News from our Parish Council from Monday 24th June.

Minutes from the Meeting

FROM YOUR ON THE SPOT PARISH COUNCIL REPORTER

Not much to to report from the June parish council meeting.  There were only three councillors present, no Westmorland & Furness (W&F) cllrs and quite a short agenda.  The update on the 20mph speed limit didn't reveal much new.  Consultation on the issue is now delayed due to the General Election and when it does get off the ground the format will be decided by W&F.  The parish council is already thinking about how to ensure that all households not only get the information but can have their say.

            Having seen what an improvement to the village green and church environs removal of the bus shelter has made, there are now no plans to resite the notice boards in that area.  The council are still looking at other options to make the notice boards more noticeable!  Renovation of the pavement has been asked for and there was also some discussion and a suggestion about how to stop parking on it afterward.

            The annual audit for 2023/24 of the financial position has been completed satisfactorily and the associated annual paper work completed and signed.  No current cash or budget statements were presented to the meeting, 'the books being with the auditor still'. 

            More interesting snippets of information came up during the Correspondence section.  The work which was due to start in June and would close Oxenholme Lane has now been delayed until July and after St Mark's school has closed.  It took one of the cllrs to intervene to get this decision but you really would have hoped that Open Reach themselves could have come up with this obviously better solution.  There was also some talk that at some point fibre would have to be laid to get across the village green.  As neither digging up the green nor poles across the green are acceptable lets hope a bit of lateral thinking can be applied to that challenge.

            No reply has been received from W&F about the meaning and legality of the white lines at the bottom of Oxenholme Lane so an enterprising cllr went to the police for a decision.  There too there seemed to be a bit of confusion about the purpose of those specific lines was but in general white lines delineate the edge of the road (in this case the wall seems to do that job quite effectively) and any other intention would not be enforceable.

            The next meeting is on Monday 29th July at 7pm.

Agenda for Tonight’s Parish Council Meeting

Click here to see the matters which will be discussed.

Summer Songs from Fellas

 

Road Works

Cadent Gas like Oxenholme Lane so much that they are coming back again to dig it up (in bits) from Natland Road along the Green and up to the school, so the road will be closed from 24th June to 27th June, or thereabouts.

After intervention by a parish councillor, this has now been postponed until after school breaks up. 

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme

If your child has free school meals you can find and book free childrens' activities and events in the school holidays.

This is the link: https://www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/schools-and-education/holiday-activities-and-food-haf-programme

Be Aware

A young and rather unkempt young man has been spotted on Oxenholme Lane appearing to ‘case the joint’.  It might be a good time to make sure your doors are kept locked when you’re not around.

Concert Conducted by Local Maestro Clive Walkley

 

Invitation to a Workshop on the Future of Community Leisure

 

Minutes and Notes from Natland Parish Council held last month

    FROM YOUR ON THE SPOT PARISH COUNCIL REPORTER

             As the May parish council meeting was also the annual council meeting the first item was to elect the officers of the council.  Cllr P Smith was re-elected as chairman and cllr P Ball elected as vice chairman.  Other positions were filled as follows:  Highways, cllr M Clark; Footpaths, cllr J Kelly; Village Hall and Cumbria Association of Local Councils(CALC) rep cllr, P Smith and Common Land, cllr I Ellison.  No dissension and nobody barred from standing!

            Neither of the W&F cllrs were in attendance as it was a Bank Holiday.

            The Zoom meeting between W&F Highways, cllr D Rathbone and cllrs Smith and Clark had agreed the roads to be considered for a 20mph zone and some where speed limits might change.  The 20 mph inclusions would be the current village limits, Fell Close and Rochester Gardens (that's the small development on the east side of the A65).  Consideration would also be given to extending the 40mph limit on the A65 southwards to cover the junction with Helm Lane.  Some reduction on Natland Rd would also be necessary to give a lead in to the 20mph zone.

            W&F initially planned to go out to consultation with these proposals this summer, but the council has since learnt that this will probably be delayed due to the General Election.  The necessary regulations would then have to be made and implementation was originally planned for Spring 2025 but presumably this will now be delayed.  The parish council spent some time in discussing how widest coverage for consultation and comment could be achieved. 

            Discussion of improvement to the area in front of the church took some time.  The redundant bus shelter is to be removed and it has been confirmed that no planning approval is needed for this.  The regulations surrounding siting 'Information Boards' are more complex (a 20 page booklet with 14 clauses) and advice is being sought from CALC before going ahead with re-siting the parish council board.

            Some of you will have noticed and commented on the new road markings by the St Mark's school and at the bottom of Oxenholme Lane.  I'm trying to be diplomatic and non partisan - but the parish council had no say in this new signage.  The Highway Code and Mr Google were consulted for a definition of what the single solid line means.  The area giving rise to concern is that the white line on the south side of Oxenholme Lane (where residents have traditionally parked) extends further towards the village green than does the line on the side of the Vicarage.   Clarification is being sought from W&F Highways with the possibility that a change might be asked for if the white line does mean No Parking.

            Other items noted for possible action were grass cutting on the village green and cleaning of the bus shelter at the top of Oxenholme Lane.

            The next meeting will be on Monday 24th June at 7pm

              

Here is a link to the Parish Council Minutes of the meeting of the 27th May, with details of the speed restrictions which will be introduced after the election.

Steam train coming through on Saturday

 On Saturday 15th June 34067 Tangmere will be northbound Oxenholme 11:39.       Pat Williams.

Scam Alert

There’s been a report from a neighbour in Natland who answered the phone this morning to an 015395 number, only to be told by someone with a very sophisticated accent that her bank account had had £600 taken out of it. This neighbour realised straightaway that it was a scam, but would like to alert everyone that you can’t even trust that the local code is genuine, and that there is this scam going round at the moment.

Green Doctor Advice

 Help is available to enable you to keep your energy bills down. Click here for all the details.