Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Tucker, Harris and Pegram and Co-Opted Member Sarah Williamson.

To receive declarations by councillors of any disclosable pecuniary interest, personal interests, other registrable interests or any other interests in respect of items on the agenda.

Councillor Jill Perry declared an interest under agenda item 5 (Public Participation) as the ward councillor for Ireby.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item on the agenda.

RESOLVED – that there were no items on the agenda for the press and public to be excluded.

To receive and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 December 2024.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meetings held on 12 December 2024 be approved.

QUESTIONS BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

At each Lakes to Sea Community Panel meeting 30 minutes shall be available to allow questions by members of the public who live, work or study in the Panel’s area.

Questions shall be submitted five working days in advance of a meeting to the Chair of the Panel. The Panel will also accept questions at the meeting and if an answer cannot be provided at the meeting, a written response will be provided within ten working days of the meeting by the Chair of the Panel. A contact name and address should be provided with the question.

The Chair will have discretion to limit the number of questions if they cannot be answered within the timescale.  Any question which cannot be dealt with at the meeting because of the lack of time will be dealt with by a written answer to be sent within ten working days of the meeting by the Chair of the Panel.

A question may be rejected if it:

·       Is not relevant to a matter for which the Council has a responsibility, and which affects the Panel’s area;

·       Is illegal, improper, irregular, frivolous or offensive;

·       Is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of Full Council, Overview and Scrutiny or the Lakes to Sea Community Panel in the previous six months;

·       Will, if answered, disclose confidential or exempt information;

·       Relates to a development control or licensing application;

·       Relates to a matter or issue in respect of which a response has already been given under the Council’s complaints procedure or which is currently being dealt with in accordance with the complaint’s procedure or other formal process, such as court or tribunal proceedings or which is the subject of threatened court or tribunal proceedings by the person asking the question or a person or group which they represent;

·       Relates to a matter or issue of a purely personal concern to the individual asking the question or their family members;

·       Is lengthy or a speech; or

·       Is an unintelligible question.

If the Chair, in conjunction with the Chief Officer for the Panel, decides not to allow a question, the reasons will be notified to the questioner at the meeting or in writing after the meeting.

No person may submit more than one question to any one meeting and no more than one question may be asked on behalf of an organisation at any one meeting.

Asking the question at the meeting    

The Chair will invite the questioner to put the question. 

A supplementary question may be asked. A supplementary question must arise directly out of the original question or the reply. The Chair may reject a supplementary question on any of the grounds in Rule 10.3 above.

Record of questions

Questions that have been accepted and responses will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting and published on the Council’s website within those minutes.

Answers

The questions asked at the meeting shall be put and members  ...  view the full agenda text for item 37.

The Chair opened up the meeting to members of the public present to ask any questions that they had, as no questions had been submitted in advance.

The Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) explained the guidance around the time limit for asking questions and that questions could be rejected by the Chair under the rules agreed by the Panel and noted within the agenda pack.

Members of the public queried whether the Community Panel would support Ireby’s application to become a Market Town within Cumberland. Highlighting that, historically, Ireby was the first Charter Market within Cumbria. Panel Members queried the type of market looking to be held in Ireby and the support being requested from the Panel. The public explained that the aim would be to base the Ireby market model on Orton Market, which would be conducted indoors in Globe Hall and held once a month to start, with the possibility of expanding outdoors and increasing to being held twice a month. They also clarified that the support they were looking for was advice, supporting the application and funding after the application had been approved.

The Members agreed to support the Ireby application to become a market town.

Members of the public noted their disappointment that a bus no longer ran through Ireby and requested the Community Panel support the town’s ask through the Bus Survey to bring the bus service back to Ireby. Panel Members noted the importance for local residents to have access to public transport but acknowledged the need to ensure that use of public transport needed to be consistent to justify the cost of the service. The Co-Optee also noted that there were alternative options for rural areas, such as being able to book a community bus, that should also be considered. The Highways Network Manager noted that analysis of the survey’s results, following its closure on 31 January 2025, were being reviewed.

The Members agreed to feedback and support the request for Ireby to be added back onto the local bus route. The Director of Business Transformation and Change agreed to follow up with the Assistant Director of Highways and Transport to find a timeline on when the survey results would be available, so that they could be presented to the Community Panel

A member of the public queried whether the Community Panel would help ensure that the money given to the Neighbourhood Development Plans by the government would not be biased against rural areas. The Director of Business Transformation and Change noted that the Assistant Director of Inclusive Growth and Placemaking would be happy to speak to the Community Panel about this issue.

A Member queried whether Ireby and Uldale Parish Council has a Community Plan in place to help with potential funding opportunities. One of the Parish Council representatives noted that they were hoping to start the process of creating a Community Plan as they were aware of the importance of such a plan. The Community Development Officer (CDO) offered their help and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To consider a report by the Area Planning Manager.

Members received a report which set out the current position of the Neighbourhood Investment Fund allocation to this Community Panel as agreed by the Cumberland Council Executive and detailed investment applications for consideration and approval from the budget allocation. The report also included the Neighbourhood Investment Plan for this Community Panel for information to report on the progress of the report. The CDO provided Members with an overview of the 3 investment applications which required approval by the panel as detailed under paragraph 4 of the report.

For the first application, a Member queried where Castle Hill Trust was located, which the CDO clarified was in the Maryport Settlement.

A vote was taken and all Members agreed to approve the application.

For the second application, Pardshaw Quaker Centre CIO, a vote was taken with three votes in favour of the application and one abstention. The application was approved.

For the third application, Brigham War Memorial Hall, a Member questioned the change in wording of the recommendation by using “an investment of up to” rather than “an investment of”. The CDO clarified that this was because the applicant, following approval of their application to the Community Panel, would also be submitting an application to Community Action Fund. And that the final investment provided would depend how much they were able to receive from Community Action Fund.

A vote was taken and all Members agreed to approve the application.

A Member requested that the Panel’s criteria and eligibility terms for approving applications for investment be reviewed, specifically around the differences between a church applying for an investment and a community group applying for an investment including the use of a church hall. The Director of Business Transformation and Change, CDO and Area Planning Manager all agreed that a review of the criteria and eligibility terms ahead of the next financial year, and including lessons learned from across Cumberland would be both possible and beneficial. All Members agreed that this would be useful.

A Member queried whether the Panel’s remaining budget would be able to be carried over to the next financial year. The Area Planning Manager noted that they were unable to confirm at this point but would follow up and confirm with Members as soon as possible.

RESOLVED – that,

a)    The contents of the report be noted;

b)    The investment (CCGA/2235-25) to Castle Hill Trust of £1,030 towards materials to assist the start-up of their creative program be approved.

c)     The investment (CCGA/2251-25) to Pardshaw Quaker Centre CIO of £2,000 towards replacing the woodburning stove in the main hall of the centre be approved.

d)    The investment (CCGA/2266-25) to Brigham War Memorial Hall of £3,762 towards renovating the toilet facilities in the hall be approved.

e)    The investments under £1,500 approved outside of the panel meeting be noted.

f)      A review of the criteria and eligibility terms, as well as lessons learned, be held before the next financial year.

g)    The Area Planning Manager provide confirmation as to whether the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To consider a report by the Area Planning Manager.

The Area Planning Manager provided the Panel with an overview of the Community Panel Update report and highlighted aspects such as the Network Events and Network Activity, Cumberland wide activities including a libraries update and the launch of a new Healthwatch Cumberland Listening Café, as well as a HDRC update, further information on the Partnership meetings held throughout the Panel area and a Capital Projects update.

Members thanked the officers for their hard work with the Panel’s ward areas to help achieve so much for the Community.

A Member noted that comments had been received regarding a lack of disabled parking available at Maryport Activity Centre which the Area Planning Manager agreed to follow up with the Assistant Director of Corporate Assets and Fleet regarding the issue.

The Chair noted the importance of visiting projects which had previously received investment from the Community Panel to view progress and potential impacts within the community in person.

RESOLVED – that,

a)    The Community Panel Update Report be noted.

b)    Comments concerning issues around disabled parking be referred to the relevant Assistant Director.

To note the minutes from the meeting held on 29 January 2025.

The Highways Network Manager provided the panel with an overview of the minutes of the Highways and Transport Strategic Board meeting on 29 January 2025.

Documents of interest contained within the agenda pack for the HTSB meeting were highlighted for members attention namely:

• Health and Safety Update – verbal update
• Capital Projects – page 23-36
• Bus Services Improvements Plan Funding – page 37-50
• Cumberland Parking Services Annual Report 2023/24 - pages 51-84
• Highways and Transport 3-Year Works Programme 2025 to 2027 - pages 85-108

Members discussed the recent gas explosion within the Cumberland footprint and the potential discussions needed regarding funding gas detectors for Community Halls. It was noted that the point of contact for Health and Safety was Assistant Director of Corporate Assets and Fleet and the Director for Business Transformation and Change agreed to raise the issue.

A Member noted that they were keen to hear the feedback from the Bus Services survey and noted the issues around bus shelters. The Highways Network Manager noted that a full inventory was being created through technicians assessing all bus stops within Cumberland to help decide what funding would be available for each area to help further improvements.

Members discussed parking enforcement within Cumberland, which included whether targeted enforcement could be requested, whether more enforcement officers could be employed and whether Cumberland could set their own parking penalty charges. The Highways Network Manager confirmed that if there were problem areas for parking, requests can be made to the Parking Manager to ‘lift and shift’ staff to target those specific issue areas. They also noted that there were vacancies to be filled for enforcement officers and that Cumberland can set its own parking charges and penalty levels but that these charges cannot be seen as a way to generate income.

The Co-Optee queried whether a request for signs to ‘slow down’ in certain areas along the A66, where crossing the road was a safety concern, could be put to National Highways. The Highways Network Manager confirmed that they would be able to ask, but the Council had no influence on National Highways who were subject to their own funding, internal bidding and criteria.

A Member queried whether the budget within the work programme included work on faded ‘give way’ road lines. The Highways Network Manager confirmed that the budget for signs and road lines was separate to the larger works noted within the work programme. They also explained that, unless there was genuine danger where the work would be prioritised, smaller jobs would be packaged together for value for money. The Highways Network Manager also noted that the Council were investigating buying a small road marking machine to facilitate small jobs while larger projects were handled by road marking contractors.

RESOLVED – that,

a)    The Highways and Transport Strategic Board minutes from 29 January 2025 be noted.

b)    The issue raised regarding health and safety in community halls be raised with to the appropriate Assistant Director.

To note that the next scheduled meeting of the Lakes to Sea Community Panel is on 26 June 2025 at 6pm with the venue to be confirmed.

RESOLVED that the next meeting of the Lakes to Sea Community Panel be held at 6pm on 26 June 2025 at Crosscanonby Community Centre.