Minutes of the Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Open Meeting on Monday 20th May, 2019 at the Public

Hall

1. Present: Simon Gray, John Heap, Ruth Rigg, John Shorrock, Arthur Robinson (clerk), Hazel Hodgson (SLDC)
and five parishioners

2. Apologies: Chris Nelson and Stan Collins (CCC)

3. Declarations of Acceptance of Office, Declarations of Financial and Pecuniary Interests and election expenses
returns were received from parish councillors.

4. John Heap was elected as Chairman of Old Hutton and Holmescales Parish Council for 2019 to 2020 and his
Declaration of Acceptance of Office was received (proposed by John Shorrock, seconded by Simon Gray).

5. The Parish Council recorded its thanks to Steve Capstick for his 25 years’ service as a member and
chairman, and to Alison Nelson who was a member for five years.

6. The following issues were raised during the open meeting:

a) There is a dead tree on the verge of Beckside Lane – it will be reported to CCC Highways.
b) It was observed that many trees in the parish are now dying from ash die back disease.
c) A rose bush at Claremont has spread significantly over the edge of Gatebeck Lane.
d) Dead badgers on roads and verges should be reported to Defra who will collect and test them.

Minutes of the AGM of Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council on 20th May, 2019 following the Open
Meeting

1. Present
Simon Gray, John Heap, Ruth Rigg, John Shorrock, Arthur Robinson (clerk), Hazel Hodgson (SLDC) and five
parishioners

2. Apologies
Chris Nelson and Stan Collins (CCC)

3. Election of the Vice-Chairman of Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council for 2019 to 2020
It was decided not to elect a Vice-Chairman.

4. Minutes of the last AGM held on the 30th April, 2018

These minutes were confirmed to be a true and accurate record on 01-08-2018. [see the document on the parish
website]

5. Chairman’s report for 2018/19

The principal event in the parish this year has been the battle to oppose the second planning application for a gas-
fired power station next to the National Grid Hutton Substation. A large number of residents came together to form an
action group and over 40 spoke at the SLDC Planning Committee meeting. The application was refused and I believe
that the period in which the company can appeal has now expired. Thank you to the whole community for a
magnificent effort.

Now that the final route in the parish to Little Brunthwaite has been installed, the B4RN broadband project has been
completed. Most houses and businesses in the parish now enjoy its hyperfast service for a low price. This too has
been a magnificent effort which has taken over three years. On behalf of the Parish Council and the residents of the
parish I want to thank the many landowners who gave permission for the duct to cross their land free of wayleave
payment, the many investors who made it financially possible, the landowners who ploughed in the duct and the
numerous volunteers who turned out in all weathers to do the physical work. Special thanks go to the core team of
volunteers: Martyn Welch (New Hutton), Arthur Robinson (Old Hutton), and Colin Wightman, David Stevenson and
David Richardson (all from Preston Patrick). They were also assisted on many occasions by John Heap, John
Shorrock and Steve Capstick. It was fitting that the parish gave a wonderful thankyou tea to the project’s workers.

Cumbria Highways has done a lot of work in the parish. Some roads have been completely resurfaced and there are
fewer potholes now than for many previous years. The Parish Council remains concerned about the speed of traffic
and safety along the B6254 and is planning to install speed indicator devices.

Some events take several years to be resolved. The disputed public right of way through Old Croft yard has now been
clarified at a public inquiry but the result will not be published for a couple of months. The United Utilities project to
improve the Haweswater Aqueduct has reached the stage of installing four huge parallel pipes in the north of the
parish. This will be completed in 2021 but is likely to be followed by more work east of the M6.
Finally, I wish to thank the members of the Parish Council for their time and effort over the past year. In particular,
thanks are due to Steve Capstick who has retired after 25 years on the Council both as a member and chairman. We
also thank Alison Nelson for her membership for the last five years and we welcome the newly elected councillors:
Simon Gray and Chris Nelson.

6. Review and adoption of appropriate standing orders and financial regulations

Revised standing orders were adopted on 07-11-2013; financial regulations were adopted on 20-04-2016

7. Review of inventory of land and assets

The list and value of items on the assets register were reviewed. [see the document on the parish website]

8. Review and confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all insured risks
a) The parish council currently has the standard policy from Zurich Insurance (premium £210.00) for the
period 01-06-2018 to 31-05-2019.
b) The replacement values of all items on the assets list were reviewed for insurance cover.

9. Review of the Council’s membership of other bodies

a) These are CALC [current subscription £141.98] and the Upper Kent Local Area Partnership [no
subscription].
b) John Heap was appointed as the Parish Council representative to the Armistead Wind Farm Funding
Committee (proposed by Ruth Rigg, seconded by Simon Gray)
c) John Heap was appointed as the Parish Council representative to the Upper Kent LAP meeting (proposed
by John Shorrock, seconded by Ruth Rigg).

10. Review of the Council’s procedures for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and Data Protection Act 1998
None has been received.

Minutes of the Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council meeting on the 20th May 2019 following the AGM

190520-1 Present
Simon Gray, John Heap, Ruth Rigg, John Shorrock, Arthur Robinson (clerk), Hazel Hodgson (SLDC) and five
parishioners

190520-2 Apologies
Chris Nelson and Stan Collins (CCC)

190520-3 Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meetings

The chairman signed the minutes of the parish council meetings held on 07-03-2019 and 03-04-2019 as true and
accurate records [see the documents on the parish website]

190520-4 Chairman’s announcements

a) The public inquiry into the disputed right of way at Old Croft was completed on the 1st May. The result will not be
known for two months or more.
b) The annual survey of road problems on all the parish’s roads has been completed and sent to CCC Highways.
c) Several footpaths and Fairthorns Lane are closed to all traffic, cyclists and pedestrians because of the United
Utilities pipeline project. It is an offence to use these routes when closed and CCTV cameras have been installed
to monitor activity along them all day and night. Fairthorns Lane should be opened on 28-05-2019. Reservoir
Road will be closed while pipes are installed across it during winter 2019/20. Ground investigations will begin
soon along the Haweswater Aqueduct east of the M6 for possible major engineering work in 2021 to 2024.

190520-5 Declaration of interests none

190520-6 Open session no comments

190520-7 Planning applications

a) Applications submitted requiring council comments: none
b) The progress of applications submitted since the last meeting was noted:
SL/2019/0028 - Two storey side extension, single storey rear extension and erection of detached double
garage at 1 Holmescales Cottages. The Council had no objection to this application.
PN/2019/0011 – Construction of two agricultural storage buildings at Holmescales. The Council supported this
application at its meeting on 03-04-2019. Planning approval not required.
SL/2019/0189 – Construction of an agricultural storage building along Beckside Lane north of Holmescales
Cottages. The Council had no objection to this application at its meeting on 03-04-2019.
190520-8 Payment of accounts
Payment of the following amounts was authorised:
£141.98 – to CALC for the 2019/20 annual subscription
£210.00 – to Zurich Municipal for insurance from 01-06-2019 to 31-05-2020
£90.00 – to MBE Accountancy Ltd for the 2018/19 internal audit

190520-9 Financial report

a) The Annual Internal Audit Report 2018/19 was approved (proposed by John Heap, seconded by Simon Gray)
[see the website]
b) The Annual Governance Statement 2018/19 was approved (proposed by John Shorrock, seconded by Ruth
Rigg) [see the website]
c) The annual accounts including variances and bank reconciliation were approved (proposed by Simon Gray,
seconded by John Heap) [see the website]
d) The Annual Accounting Statements 2018/19 were approved (proposed by Ruth Rigg, seconded by John
Heap) [see the website]
e) The Certificate of Exemption was approved (proposed by Ruth Rigg, seconded by John Shorrock) [see the
website]
f) The dates of the period for the exercise of public rights (Monday 17th June to Friday 26th July) were approved
(proposed by Simon Gray, seconded by John Heap) [see the website]
g) It was noted that the Community Account balance on the 1st April 2019 was £1601.95. It is now £3659.97 after
the receipt of the parish precept. A maximum of £111.53 has been authorised to be spent in the broadband
project. The balance of the Business Account remains at £640.59.
h) John Shorrock and Simon Gray agreed to be additional signatories for Parish Council cheques

190520-10 Correspondence
The following items of correspondence were received since the last meeting:
13-03-2019 – from CALC – March newsletter [forwarded to councillors]
19-04-2019 – from CALC – April newsletter [forwarded to councillors]

190520-11 Extension of the B4RN broadband network to the parish

With the final route to Little Brunthwaite having been made live, it was reported that the three-year project to install a
B4RN network throughout the parish had been completed.

190520-12 Parish emergency plan

John Shorrock, Ruth Rigg and John Heap agreed to formulate a parish emergency plan for discussion at a future
parish council meeting. They will meet in autumn.

190520-13 Speed indicator devices (SIDs)

CCC Highways need traffic count data for the B6254 east of Bridge End. Photographs of possible locations for a
counter have been sent to them.

190520-14 Date of the next meeting

The next meeting will be at a date to be arranged, possibly in July.

Arthur Robinson, parish clerk, Over Bleaze, Old Hutton, Kendal, LA8 0LU
Telephone – 01539-725955 e-mail – ohpclerk@gmail.com www.oldhutton.org.uk