Agenda for September 2022 meeting

Newton St Cyres Parish Council

Notice of Meeting of Parish Council

Dear Councillors

I hereby give notice that a Meeting of the above-named Parish Council will be held Council will be held in the Club Room, Parish Hall on Thursday 8 September 2022 at 7.00pm.

All members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend for the purpose of considering and resolving upon the Business to be transacted at the meeting set out hereunder.

Dated this 2  September 2022

Signed                        Jane Hole

Clerk to the Parish Council             parishclerk@newtonstcyres-pc.gov.uk          01392 851148

Public Participation

Public Question Time.  Members of the public are invited to give their views and ask questions on issues on this agenda or to raise issues for future consideration by the Parish Council.

Formal Business 

(Members of the public may not take part in the formal business of the Parish Council except under special circumstances) 

01/09/22      Apologies - To receive apologies 

02/09/22      Declaration of Interest

2.1                 Register of Interests.  Councillors to update as required

2.2                 Personal Interests.  Councillors must declare any personal interest in items on the agenda and their nature.

2.3                 Prejudicial Interests.  Councillors must declare any prejudicial interest in items on the agenda and their nature and they must leave the meeting for that agenda item. 

03/09/22      Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 7 July 2022

To be agreed and signed as a true record 

04/09/22      Mid Devon District Council

4.1                 Planning Applications:

22/01469/CAT- Notification of intention to fell 27 Leylandii trees/hedging (S1-S27), 1 Common Lilac tree, 1 Holly tree and 1 Box part of hedging and reduce the height of 1 Yew tree to 2m within a Conservation Area at Elmhurst, Church Lane, Newton St Cyres – no comment already submitted

22/01474/HOUSE - Erection of porch and side extension and garage conversion to additional ancillary accommodation at Fairlawn, Church Lane, Newton St Cyres – no comment already submitted

4.2                 Planning Decisions:

22/00784/HOUSE  - Replacement of flat roofs with pitched roofs and erection of front and rear single storey extensions at Compass House, Newton St Cyres – grant permission

22/00991/HOUSE and22/00994/LBC - Erection of two storey extension/installation of replacement foul drainage system at East Wing Cottage, Hayne Farm, including LBC – grant permission

22/01242/CAT | Notification of intention to remove various trees within the Conservation Area at Fairlawn Church Lane - grant permission

22/00853/HOUSE - Erection single storey extension at Magnolia Cottage – grant permission

4.3                 Update on S106 agreement for old school site

4.4                 District Councillor, Cllr G Barnell, to report on MDDC business relevant to the parish 

05/09/22      Finance

5.1                 Parish Council Receipts Current Account: Groundworks - £9,899.00 grant for NHP; DCT £1,500.00, grant for Radios

5.2                 Parish Council Payments Current Account: To ratify payments already made (5.2.1 to 5.2.9) and to agree payments for September (5.2.10 to 5.2.14)

 

Item	Payee	Purpose	Amount £
5.2.1	Unity Trust Bank	Bank Charges	18.00
5.2.2	A J Carpenter	Maintenance to Bus shelter at Half Moon	95.00

 

5.2.3	Hydro Logic Services	Maintenance of the tipping rain gauge	606.00
5.2.4	Safety Signs	No cycle sign	140.32
5.2.5	Simon Saunders	Grass cutting Parish (£210) /churchyard (£85.00)	295.00
5.2.6	Nick Gillon	RWS expenses (spray paint)	9.64
5.2.7	NSC Parish Hall	Room hire	39.00
5.2.8	J Hole	Salary and expenses	363.89
5.2.9	HMRC	PAYE	52.00
5.2.10	DCT	Devon Communities Together annual membership	50.00
5.2.11	Broadclyst PC	10 x tubs of pot hole filling material	144.60
5.2.12	Simon Saunders	Grass cutting	190.00
5.2.13	J Hole	Salary and expenses	335.46
5.2.14	HMRC	PAYE	44.20

5.3                 To approve signatures for this month’s payments – online

5.4                 Balances (after above transactions)

5.4.1              Parish Council Current Account balance: £20,329.68   

5.4.2              Footpath Account: £268.02

5.4.3              Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £9,017.66                

5.4.5              NHP: £9,886.00

5.5                 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor (attached)

5.6                 To agree to remain opted in to the external audit – details circulated separately 

06/09/22      Matters raised by the Chair

6.1                 To discuss plans for attracting candidates to be Parish Councillors at next years elections.

6.2              Following the Crediton Cluster meeting (notes circulated separately) to consider lobbying Devon County Council: to addressing speeding on local roads and an appropriate cycleway for Crediton – Exeter that fully meets the requirements of the area.  Notes from BTA circulated

6.3                 To note correspondence from local police team – circulated separately and agree any actions 

07/09/22      Councillor’s Reports            

7.1                 Areas of Responsibility reports

7.1.1              Allotments – update on hedges and agreement for community allotment

7.1.2              Surgery - Report from July and August surgery.  Next Surgery 10 September – volunteer needed

7.1.3              Community Resilience Plan – update required to include fire risk/drought. Response to flash flooding

7.1.4              Notes from Raddon Hills meeting – circulated separately 

08/09/22      Clerk’s Report - None 

09/09/22      Parish Council

9.1                 Climate – update from Climate Officer – report to follow

9.2                 Neighbourhood Plan – update from Steering Group members (Cllr R Cashmore and Cllr G Quicke)

9.3                 Road Warden Scheme – update

9.4                 DALC AGM and conference – to consider attendance 

10/09/22      Devon County Council

10.1               Outstanding Highways issues (see below)

10.2               New Highway issues  

10.3               Notes from A377 Action Group – circulated separately and A377 briefing note from HATOC          

10.4               County Councillor, Cllr M Squires, to report on DCC business relevant to the parish, including any report from SCARF

 11/09/22      Miscellaneous Correspondence -    Various newsletters/correspondence circulated.  Email re fire concerns - circulated 

12/09/22      Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda

Each Councillor is requested to use this opportunity to report minor matters of information not included elsewhere on the agenda and to raise items for future agendas.  Councillors are respectfully reminded that this is not an opportunity for debate or decision making. 

13/09/22      Date of next PC meeting: Thursday 6 October 2022, 7pm in the Club Room, Parish Hall

End of Formal Business - Public Participation

 

Agenda item 5.5

Budget Monitor

Agenda Item 5.8

Option to opt out of the SAAA central external auditor appointment arrangements 

Dear Clerk/RFO/Chairman, Newton St Cyres Parish Council,

Under the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015, SAAA is responsible for appointing external auditors to all applicable opted-in smaller authorities, for setting the terms of appointment for limited assurance reviews and for managing the contracts with the appointed audit firms. Smaller authorities are those whose gross annual income or expenditure is less than £6.5 million.

The next 5-year appointing period runs from 2022-23 until 2026-27 and SAAA has undertaken a procurement exercise to appoint auditors to each County area from 1 April 2022. Now that the submission deadline for the 2021-22 Annual Governance and Accountability Returns has passed, this is to advise you of the option to opt-out of the next round of 5-year audit appointments.

All authorities require an appointed external auditor even if the authority meets the criteria to qualify for exemption, as a Certificate of Exemption is required to be submitted to the external auditor and the auditor must be in place in case of objections from local electors

During the previous 5-year period all smaller authorities were 'opted-in' to the central procurement regime managed by SAAA - no authority decided to 'opt-out' and follow the various complex procedures required under statute to appoint their own external auditor. If you wish to continue as part of the SAAA sector led auditor appointment regime then no action is required, you will remain part of central scheme.

However, all authorities must be given the option to opt-out of the central procurement and appointment scheme and appoint their own external auditor for the next 5-year period, although the process is onerous for smaller authorities.

This is communication is to advise that whilst all smaller authorities are opted into the central procurement of external auditors by default, any authorities who do not wish to be part of the SAAA arrangements must formally notify SAAA that they wish to opt out within 8 weeks of this communication but no later than 28 October 2022; this decision must be communicated to SAAA via e mail to admin@saaa.co.uk.

If notification of your decision to opt out is not received within this 8-week period, then your authority will be regarded as opted-in for the next five-year period beginning on 1 April 2022 and ending on 31 March 2027. 

Opting-out

Opting out is a significant decision which requires careful consideration; to assist authorities considering opting out further guidance has been developed to clarify what opting out means in practice. This detailed information can be found at www.saaa.co.uk

An authority that wishes to opt out must formally reach and record that decision in a way that meets the requirements of its own governance framework, by convening a full council meeting or an extraordinary council meeting.

Key implications are:

• an opted-out authority regardless of size (including exempt authorities) MUST appoint an appropriate external auditor;
• the appointed auditor must be a registered auditor as defined by the Companies Act and a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales).
• an opted-out authority must convene an appropriate independent auditor panel which meets the requirements of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (LAAA). Detailed guidance on auditor panels is available in Schedule 4 of the LAAA Act and from CIPFA;
• an opted-out authority will need to develop its own specification for its external audit contract, will need to negotiate the price for this work on an individual basis and will need to manage the contract, including any disputes, and any independence issues that may arise;
• an opted-out authority must ensure full compliance with the relevant requirements of the Local Audit and Accountability Act and supporting Regulations;
• any opted-out authority that does not successfully appoint an appropriate external auditor in the correct manner and notify SAAA who their external auditor is by 30 November 2022will have an external auditor appointed for it by the Secretary of State through SAAA. This will result in additional costs of £300 which will have to be met by the authority.

Regards,

admin@saaa.co.uk 

www.saaa.co.uk  •  SAAA Ltd, 77 Mansell Street, London E1 8AN

 

Agenda Item 6.2 

Notes from Crediton Cluster meeting

Notes from BTA

Agenda Item 6.3

It’s important that the police consult with the community when decisions about policing priorities are made.  For that reason, I would like you and your councillor colleagues, to consider looking at the interactive crime map in the link below.  For those who have not seen the map it offers basic details of levels of crime, in each area, to give householders a realistic idea about crime where they live.  By a large margin, most serious harm happens behind closed doors, where the policing response is rarely visible to the public so the map is a useful tool for councillors and the greater community seeking to know more about police work in their area:  www.police.uk

Input your postcode to browse through the crime recorded in that area.

I would also like you to examine the collision data recorded in partnership with Devon County Council, this is because motoring related matters, like parking and speeding, are often raised by Parish Councils when nominating policing priorities.  I have mentioned the collision map so that councillors can consider how our localised policing resources are spread between roads policing and responding to matters such as domestic abuse, sexualised dangers to young people, exploitation of the vulnerable and modern slavery. 

The collision data can be accessed here:

www.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/safe-travel/road-safety/collision-data/collision-map/

I would also like to offer the opportunity for a councillor from each parish to accompany our officers on their patrols, so that they can see, first-hand, exactly what our patrols spend their time working on.  Please pass a copy of this letter to the councillors, so that they can get in-touch if they would like to assist us both in this way.

Our email address is at the top of this letter, for councillors’ use only.

I look forward to hearing from you all, as your input helps us to seek the public view about crime and examine how we can work together to make our area as safe as possible.

Yours faithfully  

PP Your Neighbourhood Policing Team, Crediton Policing Team.

 

Agenda 7.1.4

Raddon Hills Area Group of Parish Councils

Notes from the meeting held on Wednesday 27 July 2022

At Thorverton Memorial Hall at 7.30 pm

Present:

Cllr Neville Lane (Thorverton PC) (Chair) Cllr Steve Parker (NSC PC) Cllr Levon Stephan (Rewe PC) Cllr Simon Hedges (Silverton PC)   In Attendance: Jane Hole (Minute taker via zoom)

Cllr Roger Cashmore (NSC PC) D/Cllr Bob Deed (MDDC) Cllr Sarah Cross (Silverton PC) Cllr Olivia Kennard (Silverton PC)

 

Apologies: Ros Davies (DCC); Cllr Derek Boustred (Stock Canon PC), Cllr Henry Gent, Cllr Jim Enright (NSC PC), Cllr Chris Furse (Shobrooke PC), Cllr David Horton (Upton Pyne PC), Cllr Hugh Rogers (Stockleigh Pomeroy), Jim Maunder (Huxham), Clive Williams (Bickleigh PC) 

225. Notes for the meeting of the 26 April 2022

Agreed 

226. Matters Arising (not on the agenda)

Cllr Roger Cashmore gave a brief update on Broadband provision and noted that Devon was in the lowest 3% nationally for connectivity.  Airband were no longer contracted by Connecting Devon and Somerset.  A new provider Jurassic Fibre were working in the Crediton area to provide fibre to premises.  Broadband provision was now via the open market and any provider could be approached.

There had been no response from Mel Stride, MP to the letter sent regarding concerns over Anaerobic Digestion plants 

227. Footpaths update from Ros Davies (DCC)

Ros sent the following report

• Right of way:  St Martins Chapel to Lee Cross in Thorverton

We are aware of the signing on this route and currently working with one the landowners concerned to address the matter of material/alluvial deposits in times of heavy rain.  

•  Stoke Canon to Brampford Speke – access for all route

We are holding a meeting with a representative of the Devon Countryside Access Forum to discuss the needs for access improvements on this route – meeting planned for 2^nd August.  

• Vegetation management and expectations

This year the growth of vegetation has been enormous.  Our contractors are out on the paths trying to cut and clear as fast as they can.  If your paths are not as clear as you would like them, please don’t worry, help is on its way! 

• Burnhalt Bridge

We are hoping to get an engineer to look at this project as soon as they are able to find some time.  The project is not forgotten, just time is not our side at the moment. 

• Update on parishes in the Raddon Hills Group

Just to say Richard has no comments to add at the moment regarding the rights of way in the Raddon Hills Group.  There are no specific problems or issues that we are aware or indeed any large scale projects taking place above general maintenance and vegetation management. 

Thank you to everyone for being the ‘eyes and ears’ of the rights of way at a local level and I hope to attend your next meeting.

Cllr Levon Stephan noted that Network Rail had closed a well-used footpath between Rewe and Stoke Canon without consultation and this had caused issues for local residents.  Cllr Bob Deed agreed to take this up with Ros and Network Rail

Cllr Steve Parker expressed concern about the fire risk on footpaths in wooded areas in very dry weather.  Could footpaths be closed temporarily? Cllr Steve Parker would ask Ros and let the group know.

 

228. Grant Funding – from whom? What for? What assistance is there for preparing grant application forms?

Parishes to share information on grant funding

The Group thanked D/Cllr Bob Deed for having circulated three useful documents.  MDDC Grant Funding Officer, John Bodley- Scott could be contacted to provide help and support to parishes on grant funding.

Possible sources of funding as well as those in the documents circulated were noted as:

• DCC’s Growing Communities Fund which had just been launched aimed at supporting parishes with local issues making grants from £500.00. (https://www.devon.gov.uk/news/growing-communities-fund-launched/)
• Devon Communities Together
• Viridor Grants - good for playground equipment
• Locality - source of grants for Neighbourhood Plans

 

229. Update on Climate Issues – parishes to share any updates since last meeting together with any suggestions for cross parish initiatives

EV Charging point – Results of Thorverton parish consultation – circulated

Cllr Roger Cashmore provided an update on Newton St Cyres actions

• Cllr Roger Cashmore was a member of DALC’s Climate group who had just published a draft report and noted that actions were difficult at parish level as central government kept changing their minds about priorities.
• NSC PC have appointed a Climate Officer who reports to each PC meeting.
• A Group within the parish (Newton Environmental Wellbeing Group - NEW) were hoping to participate in the Mid Devon Wildlife Warden Pilot Scheme.
• The NEW group were looking at a Community Larder. Sustainable Crediton were a great source of information. 
• Discussions were taking place with MDDC regarding the possibility of a community orchard.
• Sustainable Crediton were organising a Green Fair on 24 September in Crediton Town Square. 

Thorverton had carried out a survey on EV charging points and the results had been circulated to the Group.  Following a good response rate (91 returns out of approx. 330 households in the parish) it had decided that there was sufficient interest to look into the costs associated with providing public EV points.  The speed of charging points was under discussion.  There were a number of houses in the parish that did not have driveways so would not be able to charge at home. Rewe had also considered EV points and decided against proceeding at this point.  There was an online scheme which allowed home owners with charging points to offer these out for others to charge their vehicles.     

230. DCC Highways update

Cllr Roger Cashmore reported that since the last meeting there had been a fatality on the A377 – 2 deaths in 18 months. The A377 Action Group had requested DCC to review the speed limits between Exeter and Crediton with a view to reducing the number of changes in limits.  NSC PC were continuing discussions with DCC to get a crossing point at Tytheing Close.  NSC’s Road Warden scheme was up and running and had three Chapter 8 trained volunteers, tools and materials and an online form for parishioners to report issues.   Details would be circulated with the notes from this meeting.

Boniface Trail - DCC were not now supporting the Boniface Trail preferred route alongside the A377. 

231. Update on developments within each Parish

Newton St Cyres - Work had started work on a Neighbourhood plan

Rewe - Parish car parks - did other parishes allow cars to park overnight? Generally, yes, as it helps to reduce the number of cars parking on the road, especially in parishes such as Thorverton

Silverton - Online banking - did other parishes have online banking?  Yes, the Clerk would be able to provide further information if required. 

Thorverton - An open meeting had been held to discuss ideas for possible uses of S106 money.  Various ideas had been suggested including a community orchard and a pump track and these were under investigation         

232. Focus for next meeting? Ideas for speakers?

Parishes were remined that if the nominated Raddon Hills reps could not attend the meeting, then another Councillor should be asked to attend. 

Parishes to forward suggestions to the Clerk 

233. To agree a Chair for the next meeting

Cllr Roger Cashmore would chair the next meeting 

234. Any other business

None noted 

235. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 25 October 2022 via zoom

 

 

 

 

 

Agenda item 10.3

Notes from A377 Action Group held on Thursday 21 July 9am via Zoom

Present:              Graeme Barnell (MDDC Councillor Newbrooke Ward, Chair), Jim Enright (Chair NSC PC), Liz Brookes-Hocking (Mayor of Crediton and CTC), Stuart Jarvis (DCC Highways), Michelle Woodgates, DCC (left 9.30am),Jane Hole (Parish Clerk NSC), Lloyd Cole and Dan Tomlinson (WSP Consultants) (left 10.30)

 

1. Welcomes and apologies

Cllr Henry Gent, Cllr Margaret Squires, Cllr Frank Letch 

2. Road Crossings A377- update from DCC

Crossing at Tytheing Close - Graeme had been informed that the S106 monies from the old school development could not be allocated to a crossing as a crossing was deemed not  relevant to the development?  However, if parishioners are to be encouraged to use public transport then safe crossings are needed.  Michelle explained that Highways were not in a position to refuse the application on the basis that a crossing was not in the S106 agreement.  MDDC have asked DCC for an estimated cost for an island in the centre of the road as DCC will not support a controlled crossing. The island would need to be at least 2 meters wide and it   If money were secured then it would be still be subject to a safety audit and it would likely take all the S106 money.  This would need to be agreed with the Parish Council and would mean no contribution would go towards affordable housing. 

Action Point

• Respond to MDDC ASAP re the 106 money after consulting NSC Parish Council 

3. Speed Limits

HATOC meeting in June-feedback-MS/GB 

Margaret had attended a SCARF meeting and had emailed a report as follows: 

“The SCARF for the Quickes straight took note of the handheld survey where the average was 43mph.  speeds were taken of 100 vehicles in each direction.  The fasters was travelling at 64mph whilst overtaking but it reduced its speed once past the vehicle.  The feelings of those involved was that at 40mph would not make any impact given the average.

The hand held was taken in the bus stop near Five Els junction.  I understand it was mid afternoon.  Discussion by SCARF took place about our concerns re accidents/fatalities which according tot results are driver/rider error and not related to road conditions.  However they are going to do a 24/7 speed count in 3 positions – one at Smallbrook and the other two either side and it will be reviewed again.  They are going to review all the road markings.  I questioned the bus stops and crossing for children at Smallbrook – it has been looked at and it was felt there was a refuge each site for passengers to stand and being on the corner there was visibility to cross”. 

Action Point

• Clerk to request notes from the SCARF/HATOC meeting. Graeme to ask for the HATOC presentation from the June meeting he attended and circulate
• Signage for the bus stop at Smallbrook to be kept on the agenda
• SCARF update to go on the NSC PC agenda to receive a regular report from Margaret  

4. Notes of last meeting

Agreed 

5. Crediton to Exeter Cycleway

Consultant’s Report

Dan and Lloyd gave a short presentation on their work to date.  Their brief was to “focus on potential route options between Newton St Cyres and Crediton with consideration to previous studies covering Newton St Cyres to Exeter”.  The Sustrans 2008 report, the Cowley Bridge options report (Jacobs (2012) together with the route identified by the BTA were all considered as well as recent Government Guidance on “Cycle Infrastructure Design”

If the route followed the A377 there are a lot of “high achievability” stretches due to wide verges and flat ground but also has some “low achievability” due to high banks and steep gradients.  To develop the complete route would require some land take and consideration of flooding issues.  They have therefore looked at a “Quiet Lane alternative” and have marked this a high achievable route due to location of signage, mostly flat ground and good visibility.  A traffic survey is currently taking place at 4 locations on the quiet route to gain a greater understanding of the traffic flow, composition and behaviour (not measuring speed)

Following the completion and analysis of the traffic surveys in the next couple of weeks, the report should be finalised in the next month.

WSP were requested to consult and met with the BTA before the final report was produced.   Presentation in Crediton/NSC to interested parties should also be considered.

It was felt that in future presentations, all the options should be shown together with costings for the A377 route and that greater detail was required to show why this route had been rejected. 

Action Point:    

• WSP to meet with the Boniface Trail organisation before the report is finalised
• Stuart to share the draft report when its available, probably during August
• Stuart to contact Liz and Jim in September to discuss options for further meetings with Parish Councils to consult on the report 

6. Joint Planning with MDDC and DCC- update (Liz BH et al)

Liz would continue with the joint planning meetings between parishes MDDC/DCC which would look at strategic issues and it was agreed that the Cycleway would be part of this.  The Crediton Masterplan was being considered by MDDC Cabinet in August and there was a need for a Project Officer to oversee the work.  Liz reported that parishes wanted to meet and continue discussions and the next meeting would be organised by CTC.    

Steve reported that DCC had been tasked with coming up with a transport plan for Crediton related to the local plan.  This would start later in the year when sites identified in the local plan were known.

 

Action Point:    

• CTC to organise the next joint planning meeting with the parishes to establish the issues
• Once the final report on the Cycleway is available CTC to consider if a specific meeting is required.

 

7. Future meetings- need for?

No future date was set and it was agreed to wait and see if there was a need for a future meeting