Minutes from June 2024 meeting
Newton St Cyres Parish Council
Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 6 June 2024
The meeting commenced at 7.00pm
Members present
Cllr J Browne Cllr M Herpoldt-Bright
Cllr J Dean Cllr L Ouldridge (Chair)
Cllr D Harris Cllr P Stephenson
In attendance: 1 member of public and the Footpath Warden, J Hole, Parish Clerk
Public Participation
There was none
Formal Business
01/06/24 Apologies
Cllr G Barnell, C/Cllr M Squires, D/Cllr M Binks
02/06/24 Declaration of Interest
None noted
03/06/24 Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 9 May 2024 (previously circulated)
Agreed and signed as a true record
04/06/24 To consider any applicants for co-option - one post is available
A parishioner was interested in the position and was observing the meeting tonight. Co-option was deferred to next meeting
05/06/24 Newton St Cyres Parish Council Issues relevant to Mid Devon District Council
5.1 Planning Applications
5.1.1 24/00766/HOUSE - Erection of replacement porch at 1 Broadgate Cottages Newton St Cyres Exeter Devon EX5 5AY – no comment
5.1.2 24/00768/LBC | Listed Building Consent for the erection of replacement porch at 1 Broadgate Cottages Newton St Cyres Exeter Devon EX5 5AY – no comment
5.1.3 Consultation as a neighbouring Parish - 24/00696/MFUL- Erection of an agricultural building for free range egg laying unit, including control room/packing area, office, clean and dirty water handling facilities, concrete yard areas, feed bins and creation of an access track at (Summerhay Farm) Shobrooke
A parishioner had emailed with comments and these were taken into consideration. After discussion it was resolved to comment as follows:
Newton St Cyres Parish Council are concerned about drainage and if there will be run off onto the highway. New concrete will be required which will make drainage more difficult. We are concerned that the increased size of the undertaking will mean more traffic on narrow back lanes which are not maintained as we would wish. We would support as much hedge/tree planting as
possible to mitigate both drainage issues and the visual impact of high fences and the building. The public rights of way should remain accessible with appropriate signage.
5.2 Planning Decisions - none
5.3 Report from District Councillors on issues relevant to the parish
There was no report
06/06/24 Newton St Cyres Parish Council issues relevant to Devon County Council
6.1 Report from County Councillor on issues relevant to the Parish
There was no report
07/06/24 Finance
7.1 To agree Payments and note Receipts
These were agreed as:
|
Expenditure – current account |
£ |
Receipts – current account |
£ |
|
Ian Salter – bus shelter cleaning |
32.00 |
Grant from DCT for refelting |
371.41 |
|
DALC Training for Cllr D Harris |
18.00 |
roofs/batteries/throw ropes |
|
|
Enerveo – repair to car park lights * |
955.68 |
|
|
|
J Quicke – rent of allotment, path, & arboretum licence x 2 years |
64.00 |
|
|
|
A J Carpenter repairs to phone box, noticeboard and refelting x2 |
370.00 |
|
|
|
J Hole – Salary and expenses |
421.19 |
|
|
|
HMRC – PAYE |
58.40 |
|
|
* £796.40 (net amount) to be transferred from Car Park Resurfacing Account
The Clerk had received an invoice for £90.00 for Parish Online. For the past three years the membership for Parish Online had been covered by the insurance premium, however due to a change of insurance company this was no longer the case. The software had not been used by the Parish Council for some considerable time but the Boniface Trail Association were still using it and had offered to pay the subscription. It was resolved to accept this offer.
7.2 To approve on-line authorisation for this month’s payments
Cllr J Dean and Cllr J Browne
7.3 Balances (after above transactions)
7.3.1 Parish Council Current Account balance: £13,973.02
7.3.2 Footpath Account: £88.02 (included in Current Account balance)
7.3.3 Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £6,559.27 (separate Bank account)
7.3.4 Neighbourhood Plan grant: £0.00
7.4 Quarterly bank reconciliation
This had been circulated and was duly signed
7.5 Update on changes to bank mandate
ID information was still outstanding for Cllr D Harris and Cllr J Rimon-Whittaker
7.6 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor
Noted
7.7 To agree internal auditor for 2024/25
Two quotes had been received and it was resolved to accept the lowest quote
7.8 To agree renewal of rain gauge
Details of the renewal agreement had been circulated. It was resolved to accept the cost of maintenance for a further year
7.9 Review of Financial Regulations – defer to next meeting
Noted
08/06/24 Other Parish Council Matters
8.1 Update on Roles and Responsibilities
Deferred until the vacant Cllr position had been filled
8.2 Update on meetings held with the Church, Parish Hall and Rec Ground re provision of grants
Cllr L Ouldridge gave a brief update on progress to date with the above organisations and noted that discussions were ongoing with all three.
Church – the proposed area for the new graveyard would be used as a Garden of Reflection until it was needed for burials and access had been agreed with the landowner via the arboretum. The oldest graves in the existing churchyard would be maintained as a biodiversity project while the newer graves would be mowed.
Parish Hall – a draft service agreement had been circulated and a meeting was planned for later in June.
Rec Ground – It was hoped that the Rec could be included in Mid Devon’s Playing Pitch Strategy and this would be investigated further.
8.3 To confirm parish grass cutting arrangements – Cllr D Harris
Cllr D Harris confirmed that the lowest quote had been accepted. The Clerk was waiting for the new contractor to provide details of insurance and risk assessments
8.4 Report from Crediton Cluster Meeting 19 January – Cllr L Ouldridge
Cllr L Ouldridge reported that QE School in Crediton would be undertaking various renovation works at the upper and lower site resulting in changes to the future size of the school. It was resolved that the Clerk would email the school to ask for more information
Community Speed Watch – there had been a suggestion that local CSW groups should be in touch with each other to co-ordinate action across the district.
8.5 To agree proposal to hold an extra meeting of the Parish Council in September to discuss the Neighbourhood Plan
It was resolved to hold an extra meeting in September and the Clerk would arrange this.
8.6 Quarterly Report – Emergency and Resilience – Cllr P Stephenson
8.6.1 Update on letter/leaflet distribution
Cllr L Ouldridge had drafted a letter which had been circulated to Cllrs to go to houses bordering the Shuttern Brook together with a leaflet from DCC “Living with Water” which explained riparian rights. It was resolved to send this letter and also to include houses in Marsh Mill Court.
It was noted that a grant of £371 had been received from Devon Communities Together to pay for refelting of two resilience sheds, throw ropes and new batteries.
8.7 Quarterly Report – Publicity and Community Engagement
8.7.1 Annual Report – to agree distribution areas
Distribution areas were agreed.
A discussion took place on whether the Annual Report could be online only with hard copies available at various locations in the parish (church, hall, adoni kitchen etc). Could parishioners be offered a choice to view on line or receive a hard copy? Whilst there was a desire to reduce printing, it was noted that delivering the report gave an opportunity for discussion with parishioners, also some parishioners may not have access to view the report online. If a household had opted not to receive a hard copy and then moved, the new owner would not receive copies.
It was resolved:
- to print this year’s Annual Report with an invitation to let the Clerk know if preference would be for future copies to be online
- to keep future report short by giving a word count/one page restriction to organisations
8.7.2 DoE Volunteers
There was no update from Cllr J Rimbon-Whittaker
8.7.3 Play equipment
Cllr J Browne had been in discussion with the Rec Ground about possible play equipment. The Clerk would provide further information to Cllr J Browne about the information required for the S106 application.
8.8 Quarterly Report – Travel and Road Safety – Cllr J Dean
Community Speed Watch - Cllr J Dean reported that the Community Speed Watch Scheme was up and running with 8 volunteers using several sites across the parish. Additional volunteers were always welcome.
Road Warden Scheme: Work had been carried out at Camps Bridge and a parish map showing the location of drains had been drawn up for future reference. The dangerous road surface at Winscott Barton had been repaired by DCC and the flooding cleared. Cllr J Dean undertook to find out if depth gauges were permitted on highways (or was it just that these were not funded by DCC?) If permitted, then the Parish Council could consider the cost of installation along Langford Road.
Cllr J Dean had recently attended a DCC Highway zoom presentation where he had raised the issue of the lack of engagement from DCC. Several other Cllrs attending reported similar problem with DCC engagement
Boniface Trail - Cllr J Dean reported on a meeting held in April with a DCC Officer and WSP Consultants. The Boniface Trail was now included in the Countywide Local Cycling Walking and Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) top 10 routes. DCC had promised to run public engagement meetings over the summer/into the Autumn. The cost for Phase 1 of the trail (Crediton to Newton St Cyres) was estimated at £11 to £14 million
Standing Orders were suspended to allow the Footpath Warden to update Cllrs on a recent meeting the Boniface Trail Group had held with DCC. Meeting notes had been circulated. The meeting was positive and lots of information and expertise had been shared and future meetings were planned
Standing orders were reinstated.
8.8.1 To consider road warden priorities. To note application to Community Enhancement Fund for tarmac (£40 delivery charge)
The question of how to agree road warden priorities had not been fully answered and may require further thought especially if there are competing requests for work.
8.8.2 Update on response from DCC re outstanding issues
Despite a chasing email from the Clerk, there had been no response. It was hoped that Cllr J Deans input at the zoom meeting might prompt a response.
8.9 Review of Risk Assessment
It was resolved that these would be reviewed by the Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk
09/06/24 Forward Agenda Planner/Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda
Minor matters:
The Clerk had received an email from a parishioner expressing concerns about the recent spraying in Station Road. A parishioner had requested that the road side hedges and vegetation be cut back along Station Road especially from the Creedy bridge to the Beer Engine. It was resolved to consider these at the next meeting under Environmental report.
9.1 Review of agenda planner for future meetings. Copy circulated
This was updated.
10/06/24 Date of next Parish Council meeting: Annual Meeting Thursday 4 July 2024 at 7pm in the Main Hall
End of Formal Business
Public Participation
The Footpath Warden pointed out that the responsibility for the field fence along the old school path was the responsibility of the person renting the field and not the owner of the field as stated in the Parish Council minutes. The Parish Council were responsible for the metal fence which bordered the A377. Previously DCC had paid for repairs to this fence
The meeting closed at 8.45pm