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Drigg & Carleton Community > Documents > Minutes > Drigg & Carleton Annual Parish Meeting 2024 – Minutes – May 2024

Drigg & Carleton Annual Parish Meeting 2024 – Minutes – May 2024

Minutes Uploaded on June 5, 2024

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF THE

DRIGG & CARLETON PARISH

Held in Drigg Village Hall on 16th May 2024 at 7.00 pm

Attended:          Chris Gigg                                        (Chair)

John Jennings                                 (Vice Chair)

Keith Murray

Sadie Clarke

Martin Clayton

Karen Warmoth                             (Clerk)

 

Apologies:          Jimmy Naylor

Andy Pratt

 

Also attended by 17 members of the public

  • Introduction and welcome
    1. The Vice Chair opened the meeting and welcomed all attendees
  • Speaker: David Simpson
    1. The speaker gave a presentation of photographs taken by Mary Fair in the first half of the twentieth century featuring Drigg & Carleton, Eskdale and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (the “Ratty”). A fascinating record of country life a century ago and a valuable archive
  • Minutes of last year’s Annual Parish Meeting
    1. Minutes: proposed and seconded that the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting 2023 were a true and accurate record, with all in favour
  • Drigg & Carleton Parish Council Report
    1. The Chair read a report on the activities of the Parish Council over the last year. All the activities were captured in more detail in the minutes of the Parish Council meetings
      1. Joiners / Leavers: Cllr Jo Whyte left the Parish Council in June 2024 when she moved out of the parish. Cllr Martin Clayton joined the Parish Council in March 2024
      2. Village maintenance: grass cutting of the verges, with a bulbs and wildflower planting scheme along the church dip verge
  • Noticeboards: three new weatherproof noticeboards installed, one for the PC notices and the rest open for parishioners to use
  1. Planning: the Community Led Plan Action Plan was updated in May 2024
  2. Website: maintained by the Parish Council. Please use it to find info on parish activities
  3. Warm Hub: well received and well attended by parishioners. Supported by the Drigg & Carleton Community Fund, Cumberland Council and Voluntary Action Cumbria
  • Hall improvements: covered by the Village Hall Report
  • External bodies: the Parish Council is represented on Mid Copeland Community Partnership by the Clerk, on South Copeland Community Partnership by the Chair, on CALC by Cllr Pratt, and on the Liaison committee with NWS
  1. LLWR / NWS: Liaison Group meet to try and minimise the impact of LLWR on the village
  2. General: defibrillators maintained
  • Drigg & Carleton Parish Council Financial Report
    1. The Financial Report 2024 has been approved by the auditor
    2. The Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2024 is available on the Drigg Village Hall noticeboard and on the website: drigg.org.uk
      1. Total income: £6,449.77
      2. Total expenditure: £10,153.57 (accommodated by the previous year’s surplus)
  • Total balance in the PC account: £2,829.19

 

  • Drigg Charity Report
    1. The Chair read a report on the activities of the Drigg Charity over the last year
      1. Community events: the Charity supported Drigg Gala, the Drigg Fireworks/Bonfire, and the children’s Christmas party as well as gifts to senior households at Christmas
      2. Village maintenance: support for grass cutting and clearing the beds around the village hall; buying new recycled plastic tubs for the village hall and planting them with flowers and shrubs; plus support for the bulbs / Wildflower project
  • Community Awards: support for grass cutting at St Peter’s church; an award to Drigg Young Farmers to pay for Tug-o-war boots for a competition; a contribution to the Warm Hub to benefit parishioners; and a donation to the Bursary fund to support education and training in the parish
  1. Bursary fund: ten bursaries were awarded to parishioners for education or training, including two awards for transport costs for those post-16 students who have to pay to go to sixth form
  • Village Hall Report
    1. In Cllr Pratt’s unavoidable absence, the Village Hall report will be given by Cllr Clarke
    2. Hall improvements: new tables in the supper room which can be easily folded away to make the room more accessible; additional cutlery supplied in the kitchen; new energy efficient lighting installed
    3. Flower beds: beds round the hall cleared and replanted, new tubs planted with shrubs
    4. Projects: loft project is ongoing with the Committee reviewing the possibility of a loft ladder

 

  • Questions raised by parishioners
    1. Defibrillators: years ago, training was given on using the defibrillators in the village. Could such training be updated?
      1. Training on defibrillators to be added to the Parish Council June meeting agenda
    2. Footpaths: grass and moss are encroaching on pavements making footpaths slippery. Could this be rectified?
      1. Cllr Pratt has already reported this issue to Highways; work should be on the list
      2. The grass cutter was asked to do some clearing; Clerk to check with him
    3. Lamp-posts: some lamp-posts taken out of service and taped up. Could they be reinstalled?
      1. Former Copeland Borough Council had a policy of non-repair
      2. All non-functioning lamp-posts should be reported to Highways via their website
    4. Pot holes: repairs are poor quality. Can they be improved?
      1. Highways propose to resurface the road from Holmrook to Stubble Green in the 2024-25 financial year, hence the short term repairs
      2. All pot holes can be reported on the Highways website; more reports, faster repairs
    5. Overnight beach parking: unsanitary and anti-social behaviour of overnight campers. No camping signs torn down. How can overnight camping be stopped? No official pitches there
      1. This has been reported to Cumberland Council before by Cllr Pratt
      2. Overnight beach parking to be added to the Parish Council agenda
    6. Noxious smells: the farm on Holmrook Hill is causing smells to waft over a residential area, as well as noisy farm machinery operating from 6 am until late in the evening, lights causing light pollution, cattle movements increasing vehicle traffic, barley crushing operations sending dust over neighbouring land, etc. Residents requested whether anything could be done to remove or mitigate the smell / noise / light / traffic / dust nuisance?
      1. Planning applications by the farmer are all legal; the Parish Council has no legal grounds to object and can make no material planning objections
      2. Environmental health: air quality samples currently being checked in the local area
      3. Noise abatement: could this be explored to reduce the impact of early morning or late night machinery noise?
      4. Animal welfare: could the RSPCA or other agency be approached to confirm that such intensive farming is not detrimental to the health and welfare of the cattle?
      5. The Parish Council suggested that all parties should arrange a meeting to discuss amicably how the situation might be mitigated or resolved
      6. The matter will be added to the agenda of the June 2024 Parish Council meeting
  • Close of meeting
    1. The Chair thanked the speaker for his presentation and thanked all the parishioners for attending
    2. Meeting closed at 8.40 pm

 

 

Karen Warmoth
Parish Clerk
Drigg & Carleton Parish Council
18th May 2024