3rd Back to regular meetings This evening we had a meeting of the Conservative Group on the City Council to go through the Agenda of the Council Meeting to be held tomorrow evening. It is also a time to catch up with other Councillors and to hear their problems and discuss the way forward.
4th There was a Member/Officer Forum held prior to the Council Meeting at the Civic Centre when any new or forthcoming policies or events are shown and/or discussed with members. The regular Council Meeting approved the minutes of the last meeting and those of the various O & S panels and committees as well as receiving the reports of the Portfolio Holders of the Executive. There were two motions to Council the first concerned the problems at the North Cumbria Hospitals (NHS). The Conservatives put forward an amendment to congratulate the local M.P.s for the work they had done to assist in the work already done to improve the standards at both hospitals especially the Cumberland Infirmary. Unfortunately the amendment was lost. The second motion put forward by the Conservative group was to allow the local residents to have free car parking on Sundays and Thursday evenings after 3 p.m. from now until Christmas Eve in order to help the local retailers in the City. However, the Labour Group had got wind of the motion and had on the previous Thursday announced a similar idea but starting at the beginning of December; thus after much discussion the Labour statement was approved. I should have been at the Parish Council Planning Committee meeting this evening but as I and my fellow Parish and District Councillor Stephen Higgs were both at the City Council Meeting our third member of the Scotby Ward , Matthew Nelson was asked to substitute.
5th The day for Site Visits to contentious planning applications; we were scheduled to visit two Wind Turbines but one was withdrawn and we then visited an application for a development of some 29 houses around a listed building in Wigton Road, Carlisle. Following the site visits we had a training session on 106 commitments.
7th Out early to be at the Civic Centre for 9 a.m. for a pre-meeting before the Development Control Committee meeting at 10 a.m. The application for apartments at Skelton House Wetheral was eventually passed after 4 amendments and 8 different plans to that approved in 2012. The turbine application at the site meeting was deferred and the development in Wigton Road, Carlisle was refused and two other applications were deferred for site visits Other applications were agreed (i.e. moved the planning officer’s recommendation).
8th I was busy last evening helping other residents to set up the local Scotby Village Hall for a Coffee Morning to be held today in aid of the local NSPCC. It was a very busy Coffee morning being well attended and as usual I with the help of my wife and friend ran the raffle with some 18 prizes and raising nearly £300 pounds. The final figure raised was £2080 a magnificent achievement.
9th Armistice Sunday It being Remembrance Sunday there was a Civic Service in the Cathedral. This meant an early start in order to drive into Carlisle, park the car and get to the Assembly Room in the Old Town Hall for robing by 9.20 a.m. The Civic Procession, including the Armed Services personnel, proceeded to the Cathedral for the Service of Remembrance. The lessons were read by the Mayor of Carlisle and Canon Jan Kearton, Canon Warden and the address by The Dean, The Very Revd Mark Boyling. Wreaths were laid in the Border Regiment Chapel. On leaving The Cathedral the Civic Procession proceeded to The Cenotaph in The Greenmarket for the public observance of the two minutes silence at 11 a.m. After a hymn and prayers there was the laying of wreaths by many organisations and the public followed by the Tribute to the Fallen, the Kohima Exhortation and the National Anthem. Finally there was The March Past by the Armed Forces, the Veterans and the Armed Forces Cadets to the music of two bands, one Military and one Scottish.