Minutes from June 2022 meeting

Newton St Cyres Parish Council

Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 9 June 2022 

The meeting commenced at 7.00pm 

Members present

Cllr J Enright (Chair)                              Cllr S Parker

Cllr R Cashmore                                    Cllr G Quicke

Cllr D Hodge                                         Cllr G Scopes

Cllr L Ouldridge                                     Cllr C Southcott

Cllr P Taylor                                       

In attendance:  Cllr G Barnell (left 8.00pm) 3 members of public (1 left after public participation, 1 left at 8.00pm), J Hole, Parish Clerk 

Public Participation

A parishioner suggested that the surplus money from the Queens Jubilee lunch event should be given to the Recreation Ground and the Arboretum. Cllr S Parker advised that the Rec had taken around £400 over the Bar.

Formal Business

01/06/22      Apologies

Cllr G Scopes, Cllr M Squires, DCC 

02/06/22      Declaration of Interest

Cllr G Quicke – Item 5.3 – cheque payment 

03/06/22      Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 5 May 2022

Agreed and signed as a true record 

04/06/22      Mid Devon District Council

4.1                 Planning Applications:

22/00853/HOUSE - Erection single storey extension at Magnolia Cottage, Newton St Cyres – no comment

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 – no comment

22/00991/HOUSE and 22/00994/LBC - Erection of two storey extension and installation of replacement foul drainage system at East Wing Cottage, Hayne Farm, Newton St Cyres including LBC – no comment

4.2                 Planning Decisions

22/00602/HOUSE - Erection of summer house at 2 The Village, Newton St Cyres – grant permission

22/00622/HOUSE - Relocation of entrance with open covered porch and replacement of existing windows and doors at Holme Court, Newton St Cyres – grant permission

4.3                 District Councillor, Cllr G Barnell, to report on MDDC business relevant to the parish – homes for Ukraine presentation circulated separately

Cllr G Barnell’s reports are minuted under items 7.1.3, 7.1.4 and 9.2 

05/06/22      Finance

5.1                 Update on logins to Unity Bank

Cllr G Quicke was now able to login and other Cllrs were requested to keep trying

5.2                 Parish Council Receipts Current Account:  Feniton PC £120.00 and Bradninch Town Council - £200.00 – both audits carried out by the Clerk

5.3                 Parish Council Payments Current Account

Since the agenda had been circulated an invoice from Parish Magazine Printing for printing the Annual Report had been received for £141.22 and it was resolved to add this to the payment schedule at 5.3.9

Payments were agreed as:

Item	Payee	Purpose	Amount £
5.3.1	Anthony Carpenter	Maintenance of Resilience Sheds	210.00
5.3.2	Nick Gillon	Mileage for RWS (£9.90) and spray paint (£9.64)	19.54
5.3.3	Simon Saunders	Grass cutting parish - £160.00/churchyard - £85.00	245.00
5.3.4	Broadclyst PC	Pothole repair material	216.90
5.3.5	J Quicke	Allotment field rent and Arboretum licence (3 years)	96.00
5.3.6	J Hole	Reimbursement for Chairmans allowance – auditor	20.50
5.3.7	J Hole	Salary and expenses (inc £320.00 for audits)	602.59
5.3.8	HMRC	PAYE	108.40
5.3.9	PMP	Annual report printing	141.22

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

Cllr J Enright and Cllr D Hodge

5.5                 Balances (after above transactions)

5.5.1   Parish Council Current Account balance: £12,167.02 (updated to include item 5.3.9 above)

5.5.2   Footpath Account: £268.02 

5.5.3   Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £9,014.90

5.6                 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor

Noted

5.7                 Bank Reconciliation

Checked and signed

5.8                 To consider quotes (circulated separately)

5.8.1              Bench for School Hill – it was resolved to purchase a bench similar to the one on the Village Green. A fixing kit and plaque would be required.

5.8.2              New noticeboard at Langford

It was resolved to go ahead with the new noticeboard

5.8.3              Varnishing bus shelter at Half Moon

It was resolved to go ahead with this work 

06/06/22      Matters raised by the Chair

None

07/06/22      Councillor’s Reports            

7.1                 Areas of Responsibility reports

7.1.1              Allotments – report from meeting with allotment holders; interest in Community Orchard

Cllr L Ouldridge had held a meeting with allotment holders who had requested that this year’s rent be spent on cutting back three boundary hedges and it was agreed that the Clerk would get a quote for this work.  Allotment holders were happy to continue to cut the grass and would be leaving an un-mowed strip down the middle of the allotments to encourage biodiversity.  They would also keep the hedges by the two entrances gates short to aid visibility.  A request was made to put hardcore down by both entrance gates to help with the mud in the winter and the Clerk would request permission from the landowner.  One person had contacted Cllr L Ouldridge re a community allotment and another person had spoken to the Clerk.  The Clerk would find out if the person was still interested.

7.1.2              Surgery - Report from May and to agree attendance for rest of year

There were no issues raised at the May surgery

Attendance for the rest of the year was agreed as:

11th June – Cllr L Ouldridge

9th July – Cllr R Cashmore

13th August – Cllr J Enright

10th September – Cllr L Ouldridge

8th October – Cllr D Hodge

12th November – Cllr G Quicke

26th November – Cllr P Taylor

Other areas of responsibility reports:

Press – Copies of the Annual Report were given to Cllrs for delivery

Noticeboard – the Village Green notice board required maintenance – Clerk to arrange

Village Green – The Clerk was requested to speak to the volunteers looking after the village green and request that the grass is cut just behind the noticeboard, seat and bus shelter.

Footpaths – replacement fence posts on old school path – a contractor had been requested to quote.  Clerk to ask grass cutting contractor to strim the path. 

A replacement “No cycle” sign was required for the path by Court Orchard.

A fence required attention by the path in Court Orchard – Clerk to report to MDDC                      

7.1.3 and 7.1.4 minuted here but taken after 4.2

7.1.3              Community Resilience

i) Report from Community Resilience Forum held on 23 May 2022

A report on the above Forum had been circulated by the Community Resilience Champion who had attended.   DCC have a new project on managing rapid response catchment areas and although we are not part of the initial project, the findings may prove useful given that NSC has been designated as such an area by the Environment Agency   A representative from the Environment Agency would provide free training for Flood Wardens and Cllr G Barnell would investigate this further.   

ii) To consider purchase of radios for flood wardens

A report had been circulated detailing testing of two makes of radio around various locations in the parish.  It was agreed to purchase the radio sets which had performed best in the tests.  It was noted that there would be an ongoing cost for the licence of £110.00 every 5 years and any repair and maintenance, likely to be minimal.  7 radio sets were required to ensure that flood wardens in each area of the parish had a set, including the Clerk who had recently agreed to be the Flood Warden for Pump Street.  A grant application would be made to Devon Communities Together for the maximum grant of £1,500.00.  There would be a small shortfall of approx. £100.00 and it was agreed that the Parish Council would meet this shortfall.

Cllr G Barnell reported on the meeting that had taken place with Forestry England and a number of parishioners, including the land owner to discuss woodland management and how this might help with natural flood management.   It was noted that felling is part of a managed scheme to restore native species.  Forestry England offered to meet with the Parish Council if this would be useful and would be writing an article for the Newton Wonder.  White clawed crayfish, an endangered species, had been found in the river Creedy and it was possible that a protected site may be set up.  Cllr G Barnell would be keeping an ongoing dialogue with Forestry England

7.1.4              Report from A377 Action Group

The notes from the last meeting had been circulated and were noted.

Cllr G Barnell reported that a meeting arranged by Crediton Town Council with MDDC planners and other local Parish Council chairs to discuss planning issues in and around Crediton had taken place and it was likely that a separate meeting to focus on the Peddlars Pool development would be required.      

08/06/22      Clerk’s Report

8.1                 To note Clerks holiday 23 to 30 July 2022

The Clerk would not be available for the Raddon Hills meeting on 26 July and Cllr J Enright suggested that the meeting be rearranged. 

09/06/22      Parish Council

9.1                 Climate – update from Climate Officer

A report had been circulated and was noted.  Cllrs requested that a report be circulated with the agenda for future meetings and if the Climate Officer was present any questions could be answered. 

Minuted here but taken after 7.1.3 above

9.2                 Neighbourhood Plan – update from Steering Group members

Cllr G Barnell reported that a consultant had been engaged and a grant application would be made for £10,000.00 to fund the process.  The July NHP meeting would focus on the vision for the parish and the key points for the plan.  A time scale for the NHP would also be addressed.

9.3                 Road Warden Scheme (RWS) – update

Cllr R Cashmore had been in correspondence with DCC and reported that documents and risk assessments were complete for each area of permitted work.  These and details of all work undertaken including before and after photos would be stored on the cloud.   Once the scheme was launched, parishioners would be able to report issues on line and identify the exact location of the work by using what3words.   The Road Wardens would test the system with a couple of small jobs.  Cllr P Taylor would look at the RWS agreement.   The DCC RWS Agreement stated that Road Wardens shall “liaise with their Neighbourhood Highways Officer to avoid any clashes with work planned by DCC, to arrange the loan of equipment (if needed) and to seek advice and assistance as appropriate” It was agreed that the Road Wardens would give DCC a few days advance notice of planned work. Cllr R Cashmore to advise the Road Wardens of this policy.

Cllr R Cashmore was thanked for his work on this project.

9.4                 Update on Parish Hall car park work

Since the last meeting the cost of the work had increased by approximately £100.00 and this increase was approved. 

10/06/22      Devon County Council

10.1               Outstanding Highways issues

There was no update on any of the issues apart from item iv) which DCC had added to their list of work and hoped to clear within two weeks

10.2               New Highway issues           

Pot holes at the entrance to New Estate and Creedy View – Cllr L Ouldridge to send photos to Cllr G Barnell

The chippings left on the pavement when the anti-slip surface was installed needed to be swept up

The give way sign at the end of West Town where it joins the A377 was faded

The road sign at the junction of Tytheing Close and the A377 was overgrown

A letter and an email had been received from two Newton House residents re noisy inspection covers on the A377 and this would be reported to DCC

 

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

There was no report 

11/06/22      Miscellaneous Correspondence

Thank you letter from the auditor for the gift received

 

12/06/22      Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda

None noted

                      

13/06/22      Date of next PC meeting: Thursday 7 July 2022, 7pm in the Club Room, Parish Hall   

End of Formal Business

Public Participation

There was none

The meeting closed at 8.45pm