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Drigg & Carleton Parish Council – Minutes – May 2025

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MINUTES OF THE MAY 2025 ORDINARY MEETING OF THE

DRIGG & CARLETON PARISH COUNCIL

Held in Drigg Village Hall on 13th May 2025 at 6.30 pm


Attended:          Chris Gigg                                        CG         (Chair)

John Jennings                                 JJ

Andy Pratt                                       AP          (Ward Councillor)

Jimmy Naylor                                 JN

Andy McMillan                              AMcM

Martin Clayton                               MC

Sadie Clarke                                    SC

Sally Taylor                                     ST

Karen Warmoth                             (Clerk / RFO)

Apologies:          None

Three members of the public attended

  1. Minutes of the previous Ordinary Meeting
    1. Resolution to approve the minutes of the meeting on 8th April 2025
      1. Approval as a true and accurate record proposed by JN and seconded by MC with all in favour; minutes signed by the Chair
  1. Apologies for absence: none
  1. Declarations of interest relating to this agenda: none
  1. Co-option of a new Parish Councillor
    1. Sally Taylor, resident of Stubble Green, was co-opted onto the Parish Council and duly signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office witnessed by the Clerk
    2. ST submitted a completed DPI to the Clerk
  2. Financial matters
    1. Finance report
      1. Balance: the balance of the DCPC account is £3,145.87 (with a variance of £93.58 of funds as yet unclaimed by HMRC)
      2. Remittance: precept payment of £3,600 received in April from Cumberland for 25-26
    2. Outstanding payments
      1. Defibrillators: two invoices submitted
        • Annual maintenance invoice number 115926 for £210 plus VAT
        • Repairs and replacements (battery and pads) invoice number 115925 for £324.88 plus VAT
        • The Chair completed a Drigg Charity project form to help fund this parish amenity; payment proposed by SC and seconded by MC with all in favour
      2. Insurance: invoice number 543372843 for £1,630.69 for the Zurich insurance premium, cover commencing 1st June 2025 – 31st May 2026; payment proposed by SC, seconded by CG, with all in favour
    3. Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2024-25
      1. Certificate of Exemption: approved, signed and dated by the Chair and RFO
        • Clerk to forward the Certificate of Exemption to Moore’s
      2. Annual Internal Audit Report: approved, signed and dated by the auditor
  • Annual Governance Statement: approved, signed and dated by the Chair and Clerk
  1. Annual Accounting Statement: approved, signed and dated by the Chair and RFO
  2. Notice of Public Rights
    • Commencing on Tuesday 3rd June 2025
    • Ending on Tuesday 15th July 2025
  3. Auditor feedback: minor amendment
    • Minor discrepancy in the minutes where an invoice amount was not shown but details of the payment corresponded with the amount going out of the account
  • Publication of the AGAR 2024-25: AGAR 2024-25 to be displayed on the Village Hall noticeboard and published on the drigg.org.uk website

Action: 5/1: Clerk to establish what proportion of the insurance premium is to cover the Village Hall

  1. Actions and matters arising
    1. Action 3/3: CG to contact Natural England re Coastal Path connectivity for support for a pavement and cycle path. CG to follow up with Graham Innes at Cumberland. AP to share document regarding PRoWs, including the bridge over the Irt – action ongoing
    2. Action 4/1: AP and MC to liaise with Highways about Give Way signs and speed calmers for Saltcoats. Highways agreed to look at the data and review road markings. No accidents reported on this stretch of road. AP to feedback to the parishioner with a copy of the Cumberland Highways email – action completed
    3. Action 4/2: CG to chase LDNPA re fallen tree. Currently no LDNPA park ranger for this area. This fallen tree is on the maintenance team’s list and should be resolved by the end of May – action ongoing
    4. Action 4/3: AP to chase Highways about overgrown footpath opposite Cloudbase. Delay reported as team were cleaning cycle routes. Farm to Smithy Banks is due to be cleaned – action completed
    5. Action 4/4: AP to send list of defects resulting from A595 resurfacing to Highways. List of defects to be re-sent with request to redress flagged issues. Contractors agreed to lay topsoil and re-seed the bridge layby, as well as replacing the damaged bin – action completed
    6. Action 4/5: CG to complete an application to Drigg Charity to fund AEDs – action completed
    7. Action 4/6: AP to chase up overgrown hedge at Wray Head again. Landlord Home Group unlikely to redress this issue – action closed
    8. Action 4/7: Clerk to draft a letter to the landlord. Letter sent – action completed
  1. Cumberland Council
    1. Report
      1. AGM 2025: Cllrs moved to new sub-cttees
      2. Woman of the Year for Cumbria: sponsored by NWS; seeking nominations
    2. Highways
      1. A595 closure: road to be closed at Bootle for four nights at the end of May to replace manhole covers
      2. Difficult to get Highways to come this far south in the County to do maintenance work
  • Parking:
    • Cars parked on A595 main road on a bend – AP to raise with Highways
    • Car parked on junction at the bottom of Holmrook Hill – AP to raise with Highways

Action 5/2: AP to raise Holmrook parking issues with Highways

  1. Public Participation: no-one came forward
  2. Main Business
    1. Overgrown footpath
      1. From the church to Holmrook, opposite Cloudbase. Highways agreed to come and clean the footpath from Naylor’s farm to Smithy Banks
    2. Holmrook layby
      1. The contractors agreed to lay topsoil and re-seed the bridge layby; Cumberland Council agreed to replace the damaged bin
    3. Community Led Plan: a live document under regular review
      1. Important to keep document under review even though some aims are beyond DCPC powers, so that if/when funding becomes available it can be shown that there is a recognised, unmet need (eg ICan, Hub 2 Go, South Cumberland Panel etc)
        • Action 26: regular communication channels are the website for those who use online sources and the noticeboards and Newsletter for those who are not online. The Benefice Magazine is not used and will be removed from the CLP. A summary of Drigg Charity Projects will be issued in the next Newsletter
        • Action 23: affordable housing is aspirational. The Cumberland Local Housing Needs survey is due to be published shortly. A Working Group is to be set up to review this survey when it is available
      2. Beach and Hall information boards
        1. Hall information board: CG showed three examples of the board layout and invited comments on which was preferred. A pdf of each to be circulated for review. Funding of £2,106 approved from LLWR
        2. Beach board: quote of around £8k received to do two boards on three posts by Forepoint. CG and SC to apply to the LLWR for funding
          • Drone pictures still needed of the parish shoreline for this board
        3. Hall Loft project
          1. Plans: MC had a meeting with Graham’s; a meeting is to be arranged at the Village Hall to discuss plans, elevations, etc to comply with Building Control Regulations. Plans to be produced at no cost to the Parish Council; funded by Graham’s corporate social responsibility duties
            • JJ to join MC at the meeting (due to take place next week)
          2. Platform: mobile lifting platform at a cost of £400 seen online
            • Questionable whether it would be strong enough
            • Shipping costs almost as much as the platform and takes months
            • Cumbria Tail Lifts – SC to contact them for a quote
  • Resolved to continue reviewing options until data is available to make a decision
  1. Cine Equipment in the Village Hall
    1. Application for funding has been submitted and acknowledged to South Copeland CIF
    2. Total amount £33,777.60
  • Application will go to the South Copeland Panel on 16th July 2025
  1. Licence to Grow
    1. Licence signed, submitted to Cumberland; site has been scraped clean ready for use
    2. AP has secured £200 funding for an opening event
  • Graham’s have given 90 metres of Heras fencing to keep out the deer
  1. Working Party to be set up to put up the fencing and start the project
  2. Water: no water on site; need to capture rain water via water butts
  3. Planters: HMP Haverigg could provide metal planters 4 m long by 1 m wide by 80 cm deep for £131.10 + VAT, total of £655.50 + VAT for five planters
    • Planters are raised off the ground to allow wheelchair users to access them easily
    • In the long term, the site could accommodate 35 planters of this size
  • Funding: AP submitted an application to the LLWR fund for £1,223 for the first five planters plus tool, plants, seeds, etc
    • DCPC could also apply to South Cumberland Panel for additional planters
    • Other potential sources of funding to consider: Stobarts Community Fund, South Copeland CIF fund, Drigg Charity (suggestion to add to Village Maintenance budget)
    • Resolved to submit an application to South Cumberland for £1,200 for planters proposed by JN, seconded by MC with all in favour
  1. Summer Wellness Hub
    1. Resolved to continue the Hub every Friday over the summer months serving tea/coffee and cakes. No need for volunteer to collect soup, just to open the building and set up
      • Clerk to produce a Summer Hub poster
    2. Parish repairs
      1. Drains: all the drains in the village are blocked; SC and AP to report to Highways
      2. Left over signs: signs left in the bus stop to be collected shortly
  • PRoW stile: a parishioner reported that a stile had been removed from a footpath; SC to request a What3Words location to report to Cumberland
  1. Other Parish matters
    1. None

Action 5/3: AP to submit an application to South Cumberland for funding for the Licence to Grow

Action 5/4: Clerk to produce a poster for the Summer Wellness Hub

Action 5/5: AP and SC to report blocked drains to Highways

  1. Received communications
    1. Lake District National Park: Second Homes / Short-term holidays lets – briefing, April 2025
    2. Lake District National Park: Letter to the Secretary of State regarding the impact of short term lets
    3. Lake District National Park: Visitor Management Plans
    4. Cumberland Council, via CALC: Cumberland Council Public Space Protection Order, FAQ
  2. Planning Applications
    1. Lake District National Park Authority
      1. 7/2025/4037: Carleton Head Cottage – extension to dwelling. This planning application was too late to be added to the agenda of this meeting; the Scheme of Delegation was applied. No objection to this development
    2. Cumbria Association of Local Councils
      1. Report: CALC to form sub-groups for Communications, Staffing, Business Management
  1. CALC AGM
    1. Date: Saturday 4th October 2025
    2. Time:30 am – the venue will be open from 9.30 am for registration
  • Venue: Braithwaite Institute, Braithwaite
  1. Reports from Representatives
    1. GDF Mid Copeland Community Partnership
      1. No meeting has been held since the last Parish Council meeting
      2. Next meeting: 2nd June 2025 at 1 pm at Beckermet Reading Room
    2. GDF South Copeland Community Partnership
      1. Chair: AP is acting as Interim Chair till a new Chair is appointed
        • First order of business at the next meeting will be to appoint a new Chair
      2. Informal meeting: after the withdrawal of Millom Town Council from the South Copeland Community Partnership, a report was commissioned by NWS into the causes of this withdrawal which may now be shared
  • Next meeting: 26th June 2025, where first order of business will be to elect a new Chair
    • DCPC required to confirm its continued participation in the Community Partnership; Clerk to action
  1. NWS / DCPC Liaison meeting
    1. LLWR support DCPC in its lobbying for a better road surface through the village
    2. On 24th June 2025, aggregate trains begin running again
  • New CEO for NWS is Seth Kybird, seconded from Nuclear Transport Solutions
  1. Capping: end dates have not been agreed with the Environment Agency but work is continuing to schedule
  2. Budget reduction: GDF and capping work have been ring-fenced from budget cuts
    • GDF budget for engagement will not be reduced
  3. Site visits available; potential dates to be requested by the Clerk
  • Another engagement drop-in is planned
  • Query regarding the use of Greengarth as a transport hub – to be raised at the next meeting
  1. Matters to be considered at the next Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council
    1. None raised
  1. Date of next meeting
    1. Close: meeting closed 7.50 pm
    2. Annual Parish Meeting: to take place on 22nd May 2025 at 7 pm at Drigg Village Hall
    3. June Ordinary Meeting: to take place on 10th June 2025 at 6.30 pm at Drigg Village Hall

 

Karen Warmoth
Parish Clerk
Drigg & Carleton Parish Council
22nd May 2025

 

Summary of Actions

Action 3/3: CG to contact Natural England re Coastal Path connectivity for support for a pavement and cycle path. CG to follow up with Graham Innes at Cumberland. AP to share document regarding PRoWs, including the bridge over the Irt – action ongoing

Action 4/2: CG to chase LDNPA re fallen tree. Currently no LDNPA park ranger for this area. This fallen tree is on the maintenance team’s list and should be resolved by the end of May – action ongoing

Action: 5/1: Clerk to establish what proportion of the insurance premium is to cover the Village Hall

Action 5/2: AP to raise Holmrook parking issues with Highways

Action 5/3: AP to submit an application to South Cumberland for funding for the Licence to Grow

Action 5/4: Clerk to produce a poster for the Summer Wellness Hub

Action 5/5: AP and SC to report blocked drains to Highways