Minutes from June 2023 meeting

Newton St Cyres Parish Council

Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 1 June 2023 

The meeting commenced at 7.00pm 

Members present

Cllr G Barnell (Chair)                             Cllr S Parker

Cllr J Browne                                         Cllr G Scopes

Cllr J Dean (left 8.45pm)                       Cllr P Stephenson

Cllr L Ouldridge                                                  

                                                                

In attendance:  4 members of public (1 left 7.40pm), J Hole, Parish Clerk

 

Public Participation

The defibrillator at the Rec had recently been deployed (but not used) and a reset had taken place. 

The next Recreation meeting was 21 June

Formal Business 

01/06/23      Apologies

1.1                 Cllr D Rowell, C/Cllr M Squires

 

02/06/23      Declaration of Interest

2.1                 None noted

 

03/06/23      Minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday 18 May 2023

                       Agreed and signed as a true record

 

04/06/23      To agree roles and responsibilities

4.1                 Roles and areas of responsibility have been redrafted and a copy circulated for discussion and agreement

                       After discussion Cllrs opted for the following roles:

Chair – Cllr G Barnell

Vice Chair – Cllr L Ouldridge

Development and Planning – Cllr G Barnell (acting)

Travel and Road Safety – Cllr J Dean

Publicity and Community Engagement – Cllr J Browne

Emergency and Resilience – Cllr G Scopes and Cllr P Stephenson

Environment and Climate – Cllr D Rowell

Footpath, Structures and Maintenance – Cllr S Parker

If and when an additional Councillor is co-opted, Cllr G Barnell would stand down from the Development and Planning role, or if the co-opted councillor would prefer a different role,  Councillors would be prepared to swop roles

Cllr G Barnell requested all Cllrs to review their new areas of responsibility, consult widely and to provide an update at the September Parish Council meeting.

The annual Parish Council newsletter would go out by the end of July and distribution areas would be agreed at the July meeting.  Cllr G Barnell would draft a statement on the new Parish Council and the Clerk would send reports etc to Cllr J Browne. 

 

05/06/23      Newton St Cyres Parish Council Issues relevant to Mid Devon District Council

5.1                 Planning Applications

                       None        

5.2                 Planning Decisions

                       None          

5.3                 Report from District Councillors on issues relevant to the parish – to include update on broken Parish Hall car park lights

                       D/Cllr M Binks would arrange a site meeting with the relevant MDDC Officers, and interested parties, including the relevant Parish Councillor with regards to the broken Parish Hall car park light, Court Orchard grass cutting and the petition re speeding received from residents in New Estate.   Cllr L Ouldridge would forward parishioners email addresses to D/Cllr M Binks.

                        

06/06/23      Newton St Cyres Parish Council issues relevant to Devon County Council

6.1                 Review of traffic and road safety issues

6.1.1              To review request for school signage

This issue was raised at the last HATOC meeting where it was agreed that action was required.  Cllr G Barnell suggested that he and Cllr J Dean attend the HATOC Meeting on 27 July and request an update.

6.1.2              Update on request for review of A377 speed limits

6.1.3              Update on review and signage at Smallbrook

The SCARF report for 6.1.2 and 6.1.3 had been circulated.  The report gave average speeds at three locations on the A377 from speed detection radar and SDR surveys.  However,  the concern was excessive speed by some drivers and not average speeds.   It was agreed that Cllr G Barnell would write to the DCC Officer to explain that the report did not address our concerns.  A request would be made for the issue to go back on the HATOC agenda.

6.1.4              Update on Boniface Trail

There was no update since the last A377 action group meeting where DCC reported that the consultants would look at a route running in part alongside the A377 and in part using the land agreed in land owner agreements signed by the Boniface Trail Group.   It was agreed to call another A377 Action Group meeting and to include this on the agenda

6.2                 Report from County Councillor on issues relevant to the Parish

                       There was no report

 

07/06/23      Finance

7.1                 To agree Parish Council Payments and note Receipts.

                       Payments were agreed as:

Expenditure – current account	£	Receipts – current account	£
Tower Mint Ltd	485.62	Feniton Parish Council audit payment	120.00
Bernaville Nurseries – hanging baskets	53.97	Bradninch Town Council audit payment	200.00
J Hole – Salary and expenses (inc £320.00 for audits)	663.26
HMRC – PAYE	113.80

 

7.2                 To approve signatures for this month’s payments and to sign quarterly bank reconciliation

                       Cllr L Ouldridge and Cllr S Parker.  The quarterly bank reconciliation had been circulated to all Cllrs for information

7.3                 Balances (after above transactions)

7.3.1              Parish Council Current Account balances: £13,410.24

7.3.2              Footpath Account: £268.0

7.3.3              Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £7,255.55                

7.3.4              NHP: £0.00

7.4                 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor

                       Noted

7.5                 Road Warden Scheme  - to note that DCC will fund Chapter 8 training course up to £365.00, cost of course is £421.00 (plus travel expenses).  To consider if the Parish Council will pay the difference

                       It was resolved that the Parish Council would fund the difference

7.6                 To agree renewal of maintenance contract for tipping rain gauge

                       A copy of the maintenance agreement had been circulated and it was resolved to renew for the next year at a cost of £593.00

7.7                 To consider cost of UV waterproof map for village green noticeboard – Cllr S Parker

Cllr S Parker reported that the cost to laminate a large copy of the footpath map and apply
UV film to the noticeboard glass would cost approx. £30.00.  It was resolved to go ahead with the purchase

7.8                 To consider purchase of a new grit bin for Kingfisher Close, approx £200.00

It was agreed to ask the Road Warden to contact our Neighbourhood Highways Officer for an update before a decision was made on whether to purchase a bin

7.9                 Update on changes to bank mandate

The Account Management Submission Form was signed by two existing signatories and new Councillors signed the form to be added as signatories.  New Cllrs must send documents to Unity Bank to prove their identity and details were provided on how to do this.

 

08/06/23      Other Parish Council Matters

8.1                 Permissive Footpaths – Cllr S Parker to report on discussions with landowner

                       Correspondence with the land owner had been circulated for information.  Cllr S Parker had arranged a meeting with the land owner and Farm Manager for the end of June and would report back at the July meeting.  The permissive path from Tytheing Close needed a new exit point in Kingfisher Close

8.2                 To review latest NALC Standing Orders – circulated separately

                       It was resolved to adopt the latest NALC Standing Orders

8.3                 To review current Financial Regulations – circulated separately     

                       It was resolved to keep the existing NALC Financial Regulations with no changes necessary

8.4                 Cllr Training update and to note DALC Cllr Development Framework

                       All new Cllrs had been booked onto new Councillor Courses and the Chair had been booked onto a Chairing course

8.5                 Cllr Pen portraits -update

                       Pen portraits were posted on the website.  Cllrs agreed to send photos to the Clerk for posting

                       on the website and for use in the Annual Newsletter.

 

09/06/23      Clerks Report

9.1                 No report

 

10/06/23      Minor issues and Miscellaneous Correspondence

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

                       To note approval of re-federation of Exe Valley Federation with Whimple School – noted

                       Thank you note from the internal auditor for the gift

 

11/06/23      Agenda Planner

11.1               Review of agenda planner for future meetings. 

                       An agenda planner had been circulated and this would be used to plan future meetings.  Any items for discussion should be emailed to the clerk for inclusion on the Planner     

 

12/06/23      Date of next Parish Council meeting:  Thursday 6 July 2023 at 7pm in the Club Room

 

End of Formal Business

Public Participation

It was noted that there were a number of action points outstanding from the training undertaken by the Flood Wardens and these needed to be addressed as soon as possible.  The newly appointed Cllrs for Flood and Emergency would take this on board.

 

The meeting closed at 9pm