Minutes from Annual Parish Meeting 2022
Newton St Cyres Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Wednesday 6 April 2022 in the Parish Hall at 7pm
Present:
Parish Councillors (Cllr Jim Enright as Chair) and Parish Clerk, and 9 members of public
Cllr Jim Enright welcomed everyone to the meeting
- Apologies
Cllr D Hodge, Cllr G Scopes, Cllr G Barnell, Marcus Iles
- Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on Thursday 11 March 2021
Agreed and signed as a true record.
- Chairman’s Report
Hello Fellow Resident, it has once again been an unusual year for us all. Covid has taken its toll on our lives, and on community life too. Let us hope that the world now looks back at what happened, what we did right, what we could have done better, and we arrive at a better place moving forward.
A highlight for Newton St Cyres over the past year has been the installation of the Pedestrian Crossing in the Village Centre. It was a long time coming and took a lot of effort by a lot of people. But it does go to show that perseverance often wins in the end.
We still have further ambitions. A foot-path from the lay-by to the bus stop in Half Moon, a crossing at Tytheing/Sand Down Lane, traffic calming at Smallbrook. and a buffer 40 mph zone before the 30mph limit comes in by Quickes, coming from Crediton, to name but a few.
We were disappointed not to be able to secure the Old School site for an Affordable Housing development. However, our search for a suitable site continues.
There is some progress too on the Boniface Trail. Devon County Council has allocated £20,000 to an initial route study, concentrating on the Crediton to Newton St Cyres stretch. We are trying to extend this to Langford so that the complete village can benefit. Eventually it will, of course, go all the way to Exeter. DCC are consulting with our own Boniface Trail Association and updates will be included both in the Newton Wonder and in the Parish Council Minutes.
The A377 Group, which consists of Chairs of the Parish Councils situated between Crediton and Cowley, together with District and County Councillors for the Area, and DCC Officers, is now meeting bi-monthly to discuss making the A377 safer for all. It is already showing signs that it will be a useful platform for creating change.
Our next big project will be creating a Neighbourhood Plan for our designated area. MDDC are obliged to take account of such Plans when granting Planning Permissions so it will give us a say in the future development of our village. We have already carried out a Housing Needs Survey in conjunction with MDDC and Devon Communities Together, and the results can be found on the Parish Council website.
We are also working on a Queen`s Platinum Jubilee Party to be held at the Recreation Ground on Sunday 5th June from 12 noon till 4pm. It will be a “street party” in flavour with those attending bringing along their own tables, chairs, food etc. The Rec bar will be open and we will have hot food available too. More details will be published in the Newton Wonder as our plans come together.
And we are now able to announce that Jock Campbell has won the much-coveted Community Person of the Year Award. Jock was instrumental in the preparation of the NSC Community Resilience Plan, a copy of which can be found on the Parish Council website.
Finally, I must thank my fellow Parish Councillors, District Councillor, County Councillor, volunteers and our very efficient Clerk, for all of the hard work they put in to make Newton St Cyres a better place for us all.
- Parish Council Financial Statement (unaudited) for year ending 31 March 2022
These were presented with copies available if required
- Neighbourhood planning – what it is and why Newton St Cyres should have a plan.
Cllr Jim Enright gave a presentation on Neighbourhood Planning and after discussions with questions and answers, attendees were invited to sign up to the Steering Committee. It was noted that a meeting of the Steering Committee would be arrange as soon as possible.
- Presentation of Community Volunteer of the year award
The winner was Jock Campbell for his work on Community Resilience including production of a Community Resilience Plan.
- Public Participation/Questions
There were no further questions
The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at 8.15pm