DENT PARISH NEWS

August 2011

Victoria Lepper from Cumbria Highways visited the August meeting to discuss parking restrictions in Dent, and the meeting also discussed the possibility of a new weekly library in the village.  A full account of the meeting is contained in the minutes, which are published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website. A hard copy can be obtained on request from the parish clerk.

Parking Survey

Prior to the meeting, Victoria Lepper and councillors conducted a walkabout in Dent to look at the options for parking restrictions in Dent village.  Two actions were agreed:

1.       to mark Dragon Croft at its junction with Flintergill as a ‘Keep Clear’ area

2.       to carry out a public consultation with all the dale’s residents over whether the cobbled surface area in Dent should become Restricted Parking Zone.

With parish council help, the consultation document will be delivered to every household in the second or third week in September, after which there will be 21 days to respond.  Unfortunately, although funding has been made available for this consultation, none has yet been allocated to carry out the work should the response support it, so it is likely to be some time before any zone could be established.

Saturday Bus

A recent large-scale development is likely to be good news for the Saturday bus service.  An organisation called the Dales Integrated Transport Alliance (DITA) has been awarded £1.1m of government funding to develop a community transport scheme across the whole of the Dales. They plan to base bus networks on a series of transport hubs, and one of these would be Sedbergh.  Each community will then have the opportunity to identify local bus services which meet local demands, and ask to DITA to run them.

This is good news for Dentdale’s Saturday bus.  Since the parish council intervened in April to save it, passenger numbers and fare revenue have increased considerably, and it now looks like a service that could be run commercially.  If this is so, it could become part of this new community transport scheme and continue indefinitely.  More details of the DITA project can be found at www.dalesconnect.net.

Public Meeting: A Dent Library

Discussions have been taking place recently about the possibility of having a regular weekly library in Dent in the Reading Room.  This would replace the present three-weekly visit from the travelling library.  A public meeting will be held in the Sedgwick Room at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7^th September when Bruce Bennison, County Manager of the Library Service Review, will answer questions about the proposals.

Website

At the July meeting, the council discussed the options for a community website, following Neville Allen’s announcement that he was retiring from running www.dentdale.com.  However, just before the August meeting, Neville announced that he had decided to postpone his retirement and continue to run the website for the time being.  In the light of that, the council decided to defer any further consideration of the proposal for a Dentdale community website, but expressed support for the establishment of a such a community-controlled site in the future.

Dispute with HMRC

As reported in the May Lookaround, the council has been disputing HMRC’s claim that it did not submit last year’s PAYE summary on time, and this finally led to a tribunal appeal in Leeds at the beginning of August.  Although the judge did not allow the appeal, he was sympathetic to the issues for small councils when submitting returns on line, as well as to the efforts made by the then Parish Clerk to complete the process by the deadline.  Although the council has had to pay a £400 penalty, hopefully its presentation at the tribunal has defused any further penalties HMRC may have considered imposing.

Road Repairs

The council received notice that Cumbria Highways will undertake significant repairs to the Sedbergh to Dent road prior before 30 September 2011, which will involve the road being closed for short periods. Diversion routes will be in operation at short notice to allow the work to be completed.

Next Meeting

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on September 5th in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.  This meeting, like all parish council meetings, will be open to members of the public

July 2011

The July meeting discussed the Internal Auditor’s report, changes to Dentdale’s websites and heard about the level of timber extraction from the Cowgill plantation.  A full account of the meeting is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Website

The July meeting discussed the future of Dentdale websites following Neville Allen’s decision to retire from running dentdale.com this autumn.  Members paid tribute to the outstanding work Neville has done in setting up and maintaining the site since it started, all of it for free.  The council noted that a small community group is being formed to look at the options for replacing Neville’s site with a community-based Dentdale website, and that, as part of the YDNPA/Dent Initiative, the National Park had allocated £1,250 towards establishing it.  The council agreed to purchase a new domain name on behalf of this site, and to explore the implications of the change for maintaining the council’s own web presence.

Timber Extraction

Following the discussion about the effects of timber extraction on the upper part of the dale at the previous meeting, the council was presented with more information as a result of the Clerk’s enquiries.  In 2011, 550 loads will be removed from Cowgill plantation; in 2012, 250 loads; in 2014/15, 400 loads and in 2016/17, 400 loads.  Most , if not all, will be taken out through Garsdale, but in view of the proposed extraction at Hobsons Farm, Cowgill, it was agreed ask the site agent to minimise the amount of traffic using Dentdale.

Dentdale Show

The National Park will be more visible than usual at Dentdale Show this year.  As well as a display stand showing some of the Park’s work, the National Park Chairman, Carl Lis and Chief Executive David Butterworth will be at the show to chat and answer any questions on National Park matters.  This is all part of the YDNPA/Dent Initiative, a pilot project backed by £10,000 of YDNPA funding, where National Park officers are working with members of the Dentdale community on issues that meet the aims of both groups.  More details of the YDNPA presence will be available at the show.

Audit Report

The report for 2010-11 by the Internal Auditor, David Ramsbottom, was presented to the council.  It made two main recommendations, both of which were adopted by the council:

1. The council should regularly monitor its spending against the budget
2. If the council was without a parish clerk in future, members other than the Chair should take responsibility for the Clerk’s duties.

It also recommended that the the requirements of the council’s insurers should be met by carrying out and annual inspection of the playing field goalposts, but since the report was published, the insurers no longer require this to be done. 

Police Drop-In

The police drop-in session at Dent Stores now takes place between 12 noon and 1pm on the first Tuesday of each month.  Please let the parish clerk know if this new time causes any problems.

Devil’s Own Rally

The council was notified that the annual Devil’s Own Rally will pass through Dentdale in the early hours of 13/14 August.  As usual, it will avoid Dent village, entering the dale from Holme Fell and travelling south of the river to Gawthrop.  From there it will cross Barth Bridge, pass along Floods Lane and then travel up the full length of the Dale to Cowgill, Dent Head and the Hawes Road.

Road Resurfacing

County Councillor Kevin Lancaster informed the council that Cumbria Highways intend to undertake re-surfacing work on the road between Barth Bridge and Dent. This work may be started at short notice, and may result in the road being closed from time to time.  More details will be posted in Dent village when they become available.

YDNPA Planning Department

Staff changes at YDNPA’s planning department have resulted in overall responsibility for planning matters in Dentdale being transferred to Michelle Clowes, the Principal Planning Officer for the North Area Team.  As a first step in building a better relationship between Dentdale and the planning department, Michelle will be coming to talk to the parish council at its September meeting.

Next Meeting

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on August 1^st in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.  This meeting, like all parish council meetings, will be open to members of the public.

June 2011

At the June meeting, the council welcomed Rita Corpe to her first meeting as a co-opted member.  The agenda included the impact of timber extraction on the dale, the future of the library service and the state of the road near Barth Bridge.  A full account of the meeting is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Timber Extraction

The council considered a planning application for a temporary track to remove timber from the Hobson’s plantation.  Members of the public were given the opportunity to express their views, and after discussion the council agreed to recommend that the National Park approve the application.  This was followed by a discussion of the more general issue of the impact of forestry operations in the dale.  Of particular concern has been the transportation of timber from the Cowgill plantation down the Coal Road to Lea Yeat.  The County Council is developing recommended routes for timber lorries which specifically exclude this section of road, but the use of them is voluntary and thus not enforceable.  The council agreed to try a number of options try and improve matters, including asking Cumbria Highways to repair the damage to roads and bridges, exploring whether future felling licences could restrict the size of vehicles used and asking the contractor felling the Cowgill plantation to avoid using the Coal Road into Dentdale as a route for timber wagons. 

Early Morning Train

The council has started to investigate whether Northern Rail can change the timetable so that the new early morning train stops at Dent Station.  Northern Rail, the operating company, are as disappointed as we are that it doesn’t, but their hands are tied by Network Rail, who tell them when and where trains can run.  There are two constraints: the southern end of the Settle-Carlisle line is now very busy, with very few slots for new services, and for six weeks of the year Network Rail have exclusive use of the line until 6am for engineering work, which means that the train’s starting time is delayed.  The parish council has enlisted the support of Tim Farron MP and the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line to press for the trains to stop at Dent in future timetables, so we remain hopeful; but timetable changes require a lengthy consultation before they happen, so it may take some time before we see results.

Cycle Race Litter

For the second year running, the Etape du Dales cycle race has caused a problem with cyclists dropping litter as they come through the dale, and the council has contacted the organisers about it.  Next year, they have undertaken to raise the issue with their riders, and have offered to work with the litter pickers group to minimise the problem.

Library Service

Following investigations by Dorothy Vernon and Laura Mottershead after the May meeting, the council has started to explore alternative ways of providing a library service if the present mobile library is withdrawn.  More details will be announced shortly; in the meantime, please contact Rita Corpe (tel. 25594) if you would like to know more.

Road near Barth Bridge

The state of the road near Barth Bridge was discussed, and it was resolved to ask Cumbria Highways to repair it as a matter of urgency.

Next Meeting

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on July 4^th in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.  This meeting, like all parish council meetings, will be open to members of the public.

May 2011

At the Annual Parish Council Meeting at the beginning of May, Jock Cairns was re-elected Chair for the coming year and Graham Dalton, Chris Evans and Ken Smith agreed to share the role of Vice Chair.  The Council also co-opted Rita Corpe as a member for the Dent ward.

The agenda was a lengthy one, and the items below were among those discussed.  A full account of the two meetings is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Street Lighting

The street lights in Dent have recently had a major refurbishment, with cable being replaced and repairs to the light fittings, so hopefully, this will result in more reliable lighting.  The system is an unusual one, in that several lights are connected to the electrical supply at adjacent houses, but the contractor has confirmed that the supply for all of them is independent of the domestic supply and doesn’t go through the domestic meter.  The lights are all controlled by photocells, which will sometimes activate the light in the daytime if the natural light level is low, but the electricity for the lights is not metered.  Charges are calculated from the size and consumption of the light bulbs, so even if a light stays on for longer than it should, although wasteful of energy, there is no extra charge to the parish council.

Library Review

Cumbria County Council is undertaking a review of its library services, and one result of it is that both the mobile library service and Sedbergh Library are under threat of closure.  At the May meeting, Dorothy Vernon and Laura Mottershead kindly agreed to collect the views of library users, including the school, so that the council can hold a full discussion of the matter at its June meeting.  You can contribute to the debate by going to www.cumbria.gov.uk and following the links to the libraries consultation, and if you have a view on what you would like the service to provide in Dentdale, please contact Laura or Dorothy.

Annual Audit

The end of year financial statement for 2010-11 was approved by the May meeting, as part of the council’s annual audit.  The statement is available on the FINANCES page of the Parish Council section of this website, and a hard copy can be obtained from the parish clerk. 

Car Park Ticket Machine

One cost of running the car park that may not be immediately apparent is the maintenance of the ticket machine, without which there would be no revenue.  New 5p and 10p coins are being introduced in 2012, and the alterations to the machine needed for it to accept them will cost nearly £400.

Saturday Bus

As has been reported in the Westmorland Gazette, the parish council has been instrumental in ensuring that the Saturday bus service between Dent Station and Sedbergh and Kendal not only keeps going until at least the middle of October, but also has an extra journey to meet the 17.32 train to Settle.  This has been achieved by increasing the fares on the Sedbergh to Dent Station section of the route, and by contributions from a number of sources: Dentdale Show (£500), Dent Music & Beer Festival (£500), Yorkshire Dales National Park (£1,000), Sedbergh Parish Council (£250), Dales & Bowland CIC (£250) and the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line (£1,500).  Three further sources of funding are also being approached, and at the May meeting, the council agreed to make a grant of £500 from its own funds.  In the longer term, it is hoped to include this service in a new community transport initiative that is being developed so that its future is secured.

Faster Broadband

Residents in Dentdale and Garsdale are being circulated with a leaflet which gives full details of fibre Garden, the Dentdale and Garsdale community broadband initiative.  Although existing broadband speeds in and around Dent village may seem adequate at present, the project’s aim for Dentdale is to provide a broadband network for the whole dale that will cope with demands for much the faster speeds we will all need in the near future.  An additional benefit is that it could enable mobile phone companies to offer much better coverage in the two dales.

Highlights

Those who went to the hilarious performance by the Rope String Band in Dent Memorial Hall last month may not have been aware that Highlights, the rural arts organisation who organised it, has lost its Arts Council grant in the recent spending cuts.  Highlights has been responsible for a series of plays and exhibitions in Dent this season, and several of them have involved the artists and performers working with Dent Primary schoolchildren.  This has given them – and adults in an isolated rural community – opportunities to experience art and drama which they might otherwise not have.  In response to a request from Highlights, the parish council agreed at the May meeting to give a grant of £100 to help it continue with its work.

Early Morning Train

After numerous requests by the council and many other bodies, an early morning train from Carlisle to Leeds is being introduced for a trial period of six months.  This is not the good news that it seems, however, as the service will not stop at Dent, so the council will ask Northern Rail to allow the train to do so if the service continues beyond that.

Westmorland Gazette Correspondent

Laura Mottershead has taken over from Sandra Gold-Wood as the Dent correspondent for the Westmorland Gazette.  Laura, who lives in Dent, can be contacted on 015396 25185 or by e-mail at Laurabm@sky.com.

Dispute with HMRC

The council is currently disputing HMRC’s claim that it did not submit last year’s PAYE summary on time.  The matter has now been referred to a tribunal, at which the council will be represented by Graham Dalton and, if successful, the council will avoid having to pay a £400 penalty.

Sensible Recycling

If you recycle cardboard in Dent car park, it would be very helpful if you could flatten any boxes before putting them in the skip.  It’s also important that other materials such as plastic are not included, as the whole skip load of paper and cardboard is likely to be sent to landfill if it is contaminated in this way.

Tourist Information

Thanks to the efforts of the new Dentdale Business & Tourism Group, a tourist information point has been set up in the bus shelter.  We are fortunate in Dent that the community is a very supportive one, so any problems with minor vandalism in the bus shelter have always been resolved very quickly.  The new information point has created new temptations, so the Business and Tourism Group would be grateful for any further support you can give to prevent it being damaged.  

Next Meeting

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on June 6^th in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.  This meeting, like all parish council meetings, will be open to members of the public.

April 2011

The April meeting was shortened because it followed the Annual Parish Meeting, but nevertheless it was able to discuss the Saturday bus service, the Dent conservation area management plan and developments regarding superfast broadband.  A full account of the two meetings is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website

Annual Report 2010-11

The parish council’s annual report for the year April 2010 to March 2011 was presented to the annual parish meeting.  The report contains reports on the work of the council and its committees, as well as accounts of the other bodies on which the parish council is represented.  The report can be downloaded from the Parish Council pages on this website and a copy of it can be obtained from the parish clerk.

NHS Reforms

The annual parish meeting was also addressed by Dr William Lumb from the Sedbergh Medical Centre and Clive West from the Central Dales Medical Practice, Hawes on the subject of how the proposed NHS reforms will affect Dentdale.  Fifty-three people heard how an ageing population and costly medical advances were happening at a time when no extra finance is available.  The speakers suggested that changes such as treating patients closer to home and the integration of primary and community care could provide possible solutions to these issues.

Saturday Bus Service

As reported last month, the Saturday bus service from Dent Station to Kendal was selected by Cumbria County Council as one of the services it was proposing to cut.  Since then, the parish council has been promised funding from a number of organisations, including the National Park, Dentdale Show, Dent Music and Beer Festival and the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line.  Dent and Sedbergh Parish Councils have also pledged funds, and so it now looks as if it will continue to run over the summer at least.  A long term solution also looks promising, and discussions to achieve this are taking place with the Dales and Bowland CIC – the organisation that funded the extra journey last summer.

Superfast Broadband

As reported last month, work continues on preparing a joint bid with Garsdale for funding for a superfast broadband network in the two dales.  We continue to be optimistic, and by the time the next Lookaround is published, it is likely that we will have a clearer idea of what is going to be possible.

Dent Conservation Area

The April meeting approved the parish council’s response to YDNPA’s suggestions for the management of Dent Conservation Area.  Although a number of the actions may include community participation, progress on implementing the management plan will largely depend on whether there is any funding available for it.

Next Meetings

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on May 9^th in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.  This meeting, like all parish council meetings, will be open to members of the public.

March 2011

The March meeting discussed the threat to the Saturday bus service and awarded two grants to local organisations.  It was also attended by PCSO Rachel Thomas who gave one of her regular updates on policing matters.  A full account of the February meeting is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Bus Service Cut

The March meeting discussed the County Council’s proposed cut to the Saturday Bus Service from Dent Station to Kendal and surprise was expressed that a service which has on occasions been over subscribed would qualify as one to be axed.  It seemed strange that in the same week that the County announced its decision, it also received £288,000 from the government to support community transport schemes in rural areas.  If only a small amount of this funding could be used to support the Saturday bus, there would be no need to axe it.  The meeting agreed to write to press for the decision to be reversed, and a letter to this effect was subsequently sent jointly from Dent and Sedbergh parish councils.

Support has also been sought from Tim Farron, MP and County Councillor Kevin Lancaster.  If you are concerned about the loss of this service, please make you views known by writing to these two people.

Tackling Vandalism with Local Schools

It is often said that you can’t do anything in Dent without someone knowing about it, and this was the case recently when some purple paint was sprayed on the walls of the bus shelter.  The parish council phoned Settlebeck High School and QES in Kirkby Lonsdale as soon as the vandalism was discovered, and the response from both schools was excellent, resulting in the culprit quickly being identified.

Oil Thefts and a Suspicious Vehicle

More heating oil has been stolen in Dent recently, bring the total number of thefts in Dentdale to four.  The police are asking householders to check their oil tanks and report any suspicious activity to them on 0845 33 00 247.

In addition, there have been reports of a suspicious white Ford Transit vehicle with metal sides collecting scrap in the Dent area, and any further sightings of it should also be reported to the police.

Playing Field Flooding

Another attempt has been made to solve the drainage problem on the playing field.  A rod has been passed through the drain that flows into Keld Beck but no blockage was found, so the next step will be to put in a larger diameter pipe with fresh gravel around it.  It won’t be possible to stop the field from flooding, but hopefully with a bigger pipe it will drain more quickly when it does flood.

Grants

Two grants of £500 each were awarded at the March meeting: to the Memorial Hall Committee for the refurbishment of the kitchen, and to the Walking Festival for publicity material including leaflets.  The new business forum’s application for a grant was looked on favourably, but it was decided not to award a grant until the new organisation was properly constituted.

Recycling Changes

New recycling bins installed in Dent Car Park mean that cardboard can now be put in with paper, and glass no longer needs to be sorted into different colours.  Unfortunately there is still no facility for recycling plastic – the nearest point for that is the Joss Lane car park in Sedbergh.

Police Drop-in Sessions

Dent is now covered by two PCSOs – Rachel Thomas and Karen Dakin – and they have changed the day of the drop-in session at Dent Stores.  If you have an issue you would like to raise with the police, either Rachel or Karen will be there between 10am and noon on the 3^rd Saturday of each month.

NHS changes

On April 4^th in the Memorial Hall, Dr William Lumb from Sedbergh and Clive West, the practice manager in Hawes, will talk about how the proposed changes to the NHS will affect the Sedbergh and Hawes GP practices, and take questions from members of the public.  The meeting is the Annual Parish Meeting, at which the parish council will also present its annual report for 2010-11.

Royal Wedding

In response to requests from two members of the public, the March parish council meeting agreed to support any community initiative to celebrate the Royal wedding by giving up to £100 for decorations.

Next Meetings

As mentioned above, the next meeting will be the Annual Parish Meeting and will be held at 7.30pm on April 4^th in the Memorial Hall.  At this meeting, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to raise any issue about the parish council’s work.

The next parish council meeting will be at 7.30pm on May 9^th in the Sedgwick Room, when there will be a public forum at about 8pm.

All parish council meetings are open to members of the public.

February 2011

There was no council meeting in January, so the February meeting was a busy one.  The council agreed to spend money on refurbishing Dent’s street lights, heard about progress on the YDNPA/Dent community initiative and discussed the state of the dale’s roads.  A full account of the February meeting is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Street Lights

Some of Dent’s street lights are now at the end of their useful life, and they have become increasingly unreliable of late.  In some cases the wiring needs to be replaced and photocells and other fittings renewed.  Councillors have now given approval for a thorough overhaul and refurbishment of all the lights, and when this is completed it is hoped that Dent will have a more reliable street light system.

Potholes and Cobbles

The state of the dale’s roads after the winter weather was raised by a member of the public at the last council meeting.  Particular concern was expressed about cobbles which were starting to lift in the village and the number of potholes where recent repairs had been washed out by heavy rain.  It was agreed to report these concerns to Cumbria Highways.

Playing Field Flooding

Last month’s article reported on the YDNPA/Dent community initiative in which the National Park is working with the local community on matters of mutual interest.  As part of this, a meeting took place recently between representatives of the football and cricket clubs, the parish council and National Park officers to try and find a solution to the increasing amount of flooding on the playing field.  In addition to the practical solutions that were identified, the Park’s officers offered to calculate the volume of flood water that needs to be removed, in order to work out if the existing drains are adequate.

Renewable Energy for Farms

There are a number of grants available at the moment to support renewable energy projects on farms, and there has been some interest locally in both hydro electric schemes and ground source heating. As part of the Community Initiative, the National Park is keen to offer advice on renewable energy schemes to Dentdale farmers, and in some cases can support feasibility studies with funding.  For more information, contact Alison Love, Cumbria Fells & Dales 01768 869533 alisonlove@fellanddales.org.uk.  

Welcome to Dent

Following a considerable amount of work by Margaret Taylor to obtain approval from Cumbria Highways and the National Park, a welcome sign will shortly be placed at each end of the dale.  One of the conditions imposed by Highways was that the parish council accepted responsibility for the signs, and so the council has agreed to add them to its public liability insurance.  The signs will be paid for out of the funds that were left when the Business Forum was wound up, and which were allocated for tourist signs.

Affordable Housing Developments

At the end of last year the National Park included both the Ghyllside and Glebe Fold sites in Dent in its proposed list of sites for affordable and local needs housing.  The sites now need to be approved by a planning inspector before they are finally included in YDNPA’s housing strategy, but in the meantime the Park has produced design briefs for the type of housing it would allow to be built on them.  When the parish council considered these at its last meeting it felt they were broadly acceptable, and this view has been relayed to the Park.  The next stage will be for the landowners to find developers who are prepared to build on the sites, though in the present economic climate, with cuts to the amount of government money available for housing, this may not be easy.

Car Park Repairs

Work will start soon on repairs to the tarmac at the entrance to the car park.  One edge is beginning to break up, and so at its last meeting the council agreed to pay for the necessary repairs.

Parking round The Green

Cumbria Highways have recently altered some of the “Resident Parking”` signs around The Green so that they relate more closely to the parking bays.  The next stage, which is due to happen shortly, will be to alter the road markings so that they indicate more clearly where cars should be parked.

Muck Spreading

The council has received a number of complaints from residents recently about the amount of manure dropped by some farm vehicles when travelling through Dent village, and these were discussed at the last meeting. It was felt that most farmers were very conscientious about clearing up any accidental spillages, and that the recent spills were unusual.  Councillors agreed to monitor the situation and hoped that by drawing attention to the problem, those responsible would be encouraged to prevent it happening in future.

Next Meeting

The next council meeting will be held at 7.30pm on March 7^th in the Sedgwick Room.  The public are welcome to attend all meetings and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum which usually takes place at about 8pm.

December 2010

Last December’s council meeting heard about the ongoing efforts to improve broadband coverage in Dentdale, discussed a pilot project with the National Park and allocated grants to a number of local bodies.  Full accounts of the December council meetings are contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Faster Broadband

In only a few years, the internet has become an increasingly important part of people’s lives, to such an extent that it is now being talked of as the fourth utility.  In the future, households without fast broadband access will have restricted access to many facilities and services, and this is likely to affect property values as well.  The government has recognised the seriousness of this by committing to provide superfast broadband by fibre optic cable in “geographically challenging areas” such as Dentdale, and we are fortunate that Cumbria has been chosen for an initial pilot project.

Trying to improve broadband coverage was one of the actions in the Dentdale parish plan, and so the parish council, through the parish plan committee, asked Anne Fleck to coordinate and lead our response to this national development.  With colleagues in Garsdale, Anne has set up the Dentdale & Garsdale Superfast Broadband Steering Group to:

• demonstrate we are keen to have improved broadband
• ensure that our area is properly represented
• work out how to plan and implement a fibre optic network to all homes that want it.

The steering group has already met with Tim Farron MP, and as a result he has arranged for it to present the needs of local residents to the organisers of the Cumbrian pilot project.  At the same time, Anne has been finding out residents’ opinions and encouraging everyone to sign up on the Broadband Cumbria website to show the level of local support.

Super fast broadband in a rural area like ours seems a long way off, but other places in Cumbria have already done it.  To achieve the same here would not be easy and would need community involvement as well as government funding, but the rewards – economically as well as socially – would be great.  Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, we have made an excellent start, but we now need more people to become involved in the project.  If you would like to join in, please contact Anne at dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com.  You don’t need technical knowledge – just enthusiasm and a willingness to help.

Grants to Local Bodies

The December council meeting considered applications for grants made by local organisations, and decided to award the sums below.  Both Jock Cairns and Jenny Pilgrim left the room when the matter was discussed, as they had declared an interest because they belonged to one of the organisations applying.

• Cowgill Orchard £200
• Dent C of E Primary School £500
• Dentdale Choir £150
• Dentdale over 60’s £250
• Sedbergh & District Community Office £250
• St Andrew’s Churchyard, grass cutting £550
• St Andrew’s, clock £500

YDNPA Dent Community Initiative

The parish plan survey in 2008 revealed a lot of strong feelings about the relationship between the Dentdale community and the National Park.  As a result, one of the plan’s actions was to “develop with the National Park a proactive approach to supporting Dentdale as a vibrant and sustainable community”.  Following discussions with the parish council, the National Park allocated a budget of £10,000 as well as officer time for a unique 18-month pilot project.  National Park officers will work with members of the Dentdale community on issues that meet the aims of both the National Park and Dentdale’s parish plan.

The project has now started and a steering group has been meeting to organise it, consisting of the local Park Ranger Paul Wilkinson and his manager Alan Hulme, together with David Butterworth, YDNPA Chief Executive, and Jock Cairns, Matt Clayton, John Sibley and Ken Smith from Dentdale. It includes the following strands, among others:

• Promoting the visitor economy by devising an overall marketing strategy for Dentdale that includes the Dentdale Show, the Music and Beer Festival and the Walking Festival
• Supporting the parish council in its attempts to get affordable housing built in Dent
• Working with pupils at Dent School on wildlife projects
• Promoting, and supporting with grants, the use of renewable technologies on farms
• Supporting and promoting sustainable tourism businesses
• Clearing litter from the river and from near Ibbeth Peril
• Creating a conservation group to help manage a section of roadside verge and to survey the dale’s trees

Nearly 20 people from Dentdale have already joined the project and there are plenty of opportunities for others as well.  If you would like to become involved, please contact Jock Cairns (tel: 25655,

email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com.

New Parish Clerk

We are very pleased to welcome Andy Stephenson to the parish council as the new parish clerk.  Andy, who lives just outside Sedbergh, took over on January 1^st, and can be contacted on 015396 21487 or at dentparishclerk@live.com.

Next Meeting

The next council meeting will be held at 7.30pm on February 7^th in the Sedgwick Room.  The public are welcome to attend all meetings and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum which usually takes place at about 8pm

November 2010

The November council meeting discussed the budget for next year and decided to defer a decision on parish council grants until next meeting Full accounts of the December council meetings are contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

2011-12 Budget and Precept

For several years, the parish council’s running costs have been subsidised by the income from the car park.  However, the car park surplus has now halved because VAT is being paid on this income, and so if the council continues to run its finances in this way it will use up all its reserves in a few years’ time.  The council therefore considered a number of ways of dealing with this:

Cutting expenditure.  Even if all discretionary expenditure was cut (all grants, all repairs, the newsletter, the Dentdale Show display stand and contingencies) we would still need to draw on the car park profits, and with inflation the amount would increase in future years.

Continuing to draw on reserves. The council has only £7,750 of reserves that are not already committed.  They would be used up in less than three years, and so this solution is not sustainable.

Increasing car park visitor charges. The council rejected this option for the following reasons:

• In the past we have been keen to keep rates low to benefit local businesses
• Increased charges do not necessarily result in increased revenue.
• It would be likely to lead to even more on street parking, which is unacceptable and might even reduce the revenue.

Introducing a charge for residents’ parking permits.  This was also rejected, for the following reasons:

• Free parking is one of the main benefits for residents of leasing the car park from the National Park
• It is unclear how much a residents’ charge would raise, as the number who would be prepared to pay is unknown
• It would lead to an increase in on-street parking

For these reasons, the council regretfully decided to raise the precept to cover the council’s running costs, so that the surplus from the car park takings in future can be used for community projects.  For a Band D council tax household, this will increase the parish council part of the council tax bill from £1.85 per month to £3.11 per month, an increase of £1.26 per month per household  

Grants

The new application process for parish council grants has resulted in fewer applications than last year, but had also produced more information to take into account when deciding on how to allocate funds.  The council therefore decided that a working group of councillors would look at the applications in detail and make recommendations to the next council meeting in December.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on December 6^th in the Sedgwick Room, and the meeting after that will be on February 7^th as there is no meeting in January.  The public are welcome to attend all meetings and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum which usually takes place at about 8pm.

October 2010

Full accounts of the September and October council meetings are contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.  A selection of the current issues that the council is dealing with are outlined below. (Note: there was no Parish News for September owing to holidays.) 

Broadband Coverage

Would you like fast broadband coverage for the whole of Dentdale?  The government is keen to improve broadband speeds nationally, but as usual there is the danger that some rural areas will be left out.  Two parish council representatives attended a recent conference on the subject organised by Rory Stewart, the MP for Penrith, and as a result, Anne Fleck is currently gathering a group of interested people together to explore the possibilities for Dentdale.  If you would like to join this group, please contact me (details below) or Anne at anne@annefleck.co.uk.

Community Play Project

At the October meeting Carole Nelson, from the Sedbergh and District Community Play Project, outlined the aims of the Sedbergh and District Play Project.  She explained that it was hoped to put on a community play with professional support, and that the project was in the process of applying for Lottery funding.  The council offered its support in principle.  

Benches

Three of the dale’s public benches are in such a bad state that the parish council has decided to repair them.  When the work is done, twelve benches throughout the dale will have been renovated by the parish council in the last few months. From time to time the council is contacted by people who want to place a commemorative bench in the dale.  In view of this, the council has decided to offer those who contact us in future the opportunity of adopting one of the existing benches and having a commemorative plaque on it.

Tourist Signs

When the Business Forum ended, it gave its remaining funds of just under £3,000 to the parish council.  The money was designated for tourist signs, and so the parish council is currently supporting an attempt by the Heritage Centre to obtain some brown tourist signs to direct visitors to the dale.

Housing Sites

Following lobbying by members of the public and by the parish council, the National Park has been consulting Dent residents and the parish council about the two options for developing the field adjacent to Glebe Fold.  The parish council felt that Option B (the site along the side of the school playing field) was the better one, as it would be less costly to develop and would have less impact on the existing houses, and this response has been conveyed to the National Park.   

Neighbourhood Watch

The parish council has recently bought some new Neighbourhood Watch signs, and these should soon be appearing in the dale.  Over the past two months, the parish council has been trying to improve the Neighbourhood Watch scheme by making better use of emails, and about 130 households have now signed up to receive crime alerts by this method. The more alert to crime our community becomes, the better protected we will be, so if you haven’t yet joined the network and would like to, please send your name, address and email address to dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com.

Parish Clerk

Tracy Fletcher, the parish clerk, has decided to give up her post in order to spend more time on other commitments.  She will be leaving us early in December, and an advert for her replacement appears elsewhere in this Lookaround.  If you think you might be interested and would like to know more about what is involved, please contact me or any member of the council.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on December 6^th in the Sedgwick Room.  As usual, the public are welcome to attend and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum at about 8pm.

Jock Cairns, Chair

Tel: 25655

Email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com

August 2010

A full account of the August council meeting is contained in the minutes, published on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.  A selection of the current issues that the council is dealing with are outlined below.

Grants

The council is introducing a different procedure for awarding grants to local organisations this year, in order to try and overcome the difficulties we had last year in prioritising the applications. This year, organisations requiring funding will be asked to complete and submit a short application form by 30^th September so that recommendations can be put to the council for decision at its meeting on 1^st November.  For more details and an application form please contact the parish clerk (details below)  

Neighbourhood Watch

Unfortunately this summer has seen more thefts than usual in the dale, and so the police are currently reminding everyone of the importance of locking houses and other buildings when unattended.  Research shows Neighbourhood Watch schemes can have a positive effect in reducing crimes like this, which is why the parish council is currently investigating ways of improving the network here.   We appealed last month for help in co-ordinating the Neighbourhood Watch network and we are now also looking for volunteers to receive information by email from the police and pass it on to other residents. If you would like to help with this, please contact dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com.

Broadband Conference

One of the frustrations for residents of upper Dentdale is the poor or non-existent broadband coverage, and so one of the targets of the parish plan was to investigate ways of remedying this.  For that reason, two representatives from Dentdale will be attending a conference on September 18^th in Penrith on ways in which industry, government and local people can work together to bring good broadband coverage to this area.

Bridge Repairs

The recent repairs to the parapet of Stonehouse Bridge will be the first of three bridge repairs to take place in the dale, following representations from the parish council to Cumbria Highways.  In addition to remedial work to Church Bridge, done with traffic lights in operation, there will be more major repairs carried out on Ewegales Bridge which will involve a road closure.

Housing Developments

The government is currently engaged in a consultation process about ways of enabling communities like Dentdale to carry out small affordable housing developments without planning permission.  Called the Community Right to Build, the present proposals would require the agreement of between 80% and 90% of the community, and so some critics have suggested that rather than making development easier, it will simply enable a small minority to block it.

However, if the proposals go through, they could be a means of obtaining affordable housing here, and so the parish council has responded to the consultation by urging the government to reduce the percentage needed for approval, and to ensure that the scheme applies to all planning authorities, including National Parks.

No allowances

As in previous years, councillors decided at the August meeting not to claim allowances for their work.

VAT payments

Following the decision at an earlier meeting, the council has now paid VAT on all its car park income since 2005, amounting to almost £12,500.  Although we had been keeping this sum in reserve, it is still a double blow:  we are now unable to spend this money on community projects, and the car park’s profitability is considerably reduced.

You may recall that the situation has not been straightforward.  Because a council in the Isle of Wight is contesting in the courts its VAT liability for car park charges, it is just possible that VAT is not payable – but the advice we have taken on this issue has been to pay up now and claim it back if the courts rule in the Isle of Wight’s favour.

Annual Audit

The August meeting heard that the council’s auditors had approved the 2009-10 accounts without comment.  The accounts are now available for inspection on application to the parish clerk (details below).

Council vacancy

If you are looking for an opportunity to contribute to the community you live in, the parish council would like to hear from you, as it is currently has a vacancy.   If you would like to know more about the role and how to become a member, please contact Jock Cairns (tel: 25655 or email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com) or any member of the council. Training about the role will be available for anyone who becomes a councillor.

Contact the Clerk

The parish clerk, Tracy Fletcher, can be contacted on 015242 72768 or at dentparishclerk@live.com.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on September 6^th in the Sedgwick Room.  As usual, the public are welcome to attend and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum at about 8pm.

July 2010

The July meeting discussed the current situation regarding affordable housing provision, approved a new way of dealing with grant applications and heard a report on the refurbishment of public benches in the dale.   a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Housing

The results of the housing needs survey that was carried out last year are now available and nine households in the dale have a need for affordable housing.  A further 14 households felt they were in need, but because some did not submit enough details of their personal circumstances, they could not be included in the total.  The overwhelming need was for housing for young people, and the survey showed that the demand locally is for property to rent rather than to buy.

At the same time, the National Park is consulting with the public on a draft of its new housing development plan, which is designed to make it easier for affordable housing to be built within the National Park boundaries over the next 15 years.

The parish council has responded to these two developments by forming a Housing Strategy Group consisting of Jock Cairns, Peter Knapton, Jenny Pilgrim and Ken Smith, to see what can now be done to encourage affordable housing to be built in the dale.

Grants Policy

The council approved new procedures for dealing with applications for grants from local organisations, in response to the problems that occurred last year when there was a considerable increase in the number of applications that were received.  To try and make sure that the money goes to those who need it most, applicants for this year’s grants will be asked for more information about how the grant will be spent, and also to provide details of their organisation’s current financial state. Notices will be posted in the dale in September to invite applications.

Public Benches

The July meeting heard a report from Ken McClurg and Ken Smith on the maintenance work they had been doing on the public benches inn the dale.  A coat of wood preservative and some strimming to clear the vegetation around them had resulted in a large number of the dale’s benches becoming usable again.  Although the parish council doesn’t own many of the benches, it is now looking at whether it can carry out more major repairs on some of the more badly dilapidated ones.

Newsletter funding

The parish council newsletter is delivered by volunteers to every household in the dale, and feedback from residents has been very positive.  The first three editions have been funded by a grant from South Lakeland Strategic Partnership, but this money has now run out.  Each edition costs about £200 to produce, and the council agreed to fund the next edition this November, and include the cost of the two editions in 2011 in next year’s budget.

Neighbourhood Watch

The council had ordered some new Neighbourhood Watch signs some time ago, but so far Capita had not produced them. Neighbourhood Watch and Farm Watch are regarded by the police as a useful deterrent to burglars, but they would work even more effectively if we had a co-ordinator in Dentdale.  If you think you might be interested in taking on this valuable community role, please contact Jock Cairns (tel: 25655 or email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com) for more information about it.  The duties are not onerous, as these days much information is passed on by email and phone.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on August 2^nd in the Sedgwick Room.  As usual, the public are welcome to attend and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum at about 8pm.

June 2010

The June meeting discussed a planning application for a track between the playing field gate and the pavilion, heard a report on recent police activity and approved in principle a pilot project for closer co-operation with the National Park.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Playing Field Track

Getting vehicles on to the playing field in wet weather without them getting bogged down can be difficult, and this causes potential problems for events such as the Dentdale Show.  The Show committee have offered the parish council £3,000 towards the creation of hard standing by the gate and a track to the pavilion, and the June council meeting agreed to submit the planning application that this project requires.

YDNPA Community Pilot Project

One of the objectives of the Dentdale parish plan was to improve the relationship between the Dentdale community and the National Park.  In the last year, this relationship has been soured by a number of issues over planning, and so council members have been discussing with David Butterworth, the National Park’s Chief Executive, how this situation could be remedied. 

Partly in response to this, the Park has allocated budget of £10,000 as well as officer time for a unique 18-month pilot project with the Dentdale community.  During the project, parish councillors and other members of the community will work closely with the Park’s officers on issues that meet both the aims of the National Park and the aims of Dentdale’s parish plan.   The June parish council meeting agreed in principle to take part in the project, and full details will be worked out in the next few months so that it can start later this year.

Play Area Opens

A ceremony was held on June 12^th to open the new play area on The Green.  Eva Hogarth, Lauren Charnley, Greg Tebbett, Beatrice Deighton and Ellie McDowell cut ribbons and formally declared the new equipment open, before parents and guests held a picnic on the green to celebrate the occasion. 

In the parish plan survey in 2008, the children had requested a better play area in the Dale, and as a result a small committee consisting of Catherine Steele, Helen Winn, Jenny Robinson, Kate Cairns and Kate Tebbett took on the task of bringing this about. They obtained grants of over £45,000 to buy and install the new equipment, and both local people and second home owners in the Dale have made donations.  The children have been involved throughout the project, designing the new area, conducting surveys of local residents and choosing the equipment.

CPSO Changes

At the end of June, PCSO Rachel Thomas takes over Karen Dakin’s liaison role in Dentdale while Karen is on maternity leave.  Rachel’s contact details are tel: 0845 33 00 247 or email: rachel.thomas@cumbria.police.uk or KendalRuralNPT@cumbia.police.uk and from August she will be available at Dent Stores on the first Tuesday of each month to deal with residents’ concerns.

Church Bridge and Barth Bridge

Concern has been expressed at recent council meetings about the cracks appearing in Church Bridge and, to a lesser extent, in Barth Bridge as well.  The council has reported these to Cumbria Highways and has asked for details of any action that is proposed, as some residents have been told that remedial work is planned for later this summer.

YDNPA Planning Dept

Graham Dalton reported to the June meeting that the National Park’s planning department is currently experiencing severe staffing shortages, as currently it has only one planning officer in post out of a total complement of six.  This will inevitably take some time to resolve, and while planning applications are still being dealt with within the required time limit, it is not clear at present how long this can be maintained.

New Bus Service

The lack of public transport in Dentdale is a recurring local concern, and so the extra Saturday bus journey this summer is very welcome.  It will be provided by Apollo 8 between Sedbergh, Dent and Dent Station, providing connections with the late afternoon train from Carlisle to Leeds.  Coupled with the Saturday morning bus, this considerably improves the bus service within the dale and to Sedbergh. If it is successful, it is hoped to run it again in future years, so we need to make sure it is well used if we want to keep it.

Copies of the timetable below are available at Dent stores, Stone Close cafe & Dent station as well as on posters on the main barn door and bus shelter in Dent.

Cycle Race Litter

An annual cycle race has upset a number of residents who regularly help to keep the Dale’s verges free of litter.  After the cyclists had travelled from Lea Yeat to Dent Head, discarded energy drink containers and other food wrappers were found on the roadside.  John Sibley, the secretary of the litter picking group that was formed as a result of the parish plan, has contacted the organisers of the race about it, as has CPSO Karen Dakin.  The response from the organisers was positive and the litter picking group have offered assistance for next year’s event, so hopefully the problem won’t recur.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on July 5^th in the Sedgwick Room.  As usual, the public are welcome to attend and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum at about 8pm.

April and May 2010

There was no report last month owing to the election in May.  Since the last report in April there have been two council meetings and so this account covers both of them.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

New Council Elected

Although it may not have been obvious to many voters, electors in Dent chose a new parish council on May 6^th as well as a new government.  However, no names appeared on the ballot paper because there were only eight candidates for the nine council seats, and so, apart from Wendy Pontefract who decided not to stand again, the other members of the previous council  were re-elected unopposed.  With one seat vacant, we are now looking for someone to join us. If you would like to know more about what is involved or think you might be interested in being co-opted, please contact the Clerk or any of the councillors.

At the May meeting, Jock Cairns was elected Chair of the council for a further twelve months, and it was agreed that Graham Dalton, Chris Evans, Jenny Pilgrim and Ken Smith, in that order, would each serve a three-month term as Vice Chair.  Members were also appointed to the council’s committees and to other local bodies, and full details can be found on the PARISH COUNCIL page of this website.

Working with the National Park

When the parish plan survey was carried out, residents wanted the parish council to find ways of improving the relationship with the National Park, but unfortunately over the last year or so, there have been several actions and decisions by the Park’s planning department which have caused considerable distress in the dale.  So in the last two months parish council members have raised the issue with John Blackie, the National Park Authority Member Champion for planning matters, and with David Butterworth, the Chief Executive.  The Park is now very aware of our concerns, and in the near future the Park will be suggesting ways in which it can work more closely with us to support our efforts to maintain a viable community.

Audit

The April meeting received a satisfactory report from the Internal Auditor about the council’s accounts and management over the previous year, and the annual accounts are now with the External Auditor.  They can be inspected on application to the Clerk (contact details below), or viewed online on the FINANCES page of this website.

New Parish Clerk

As well as a new council, we also have a new parish clerk.  Tracy Fletcher, who lives in Casterton, took over the role from Colin Robertshaw in time for the May meeting.   Tracy can be contacted on 015242 72678 or at dentparishclerk@live.com.

Sites for Affordable Housing

As reported earlier this year, we continue to explore all possible ways of providing affordable housing for local people in the dale, because we see it as vital for the future viability of the Dentdale community.  The National Park is currently drafting changes to its planning policy, and these include a list of sites that are suitable for affordable and local needs housing.  The parish council is very keen to have the site next to Glebe Fold included in this list, as the Bradford Diocese is prepared to release it for housing at little or no cost – a potential saving to any developer of about £100,000.  So at the end of March we attended a meeting of the National Park Authority and spoke in favour of the inclusion of this site.  When the draft policy goes out to public consultation shortly, we would encourage members of the public to support its inclusion by writing in as well.

In the meantime, the parish council agreed to adopt the following strategy:

·         To continue to press for the results of the housing needs survey

·         To establish Two Castles Housing Association’s current position on developing sites in Dent

·         To support any new proposals for developing the site above Ghyllside

·         To continue to support the church’s proposals for the site adjacent to Glebe Fold

·         To continue to argue the case for this latter site with YDNPA

Thefts in the Dale

The May meeting discussed the recent thefts in and around Dent, together with the repeated appearance of two suspicious-looking men in the dale.  In a small community such as ours, people are usually very aware of anything unusual that takes place, and if reported and followed up this can often help protect us all from the kind of problems we have been having recently.  So if you see anything that seems out of the ordinary or suspicious please let the police know as soon as possible.  Karen Dakin, our local Police Community Liaison Officer, can be contacted on 0845 33 00 247 or at karen.dakin@cumbria.police.uk or KendalRuralNPT@cumbia.police.uk.

Winter gritting

Cumbria Highways have been conducted a review of their winter gritting programme, and in the course of this asked the parish council for its views. Before replying, we sought the views of a number of residents in all parts of the dale and looked at places where it would be useful to have additional grit bins and grit piles and a detailed response was then submitted.  Many thanks to everyone who helped with this – altogether over fifteen people were involved in giving advice, offering sites for dumps of grit and drawing up detailed maps to show what we wanted.  Even if the County Council is unable to extend the programme next year, at least we have let them know in some detail what Dentdale wants.

Benches

The May meeting decided to carry out a review of the public benches in the dale in order to assess their maintenance needs.  Only a few of them belong to the parish council, but it was felt that a comprehensive survey of all of them was the first step in seeing if their condition could be improved.  We have had some offers, both from residents and from people who have connections to the dale, to maintain particular benches, and this may well be a way of improving the benches at minimum cost to the taxpayer.  Ken McClurg (tel: 25446) and Ken Smith (tel: 25688) are carrying out the survey - if you would like to help in any way, please contact them,

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 7.30pm on April 12th in the Sedgwick Room.  As usual, the public are welcome to attend and to raise any matter that concerns them during the public forum at about 8pm.

March 2010

The March meeting started with the three-monthly visit from the police, and discussed the council’s liability for VAT on the car park charges as well as two draft reports from the National Park about conservation areas.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Dent Conservation Area

The meeting agreed the council’s response to the final version of the appraisal of the Dent Conservation Area, which the National Park had published for public consultation.  The parish council supported the proposed boundary changes to the conservation area and was encouraged by the expressed view that conservation is about helping to manage change rather than trying to prevent it.  However, the council also felt that the report was vague about which agency should take the lead in implementing its recommendations, and asked the National Park to clarify this.  The full report can be downloaded at http://tiny.cc/PWM1y

Settle Carlisle Railway Conservation Area

The council also received the draft appraisal of the Settle Carlisle Railway Conservation Area, which makes some recommendations that affect Dentdale, particularly about the area round Dent station and at Stonehouse.  This report can be found at http://tiny.cc/JjbD0 and the council’s response to it will be decided at the April meeting.

Street Lights

Dent’s street lights are getting increasingly unreliable as they get older, and so the March meeting agreed to obtain estimates for gradually replacing the existing stock with better quality fittings more in keeping with the village.

VAT on Car Park Charges

Like everywhere else, Dent is affected by events beyond its boundaries. Over the last few years, a parish council on the Isle of Wight has been in dispute with HMRC over whether it should pay VAT on the income from its car park.  Having gone through the courts in this country, the case then went to the European court, and though the matter is not finally resolved, it looks extremely likely that HMRC will win.  This has implications for Dent, because if the Isle of Wight parish council loses, all car parks run by parish councils will be liable for VAT.  In order to avoid having to pay penalties, most councils are now paying the VAT but at the same time registering a claim for repayment should the court case be resolved in their favour. At the March meeting, members decided to adopt the same approach for the Dent car park takings.

Suspicious Visitors

PCSO Karen Dakin and PC John Orr came to the March meeting to report on recent police matters.  In addition to thefts of farm gates and a farm trailer, two men had entered a couple of properties in Dent and tried unsuccessfully to do so at others.  The police appealed for anyone to report any suspicious behaviour to them – they can be contacted on 0845 33 00 247.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be the Annual Parish Meeting which will be held at 7.30pm on April 12th in the Memorial Hall.  The parish council’s annual report will be available and there will be the opportunity for anyone to raise any matter that concerns them.  Unlike last year, there will be no outside speaker, however.  The Annual Parish Meeting will be followed by the April parish council meeting, also in the Memorial Hall.

February 2010

The February meeting discussed road gritting in the recent spell of wintry weather, heard a report on local initiatives by the National Park, and listened to a presentation on a new organisation that is promoting the dale to visitors.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Discover Dentdale

Matt Clayton had been invited to the meeting to speak about Discover Dentdale, a social enterprise whose aim is to promote the dale to visitors.  It organises various activities, including touring theatre productions and the forthcoming Walking Festival, deals with accommodation bookings and helps to market the Dentdale Show and the Music and Beer Festival through its website at www.discoverdentdale.co.uk.  The council agreed to support the venture in principle, and to investigate the possibility of including some publicity for Discover Dentdale in the car park.  

Road Gritting

The meeting was unanimous in congratulating Malcolm Robinson, the contractor responsible for gritting the dale’s roads, on the excellent job he had done recently, and agreed to write to thank him.  However, concerns were expressed, by both councillors and members of the public, about the roads that had not been gritted.  It appears that the system of prioritising roads, where side roads were only done after the main roads were gritted, works well if there is only one snowfall.  It had run into difficulties on this occasion because as soon as the main roads were gritted, more snow fell and they had to be gritted again to keep them open.  Thus the minor roads were left untouched, causing the major difficulties that residents experienced in some parts of the dale.  Towards the end of the cold spell, Cumbria Highways started to work more closely with parish councils, delivering grit for us to distribute, and it was felt that this greater level of local involvement had been more successful.  Kevin Lancaster, the County Councillor for this area who was at the meeting, undertook to press for a review of the current policy so that in future local priorities set by parish councils were built into the plan from the outset.

Church Bridge

Reports of stones working loose on Church Bridge were passed on to the Cumbria Highways Area Engineer, who informed us that the bridge had been inspected since the Cumbrian floods and had been declared safe.

Affordable Housing

Last October, the council agreed to press a working group of the National Park to reconsider its recommendation about the field next to Glebe Fold.  Most residents who had expressed an opinion in the recent housing needs survey had said it was the best site in the village, and Two Castles and the Bradford diocese were prepared to apply for outline planning permission.  Nevertheless, the YDNPA working group had left it out of the list of sites for future affordable housing.  A first attempt by the parish council to persuade them to change their recommendation has not been successful, so our next move will be to make the case in person at the YDNPA meeting at the end of March.    

Relationship with YDNPA

In the public forum at a recent meeting, the question was asked, “What is the National Park doing to support Dentdale?”  The February meeting heard an answer to this, and this led to a discussion on the state of the relationship between the Dentdale community and the YDNPA.

Graham Dalton explained that the National Park was constrained by its statutory powers.  It is not responsible for the economic and social development of its communities, and so although it has a duty to foster their economic and social well being, it can only do so as part of its primary purposes of conserving and promoting the area.  Given that restriction, the Park has done a number of things in and for Dentdale, including:

• Repairs to the Occupation Road
• Improving stiles and gates, in some cases to allow disabled access
• Running an advice seminar on the maintenance of listed buildings
• Assisting farmers apply for government grants and allowances
• Identifying sites for hydro electric generation, and working with owners to develop them
• Advising forestry owners on felling, replanting and available funding
• Providing training opportunities for young people, to improve their earning power

Whilst other members of the council acknowledged that all these things had been done, they felt that a number of recent planning cases had seriously soured the relationship between the community and the Park.  As the parish plan contained a commitment to try and develop a better relationship, it was agreed to discuss these planning issues with the Park in order to see if the situation could be improved.

Public Transport without Buses

As many people know, although the bus service only operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays, transport at other times is available through the County Council’s voluntary car scheme.  For a fare of 30p per mile you can be driven anywhere within Cumbria by local volunteers using their own cars.  People are taken to Sedbergh and back for shopping or to see the doctor, to and from the station at Oxenholme, to and from Kendal for shopping or appointments or even around the Dale to visit friends.

Anne McClurg has recently taken over the bookings for the scheme, so if you want transport, ring her on 25446 to make the arrangements.

Drivers on the scheme have their expenses topped up by the County Council, and new drivers are currently needed. If you would like to become one, please contact Anne or visit the County Council’s webpage at www.tiny.cc/Dw63N to find out more about it.

Parish Clerk

We are currently looking for a new parish clerk, as Colin Robertshaw will be leaving us in the near future.  The post is for 40 hours a month, and if you would like to know more about it, please contact Jock Cairns on 015396 25655 or at dentparishcouncil@btinternet.co.uk.

Flower beds

Now that the flower beds opposite the smithy on Beech Hill have been planted with perennials instead of annuals, some residents are concerned about their state.  They have volunteered to help improve them if one or two other people are willing to help as well.  Please contact Jock Cairns if you’d like to become involved.

Next Meetings

The next council meeting will be at 7.30pm on March 1^st in the Sedgwick Room.  It is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.

December 2009

There is not a great deal to report this month, as the December meeting was relatively short, and the council does not meet in January.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Road Gritting

A major concern of most people in the dale over the Christmas period and well into January was the state of the roads during the snow.  People were full of praise for the excellent work that Malcolm Robinson, who has the local gritting contract, did in keeping the main road open.  However, people who use the ungritted roads fared less well, and so the parish council will be reviewing what happened at its first meeting in February and making its views known to Cumbria Highways.

One of the issues we will doubtless be discussing is the availability of grit for local use.  Towards the end of the cold spell, Cumbria Highways made available about five tons of grit for use by the parish council, and so we asked a number of local farmers to distribute it to those parts of the Dale that had not been gritted.  If this had happened earlier in the cold spell, together with more frequent replenishment of roadside grit piles and bins, residents might have faced fewer problems this time.

As a footnote, I was interested to see that elsewhere in the country a council was threatening to report to the police anyone who used grit from the roadside on their own property instead of on the roads, because they felt that doing so makes a bad situation worse for everyone else.

Parking and Roadside Verges

For some time, we have been trying unsuccessfully to get Cumbria Highways to respond to our proposals for restricting street parking in Dent, as well as our concerns over the maintenance of roadside verges.  The appointment of Keith Masser as the local Highways Engineer for South Lakeland seemed a good opportunity to try and make some progress on these two topics, so before Christmas we invited him to Dent.  Geoffrey Woof (Highways Steward liaison councillor), Colin Robertshaw (Parish Clerk) and I met with him and showed him the problems on the ground; he undertook to report back to us on possible ways forward.

New Councillor

As there had been no call for an election to fill the vacancy caused by David Hartley’s resignation, posters had been put up around the Dale inviting volunteers for co-option.   Ken Smith, of Cowgill Barn, had put his name forward, and the December meeting co-opted him on to the council.

Next Meetings

The next two council meetings will be at 7.30pm on February 1^st and March 1^st in the Sedgwick Room.  They are open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.

November 2009

Much of the November meeting focused on finance, and decisions were taken about car park charges, the allocation of grants to local organisations and next year’s budget and precept.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Budget and Precept

The council approved the budget for 2010-11 at the November meeting.  Excluding grants and the car park income, this year the council’s expenditure will be just over £10,300, and next year this is expected to rise to over £13,600.  The two main reasons for this are increased staff costs, because the Clerk’s ever increasing work-load means we need to increase his hours, and increased spending on the playing field next year to carry out the improvements mentioned above.

The council decided that in the present economic climate it should not increase the amount residents pay through their council tax.  Instead, the extra expenditure will be covered by increasing the car park charges and by drawing on reserves.

Car Park Charges

In approving next year’s budget, the council considered the present structure of car park charges, and decided to retain the present arrangement of free parking for residents. While the all day charge for non-residents will also stay the same at £4.50, the two hour charge will be raised from £1.20 to £1.50, and the annual permits for holiday cottage owners will go up from £60 to £65.  These changes will take effect from mid-December.

Car Park Lease

The meeting agreed to renew the lease for Dent Car park for a further five years when the present one expires at the end of March next year. The rent will remain unchanged, at £3,000 per year.  This is a relatively low rent compared with the amount charged for other local car parks, and by the time the new lease ends in 2015, there will have been no increase in rent for 10 years.  Although the parish council had tried to persuade the National Park to lease the car park rent-free, this was always going to be unlikely, and so it was felt that what was proposed was the best deal available.

Grants

The council was presented with a problem when it came to allocating grants to local organisations, as there were 22 applications for grant funding this year compared with thirteen in 2008, and the amount of money available had not increased.

The council decided that its procedure for allocating grants needs to be reviewed to cope with this level of demand, and so a group has been set up to make recommendations before next year’s application round. For this year, the council applied an across-the-board percentage cut to organisations that had received a grant last year, and limited new applicants to £100.  There were three exceptions made to this: the Allotments Association received £400, because the provision of allotments is one of the few things a parish council is obliged to do; the Sedbergh and District Community Office received £400, as the council had agreed to support it some time ago and the situation had not changed; and the Great North Air Ambulance received £300 because it was felt it provided such a vital service for the dale.

Other grants were awarded as follows:

Phone Boxes

BT had informed the parish council that it intended to remove the telephone from the phone boxes at Gibbs Hall and Greenwell as they are little used, and had offered the parish council the chance to buy empty boxes for £1 each.  As the lack of mobile phone coverage in Dentdale makes it difficult particularly for visitors to contact the emergency services, the parish council agreed to try and persuade BT to reverse its decision.

Playing Field

The playing field committee is currently looking at two issues: how best to combat flooding, and whether improvements can be made to the pavilion.  A business plan is being produced, with input from Dentdale Show committee who have offered to help with funding if a suitable scheme can be devised.

Payments to Councillors

Parish council members decided once again not to claim allowances for their work in the coming year.  This means that although the council employs and pays three staff – the Clerk and the two Car Park Administrators – none of the councillors, including the Chair, are paid for what they do.

David Hartley

David Hartley, the vice-chair, resigned from the council at the end of October, after five year’s service to the community.  This included chairing the car park committee and serving on the playing field committee and the planning group.  A formal letter from the parish council has been sent to David to thank him for all his work on behalf of the community.

This means that there is now has a vacancy, so if you would like to know more about what is involved in becoming a councillor, please get in touch with any member of the council.

Next Meeting

There will be no council meeting in January, so the next two council meetings will be at 7.30pm on December 7th and February 1^st in the Sedgwick Room.  They are open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.

October 2009

The October meeting welcomed Colin Robertshaw to his first meeting as parish clerk, and discussed some of the issues that are outlined below.  For a full account of the meeting, go to the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

Car Park Lease

Although Dent car park is managed by the parish council, it is owned by the National Park and leased from them.  The present five-year lease is due to end next March, so the parish council have been negotiating with the Park over its renewal.  Terms have not yet been agreed, but it is hoped they soon will be so that the parish council can continue to control the level of charges and retain free parking for residents.

Affordable Housing

At the October meeting, the parish council discussed the latest developments over affordable housing in Dentdale.  Some time ago, YDNPA asked landowners if they had any land which they would be prepared to release as sites for affordable and local occupancy housing.  A number of landowners in Dentdale responded to this call, and the National Park has now decided which ones should be looked at in more detail.  Although it recommended that three sites in Dent, including the field above Ghyllside, should be investigated further, it did not do so for the field adjacent to Glebe Fold.  As earlier this year both the Bradford diocese and Two Castles Housing Association were proposing to apply for outline planning permission on this site, the parish council is very concerned about this, and unanimously agreed to press for it to be given further consideration.  

Neighbourhood Watch

In the last month, a meeting of Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators identified who would cover which areas in the dale.  PCSO Karen Dakin, who called the meeting, is hoping that additional volunteers will come forward to cover the gaps.  If you would like to help, please contact her at her morning drop in sessions at Dent Stores on the first Tuesday of each month. 

Parish Council Newsletter

Plans are underway for the second edition of the Parish Council newsletter, which will be delivered to every home in the dale towards the end of November.  This issue will focus on the progress made in implementing the parish plan since its publication a year ago.

Dent Allotments

The parish council meeting heard that the Dentdale allotments have now received £2,000 in grants and that work will start on digging up the field at Sunnybank, next to Church Bridge, during November.  Plots are still available – if you are interested in one, please contact the Secretary, Ken Smith (tel: 25688) as soon as possible.

Invasive Plants

The parish plan committee is considering its response to a recent comment from a visitor about the growth in the dale of two invasive plants, Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.  If you are interested in taking part in a mapping exercise next year to establish the scale of the problem, please contact Jock Cairns (tel: 25655) email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com

Hawes Medical Practice

While most residents in Dentdale are registered with the GP practice in Sedbergh, a number of people use the Hawes medical practice instead.  Each practice runs a regular forum to discuss issues with its local community, and Dent parish council is represented on both groups.

A meeting of the Hawes group at the end of September heard that Alpha Dental Services has been awarded the NHS Dentistry contract for Hawes, Leyburn & Bedale, though out of hours dentistry remains an issue.  It also heard that the Friarage hHHHHHospital in Northallerton is likely to receive reduced funding in the near future as a result of the economic climate.  However, there are no plans to cut services, and paediatric and obstetric services will be resumed at the hospital at the end of October.

If you have any general issues about either practice you would like raised at future meetings, please contact the parish council’s representatives: Jenny Pilgrim for Hawes (tel: 25589) or Kate Cairns for Sedbergh (tel:25655).

Next Meeting

The next council meeting will be at 7.30pm on November 2nd in the Sedgwick Room.  It is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.

September 2009

At the September meeting, we were very pleased to appoint Colin Robertshaw as the new parish clerk.  Some of the other items that were discussed are outlined below; for a full account of the meeting click on the COUNCIL MINUTES page of this website.

New Parish Clerk

Colin Robertshaw is joining us as parish clerk from the beginning of October.  Colin lives in New Hutton, and became clerk to Sedbergh parish council just under a year ago.  He will be continuing with this role in addition to his new responsibilities as Dent parish clerk. It is increasingly common these days for clerks to be responsible for more than one parish, and one of the benefits this brings is a closer working relationship between the parishes involved.  When we did the parish plan survey in Dent, one thing that people wanted us to do was to work more closely with other parishes, and so we are hoping that this appointment will help us to do this.

Farm and Neighbourhood Watch

CPSO Karen Dakin announced that she would be arranging a meeting of Neighbourhood Watch and Farm Watch co-ordinators in the near future. In the discussion that followed it was suggested that all information from the police should be passed to members of both schemes in Dentdale, in order to obtain the widest coverage among members of the community.

Dent Play Area

One of the targets of the parish plan was to improve the children’s playground equipment in Dent.  Since the plan was published ten months ago, a committee has been formed with a formal constitution to bring this about.  They have set themselves the target of raising £35,000 to refurbish the play area and so far, they have obtained £10,000 from South Lakeland District Council and have applied for a number of other grants.  At the September meeting, the parish council granted them a further £5,000 from the money that the car park profits have produced.

Gravel Extraction

A member of the public reported that now that the barrier has been erected in Flood Lane, the extraction of gravel from the river seems to have increased at other points in the Dale. It was agreed that a representative of the Environment Agency should be invited to a future meeting so that the issue of gravel extraction could be discussed more fully.

Grants

Applications are currently invited for Parish Council Grants for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Address local social needs
• Contribute to the local economy
• Promote the quality of the environment
• Contribute towards maintaining local culture
• Involve or benefit the local community

Written applications should state the amount requested and indicate how the project will meet the above criteria.  They should be sent to Dent Parish Council, c/o West Banks, Dent by 16^th October 2009.  They will be considered at the Parish Council meeting in November.

Housing Needs Survey

By now all households in the Dale should have received a copy of the housing needs survey from Cumbria Rural Housing Trust.  The purpose of this survey is to establish the Dale’s current need for affordable housing, and its results will determine the willingness of Two Castles Housing Association to build houses here.  A high response rate is necessary to ensure the survey’s accuracy, so if you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes to fill it in and return it.  Additional forms can be obtained from Dent Stores, and any information you give will be kept strictly confidential.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on October 5^th in the Sedgwick Room.  It is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.
 

August 2009

In addition to the August parish council meeting, a public meeting was held in Dent at the end of July about the extraction of timber from the Littletown plantation.  The full council minutes are published on the Council Minutes page of this website.

Littletown Plantation

About 40 people attended a meeting on July 28^th in the Memorial Hall about the felling, extraction and replanting of the trees on the Littletown plantation.  The meeting was addressed by Jim O’Neill from the Forestry Commission, Phill Hibbs, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Trees and Woodlands Officer and Steve Dresser from Euroforest Ltd,.

Jim O’Neill explained that parts of the plantation have already blown down, and its age  means that there is now a requirement to fell it completely.  This will happen over the next few months and the timber will be taken out of the Dale over Stonehouse Bridge.  A six-wheeled lorry will make up to five journeys a day between the plantation and the Dent head viaduct, where the timber will be transferred to a larger vehicle and taken out via the Ingleton-Hawes road. The contractors, who had already carried out trial runs to establish the feasibility of their plans, intend to complete the extraction by May 2010 at the latest.  Wherever possible, the timber movements will be timed to avoid the school bus run and any other known busy times.  When the extraction is over, the lower part of the plantation will be replanted with mainly native broadleaf trees, while the upper part will revert to moorland.

Jenny Pilgrim will be liaising between the parish council and the contractors during the extraction, and if there are any problems, Steve Dresser, who will be managing the work, can be contacted directly on 07831 821397

Housing Needs Survey

Most people are aware of the need for affordable housing for local people in Dentdale, and Two Castles Housing Association is willing to build it provided that there is sufficient demand.  To establish the extent of this demand, Cumbria Rural Housing Trust (CHRT), an independent charity that works to ensure homes are available and affordable for local people, is currently conducting a survey of Dentdale residents.  So when you get the form, please take a few minutes to fill it in and return it.  Any information you give will be kept strictly confidential by CRHT – it will not be shown to the parish council or anybody else.

Flood Lane Barrier

The barrier is now in place in Flood Lane at the site where the fatal accident occurred last November.  The parish council is continuing to press Cumbria Highways to alter the warning signs so that they give a clearer indication of the potential danger when the road is flooded.  

Access to Council Papers

The parish council’s section of this website has recently been updated, and now includes more information about parish council members and how they can be contacted.  It also shows who is on the various council committees and contains full minutes of both council and committee meetings, as well as the council’s annual report and financial statement.  In addition, copies of the council’s papers can be obtained by contacting the Chair or Clerk.

Hydro-electric Power in Dentdale

Graham Dalton reported to the August meeting that the National Park has recently published a study it had commissioned into the feasibility of generating hydro electric power in the Dales.  Thirty-eight sites had been examined and the site at Rash Mill was one of 15 that were considered potentially viable.  Site owners and local representatives will shortly be invited to a day-long seminar to consider the next steps.

Vice Chair and Financial Officer

The August meeting approved David Hartley’s election as Vice Chair of the council for a further three-month period. In addition, Graham Dalton was appointed to look after the council’s finances until a new clerk is appointed.

Auditor’s Report

The August meeting was pleased to note that the external auditors had recently approved the 2008-09 annual statement of council’s finances.  If you would like to inspect this document, please the Chair to make arrangements; alternatively, it can now be viewed online by clicking on the Finances link above.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on September 7^th in the Sedgwick Room.  It is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them in the public forum which usually takes place about 8 o’clock.

June/July 2009

There have been three meetings since the last report: the Annual Parish Meeting and two parish council meetings.  The items discussed included some of those below, and the full minutes are published as usual elsewhere on this website.

Music and Beer Festival

The parish council has written to the organisers of the recent Music and Beer Festival to congratulate everyone who contributed to such a highly successful week-end.  The council had supported the event with a grant of £1,000 and had provided the site free of charge, and was delighted that the festival had been such a resounding success.

YDNPA Boss at Annual Parish Meeting

David Butterworth, the Chief Executive of YDNPA, spoke at the Annual Parish Meeting on the topic of “Working with Communities in the National Park”.  He expressed the wish to work in partnership with communities to make them viable and sustainable, but explained that difficult decisions often had to be made when balancing conservation with the need to preserve or create employment.  He referred to the Dentdale Parish Plan, suggesting that an ongoing  dialogue with the Park could identify opportunities for financial assistance with some of the smaller projects.

Housing Needs Survey

Cumbria Rural Housing Trust, an independent body who assess the need for affordable housing, have been asked by SLDC to conduct a survey in Dentdale, and Judith Derbyshire, the Trust’s manager, came to the July council meeting to discuss it.  When you receive the survey in September, please take a few minutes to complete and return it. It is an important part of the process of deciding whether new affordable housing can be built in the Dale and a good response will ensure there is accurate information on which to base decisions.

Littletown Timber Extraction

The proposed extraction of timber from the Littletown plantation has been raised more than once at recent meetings.  At the time of writing, the parish council is trying to arrange for the contractor and representatives of the National Park to come to Dent and talk to the public about the plans.  This is likely to be at the start of the next council meeting, in the Sedgwick Room at 7.30pm on Monday, August 3^rd.

Dogs on the Playing Field

Dog fouling is probably one issue that all parish councils spend time trying to tackle, and Dent is no exception.  As you may have seen from the notices, the Playing Field committee is asking that dog owners now keep their dogs on a lead on the playing field, in order to reduce the amount of dog mess there.  Generally the response to this has been very positive, and there has been no need to resort to the £75 penalty tickets that the Police Community Support Officer is able to issue to dog owners who don’t clear up their dogs’ mess. 

Post Office Outreach Service

A recent national report has highlighted the problems that Post Office outreach services throughout the country have been having since they were set up, and the difficulties with the electronic equipment that the Dent service has experienced is clearly part of a national problem.  So if you have been inconvenienced at all by this, please don’t blame Christine or her staff for things outside their control – they are doing their best to provide the service.  And please keep using the service in Dent, because that is the only way to safeguard its future.

Parish Clerk

At its last meeting, the council received the resignation of Peter Maples, the Parish Clerk, from the end of July.  Peter was thanked for the extremely conscientious job he had done for the last nine months, and the council set in motion the recruitment process for his successor.

May 2009

In the absence of Jock Cairns, the May meeting was chaired by Graham Dalton.  Some of the matters discussed are outlined below, and the full minutes are published as usual elsewhere on this website.

Council Finances

The meeting approved the end of year financial statement which the council will be sending to the auditors.

In 2008-09, it cost just over £13,500 to run the parish council, excluding the car park.  This included over £4,500 given out in grants to local organisations.  The expenditure exceeded the non-car park income by around £2,400, and as in previous years, the shortfall was met by using the surplus from the car park takings.

The car park took nearly £21,000 last year, and its costs were almost £16,000.  The takings were down on the previous year by just over £2,500, probably as a result of the poor summer weather.    A full breakdown of the figures can be found in the end of year statement elsewhere on this website.

Sedbergh Health Centre

The day after I sent in my report for the May edition of Lookaround, the parish council received a petition signed by 182 electors (33% of the electoral roll).  The petition expressed full support for the planning application for both the health centre and the Spar store and asked the parish council to express this view to Sedbergh parish council and the YDNPA planning department.

The parish council has subsequently informed the Chair of Sedbergh PC of this petition and raised it at a meeting held in Sedbergh of representatives of Sedbergh, Garsdale and Dent PCs and the YDNPA planning department.  It has also been passed on to YDNPA in writing as part of the consultation process on the application.

YDNPA Boss to Speak in Dent

Last year’s parish plan survey identified residents’ concern about the relationship between the community of Dentdale and the National Park, and the action plan set the target of finding ways of improving it.  As a first step in this process David Butterworth, the Chief Executive of YDNPA, will be coming to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 22^nd June in the Memorial Hall.   His topic will be “Working with Communities in the National Park”, and there will be an opportunity to put questions to him at the end of his talk. 

The talk will be followed by the Parish Council’s Annual Report, and copies of this will be available both at the meeting and beforehand on this website.

The meeting is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them.

Council Members’ Roles

The May meeting was the Annual Parish Council Meeting, at which the following roles of parish councillors were decided for the forthcoming year:

Chair of the Council: Jock Cairns

Vice Chair of the Council: David Hartley (for the first three months)

Car Park Committee: Jock Cairns, David Hartley, Ken McClurg.

Playing Field Committee: David Hartley, Jenny Pilgrim, plus two members nominated by the Football Club (currently Keith Burrow and Jill Mitchell) and two by the Cricket Club (currently Peter Moorby and David Hunter).

Parish Plan Committee: Jock Cairns, Peter Knapton and two council appointees, Heather Fraser and Mike Lawton.  This committee also has two co-opted members, Matt Clayton and John Sibley.

Litter sub-Committee: Wendy Pontefract, plus nine council appointees.

Planning Working Group: Chris Evans, Peter Knapton, David Hartley, Jenny Pilgrim.

Highways Steward Liaison: Geoffrey Woof

Appointments were also made to the following bodies:

Dent Grammar School Foundation: Jock Cairns, Graham Dalton, Ken McClurg, Geoffrey Woof

Dent Combined Charities: David Hartley, Geoffrey Woof

Dent Primary School Governors: Bob Pontefract (council representative)

Dent Memorial Hall Committee: Graham Dalton

Sedbergh Community Office:      Graham Dalton, Peter Knapton

Sedbergh Health Centre Patients' Forum: Kate Cairns (council representative)

Central Dales GP Practice Consultative Group: Jenny Pilgrim

In addition, Graham Dalton will be continuing with his role as the representative of Dent, Sedbergh and Garsdale parishes on the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Next Meeting

As stated above, the next meeting will be the Annual Parish Meeting at 7.30pm on June 22nd in the Memorial Hall, which will include a report by the council of its work over the previous year.  The meeting is open to everyone, and members of the public will be able to raise any issue that concerns them.  Following this a short parish council meeting will be held to deal with urgent items.

April 2009

Below are some of the matters discussed at the April meeting, and the full minutes are published as usual elsewhere on this website.

Sedbergh Health Centre

The council discussed the planning application for a new Spar and health centre on the auction mart site in Sedbergh.  Although the parish council is not part of the formal consultation process, it was felt that its views should be passed on to Sedbergh Parish Council and to the YDNPA planning department, as health facilities in Sedbergh are of concern to most Dent residents.

The joint nature of the application made it difficult to reach agreement, as the council supported the new health centre but was divided on the impact of a convenience store on the edge of the town.  As a result, while the proposal to support the health centre was passed without opposition, the vote to support the joint application was less clear cut, with two in favour, one against and four abstentions.

Meet the Police

The meeting was attended by PCSO Karen Dakin, as part of her regular visits to discuss matters of concern.  As indicated elsewhere in the Lookaround, she will be holding drop-in sessions in Dent at the café in Dent Stores from 10am to 12 noon on the first Tuesday of each month, beginning on 5^th May. This will provide the opportunity for anyone to raise matters with the police on a regular basis.

Health Services

Last year’s parish plan survey asked for resident’s views on local health services.  The GP services in Sedbergh and Hawes were well liked, but there was some dissatisfaction with the out-of-hours service. Similarly, the quality of service at Westmorland General Hospital was praised, but there was deep concern at the threat to acute services there – as there was about the lack of local access to NHS dentistry for new patients.

One of the members of the parish plan committee, Mike Lawton, passed these comments on to the Cumbria Primary Care Trust, and he has now received the following response:

• The Sedbergh GP surgery now offers evening appointments each Monday which can be booked in advance
• Since last summer Westmorland General Hospital has been running an integrated health and social care service which includes GP-Ied community beds and urgent assessment services, rapid response nurses, and a specialist community respiratory team
• The PCT has procured additional NHS dentistry capacity in Sedbergh and Kendal which will be available in summer 2009. Anyone wishing to be allocated an NHS dentist should contact Lisa Wrigley on 01539 797855

The Trust has also offered to follow up specific problems with the out-of-hours service, and so if you have recently had a bad experience with it please contact Mike Lawton on 25122 or mdlawton@btinternet.com and he will pass your concerns on to the Trust.  He would also be happy to pass on your views on other current health service issues, such as the new facilities at Westmorland General or the ambulance provision.

Local Authorities working Together

Dent PC recently convened a meeting in Barbon of ten local Parish Councils to discuss a joint response to proposals for the county, district and parish councils in this area to work together more closely.  The seven councils who were able to attend, and the other three who were contacted afterwards,  felt that the real problem at the moment is the lack of co-operation between the county and the district, and that a group that included the parishes could only make a difference if it had funding and the power to make decisions.  These views were passed on to SLDC who had asked for comments on the proposals.

Next Meeting

The next council meeting will be at 7.30pm on May 11^th in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the public forum item which takes place about 8pm.

March 2009

The March meeting heard a presentation on the plans for the Music and Beer Festival, to be held from 26^th to 28^th June this year, and allocated the remaining grants for 2008-09. The full minutes of the meeting are published as usual on this website.

Grants for Rural Development

Grants to stimulate rural development in this part of Cumbria, totalling £8 million over the next four years, have recently been announced in the press.  The grants are for farms, forestry, rural businesses and community groups and there are two levels – above and below £20,000. The local Development Officer, Dave Smith, has met members of the Parish Plan Committee and said he would be keen to support projects in Dentdale that apply for this funding. If you want more details he can be contacted at Cumbria Fells and Dales, The Old Stables, Penrith CA11 0DT, tel: 01768 869533, or email: info@fellsanddales.org.uk.

VAT on car park charges

A ruling in the European Court seems likely to mean that local councils will be required to pay VAT on car park charges.  For Dent, this will cost about £3,500 per year and will seriously reduce the Parish Council’s income and the funding available for distributing in grants to local bodies.  We are currently investigating whether there is any way in which this charge can legally be avoided.

Links with the Police

It has now been agreed that Karen Dakin, the Police Community Support Officer, will attend parish council meetings every three months, starting on the 6th April.  If you have any issue you would like to raise with the police you will be able to do so at these sessions.

Following Karen’s attendance at the last meeting, a speed indicator was placed in Dent, but not in the area where speeding is most dangerous. The police have agreed to look at re-siting the equipment on a future occasion.

Campervans and Motorhomes

The Car Park Committee has looked again at the decision to ban campervans and motorhomes from using the car park overnight, and concluded that the policy which had been adopted was transparent, fair and easy to understand and to operate. It recommended that no change should be made to this policy and this was agreed by the parish council. 

Car Park Permits for B&Bs and Holiday Cottages

The meeting also agreed that bed and breakfast businesses, and holiday cottage and second home owners, should be allowed multiple permits for their visitors in return for the payment of one annual fee.  To obtain a permit, please contact John Hyde or Hilary Firth on 25503.

Litter picking

Following the successful group litter picking event which was featured in the Westmorland Gazette, another litter picking session will be taking place after Easter.  SLDC have donated more reflective jackets and litter grabs for it, and if you would like to be involved, please contact John Sibley on 25024.

Grants awarded

The council awarded two grants at the March meeting: £250 towards the funding of the Music and Beer Festival, and £264 to the new table tennis club to help in the purchase of equipment.  These grants bring the total awarded this year to £4,564, and means that we are not allowed to award any more until the new financial year starts in April.  For that reason, the applications from Sedbergh Community Office and for the restoration of the St Andrews church bells will be considered at the next meeting.

Street Lights

As residents will be aware, we have not yet managed to repair the defective street lights in Dent.  This is partly because many of the lights and their controls are now obsolete, and the first contractor we employed took a long time before admitting that he was not able to do the job.  We have now asked a second contractor to carry out the work, and so we hope that progress will be made shortly.

Music and Beer Festival

Matthew Clayton came to the March meeting to give an update on the organisation of the Music and Beer Festival.  He informed the council that there have been many expressions of interest from artists wishing to perform in and around Dent and to soak up the atmosphere. The music at the festival will be free and performed at a number of venues around the village, including the grass area below the car park where beer and food will be sold. Up to date information can be found on the Festival website at http://www.dentmusicandbeer.com.

Local Authority changes

After the proposal to form a single unitary local authority in Cumbria was rejected by the government last year, all local councils in Cumbria have been required to work more closely together.  In the part of the County that includes Dent, a scheme is currently being developed to get all parish councils to form a local group with the district and the county councils, in order to control some services.  The parish council thought that this could be an improvement on the present arrangements, provided that sufficient funding and support is available, and so Dent PC has set up a meeting of the ten councils and parish meetings in this area to discuss what we will need to work together effectively.

Housing Needs Survey

As reported last month, there will be a new survey carried out in the Dale in April to obtain an up-to-date picture of local housing need.  If you receive a form, please take the time to complete and return it – we need an accurate picture of the current demand for housing before a housing association will build houses here.

Land for Affordable Housing

Looking further ahead, there has been some progress on identifying possible housing sites.  Partly as a result of the parish council’s encouragement, the recent call from the National Park for landowners to nominate sites for future housing development resulted in at least six being put forward in and around Dent and Gawthrop. It will be some time before we know whether any have been accepted by the Park, but if any are they will be available for development for the next fifteen years, and thus enable affordable and local needs homes to be built in the Dale in the future.

Next Meeting

The next Meeting will take place in the Sedgwick Room of Dent Memorial Hall (entrance at the side) at 7.30pm on Monday 6^th April. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will a public forum about 8pm where time is set aside for anyone to raise issues with Council members.

February 2009

The items below were some of those discussed at the February meeting, which started with a discussion with Karen Dakin, the local Police Community Support Officer.  To view the full minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above

Links with the Police
Cumbria Police are trying to identify local policing priorities by attending parish council meetings on a more regular basis, and so when CPSO Karen Dakin came to the last meeting, councillors and members of the public asked for her help with a number of matters, including:

• a more visible police presence in the whole of Dentdale, particularly at community events
• setting up the promised meeting of Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators
• reviving the Farm Watch scheme
• measures to deter motorists from speeding in The Laning

Karen noted the request for a more visible presence, and invited anyone organising a community event to contact her about police involvement.  She also said that she would ask for a speed indicator to be placed at the entrance to the village.

Affordable Housing
A meeting was held in January between representatives from Two Castles Housing Association, South Lakeland District Council, the Bradford Diocese, Yorkshire Dales National Park and Dent Parish Council.  Two Castles reaffirmed their commitment to building affordable housing in Dentdale, and agreed to put together an application for outline planning for eight affordable houses on part of the field next to Glebe Fold.  The application, which will include a new vicarage, will be made in conjunction with the Bradford Diocese and submitted within the next six months. 

In April, SLDC will be commissioning a new survey in the dale to obtain an up-to-date picture of local housing need.  If you receive one of these survey forms, please take the time to complete and return it in so that an accurate picture of the current demand for housing in the dale can be established. 

Dent Conservation Area
A group of consultants has been appointed by the National Park to review the Dent conservation area and make recommendations about its future management.  Towards the end of January, they held a preliminary meeting with a group of local people and councillors.  The consultants seemed particularly keen to include in their report the views of people who live in the conservation area.  Consequently, they will be holding an open session in Dent on the afternoon and evening of Thursday March 19^th, followed by an open walkabout in the village on Saturday March 21^st.

Road Accidents
Last month I reported on the meeting with Cumbria Highways, the police and others about the tragic drowning accident in Flood Lane.  As a result of that meeting, Cumbria Highways have devised a barrier of concrete posts and metal tubes along the side of the river, and will shortly be sending the plans to the parish council for its comments.

The February council meeting also discussed the accident in Deepdale, where a car overturned and rolled off the road after losing control in icy conditions. Cumbria Highways do not grit this section, but the road is to be reviewed by them in the next financial year.  The parish council have asked North Yorkshire County Council for better signage at the A65 end of the road, and Cumbria Highways for a sign at the junction with the Occupation Road.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on March 2^nd in the Sportsman’s Inn, Cowgill. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

December 2008

There was a lengthy agenda for the December Parish Council meeting and the items below were some of those discussed.  To view the full minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above

Parish Council Grants
The following grants totalling £1,650 were approved, in addition to the £2,100 already awarded in this financial year:

            Citizens’ Advice                         £100

            Dent C of E Primary School          £500

            Dent Oral History Project            £250

            Dent Pre School                        £200

            Dent Reading Room                    £200

            Dentdale Choir                          £100

            Dentdale Cricket Club                 £300

2009-10 Budget and Precept

The December meeting discussed the draft Parish Council budget for 2009-10.  The projected expenditure of £13,315 exceeded the projected income of £9,230 by £4,085. This excluded car park income and expenditure and assumed that the Parish Council’s share of the council tax (the precept) stayed the same as last year.  The deficit would reduce to £2,499 if the projected surplus from the car park was added.

After discussion, it was decided to meet the shortfall by:

• increasing the precept by £730
• covering £615 of the playing field’s costs by fundraising or by drawing on reserves
• taking £1,154 from the Parish Council’s reserves to cover the remaining deficit.

In taking the decision about the precept for 2009-10, the Council compared Dent’s position with the other Cumbrian parishes:

• Between 2002-3 and 2008-09, parish precepts in the county increased by an average of 50%, whereas Dent’s precept increased by only 30%. If Dent’s had increased at same rate at the rest of Cumbria, its precept for 2008-09 would have been £8,250 instead of £7,170.
• In the current year, the cost of Dent’s precept was £20.45 per year for a Band D household.  This compares with £28.22 for the highest of the six similar sized parishes in Cumbria.

Click on the link above to see the budget in detail.

Proposed Ghyllside Development
The December meeting was informed by Two Castles Housing Association that they had been unable to reach agreement with the landowner over the purchase of the land for the proposed Ghyllside development of twelve affordable houses.  As a result, they had switched the funding to another project and were withdrawing their planning application.  In the light of this disappointing news, the Parish Council agreed to explore other options for affordable housing developments in the Dale with Two Castles and other interested parties.

Sites for Future Affordable Housing Development
Looking further ahead, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has asked the Parish Council to help it find sites that are suitable for building affordable housing over the next fifteen years.  YDNPA are inviting owners of land, particularly in or on the edge of villages like Dent and Gawthrop, to contact them if they might be interested in releasing their land for housing development. Any site approved by YDNPA and included in its development plan would in effect receive outline planning permission, so there are considerable potential benefits.  More details can be found in the YDNPA advert elsewhere in Lookaround, or by contacting Peter Maples, Dent Parish Clerk, on 21295.

Campervans and Motor Homes
The December meeting reviewed the Council’s policy on the use of the car park for storage of camper vans and motor homes, as an increase in demand for storage from residents meant that the existing policy was no longer workable.  The Council decided to prohibit the overnight parking of camper vans and motor homes from January 1^st 2009, but those who had been using it for storage were given until March 31^st to make alternative arrangements.

Road Accidents
Discussions have taken place with Cumbria Highways following the tragic accident in Flood Lane.  A number of suggestions from Dent residents for improvements to the road were discussed at the December meeting and subsequently the Clerk arranged an on-site meeting between two parish councillors, Cumbria Highways, the police, the Fire Service and a number of residents.  As a result, Cumbria Highways agreed as a matter of some urgency to draw up proposals to make the road safer. 

Since Christmas, there has been a further serious accident, this time in Deepdale, where those involved were fortunate to escape with relatively minor injuries.  The Parish Council’s response to this will be discussed at its next meeting in February.

Dentdale Music and Beer Festival
Following the decision in principle at the November meeting to support the Music and Beer Festival, the December meeting agreed that the organisers could use the grass area at the bottom of the car park as one of the sites for the festival, and erect a marquee and beer tent on it.

Roadside verges
A week after the December meeting, the Chair and the Clerk addressed a Cumbria County Council Committee, about the way roadside verges in the Dale are maintained.  Although the committee agreed to ask for a review of the situation, it will be some weeks before the outcome is known.

Replacement Car Park Permits
If you are a Dent resident and change your car, please remember you’ll need to obtain a new free car park permit by contacting the John Hyde, the Car Park Administrator, tel: 25503.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on February 2^nd in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

November 2008

The November meeting was held in the Sedgwick Room.  A warm welcome was extended to Wendy Pontefract on the occasion of her first Council Meeting, and also to the newly appointed Clerk, Peter Maples.  Peter can be contacted on 21295 or emailed at Parishclerkdent@aol.com .

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above

Fatal Accident at Flood Lane
Following Ruth France’s tragic accident, the Parish Council has started discussions with Cumbria Highways about measures that could be taken to prevent a similar accident happening again.  A number of residents have already contacted us about the issue, and it will be on the agenda of the meeting on December 1^st. If you have any suggestions or comments you would like to make, please contact me or Peter Maples.     

Leaves in Flintergill
Every autumn when the leaves fall from the trees around The Green they need clearing before they turn into an unpleasant mush and block the drains.   In order for this to be done effectively, residents need to know when it is going to happen so their cars can be moved out of the way.  Although the Clerk had contacted South Lakeland District Council at the end of October to ask them for a date for this work, no date had been given at the time of the November meeting.

Dentdale Music Festival
A number of people in the Dale have been discussing the possibility of organising a folk music festival in Dent next year, probably at the same time as the Sedbergh folk event.  The Council was keen to provide support for this and agreed to award a grant of £250 if the event goes ahead.

A Plan for Dentdale
The Dentdale Parish Plan has now been published and distributed to every household in the Dale.  Over 40 people have been contributed in different ways to its production over the last 18 months, so it represents a real achievement by the community. 

 The Action Plan for the next five years contains a wide variety of projects, and many of them need a similar level of involvement.  Groups have already started work on some of them, and others will follow in the New Year.  Turning all the aspirations expressed in the survey into reality will be quite a challenge for us as a community – the Parish Council can achieve some things, but we will only really succeed by working together.  So if you want to see the plan put into action, please help – choose a project in the booklet and get involved.  To discuss any of them first, please contact me (details below), or Heather Fraser, Parish Plan Secretary, on 25727 or email: dentpp@btinternet.com.

Dent Post Office
Dent Post Office finally closed at the end of November.  The Parish Council would like to express its thanks to Nona, Jane and John Caygill for all their hard work over the years, and to wish every success to the new outreach service in Dent Stores on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  

Grants
Earlier this year, grants were awarded to the Dentdale Show 2008 (£500) and the North West Air Ambulance (£300).  At the November meeting, in addition to the grant of £250 to Dent Music Festival mentioned above, the following awards were also made:

          Dentdale Festive Lights                 £250

          St Andrew’s Church, Dent    £550

          St John’s Church, Cowgill     £250

Applications have also been received from the following bodies, and these will be considered at the December meeting when the overall budget is reviewed.

          Dent Oral History Project

          Dent Pre-school

          Dent Reading Room

          Dentdale Choir

          Dentdale Cricket Club

          Dentdale Over 60s

          Dent C of E Primary School

          Citizens Advice South Lakeland

Cinema in Dent
The November meeting was told that following a review, the successful screening of Flicks in the Fells in Dent now looks likely to be repeated.

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on December 1st in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

Jock Cairns

Chair, Dent Parish Council

Tel: 25655

Email: dentparishcouncil@btinternet.com

October 2008

The October meeting was held in the Sportsman’s Inn, and Margaret Harrison once again took the minutes.  The issue of the cutting of roadside verges was raised by several members of the public, who felt that Cumbria Highways had once again failed to do a satisfactory job.

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above

Whernside Fell Race

The meeting agreed to send a letter to the organisers of the recent Whernside Fell Race to thank them for all their hard work.  The race, which had not been run for a number of years, attracted 172 runners and many of those who took part told the organisers how much they had enjoyed it.

Parish Plan

The Parish Council approved the draft Parish Plan document which sets out the results of the surveys carried out in the last year and outlines the actions that the Parish Council and community groups will be taking over the next five years to deal with the issues raised.  The Plan will be printed shortly and then distributed to all households in Dentdale.

Litter Picking Group

One of the outcomes of the Parish Plan has been the formation of a group of volunteers to help keep the dale clear of litter.  The group is being organised by John Sibley, and the Parish Council agreed to use the Council’s public liability insurance to cover their work.  For a long time, many public-spirited individuals have picked up litter as they have gone about the Dale, but it is hoped that this group will be able to tackle the problem in a more coordinated way.

Conservation Area Appraisal

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is committed to reviewing all its conservation areas over the next few years, and has decided to carry out an appraisal of the Dent conservation area between now and next March.  The aim is to define those qualities that should be preserved and to look for any improvements that could be made, as well as to identify any potential problems.   YDNPA has asked the Parish Council to be involved in this appraisal, and three members – Jenny Pilgrim, David Hartley and Ken McClurg – will be representing us, which means we will be able to put forward our views as the review takes place.

Roadside Verges

In spite of Cumbria Highways promising that the verges would be cut at the end of August this year, the contractor did not carry out the work until the start of October.  A number of members of the public expressed strong dissatisfaction at this, and at the poor quality of the work that had been done.  The Council agreed to try two approaches to the problem: first, to make County Councillors aware of the issue by raising it with the Local Committee for South Lakeland, and secondly to consider what action could be taken at a local level.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on November 3rd in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

September 2008

The September meeting was held in the Methodist schoolroom again as the Sedgwick Room remained out of action.   Chris Evans and Wendy Pontefract were co-opted to fill the two vacancies on the Council, and Margaret Harrison kindly stood in as minute taker.  Bob Pontefract was nominated as the Parish Council’s representative on the Primary School governors.

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Christmas lights

The committee organising the Church Roof Appeal have obtained 10 Christmas trees from the Forestry Commission, and are planning to place them throughout the Dale over Christmas to coincide with the planned Christmas Market on Saturday December 6^th.  They have been looking for funding to help meet the cost of lighting these trees, and with the Parish Council’s support have applied for a grant from the Neighbourhood Forum.

Dentdale Show

The meeting agreed to send a letter to the Dentdale Show Committee following the recent show.  In spite of the bad weather in the preceding week, the committee had succeeded in organising a very successful event over the August Bank Holiday week-end and the Parish Council wanted to thank them for all their hard work.

Audit result

The Council’s accounts for 2007-08 have been approved without comment by the external auditors working for the Audit Commission.  The Financial Statement for 2007-08 can be inspected on the Dentdale website.

Grant Applications

Applications are currently invited for Parish Council Grants for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Address local social needs
• Contribute to the local economy
• Promote the quality of the environment
• Contribute towards maintaining local culture
• Involve or benefit the local community

Written applications should state the amount requested and indicate how the project will meet the above criteria.  They should be sent to Dent Parish Council, c/o West Banks, Dent by 15 October 2007.  They will be considered at the Parish Council meeting in November.

Bonfire Night

Last year we were concerned about the problem of people tipping rubbish on to the bonfire site.  Some of it was unsuitable for burning, and created problems when the site was cleared afterwards.  The appeal we made in Lookaround this time last year for people not to do this worked well, and so we would like ask the same thing again this year: please do not tip any rubbish on the bonfire site.

Next Meeting

The October meeting will be at 7.30pm on October 8^th in the Sportsman’s Inn. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

August 2008

The August meeting was held in the Methodist School Room as the Sedgwick Room was not available owing to the building work currently taking place.  As the Clerk’s post had not been filled, Margaret Harrison took the minutes.

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Marquee

It was agreed that the Parish Council would buy the marquee that had been ordered by the Dentdale Show Committee for this year’s show, subject to funds being transferred from the Show committee.  It was felt it would be a useful community asset, which could be offered for hire to anyone in the community, either in conjunction with the playing field or separately from it.  The Playing Field Committee would be responsible for bookings, and also for storing, erecting and dismantling it. 

YDNPA Housing Plan

The National Park Authority is reviewing the places in Dentdale where it will allow affordable or local needs housing to be built in future.  At present, the only places where this is permitted are in Dent village and in Gawthrop.  The Parish Council has discussed this issue on several occasions, and has concluded that the best option would be to follow the ancient pattern of settlements in the dale, where dwellings have been built at regular intervals along the spring lines.

Consequently, it has asked YDNPA that Cowgill, Stonehouse, Backstonegill, Gibbs Hall, Slack and Helmside be added to the list of places where such housing could be built.  This does not mean that small estates would be built in these places, but that if a suitable site was available, one or two new houses or conversions should be allowed.

Parish Plan

The Council heard that the Parish Plan Steering Group had been holding a series of meetings to discuss the best ways of implementing some of the ideas brought up in the survey.  So far, meetings have been held with Tim Farron MP, County Councillor Joe Nicholson and the three District Councillors, and further meetings are planned with other local parish councils and with the Chief Executive of the National Park.  Because the Parish Council has limited powers, it is important to work with these other bodies to deal with issues that they are responsible for, and discussing them with them at this stage will help to produce a more realistic action plan.

In order to help the Parish Council to implement the Parish Plan when it is produced, the Council agreed to make the Steering Group a Parish Council committee. 

Parish Clerk

The post of Parish Clerk is still vacant, and it is being advertised again in this edition of Lookaround.  If you would like to be more closely involved with your local community (and be paid for it!) this could be just what you are looking for, and I would be very pleased to discuss it with you.

Next Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on 1st September at 7.30pm.  As the Sedgwick Room may not be available then, the venue will be notified later.  Everyone is welcome to attend as always.

July 2008

At the July meeting, David Hartley was elected to fill the vacant post of Vice Chair, and the issue of parking around The Green was raised in the regular Public Forum item.  The resignation of John Ioannou, the Parish Clerk, was received and arrangements were made to recruit his successor.

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Parking in Dent

A member of the public raised the problem of vehicles parking near the junction of Flintergill with The Green and the inconvenience it causes for residents. Last January The Parish Council had requested Cumbria Highways to provide revised parking restrictions, but so far no progress on this longer term solution had been made.  Following discussion, it was agreed to provide slips to be placed on the windscreens of offending vehicles, requesting them to be parked elsewhere, and to contact the police and others to enlist their help. 

Dent Post Office

Although the replacement of the permanent Post Office counter by an outreach service is not likely to happen before September, the Parish Council was informed that the private business side of Dent Post Office will close on 3^rd August.  After that date, Dent Stores will provide a number of additional services, including newspapers, prescriptions and dry cleaning.

Highways Stewardship Scheme

More details have been given to the Parish Council about the new Highway Stewards scheme.  The County Council have appointed a number of Highways Stewards to carry out minor maintenance work on roads and verges throughout the county.  The local Steward covers 13 other local parishes besides Dent, and so he will only spend one week in fourteen here.  An important part of the scheme is that each Parish Council will have a Parish Representative who will help the Highways Steward to identify problems as they arise.  Dent’s representative is Geoffrey Woof (tel: 25424), so please contact him about any matters of concern.

Whilst extra resources from Cumbria Highways to deal with road maintenance are very welcome, this Parish Council and others are not yet convinced that they are adequate for the work that needs to be done, and so we will be closely monitoring the new scheme.

Roadside Verges

Following representation by the Parish Council and a recommendation by the County Council’s Ecologist, Cumbria Highways have agreed to bring forward the cutting of the verges in Dentdale to the end of August.  In addition, two members of the Parish Council have carried out a survey of all the verges in the Dale to identify places where self-sown saplings are likely to cause a problem, and this information has been passed on to Cumbria Highways.

FRED – A Festival of Public Art across Cumbria

The Parish Council gave its support to a proposal from artist Jenni Danson to put a bright yellow knitted streamer across a field in the Dent area, as part of FRED - a festival of public art taking place across Cumbria this autumn. The purpose of the streamer, which will be pegged to the ground, is to ‘bring attention to the landscape and to pay homage to the renowned knitters of Dent’.  FRED has become Europe's largest annual festival of site-specific art, and in previous years, over 350 artists have created 164 projects in over 250 locations.

Council Vacancies

Following recent resignations, the Parish Council currently has two vacancies.  If you think you might be interested in joining the Council and would like find out more about what is involved, contact me on the telephone number below, or speak to any other member of the Council.

Sale of Mowing Equipment

The Playing Field Committee reported that it had managed to sell the old gang mowers and the old ride on mower at auction for £963, which would help meet the costs of maintenance and mowing.

Parish Clerk

Thanks were expressed to John Ioannou, who resigned as Parish Clerk at the end of July, for the work he has done during his time in the post.  Until a new Clerk is appointed, please contact any member of the Parish Council about matters of concern.

Next Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on August 4^th at 7.30pm.  As the Sedgwick Room may not be available then, the venue will be notified later.  The public is welcome to attend as always.

June 2008

The June Parish Council meeting was a relatively short one, but the issue of noise in the village at weekends was raised in the regular Public Forum item.  This agenda item takes place every meeting about 8pm and is an opportunity for anyone to raise any issue that they wish.

To view the full Parish Council minutes click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Dent Post Office

Following the discussion at the Annual Parish Meeting in April, agreement has now been reached with Sedbergh Post Office for the Post Office outreach service on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to be sited in Dent Stores.  A number of technical issues are now being investigated by the Post Office, and so it is unlikely that any change will take place before late August or early September at the earliest.  When this outreach service is set up, its existence will only be guaranteed for twelve months.  Beyond that, it will depend entirely on how much it is used, so it really will be a case of “use it or lose it”.

When the small group of volunteers from the annual parish meeting met to consider the whole issue, Catherine Vinsen offered to co-ordinate support for the new scheme.  If you would like to help with this, please contact her on 25815.

Highways Stewardship Scheme

Joe Nicholson, the local County Councillor, reported that Cumbria Highways were introducing a Highways Stewardship scheme to cover the whole county which would be similar to the Lengthsman scheme proposed a year or so ago.  In essence, all parts of the County will have locally-based workers responsible for the roads in their area.  They will be able to carry out minor repairs themselves as well as maintaining verges, drains and culverts.  More details will be released at a meeting in Sedbergh in early July, but the Parish Council felt that on the information received so far, the scheme had the potential to improve roads maintenance in the Dale.

Noise Nuisance

A member of the public raised the issue of noise in the street made at weekends in the early hours of the morning by customers of the George and Dragon.  The Parish Council undertook to raise the matter with the pub’s owner.

Ann Wilson

Thanks were expressed to Ann Wilson, who resigned from the Parish Council at the end of June.  Ann has served on the Parish Council for a number of years, during which time she has been Chair and Vice-Chair as well being closely involved with the management of the car park and with planning issues.  Her detailed knowledge of Dentdale and the people who live here will be considerably missed.

Proposed Ghyllside development

The decision to give planning permission for the 12 affordable houses on the field above Ghyllside was reported last month.  Those who have looked at the YDNPA’s website will be aware that the plans that have been approved are for stone-faced houses, with only five elevations – those facing the beck – to be finished in painted render.

Next Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on July 7^th at 7.30pm in the Sedgwick Room.  The public is welcome to attend as always.

May 2008

At its May meeting, the Parish Council approved the Annual Financial Statement for 2007-08 and elected the Chair for 2008-09.  It also heard from PC John Orr, the local Community Beat Officer and two of his colleagues.  The following day, members of the Parish Council addressed the May meeting of the National Park’s planning committee about the Ghyllside proposal.

To read the full minutes, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Proposed Ghyllside development

At its May Planning Committee meeting, YDNPA gave planning consent for the twelve affordable houses for local occupancy on the field above Ghyllside. 

There have been extensive discussions over the last few months between Two Castles and the planning department on the details of this scheme and about the concerns expressed by residents and by the Parish Council.  As a result, the original plans have had a number of modifications.  More details can be found on the YDNPA website.

When the houses are built, applicants for them will be selected from the following parishes in order: Dent, Sedbergh, Garsdale, Middleton, Firbank and then the rest of the National Park.

The Parish Council has supported this proposal from the outset, because Dent needs affordable housing for young families in order maintain a vibrant community. It was encouraging to note from the discussion at the YDNPA meeting that members of the planning committee appeared to accept this need and were keen to overcome the difficulties of providing affordable housing in the National Park.

Dent Post Office

In the light of the views expressed at the Annual Parish Meeting in April, the Parish Council arranged for discussions to take place between Eddie and Rita Smith and the postmistress in Sedbergh to see if the proposed outreach service could be located in Dent Stores.  Although no decision will be taken until after the end of the consultation period towards the end of May, at the time of writing it looks likely that this will go ahead.

The people who volunteered at the Annual Parish meeting to look at the Post Office closure proposals in more detail have now met.  They considered the relatively small amount of business currently transacted at the Post Office, and concluded that outreach provision for two mornings a week was a reasonable way forward.  They also agreed to contact Christine at Sedbergh PO to offer their support for the new outreach arrangements.

As a result of these developments, the Parish Council decided to write to the Post Office expressing its support for the provision of the outreach service.

Dent Primary School

The Parish Council has received a letter from the Governors of Dent Primary School about the County Council’s “Strategy for Primary Schools” document.  Although a recent article about it in the Westmorland Gazette suggested that the school in Dent may be under threat of closure, this is highly unlikely.  Its numbers are projected to rise over the next few years, it is too far for young children to travel to the next nearest primary school and because the school is Voluntary Aided it is very unlikely that the Bradford Diocese would allow it to close.

Coal Road

Although some small scale repair work has been done to the Coal Road recently, the continuing extraction of timber means it is likely to deteriorate again very quickly.  The Parish Council is extremely concerned about this, and has asked Kevin Lancaster, at District Council level, and Joe Nicholson, our local County Councillor, to put pressure on Cumbria Highways a) to repair it properly and b) to take action to prevent it being damaged further.

Annual Financial Statement

The end of year financial statement for 2007-08 has been agreed, in preparation for the annual audit.  The Council’s income, excluding the car park, was £7,358 compared with expenditure of £10,161.  The car park income was £23,457 against expenditure of £15,426. 

This resulted in a closing balance of £26,705, an increase of £7,712 on last year.  Of this, £15,000 of this is held as a contingency fund for the car park, most of it against a potential liability for VAT on car park charges which is currently the subject of a test case.  A further £11,500 is being held for the preparation and outcome of the parish plan.

The full financial statement can be seen by clicking on Dent Parish Council Annual Financial Staement above.

Parish Council Annual Meeting

The May meeting was the Parish Council’s Annual Meeting.  Jock Cairns was elected as Chair for 2008-09 and appointments were also made to the following committees and organisations:

Car Park committee                   David Hartley, Ken McClurg, Jock Cairns

Playing Field committee:            Jenny Pilgrim, David Hartley; reserve Geoffrey Woof

Dent Grammar School:               Jock Cairns, Graham Dalton, Ken McClurg, Geoffrey Woof

Dent Combined Charities            Geoffrey Woof, David Hartley

Dent Memorial Hall committee    Graham Dalton agreed to represent the Parish Council

Sedbergh Community Office        Graham Dalton, Peter Knapton

The election of Vice-chair and the appointment of a governor for the Primary School were deferred to the next meeting.

Next Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on June 2^nd at 7.30pm in the Sedgwick Room.  The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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April 2008

The April meeting of the Parish Council was a short one which followed the Annual Parish Meeting.  Only urgent matters were dealt with, including a number of planning issues and the grass cutting contracts for the playing field and car park picnic area. As a result, this report is briefer than usual.  To read the full minutes, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Annual Parish Meeting

About 50 people attended the Annual Parish Meeting at which Councillors commented briefly on their work over the last year, as well as reporting on the work of the committees which run the car park and the playing field.   Comments were also made about the Council’s finances, including the £4,879 that was awarded in grants last year to sixteen local bodies.  As in previous years, the Parish Council had cost more to run than it received in income, which is why the precept had been increased in 2008-09 from £5,875 to £7,170. 

To read the full text of the Council’s Annual Report click on Dent Parish Council Annual Report above.

Margaret Fothergill

Thanks were expressed to Margaret Fothergill for her work on the Parish Council in the light of her resignation at the end of April.  Margaret has been involved with a lot of the detailed work on planning decisions whilst she has been on the Council, and her contribution will be considerably missed.

Proposed New Sedbergh Health Centre

The Annual Parish Meeting started with a talk by Dr Lumb in which he explained the proposals for the new Health Centre in Sedbergh and the reasons why he felt a move was necessary.  Members of the public were appreciative of Dr Lumb’s work in developing the idea, and raised a number of points about the proposal.  In discussion, it was generally felt to be a welcome development and Dr Lumb was thanked for his presentation.

Dent Post Office

The Annual Parish Meeting also discussed the proposed closure of the permanent Post Office counter and its replacement with an outreach service.  Many people felt concerned about the impact the proposals would have on the sustainability of the community and particularly on those that did not have a car.  Others expressed the view that because only 55 people used the Post Office regularly it was difficult to argue that there was sufficient demand for a permanent service.   A number of people felt that any outreach service should not be sited in the Sedgwick Room, and the meeting heard that other possible sites in the village were already being investigated by the Post Office.  At the end of the discussion, six people offered to meet and consider an appropriate response to the Post Office consultation.

Recycling

From time to time litter is left around the recycling bins in the car park, rather than being put in the appropriate bin.  If you see anyone doing this and are able to challenge them, it would help us keep the car park clean and tidy for everyone to use.

Parish Council Vacancy

As a result of Margaret Fothergill’s departure noted above, the Council has a vacancy which will be filled in due course either by election or co-option.  We would welcome new members, so if you would like to know about what is involved please get in touch with any of the councillors for an informal chat.

Next Meeting

Because of the Bank Holiday, the next Parish Council meeting will be held on the second Monday of the month on May12^th at 7.30pm in the Sedgwick Room.  The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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March 2008

The March meeting agreed the Parish Council’s further response to the proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside, and since then Two Castles have been given funding for the scheme.  The news of the proposed Post Office closure came after the meeting took place, so it will be discussed at future meetings.  To read the full minutes, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside

Since the Parish Council met in February, the architect for the Ghyllside proposal has submitted a revised site plan in which the middle block of houses is rotated through 90º to run across the slope instead of up it.  The architect and the YDNPA planning department have been engaged in detailed correspondence about this and a number of other issues, including the design of windows, the landscaping of the site, parking spaces, road construction and turning areas, drainage and traffic issues.  Although many of these were unresolved at the time of the March Parish Council meeting, it was expected that the application would be considered at the next meeting of the Planning Committee.  The Parish Council agreed the wording of its written response, and two members agreed to attend and speak at the planning meeting.

Since then, Two Castles Housing Association has been awarded the funding needed for the scheme by the Housing Corporation.  This has taken the pressure off Two Castles to get the planning application dealt with quickly, and so the Planning Committee agreed to defer the application in order to give the architect time to try and resolve the outstanding issues with the planning department.

As a result, the proposal is not now likely to considered by the YDNPA until the May meeting.

Proposed Post Office Closure

The public consultation period about the replacement of Dent Post Office with an outreach service runs until May 27^th, and between now and then the Parish Council will be gathering the views of residents in order to make an informed response.  In addition to informal contacts with individual councillors, there will be opportunities for people to express their views at the Annual Parish Meeting on April 7^th and at the Parish Council meeting on May 12^th.

Details of how to make comments directly to the Post Office can be found in the leaflet announcing the closure, available from Dent Post Office.

Playing Field and Car Park Maintenance

The grass cutting equipment that is used to mow the playing field is reaching the end of its life, and so rather than replace it the Parish Council agreed to combine the cutting of the Car Park picnic area with cutting the playing field.  A small group of councillors were asked to draw up a specification, seek tenders from contractors and make a recommendation to the April meeting when a decision will be made.

Smoking ban in public places

When the ban on smoking in public places was introduced last year, a lot of the media attention focused on the effect on pubs.  However, the ban also applied to other public places – so to comply with the law, no smoking signs have recently been put up in Dent’s bus shelter and car park toilets.

Twinning villages

The Parish Council has recently received a letter from Stephen Jessel, an Englishman who has lived in France for some years, asking if Dent would like to be twinned with his village of Sahune in Provence.  If anyone is interested in exploring the idea further, or would simply like more details about it, please contact me on 25655 or John Ioannou the Parish Clerk on 25023.

Retrospective planning consent

There was a lively discussion at the March meeting about the number of applications for retrospective planning permission that had been made recently, and some strong views were expressed by members of the public about the YDNPA’s planning department.  As a result, it was agreed to invite a member of the planning department to a future Parish Council meeting to explore the issue with us in more detail and see if there was any action that either the Park or the Parish Council could take that would be helpful to residents who were going through the planning process.

Annual Parish Meeting – Talk on Sedbergh Health Centre

Dr Lumb has kindly agreed to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting about the proposals for a new Health Centre in Sedbergh.  The meeting will take place at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall, and Dr Lumb’s talk will be followed by the report of the Council’s activities for the last year, after which there will be an opportunity for members of the public to raise any topics they wish.

Next Meeting

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday April 7^th at 9pm in the Memorial Hall, after the Annual Parish Meeting.

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February 2008

The February Parish Council meeting considered further evidence of housing need in Dentdale in connection with the proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside.  It discussed the closure of the Business Forum and reviewed the current budget situation.  To read the full minutes, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside

The February meeting looked at new evidence of the housing need within the dale, as this has always been one of the central issues about the proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside.

When it was announced that the Bradford diocese were going to build two houses in the village, the Church and the Parish Council received nine informal enquiries about housing in the dale, including some about shared equity housing. Eight of the nine were from families living within Dent parish (the ninth was from Sedbergh), and seven were from young couples or families with young children.  All of them appeared to be from people who are serious about finding a place to live in Dent.

Since then, the Bradford diocese has so far received five formal applications for these rented houses, and as the application process is still open this may not be the final total.

The Parish Council agreed to send this further information to the National Park’s planning department, so that it could be taken into account alongside the survey of housing need SLDC conducted a few years ago.

Since the meeting, the Parish Council has received amended plans for the proposed development, showing some changes to the design of the houses and their layout.  These can be inspected on the National Park’s website, www.yorkshiredales.org.uk.  

Electricity Supply

In response to a request from a resident, the Council agreed to write to United Utilities to ask why they had not fulfilled their promise to fell the trees near Littletown that were being blown down by high winds and damaging the power cable.  The legal responsibility for keeping the power line clear of trees was unclear, and so it was also agreed to ask United Utilities for a clear statement of the position. 

Dentdale Business Forum

Following the closure of the Dentdale Business Forum, the Parish Council agreed in principle to take over the administration of the Forum’s remaining funds and the Hidden Britain exhibition.  This is subject to clarification of the grant awarded to the Forum for signage, and of the Bier Room lease.  

Budget monitoring

The meeting received the income and expenditure figures for the period up to December 31^st, which showed that the car park revenue for the last three months of that period was down by £1,227 compared with last year.  Overall, the projection to the end of the financial year showed that the Council was likely to stay within its budget.

Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Monday April 7^th, when Dr. Lumb will talk about the proposals for a new Health Centre in Sedbergh.  Details will be posted around the Dale when they have been finalised.

Colne to Skipton Railway

The Parish Council agreed to send a letter of support to the Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership in its attempt to re-open the Colne to Skipton rail link, as it was felt that any improvement in rail services in the area would be of benefit to the Dale.

Next Meeting

The March meeting will be at 7.30pm on Monday March 3rd in the Sportsman’s Inn, Cowgill. The public is welcome to attend as always, there will be an opportunity to raise any matter of concern in the Public Forum which takes place about 8pm.

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January 2008

There was no Parish Council meeting in January – the next one is at 7.30pm on February 4^th in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

December 2007

The December meeting approved the comments submitted to the National Park on the proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside.  It also agreed the 2008-09 budget and set the precept for 2008-09.  To read the full minutes and a detailed breakdown of the budget figures, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

2008-09 Budget, Precept and Car Park Charges

The December meeting discussed the draft Parish Council budget for 2008-09 which projected an expenditure of £12,680 (excluding car park costs).  If the precept remained unchanged at £5,875 the total income would be £7,725 leaving a deficit of £4,955.  If the projected surplus from the car park was added and parking charges remained unchanged, this would reduce to £3,295.

A number of options were considered and rejected to cover this shortfall, including introducing a £5 annual charge for residents’ parking permits, increasing the 2-hour car park charge, reducing the amount allocated in grants to local organisations and removing the amount set aside for contingencies.  After discussion, it was decided to increase the precept by £1,295 (equivalent to an extra 4.5 pence per week per household) and reduce by £2,000 the reserves held for unforeseen major repairs in the car park and toilet block.

Proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside

The Parish Council’s formal response to this proposal was agreed at the December meeting, which incorporated issues raised by members of the public including the level of demand for hosing in the Dale, the external appearance of the houses, traffic issues and drainage.  Since then, the National Park Planning Committee members have held a site meeting to familiarise themselves with the layout of the site, and at the time of writing, the application for planning permission is still being processed by the National Park.

Car parking in Dent

In last October’s Lookaround I explained that in order to take action on the street parking issues raised by residents in July’s survey, the Parish Council would need to meet with Cumbria Highways as they were the body responsible for implementing any changes.  That meeting has now taken place, and as a result Cumbria Highways have agreed to:

• arrange for the painting of entrance bars in the parking bays around The Green, to discourage parking across driveways
• draw up a scheme to restrict parking at the junction of The Green with Flintergill, for possible inclusion in the 2008-09 programme of works
• draw up and submit to central government a proposal for a no parking zone on the cobbles, marked by not by yellow lines but by signs at each entrance to the cobbled area
• work out how to give the Parish Council control of the land opposite the Sun Inn and Dent Stores so that we can use some of it for parking by holders of Residents’ Car Park permits (parking on the rest of the land would remain unrestricted as at present).

Stonehouse Bridge

Following further discussions with Cumbria Highways, they are giving further thought to their proposal to put legally enforceable width restrictions and bollards at Stonehouse Bridge, as the matter is not easy to resolve.  There is a legal restriction on vehicles over 8’ 3” wide on all roads, and so Cumbria Highways’ will not put a width restriction on any road unless it is for 7’ 6” or less.  As some farm vehicles are wider than this, a 7’ 6” restriction would not be helpful at Stonehouse, where the problem is not so much the width of the bridge – it is at least 8’ 4” at its narrowest – but the angle at which it is approached, particularly when coming down the dale.

Residents’ car park permits

If you change your car please don’t forget that you will need a new residents’ car park permit.  New permits can be obtained from Dent Post Office on production of the old one.  If you need to renew your £60 annual permit for a holiday cottage, second home, camper van or business vehicle, please contact the Car Park Administrators, John Hyde or Hilary Firth, or the Parish Clerk, John Ioannou.
 

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November 2007

The November meeting was attended by several members of the public who expressed their views on the plans submitted to the National Park for the proposed affordable housing development above Ghyllside.  The meeting also took decisions on the allocation of grants, and these and other topics are summarised below.  To read the full minutes, click on Minutes of Dent Parish Council above.

Parish Council Grants

The Council awarded the following grants at its last meeting:

It also agreed to donate £250 to St John’s church, Cowgill and £550 to St Andrew’s church, Dent for the upkeep of burial grounds, and £300 to the North West Air Ambulance.

Proposed housing development above Ghyllside

Plans for the proposed 12 affordable houses for local occupancy were displayed in the Memorial Hall and discussed at the Parish Council meeting.  13 members of the public made written comments – of these, 8 were in favour of the scheme, commenting that it was a good scheme on a good site and that it would blend well with the village.  The different sizes of houses were liked, as was their flexible design that allowed for expansion if a family grew.

Other people were uncertain whether there was a need for the houses, and concerned about how they would be allocated. Some expressed the view that they should be built on the other side of the village; others raised concerns relating to the increase in traffic, the drainage of the site and parking spaces.  The Parish Council undertook to include all the points raised in its response to the Planning Authority.

Stepping Stones at Hippins

The National Park had asked for the Parish Council’s views on the construction of stepping stones at Hippins, in order to re-instate the public footpath that crosses the river at that point.  The Council felt that the proposal was potentially dangerous, given the proximity to campsites and the village, and recommended that the Park consider a footbridge crossing instead.

Green Lanes

The National Park had also asked for the Council’s views on restricting motor vehicles on the route from Barth Bridge to Garsdale Foot.  The Council decided to ask the Park both to repair and maintain the route, and to place legal restrictions on its use.

Finance

The last meeting received statements of the Council’s current financial position.  The car park takings for the first six months of the financial year were £16,255, down from £17,250 for the same period last year.  The projected expenditure of £17,102 for the whole year without contingencies compared with £17,289 for 2006-07.

The projected cost of running the Parish Council this year, excluding the car park, is £10,461 whereas the projected income, again excluding the car park, is £7,610.  This means that the car park is continuing to subsidise the cost of running the Parish Council to a considerable extent.  The next Parish Council meeting will return to this issue when next year’s budget and precept are considered.

Voluntary Car Scheme

The recently introduced Rural Wheels scheme has added to the limited choice of public transport in the Dale.  The Voluntary Car Scheme is another option that has been running for some time, which enables a car to be booked through Dent Post Office for journeys within the County.  The scheme needs more drivers to call on – so if you are able to offer to help, even occasionally, please call in at the Post Office for more information.

Stonehouse Bridge

Following our lengthy correspondence with them, the County Council have now asked us if we want them to place width restrictions on Stonehouse Bridge and erect bollards either side of it. The Parish Clerk is currently discussing with local residents the best way of doing this without unnecessarily narrowing the roadway even further.

Next Meeting

The December meeting will be at 7.30pm on December 3^rd in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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October 2007

The October meeting, at The Sportsman’s Inn, Cowgill, discussed the road closure at Denthead and proposals regarding street parking in Dent. These and other topics are summarised below, and as usual the full minutes are published elsewhere on this website.

Road Closures

Considerable anger was expressed by Cowgill residents over the way the road closure at Denthead had been handled by Cumbria Highways.  The signs that had appeared at Sedbergh and elsewhere had been so vague that people thought that the whole Dale was shut.  Both the Parish Council and Ron Martin contacted Cumbria Highways, and thanks to Ron’s persistence the signs were eventually modified.

Flintergill Close

Cumbria Highways have still not carried out the modification to the gutter in front of Flintergill Close, which they promised to do before the end of September.  When asked what was happening they said they had assumed the work had been completed.  The Parish Council has written to the Audit Commission, as it did in connection with Stonehouse bridge, to express its concerns that the County Council still does not seem to be monitoring its contractors effectively.  When Cumbria CC is next audited, this instance and the problems with road closure signs will be used as evidence.

Street Parking in Dent

Following the recent responses from householders and businesses in Dent village about street parking, the Parish Council agreed the following actions:

·    to try and acquire control over the land opposite the Sun and opposite Dent Stores, in order to allocate spaces on some of it for use by holders of Residents’ Car Park permits. Parking on the rest of the land will remain unrestricted as at present.

·    most people wanted no parking on the cobbles, but did not want yellow lines or signs attached to buildings. In view of this, the Parish Council agreed to try and control parking in this area through persuasion and requests for people’s co-operation.

·    to allow holiday cottage owners to buy as many car park permits as they wish

·    to ask Cumbria Highways to repaint the parking bays around The Green, and make the signs clearer

·    subject to YDNPA approval, to erect direction signs to the car park for visitors

The Parish Council has to work through other bodies on parking issues, so the next stage is to hold discussions with Cumbria Highways and the National Park.

Roadside verges

Members continue to be concerned about the state of the roadside verges in the Dale, which are classified as of special interest because of their wildflowers.  Making the roads safe can conflict with conservation, and so the verges are currently cut in late September.  The County’s ecologist carried out a survey of verges in 2002, which concluded that they should be cut in late August in future.  The Parish Council has asked Cumbria Highways to alter the cutting regime in line with the new recommendations.

Proposed housing development above Ghyllside

In the last Lookaround, I said that the plans for this proposed development were available for inspection by the public on the YPNDA website, and after a slight delay this is now true.  In addition, the Parish Council will be organising a display of the plans in the village; details will be posted around the dale in due course.

Dog Fouling

The Parish Council has been concerned recently about the problem of dog mess on The Green and on the playing field.  Young children and sports players are particularly at risk because they are more likely to come into contact with it, as have children on The Green recently.  This is not only extremely unpleasant – it can have more serious consequences.  Contact with dog faeces can cause a toxocara infection, which can cause permanent partial loss of vision.  Responsible dog owners have been aware of this for some time, and dispose of their dog’s mess in a bin.  Please be prepared to challenge anyone you see who doesn’t clear up after their dog, as it will help make clear the community’s views on the subject.

Vacancies

The Parish Council is advertising elsewhere in Lookaround for a part-time Car Park Administrator and for an Internal Auditor.  In addition, adverts have been posted around the dale for a Cleaner for the car park toilets.  Please contact me if you would like more details about any of these posts.

Bonfire Night

Finally, a reminder of the request in the last Lookaround, when I asked people not to tip rubbish on to the bonfire site.  The Football Club, who are building the bonfire, have all the material they need.

Next Meeting

The November meeting will be at 7.30pm on November 5^th in the Sedgwick Room. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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September 2007

The September meeting discussed the Neighbourhood Watch scheme and the proposed affordable housing development in the village. These and other topics are summarised below, and the full minutes are published elsewhere on the Dentdale website.

Proposed housing development above Ghyllside

Two Castles Housing Association are currently finalising their plans for six three-bedroom and six two bedroom houses in the field above Ghyllside. By the time this article is published, these plans should have been submitted to the National Park for planning permission and be available for inspection by the public on the YPNDA website.

The Parish Council is concerned about the following issues, and has written to the planning authority accordingly:

• both the existing road at Ghyllside and the new section should be brought up to standard so they can be adopted by the highways authority
• the development should include two car parking spaces per household
• any stone used for facing should be local
• the high cost of stone facing does not result in a poorer internal finish
• the development does not worsen the rainwater run-off from the site

South Lakeland District Council has set aside money from council tax on second homes in order to enhance affordable housing projects, and the Parish Council is pressing them to release some of this money for this project

Grant Applications

Applications are currently invited for Parish Council Grants for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Address local social needs
• Contribute to the local economy
• Promote the quality of the environment
• Contribute towards maintaining local culture
• Involve or benefit the local community

Written applications should indicate how the project will meet the above criteria and be sent to The Parish Council, c/o West Banks, Dent by 15 October 2007.  They will be considered at the Parish Council meeting in November.

Deliveries to Railway Workings

A lorry delivering ballast for repairs to the railway has caused damage to roadside walls on its way through the dale.  The Parish Council have written to Network Rail to complain, and to suggest that the railway is used for future deliveries.

Neighbourhood Watch

Andrea Bell, the Neighbourhood Watch Officer for South Lakeland, gave a short presentation on the Neighbourhood Watch scheme at the last meeting.  She is intending to meet with all those in the scheme in Dent in the near future to evaluate its current effectiveness.

Street Parking in Dent

Thirty-six households responded to the letter sent to residents about street parking in the village.  A large number of people disapproved of parking on the cobbles, and there was support for an approach based on persuasion rather than coercion.  Opinion on what to do with the pieces of land opposite The Sun and Dent Stores was fairly evenly divided, with twelve households wanting this land freely available for any parking, and nine wanting parking on it restricted to adjacent householders.  Parking by the playing field was not perceived to be a major problem, but ten households identified a parking problem on the roads around The Green.

The response also produced a large number of useful ideas to improve things, and based on these a number of recommendations will be put to the next Parish Council meeting.  It is likely, however, that any proposals will need to be discussed with Cumbria Highways before they can be implemented.

Bonfire Night

Last year a number of people – some from outside Dentdale – took advantage of the Dent bonfire night to tip rubbish on to the bonfire site.  This required a lot of work to clear up after the event, as some of it was not suitable for burning.  So this year, please do not tip rubbish on the bonfire unless you have been asked to do so by the Football Club.

Next Meeting

The October meeting will be at 7.30pm on October 8^th in the Sportsman’s Inn. The public is welcome to attend as always, and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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August 2007

When the Parish Council met at the beginning of August, the foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey was in its early stages, and so a small group of members including Geoffrey Woof and David Hartley undertook to monitor developments and advise the Parish Council if there was any action it could take which local farmers would find helpful.  At the time of writing this article, it looks as if the outbreak may have been contained, so thankfully this monitoring will not be needed.

Full details of the whole meeting can be found in the minutes.

Yorkshire Dales Housing Policy

These days, local authorities are often required to consult with the public before making any changes to their policies, and YDNPA is no exception. The Parish Council took some time at its August meeting to discuss and respond to the following issues as part of the latest consultation from the National Park on possible changes to its housing policy:

Affordable housing.  Surveys suggest that the National Park needs 88 new houses each year for the next five years. Of these, Dent, Sedbergh and Garsdale have been identified as needing 22 per year between them.  The Parish Council felt that as Dent is the only service village in the Sedbergh area, this level of development was too high.  Twelve new houses are likely to be built above Ghyllside, and so it is unlikely that any more would be needed in Dent for several years.

Identifying potential sites for development.  The Council felt that it is sensible to identify possible new sites, but these should be in existing Dentdale hamlets, rather than in just in Dent village.

Types of housing.  The Council thought that for both environmental and economic reasons, it could sometimes be acceptable to build other types of housing than the traditional stone built Dales house.  Because this is a sensitive subject, though, each case should be considered on its merits in order to protect the essential character of Dentdale and other dales.

Meeting local housing needs.  The Council felt that although the present local needs policy has not been in place long enough to assess its success, allowing a developer to build a mix of open market and affordable housing might produce more houses for local people.  However, the Council also thought that ‘local needs’ should be defined to reflect the special requirements of settlements close to the National Park boundary, where there is a need to allow people to live in the Park and work outside it.

Dent Car Park

Tony Playfoot, who has administered the car park since the Parish Council took it over in 2005, has decided to give up his job from the middle of August.  David Hartley, the Chair of the car park committee, has taken over the role on an interim basis until new arrangements can be made.  The Parish Council would like to thank Tony for the work he has done over the last two and a half years.

Planning Application

As reported in last month’s Lookaround, the Parish Council was opposing the application by the owner of Church Cottage in Dent to convert his workshop into living accommodation, on the grounds that the application did not meet the National Park’s local needs criteria.  Ann Wilson and Margaret Fothergill attended the YDNPA Planning Committee meeting on August 14^th to put the council’s case, and the application was refused by 13 votes to 1, with 1 abstention.

Stonehouse Bridge

The saga of Stonehouse Bridge goes on, as the National Park has asked whether it should continue to press for a better quality repair to the bridge parapet.  Members of the parish council have received a number of comments from residents about the poor quality of the work, so it was agreed to ask the National Park to carry on with its efforts to persuade Cumbria Highways to make a better job of it.

Street Parking in Dent

Many thanks to everyone in Dent village who responded to my letter about street parking.  A number of people have made suggestions about how the situation might be improved, and they will be very helpful when the Parish Council’s car park committee meets this month to discuss the issue and make recommendations.  

Next Meeting

The September meeting will be on the first Monday of the month as usual (September 3^rd), but this year the October meeting will be a week later, on the second Monday of the month, October 8^th.  Both meetings will be at 7.30pm in the Sedgwick Room, and the public is welcome to attend as always and to raise matters of concern in the Public Forum item which takes place about 8pm.

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July 2007

The July Parish Council meeting was a busy one, and dealt with a number of topics.  Full details can be found in the minutes – follow the link at the top of this page.

Grant to Dent Show
The organisers of Dent Show were awarded a grant of £500 towards the costs of this year’s event over the August Bank Holiday weekend, which the Parish Council are keen to support.

Street Parking
Concern has been expressed again recently about street parking in the village, particularly on the cobbles and around the Green.  The Parish Council is investigating whether the small areas of land opposite the Sun Inn and Dent Stores could be used to help the situation, and will also be writing to householders and businesses in the village that are most affected to ask for their views.

Car Park Takings
The car park income for the first three months of the financial year was £7,836, compared with £7,911 last year.  As might be expected, the amount taken does seem to depend on the weather, so it is possible that takings may be down this year unless the weather picks up.

Planning application
According to the National Park’s planning policy, new houses can only be built in Dent if they meet local needs criteria. A number of residents have expressed concern over the application from the owner of Church Cottage to convert his workshop into a house, because they do not feel that it meets these criteria.  The Parish Council agreed, and decided to continue to oppose the application which will now be considered by the Park’s planning committee on August 14^th.

Dent Post Office
Parish Council meetings now have a short Public Forum item, when anyone can raise a matter of concern.  At this month’s meeting, John Caygill informed the parish council that the Post office had now decided to close 2,500 post offices throughout the country, and only 500 of these would be replaced by a more limited service.  On the current timetable, specific proposals for closures in this region will be made by the Post Office from January next year, after which there will be a six-month period of consultation.  The final decision will not be made until June 2008 at the earliest.  In the light of this, the Parish Council felt it was important to prepare a response in advance, in case Dent is one of the offices proposed for closure, and so further discussion will take place at the next meeting.

Saturday bus
Since Stagecoach took over the contract for the Saturday bus, there have been several occasions when the bus they have used has been too large to get through the village.  The Parish Council have contacted the County Council to ask them to ensure the bus company keep to their contract.  However, the service often has very few passengers, and this may make it difficult to find anyone to take on the contract when this one finishes in September. 

How to get a car park permit
A number of residents have asked how they can obtain a new residents’ car park permit if they change their car.  The answer is straightforward – simply take the old permit to The Post Office who will issue you with a new one.

Bus shelter and toilet block
The outside of the toilet block and bus shelter has now been redecorated, and the notice boards are in the process of being tidied up as well.  A new notice board for visitors, showing local businesses and places of interest, is in the process of being made and will shortly be appearing on the front of the bus shelter.

Playing Field Footpath
The National Park has now completed work on the footpath that runs alongside the Keld at the edge of the playing field to make it suitable for wheelchair access.  This has been paid for by the Park – as were the repairs to the wall between the playing field entrance and the river carried out earlier this year.

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June 2007

The meeting at the beginning of June was a relatively short one, and some of the issues discussed are summarised below. 

Playing Field Charges
The Playing Field committee has been developing a charging policy for the use of the playing field by the sports clubs that use it regularly and by other organisations that use it occasionally.  As these other organisations sometimes receive grants from the Parish Council, it was decided that in order to be even handed, the charges should be kept separate from any grant allocation, which would be decided separately according to the Council’s normal criteria.

Unitary Authority for Cumbria
The government has asked parish councils in Cumbria for their comments on the proposal to abolish district councils and form a single unitary council.  After discussion, the Parish Council agreed to include the following points in its response:

·    The south-east part of Cumbria naturally has Kendal as its focus, and so a unitary council based in Carlisle would seem remote from residents.

·    If the present district and county councils are merged, it may result in some of the district councils’ assets being sold off in order to balance the County Council’s present liabilities.  If this were to happen, the fear is that it may result in a reduction in the level of services offered to residents.

·    The quality of the representation provided by the new councillors is likely to be reduced, as each councillor’s area would be too large for them to cover effectively. 

Camper Vans
It was agreed that large camper vans that occupy more than one space in the car park should be required to buy an annual permit if they use the car park as their normal parking space during the summer months.  The current rate is £60 per year, obtainable from John Ioannou, the Parish Clerk.

Recycling
Concern was expressed that some people were putting cardboard in the newspaper bins in the car park, as this resulted in the bin being emptied in a landfill site as it could no longer be recycled.  Members of the public were asked to put only newspapers in the bins so that the contractor can recycle them as intended.

Bridge Closure
The Parish Council were notified that Lincoln Inn Bridge, on the A684 between Sedbergh and the M6, is likely to be closed from Monday Sept 3^rd for up to six weeks, as it is badly in need of major structural repairs.  The alternative route, leaving Sedbergh, will be down the Kirby Lonsdale Road (A683) and then right on the B6256 back onto the A684

Next meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council, to which members of the public will be welcome as always, will be on Monday July 2^nd in the Sedgwick Room.

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May 2007
At the Parish Council’s Annual meeting on April 30^th Jock Cairns and Ann Wilson were elected Chair and Vice-Chair respectively for a further year.  In addition, the following appointments were made:  

The following issues were also discussed at the meeting:

Street Parking in Dent
The problems caused by cars parking on the street in Dent was raised at the Annual Parish Meeting at the beginning of April, and the Car Park Committee was asked to consider the matter in more detail and report back to the Parish Council with some possible solutions.

Assessment of Housing Need
The Annual Parish Meeting had also asked the Parish Council to consider the best way of keeping an accurate and up to date list of housing need.  Whilst this is the responsibility of SLDC as the housing authority, councillors felt that this information was likely to be collected in the next few months by the Bradford Diocese in order to allocate its two new houses in the village.  In addition, the survey to be undertaken as part of the Parish Plan should also provide information on this subject.

Financial Statement of 2006/07
Councillors approved the financial statement for 2006-07, which showed an income of £33,217 and expenditure of £29,093.  The council is currently holding reserves to cover unexpected expenditure on the car park, as well as expenditure as a result of the parish plan.  The full statement can be accessed on the Dentdale website www.dentdale.com. 

Allowances for Parish Councillors
Each year, the Parish Council receives a letter from South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) asking if councillors wish to be paid a small allowance for their work which would be paid for out of the precept.  As in previous years, councillors regarded their role as a voluntary one and so did not want to be paid for it.

Parcels for the Armed Forces
There is currently a proposal to abolish free parcel post to British forces serving overseas, and the Parish Council, in common with number of local authorities including SLDC, decided to write to the government to protest about it.

Next meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council, to which members of the public will be welcome as always, will be on Monday June 4^th in the Sedgwick Room.
 

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