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6 JULY 2026 at Nenthead Village Hall

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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MINUTES OF LAST MEETING, MATTERS ARISING

The minutes of the meeting of 1 June 2026 were approved.

• The agreed garden waste bins for Alston and Garrigill have been paid for. 
• There was discussion about the proposed planter to be placed to prevent parking and ensure that emergency vehicles can access the Butts, and a tall half barrel planter was agreed. 
• Westmorland and Furness Council has agreed that the replacement fence for Nenthead War Memorial can go ahead, on a like-for-like basis.
• Miranda Cannon, the new Chief Executive of Westmorland and Furness Council, is visiting Alston Moor on 24 July; she wants to get to know the area and its issues.

CHAIR’S REPORT

There was a good Gala day.  There is a need for a sign at the entrance to Church Road saying No Through Road, as it has become obvious during the closure of the lower part of Front Street that people imagine there is a through route.

Councillors thanked the Clerk, Chair and Town Hall caretaker for their speedy and effective work in dealing with the flooding of the Town Hall, caused by a blocked drain under the road into which the Town Hall drains run.

GRISEDALE CROFT UPDATE

Alston Moor Parish Council has persuaded W&F Adult Social Care to hold a public meeting.  This will be at the Town Hall on 16 July at 6pm, and everyone on Alston Moor is urged to attend.  Several of our challenges have still received no response.  Of the responses they had received, many opted for refurbishment, and W&F has realised that the information given was inadequate as they believe this would cost too much.  They have therefore produced a new booklet with revised wording, and a new closing date. It was pointed out that they have not gone back to Cabinet about this, as they should have done.  They have still failed to explain how they calculated the cost or time to do the possible refurbishment, information that is needed for people to make an informed response. 

It was also suggested that we should contact Healthwatch, but this has already been done and it does not appear that they could offer us much help.  Councillor Grew has contacted the CQC.  The adult social care team has said they won’t consult with the NHS, even though their plan says they should do so.

W&F councillor Mary Robinson suggested that the parish council should write to Miranda Cannon, the CEO, about all this, as she really needs to know what is happening and how W&F is functioning.

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN & LOCAL PLAN

Councillor Martin suggested that we should work on a Neighbourhood Plan, which would take precedence over the W&F local plan, on which consultation has opened.  Our plan should not be finalised until after the W&F local plan has been agreed.  Councillor Robinson pointed out how different a Neighbourhood Plan is from the local plan, and recommended that we speak with Howard Bellis, the Chair of Ainstable Parish Council, as that council has started creating such a plan, but has put it on hold.  A motion was passed to begin work towards creating a Neighbourhood Plan.

POLICIES

Councillor Monk has amended all policies as requested and they will be put on the website.

WESTMORLAND AND FURNESS COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS

W&F Councillor Michael Hanley has circulated his report of the Place Action Group.

Councillor Grew complained that the garden waste will not be collected for three months over the winter, despite the fee being charged.  W&F Councillor Robinson spoke about apparently absurd decisions made to cancel existing school buses for fellside villages and, because the distance is shorter *as the crow flies* to Alston, children are apparently expected to attend secondary school here, apparently without regard for the road distance and winter road conditions!!

There is considerable disquiet from those responsible for the Nenthead and Garrigill toilets, once funded by Eden.  There is now no funding from W&F, and that received from the parish council is not enough to cover all costs.  Various possibilities were discussed.

Councillor Mary Robinson reported that there is a new gate for the cemetery, but there are ongoing issues about cemetery maintenance.

NENTHEAD WARD

The issue of the dying ash trees has been referred to W&F.  The setts outside the Hive are to be reinstated.

ALSTON MOOR PARTNERSHIP

A new director has been recruited, with useful specialist knowledge. 

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Sarah Stamford had circulated her report for June.  She has carried on with things started under AMP.  An information bulletin has been produced and she continues to work on the Community and business Directories.  The Footpath Maintenance group is carrying on but there is as yet no-one to take over the organisation of the work.  She has had discussions about establishing a Garrigill Youth Club.  Planning has begun for the Volunteer Recognition event in October.  She is creating an Alston Moor-specific funding guide.

FIBRE AND MOBILE CONNECTIVITY

Councillor Bondi reported that, at the Place Action Group meeting, we were urged to gather information through Connecting Cumbria and write to the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology and our MP about the many not-spots.  She had had an online meeting with Connecting Cumbria and seen their ‘not-spots’ map (which, for confidentiality reasons, is not publicly available).  No company is currently willing to supply fibre to properties accessed via tracks, as they do not want to deal with wayleaves and the greater work required for maintenance checking.  A letter for DSIT, the Secretary of State and the MP had been drafted, and the council agreed for it to be sent.

AI FOR COUNCIL WORK

Councillor Martin explained that it is clear we will need to be using AI, and it would not only make it possible to create the much-needed new website, but would also be of great assistance to the Clerk.  It was agreed to fund this, at about £200/month, for the next six months as a trial period, during which we will assess what impact it has on council work as a whole.  Five people (the Clerk and four councillors) will be able to use it for council work.   

DOUBLE YELLOW LINES

Councillor Reay had inspected the sites, and recommend that at Townhead there should be double yellow lines for 10 metres from the corner down to the fire station, and up along the Nenthead road to the turning for Back of the Burn.  On Station Road, he recommended 5 metres each way from the corners of the Tyne Willows access road, but not the section further up.  It was noted that without enforcement there will still be problems.

PLANNING

Most applications were approved but more information is to be sought concerning water supply and arrangements for the toilet for the proposed shepherd’s hut at Browngill.  More information was also requested about the proposed Alston Heritage signs.

NEXT MEETING

Monday 3 August 19.00 at Alston Town Hall.  The following one will be at Nenthead Village Hall.

REPORT OF ALSTON MOOR PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
1 JUNE 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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MINUTES OF LAST MEETING, MATTERS ARISING
The minutes of the meeting on 5 May 2026 were confirmed. The parish council insurance bill for the coming year had still not been received this morning, so the Clerk had been in contact with them and received it this afternoon. It was therefore requested that all councillors should let the Clerk know if they saw any problems with the documents before the end of the week.

CO-OPTION OF COUNCILLOR
Andy Reay was co-opted as a councillor representing Nenthead

AGAR
The Annual Governance and Accountability Return is now on the website, and will be on all noticeboards. People have until 14 July to make comments.

POLICIES
This item was postponed to the next meeting, given the number of documents to be read.

GRISEDALE CROFT
Councillor Martin updated the council about progress in the working group. Its title has been changed to Alston Moor Health, as it has become clear that so much about Grisedale connects with wider issues from the period of the hospital beds being withdrawn, including the lack of wraparound services. The consultation hasn’t followed the Gunning principles; costings are not available, a proper Equality Impact Assessment has not been done, etc. The lack of follow-through on all the previous promises means there are no proper pathways for referral of Alston Moor residents from hospital to Grisedale Croft.

A group met with the relevant Westmorland and Furness councillor (Pat Bell) and the officer manaing the consultation (Nickie Phipps). they were told that there is agreed funding to purchase another building, but no information was provided about how much, where this is etc. Councillor Hanley, in his rôle as Westmorland and Furness councillor, had been told last October that W&F were looking at somewhere else for the care home, but no further information is available. However, this all makes clear that there is a push to the ‘preferred option’ which renders the consultation null and void.

It was agreed to refund to members of the working group any expenses they incurred. There was some discussion about whether any of this needed to go to tender, but given that no-one is being paid and this is purely about expenses, it was clear that this was not necessary.

WESTMORLAND AND FURNESS COUNCILLORS’ REPORT
Councillor Hanley had been been at a meeting with the new CEO of the Council, Miranda Cannon. She confirmed that the Grisedale Croft consultation was part of the council’s efforts to save £40million, given the shortfall in funding from central government.

NENTHEAD WARD MEETING
Among other issues, it was noted that Tony Pennell has now retired from the snowplough group, to which he has committed so much. It was agreed that the parish council would write to thank him for all his hard work over the years.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR
At the last meeting, it had been agreed to look into the possibility of contracting the Co-ordinator through the Town Hall, but it was clear this was not the possibility. However, Councillor Monk has looked into the possibilities for the parish council and there is the option of taking her on via a Direct Award, which waives the standing order, as Sarah Stamford has the knowledge and experience needed (and no-one else applied in response to the job description that was publicised). It would be for a maximum of a year, but as some further funding possibilities have now been identified, it is likely this will only be for around six months. It would be for an average of 15 hours a week. The job description is rather different from that which she has held with the Alston Moor Partnership. The tasks are linked to Alston Moor Parish council and are for the benefit of the community, including support for us at AMPC to get things done. All aspects of this were unanimously agreed.

WAR MEMORIAL – FENCE REPAIR
We wrote to check the situation, but we still have no full response from the conservation officer at W&F. Unitary authority Councillors Hanley and Robinson will look into this.

GARDEN WASTE BINS FOR AMPC
Bins are needed in Garrigill and Alston for the relevant waste from the work of the handyperson, and will be arranged and paid for. Nenthead could get one in the future if needed, but it would need to be arranged where it would be sited.

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT GROUP
A number of issues were passed back to the parish council from the Traffic Management group.
(a) It has been agreed that the area in the Butts which has, for a long time, caused concern in relation to parking preventing emergency access for fire engines and ambulance, can be made a non-parking area. It was agreed to source some planters to be placed so that parking in the relevant area is not possible, possibly with some information about the Butts as a place of archery practice in the past.
(b) The issues concerning possible double yellow lines at Townhead and on Station Road were deferred to the next meeting.
(c) The Highways department no longer does ‘red squirrel’ warning signs. The red squirrel group would like to install rope bridges across the road, which have worked very well in other places. AMPC agreed to support the group in their efforts, involving permissions from Highways and others.
(d) In response to a letter regarding a parking matter in Garrigill, it was agreed for a letter to be sent to the four residents concerned, explaining the situation.

PLANNING
The one planning application received in time for the meeting was approved (Skelgill Rigg).

FINANCE
Payments approved. A councillor who has raised various issues concerning finance was not present, so the appointment that the Clerk intended to offer to discuss these matters could not be arranged. Councillors present asked that the Clerk keep a record of the time spent dealing with the frequent queries from this one councillor, as there is concern about the proportion of her time that is being used.

TRAVELLERS ON TYNE WILLOWS
The arrangements made with the temporary fence etc have largely worked as intended. It was agreed that signs will be put up next year to explain the arrangements, as there was some initial misunderstanding.

NEXT MEETING
The next parish council meeting is on Monday 6 July at Nenthead Village Hall.

REPORT OF ALSTON MOOR PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
5 MAY 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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ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The meeting started with the Annual Parish Council Meeting, when all rôles are elected or agreed.
• Councillor Raymond Miller was re-elected as Chair and Councillor Alix Martin as Vice-Chair.
• To ensure Nenthead representation, either Councillor Judith Crossley or the potential new Nenthead councillor (to be considered at the next parish council meeting) will join the Alston Moor Emergency Response Group and the Traffic Management Committee.
• Councillor Alastair Robertson will take over from Councillor Ron Robinson with responsibility for Tyne Willows.
• Councillor Elaine Grew is joining the Place Action Group

All policies are up-to-date and will go on the website.
The Council insurance is due in June and we expect to get the renewal notice seeon

The 2027 precept meeting will be held on 11 January.
The Annual Parish Meeting 2027 will be on 19 April.
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PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
We then moved on to the monthly parish council meeting. The minutes of the last meeting, on 7 April, were approved.

PLANNING
The owners of the Haggs Bank Bunkhouse at Nentsberry were present and invited to speak. They are totally frustrated with the failure of the planning department (both previously Eden District Council and more recently Westmorland and Furness Council) to respond effectively or provide any clear reasons why their application has not been approved. The parish council were unanimous in agreeing that we support the application and will let W&F know this.
New information had been received about the land off Park View Lane, Alston, that the drainage has been diverted.
The council approved the part-retrospective application for Bridge House at Garrigill.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR
As the term for which funding for this rôle was given to Alston Moor Partnership by the Royal Countryside Fund will end in June, AMP have asked the parish council if there is a way to fund a temporary continuation of the rôle. It was generally agreed that it was important to find a way for it to continue, and possibilities will be looked into as a matter of urgency.

AGAR (Annual Governance and Accountability Return)
All is in place and ready to submit as soon as the final processes are gone through. Notification will be put on notice boards.

GRISEDALE CROFT
Westmorland and Furness Councillor Pat Bell, the Cabinet councillor responsible, has agreed to an informal online meeting with Cllr Martin and the Clerk. The W&F Annual Plan says the intention is to keep people close to home. Closing Grisedale Croft, as is being considered and intended to go out for consultation, would run counter to this. It also becomes clear that re-opening the hospital must be part of future plans.

The Alston Health website, (https://alstonmoorhealth.org) covering these issues and the past history, is to be publicised as an AMPC website, with links to the community and business websites. https://alstonmoordirectory.com

NENTHEAD WARD
Various issues raised are to go to W&F Highways.

FINANCE
Precept has now come in and is in full, as requested.
All payments for approval were agreed.

TYNE WILLOWS
Appleby Horse Fair is on 4 June. Melmerby Green is available for travellers from 1 June. We have requested that ther be no fires on the tarmac and to keep to the fencing arrangements.
We are negotiating with Hodgsons about boulders above the gym to prevent access onto the field across that mound.

NEXT MEETING
Monday 1 June 2026, 19.00 at Garrigill Village Hall.

Councillor Ron Robinson announced his resignation, owing to the endless unwarranted attacks on the parish council and his own ill health.

Tuesday 28 April 2026

At well attended emergency meeting this evening, Alston Moor Parish Council unanimously passed all fourteen resolutions setting out its position and campaign in response to Westmorland and Furness Council’s public consultation on the future of Grisedale Croft Care Home.

The Parish Council’s position is clear. We oppose any closure of Grisedale Croft unless and until a legally-binding, fully-funded and operational alternative — providing equivalent residential, dementia, respite and re-ablement provision — is confirmed in advance and located within Alston Moor. Grisedale Croft is the last surviving element of the joint NHS-and-Council replacement package promised to this community in 2017–2018 when the inpatient beds at the Ruth Lancaster James Hospital were closed, and any decision on its future must be taken jointly with NHS partners.

The Council has established a Grisedale Croft Working Group whose task is to build the case for keeping the home open. The Working Group will be reviewing the information and evidence received in response to the formal Freedom of Information requests already submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council, the NHS bodies involved, and other relevant organisations, and will use that evidence to prepare the Parish Council’s formal consultation response. A petition will follow shortly, and public meetings will be held in Alston, Garrigill and Nenthead during the consultation period.

Help us build the evidence base — please complete our online form

We are gathering evidence about people from Alston Moor and the surrounding area who, in recent years, have needed residential, nursing, respite or rehabilitation care but were not placed at Grisedale Croft. If this happened to a member of your family — or someone you know — please tell us about it using our short online form: https://forms.gle/cUqh6XVT6CxLSfSf6

Every response strengthens our case. The information will be held confidentially and used only in support of the Parish Council’s consultation response.

A full Public Briefing setting out the background, the 2018 commitment, and the Council’s response is attached to this notice. Residents are warmly encouraged to read it, talk to their neighbours about it, and — most importantly — submit their own response to the consultation when it opens. Individual responses from residents matter enormously, and the Parish Council will be providing guidance on how to make them in the days ahead.

Download it here

We will keep this page updated as the campaign develops.

(Image thanks to Simon Danby)

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).

The Alston Moor Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Monday 20th April 2026 at 7pm in Alston Town Hall Annexe. This is an opportunity for residents to hear updates from the Parish Council, including reports from the Chair and Clerk, as well as contributions from Westmorland & Furness councillors and local organisations.

The meeting provides a chance to stay informed about local matters and understand the work carried out over the past year.

All residents are welcome to attend.