Parish Council Minutes: July 2022
The Minutes of a Meeting of Oakford Parish Council held in the Committee Room at Oakford Village Hall on Monday 11th July 2022 at 7.30 pm
Present:
Cllr G Baylis (Chair), R Brain, L Gould and V Stevens.
In attendance:
District Cllr R Stanley, Mr J Phillips and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
36/07/22. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr’s J Cridland, J Cousins and J Mayer. Apologies were received from County Cllr R Chesterton.
37/07/22. Declarations of Interest.
There were no declarations of interest.
38/07/22. Public Forum.
The member of the public did not wish to speak.
39/07/22. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 13th June 2022 as an accurate record of the meetings.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and were duly signed by the Chair.
40/07/22. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
No matters arising.
It was agreed to bring the following item forward on the agenda.
41/07/22. Community Area
To discuss fencing off the play equipment and changing the PSPO.
Following the last Parish Council meeting District Cllr Moore emailed to say that he made enquiries about changing a PSPO and if a Parish Council wants to change what is in a PSPO MDDC will not stand in the way and there will not be a charge. Cabinet will be discussing changes to the PSPO tomorrow, 12th July. Councillors decided they wanted to see this in writing before they made a decision on what they wanted to do and when. They were conscious that only 4 councillors were present at this meeting and felt more councillors should be present before any decision is made. Cllr Brain noted that when the PSPO was agreed last October people wanted the area to be dog free. It would be a big change to amend the PSPO so it was fair that all councillors have a say and look at what the options are.
It was agreed that a working party of Cllr Baylis, Cllr Brain, Cllr Gould,Cllr Stevens and Mr Phillips would meet at the community area to look at the options and report back to the next meeting. Grass cutting will need to be taken into consideration.
Before the order can be changed a new plan of the site will have to be drawn up. It was suggested that stock fencing could be erected as a short term solution while funding is obtained. The Batsworthy Community Grant Fund is a possibility but Oakford has already received a grant from them this year. Mr Phillips is willing to do some fundraising and reminded councillors about how money was raised for the defibrillator before it was installed. Once this has been discussed at the next meeting information will be put on the Oakford Massive Facebook page for public comment.
Mr Phillips left the meeting.
42/07/22. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
22/01116 HOUSE Erection of single storey extension and porch. Location: Highfield Gate, Oakford. No comment.
22/01128/CLU Certificate of Lawfulness for existing use of land for siting of a mobile home (caravan) for residential purposes, associated external wooden decking area, garden/amenity area, car parking and vehicular access for a period in excess of 10 years. Location: The Paddock, Spurway Mill, Oakford.The planning officer has to decide whether there is evidence of use for residential purposes. As the Parish Council doesn’t know the ins and outs of the background to this application it was agreed that there would be no comment.
b) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
No decisions received.
It was noted that the following application has been withdrawn : 22/00202/LBC
Listed Building Consent for replacement of barn with holiday let. Location: Land and buildings at NGR 287183 122509 North Esworthy, Oakford.
c) Any other planning matters.
There were no other planning matters.
43/07/22. Highways: any matters to note.
Permanent skid signs have been put up on the B3227 near Black Aller Lane. Holes have been test drilled as the road surface believed to be slipping. The road closure on Hamslade Hill has been causing issues for some residents. The road surface on Hangmans Hill is reported to be bad in places.
44/07/22. Reports
a) County Cllr.
No report.
b) District Cllr.
Cllr Stanley reported that due to the Tiverton and Honiton Parliamentary Election MDDC had been in purdah for 12 weeks. Committee meetings only started again this week. Cabinet will be discussing the plans for a 3 weekly general waste collection again at its meeting tomorrow as there are still issues for rural areas. It is costing £750,000 to purchase the wheelie bins. With more staff being recruited to make sure people are recycling there is concern that future savings will not be as much as forecast. There has been a spate of tools being stolen in Stoodleigh. Something will be posted on Facebook to warn people.
45/07/22. Community Area
a) To discuss fencing off the play equipment and changing the PSPO. This was covered under item 41/07/22.
b) Any points to note from inspections of the community area.
No points to note. Cllr Brain and Cllr Baylis have been ticking off the outstanding points from the annual inspection report. The fencing between the community area and the neighbouring field will be replaced by the owner of the field.
c) To report on whether S106 funding can be used to remove the kick wall and the cost of removing the wall.
It was reported that Dave Lee would be able to remove the wall, which is reinforced, and it will cost approximately £1,000. Cllr Stevens declared a personal and pecuniary interest as he would work with Mr Lee and remove the rubble. Residents will need to be given notice of when the work will take place. S106 funding cannot be used to fund the work if the wall is being removed for safety reasons. It was suggested that an application be made to remove it as part of enhancement works to the community area. The Clerk advised that there are adequate reserves to pay for the work if necessary.Action: Cllr Brain to put together a letter explaining that the removal of the wall is to Enhance the community area for Cllr Stanley to run past the S106 Officer.Cllr Stevens was thanked for refurbishing the seat by the new notice board. He said He would not be charging for this.Cllr Baylis said it had been reported to him that broken glass and other rubbish had to be picked up.
d) Clarification on the reporting of breaches of the PSPO.
Cllr Baylis reported that he had had a call-back from Luke Howard, MDDC Environment & Enforcement Manager, to clarify the discussion he had with him back in February about the reporting of PSPO breaches. Members of the public can report PSPO breaches via the MDDC website
(https://www.middevon.gov.uk/eworks/dogfouling/dogfouling.asp?id=7654)
and their Enforcement Officers can use this info to build a profile of breaches in a particular area and to inform their monitoring visits. They cannot use that info to issue a fixed penalty ticket. At this point the member of public remains anonymous. If a member of the public can also produce photographic or video evidence of the breach, the Enforcement Officers can use that to proceed with a fixed penalty notice but if the offender challenges the claim, then MDDC can only proceed with a court hearing if the member of the public is prepared to make an official witness statement and potentially also appear in court as a witness. Once a witness statement is used in the court proceedings they are no longer anonymous.
46/07/22. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payment:
Mrs J Larcombe - £161.85 Clerk’s salary (Payment ref: 2223/10).
The gates ordered from Wicksteed Ltd for the community area have now been delivered and an invoice for £1,742.58 is expected. Cllr Stevens will install the gates before the invoice is paid to ensure they are correct.
Action: Cllr Stevens to install the new gates at the entrance to the community area.
b) To note the completion of the notice board project and payment of invoice.
The noticeboard has been delivered and installed and a payment of £1,905.00 has been made (Payment ref: 2223/11). This is 50% of the cost as a 50% deposit was made when the notice board was ordered.
c) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance.
A P3 grant of £710.00 has been received. The bank balance is £15,639.07 but a payment of £351.22 to Community First Trading Ltd is still outstanding.
d) Report on budget versus actual for Quarter 1, 2022-23.
The report was discussed and the amount of general and earmarked reserves was noted.
47/07/22. To report whether there have been any issues with smell from the sewerage treatment works.
No issues have been reported but it was recognised that hot weather can cause issues.
48/07/22. Correspondence.
The following correspondence was noted:
DALC Newsletters
MDDC - Views sought on a revised Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document for NW Cullompton. Cllr Stanley reported the 6 eco houses have now been built and let by MDDC. 70 affordable homes are to be built at Post Hill, Tiverton.
49/07/22. To agree the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on 8th August 2022.