Minutes 5th September 2018
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 5th September 2018 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton(Chairman), Cllr R Tillett, Cllr M Merrett, Cllr E Hollingsworth and Cllr E Johns
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Randall-Johnson (DCC), and 1 member of the public
100/18 Apologies
Apology received from A Birmingham & Cllr J Gibson. Resolved to accept these apologies.
Apologies also received from Cllr R Bloxham (DCC) and Cllr S Grundy (EDDC)
101/18 Declarations of interest
None
102/18 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 4th July 2018
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 4th July 2018 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chairman
103/18 Democratic period
The Council heard from the applicant at Fortescue Farm, which is situated outside of the Parish Boundary who confirmed that he had employed a traffic consultant to mitigate traffic concerns. The Parish Council expressed its thanks for the information.
104/18 Meeting management
The Chairman advised that the DCC update from Cllr S Randall-Johnson would be moved to the next item on the agenda
105/18 Devon County Council update
Cllr S Randall-Johnson explained to the Council the traffic calming measures she had recently witnessed in France. She stated EDDC could provide dog poo bags in bulk and the Parish Council might want to consider purchasing some and providing these free next to the dog bins in the village. The Council requested that she send details of the costs to the clerk and a decision would be made at a future meeting.
The Council requested that Cllr Randall-Johnson obtain confirmation from DCC Highways on when the resurfacing at Woodrow Barton would be completed. She confirmed that she would do this and also request that plainings were delivered to Cllr Luxtons yard so that the repairs to the lay-by at Stipperstone could commence.
106/18 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall – Cllr Merrett confirmed that there was a committee meeting due next week and the Clerk confirmed that the yearly grant had been paid over the summer. The Council discussed ongoing funding and requested that the BSVHT undertake a structural survey to establish if there were major repairs due so that any increase in funding could be factored into the Parish Council budget for 2019-2020.
2: Footpaths & Verges -Cllr Gibson would give an update at the next meeting.
The Parish Council agreed that a contractor should be approached to make the repairs to the Lake Bridge Footpath and the P3 funds be used to pay for the works. Cllr Gibson, in her absence, was tasked with contacting contractors and obtaining timeframes and quotations for the works to be completed.
The Parish Council agreed that the verges would have another cut in 2018 and Cllr Johns would arrange this.
Cllr Hollingsworth had spoken to contractor who was keen to replace the posts and rails on Station Hill but the Parish Council felt that the works could be included within Stoke Canon’s bid for Parishes together funding to refurbish the footpath between the two villages. The Clerk was tasked with contacting Stoke Canon Parish Council to agree to support funding and to include the rails and posts on Station Hill.
3: Trees – The Chairman proposed that and article be placed in Speke Up which stated the intention for the Parish Council to arrange DCC Highways to fill in the void left by the removed tree unless a village group came forward before the January meeting with a structured and costed plan to replace the tree. This was seconded by Cllr Merrett. It was therefore RESOLVED that the Parish Council would arrange for the void to be filled if no village group came forward before the January meeting.
4: Highways & Traffic Management-The Council discussed the possibilities of installing chicanes in the village to stop speeding but decided not to pursue this at this time.
5: Antisocial Behaviour-The Council discussed the recent problems but felt that it had limited powers to act and that there was little support within the village for people to report instances. Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) would be asked from an update on items previously raised.
6: Community Engagement-Update due from Cllr Gibson at the next meeting.
107/18 East Devon Disrict Council
• No update received from Cllr S Grundy
108/18 Planning
No applications within the Parish had been dealt with within the Parish since the last meeting
109/18 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
The following approved payments since the last meeting were noted:
• Four Seasons (Grass Cutting)
• Cllr M Merrett (Defibrillator)
• BSVHT(Annual Grant)
Payments were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
The authorisations were signed by Cllr Luxton and Cllr Tillett.
Accounting Statements August 2018
110/18 Motion
The following Motion was presented to the Council by Cllr S Luxton:
The defibrillator was used over the summer to assist someone in need. The process of replacing the pads was unclear and therefore it was agreed that the Parish Council stepped in and covered the costs. The defib group which was originally set up to raise funds to purchase the defibrillator does not have any direct responsibility to maintain this important asset for the village. I therefore propose that this Council be proactive and take over the
running costs of the village defibrillator including replacement parts and ongoing maintenance. Costs to be met in future years through the precept and costs to be met for 2018-2019 through reserves.
It was RESOLVED that the Motion was SUPPORTED and that the Parish Council would take over all the costs associated with the Defibrillator.
Proposed by the Chairman and Seconded by Cllr M Merrett
The Council agreed to produce a list of volunteers who would assist should the need for the defibrillator be required again and to reproduce the instructions in large print to assist people to read them.
111/18 Other information
• Minute Books -The Council RESOLVED that the minute books prior to 2010 were taken to the Records Office in Exeter and the safe sold by the Clerk (Proposed by the Chairman)
• Dog Group – The Council decided that it would not pursue this initiative due to lack of support from villagers
• Speke Up – the following items would be included in the next edition
o Speak up - tree
o Defibrillator list of volunteers
o Parish records
o Dog group
o Community Grant fund
• The Clerk was tasked with contacting EDDC regarding the ongoing issues with recycling and the debris left. Councillors agreed that they would send photographic evidence to the clerk over the next few weeks so that they could be included with the complaint from the Parish Council.
112/18 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 9.11pm.
The next meeting would be Wednesday 6th October 2018 at 7.30pm, Village Hall