April 2026 Parish Council Meeting

REPORT OF ALSTON MOOR PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 

7 APRIL 2026

This report is an informal one, and should not be taken as an accurate and agreed record of the parish council meeting. It is written to give our local residents some general information about the meeting, but only the formal minutes, which will be posted later, are a proper record.

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The minutes of 2 March 2026 were agreed.

MATTERS ARISING

Garden waste collection: 

Everyone is very unhappy about the plans to charge.  Apparently, people have to register online and pay, and will then get a sticker to put on the bin.  There is a grace period to 1 July for getting this done.  People can also phone Westmorland and Furness and pay by credit card, but if they have no credit card, they will have to go to Voreda House in Penrith.  It was noted that this is ridiculous – that those without a credit card will have to drive, or find someone to drive them, to Penrith.

Street lights:  

By the end of April, all lights should be under Westmorland and Furness control and those not working, but with the head still in place, will be replaced with dark skies compliant lights.  After that, they will look at those to be removed.  It is unclear if all lights will be replaced.  Local residents should be aware that if there is a lamp near their home that hasn’t worked for a while, they may soon have unexpected light!!

Aggregate for Garrigill: 

The area where one of the Garrigill councillors wanted AMPC to fill in the potholes does not belong to us and therefore such work cannot be done. 

Livestreaming update: 

The clerk has sought advice from NALC, and there was some discussion about what is needed.  A working group was set up and there is clearly a great deal of work to be done to enable local people to see and hear council meetings from their own homes.  Councillor Mary Robinson suggested this issue might be discussed among parish councils at the Place Action Group.

CHAIR’S REPORT

Councillor Miller thanked councillors for their support over the last year, noting that there may be a different chair after the annual meeting on Monday 20 April.

AGAR

All the various requirements have been fulfilled, including arrangements for effective financial management; an adequate and effective system of internal audit; and effective IT and data management.  Last year, the internal auditor suggested that there should be a written statement of internal controls (codifying the way we arrange things) and this is now on the website.  All this clearly indicates that we are entirely compliant with the law.

LETTERS AND STATEMENT CONCERNING ONGOING ATTACKS

All councillors had received a letter that is proposed to send to both the police and the monitoring officer.  This was not read out publicly as it includes personal information.  There is also a statement about these matters to go on the website, Facebook and to the press.  It was agreed to allow the clerk to act on the council’s behalf in order to respond in a timely manner to responses from the police, before the next parish council meeting.

NENTHEAD DEFIBRILLATOR

This is now under the control of AMPC, with Brian Aves overseeing day-to-day running.  A new one has been now been bought.

WESTMORLAND AND FURNESS COUNCILLORS’ REPORT

Councillor Michael Hanley reported on the changes to rubbish and recycling organisation, with new lorries and more staff, so hopefully collections will be less impacted by breakdowns and staff sickness.  There are clearly problems with the plans for wheelie bins, for those with nowhere to keep them, that they will block pavements and some people cannot get them to the roadside.

NENTHEAD WARD MEETING

At the meeting last Monday, all seemed to be going OK.  The Hive AGM is on 21 April.  The shop is doing a GoFundMe because it is currently running at a loss and a new door is needed.  National Insurance and the minimum wage have both gone up.  Councillor Mary Robinson suggested the shop get in touch with her about possible grants from Westmorland and Furness.  There is also an issue about the police only alerting the community that they will be at the shop on the same day, and it is not at all a private space for conversations.  It was added that the same is true of their presence at Alston library.  

PROPOSED REDUCTION IN COUNCILLOR NUMBERS

In discussion, three key points to be made to Westmorland and Furness were made.  Firstly, we cover a large area with three separate wards and need adequate numbers of councillors for each ward.  Secondly, comparing our population numbers with those in the fellside parishes, it is obvious we need our 15.  Thirdly, given the reduction in national funding for Westmorland and Furness, it is obvious that some of what they have previously done will no longer be possible, and the parish council will have to do more, for which more volunteer councillors will be required.

DONATION TO SKS

The relevant details have been received, and the agreed donation made.

COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATIONS

Two applications were approved, for Alston Bowls and Nenthead Community Shop.  The other two were rejected and the reasons will be explained to the applicants, with Alston Heritage being invited to reapply when appropriate.

GROUP REPORTS

AMERG is getting a good reputation and being asked for advice from other groups.

ALSTON MOOR PARTNERSHIP has distributed the new community directory to all homes and it is also available in a number of place

PLANNING APPLICATIONS
All applications were approved.

ASSETS

It was suggested that a fence be erected to prevent vehicle entering the field by going over the mound between the gym and Station Road houses.  Councillors thought that large boulders would be better, and the clerk will get a price.  

There was also discussion about opening the gate and roping off part of the field to keep the Appleby travellers vehicles etc in that area, although horses can graze across more of the field.  We are particularly keen to avoid fires being lit on the new tarmac and ruining it.

CORRESPONDENCE

There is ongoing correspondence with various people at Westmorland and Furness Council concerning the unsightly area previously reported.

NEXT MEETINGS

The Annual Parish Meeting is on Monday 20 April. 7pm at the Town Hall. All welcome

The next parish council meeting is on Tuesday 6 May at 7pm, place to be arranged (Monday 5 May is a Bank Holiday).