Bamburgh Parish Council

Report  on Bamburgh Parish Council November meeting  2009  

The community  beat officer,  P.C. Lewington,  attended this meeting at the invitation of the Parish Council.   Both councillors and residents present posed questions about the police presence in Bamburgh and where their duties lie.  Concern was voiced about diversions,  through the village via very narrow country lanes, when there is an accident on the A I.  Juggernaut lorries find it impossible to negotiate down these narrow thoroughfares and foreign drivers have no idea where the routes are taking them leading to traffic chaos.

A list of questions about the law regarding street car parking was given to the constable and he will send a written reply to these at a later date.

An inventory of village seats and benches will be undertaken by the Parish Council as they will be responsible for  maintenance and insurance cover under the new unitary authority.  Likewise the  children’s new play area will also be the responsibility of the Parish Council under the new regime. 

There is still no specific date for the transfer of the recycling bins from their present site to the main car –park.

All present agreed the new stone planter between the public toilets was a visual asset.  Jimmy Scott and Gordon Whitelaw were once again thanked for building the planter.

Both the lights at Red Barns and the footpath to the Pavilion had been repaired and are once again in working order.

A councillor brought up the disturbing news that the government is looking at down grading protection on old buildings and those in conservation areas in order to benefit developers.  Changes to historic building protection are contained in a draft government planning policy statement.  The proposed regulations, known as Planning Policy Statement 15 will become national policy that all local councils must follow.   The Royal Town Planning Institute  which represents the Royal Institute of British Architects and other bodies had attacked this document and the planning minister made a statement that the document would be redrafted but it was felt that all parishes, local to this area, must keep a watching brief on this as they all have a number of listed structures and buildings.

Bamburgh Women’s Institute propose organising a Post –Code Bamburgh Village Project in 2010 and asked if the Parish Council would support this idea.  Using the post code directory, an alphabetical list of all the house names with correct address and post code would be made and  lists would be supplied to the Ambulance Service, The First Responders, The Fire Service, The Police and an establishment where visitors and delivery vans start their search for a named house in the village.    Individually labelled magnetic strips would be delivered to every address in Bamburgh which would show the name of the property, its full address, including the post-code to be displayed in a prominent place readily visible should the emergency services be needed.  It is felt this is particularly important in houses that are holiday lets and second homes.  All councillors present thought this an excellent idea and said they would fully support the W I in this project.

The next Parish Council meeting will be January 11th  2010.  7pm in the Pavilion all residents will be very welcome to attend.

 

BAMBURGH  W I

Report on Bamburgh Women’s Institute February meeting 

The committee had organised an ‘ATTIC ANTIQUES AFTERNOON’ when members and friends were requested to bring an antique object with a provenance/history and a possible  antique object of the future.

Most objects had a wonderful personal ‘tale to tell’ and some had been assessed at an earlier date by an antique expert in that field.   It was suggested that we should invite an expert to   value all the objects we had displayed at a later date.

We were delighted when four of our guests enjoyed the afternoon so much they decided they would become Bamburgh Institute members. These new members heard, during the business section of the afternoon, that they would now have the opportunity to join the Lunch club at the Bamburgh Castle Hotel at the end of the month, a Spring outing to Meldon Park, the Council meeting in Whitley Bay, a demonstration for Women reaching Women at the Millenium Bridge in March, a Chicken and Mushroom lunch at our Annual meeting and the Calendar Girls theatre production at the Theatre Royal.

Anne Kirton Bamburgh W I representative on the Seahouses/Belford community forum gave an account of the last forum meeting and members were delighted to hear that the station at Belford is to be reopened.   They were also pleased to learn that officials at Post Office Services recognise the difficulty the mobile Post Office has in connecting to a strong signal in Bamburgh and this is to be rectified in the near future.

Anne Ness, W I representative on the Bamburgh Pavilion committee underlined the importance of the Pavilion as the only community centre in Bamburgh.  This building is requiring much needed up dating and repair and to help with the costs for this she encouraged all present to take part in the Pavilion 100 club draw.

Members had attended a birthday party to celebrate eighty seven years of North Sunderland / Seahouses Institute and they had thoroughly enjoyed the occasion with the demonstration of ballroom dancing followed by an excellent supper.

Unfortunately the dominoes team lost in the final stages to Felton Institute but the team were congratulated for winning so many games.

Bamburgh has received post from Northumberland Institutes saying how much they regret that there will be no Sandsculpture challenge in Bamburgh this year but they are looking forward to its return in 2011 when the theme will be ‘THE HUMAN FORM’.  

Bamburgh members felt that taking on the Post-code project would leave no time to organise the Sandsculture event and members thought that the project was a very worth while one for the community as a whole and should have their undivided attention.

The next meeting is on March 10th when Kath and Harry Gilbert will be showing slides, with musical accompaniment, of their unusual holiday. Visitors will be very welcome to join us.