The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebration
There will be a Hog Roast and Beacon event on Anick Green on June 4th 2012. Click here for more details
Further uproar at the March 2012 Parish Council meeting
A resident's notes from the meeting, taken during the meeting. The official minutes of the meeting will be published in due course by the Clerk.
The full council, John Pennie (Chair), Cathy Duncan (Vice Chair), Mark Baxter, Robert MacFarland and the newly co-opted member, John Middleton, met on 21 March 2012. There were 11 residents present. There was some discussion about the Asset Register, the Risk Assessment Policy and the audit process. The Chairman and Clerk said that they were of the belief that the Council had properly considered both of these at a previous meeting.
There was a long discussion about Egger who have applied to have the planning approval for the proposed big shed extended. [There is, we understand, no opportunity for the Council or the public to make any representations or comments. According to the public notice the only people who can comment are affected landowners]. Nevertheless there are, reported the Chairman, still serious concerns about the levels of noise generated by the factory and the impact of these on Sandhoe residents. From the Liaison Group meeting, he reported that Egger are aware of the noise problem, are in discussion with Northumberland County Council and have committed funds to attend to the problem during 2012. Residents argued that enough is enough and that stronger action to enforce the conditions should be taken without delay. John Halliday produced a letter which residents intend to send to key players encouraging them to take enforcement action. It was felt that the authority should be reminded that Egger are applying for an extension of a previous approval when they have consistently failed to honour an agreement to meet the conditions applied to the 2005 planning approval for the main factory. The Council agreed that the letter was an appropriate course of action. The Chairman reported that Egger had agreed to fund additional tree planting screen at Oakwood although the money had to be paid to the landowner (Aiden Cuthbert of Beaufront Estate) in order to avoid the Parish Council employing someone to do the work.
Peter Rodger outlined the plans for the Parish Council's approved Jubilee Beacon and Hog Roast event [www.anick.co.uk] on June 4th and the Council agreed to underwrite a proportion of the costs. A delegation from Oakwood outlined the plans for the Fairfield/Oakwood family day event on June 3rd and the Council agreed to their request to fund Jubilee mugs for Sandhoe children (but excluding children at Beaufront School who do not live in the parish).
There was further discussion about the Risk Assesment Register.
At some point during this discussion Cllr Middleton interjected that he was ashamed to have been part of the meeting and that he was resigning from the Council. He left the meeting. Other members of the Council expressed their concerns. There was talk of resignations, both individually and en masse.
There was some brief discussion about one of the seats on Anick Green which is in need of refurbishment and Cllr Baxter agreed to obtain 3 quotes for the work. He also observed that the Oakwood bus shelter is in need of repainting and that the seat outside the School is sinking into the mud.
The meeting closed at a ridiculously late hour. The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 23 May 2012.
[To an observer, this Council is a very unhappy place. The constant questions are causing members (and the Clerk) a great deal of distress and have done so over a number of years since an unsuccessful complaint about two fellow councillors was made to the Standards Board. Registered members of the Sandhoe Community web site may view a full set of notes about this meeting by logging in with their username and password].
An interesting although troubled meeting of the Council
Posted: 17 December 2011
The Council met on December 14th with one less member than usual following the resignation in October of Cllr Elaine Rodger (on her appointment to a senior position within Northumberland County Council). The agenda included the co-opting of a new member (unresolved as yet), a report from the Egger Liaison Group in which it was agreed that Hexham Town Council would be invited (by Egger) to nominate a Hexham councillor to join the group, the adoption of Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and a risk assessment policy. The Council set the Precept for the coming year (to be confirmed) and there was a brisk discussion of the Council's recent audit during which Cllr Macfarland criticised the Council's working methods and called for the Internal Auditor to be replaced by 'someone local'.
There was a short discussion about celebrations for the Queen's Jubilee (Council to investigate what the school has planned) and the next meeting will be held in early March.
The Council discussed the co-opting of a new councillor in camera. [It was later announced that John Middleton of Sandhoe had been selected to be co-opted to the Council]
Sandhoe Parish Council Meeting September 2011
Councillor J Pennie (Chairman of the Council in the Chair)
Councillors Mrs C Duncan, Mrs E Rodger, R MacFarlane, M Baxter
Also Present was Bill Grigg - Clerk to the Council
The meeting was attended by Terry Robson a Hexham Town Councillor who spoke about the possibilities of transferring the industrial estate at Bridge End, Hexham from Sandhoe Parish Council to Hexham Town Council. He said that he considered the present boundaries to be out of date since the A69 had been built. He offered 3 options (see the minutes of the meeting) and Cllr Rodger offered a fourth – a partnership with HTC. Cllr Robson criticised Sandhoe’s alliance with the East Community Forum and thought that the parish should have aligned itself with the Central Forum.
There was some discussion about HTC being represented on the Egger Liaison Group and it was proposed and agreed that this should be pursued with Egger at the next meeting. Note that Cllr Robert MacFarland abstained from the vote.
Under matters arising, Cllr MacFarland said that the insurance premiums being paid by SPC were too high and that the insurance policy did not cover the parish assets. He said that Newbrough PC, of which he is the clerk, paid £250 for a Zurich policy. Cllr MacFarland criticised the Parish Council for, in his view, not having policy documents covering Financial Regulation and Standing Orders. It was agreed that the Clerk would review these at the next meeting.
Cllr MacFarland raised the subject of the parish assets. He said that he had sent “emails galore” about this issue. He claimed that assets have to be described at their original value.
Cllr MacFarland called for a review of the appointment of the parish auditor stating that he believed the auditor had not correctly informed the Council of its assets. There was no support for this proposal.
Cllr MacFarland said that the parish should have a neighbourhood plan and quoted his own attempt at creating a parish plan some years before when he had failed to raise any interest for it in the community. There was no support for this proposal.
Under financial matters, Cllr MacFarland abstained from approving the signing of a cheque for £176.00 because he said he hadn’t seen the invoice relating to it. He also refused to sign the bank mandate on the grounds that he hadn’t read the financial regulations document. The Clerk was asked to submit the mandate with just 4 signatures.
There was some discussion about a risk assessment document and it was agreed that the Clerk would prepare a customised version of the standard RA document for the next meeting.
In all it was a meeting at which the Parish Council seemed to be taking one step forward and two back. It’s interesting to note that many of the items raised by Cllr MacFarland were issues which seemed to completely lack any importance when he was chairman of the Council. At that time there was no financial regulations document, yet he was perfectly prepared to sign not only the bank mandate, but also cheques. Under his chairmanship there was never any discussion or debate about the cost of insurance premiums and there was never any asset register. Furthermore there was never any assessment of risk during his tenure.
Councillor walks out of Parish Meeting
Posted: 12 May 2011
Residents attending last Wednesday's Sandhoe Parish Council meeting were treated to the increasingly common spectacle of a councillor once again walking out of the meeting. This is the third time in 12 months that Cllr Robert MacFarland has absented himself during a meeting and the second time that he's left the meeting inquorate and technically unable to conduct the business on its agenda. Another meeting has been called for Thursday 26th May at which it's hoped that the parish business can be concluded without further interruption.
Oakwood Wedding Party
May 1st 2011 - see the photos here
Annual General Meeting - Thursday 26 May 2011 Beaufront School - 6.30pm
QUICKLINK: Safety improvements to the pedestrian access around the school at Beaufront Woodhead
Please note that full and up to date minutes of Parish Council meetings are now being posted directly on to the new Parish Council web site and will no longer appear on this site. Because of the delay in publishing the minutes (meetings are only held quarterly) we will continue to post observed notes of the content of public meetings here (Scroll down this page). There is also a full archive of Parish Council minutes on the new PC web site.
 Notes on Egger Liaison Group March 2011 | downloads: 314 | type: pdf | size: 37 kB |
| Notes about the 15 December 2010 meeting | downloads: 431 | type: pdf | size: 50 kB |
| Notes about the September 2010 Meeting | downloads: 472 | type: pdf | size: 63 kB |
 Notes about the March 2010 PC meeting | downloads: 624 | type: doc | size: 24 kB |
| Notes on Egger liaison group meeting - Feb 2010 | downloads: 536 | type: pdf | size: 250 kB |
| Minutes of the December 2009 PC meeting | downloads: 608 | type: doc | size: 38 kB |
15 December 2010 - Notes and observations of the meeting of the Parish Council. - Not the official Minutes.
The meeting was a bit short on councillors but was just quorate - at least for some of the time. The footpaths officer from the County Council attended and some progress was made on the maintenance of paths in the parish. The Chairman presented his Egger Liaison Group report. One of the councillors voiced his objection to using email for communication between councillors and left early. Hmm... this seems to be becoming a habit. Shame really, because the following agenda items required a quorum. You can read the full (unofficial) story by following the link above.
8 September 2010 - Not the official minutes; just a few notes and observations on the Parish Council Meeting – held in Beaufront School
This was an interesting and enjoyable Parish Council meeting. Issues and procedures were explained clearly and residents were positively encouraged to participate and contribute and those who did so were treated with attention and respect for their views. Click on the link above to download the full set of notes.
May 2010 Parish Council Meeting
The May meeting was also the Annual meeting of the Parish followed by the Annual meeting of the Parish Council. The Annual Parish meeting followed the usual format. The chairman read out a report of the year's activities and said that he was resigning. Cllr Macfarlane left the meeting.
Cllr John Pennie was elected as Chairman and Cllr Cathy Duncan as Vice-chair at the beginning of the Annual General meeting. A lively meeting ensued, the councillors engaged with the residents who attended and a number of decisions were taken particularly regarding overgrown footpaths and the Parish web site. Cllr Mark Baxter had received a quotation for clearing the footpaths of weeds and nettles and the Council established exactly what the work entailed. Cllr Elaine Rodger declared an interest and took no part in the discussion on the web site. The Chairman established a set of ground rules regarding editorial control of the web site and it was agreed that the project should be progressed immediately. The Council agreed to abandon the www.sandhoe.info domain in favour of registering a new domain name; www.sandhoeparish.net.
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Wednesday 8th September at 7.30pm.
March / April 2010 Parish Council Meeting
At the March meeting of the Parish Council, residents were able to hear of the present and future Egger plans from Nick Barratt (Northumberland County Council). In a nutshell, Nick told us that Egger were still making a lot of unreasonable noise, that the old Tynedale Council should have applied more stringent conditions, that Egger are planning further completely untested noise smothering tricks and that the County Council is unlikely to be waving any further restriction orders at Egger. Nick was thanked for his continuing efforts by the residents.
The rest of the meeting was taken up by a lot of discussion about the Oakwood notice board (still unresolved, in spite of a minuted decision in December 2009 to go ahead). No-one seemed to notice the previous meeting minute agreeing that it should be purchased after 1 April 2010.
There was some follow up to a request from the Beaufront & District Fruit & Vegetable Association for allotments which made no further progress other than to refer a request to lease some land via the vice-chairman;
The PC web site remained unresolved, in spite of a detailed and costed proposal prepared in May 2009, a minuted decision in December 2009 appointing a designer and a decision to meet with the designer which did not take place. The only progress on this item was that the chairman said that he wanted a sample web site preparing for the May meeting and after a residents' consultation a live site immediately afterwards).
It was reported that the Parish Council would have to, unexpectedly, bear the whole cost of the recent election in one payment rather than, as had been hoped and was the case in earlier years, to spread it over 4 years. The 21% increase in the Parish precept this year will be swallowed by the payment.
A resident asked about the state of the recently planted tree screen below Oakwood. John Pennie's report had said that the trees were in good health. The resident thought that they were perhaps in need of some attention as she could see no sign of life in many of them.
There was discussion about the state of footpaths in the area, particularly in the Anick woods, and a proposal that a working party of residents might like to spend a day or two levelling the paths and cutting back brambles and nettles. The last time the footpaths had been cleared it had cost £200 each time it had been cleared in May and August.
The chairman had heard about the Prudhoe big red bus for children's activities, but it was agreed that it would be unlikely to have any value in Sandhoe because there are too few children of an acceptable age. It was, however, agreed that standing at the bus stop in Oakwood might reveal how many children there are. Unless whoever does the counting is arrested first.
Cllr Baxter had witnessed the damage being caused by a lorry to the wall at the foot of Oakwood Bank and it was hoped that the police or NCC would pursue the culprit for repair costs.
The next meeting (Two meetings in fact, the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council) is planned for Thursday 20 May 2010.
December 2009 Parish Council meeting
The Parish Council met on Thursday 10 December. Items under discussion included the Parish Council web site and it was agreed to appoint Peter Rodger to design a new web site. It was minuted that Cllr Mcfarland and Cllr Duncan would meet with Mr Rodger to discuss the web site and its content in early January and that it was hoped that the web site could be launched in May at the Annual Parish Meeting of the council.
The repairs to the bus shelter were discussed. Cllr Rodger asked for it to be recorded that when such large sums were being committed to works in the parish, a full council consultation should take place in view of the limited budget available. The repairs to the bus shelter represented a quarter of the parish budget.
It was formally agreed that a new noticeboard for public use should be obtained after 1st April 2010.
There was discussion about the provision of allotments and it was agreed that the Council would attempt to identify suitable land.
Cllr Macfarlane had attended the opening of the new school building, the St John Lee remembrance service and a meeting of the Northumberland Strategic Partnership (NSP) .
It was reported that the Egger liaison group had met. There was no real progress to report in the reduction of noise intrusion. Egger had suggested to the liaison group that any noise nuisance should be reported to the gatehouse. Generally this is considered not to be a good idea unless the nuisance is simultaneously reported to the authority. Simply reporting it to the gatehouse internalises the issue.
There were 2 matters of 'urgent' business. NCC were to be asked to paint 'BUS STOP' on the road by the bus shelter. Tim Fish, the NCC Footpaths officer is to be asked to attend a Council meeting to discuss the state of footpaths in the parish.
The next meeting was planned for 18 March 2010
September 2009
At the September meeting of the Council it was agreed by councillors that Cllr Baxter would liaise with a joiner to obtain a satisfactory quotation for the bus shelter repair work and that the work would go ahead. The work was done amazingly quickly and the bus shelter is now a safer place to wait.
It was agreed that Cllr Duncan would research and prepare a design for alternative solutions to the notice board problem and that prices for the work would be obtained. Cllr Duncan went to extensive lengths to prepare a number of designs. The plans were circulated for discussion but as far as we are aware no further progress has been made.
It was agreed that Peter Rodger, a resident would circulate a proposal to councillors for the creation of a web site for the Parish. It was agreed that the papers would be considered prior to the next meeting and that a decision would be taken at the next meeting in December 2009. A proposal was circulated within a few days to each councillor and the Clerk. No further action has been noted.
14 August 2009
Government Office North East decline to refer Egger's application for a new shed to the Secretary of State. Read the letter [here].
Tynedale Council have made it clear that they were displeased with Egger's behaviour in commencing building work recently without obtaining planning permission. [Read more] Local residents were appalled by the company's actions and many commented on this "arrogant behaviour". The Council, which of course is in its dying days, has once again missed an opportunity to bring the Austrian behemoth to order. The planning officer's letter to Egger states
"The construction of the log handling unit would constitute unauthorised development and would be considered a breach of planning control."
Many residents say that this planning department never showed its strength where Egger is concerned, seeking only to enforce planning law where applications were from individual residents. The letter goes on to justify not taking any action, but the justification is lame. Given that the council will not exist in its current form in a couple of months, it is unlikely that they would engage in a planning conflict at this late stage, in spite of the fact that their letter makes it quite clear that the regulations have been breached.
"I trust this clarifies the Council’s position with regards to the unauthorised development and would again ask that you enter into earlier discussions with the Council in an effort to prevent such breaches of planning control."
Sad News - [30th December 2008] - The notice board now appears to be locked up once again! Shame!
HOT NEWS! - [18 December 2008] We are delighted to see that the Oakwood noticeboard has been liberated! This morning it was observed that the padlock has been removed from the noticeboard - and it's only 2 days since we had a rant about it (see beow). It's confusing, however, that the notice about it being locked is still displayed. Sandhoe Community has been asking for the padlock to be removed for some months. The parish council agreed (by a vote some 8 months ago) that the noticeboard would be modified so that half of it could be publicly accessible. In obtaining a price for the work it was recommended that because of its condition, the board should be replaced at a cost of about £80.00. This work was not commissioned by the parish council and as far as we are aware the matter has not been discussed further with residents nor amongst the councillors.
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