Autumn 2008 News Articles: HIGHWAY STEWARD & PARISH STEWARD
Colton Parish lies within the ‘Ulverston and Low Furness’ LAP and our brand-new Highway Steward is Mr Adam Tyson (pictured). Adam will be working in Colton Parish for two weeks at a time, four times a year, from 21st October. He will tackle highway problems like clearing drains and in-filling pot-holes, and will be able to call on the Area Highway Teams for larger-scale road re-surfacing work. Mr Chris Slater, our Lengthsman or ‘Parish Steward’ as we are now to call him, continues to work with us for 1 day per week, cutting back vegetation, cleaning signs and also clearing drains. His work is paid for partly through your local Council Tax, and partly through grants from County level via the Community Board and our County Councillor, Mr Ted Walsh. The two Stewards will complement each other and work closely together to tackle the highway problems throughout our large parish. Adam will have the authority to work on the road surface; Chris brings his expertise to roadside problems. Penny Lovegrove is the liaison person for both. Requests for work should not be addressed to either Steward directly, but to Penny on 'lovegrovebouth@btinternet.com' or 01229 861091. A map or map reference for the problem would be very helpful. Officially, the Highways Hotline (0845 609 6609) is still available as the first port of call for emergency highway problems but we are now able to employ the service of both Stewards as part of a planned programme of work. We hope you will see a big difference over the coming year and would welcome feedback. One of the essential requirements to maintain our status as a ‘Quality Parish’ is to produce a Parish Plan, setting out our aims and objectives, with a view to making an active contribution towards the quality of life within the Parish. Colton first produced a Plan in 2003, but it is obviously something that needs constant revision and updating. The Plan was updated in 2007 and again in 2008, with a questionnaire sent out to all parishioners asking for their views on priority issues. The top five areas of concern were: traffic speeds and condition of roads, lack of affordable housing, protection of peace and quiet, cost of council tax in relation to services received and protection of the visual amenity/landscape of the Parish. We are keen to identify a volunteer who would be prepared to lead and guide the work of a new Parish Plan for 2009. The Plan needs to be a community effort, with help from the Parish Council, but not necessarily led by the Council; there were over 25 people directly involved in producing the last Plan. Increasingly, our principal authorities are taking a strong interest in Parish Plans as a source of local opinion and priorities. If you feel you would like to help to represent the views of your community, then this could be the opportunity you have been waiting for! Please let the Clerk or any member of the Council know if you would like to lead or participate in the Plan. In a previous newsletter (Autumn 2007), we asked the question: "Where do we belong?" This was asked in relation to 'regional identity' and whether our parish naturally 'belongs' with Ulverston, with Grange, with Hawkshead or within some other administrative grouping. Judging from the underwhelming response we received to this thought-provoking piece, people either don't care where we sit, or don't think it will make any difference if they do care! However, South Lakeland District Council is currently holding a series of 'Parish Summits' which bring together representatives from parish councils, local district councillors and county councillors to discuss their ideas on 'Locality Working', As part of plans for better and more efficient service provision, SLDC are proposing to include Colton Parish in a group of parishes around Ulverston and Low Furness in a Local Area Partnership. Such partnerships would allow discussion of both District and County matters at a more local level than previously. They would take into account regional differences and attempt to avoid policies and processes based on a 'one size fits all' approach. They would encourage more localised decisions about the delivery of services and facilities. In theory, this is good news for local democracy. As stated above, the plans are still in draft at present and so there is still time to give us some feedback, but please do it soon! As you may know, the Council is sent a copy of every planning application that relates to a property in our parish. We are asked, by the National Park Authority, to say whether we support the application, or object to it. If we object, we are asked to say why. There is no middle ground; we are not allowed to say, for example: "well, we are generally supportive of the application but we have some concerns about x, y and z". It has to be black and white; support or object. The Council's collective opinion is taken into consideration, along with those of others who have made written comments. The LDNPA is the final arbiter; it can take notice of our view, or reject it. Contrary to folklore, planning applications do not have to be "approved" by the Parish Council in order to be successful. However, it is often the case that a parish council can provide historical or other locally-based information that may otherwise escape the Authority's attention. In making their judgements, your parish councillors try to consult locally and then weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each application and come to a collective view. Our general approach is to be supportive of applications unless there are very good reasons not to be; if in doubt, then we do not object. However, there are only a certain number of grounds on which anybody (including the Council) can object and these are not always as clear and transparent as one might like. You will be pleased to learn, therefore, that the National Park Authority is running a series of planning seminars for parish councillors to attend. Hopefully, after attending these events, we will be in a better position than ever to express a qualified opinion on future planning applications.
Disposal of Radioactive Waste: Colton Parish Council voted against supporting Cumbria County Council in submitting a ‘without-commitment expression of interest’ to Defra for hosting a site in Cumbria for disposal of radioactive waste. Local Community Police Officer: Our new Local Community Officer is PC John Baldwin who came to introduce himself at our September meeting. PC Baldwin is part of the Ulverston and Furness Team and he is responsible for an area that includes Broughton, Staveley-in-Cartmel, the Crake Valley and Colton Parish. See the website: www.cumbria.police.uk/thewaywework_4337.htm for more information. You can contact PC Baldwin, by dialling 0845-330-0247 or emailing him on: john.baldwin@cumbria.pnn.police.uk Post Offices Update: Greenodd and Leven Valley Post Offices have both decided to host an Outreach Service in their shop premises. Greenodd PO will be open for 11 hours per week over 3 separate sessions; times to be announced. Forthcoming Parish Council Meetings All meetings begin at 7.30pm.. The Chairman, Colin Barr, is available from 7.00 before each meeting for a 'surgery session'.
Agendas and authorised minutes of meetings are
available from the Clerk,
Your Councillors
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Earlier
this year, Cumbria County Council made the decision not to continue
supporting the local Parish Lengthsman Scheme but, instead, to
direct resources into a new county-wide ‘Highway Steward’ scheme. A
number of Highway Stewards have been appointed throughout the
County, each responsible for a local ‘patch’ or grouping of parishes
within a ‘Local Area Partnership’ (LAP) area (see article “