Minutes 7th February 2018
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 7th March 2018 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton(Chairman), Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr R Tillett
Apologies: Cllr A Birmingham (Away), Cllr m Merrett(Sick), Cllr J Gibson (Personal)
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and two members of the public
27/18 Apologies
Cllr A Birmingham (Away), Cllr M Merrett (Sick), Cllr J Gibson (Personal)
Resolved to accept these apologies.
Apologies also received from Cllr R Bloxham (DCC)
28/18 Declarations of interest
Cllr S Luxton declared an interest in planning application
16/18 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 3rd January 2018
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 3rd January 2018 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chair
17/18 Democratic period
No questions were raised by members of the public at this stage of the meeting.
18/18 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall –
• Cllr Merrett explained that BSVHT had applied for a Locality Grant from DCC Councillors for trollies to move the furniture
2: Footpaths & Verges -
• Cllr Luxton said he would he would contact J Butt in the spring to complete the cuts of the verges. The Council agreed not to seek alternative quotations from other firms as they were happy with the price and service from J Butt
• Councillors agreed that there was no immediate requirement to seek quotes from contractors to strim and maintain the footpaths. Three additional councillors (Cllrs Gibson, Carden and Birmingham) would be attending a strimming course in May and it was felt that there should be enough volunteers to keep the footpaths clear. The requirement to use contractors would be monitored on an ongoing basis.
• Cllr Hollingsworth agreed to contact Richard Spurway to request that Station Hill be cleared of mud and debris after Cllr Bloxham had confirmed that the path was covered by P3.
• Council noted the resignation by Bea Fenn and Pam Newby as footpath wardens and a note of thanks was given to them both for the hard work they had done for the Council. Cllr J Gibson said that herself and Julia Gibson was interested on taking on the role. The Clerk was tasked with contacting Bea to see if she still wanted to continue with the two new volunteers.
• The council discussed the issues with the ‘Beach’ last summer. It was agreed that the provision of signs would have limited effect. The Council agreed that the way forward would be for residents to report antisocial behaviour to the police on 101. Cllr Randall-Johnson confirmed that the more reports received the more likely the Police would need to do something to assist the village with this issue. It was agreed that the process of reporting instances through 101 would be included in the May Speke Up submission.
3: Trees –
• Cllr Hollingsworth advised that there was still an appetite in the Village to replace the leaning tree but no consensus had been agreed with what and by whom. She would contact EDDC to get permission to remove the current tree and repair the highway.
4: Highways –
• The Council was informed that Cllr Luxton and Ed Sanders had both volunteered to complete the two-day chapter 8 training so that smaller potholes could be repaired around the village.
• Cllr S Randall Johnson (DCC) pointed out that DCC highways were quick to respond to pothole reports when they were reported through the on-line portal. She suggested that villagers start to use the website to report problems and then the response from Highways could be monitored. It was agreed to put a piece in Speke up to highlight the process of reporting issues.
5: Traffic Management -
• No update
6: Communications
• Cllr Merrett advised that he had contacted the Clerk for Upton Pyne and that Rural Broadband South West had installed broadband in their village hall. The cost was £150 to install and then £25 per month. He would get further information for next month’s meeting. Cllr Randall-Johnson advised that there was only a short timeframe left (3rd March deadline) for the PC to apply for a Locality Grant to cover the cost of installation from the 2017-2018 budget and they would need to apply from the 2018-2019 budget.
• The Council agreed that a decision needed to be made about funding the ongoing £25 per month ongoing charges which equated to £300 per annum. This decision would be deferred to a later meeting.
19/18 EDDC
Cllr Grundy provided the Council with a written report which had been circulated prior to the meeting and was noted.
20/18 DCC Matters
Cllr S Randall-Johnson explained the DCC final process for fixing the budget was to take place on 15th February 2018.
21/18 Planning
• None
22/18 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Cheques were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
• Brampford Speke Pre School
• BSPCC
• Tiverton Town Council
• DALC
Cllr Luxton signed the cheques but the Council did not have another bank signatory present at the meeting and therefore they could not be countersigned. It was agreed that Cllr Merrett would take the chequebook and present it to Cllr Birmingham on his return so that the cheques could be countersigned and returned to the Clerk in order that the outstanding invoices could be paid.
Cllr S Randall-Johnsons advised that the minutes of future meetings should note which Councillors had signed and countersigned approved cheques for transparency. This was noted and the process would be adopted.
Accounting Statements January 2018
23/18 Chairman Selection
It was agreed to agree to defer the decision for the process of Chairman selection until the March meeting
24/18 Speke Up
Council tasked the Clerk to complete the February submission and to include the following subjects:
• Thanks to Bea & Pam our outgoing footpath wardens
• Potholes – How to use the DCC portal to report
• Dog Fouling – How to report issues to EDDC
25/18 Other information/Correspondence
• The Council agreed that it was compliant to the Transparency Code and a vote of thanks was given to Cllr Merrett for the work he had done on the website to ensure compliance. The Clerk explained that a declaration would need to be made at the April meeting stating compliance to the code and therefore remove the requirement for an external audit.
• In order for the PC to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation Cllr Merrett proposed and Cllr Hollingsworth seconded the motion that the Clerk be appointed as the Council’s Data Protection Officer. The motion was passed.
26/18 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 8.35pm.
The next meeting would be Wednesday 7th March 2018 7.30pm, Village Hall