asking if the Town Council are prepared to continue to provide support by funding the rental of the First Responders pagers as in previous years. The Town Council agreed to support the First Response team and pay for the rental of the pagers at a cost of £950.40.

ee) Solway Community Technology College - Letter asking if the Town Council are prepared to fund a prize at the Prize Day which is to be held on Wednesday 18 January 2006. It was agreed to fund a prize at the same rate as last year £25. An additional letter was received from Susie Shepherd, the new Headteacher, in relation to the Citizenship Prize which will be the subject of a special event rather than attached to the annual prize giving. Julia Cooper to draft some criteria which will be reported back to the Town Council at a future meeting. Governing body to consider the nominations. It was suggested that 2 or 3 members of the Town Council should be involved in considering the nominations for the Prize. Cllr. M. Snaith, W. Johnston and A.J. Markley to act as representatives from the Town Council.

266 Planning Applications

The Town Council have approved the following:-

* New external doors and canopies to front elevation at Stanwix Park Holiday Centre, Silloth

* Replacement of existing timber frame windows with UPVC to front & rear elevations at 16a & 16b Lawn Terrace, Silloth

* Erection of conservatory to rear of building and porch to front of building at 154 Skinburness Road, Silloth

* Erection of conservatory/lounge at Chichester Hall, Dicktrod Lane, Skinburness, Silloth

The Town Council have refused the following:-

* Demolition of existing garage and security fencing and erection of 9 flats (1 unit of 4, 1 unit of 5) on land at rear of Beaconsfield Terrace, Silloth (resubmission). The main objections were to the height of the property nearest to the road which overlooks the Golf Course. Allerdale were in favour of the development because it tidies up the area.

An owner of a property on Golf Terrace has put a dorma on the back of his property and there have been a number of complaints. Allerdale have been contacted and apparently he does not need permission for a dorma but will need permission for a veranda and building regulations.

* Carry out works to trees in conservation area in Silloth.

There used to be a proper programme of works to maintain the trees with a rotational cycle of crowning, thinning and pollarding. The Town Council accepts that work needs to be done but there needs to be proper rolling programme in place. There is no money for trees in the County Council budget. It was suggested that the Town Council put it in the precept and raise the finance to do the work ourselves. The Town Council are against pollarding unless it is part of a planned programme. Council taxes continue to rise each year and it was questioned why there is no money available for trees. It was suggested that only the most obtrusive trees should be pollarded.

Allerdale Borough Council have approved the following:-

* Change of use of ground floor flat to museum and attached residential accommodation together with the opening up of original access door on Caldew Street re: 1 Marine Terrace, Criffel Street, Silloth

* Listed building consent for alterations for change of use of ground floor flat to museum and attached residential accommodation together with the opening up of original access door on Caldew Street re: 1 Marine Terrace, Criffel Street, Silloth

* Erection of 21 dwellings on land at Fell View, Silloth (resubmission)

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

* New external doors and canopies to front elevation at Stanwix Park Holiday Centre, Silloth.

Cllr. Snaith reported that Scrutiny are looking again at the plans to spend £75K on a consultancy.

Cllr. Snaith left the meeting.

None

None

Primary School No meeting. Finance committee meeting today.

Joint Advisory Committee No meeting.

Silloth Tourist Action Meeting took place. A new Secretary has taken over - Nik Ashby from the AONB. Interest from 2 or 3 people to join the committee. STAG want to work closely with Silloth Festivals and Silloth Regeneration Partnership.

Silloth Regeneration Partnership Meeting will take place this month. Liz Carlisle coming to talk to the group.

North Allerdale Partnership Meeting. Looking for a new member from Silloth Town Council - item to be included on the next Agenda.

Sea Dyke Charity No meeting.

Longcake Educational Trust No report.

Silloth Health Matters No report.

Allerdale - Cllr. Jefferson and Cllr. Snaith are not the most popular people at Allerdale. Allerdale is wanting to spend £75K on a consultancy to look at restructuring Allerdale BC, which should be the Chief Executives job who is getting paid £90K pa. It is now being looked at by Scrutiny on Friday. Not happy with the relationship between ABC, the Market towns and NAP etc. There is too much involvement with consultancies rather than working together.

County Council - The cockle beds have been opened in the sea. Class A cockles are worth up to £2000 per ton. It is being monitored and limited to 1 ton per day which makes it accessible to local boats and less appealing to the big firms. The County Council budget has not been set yet but there will probably be a 4.95% increase. There have been a lot of objections to increases in council taxes especially considering pensions have only increased by half of that rate.

Ken and Joe have been carrying out general maintenance and machinery maintenance. New machine arrived today. Replacement of the wooden stumps up Skinburness is ongoing. Cladding also arrived today for the tennis shed.

Cllr. Hart left the meeting.

It was suggested that telegraph poles could be used instead of strainer posts for the wooden stumps up Skinburness Road. The poles will be treated and last a lifetime, although we will need a Chainsaw to be able to cut them to size. Cllr. Jefferson had spoken to Allerdale regarding the bins. Ken to put together a map showing where additional bins are needed on the Green. Allerdale will look at it and try to meet our demands. The sign coming in to Silloth needs cleaned.

There has been no election called to fill the vacancy on the Town Council, therefore the Council needs to co-opt someone at the next meeting. Applications to be in within the next two weeks.

a) It was agreed that the Town Council should query the bill from Allerdale Borough Council in respect of the contribution towards the cost of Silloth TIC in respect of 2004/05 costs amounting to £3799.00. The cost has basically doubled in the last 4-5 years. Cllr. Jefferson to find out why there has been an increase.

b) The Town Council approved the list of payments to 16 January 2006 but agreed to withhold the payment to Allerdale Borough Council until a response is received regarding the increase.

The Town Council considered an estimate received from Johnstone (Engineering) Ltd for repairs and modifications to equipment in the Eden Street Play Area which amounted to £830. This was agreed by the Town Council.

The disabled swing has now arrived. Three swings have been broken by vandals. Ken has spoken to Marion to see if she is willing for a photo to be put in the Buzz of her son on the disabled swing, in a bid to embarrass the culprits of the vandalism.

Following letters for and against the removal of the seat in the bus shelter, the Town Council considered whether or not to reinstate the seat. The matter was deferred last month as there were only 5 present at the meeting. The Town Council took on board the comments from the local residents and the OAP’s. It was suggested that some be provided for a couple of pensioners. Since the removal of the seat it has made a difference as Ken was having to spend at least an hour every morning clearing glass from the playing fields and cleaning mess up. It was suggested that a removable seat me put in but this would need to be removed every day. The Town Council are reluctant to give in to the yobs but local residents have been relieved that the seat has been removed. If the seat was replaced then the youngsters would gather in the bus shelter again. A vote was taken to replace the seat - 1 in favour, 5 against.

276 Dropped Kerbs

It was agreed that the Council ask Cumbria County Council to re-adjust dropped kerbs in Silloth that are not evenly installed i.e. to do away with the bump which causes discomfort to people in wheel chairs. The recently fitted ones are as they should be.

277 Overgrown Hedges

It was agreed that a letter be sent to County Council to request that hedges in the Crofts which overhang the footpaths be cut back in line with the garden walls to allow free passage to pedestrians. The County Council can request local householders to carry out the necessary work.

In hand.