Minutes 7th June 2017
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 7th June 2017 at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton(Chairman), Cllr A Birmingham(Vice-Chairman), Cllr M Merrett, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr A Wiles and Cllr R Tillett
Apologies: Cllr G Carden (Away), Cllr R Bloxham (DCC) and Pam Newby
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and Cllr S Randall-Johnson (DCC)
73/17 Apologies
Cllr G Carden (Away). Resolved to accept this apology
74/17 Declarations of interest
Cllr S Luxton (Chair) declared an interest on works to the Village Hall as he had been contracted to complete the works on the ramp to be installed. He also declared an interest in the Hulk Lane Project as he had been contracted to complete some of the works
75/17 Minutes of meeting held on 3rd May 2017
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 3rd May 2017 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by Chair
76/17 Democratic period
Roger Cashmore gave the PC an overview of the Hulk Lane Project and presented his Community Grant Application for funding of £500.
77/17 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall –
• Cllrs Tillett and Merrett advised that the leak had been fixed in the new extension and that the floors had been laid. They advised that the AGM was on 15th June 2017
2: Footpaths & Verges -
• Bea Fenn advised that recent weather had seen a lot of the footpaths becoming overgrown. She said that the footpath next to Station House had fencing installed by the landowner due to a person being attacked by cows. She said the hedge is in danger of becoming overgrown and the fence would make cutting it difficult. Cllr E Hollingsworth agreed to keep an eye on the hedge and report back to the PC if there were any issues.
• Cllr Wiles advised that the first cut of verges had been completed. There was a general discussion about the quality of the works and Cllr Wiles would feed this back to the contractor. The cost was £165 + VAT and the Council agreed to another cut at the end of July.
3: Trees –
• Cllr Hollingsworth reported that the first cut by Four Seasons had been completed and the works were very satisfactory. She advised she would commence fundraising to ensure a further two cuts this year.
• The tree in the village remains safe and has not been hit since the new wooden stakes installed. Cllr Hollingsworth advised the tree was leaning quite badly and she was in contact with Phillip Hill to try and rectify.
4: Highways –
• No further update as discussed in length in DCC report with Cllr Randall-Johnson
5: Traffic Management -
• No update
6: Communications
• Cllr Merrett advised that the Superfast Broadband box is now connected and villagers are seeing increased internet speeds.
78/17 DCC Matters
Cllr S Randall-Johnson was welcomed to her first BSPC meeting. She explained that the Parish was in a unique position of having two county councillor representatives and that either she or Cllr R Bloxham would endeavour to attend Council meetings. Cllr Randall-Johnson gave the PC an overview of the procedure for reporting pot holes to which Cllr Tillett advised that the website reporting was not always effective. Cllr Randall-Johnson said she was hoping to get Parishes to work together and share equipment so that Volunteers could fill minor potholes themselves. Cllr Tillett explained that the 2 day section 8 training was a barrier for volunteers coming forward and Cllr Randall-Johnson said she was section 8 trained and would be willing to come to the Parish and oversee the road closures herself whilst volunteers repaired the potholes.
Cllr Randall-Johnson explained that both she and Cllr Bloxham had £10k available to them, in the form of grants, for community projects and she suggested that BSPC may want to look at having WI-FI installed in the village hall. Cllr Merrett would look into the costings and report back at the next PC meeting.
78/17 EDDC
Cllr S Grundy gave the council his report into provision of additional waste and dog bins. He explained that a wheelie bin was not possible but EDDC would provide an extra litter bin at a cost to the Council. He said that EDDC were currently seeking advice on the cost and he would report back to the council. An additional Dog bin could be provided at a cost of £200PA which included emptying three times a week. The PC decided to wait for the costing of the additional litter bin and make a decision on both at the next PC meeting.
Cllr Merrett advised Cllr Grundy that EDDC had recently taken out PSPO’s across the whole of East Devon and asked when this would be advertised. Cllr Grundy said he would find out the details and the implications and report back to the Council.
Cllr Grundy advised that the Thorverton Bridge repairs were going ahead and that the closure of the Bridge would take place in October half term.
79/17 Planning
• 17/1083/FUL - Home Living Brampford Speke Exeter EX5 5HE – Council agreed to a site visit
80/17 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Cheques were approved for:
• The Clerk
• HMRC
• Four Seasons
• BSVHT
Accounting Statements May 2017
81/17 Community Grant Fund
Council discussed the application for the Hulk Lane project and expressed some concern that villagers did not know about the proposed works and how many people in the parish would benefit from the project. A decision was made to provide villagers with an overview of the works via Speke Up and by email and ask for feedback about the level of funding proposed. A final decision on the amount of the grant would be made at the next meeting once feedback had been collated.
82/17 Other information
The clerk read out the report by Cllr G Carden on the new recycling arrangements which was noted.
Cllr Birmingham advised that the issue with Upton Pyne Superfast Broadband was still ongoing but as it did not affect the Parish would be removed from future meetings.
The Chairman requested that Speke Up submissions should be added to the agenda
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
72/17 Next meeting
Wednesday 5th July 2017 - 7.30pm, Village Hall