Minutes from March 2020 Meeting

Newton St Cyres Parish Council

Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the

Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 5 March 2020

The meeting commenced at 7.00pm

Members present

Cllr J Enright (Chair)                      Cllr L Ouldridge

Cllr R Cashmore                            Cllr S Parker

Cllr D Hodge                                  Cllr G Quicke

Cllr C Southcott                             Cllr G Scopes

In attendance:  Cllr M Squires, DCC (left 7.45pm), 5 members of public (3 stayed to the end), J Hole, Parish Clerk

Business to be Transacted

Public Participation

Following a DALC article, Cllr C Southcott asked if Newton St Cyres could find room to have a community orchard?  Possibly at Court Orchard (MDDC land) or on the field next to the new school?  Clerk to put on agenda for next meeting and Cllr C Southcott to make further enquiries.

A parishioner from Sweetham explained that he had been looking after drains local to his property for the last 7 years, making sure they were clear of leaves etc and would be happy to help co-ordinate volunteers to extend this self help across the parish.  In order to do so it would be useful to know the location of all the drains and establish how often they should be cleared.  Cllr M Squires said that appropriate training should be undertaken before work on the road was carried out as this would ensure that volunteers were insured.  In addition, grants may be available for any equipment required.  Cllr R Cashmore said that although DCC information is available on the mapping software that the parish has access to, the data is out of date.  It would be helpful to log where all the problems are.  Cllr R Cashmore would follow up with the parishioner and help set up a network of volunteers to carry out inspections and subsequent work required.  Details of training to be followed up.

Would it be possible for the Parish Hall to install cycle stands?  Clerk to pass on request to Parish Hall

Formal Business

01/03/20     Apologies

Cllr P Taylor (holiday), Cllr G Barnell (away)

02/03/20     Declaration of Interest

Cllr J Enright – item 4.1 re Wiscott Barton, PI

03/03/20     Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 6 February

Agreed and signed as a true record

04/03/20     Mid Devon District Council

4.1              Planning Applications: 

20/00246/HOUSE - Erection of three-storey infill extension at 8 Newton House, Newton St Cyres – no comment

20/00208/HOUSE - Erection of two-storey extension to form separate annexe at 3 New Estate, Newton St Cyres – no comment, other than to ask MDDC to consider putting a condition on the application stating that the extension must remain part of the existing house and not become a separate dwelling.

20/00317/CLU - Certificate of lawfulness for the existing use of buildings and land on the 489 acre holding for agricultural use, including de minimus commercial storage within 3 buildings at Winscott Barton, Newton St Cyres. 

Cllr J Enright passed the Chair to Vice Chair, Cllr R Cashmore and a discussion took place.  It was noted that lorries started as early as 6am and about one lorry an hour went through Sweetham and more per hour went up Langford Road.  The lorries were big and this was contributing to road issues.  On the other hand, it was noted that it was necessary for farmers to diversify so they could continue to make a contribution to the local economy.  A vote was taken and a majority was in favour of making no comment on the application.

4.2              Planning Decisions

None

4.3              Notification of a Tree Preservation Order NO. 20/00002/TPO at Old School

Noted

4.4              To consider Local Government Boundary Commission public consultation proposals for Mid Devon which reduce MDDC wards by 3 and change ward boundaries.  Details available at http://www.lgbce.org.uk/

The proposals were aimed at ensuring a similar number of electors in each ward.  After discussion it was agreed not to comment on the proposals.

4.5              District Councillor, Cllr G Barnell, to report on MDDC business relevant to the Parish

There was no report

05/03/20     Finance

5.1              Parish Council Receipts Current Account:

Item	Payee	Purpose	Amount £
5.1.1	HMRC	VAT Refund	650.45
5.1.2	DALC	Grant for Raddon Hills admin	110.00

5.2              Parish Council Payment Current Account

These were agreed as:

Item	Payee	Purpose	Amount £
5.2.1	Citizens Advice	Grant	100.00
5.2.2	J Hole	Salary and expenses (incl Raddon Hills)	456.22
5.2.3	HMRC	PAYE	55.60

5.3         To approve signatures for this month’s cheques

Cllr G Quicke and Cllr S Parker

5.4      Balances (after above transactions):      

5.4.1   Parish Council Current Account balance: £12,981.54

5.4.2   Footpath Account: £268.02 

5.4.3   Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £4,510.70

Cllr R Cashmore asked how much resurfacing would cost?  An exact figure was not known but was thought to be in the region of £15,000

5.5              Financial Statement and Budget Monitor

Noted 

06/03/20     Matters raised by the Chair

None 

07/03/20     Councillor’s Reports    

7.1              Areas of Responsibility reports

Allotments – Cllr D Hodge would send off a sample of the old shed for asbestos testing.

CRG – the flood group meeting had yet to be held.

Old school site – the successful bidder was still not known and it was understood that a contract had not yet been signed.

Raddon Hills – there had been much discussion about highway issues.  Cllr R Cashmore suggested it would be good to establish collaborative workings with other Raddon Hill parishes with regard to a co-ordinated approach to volunteer drain clearing as drain issues went across parish boundaries.

Risk Assessments – would be due shortly

7.1.1           Report from February surgery – this had been covered at the February meeting

7.1.2           To agree attendance at future surgeries

Cllr L Ouldridge – March, Cllr R Cashmore – April and Cllr J Enright June.  May to be confirmed at the next meeting

7.1.3           Report from Snow Warden training attended by Cllr G Scopes

Cllr G Scopes had attended Snow Warden training and was in the process of contacting the six snow wardens in the parish to arrange a meeting              

08/03/20     Clerk’s Report

8.1              Litter picking equipment – MDDC are only able to loan equipment.  To agree purchase of reflective waistcoats at £2.25 each and litter picking sticks at £5.80 each                 

After discussion, it was agreed to purchase six personalised reflective waistcoats and   three litter picking sticks.  Personalisation may help to publicise the work of litter pickers. 

09/03/20     Parish Council

9.1              Update on progress with Community Shop

Another meeting was scheduled for the end of March.  The Parish Hall had agreed om principal with the proposals to site a shop in the Parish Hall grounds as they could use the opportunity to make improvements to the hall, such as redesigning the hall entrance.  Cllr R Cashmore had spoken to the Plunket Foundation and requested that the Parish Council registers with the Foundation at a cost of £250.00.  This was agreed unanimously.  Working groups looking at different aspects of the project would need to be set and charitable status obtained.  It was important to maintain momentum.

9.2              To confirm date of May meeting as Monday 4 May.

This was confirmed

9.3              To agree the Annual Parish Meeting be moved to 2 April at 7pm.  To consider format of meeting – speakers etc

This was agreed.  An update on progress with the Community Shop could be given

9.4              To agree Volunteer of the year (nominations available at the meeting)

There were three nominations and Councillors voted unanimously.  The result would be announced at the Annual Parish Meeting

9.5              Speed limit along West Town - support for “20 is plenty”?

Cllr J Enright noted that a meeting of interested parishioners from West Town had met to discuss the speeding issues.  It was agreed that if “twenty is plenty” signs were required, parishioners should purchase these.  Cllr M Squires had advised that any change to a speed limit required a SCARF test and that this should be requested through the Parish Council.  It was agreed that the Parish Council would not object to a SCARF test request.

Minuted here but taken after Item 3

10/03/20     Devon County Council

10.1            Outstanding Highways issues

1. Curb at new school – waiting for 278 legal agreement sign off – this had been completed. There was still some rubbish in the field next to the new school
2. Speed restrictions in Station Road – SCARF re test requested. Cllr M Squires was asked to chase this up
3. Request for a School sign in Station Road and possible zig-zag lines outside the school – declined - requested this is re-considered. Cllr M Squires was asked to chase this up
4. Uncollected road signs. These were still a problem
5. Request for a Road Safety audit on A377 in centre of village. Cllr G Barnell was trying to re-arrange a meeting with the relevant parties from DCC but no date had yet been agreed
6. Request for bollards on pavement by old school to be removed due to safety issue. It was agreed to remove this from the list as any action was unlikely until the old school site was developed
7. Request for consideration of a crossing at Tytheing Close. As Vi above
8. Footpath from Layby to bus stop in Half Moon – request to DCC to improve surface/land owner re hedge. The hedge had been cut.  Cllr G Barnell continued to raise this with DCC and it would be discussed at the road safety meeting as noted in v. above.
9. Bus stop at Langford Road junction – waiting for response from Stagecoach. Some tidying up had been done and it was agreed to remove this item from the list
10. School Hill pavement – grass needs clearing. The Clerk had not been able to get a quote for work but it was agreed this was DCC’s responsibility and Cllr M Squires would follow up
11. Various Drains. Emails had been received reporting that drains were clear but this was not necessarily the case

Cllr R Cashmore asked Cllr M Squires if the Parish Council could be told what work is being done in the parish, like the old lengthsman scheme when parishes knew when work was scheduled to take place.  Cllr M Squires would enquire.  It was noted that reports of flooding should be dealt with quicker.  Cllr C Southcott would accompany DCC Neighbourhood Highways Manager on his next drive through inspection of the parish.

10.2            New DCC issues

None noted

10.3            DCC Climate update

The latest update from DCC had been circulated and was noted

10.4            County Councillor, Cllr M Squires, to report on DCC business relevant to the parish

Issues had been covered as noted above.

11/03/20     Miscellaneous Correspondence

There was none                   

12/03/20     Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda

None 

13/03/20     Date of next meeting: Thursday 2 April 2020, Annual Parish Meeting Clubroom, Parish Hall, 7.00pm, followed by Parish Council meeting. 

End of Formal Business                  

Public Participation

It was suggested there may be some unused cycle racks in Court Orchard by the side of the garages

A parishioner from Smallbrook would shortly be applying for planning permission for a farm shop and it might be possible to combine efforts in some way with the proposed community shop?  Cllr R Cashmore would follow up,

What was happening with the Boniface Trail?  Cllr S Parker explained that the first land owner agreement was very close to being signed and following this other land owner agreements would be signed and then planning permission would be applied for.

The meeting closed at 8.30pm