North Sunderland Parish Council: Poaching, parking, flooding and buses

It will take place on Wednesday, February 17, from 4pm to 7pm, at the police station, which is now housed in Seahouses Fire Station.

Sgt Andy Pullen will be available to listen to concerns about poaching or any other issues.

He told Monday night’s meeting that he was not aware of a particular problem of poaching or hare coursing in the Seahouses parish, although there have been incidents in the Embleton area and further north.

“Since I have been here, night-time poaching operations have dropped off by about 60 per cent,” he added.

Members of the public can contact police via the 101 non-emergency number and there are email addresses on the Northumbria Police website.

Sgt Pullen also highlighted the force’s Farmwatch scheme, which provides updates and alerts to rural communities in the county.

He told the meeting that there had been no reported crimes nor anti-social behaviour in the parish since the last council meeting at the beginning of January.

Neighbourhood Beat Manager, PC Alan Morton, said that the pubwatch scheme had been quiet over the Christmas period, although there had been an incident involving a pub crawl coming from out of the area and causing damage prior to that.

• Parish councillors feel that the switch to the summer timetable for the village’s bus links comes too late in the year.

At Monday night’s meeting, Coun Tom Orrin said that the new timetable, which gives Seahouses hourly buses to connect to Alnwick, Berwick and beyond, would come into effect on Sunday, May 22, despite the fact that Easter is early this year. It is roughly the same date as last year. Coun Sylvia Hillan said: “Not only is there Easter, which admittedly is early, but there’s also the bank holiday at the start of May.”

However, Coun Orrin said that the good news is that there will be an extra service for Seahouses throughout the summer with a bus starting from Belford each morning.

• Progress is being made on the flooding on the road at Monk’s House. The chairman, Coun Geoffrey Stewart, and county councillor John Woodman met a highways officer to discuss the issue. There are some legal issues to iron out so it may take some time to resolve. Members were asking about the flood gate, but Coun Woodman said: “The gate has an impact, but it’s not the main issue.”

• A blue line has been painted on James Street, between the former police station and the telegraph pole, as part of proposals to introduce double yellow lines to make the road more accessible and safer. But the line was painted on the wrong side of the road, so the parish council is to ask the county council to do it again.

• Double yellow lines, even on a seasonal basis, will not be introduced on Main Street near the cemetery as residents in the area were split 50-50 on the proposals.