Minutes of the meeting of New Hutton Parish Council on Monday 11th March 2019 at the Institute

190311-1 Present
Pat Bell, Hazel Hodgson, Henry Robinson, Kath Twist, Martyn Welch (chairman), Arthur Robinson (clerk) and two
parishioners

190311-2 Apologies
Stan Collins (CCC)

190311-3 Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meeting

The chairman signed the minutes of the parish council meeting held on 23-01-2019 as a true and accurate record [see
the document on the website]

190311-4 Chairman’s announcements

a) The public inquiry into the disputed right of way at Old Croft will resume at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday 30 April 2019 in
Committee Room 1 at Kendal County Hall, Busher Walk, Kendal. It is likely that the event will continue into
Wednesday 1 May 2019. If possible, an accompanied site visit will take place in the afternoon of Monday 29 April
2019 but arrangements will be made nearer the time. If Kendal Archives re-open as planned on 5 March 2019,
further submissions from the objectors may be received up to close of play on Friday 12 April 2019. Any such
representations will be circulated on Monday 15 April 2019 with the opportunity for any other party to submit
rebuttal evidence or further submissions by Wednesday 24 April 2019 (to be circulated in advance of the
inquiry).
b) There will be a parish council election on Thursday 2nd May 2019. The nomination period will be from the 22nd
March until the 3rd April. Further details will follow when they are known.
c) The annual parish litter pick will be on Saturday 23rd March. Litter tongs, bags and hi-vis vests will be available
from the Institute between 9.30 and 10.30am. Please pick up litter along your lane on that day or during the
week before or the week after. The WI will provide refreshments at Old Hutton Public Hall from 2.30pm on the
23rd.
d) Highways England has notified the parish council that there will be preparatory works to upgrade
the hard shoulder on the M6 Killington southbound in advance of resurfacing all 3 lanes of
the southbound carriageway in the summer. These works will:
 commence on Monday 18th March until Saturday 24th March 2019
 have a 50mph speed restriction with speed enforcement for the duration of the works
 be carried out overnight from 8pm until 6am with only Lane 3 running
 require lane 1 to be closed for the duration of the works

190311-5 Declaration of interests none

190311-6 Open session

a) Statera has until early May to appeal against SLDC’s refusal for permission to build a gas-fired power station
near the Hutton Substation.
b) Pivot Power has a contract with the Hutton National Grid Substation for a connection for a 49.9MW battery
storage facility to be constructed nearby. No further details are known at this stage as a planning application is
awaited. The company’s website is:
https://www.pivot-power.co.uk/pivot-power-work-national-grid-future-proof-energy-system-accelerate-
electric-vehicle-revolution/
c) Parishioners were pleased to note that there has been no recurrence of dog faeces being left in bags by the
side of the roads and in hedges.
d) There was continued concern about poor drainage along New Hutton Lane north of the village following BT’s
installation of broadband fibre. Soil is still being washed over the road. Enquiries will be made.

190311-7 Planning applications

a) Applications submitted requiring council comments: none
b) The progress of applications since the last meeting: none

190311-8 Payment of accounts

Payment of the following amount was authorised:
£30.00 to New Hutton Institute – for hire of the Supper Room on 23-01-2019 and 11-03-2019

190311-9 Financial report

a) The internal auditor has confirmed that an adequate and effective system of internal financial controls meets
the needs of the parish council.
b) The Community Account balance is £1543.40 of which £305.39 is earmarked for the broadband project. The
VAT refund (£668.69) has been received.
c) The internal financial control and risk assessments were reviewed (see the document on the parish website)
 d) As the parish road gritter has been judged to be irreparable, it was resolved that this item should be removed
from the list of parish council assets (proposed by Pat Bell, seconded by Kath Twist). Quotations will be
sought for a replacement gritter.

190311-10 Correspondence
Receipt of the following items of correspondence was noted:
12-02-2019 from CALC – February newsletter [forwarded to councillors]
11-03-2019 from CCC – a map showing the location of all road gullies in the parish. Checking them will be discussed
at the next parish council meeting, the first stage in an effort to reduce frequent flooding of some roads.

190311-11 Extension of the B4RN broadband network to the parish

Fibre has been blown from the Institute cabinet via Fisher Tarn to the national Zayo broadband access point at the
Hayclose Lane/A684 junction but has still to be spliced. Duct has been installed around the northern end of the United
Utilities work area so that all connections in New Hutton will remain live after the link to the Old Hutton cabinet has
been destroyed later in March by UU’s operations. The link will be reinstated after UU’s project has been completed.

190311-12 The UU pipeline project

UU has established a working area at the top of Fairthorns Road, near the M6 bridge. The two main office and works
compounds are being prepared farther along Fairthorns Road. UU have been working with local residents and
stakeholders about the road closure. Letters and leaflets illustrating the closure were delivered to residents. Tree
removal and de-vegetation of working areas is continuing along with setting out the boundaries of working areas and
marking local underground services. Pipe laying is expected to start in April.

190311-13 Community resilience

A working group has almost finished preparing a document describing procedures in the event of an emergency in the
parish. The outline was described. It will be discussed in more detail and considered for adoption at the next Parish
Council meeting.

190311-14 Community Governance Review

The first phase of the SLDC review ended in November. No changes are recommended for New Hutton. Some
interesting facts are:

No. of councillors Electorate Electors/councillor Electorate Electorate/councillor

03-09-2018 2023
5 295 59 287 58

The rate is one of the lowest for SLDC parish councils but there must be a minimum of 5 councillors. Below 150
electors, there must be a parish meeting or the parish must be part of a grouped parish council. The parish is well
above the minimum.

190311-15 Support for events at the Institute

a) Rebuilding of the Institute kitchen is continuing but £22,500 is needed to furnish it fully. Grants have been
applied for but even if all are awarded there will still be a shortfall of about £7,000. The kitchen is now the
major project of importance to the parish’s residents.
b) There is a strong community spirit in the parish as shown by the large number of volunteers who helped to
install the broadband network. However, there is concern that most residents of homes in relatively recent
developments often do not support the many events at the Institute. The Institute Committee urges such
residents to suggest what events they would like to see put on. A bar is available. Please send your ideas to
the parish clerk at the address given below.

190311-16 Date of the next meeting

The annual parish meeting, the Parish Council AGM and an ordinary Parish Council meeting will be held in one
evening between the 8th and 23rd May which will be after the election on the 2nd May.

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