Minutes 5th April 2017
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 5th April 2017 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr A Wiles (Chair), Cllr S Luxton (Vice-Chair), Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr M Merrett, Cllr E Hollingsworth and Cllr R Tillett
Apologies: Cllr G Carden (Away)
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC)
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Apologies
Cllr G Carden (Away). Resolved to accept this apology
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Declarations of interest
No declarations were made at this stage if the meeting
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Minutes of meeting held on 1st March 2017
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 1st March 2017 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by Chair
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Democratic period
None
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Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall –
· Cllrs Tillett and Merrett advised that work had now started on the extension to the village hall
2: Footpaths –
· Cllr A Wiles advised that Ros Davis (DCC) was aware of the repairs required on footpath 9 and he was waiting for a update
· Cllr e Hollingsworth advised that she had requested a quotation from PG Hill to move the bollard on Station Hill from the bottom to the top of the Hill
3: Trees -
· Cllr E Hollingsworth advised that the tree protection was nearing completion and that she was going to paint the posts white prior to final installation by PG Hill
· Cllr E Hollingsworth proposed that the PC finance three cuts to the grass around the WW1 trees in 2017. She advised that she would be fundraising to finance some of the costs. The PC agreed to finance 3 cuts by Four Seasons at a cost of £560 and that the money would be drawn from the PC reserves. Cllr E Hollingsworth would contact Four Seasons to provide a contract for the works
4: Highways – Cllr S Grundy confirmed that the work on the overhead power lines at Stoke Cannon would not require the shutting of the bridge.
5. Litter Bin – Cllr E Hollingsworth advised she had spoken to EDDC and asked for recycling bins but they had said no. After discussion the PC agreed that EDDC be approach to provide a wheelie bin and to enquire if there would be a cost to the PC. Cllr Hollingsworth would contact EDDC to enquire
6: Superfast Broadband – Cllr M Merrett advised that he was waiting to hear back from his contact at Connecting Devon & Somerset about the final steps in commissioning the new service; in the meantime some websites are wrongly claiming/offering speeds of 60-80 Mbps.
7: Verges – Cllr A Wiles advised that he had been in contact with Upton Pyne PC and agreed that they would enquire about a contractor to cut their verges with Brampford Speke entering the contract for the Parish
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DCC Matters
The PC agreed to contact the new County Councillor(s) when they were elected and invite them to future Parish Meetings
47/17
EDDC
Cllr S Grundy advised that the dangerous dogs issue had gone quiet. He had been working with Cllr Margaret Squires to obtain further details about the Thorverton Bridge repairs but because we are now in a period of Purda that there was little to report.
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Planning
Cllr Wiles advised that Chris Rose a Conservation and Development Manager for EDDC had come to talk to councillors. He reported:
· There were complex rules about what planning permission was required in conservation area’s
· Residents in a conservation area could ask EDDC if they needed planning permission. The cost of written advice was £40.00 and the request would be made public on the EDDC planning portal
· A ‘Heritage Plan ‘would shortly be consulted on which will review the 33 conservation area’s in East Devon.
Planning application 17/0446/Full – Support
Cllr A Wiles advised that DCC were asking for responses to the Great Exeter Strategic Plan by 10th April. The PC agreed to give a low key response and emphasise that Brampford Speke was a small village in a rural area
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Housekeeping matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Cheques were approved for:
· The Clerk
· HMRC
· DALC
· Zurich Insurance
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Governance
The PC inspected and approved the final accounts for 2016-2017
The PC approved the Annual Governance Statement and this was duly signed by the Chairman Cllr A Wiles and the Clerk
The PC agreed to appoint Julie Hubbard as the Internal Auditor
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Community Grant Fund
Cllr A Wiles requested that the PC make a decision on whether the Village Hall Trust should make future requests for funding through the Community Grant Fund. The PC discussed this and decided to give the trust notice that from 2019 the request for funding would need to be made via the fund.
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Agenda for APM
The agenda and approach were agreed for the APM to be held on 26th April 2017
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Insurance Cover
The PC agreed that the insurance cover was adequate and Cllr R Tillett advised that the requirement to have a risk assessment had already been completed. It was agreed that Cllr Tillett would have a final look at the insurance documents to ensure the PC were compliant with the Insurers requirements
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Other information
None
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Next meetings
APM Wednesday 26th April 2017 & AGM Wednesday 3rd May 7.30pm, Village Hall