Minutes 9th January 2019
Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 9 th January 2019
at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.
Present: Cllr S Luxton (Chairman), Cllr J Gibson, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr R Tillett and Cllr M Merrett
Apologies: A Birmingham & E Johns
In Attendance: Carole Oliphant (Clerk), Cllr S Grundy (EDDC), Sarah Randall-Johnson (DCC) and 1 member of the public
1/19 Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllrs A Birmingham & E Johns. RESOLVED to accept these apologies.
Apologies received from Cllr R Bloxham (DCC)
2/19 Declarations of interest
None at this stage of the meeting
3/19 Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 7th November 2018
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 7th November 2018 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chairman
4/19 Democratic period
None
5/19 Ongoing topics
1: Village Hall – Cllr Tillett explained that the BSVHT held a meeting on Monday 7th January 2019 and the idea of a joint working group to explore future maintenance and repair requirements for the Village Hall was appreciated- It was decided to nominate two members of the Council to serve on the working group. Cllrs Luxton and Birmingham were nominated.
It was agreed that Cllr Tillett would co-ordinate the group.
2: Footpaths & Verges- Cllr Gibson informed the Group that the P3 end of year paperwork was being completed. The 4way sign post has rotted at Risdens and Richard Spurway was going to replace this at no extra cost to the Council. Cllr Gibson had been washing road signs and putting up dog signs etc. She explained that there were two projects on the P3 budget for 2019-2020 which were the 2nd cut of the footpaths at £250 and the posts and rails on Station Hill which would possibly be in excess of £1200. Cllr Gibson suggested that the Council apply for funding of £600 from the DCC P3 fund, she would obtain a quote from James Ayer. Cllr Sara Randall Johnson informed the Group that it could apply for the remainder of the balance through the Locality Grant. Cllr Gibson agreed to get an estimate
sent to the Clerk to apply for £600 from the Locality Grant Fund and she would apply for £600 via P3 funding. She had spoken to residents who have put up notices in fields to warn about the effect of dog fouling on livestock and she would investigate what other dog signs were available from EDDC.
There was a general discussion about the amount of dog poo bags left around the churchyard and that it has been reported to EDDC Environmental Health Team.
The Council agreed for the Strimmer to be serviced and Cllr Gibson agreed to arrange this.
There was an update on PTF with Stoke Canon - Stoke Canon have now applied to the PTF to repair the second half of the footpath nearest to Stoke Canon. Cllr Luxton declared an interest as he had quoted for the works to be done.
3: Trees – No Update had been received from the Village Tree group and the Clerk was instructed to invite them to the February meeting.
4: Highways & Traffic Management-Cllr Tillett explained that the verge outside Stipperstones has been repaired by Cllr Luxton and the Council had received a letter of thanks from the resident.
Salt Bin - It was agreed that the bin currently situated outside the village hall was moved and placed outside the bus shelter opposite Stooks Close on the south side. The Clerk would arrange this with DCC Highways.
Cllr Tillett provided the DCC Highways response to road surface repairs on Burridge Hill – There was a discussion on the response
Cllr Tillett would report a poor repair by SWWA outside the Lodge on Burridge Hill which had left a risen hump in the road which was dangerous.
It was reported that the gulley’s outside of Stooks are blocked but SWWA would be dealing with the sewage run off which occurred when the water levels were high.
It was reported that the gulley’s at the bottom of Burridge Hill were blocked in last spell of rain and Cllr Tillett confirmed that he would report to DCC Highways.
5: Community Engagement-Cllr Gibson confirmed that the Newsletter had been send around the village and there were plenty of positive comments received. It was agreed to have an annual newsletter which would be dispatched in January each year.
With regard to the 2019 elections it was agreed that the Clerk was to use the email addresses to advertise the upcoming elections. Cllr Merrett was to put something on the website and Cllr Tillett would put an article in Speke Up.
6/19 EDDC
Cllr Grundy explained the actions he had taken for the following topics:
He was working with Janet Wallis to lobby Neil Parish about fixed penalties for people in charge of dangerous dogs.
He was still working on broadband for the ward and had changed his approach. He was now doing research on Gigaclear and CDS.
7/19 DCC
Cllr Randall-Johnson said that whilst the Government was cutting back the amount that DCC was going to receive was slightly more than anticipated.
She explained that the Government had also relaxed the precept increase to 3% up from 1.5%.
There was a general discussion on the increases in council tax due to government grants being reduced and the increases requested by the Police authority.
8/19 Planning
No applications within the Parish had been dealt with since the last
meeting
9/19 Financial matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all NOTED with thanks (appendix 1)
Payments were approved for:
• 1 x The Clerk (Dec)
• 1 x HMRC (Dec)
• SLCC – Clerks Subscription
The authorisations were signed by Cllr Luxton and Cllr Tillett.
Accounting Statements December 2018
The Council discussed the budget for 2019/2020 and agreed that an increase of 2.9% on the precept was required. The Precept for 2019-2020 would be £7200.
It was therefore RESOLVED that the budget for 2019/2020 was approved
(Proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Cllr R Tillett)
10/19 Other information
• Speke Up – the following items would be included in the next
edition
o Elections May 2019
o Dog Fouling
o Railings on Station Hill
o Footpath at Stoke Canon
o Chinese Lanterns
o Mid Devon Mobility
• Mid Devon Mobility – It was agreed that the Clerk would contact to see if they would come to a future meeting
• DCC Highways Winter Service & Traffic Speed Survey Response Meeting – Cllr Bloxham had attended as part of the task force. Councillors stated their frustrations about the timings of these daytime events.
• The Council RESOLVED to approve the meeting schedule for 2019/2020
(Proposed by Cllr Tillett and Seconded by Cllr Hollingsworth)
• Operation London Bridge - The Council received and NOTED a report from the Clerk on Operation London Bridge. There was a general discussion on the contents of the report and it was agreed that the Council would make a decision at the next meeting. The Clerk was tasked to contact the school and the church to see if they would like to be involved.
• The Clerk was asked to contact the School about cutting of the hedge around the School.
• Rural Mental Health and Support for Parish Councils – Cllr Tillett said he would like to help and give advice. Cllr Luxton and Cllr Tillett to attend the next meeting of Raddon Hills.
11/19 Next meeting
The meeting closed at 9.00pm. The next meeting would be Wednesday 6th
February 2019 at 7.30pm, Village Hall