Minutes from November 2021

Newton St Cyres Parish Council

Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 4 November 2021

The meeting commenced at 7.00pm 

Members present

Cllr J Enright (Chair)                              Cllr G Quicke

Cllr R Cashmore                                     Cllr G Scopes

Cllr D Hodge                                          Cllr C Southcott

Cllr L Ouldridge                                      Cllr P Taylor

Cllr S Parker                                                                      

In attendance:  1 member of public, J Hole, Parish Clerk

Public Participation

Minuted under 9.1

Formal Business 

01/11/21      Apologies

Cllr G Barnell (personal), Cllr M Squires (another meeting) 

02/11/21      Declaration of Interest

None noted 

03/11/21      Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 7 October 2021

Agreed and signed as a true record 

04/11/21      Mid Devon District Council

4.1                 Planning Applications:

21/01983/HOUSE - Installation of 14 photovoltaic panels to stable roof at East Holme Farm, Newton roof at East Holme Farm, Newton St Cyres, EX5 5BS – no comment

21/01942/HOUSE - Erection of extensions to form porch and office, installation of roof mounted solar panels and formation of store over garage at 14 Kingfisher Close, Newton St Cyres, EX5 5DH – no comment

4.2                 Planning Decisions:             

21/01388/LBC - Listed Building Consent for the installation of 14 photovoltaic panels to stable roof at East Holme Farm, Newton St Cyres – grant permission

21/01405/FULL - Erection of dwelling following demolition of agricultural building utilising the Class Q fallback position at (Barn) Hill Farm, Newton St Cyres – grant permission  

4.3                 Air pollution monitor – monitoring is still taking place and results for 2021 will be available in 2022

Noted

4.4                 To note planning meet and greet with new Development Manager

There was an opportunity to meet and greet the new Development Manager via zoom on 25 November at 2pm so they could understand what support Parish's need in respect of Planning matters and to determine future training needs.   Cllr R Cashmore would attend and any other Councillors could also attend if they wished          

4.5                 Update on planning application at old school site

It was reported that Cllr G Barnell had called this application into planning committee.  The results of the independent arbitration with regard to the developer’s request not to pay a Section 106 contribution were required before the application could be considered at a planning committee meeting.  Clarification from the developer with regard to the five bar gate in Sand Down Lane had been requested.  Residents and the Parish Council want the developer to restore the hedge as previously promised verbally.  DCC have suggested that the A377 would need to be widened in order for an island crossing to be installed and that this is likely to be too expensive for the size of development.  Cllr G Barnell had asked for more information on the specification required for an island crossing. 

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

Cllr L Ouldridge updated Cllrs on the meeting that she had attended with Cllr G Barnell and a representative from MDDC Housing team to look at the hedge at the bottom of New Estate gardens.  MDDC would clear the steps which run down to the road. Due to the narrow road and visibility issues, it was agreed that the trees and bank did require maintenance and it was the property owners responsibility to maintain the trees on top of the bank   A further meeting was scheduled and Cllr G Barnell had suggested that MDDC carries out maintenance of the hedge/trees with a charge made to residents.   The tree at the bottom of one of the gardens required attention and the Clerk would contact the resident and request that the tree is inspected by a tree surgeon. 

MDDC had undertaken some temporary repairs to the pot holes in Tytheing Close 

05/11/21      Finance

5.1                 Parish Council Receipts Current Account:  None

5.2                 Parish Council Payments Current Account. 

These were agreed as:

Item	Payee	Purpose	Amount £
5.2.1	NSC Parish Hall	Hire of Hall	13.00
5.2.2	NSC Football Club	Grant towards equipment	200.00
5.2.3	DALC	Attendance at conference	40.00
5.2.4	Simon Saunders	Grass cutting – parish and churchyard	320.00
5.2.5	J Hole	Salary and expenses	332.30
5.2.6	HMRC	PAYE	42.80

In addition it was agreed to pay an invoice for £640.00 for work carried out at the allotments

5.3                 To approve signatures for this month’s cheques 

Cllr P Taylor and Cllr R Cashmore

5.4                 Balances (after above transactions)

5.4.1              Parish Council Current Account balance: £15,374.76

5.4.2              Footpath Account: £268.02 

5.4.3              Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £7,514.59

5.5                 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor

Noted 

06/11/21      Matters raised by the Chair

6.1                 Neighbourhood Plan.  To note MDDC consultation on the designation of a Neighbourhood Area which runs from 1 to 29 November. To consider next step and possible use of consultants

The consultation would be published in the Newton Wonder, the Councils Facebook page and website.  Cllr J Enright had contacted a company who offered support for Neighbourhood Plans but they had not carried out any work in this area.  DALC were running four free zoom workshops in January with a local consultant and Cllrs could attend these if they wished.

6.2                 Update on Affordable Housing and to note email from MDDC re Community Led Affordable Housing

Details from MDDC had been circulated and a grant of £3,000.00 was available for Parish Councils to set up a committee.  It was resolved to apply for this.

 

07/11/21      Councillor’s Reports            

7.1                 Areas of Responsibility reports

7.1.1              Allotments – the work to the hedge had been carried out and the saplings removed.   Allotment holders had removed the old shed and many plots are now being well looked after.  However, it was agreed to write to several allotment holders to tidy up their plots.  

7.1.2              Surgery - Report from October surgery – next surgery 13 November

There was a report of a broken pane in the telephone box by Belluno and Cllr S Parker had fixed this.  Cllr C Southcott would attend the November surgery and Cllr R Cashmore the December one.

7.1.3              Report from Raddon Hills Meeting – Clerk to circulate notes from the meeting.  The meetings would be held quarterly from January and a possible change of name for the group was being considered.

7.1.4              Maintenance of rain gauge – report that plastic guarding needs replacing – forwarded to DCC for action under our maintenance contract

CRG – A parishioner had written a report on the different types of radios available and this would be considered at the CRG Co-ordinators meeting to be arranged shortly.

Noticeboards – Clerk to put contact details on the Village Green noticeboard with details of how the key to unlock the board can be obtained.

Press – it was resolved to produce one newsletter per year in June

A377 – Clerk to ask DCC for a yellow hash box marking by the Station Road junction 

08/11/21      Clerk’s Report - none         

 

09/11/21      Parish Council

Minuted here but taken in the Public session

9.1                 Climate – update from Climate Officer; feedback from MDDC Climate session for Councillors; to consider tree planting – to identify potential locations or landowners in the parish to approach

The Climate Officer provided an update as follows:  Four Councillors, the Parish Clerk and Sue Rowell had attended the workshop for Cllrs organised with MDDC Climate and Sustainability Officer in October.  It was agreed to go ahead with part 2 of the workshop in November as more Cllrs should be able to attend.   Cllr L Ouldridge had produced a list of actions that individuals could consider to reduce their carbon footprint and after approval by MDDC, it would be agreed by the Parish Council for future publication in instalments in the Newton Wonder.  Although the Parish Council has limited influence on policy etc, it can play an important role in passing on information to parishioners.

A parishioner had written a proposal for the future use of the Village Green and this would be circulated and considered at the next meeting. 

DCC’s Citizens Assembly report had been published and this supported funding for retrofitting of homes, more electric charging points and support for onshore wind generation.  These ideas will now be incorporated into the Devon Carbon plan

Crediton Town Council were running their own Citizens Assembly with a presentation and workshop taking place shortly.

DALC had published a document called “Right Tree, Right Place” and it was suggested that a consultation with land owners could take place.   Cllr S Parker would assist with a list of land owners

9.2                 Road Warden Scheme – To note grant of £1,000.00 has been awarded from DCC Highways.  Grant requested was £3,704.00 of which £2,200.00 was for a trailer. To consider funding shortfall

It was resolved to ask the Parish Hall if storage could be arranged at the hall. Once storage had been agreed, the items would be purchased with consideration given to making up the £500.00 shortfall for the cost of the tools.  The cost of the trailer will be considered in next year’s budget.

9.3                 Update on Langford Road TRO and issues

Parishioners requests for a TRO had been rejected and several had contacted Mel Stride, MP.  Cllr R Cashmore noted that MDDC Scrutiny committee were reviewing Anaerobic Digesters at a meeting next week

9.4                 Neighbourhood Policing – to consider submissions to Scrutiny Committee

Details had been circulated and Cllrs could comment if they wished. 

10/11/21      Devon County Council

10.1               Outstanding Highways issues

There were no updates except to note that the street lights on the A377 were now working and the hedge by Belluno had been cut.

10.2               New Highway issues  

The name plate for Sand Down Lane is not readable

Damaged bollards near the bus stop at Tytheing Close were a trip hazard

10.3               To note contractors will use Parish Hall car park to store equipment while installing pedestrian crossing

Noted

10.4               To note Highways Town and Parish Conference

Details had been circulated and Cllrs could attend any sessions they wished.  Details would be circulated to the Climate Officer, Cllr G Barnell and the Road Wardens.

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

There was no report 

11/11/21      Miscellaneous Correspondence

Various newsletters and correspondence had been circulated

 

12/11/21      Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda

Cloud storage

 

13/11/21      Date of next PC meeting: Thursday 2 December 2021, 7pm in the Club Room, Parish Hall 

End of Formal Business 

Public Participation

N.E.W Group would be attending the Gardening Clubs coffee morning in November to get some input to its project to map areas in the parish that parishioners value.

Report of buses not stopping at the Village Green bus stop

 

The meeting closed at 8.30pm