Northwood Parish Council

Posted by NPC Admin on 17 March 2017, 4:15 pm

NORTHWOOD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Northwood Parish Council, held in Northwood Primary School, Wyatts Lane, Northwood, Isle of Wight on Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Present: Councillors Chris Riddet (Chairman), David Jaggar (Vice Chairman), John Nicholson, Malcolm Nicholson
Also in attendance:
Barbara Herbert (Clerk and RFO)
PCSO Derek Howard

There was one member of the press in attendance, but no members of the public present.

171/16-17 To receive and approve any apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from Cllrs Paul Fuller, John Pullen and John Ward.

172/16-17 Members’ interests
There had been no written requests received for Dispensation on items forming the agenda. There were also no declarations of interest made.

173/16-17 To receive a report on any local safety neighbourhood issues occurring since the last meeting held of the Parish Council
PCSO Derek Howard, a representative of the local Cowes Neighbourhood Police team (NPT) was present and referred to his report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting. This provided particulars of the current Cowes team together with details of the three crimes committed in Northwood, during February, in comparison to the seven crimes that had taken place during the same period in 2016. With reference to the current community priorities, PC Justin Pringle had organised a meeting in February of the PACT, when these were to be reviewed. Unfortunately, as only one member of the public attended the meeting, the determination of the priorities had been deferred to a later date.

RESOLVED :

THAT the report of the local Cowes Neighbourhood Police team be noted.

174/16-17 To confirm and authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the previous meeting of the Parish Council held on 7 February 2017

RESOLVED :

THAT the Minutes of the Ordinary meeting held on 7 February 2017 be confirmed and the Chairman authorised to sign them on behalf of the Parish Council.

175/16-17 To receive any matters arising on the Minutes, not requiring a resolution
a. Minute 151/16-17b Picnic Table – The clerk advised that the second picnic table had been delivered to the residence of Mr Derek Smith. He had kindly agreed to install this on the play area with the assistance of Mr Ian Lallow and Mr Reg Finch, as previously undertaken. The first picnic table, which had not weathered very well since its installation, had been collected earlier in the day by HMP IW.
b. Minute 158/16-17 Medina Estuary Coastal Community Team – Councillors noted that Natural Enterprise had advised that it was not appropriate for Parish Council representation on the team that was co-ordinating the production of the economic development plan to improve and enhance the visitor economy for the Medina Estuary.

176/16-17 Town and Country Planning
The following decisions taken by the Local Planning Authority since the last meeting of the Parish Council were duly noted:
i. TCP/09468/A 2 Pallance Road, Northwood – Conditional Planning Permission for the proposed two/single storey side extension
ii. TCP/30771/F BAE Systems (Defence Systems) Ltd, Newport Road, Cowes – Conditional Planning Permission for a proposed maintenance gantry

177/16-17 To formally declare the seat on the Parish Council as being vacant and to decide, as it is within 6 months of the ordinary elections, if the Parish Council wishes to fill the vacancy by co-option.

RESOLVED :

THAT councillors formally declare the seat on Northwood Parish Council as being vacant and that no action should be taken to fill the vacancy by co-option.

178/16-17 Vacancies on Working Parties and Outside Bodies
To consider appointing a representative to fill the vacancies on the Northwood in Bloom Working Party, Northwood Community Partnership, Community Waste Forum and District 1 Highways PFI Group.

RESOLVED :

THAT, in view of the forthcoming town and parish council elections, no action should be taken to appoint representatives to fill the vacancies that have arisen on the Northwood in Bloom Working Party, Northwood Community Partnership, Community Waste Forum and the District 1 Highways PFI Group.

179/16-17 To consider contributing to the provision of an evening Youth Bus Service ticket for Northwood teenagers only
In the absence of Cllr Ward and no report having been received, councillors duly

RESOLVED :

THAT the item to consider contributing to the provision of an evening Youth Bus Service ticket for Northwood teenagers should no longer be included on future agendas, until further notice.

180/16-17 To consider in detail the proposition to develop a proactive policy to support, encourage and facilitate wealth creation in the Northwood area
Reference was made to the discussion that had taken place at the previous meeting of the Parish Council, when it was questioned whether economic regeneration was more relevant for consideration by the IW Council in liaison with the Chamber of Commerce.
Cllr J Nicholson expressed his view that the IW Council should, in the first instance, undertake a more strategic alignment of their policies, as some, particularly with regard to Planning and Parking, appeared to be contradictory. Councillors were referred to the document VitalSigns, a summary profile report, undertaken in 2015, which had been circulated to councillors prior to the meeting. This looked at the performance of the Isle of Wight on a range of selected benchmark indicators covering economic, social and environmental well-being and highlighted a number of severe problems that required addressing. In discussion, councillors agreed that the IW Council was the leading authority to determine the economic development strategies of the Island. However, the Parish Council could play a larger role in feeding back information to the IW Council on local needs and aspirations to inform the determination of their economic statements and policies.

RESOLVED :

THAT further consideration on the proposition to develop a proactive policy to support, encourage and facilitate wealth creation in the Northwood area be deferred until the meeting in September.

181/16-17 To consider revamping the Parish Council logo

RESOLVED :

THAT in the absence of Cllr Fuller, his report covering the revamping of the Parish Council logo, be deferred until further notice.

182/16-17 To consider the damage that the Utility Services are doing to Northwood’s newly resurfaced roads
Cllr J Nicholson advised that subsequent to his request for this matter to be included as an agenda item, the two motions he had tabled to Full Council had been accepted by the IW Council. One covered the adoption of a fit for purpose scaffold policy to adequately regulate scaffolding erected on the public highway. Due to the damage that the Utility Services appeared to be doing to the newly resurfaced roads, the other motion requested consideration to be given to implementing more rigorous regulatory and enforcement standards that could be undertaken to minimise and control these instances.
Mention was also made of the road closure, during the period 13 March to 7 April, of the Newport Road, from its junction with Three Gates Road to its junction with Nodes Road, for planned utility repair works by Southern Water.

RESOLVED :

THAT the report be noted.

183/16-17 To note the latest proposals regarding the Post Office service in Cowes
The Post Office had announced that the service from its current position on land owned by Cowes Town Waterfront Trust, would terminate on 25 April. It was planned to relocate to the Southern Co-Operative building in Mill Hill Road, with effect from 19 May. Although the new outlet would be open for longer, including on a Sunday, the proposal was considered to be unsatisfactory. The new venue was not in the town centre or on a Southern Vectis bus route making it difficult to adequately service local needs and the number of tourists who visit the town, particularly during the summer months. Cllr J Nicholson and Andrew Turner MP had both been in correspondence with the Post Office’s regional network manager requesting information on what considerations had been taken into account and the timescales of these, when forming their decision.
The clerk had spoken to Ms Calver, the postmistress of the Pallance Road office, earlier in the day. That office currently opened on a part time basis, mornings only, on three days per week. Ms Calver’s contract was due to be terminated on 31 March and astonishingly, presently no approach had been made to her to either extend this or to offer to increase her hours to cover the interim period.

RESOLVED :

THAT this matter form an agenda item for the meeting in April.

184/16-17 To note the Guidance Note on Publicity for the Parish Council Elections 2017

RESOLVED :

THAT the Guidance Note on Publicity for the Parish Council Elections 2017, be noted.

185/16-17 To receive the report on Community Wellbeing
Cllr J Nicholson provided a brief oral report on his involvement with the Care Commissioning Group with regard to CHIMP Management.

186/16-17 To receive progress reports for information from Working Party leads
a. Traffic and Transport Issues Working Party
Cllr Riddet advised there were no matters to report.
b. Northwood in Bloom Working Party
The clerk advised that the first planter, near to the four- cross junction was rotten. She had attempted a temporary repair, but it really required a complete overhaul, replacement or its removal. It was suggested that quotations should be obtained so that consideration can be given as to the way forward, prior to ordering the summer planting. Councillors were again reminded that all the planters now required weeding
c. Parish Plan Working Party
No update was provided.

187/16-17 To receive the report of Cllr J Nicholson, the IWC Ward Member for Cowes South and Northwood
The report of Cllr J Nicholson was duly noted. Cllr Jaggar queried the status of the Medina Valley Action Plan, as no progress on this had been disseminated to parish and town councils in recent months It was also highlighted that the Island Plan Core Strategy was some 5 years out of date. Both were important documents in determining planning and development on the Island.

188/16-17 Clerk’s Report
a. Finance
i. The interim budget statement to the end of March 2017 and the bank reconciliation with Statement No 4 were received and duly noted.

ii. Payment of cheque No 000498

RESOLVED :
THAT approval be granted retrospectively with regard to the following cheque:
Cheque No 000498 for £773.47, Community Action IW, Clerk’s salary on 10 February

iii. To authorise payment of cheques

RESOLVED :

THAT the following cheques be approved for payment:
000499, £132.18, Mrs B Herbert, Clerk’s Expenses
000500, £100.00, The Wave Project, Donation
000501, £295.00, Northwood Primary School, Donation

iv. To reconsider the following application for grant funding:
The Wave Project

RESOLVED :

THAT a further grant of £100 towards the Wave Project, Isle of Wight be approved.

v. To consider the purchase of Adobe Acrobat Pro

RESOLVED ;

THAT the purchase of Adobe Acrobat Pro be deferred until further information can be presented to inform any decision.

b. Administration
Councillors noted that the next meeting of the Parish Council was scheduled to be held on 11 April 2017. Cllr Jaggar submitted his apologies for that meeting.

189/16-17 Correspondence
Correspondence received was listed in the report circulated with the agenda and updated further at the meeting. Particular mention was made with regard to item j, the invitation to attend the Age Friendly Professional Event on 10 May. Councillors suggested that Cllr Pullen be approached to ascertain his interest in attending.

190/16-17 Councillors’ reports
Councillors provided no further reports

191/16-17 Future Agenda Items
No additional items were indicated.

THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS THE CHAIRMAN CLOSED THE MEETING AT 7.22 pm
Signed ……………………………………………. Dated ……………………………..