Stephen

Malcolm you would be welcome on the bus its headed to Norway or Switzerland as they seem to trade freely with Europe with out being member states.

They have to pay the EU for that right though. Switzerland in particular, with no border controls with the EU had to pay towards the costs of admitting the 10 new EU nation states when Poland and the Czech Republic etc. joined. In other words Switzerland's right to trade freely with the EU was dependent on allowing the EU to add 10 more states to those allowed to cross its border without a passport, without the ability to veto any of them, and having to pay for the privilege.

I tend to agree with Malcolm on this - in favour of the idea of the EU but think the reality needs change for the better.

The European Court of Human Rights by the way isn't part of the European Union, it's part of the Council of Europe and Norway and Switzerland are both members.

will there be anyone turning the xmas lights on this year or is the cooncil skin flinting?

There's a free raffle taking place in Whitley Memorial, St Bedes, West End and Meadowdale schools. The winner of each school raffle will get a prize, the overall winner of the four will be chosen on the night to switch on the lights.

Hi All,

Further to your comments I have asked Stephen to upload the minutes of the last meeting to this site, so that everyone can have a chance to see what was discussed at the meeting and perhaps to contribute at the next one.

I will try and get them updated following each meeting in future.

Sorry for the late reply due to work commitments.

Rdgs

Dajazar

I've put them as a new topic in the Public Announcements section (where the Town Council agendas go), they'll appear there when approved by a moderator.

Cheers

Stephen

Dear All, you may have noticed that the lighting lanterns in Market Place have been removed and replaced. This is a temporary measure. Some of the new lantern fixings have failed. The onus is on the manufacture to correct. As a matter of health and safety all lanterns have been removed, particularly because of the high winds. At present I cannot say when the lanterns will be reinstated but they will be. The works have no cost to the council with the manufacturer being liable.

Please feel free to share this information with fellow local residents and businesses.

Regards,

Richard

Richard Schofield

Senior Project Officer

Regeneration Service (South East Area Team)

Northumberland County Council

The Town Council decided to give grants to both SNRG and Koast (the two Bedlington-based stations who applied to us) and we wish both of them every success.

Congratulations John and good luck!

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West, Bedlington on Thursday 11 November 2010 at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson

Town Clerk 04 November 2010

1) COUNCILLOR PETER HARRATT

The Mayor will invite Councillors and members of the public present to join him in a minute's silence in respect to, and reflection on, the late Councillor Peter Harratt.

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person.

In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions.

Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

2) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

3) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 14 October 2010

4) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

5) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

6) ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chair will make any relevant announcements.

7) CORRESPONDENCE.

a. Letters Received:

Skillshare are helping local people to connect with their MP.

The nearest session open to everyone is 4 December at Briardale Community Centre Blyth at 12.30pm

b. New Consultations

NCC has issued a consultation document on the Statutory Youth Service Reorganisation. Response needed by 30 November 2010

Northumberland Parking Strategy public consultations sessions. The nearest being Ashington leisure centre 22 November at 6pm

c. Invitations

The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Clerk were invited to the opening of East Bedlington Council Office on 5 November.

NCC are running their procurement consultation workshop again 15 November at 1pm in County Hall ( Redesdale Training Room )

The Members were invited to the Community Action AGM held 3 November.

d. Freedom of Information Requests

Mr Andrew Glover requested information on the cost of Christmas decorations in 2009 and 2010. He was responded to with £0 and estimated £4,500 respectively.

8) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

Nothing additional to report

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

To update the Council on the organisation of Remembrance Sunday

Christmas Events are a separate agenda item.

c. Services (Councillors Barret, Aynsley and Major)

A Services sub group meeting has been arranged for Tuesday 30 November.

Part of the agenda of that meeting will be to review the Service Level Agreements with Northumberland County Council for maintenance of play areas and bus shelters.

Councillor Barrett and the Town Clerk are attending a free NCC course on allotments, playing fields and play areas 15 November

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications:

10/S/00611

10/S/00622

10/S/00617

10/S/00620

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

The sub group will make a recommendation to the Council regarding the following Community Chest applications:

Meadowdale Middle School – £200 towards football the cost of new football strips.

9) NORTHUMBRIA IN BLOOM + WANSBECK GARDENING COMPETITION

The closing date for entries into the Northumberland in Bloom competition is Monday November 22. West Bedlington Town Council entry will cost £125

1. The Council are requested to decide whether or not they wish to enter the 2011 Northumbria in Bloom competition.

"Best in Bedlington†gardening competition.

2. The Council are requested to discuss the gardening competition proposed by Councillor Wallace of East Bedlington. The anticipated cost is £500 +

10) CHRISTMAS IN BEDLINGTON

To update the Council with the progress made with the installation of Christmas lights.

To update the Council with proposals made for the programme of Christmas events

The Christmas Lights "switch on†is set for Thursday 25 November.

The Council are requested to give approval to the Christmas programme.

11) BEDLINGTON COMMUNITY CENTRE (BCC)

The Clerk will report on behalf of the Steering Group progress made with the transfer of ownership to West Bedlington Town Council

The Council are requested to ensure that they are in agreement with progress to date.

The Council are requested to provide the trustees to be named in the trust document as members of the management committee.

12) CLERK'S REPORT

a. The Clerk will update the Council on the progress with the appointment of a new councillor.

b. The Clerk will update the Council on points of interest arising from the meeting attended with Tesco 27 November as a guest of NCC Town Planning.

c. The Clerk will start the discussion about setting a precept for the fiscal year 2011 / 12

d. Payments which require Council approval in order to be made:

Lloyds TSB - Bank Charges £8.25

HMRC (£134.92)

The Salvation Army – Room Hire £30.00

Northumberland County Council £925.48

John Nicholson £53.76

13) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Service Level agreements with Northumberland County Council will be added to the agenda of the next Council Meeting Thursday 9 December.

14) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 9 December 2010 at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall.

A representative from Tesco will be attending the next Town Council meeting (Thursday 14th October at the Salvation Army at 6pm) and giving a short presentation about their plans at the start of the meeting.

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West, Bedlington on Thursday 14 October 2010 at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson

Town Clerk 07 October 2010

PRESENTATION

Prior to the commencement of the meeting a representative of Tesco will briefly explain to the Council an overview of their proposed new development in Bedlington.

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person.

In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions.

Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

1) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 9 September 2010

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council extra ordinary meeting held on 28 September 2010

3) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

5) ANNOUNCEMENTS

There are no announcements from the Chair

6) CORRESPONDENCE.

a. Letters Received:

A consultancy called Transforming Culture run by a Mr Mitchell has offered its services to the Council.

b. New Consultations

NCC has issued two consultations for new Toucan crossings (cycling + pedestrian) at:

- North Ridge

- Choppington Road

The consultations need to be returned by 22 October 2010

c. Invitations

- The Mayor has been invited to attend the Salvation Army toy appeal.

- The Mayor has also been invited to the official opening of the Red Lion public house 19 November.

7) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

- Financial Report for the half year to 30 September 2010

- Report from the finance sub group held 23 September 2010

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

- To update the Council on the organisation of Remembrance Sunday

- Christmas Events are a separate agenda item.

c. Services (Councillors Barret, Aynsley and Major)

- Service Level Agreements with NCC are a separate agenda item.

- The Services sub group meeting arranged for 30 September was cancelled owing to illness. This meeting needs to be re-arranged.

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications:

10/S/00565

10/S/00580

10/S/00579

10/S/00542

10/S/00538

10/S/00535

10/S/00522

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

The sub group will make a recommendation to the Council regarding the following Community Chest applications:

There have been no other Community Support applications than the request submitted by Friends of Gallagher Park, which is a separate agenda item.

8) UPDATE ON MARKET PLACE

The Clerk will update the Council as appropriate with progress on transferring Bedlington Market to the Market Place.

9) CHRISTMAS IN BEDLINGTON

- To update the Council with the progress made with the installation of Christmas lights.

- To update the Council with proposals made for the programme of Christmas events

- To request that the Council delegates authority to a committee to develop the Christmas events programme.

10) BEDLINGTON COMMUNITY CENTRE

The Council are requested to review the key points from the report written

by Mr Norman Dunn of Community Action Northumberland.

The Council are requested to:

- Agree the proposed ownership and management structure of Bedlington Community Centre.

- To allow the Steering Group to progress the transfer of Bedlington Community Centre from Northumberland County Council.

11) FUNDING REQUEST FROM FRIENDS OF GALLAGHER PARK

This agenda item relates to minute C137/10.

The Council felt that this request for funding should be further discussed at the Council meeting 14 October

Friends of Gallagher Park have requested a donation of £500 towards the opening celebration of the new BMX track currently being built in Gallagher Park.

The Council are requested to decide whether or not to award the donation.

12) SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS

Service level agreements (SLA) have been updated to the correct values added.

The SLA was discussed at the Services Sub Group meeting 17 June 2010 and only the values have changed to match the WBTC agreement and budget.

The Council are requested to:

- Decide whether or not they wish to approve the SLA

- Decide whether or not to appoint a solicitor to approve the legal transfer.

13) CLERK'S REPORT

Payments which require Council approval in order to be made:

£

Bedlingtonshire Development Trust

60.00

Bedlington Juniors Football Club

200.00

Northumberland County Council

(37,493.00)

Lloyds TSB - Bank Charges

7.93

Royal British Legion

130.00

Royal British Legion

35.00

John Nicholson ( stationery/printer cartridges)

93.81

Koast FM

500.00

Northumberland County Council

941.88

The Salvation Army

90.00

14) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minute Ref C111/10 Northumbria in Bloom

Minute Ref C114/10 Wansbeck Gardening Competition

Both of these items were noted in the minutes to be discussed at the 14 October Council Meeting.

Due to other Council commitments these items will need to be deferred until the next Council meeting 11 November 2010

15) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 11 November 2010 at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCILLORS: Arthur Pegg (Town Mayor), George Todd (Deputy Town Mayor), Mary Allen, Tracy Aynsley, Anthony Barrett, Peter Harrat, Paul Hedley, Ronald Major, Stephen Shephard,

I work for BT so I know this looks like a plug for my employer, but I think this could be good for Bedlington.

BT is running a "Race to Infinity" until the end of this year, where you can vote if you want your town to have faster fibre-based broadband. BT have said that they will roll this out to the top 5 exchanges earlier than otherwise planned. For info, without being bumped up the list then Bedlington would have to wait until after December 2011 at the earliest.

It might seem like a remote chance that we'll end up in the top 5 but bear in mind that many larger towns and city centres are ineligible as they already have dates for faster broadband. Also, even if we were outside the top 5 but we got a couple of thousand votes then BT (or TalkTalk who will roll out their own service on BT exchanges) will go where the interest is.

So please take a minute or two to vote for Bedlington and ask your friends and family in Bedlington to do it too.

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend an extra ordinary meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West, Bedlington on Tuesday 28 September at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

George Todd Deputy Mayor 02 September 2010

PRESENTATION

Prior to the commencement of the meeting Paul Taylor, a representative from Community Works will make a short presentation about how they can help West Bedlington Town Council organise Christmas festivities in Bedlington.

OPEN SESSION

There will be no open session at this extra ordinary meeting.

1) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

3) CHRISTMAS IN BEDLINGTON

a. The Council are requested to discuss the cost of Christmas festivities. Quotations will be available for:

The cost of installing Christmas lights.

A "switch on "and other Christmas events.

The cost of a 35' Christmas tree

b. If Christmas costs are approved the Council is requested to discuss the appointment of an organisation to manage Christmas festivities.

c. Due to the limited time available and difficulty in obtaining quotations the Council are requested to suspend adherence to standing orders for any item in a. above which they may wish to proceed with.

4) FUNDING REQUEST FROM FRIENDS OF GALLAGHER PARK

A request was made to the Council by the Friends of Gallagher Park to donate £500 towards an opening ceremony for the new BMX track in Bedlington.

This event is expected to take place at the October half term The Council are requested to consider and make a decision on the funding request.

5) REMEMBRANCE DAY

An update will be given to the Council on progress with the organisation of Remembrance Day.

6) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 14 October 2010 at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

West Bedlington Town Council Agenda 1 09 September 2010

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road, Bedlington on Thursday 09 September at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson

Town Clerk 02 September 2010

PRESENTATION

Prior to the commencement of the meeting Lyndsey Bush, a representative from Benet Enterprises will make a short presentation about how they can help West Bedlington Town Council organise Christmas festivities in Bedlington.

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person.

In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions.

Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

1) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 12 August 2010

3) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

5) ANNOUNCEMENTS

ï‚· Northumberland County Council Executive has announced that Bedlington Community Centre will be transferred to the ownership of West Bedlington Town Council. The transfer will take place as soon as possible.

ï‚· Arrangements have been made to have the public seats on Bedlington Front Street coated with varnish to improve their appearance

West Bedlington Town Council Agenda 2 09 September 2010

6) CORRESPONDENCE

.

a. Letters Received:

Blyth Valley Arts and Leisure would like to meet the Town Council to update them on successful activities held in their area during the summer. They would also like to discuss plans for the future. Sport England funding is ceasing at the end of the year.

b. Reminder

The next NCC / Parish and Town Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 13 October Ashington Leisure Centre commencing 6 pm

.

c. New Consultations

d. Invitations

ï‚· NALC have requested a nomination from the Council to serve on the NALC County Committee in the West Bedlington Ward. The closing date for nominations is 17 September 2010.

ï‚· Invitation to attend a public presentation on 9 + 10 +11 of September regarding the proposed new Biomass plant at North Blyth

7) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

ï‚· .The next sub group meeting is scheduled for 23 September at 6pm

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

ï‚· To update the Council on the recent NCC funded concerts held in Bedlington Market Place

ï‚· Heritage Fair 11 September 2010

ï‚· Remembrance Day

ï‚· Christmas Events are a separate agenda item.

c. Services (Councillors Barret, Aynsley and Major)

ï‚· Update on Service Level Agreements with NCC

ï‚· A sub group meeting is now needed.

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications:

10/S/00076

10/S/00077

10/S/00078

The planning applications 76-78 above relate to the redevelopment of the Tesco store in the Market Place.

West Bedlington Town Council Agenda 3 09 September 2010

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

The sub group will make a recommendation to the Council regarding the following Community Chest applications:

005 Bedlington Juniors FC. £200

006 Bedlington Development Trust £60

8) UPDATE ON MARKET PLACE

To update the Council as appropriate with progress on transferring Bedlington Market to the Market Place.

9) CHRISTMAS IN BEDLINGTON

a. The Council are requested to discuss the cost of Christmas festivities.

Quotations are being sought and will hopefully be available for the meeting.

b. If Christmas costs are approved the Council is requested to discuss the appointment of an organisation to manage Christmas festivities.

10) CLERK'S REPORT

a. Payments which require Council approval in order to be made

b. A schedule of Council Meeting dates until 31 December 2011 will be issued.

11) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Town Clerk's employment contract has been moved to the next Council meeting 14 October 2010.

12) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 14 October 2010 at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCILLORS: Arthur Pegg (Town Mayor), George Todd (Deputy Town Mayor), Mary Allen, Tracy Aynsley, Anthony Barrett, Peter Harrat, Paul Hedley, Ronald Major, Stephen Shephard,

Tesco's plans are now available on the planning portal

Follow the link above, choose General Public and when prompted for a postcode enter NE22 and you can see the list of all planning applications in Bedlington including Tesco, who have three.

10/S/00076/FUL - The proposed new store

10/S/00077/FUL - Erection of a temporary store

10/S/00-78/FUL - Demolition of the current store.

A few points:

The new store appears to have twice the floorspace of the old one

There should still be pedestrian access from the car park to Front Street

Tesco are proposing to put a mini roundabout at the Vulcan Place junction

This post has been promoted to an article

One advantage of local FM over Internet radio is that it gives people a reason to spend a bit more time in town. I'm not saying it would be a deciding factor but the more reasons the better.

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West Bedlington on Thursday 08 July at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson Town Clerk

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person. In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions. Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

1) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 10 June 2010

3) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

5) ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive announcements on any matters which the Chair wishes to bring to the attention of members.

6) CORRESPONDENCE

To receive any items of correspondence addressed to the Council

7) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

ï‚· Presentation of financial forecast for Q1 2010 /11

West Bedlington Town Council 1 Agenda 08 July 2010

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

c. Services(CouncillorsBarret,AynsleyandMajor)

Feedback from sub group meeting The Council are requested to approve a "status quo†position with the Allotment Associations

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications: 10/S/00293 10/S/00295 10/S/00313

10/S/00339

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

A request for support has been received from Koast FM

8) UPDATE ON COMMUNITY CENTRE

To update the Council on the current position with regard to Bedlington Community Centre (BCC) The Council are requested to discuss whether or not to make a bid to own Bedlington Community Centre.

The NCC deadline for receipt of bids is Friday 9 July 2010

9) UPDATE ON MARKET PLACE

To update the Council on the current position with regard to Bedlington Market Place. The Council are requested to discuss the request from NCC for a £4,000 donation towards the purchase of market stalls.

10) 2010 ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE SERVICE

The Council are requested to approve the organisation and expense of Remembrance Sunday

11) NORTHUMBRIA IN BLOOM

The judging is scheduled for 21 July at 2pm. The Council are requested to provide representatives to escort the judging panel

12) CLERK'S REPORT

.) Schedule of payments produced for Council approval b. Clerk's holiday 30 August – 3 September inclusive.

West Bedlington Town Council 2 Agenda 08 July 2010

13) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Town Clerk's employment contract has been moved to the next Council meeting 12 August.

14) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 12 August at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West Bedlington on Thursday 10 June at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson

Town Clerk 27 May 2010

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person.

In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions.

Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

1) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 13 May 2010

3) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

5) ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive announcements on any matters which the Chair wishes to bring to the attention of members.

6) CORRESPONDENCE

To receive any items of correspondence addressed to the Council

7) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

• The Council are requested to approve Councillor Todd being added to the list of cheque signatories

• The Council are requested to approve the change in the cheque signatories so in future any 2 signatories out of 4 may sign a cheque.

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

c. Services (Councillors Barret, Aynsley and Major)

Update on transferred services

Allotments

Play Areas + Bus Shelters

Employment of a Solicitor

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications:

10/S/00229

10/S/00242

10/S/00250

10/S/00251

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

8) UPDATE ON COMMUNITY CENTRE

To update the Council on the current position with regard to Bedlington Community Centre (BCC)

9) PROVISION OF A WEB PAGE

The Council are requested to review the offer made to them to provide a host for a West Bedlington Town Council web page.

10) SUMMER EVENTS PROGRAMME

The Council are requested to review the proposed summer events programme and agree funding if in favour of the programme

11) UPDATE ON MARKET PLACE

To update the Council on the current position with regard to Bedlington Market Place, and any potential request for funding.

12) CLERK'S REPORT

a. Schedule of payments produced for Council approval

b. The Council are requested to confirm whether or not the Subscription to NALC will be paid. The cost for year 2010 / 11 is £654.02

13) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The Clerks contract of employment will be an agenda item at the next Council meeting

14) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Next Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 8 July at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

Please note the final accounts for item 10a of the agenda are here WBTC Accounts 2009 2010.pdf.

WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL

To: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

You are hereby requested to attend a meeting of WEST BEDLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL to be held at Bedlington Salvation Army Hall, Hartford Road West Bedlington on Thursday 13 May at 6 pm

The agenda for the meeting is set out below.

John Nicholson

Town Clerk 06 May 2010

Prior to the meeting commencement there will be a presentation by South Northumberland Radio Group.

This will last approximately 5 minutes.

OPEN SESSION

The Chair to invite members of the public present to put questions to, or draw relevant matters to the attention of the Council prior to commencement of business. This question time will last for a period of 15 minutes overall (which may be extended if the Chairman deems it necessary) and each question is limited to 3 minutes per person.

In order to give every member of the public a fair chance of asking a question, each person will be limited to two questions at each session. The above covers both verbal and written submissions.

Any member of the public who asks a question should first state their name and address.

1) ELECTION OF MAYOR

To elect the Mayor of West Bedlington Town Council for the next 12 months

2) ELECTION OF DEPUTY MAYOR

To elect the Deputy Mayor of West Bedlington Town Council for the next 12 months

3) REVIEW OF SUB GROUPS

To review the relevance and memberships of current sub groups

4) APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

5) MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the West Bedlington Town Council meeting held on 08 April 2010

6) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

7) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

To receive from members in respect of any terms included on the agenda for this meeting, disclosure of any personal or prejudicial interests.

8) ANNOUNCEMENTS

To receive announcements on any matters which the Chair wishes to bring to the attention of members.

Attendance at NALC larger council's forum

9) CORRESPONDENCE

To receive any items of correspondence addressed to the Council

To review any questionnaires requested to be filled in by the Council.

10) WORKING GROUPS

To receive reports from working groups:

a. Finance (Councillors Aynsley, and Allen)

To update the Council on the current financial position for the year 2009 / 2010

To request the Council to approve the final accounts for the year 2009 / 2010

Accounts have been attached to the agenda for members of the public to have.

b. Communications and Events (Councillors Barret and Shephard)

c. Premises (Councillors Harratt and Pegg)

d. Planning (Councillors Major and Todd)

The Council's decision on planning applications:

An application has been received to demolish the Traveller's site at Hartford Bridge and rebuild it with better facilities.

There may be additions from planning applications after the agenda is issued

e. Community Support (Councillors Hedley and Shephard)

11) SOUTH NORTHUMBERLAND RADIO GROUP

SNRG are requesting a donation from the Council

A decision was not made at the last Council meeting - C55/10

12) UPDATE ON COMMUNITY CENTRE

To update the Council on the current position with regard to Bedlington Community Centre (BCC)

13) TRANSFER OF SERVICES FROM NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL

To update the Council on the current position regarding the transfer of allotments, play areas and bus shelters.

a. SLA agreements are prepared for signature

b. Legal transfer documents have been received from NCC.

The Council are requested to make a decision on whether or not to employ a solicitor to review the transfers.

14) INTERNAL AUDIT

a.To update the Council with the report from the internal auditor, Mr. Richard Slater.

b. The Council are requested to appoint Mr Richard Slater as internal auditor for the next financial year 2010 / 11.

15) ATTENDANCE AT SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND PARISH NETWORK The Council have been requested to attend the meetings of the above group.

16) CLERK'S REPORT

A schedule of payments for Council approval

17) CLERK'S CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

The Council are requested to adopt the employment contract of the Clerk

18) ANY OTHER BUSINESS

To consider any other items for information only including items to be brought forward to the next meeting.

19) DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Annual Meeting of the Council will be held Thursday 10 June at 6pm in the Salvation Army Hall

Why not just get rid of political parties and vote for people who you believe are up to the job instead of ones because they wear the right coloured rosette?

The Independent Network did endorse 47 candidates in the election and there were others, including one in Wansbeck - so they were there, but people didn't vote for them. For some people it's about electing an individual as your local MP, for others it's about voting for a manifesto for the country. IMO a voting system should try its best to let people do both.

Stephen,

I tried to par it down so we could see the basics, if I put down all the permutations we would run out of room!

I think the present system has been absolutely shown to be flawed, at exactly the worst time it could possibly pick! We really need a more modern electoral system but most I have read about are far too complex to deliver what is really quite a simple request?

Well STV is probably the most complex to count, but it isn't hard to vote. If Northumberland was a 4-member STV constituency, then you would have four Labour candidates, four Conservatives, four Lib Dems etc and would vote for all your preferred candidates in order of preference, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc

So if you lived in Wansbeck and wanted to vote Labour but preferred that someone other than Ian Lavery got elected, you could vote for the other 3 Labour candidates first and him 4th, and keep going for as long as you cared.

The result would probably be the most popular Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem candidates being elected and perhaps another Labour candidate - I reckon in this election it would have been Ronnie Campbell, not sure about the Conservative as there were no incumbents, Alan Beith, and A.N.Other. They would all be our MPs and we could choose whichever one we wanted to represent us if we had any issues we wanted them to take up.

The biggest drawback (unless of course you are against proportional voting on principle) is the number of names on the ballot paper.

With thanks to the BBC.

What are the electoral alternatives being discussed?

1. Additional member system

2. Alternative vote

3. Single transferrable vote

4. Proportional representation.

Additional member system:

In this system, people get one vote for a constituency representative and one vote for a representative from a larger area such as a county or region.

Alternative vote:

Voters rank the candidates. If no candidate has 50% of first preferences then second preferences are counted and so on until someone has a majority.

Single transferrable vote:

Several constituencies are combined and voters rank the candidates. Members are elected once they pass a certain number of votes, known as a quota.

Proportional representation:

Everyone has a single vote. Each party has a list of candidates and the number of them elected depends on the number of votes the party gets nationwide.

So everyone clear now................

What the BBC are calling Proportional Representation above is really the List system, I suppose you could call it 'Pure PR'. We have a form of it in European elections at regional level, and I would strongly oppose this at a nationwide level as it gives all the power to the political parties to choose the candidates at the top of the list who would almost certainly get elected.

Lib Dem policy is for Single Transferable Vote, and funnily enough this is also the policy of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform. This is currently in use for most elections in Northern Ireland (except Westminster), and council elections in Scotland. Also, I never realised until I read the Conservative site that it was in use in multi-member University seats in Westminster elections until University seats were abolished in 1950.

Additional Member System is the one used for the Scottish Parliament. I think it's not a bad idea as you can vote for someone as your local MP based on the person concerned, and cast a different vote for the party you would like to have most seats.

Alternative Vote isn't proportional, but it would mean every MP needed the support of at least 50% of their electorate, and would put an end to tactical voting. This was the system the Labour party were proposing until 10.01pm last Thursday when they appeared to convert to AV+, similar to the Additional Member System.

It strikes me that we will probably see exactly the same situation as we have in our county, albeit the parties in opposite positions regarding the main administration. Here we have the Lib Dems as a minority administration and only the support from the Conservatives got their budget through this year.

If we get Clarkie and Cable in the same backroom team at the treasury the whole debacle might just have been worth it!

I find it staggering Brown is trying to carry on??????

There aren't enough Labour and Lib Dem MPs in total to form a majority government, so a coalition would have to include the SNP and Plaid Cymru to scrape home, and Plaid wanted an extra £300 million a year spending in Wales.

My feeling is that there isn't enough agreement on policy between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives though, and I think that a minority Conservative government with say, a 2 year stability deal not to bring down the government or oppose a budget within certain limits might be the most likely outcome. The Lib Dems weren't calling for spending cuts as big as the Conservatives' in this first term (there will have to be more cuts after the next election though again whoever wins it) but that probably means there would be some agreement in the first few years. The devil would be in the details.

"Breaking the mold (sic) of British Politics!"

Proving - if proof were needed - that social dependency is a terminal illness.

If I were Cleggie I'd be tempted to tell Gordon that a condition of him staying in power was that the ran down Whitehall naked before negotiations were started. Then: "Sorry Gordon you've been Nick Roll'd!" A potty LD policy that the great British public really would buy!

What a dreadful thought!

OK Stephen, biggest positive increment by historical self comparison.

John Major got the biggest share of the public vote in any UK general election when he pulled it out of the hat????? (I'm not alluding to anything to do with Edwina only that he won a surprise election victory!)

But then the topic is 'the worst PM...............'hmmmmm so much choice!

Being a bit pedantic here I know but John Major didn't get the biggest share of the vote, he got the largest number of votes - over 14 million. I think Attlee got the largest share in post-war elections at 49.7% of the vote, but in 1945 that meant just under 12 million votes.