Minutes 3rd October 2018
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 3rd October 2018 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton(Chairman), Cllr A Birmingham (Vice-Chairman), Cllr J Gibson , Cllr E Hollingsworth and
Cllr E Johns
Apologies: Cllr R Tillett & Cllr M Merrett
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Randall-Johnson (DCC), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and 4 members of
the public
113/18 Apologies
Apology received from Cllr R Tillett and Cllr M Merrett. Resolved to accept these apologies.
Apologies also received from Cllr R Bloxham (DCC)
114/18 Declarations of interest
None at this stage of the meeting
115/18 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 5th September 2018
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 5th September 2018 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chairman
116/18 Democratic period
Cllr E Johns declared an interest in the next item as he had been asked to quote for the works.
Residents of North End sought the Parish Council views on plans to shore up a collapsed bank. There was a discussion on possible solutions and the applicants requested assistance to get any planning application through quickly so that the works could commence before any further damage was sustained. Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) offered to work with the applicants and Planning in EDDC to get the planning application through in a timely manner.
Members of the public present questioned the Parish Council on the plans for replacing the Tree in Chapel Road. The Chairman advised that the Council had made the decision not to continue to fund repairs to the tree and any barriers. Cllr Hollingsworth explained that villagers had previously expressed an interest in setting up a group to come up with plans to replace the tree and fundraise to finance it. She further explained that she had said that the Parish Council would not lead on this but she was more than willing to help the group liaise with EDDC Planning and DCC Highways. The Parish Council had to date received no update from any tree group and were unaware of any plans to replace the tree.
It was decided with agreement of the members of the public present that a group of villagers would explore the possibility of a plan to replace the tree and present the details at the November meeting. The Chairman explained that the Parish Council could assist with funds through an application from the Community Grant Fund but that the group would need to come up with costings of any ongoing maintenance to protection
barriers etc.
Cllr Hollingsworth advised that there was a Japanese Knotweed problem on the footpath by North End and the water treatment plant. The Clerk was tasked with contacting DCC Highways and Cllr Gibson would provide her with the footpath number.
117/18 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall – The Clerk advised that the BSVHT had been approached to have a structural survey carried out so that the Parish Council could know the extent of any repairs which need to be done in the foreseeable future.
2: Footpaths & Verges -
Cllr Gibson had contacted contractors to complete the works to the Lake Bridge Footpath and that P3 funds were to be used to pay for the works. She was now in receipt of new signs and keep dog under control signs and would be putting these up shortly. She explained that the kissing gate was to be replaced.
Cllr Johns had arranged another cut of the verges and this had been completed.
The Chairman explained that he would be liaising with the Chairman of Stoke Canon Parish Council to determine what work would be required to repair the footpath between the two villages and enable a Parishes Together Fund bid to be made.
3: Trees – Cllr Hollingsworth advised that another cut of the grass around the WW1 trees had been completed.
4: Highways & Traffic Management-The Chairman advised that he was due to have two lorry loads of plainings to be delivered to his yard by DCC Highways and once received he would complete the repairs to the verges at Stipperstones.
5: Antisocial Behaviour-Cllr E Johns explained that he had attended a Police Meeting Event on 19th September. He said that the Police were advising that the best option was to install CCTV to assist in catching the culprits. The Parish Council discussed this and felt that this would be an option to consider with a camera placed on the rear of the School. Cllr Randall-Johnson (DCC) said that Cllr Bloxham would have details on what the Council could do and any funding that may be available from the Police and Crime Commissioner and she would ask him to send through details.
6: Community Engagement-Cllr Gibson circulated the newsletter she had produced which was very well received by the Council. There was a general discussion on possible omissions and submissions and Cllr Gibson would bring a revised newsletter to the next meeting. Cllr Gibson would talk to Cllr Merrett about setting up a social media presence for the Parish Council.
118/18 East Devon District Council
Cllr Grundy explained that for his remaining term of office he would be concentrating on getting broadband for all of the 6 parishes in his ward.
The Chairman requested that he update the Council on topics previously brought to him including:
• Answer to the query that the Street Scene Team in EDDC would clear litter from private land;
• Confirmation that the Team Manager from the Recycling Team at EDDC will/has inspected the debris left behind by the Recycling teams in Brampford Speke;
• Update on Cllr Grundy’s lobbying to the Police and Crime Commissioner regarding a closure working relationship between the Police and EDDC on dog attacks; and
• Outcome of MOTION raised by Cllr Grundy for higher financial penalties for people whose dogs attack.
Cllr Grundy promised an update at a future meeting.
119/18 Devon County Council
Cllr Randall-Johns in response to a question about mobile phone coverage said that there had been a change of planning rules so that more mobile phone masts were easier to install but admitted that there weren’t enough
masts in East Devon due to historical issues. She explained that she Chairs the adult care scrutiny committee at DCC which held the NHS and DCC to account. She said that there were new terminologies being used but this was not the privatisation of the NHS and all the NHS trusts now work together now instead of competing against each other. There was a general discussion about the way that the integrated care system worked alongside the local authorities to look at people’s individual needs.
The Council discussed the issues with knowing who to contact if they suspected instances of vulnerable people being exploited or abused. They requested that DCC issue a co-ordinated communication plan so that Clerks would not have to troll through masses of information to send onto their Councillors.
120/18 Planning
No applications within the Parish had been dealt with within the Parish since the last meeting
121/18 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Payments were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
The authorisations were signed by Cllr Luxton and Cllr Birmingham.
Accounting Statements September 2018
Invoices had been received from Contractors for verge cutting and grass cutting and these would be sent to the Clerk to get authorised and payments made before the next meeting. None of the invoices were
outside of the budget.
The Council briefly discussed the budget for 2019/2020 and would look at the draft budget at the next meeting.
122/18 Other information
• Speke Up – the following items would be included in the next edition
o Tree group
o Defibrillator – request for a list of volunteers to check
the machine
• Defibrillator – The Parish Council received and NOTED the Clerks report into ongoing maintenance of the defibrillator. They expressed a disappointment that the ongoing costs had not been considered by the ‘defib group’. They requested that Mary Greener be asked to attend the next meeting of the Council to explain what had happened to the group and what plans had been put into place for ongoing maintenance and replacement
parts.
• Minute Books – The Clerk explained that they had been safely deposited to the Devon Records Office. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should dispose of the damaged fire safe as she saw fit.
123/18 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 9.17pm. The next meeting would be Wednesday 7th November 2018 at 7.30pm, Village Hall