2020-01 January – Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MATFEN PARISH COUNCIL HELD IN MATFEN VILLAGE HALL ON
TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020
PRESENT: Mr Stuart Mills, Chairman of the Council together with Mr Frank Robson, Mrs Ann Gregory-Smith,
Keith Mavin. Chris Austin, Keith Irving
IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs Mandy Senior (Clerk);
County Councillor Mrs V Jones
0120.01
RESIDENTS present raised several matters and where relevant they are listed together with the actions that will be taken, if required. In due course, if necessary, reports will be made back to the Council.
a) PLAY AREA. A resident questioned the length of time it was taking to agree the proposals for the play area. This was discussed in further detail in the meeting. They also questioned the length of time it took for the Parish Council to make decisions and action proposals.
b) MOBILE POST OFFICE. Matfen is the busiest stop on the mobile post office’s route and they suggested if the residents require an additional visit per week they could request this from the Post Office.
c) DOG FOULING. County Councillor Mrs V Jones discussed this in her report.
d) POT HOLES. County Councillor Mrs V Jones discussed this in her report.
e) CLAREWOOD ROAD. Passing places had been created on this road however they were unfinished and the contractors had damaged the ditch causing the road to flood.
f) CPR/DEFIBRILLATOR SESSION. 21 people had attended the session. It was noted that Ingoe, Ryal and Fenwick are out of range for use of the defibrillator. Posters are to be put up in the notice boards of who to contact should the defibrillator be needed. A request for children’s pads to be held in the unit was made.
g) ADMINISTRATION. A request was made for all Parish Council policies to be available on the website.
0120.02
TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. No apologies received.
0120.03
TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST. None
0120.04
COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT. County Councillor Mrs V Jones gave her verbal report on matters relating to Northumberland County Council and Matfen Parish. They included:
a) QE HIGH SCHOOL. Planning permission had now been granted and work is to start clearing the site within the next few weeks.
b) INGOE. Mrs Jones had agreed to pay for an additional street light in Ingoe from her members funding.
c) DOG FOULING. Resident complained of dog fouling around the village including the churchyard. Cllr Mrs Jones advised residents to sign up to the Green Dog Walkers Scheme.. NCC officers will come to talk to Parish Council meetings to raise awareness. There is a dog bag dispenser on the village green and the bags are replenished however Cllr Mrs A Gregory-Smith advised that someone is taking handfuls of bags from the dispenser and she is not always aware when it is empty.
d) STATE OF THE ROADS. The recent weather has taken its toll on the rural roads in the County. NCC has a set budget for maintenance and everything reported has to be prioritised. Any urgent pot holes will be filled within 24 hours as a temporary repair before a more permanent repair is carried out. The Highway Inspector does his rounds weekly and Mrs Jones does a monthly inspection with the inspector. It is noted that the weather is causing the road edges to deteriorate and Cllr Mrs Jones will report back to NCC on the issues raised at tonight’s meeting. The road through Matfen is to be resurfaced via the LTP programme for 2020-21 and this will be carried out in the new financial year. The road from The Plough to Newcastle is also to have the last stretch resurfaced.
It was noted that the road bridge in Matfen had been inspected and was found to be safe. NCC liaise with NWL on a regular basis.
0120.05
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 26 NOVEMBER 2019. It was proposed by Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith, seconded by Cllr F Robson and AGREED to accept the minutes as an accurate record.
0120.06
ACTIONS TAKEN FOLLOWING THE MEETING HELD ON 26 NOVEMBER 2019
a) OVERGROWN LANE. Minute 1119.8c refers This is the responsibility of Matfen Estates.
b) RAY WIND FARM FUND. Minute 1119.12b refers. Matfen is out of the area to apply for funding.
Matfen Parish Council
Ward 1 – Fenwick, Ingoe, Ryal. Ward 2 – Matfen
2 280120
c) NOTICE BOARDS. Minute 1119.12c refers. The notice board at Ryal had been installed by
Justine Dempsey, Philip and Mark Chaffer. Thanks are expressed for arranging this.
d) PICNIC BENCHES/SEATS. The seats had been delivered to Cllr C Austin however due to the
weight and size help was needed to move these into position. The picnic bench had been
placed on the village green in Ingoe and needed securing into position. Cllr C Austin is to ask a
local farmer to bring the seats to Matfen. One will be placed opposite the Black Bull in the
previous position and the second one will be held until the final position of the play area is
known.
0120.07 FINANCE/ADMINISTRATION
a) ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT. It was proposed by Cllr F Robson, seconded by Cllr C Austin and
AGREED accounts on the list circulated be paid.
b) TO COMPLETE UPDATED BANK MANDATE AND ISSUES WITH BARCLAYS BANK. The
bank mandate was updated and Cllrs Mrs A Gregory Smith and S Mills are signatories.
Problems were still being experienced however the information had been updated.

0120.08 CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION ITEMS. All correspondence since the November
meeting had been listed on the agenda and circulated to all councillors.
a) PUBLIC LIBRARIES CONSULTATION. Northumberland County Council is currently
consulting on the library service and mobile libraries. This will run until 18th March
2020.
b) INFORMATION ITEMS including:
• NALC weekly eNews
• Northumberland County Council’s Litter Campaign
• Clerks and Councils Direct – January 2020 Issue 127
0120.09 PLANNING APPLICATIONS
19/01871/FUL Land North of Kilnside House, Ryal. Proposed equestrian arena with lighting columns for private use – GRANTED
19/01742/VARYCO Causeway House, Ingoe Removal of condition 8 (to be used in connection with agriculture) relating to approved planning application CM/01/D/182 – GRANTED
0120.10 VILLAGE ISSUE AND HIGHWAYS MATTERS
a) TO AGREE NEXT STEPS FOR THE POSSIBLE MATFEN PLAY AREA. 21 emails had been
received from residents of which; 15 were in support of the proposals, 6 objections and 3
requiring further consultation and/or information. The Parish Council agreed that they should
have taken a stronger lead in the consultation and they did not have enough information on the
actual site location. The location had changed since the last meeting and it is now felt that it can
be moved further west. There are 2 memorial trees and a drain which need to be avoided. Sir
Hugh Blackett had agreed the position. It was noted that the Parish Council does not have
enough funds to carry out the full installation and a grant application had been submitted to the
Pocket Parks fund for the shortfall. The decision on this will not be known until the end of February 2020.
There is no possibility of the new play area being positioned on the Cricket Ground as
Matfen Estates will not give permission for this. The following next steps were agreed: Cllr K
Mavin to mark out the proposed site with Paul Taylor from Kompan. Paul to mark the individual
items of equipment within the area. Once this is done a consultation event will be arranged in
the Village Hall on a Saturday morning with a letter drop to all houses in the Parish advising of
the date. The information will be collated from the consultation event and a final decision made.
An EGM will be called if the information is not available for the next meeting.
b) TO CONSIDER COMPLAINT TO TYNEDALE HUNT OVER DOG FOULING ON VILLAGE
GREEN. Cllr S Mills had spoken to the Hunt who had apologised for the dog fouling on the
green. No further meets are to be held this season and they will ensure there is a plan in place
for future events.
c) TO DISCUSS REPAIRS TO THE TELEPHONE BOX. Philp Chaffer had fixed two of the panes
in the telephone box however advised that further repairs would be necessary as most of the
panes are not held in place. The door also keeps sticking and Philip offered to free up the door.
Mrs Senior will pass on the details of the website which stocks Red telephone Box supplies to
Philip who will advise the Parish Council on what is needed.
d) TO CONSIDER SUPPORT FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE SATURDAY EVENING BUS
SERVICE NO 74. After discussion, it was AGREED to contribute £600 towards the continuation
of the Saturday Evening Bus Service No 74.
e) TO CONSIDER LIST FROM RESIDENT OF SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS AND
MAINTENANCE AROUND MATFEN. A list of suggested improvements had been received
from a resident who had discussed with other residents of what they would like to see in Matfen.
Some of the suggestions would be Northumberland County Council’s responsibility. Cllr S Mills
suggested he meet with the residents to discuss priorities and potential costs.
f) TO RECEIVE UPDATE ON SUPERFAST BROADBAND IN THE PARISH. Alncom had held an
information event in the Village Hall to advise about their ongoing and planned future
improvement works. Their wireless coverage is now available to most of the parish including
outlying properties. Fenwick now has BT superfast broadband. Alncom have plans to install a
physical fibre link to properties in the Standing Stones and Ingoe areas this summer.
g) ITEMS TO REPORT.
i. Bridge on the Village Green. It was noted that the footbridge over the water course on
the village green was damaged. One of the horizontal steel bars has broken away from
the post and is only secure at one side. This will be reported to NWL.
ii. Moles. It is mole season again and they are appearing in abundance on the village
green. Pest control will be called.
iii. Lamp posts. Cllr Mrs A Gregory Smith had met with Northumberland County Council
about replacing the lampposts several months ago. This is apparently on a to do list.
Cllr Mrs V Jones will pursue this on behalf of the Parish Council.
0120.11 ITEMS FOR THE NEXT AGENDA. None noted.
0120.12 DATE OF NEXT MEETING. The next meeting is to be held on Tuesday 24th March 2020 at 7.00pm in
the Village Hall.