Welcome to St Bees. A brief guide to St Bees Parish Council 2017

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1 Welcome to St Bees A brief guide to St Bees Parish Council 2017

2 UK Government - what is it? Voters Westminster National Voters Cumbria County Voters Copeland District Voters St Bees Parish Hierarchical only in size and budget, but NOT policies We are not subordinate to higher tiers, and have no formal Party Politics All are governed only by legislation and are accountable to the electorate

3 St Bees Parish Council Key Points Founded 1894 when Parish Councils were created 14 councillors, parish population 1,800 Active tradition; has always run with a full council since 1894, (in 1979 there were 22 candidates for 14 seats!) Usually meets 3 rd Monday in the month in this hall Corporate body with public visibility Elections every 4 years & casual vacancies Stakeholder management & comms Notice boards (required by law) Large web site with 400 pages, 600 images, 290,000 unique visitors p.a. PC owns the domain, and managed and written by volunteers Facebook page 1,100+ followers

4 Our Village web site The Parish Council owns the domain name.

5 Our facebook page

6 St Bees Civil Parish - Key facts There are five packets of common land for which we are the custodians In the parish we have the only designated Heritage Coast between Scotland and Wales

7 St Bees Parish Council Governance Full Council Clerk VIB Traffic calming Beach regeneration Allotments Formally constituted standing committees Projects controlled by committees FRAG (Finance and risk advisory Group) Neighbourhood plan advisory group In abeyance Ad hoc groups Ad hoc groups Manage specific topics Ad-hoc Small Ad-hoc projects Small projects controlled by project managers

8 What do we do? Activities Traffic calming committee Village in Bloom (VIB) committee Beach regeneration committee Allotments Committee War memorials Common land guardian Own Seamill car park Lease station car park Provide and maintain seats Grass cutting public areas Beach Toilets Provide Beach and Outrigg play areas Web site & Facebook Planning consultee under the 1972 LG Act Maintain/create Footpaths Tree planting Village Hall custodian trustee Litter bins Dog fouling We interact with. Cumbria Assn Local Councils (CALC) Copeland Borough Council Cumbria County Council Sellafield local parishes group North Copeland Coastal Communities NHS Success regime West Copeland local partnership DECC GDF Nuclear waste disposal NuGen Moorside power station West Cumbria Mining Co St Bees School Village Hall Committee Adams Recreation Ground Committee St Bees Parochial Church Council Network Rail and ARRIVA

9 Recent Successes Creating a new beach play area - ongoing care for 25 yrs Preventing beach toilets from closure a 99 year project inherited from CBC Interpretation for the beach area Modernising the Outrigg play area Partial refurbishment just completed Rating appeal beach toilets Just won the appeal Preventing removal of street lighting Traffic calming Fairladies Interpretation Play area Toilets saved

10 Current challenges Traffic and parking a hot topic in the village over many years and situation getting worse GDF - ongoing national debate we have a working group on this NuGen - Attendance at consultation events Village planning - a priority since We have a longstanding working group which scrutinises village planning applications West Cumbria Mining St Bees Valley St Bees Independent School supporting the School reopening in 2018 Seamill bridge - supporting the replacement

11 Development and land-use Planning St Bees P.C. has been very active and vigilant in planning the village since 1976, when the first village plan was produced. The current land usage plan is shown on the right, and is largely based on the original plan, which proved to be very effective The black line is the settlement boundary (development envelope) of the community The pink areas are the Strategic Housing Land Allocation Areas (SHLAA) which have been recently rejected by Copeland Council, but under review currently

12 Traffic issues St Bees Unacceptable peak traffic levels Do YOU need to travel through St Bees?

13 The B5345 through St Bees - the bypass of the Egremont by-pass? Traffic from North bypassing Whitehaven urban delays 1961 relief road (never built) Whitehaven traffic Infrastructure? p.a. B Bn p.a. B5345 The B5345 is one of only two classified roads to Sellafield from North. Huge Sellafield traffic flows through village at peak times Noise, disruption, safety issues. Rat run on long thin residential street with narrow or non-existent pavements What is the policy and future for the transport infrastructure for Europe s largest nuclear site? The Whitehaven East Relief Road, has been on the back burner since Is it time to turn up the gas?

14 Speed gun & safety Circa 30 volunteers engaged and trained Most people take note deterrent effect Numbers from cars are sent to police Warning letters sent

15 Engineered traffic calming On the PC agenda for 30 yrs. Success with chicane at Barony House Project partnership with St Bees School, who helped with funding Targeted an area of high pupil traffic and fast driving Now a new traffic island at Fairladies to slow traffic and provide refuge Barony Crossing 2013 Barony Crossing 2011

16 Cycle track and village access From Whitehaven St Bees cycle track feasibility report produced in 2000, but not implemented. Notional coastal route (recent addition by CCC)

17 Village In Bloom Visibility & impact Councillors Village Hall Beach Play area Care of assets Publicity