Agenda APM 8th May 2024
BRAMPFORD SPEKE
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Wednesday 8th May 2024 - 8.00pm Brampford Speke Village Hall
AGENDA
1. Welcome and introductions by the Chair of the Parish Council
2. Apologies
3. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 10th May 2023 (Appendix 1)
4. An update from Brampford Speke Parish Councillors on the work of the Council during 2023-2024
5. Any other ‘parish affairs’ matters that people wish to raise
Appendix 1 – Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting 10th May 2023
Brampford Speke Parish Council
Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting, Wednesday 10th May 2023
Present: 1 member of the parish including Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr S Luxton, Cllr W Honan, Cllr N Vickers, Cllr R Tillett
In attendance: Ms Tracy Watkins (Clerk)
Welcome by the Chair of the Parish Council Cllr A Birmingham who gave an explanation about the purpose of the Annual Parish Meeting. It was not a meeting of the Parish Council. Its formal purpose was a meeting of the registered electors of the parish, convened and chaired by the Parish Council, at which electors discussed parish affairs and, if they wish, pass resolutions.
Apologies: Cllr B Hillson, Cllr H Gent and Cllr S Randall Johnson and Mrs M. Luxton.
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 4th May 2022 – Were agreed as a true record.
Annual report from the Parish Council
Cllr Birmingham (Chairman)
The past twelve months have seen many continued challenges in the world. The war in Ukraine has continued, perhaps longer than many of us initially thought, and the impacts have affected us all in some way or other. Rising food costs and increasing energy prices have become a feature of life now and seem to be here to stay with us for a while longer. In September we also said farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, an event that was marked throughout the country and the village alike.
Our thoughts remain with people in Ukraine and the suffering and hardship many are experiencing. A number of residents have attempted to provide homes for Ukrainian refugees, one family was successful, with the first refugees arriving in the summer of 2022. A big thank you to the hosting family and to all those in village who helped and supported the hosting family and the Ukrainian Refugee Support Group that was established.
The Council has continued to meet in accordance with our bi-monthly meeting schedule and to carry out the various duties entrusted to it. There have been no changes in Councillors during the past year and all current Councillors were re-elected in April 2023 as no formal Election process was required. I would like to offer my thanks for the continued support to all Councillors and the Footpath Warden for the time and commitment they give to their roles, working for the benefit of the community, honestly and to the best of abilities. Some villagers do not always recognise this and it is worthy of acknowledgment again in this forum.
Tracy Watkins took on the role of our clerk last April and we thank her for her sterling efforts in keeping the Council agenda and affairs in order.
Other Highlights
• Village Hall Roof- after a lengthy planning process and with huge thanks to a village benefactor, we are imminently awaiting the fitting of the new roof
• The village ‘Welcome pack’ has been updated and re-issued. Thank you to all of those involved
• Queen’s Jubilee event celebrations were enjoyed by many villagers, a big thank you to all those who worked hard to organise the events
• The Parish Council Website was reviewed and updated
• Defibrillator maintenance completed
I now invite Councillors to say a few words about the areas they lead on.
Cllr A Birmingham - Finance Report
The Annual Audit has been completed for this year and all governance requirements complied with.
Year-end accounts are available to view on line.
Annual operating costs have risen noticeably during the past couple of years and this has resulted in an increase in the Precept monies sought. The Council is committed to managing costs and discretionary expenditure closely to ensure best value is achieved.
The fees for the planning application for the village hall roof were an unscheduled expense.
Earmarked reserves have been reviewed and reclassified to recognise the current demands and needs as seen.
The budget approved by Councillors for 2023-24 is available on request in writing from the Parish Clerk.
Cllr Richard Tillett:
Highways: Road/snow warden duties handed over to Peter Stewart during 2022; have retained highways brief as councillor. Quiet year; some pothole repairs, drain/gully clearing carried out at bottom of Burridge, but persistent flooding on bends await clearance by landowner. Some problems with DCC gritting during severe winter weather; acknowledged as poor by DCC who offered apology.
Village Hall (PC representative on management /trustee committee, jointly with Will Honan): the re-roofing is awaited, hopefully in late May, paid for by very generous donation from local resident. Hall bookings are healthy but support from PC (£2000 pa) remains necessary. Trustees have commissioned various repairs during year including upgrade to electrical system, new water heater etc. WiFi (installed by PC) now decommissioned, but telephone line retained.
Village communications (jointly with Nicola Vickers): community email list reaching over a hundred addresses, to facilitate communications between the PC and residents. Community WhatsApp group (not PC project) now has over 100 members. Monthly PC update for Speke Up. Newcomers handbook updated this year.
Community Land Trust: (PC representative on CLT committee). 2021 housing needs survey established continuing need, but previous possible project at Paws-a-While abandoned in light of objections. Further possible sites being explored, but no further information available at present.
Cllr B Hillson:
• The footpaths are generally in good condition across the Parish. The Council expresses its gratitude to the Footpath Warden, Wynn Stait, for his tireless efforts to maintain the Parish footpaths over the past 12 months.
• Given the time of year, vegetation is now rapidly growing ahead of the annual cutting programme.
• Thanks to the landowner, the large fallen trees on FP10 were cleared promptly.
• The Council has secured funds to ensure the regular maintenance of Station Hill. In particular, two clearances (including one major clearance) have taken place during the past year.
• The counsel's footpath maintenance machinery has been serviced. With thanks to Elaine and Ed, a leaf sucker has been donated to the Council which will be trialled on the Church path in the autumn.
• No major footpath works are currently planned.
Cllr S Luxton:
Verges were attended to when required and cuts organised by the parish council as necessary and only enough to cut back dangerous visibility splays etc and not to disturb too much wildlife and wild flowers etc.
Cllr E Hollingsworth:
The 'tree-in-'railings' is doing well and looked fab in blossom (and also festooned in fairy-lights for Christmas and union flag bunting for the coronation). This was not a PC project - well done to Greg Dawe who masterminded the whole thing and Paul Clay who made the railings (which will be repaired shortly). Thanks also to the resident who generously funded the project. We're still waiting for DCC Highways to fill in the dips in the road caused by the roots of the previous tree now decomposing.
The WW1 trees are all doing really well. The plaque has, sadly, been vandalised a few times - thanks to Ed Sanders for the running repairs.
A native oak tree was planted to mark the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - the tree (and plaque) was provided by EDDC and planted in Station Marsh with kind permission from the owners, Ruth and Ross Matthews.
Several residents have approached me with a view to planting a tree to mark the King and Queens Coronation - not necessarily a PC project, but something for discussion.
Cllr W Honan:
The last year has been relatively quiet on the planning front. East Devon planning department recorded four new property applications during the period from April 2022 to March 2023. Two applications were related to residential property, one application for a business (kennels) and one for the Village Hall.
The property applications were again relatively small in scale. Three applications from the year ending March 2023 were approved in addition to three applications left over from the previous year. The Parish Council (PC) did not object to any application. One application is awaiting a decision from East Devon planning dept.
For the last year the Parish council has been circulating, to villagers, notice of planning applications that the council wished to arrange a site visit. Hopefully this has been useful and feedback would be much appreciated.
Cllr N Vickers:
• Communication and notifications from the PC continues via the email distribution list, village notice boards and regular updates in Speke Up – as well as in person contact as required.
• The Village Welcome Pack has been updated and distributed to all new residents who have arrived over the last 2 years. A copy is also available on the Parish Council website and Brampford Speke website.
• Due to lack of use, the WiFi contract for the Village Hall was ended in March 23 and the router returned to BT.
Any other ‘parish affairs’ matters
None were raised.