Minutes AGM 4th May 2022
Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 4th May 2022 at 7.00pm at the Village Hall
Present: Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr S Luxton, Cllr R Tillett, Cllr N Vickers, Cllr B Hillson and Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr W Honan
In Attendance: Tracy Watkins (Incoming Clerk), Carole Oliphant (Outgoing Clerk) Cllr Jamie Kemp (EDDC), and 4 members of the public
1/22 Cllr A Birmingham was elected Chairman for the municipal year and duly signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office (Seconded by Cllr R Tillett)
2/22 Cllr S Luxton was duly elected as Vice Chairman for the municipal year. (Proposed by the Chairman)
3/22 Apologies:
Cllr Sara Randall-Johnson (DCC), Cllr Henry Gent (DCC), Mrs Molly Luxton and Mrs Karen Sanders
4/22 Declarations of interest - None
5/22 Minutes of the meetings held on Wednesday 9th March 2022 were agreed as a true record and SIGNED by the Chairman
6/22 Public Question Time. There were no questions from members of the public present
7/22 Lead Councillor updates. The following updates were provided:
• Finance – (Cllr A Birmingham) Year-end accounts would be completed this evening. Chairman formally thanked benefactor for donation for village hall roof. The overspend does not reflect Section 106 funding which had not been received when the accounts were completed.
• BSVHT – (Cllrs R Tillett and W Honan) -Awaiting the replacement of the roof. Electric now updated and conforms with current legislation. Written quotation now received from roofer and been circulated to Councillors. Works pencilled in for mid-summer. Cllr J Kemp to chase planning permission. Cllr W Honan to progress the application
• Verges – (Cllr S Luxton) Cut once last year. Richard Hill will carry out work this year. First cut due at the end of this month.
• Trees & Natural Environment – (Cllr E Hollingsworth) Jubilee tree in place. Cllr J Kemp will collect plaque and deliver. WW1 trees doing well. Proposal discussed for willows in bank. Tree behind school doing well.
• Highways – (Cllr R Tillett) DCC Highways Officer, Helen Selby has advised that the area behind the school is not high priority so no deadline on works will be started. The County Surveyor has inspected the bridge – Abutments are good. Slight slippage on footpath on village side. DCC have said they can put willows into bank. Responsibility for snow warden and pathways has been offered to Peter Stewart– roles are on DCC website.
• Planning – (Cllr W Honan) - About the same amount of planning applications were received last year as the year before. In February the circular of planning applications started to go to villagers. A link to planning alerts has been sent out (Speke up). Pub planning permission has not had a decision yet.
• Communications – (Cllr N Vickers) – Email Distribution list working well. A welcome pack is on the “to do” list. Will contact BT about the wifi contract. The Chairman thanked Cllr Vickers from the floor for all her work setting this up.
• Footpaths – (Cllr B Hillson) – All footpaths are in relatively good condition. Church path is complete and feedback has been positive. Ed Rogers to look at Station Hill. BSPC met with Stoke Canon to discuss wheelchair accessible footpath from SC to BS. DCC will survey to see if appropriate. The Chairman formally thanked Wynn Stait for all his hard work on the footpaths.
• Community Land Trust. The CLT have indicated that they are planning to hold an open meeting in the village on 15th June.
8/22 Financial Items - The account summary to March 31st 2022 (previously approved by Cllr A Birmingham) was NOTED.
It was NOTED that the following payments were approved remotely in accordance with Financial Regulations:
2 x Payments to Carole Oliphant (March & April Salary)
1 x Payment to Tracy Watkins (April Salary)
2 x Payments to HMRC (March & April Salary)
2 x Payment to BT for Village Hall WiFi (paid by DD on 28.03.2022 -£28.15 & 28.04.2022- £30.65)
1 x Payment Ed Rogers Landscape and Construction – Church Path – 2904.00 (30.03.2022)
1 x Payment to T S Watkins – Internal Audit - £40.00 (30.03.2022)
It was NOTED that: Payments approved by Councillors S Luxton, A Birmingham and R Tillett in accordance with the Financial Regulations
Council NOTED that the following payments had been received:
01.04.2022 – EDDC – Precept - £3750
06.04.2022 – EDDC – S106 Grant towards Church Path - £2006.76
The Chairman proposed to remove Mrs C Oliphant (outgoing Clerk) from the bank account and add Ms Tracy Watkins (incoming clerk) – seconded by Cllr R Tillett – RESOLVED. Forms to facilitate this were signed by Cllr A Birmingham and Cllr S Luxton.
A new Auditor needs to be proposed and this will be discussed later in the year.
9/22 Certificate of Exemption – AGAR 2021-2022 – Part 2
Council RESOLVED to approve the Certificate of Exemption – AGAR 2021-2022 – Part 2
This was duly SIGNED by the Chairman (Proposed by the Chairman)
10/22 Annual Internal Audit Report – 2021-2022
Council RESOLVED to approve the Annual Internal Audit Report 2021-2022
(Proposed by the Chairman)
11/22 Annual Governance Statement – 2021-2022
Council RESOLVED to approve the Annual Governance Statement – 2021-2022
This was duly SIGNED by the Chairman(Proposed by the Chairman)
12/22 Accounting Statements 2021-2022
Council RESOLVED to approve the Accounting Statements 2021-2022
This was duly SIGNED by the Chairman (Proposed by the Chairman)
13/22 EDDC Update
Cllr J Kemp gave a brief update and stated that EDDC rubbish and recycling schedules remain challenging due to staff absences. Confirmed he can collect the Jubilee plaque and deliver to Cllr E Hollingsworth. Confirmed Band D residents should have had notification of charges. There was an extraordinary meeting of the Council on 3rd May 2022 via zoom. Meetings remotely will continue at least until 31st October 2022. Team Devon has been passed the consultation for Anaerobic plant at Clyst St Mary. Concerns about volume if traffic going into and out of the plant. EDDC are keeping a very close eye on things.
14/22 DCC Update
Cllrs S Randall-Johnson and H Gent were not present and no update was sent ahead of the meeting. The Chairman advised he would speak to Cllr Randall-Johnson and request written updates are sent if no Councillors can attend the meeting in person.
15/22 Other information/correspondence received/ discussion
• Cllr R Tillett requested clarification on the Power of Competence. This was given by Mrs C Oliphant (Outgoing Clerk)
• Speke Up magazine inclusions:
Re-appointment of Chair and Vice Chair
Appointment of new Parish Clerk
Bridge and Highways update
Footpaths Update
Jubilee Tree update
Email list reminders
There has been a lot of positive feedback on the new format.
• Stipperstones/Satchell – Mrs Satchell’s letter arrived too late for the March meeting. The letter made criticism of the Councillors in their dealings with Stipperstones and planning applications in general. BSPC responded to Mrs Satchell in mid-March; Mrs Satchell sent further letters to Cllrs Birmingham and Kemp. All Councillors had been advised. The Chairman addressed his reply directly to the letter writer, present at this meeting:
The matter has been looked into by the Clerk and EDDC Planning. If there are any further queries, these are to be addressed to EDDC. It has been concluded that the Parish Council has worked within its guidelines and parameters.
Cllr J Kemp (EDDC) confirmed that any questions regarding the Environment Agency or Natural England notifications should be directed to EDDC, not via BSPC.
It was also confirmed that it is not the Parish Council’s responsibility to inform other agency bodies. The Parish Council, as a Statutory Consultee, does not have the authority to do anything with the information they are given by the Planning Authority, other than consult on it and comment. It is the responsibility of EDDC to go back to the individual and to liaise with other Consultees.
Cllr J Kemp confirmed that the landowner had taken comments from Natural England and the Environment Agency and was looking at their application accordingly.
• The Chairman thanked all the Councillors for their hard work. Please pass any ideas or comments on how things can be improved to the Chairman.
• A very big thank you was given to Mrs Carole Oliphant for her support and guidance. We wish her all the very best in her new role at Mid Devon District Council.
16/22 Next Meeting
• Meeting closed at 8.05 pm. Next Meeting on Wednesday 6th July 2022 – Village Hall