Parish Council Minutes: March 2024
Oakford Parish Council
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed at the Parish Council meeting on 8th April and might be subject to slight amendment.
The minutes of a meeting of Oakford Parish Council held in the Committee Room at Oakford Village Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 11th March 2024
Present:
Cllr’s G Baylis (Chair), J Cridland, J Levick, J Mayer, P Potter and V Stevens.
In attendance:
District Cllr’s C Adcock and R Gilmour and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
168/03/24. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr L Gould.
Apologies were received from County Cllr R Chesterton.
169/03/24. Declarations of Interest.
No declarations.
170/03/24. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
171/03/24. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12th February 2024 as an accurate record of the meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and they were duly signed.
172/03/24. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Cllr Levick reported that he had purchased a ‘Slippery surface’ warning sign for the entrance to the Community Area..
173/03/24. Red Lion Hotel - Working Group update and Asset of Community Value.
The working party has suspended activities and will not be carrying out a survey. The Red Hotel will not be nominated as an ACV at this time.
174/03/24. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
24/00295/Full Erection of a garage with storage and field shelter on west elevation.Location: 1 High Bolham, Oakford. Comment: no objections.
b) To minute the comment submitted for 23/00864/Full
Change of use and conversion of building to holiday let. Land and Buildings at NGR 290678 121480 (The Coach House), Oakford. Comment: Whilst Oakford Parish Council has no comment regarding the technical aspects or appearance of the development, it is nevertheless sympathetic to the complaints from the immediate neighbours regarding the increased road use and privacy, particularly if there are further holiday home developments in the future at the same property.
c) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
24/00018/Full Erection of agricultural building. Location: Land and Buildings at NGR 285855 122360 Swineham Farm, Oakford. Decision: conditional approval granted.
d) Update on alleged planning breaches.
The District Councillors are talking to the new Planning Enforcement Officer about the problems with developments in the woods. There is a particular problem in Bakes Wood.
e) Any other planning matters.
No other planning matters.
175/03/24. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
None.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
Cllr Mayer reported she had reported the standing water before Chapples Farm and has a log number. Cllr Levick has reported the flooding on Rookery Hill but work is needed on the field side of the hedge to remove the silt that has built up.
176/03/24. Reports:
a) County Cllr Report.
No report.
b) District Cllr Report.
A written report was circulated by email before the meeting. Cllr Baylis reported that there is no longer an issue with the Sewage Treatment Plant but the damaged verge still needs to be reinstated.
It is Spurway Barton where there are alleged planning breaches and not Spurway Mill.
A representative from the Environment Agency will be attending the MDDC Scrutiny Committee meeting on 18th March.
An additional member will be added to the Executive and they will have a responsibility for communities.
It is coming up to the first anniversary of the election and there is a happy atmosphere and everyone is working together despite which party they belong to. Officers are happier.
Cllr Mayer said she was concerned about the amount of black bag waste that is being put out for collection and asked if this was being monitored. Cllr Gilmour confirmed that it is being followed up and officers are knocking on doors where it appears that residents are putting out a lot of black bag waste and don’t appear to be recycling and/or putting out food waste. You can confidentially report any households that are not recycling. Clly Mayer would like to make Oakford residents proud of how much is recycled.
Copies of the MDDC Flood Guide were given out.
The District Councillors would like to hold occasional surgeries at the Village Hall before Parish meetings and arrangements will be made.
Cllr Adcock and Cllr Gilmour left the meeting.
177/03/24 Update on SWW work to the sewerage treatment works.
Cllr Baylis has left a message for the manager to let him know that the work to reinstate the verge was still outstanding. The person taking the call was surprised to hear that after 3 months the work had still not been done. A contractor’s lorry did the damage and this will be followed up.
178/03/24. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from inspections of community area.
Cllr Levick has carried out 2 inspections and he has put up the slippery surface warning sign. A photo of the sign was supplied.
b) To discuss the quotes received for grass cutting for 2024 and decide which to accept.
6 quotes had been received and they were discussed by councillors. It was agreed to award the contract to Hampton Maintenance who it was felt could be relied on to do a good job and keep the community area looking tidy. Cllr Levick will inspect after the first cut.
Action: Cllr Levick will inspect the 2 areas after the first cut.
c) To arrange a Community Area working party.
This was arranged for Sunday 14th April from 10am to 1pm. This will be advertised on the Oakford Massive Facebook page and the community website in the hope that volunteers will also help. Cllr Levick and Cllr Potter will have a look before the date to see what tools will be needed. The pavilion needs to be painted with preservative. Cllr Levick will purchase the preservative and make an expense claim.
Actions: Cllr Levick to purchase the preservative and make an expense claim.
d) Update on replacement of gate at the top of the play area.
Cllr Stevens will replace the gate when he has finished lambing and the ground has dried up. He will order enough sand in dumpy bags to top up the Petanque court and take it to the community area.
Action: Cllr Stevens to purchase and replace the gate and purchase sand and take to the community area. Expense claim for both to be submitted;
e) Any matters to note.
There was concern about the mud under the tree at the entrance, which is slippery. This is on a slope and it is difficult to get a grip to walk on. This will be looked at, and a plan produced to deal with it .
179/03/24. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payments:
Cllr Levick declared a pecuniary interest and was not involved in the approval of his expense claim.
Cllr J Levick - £14.95 expense claim for slippery surface sign purchased from Screwfix (Payment ref: 2324/28)
Mrs J Larcombe - £150.45 Clerk’s salary (Payment ref: 2324/29).
An internal transfer will be made to bring the balance of the Current account back to £500.00.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balances.
Since the last meeting there have been no receipts.
The Current Account balance is £500.00 and the Instant Access Account balance is £11,244.38.
c) Bank reconciliation 29.02.24.
To be checked by Cllr Levick.
Action: Cllr Levick to check the bank reconciliation for 29.02.24.
180/03/24. To discuss the request from the Fete Committee to use the Community Area for a fete on 29th June 2024.
It was agreed to give permission for the Fete Committee to use the Community Area on 29th June for the fete and on the afternoon of 28th June to set up the fete. This is subject to public liability insurance and a risk assessment for the event being provided. The Clerk will inform the Chair of the Fete Committee of the decision.
Action: the Clerk to inform the Chair of the Fete Committee that permission has been given.
181/03/24. To discuss how the Parish Newsletter will be produced.
This needs to be produced for the Annual Parish Meeting. Cllr Baylis will pass the information to Cllr Cross who has offered to produce it.
Action: Cllr Baylis to pass the information for the newsletter to Cllr Cross.
182/03/24. To report that the annual P3 forms have been submitted to DCC Public Rights of Way Department.
The Clerk confirmed the forms have been submitted.Jon Boyd is the new P3 Liaison Officer.
183/03/24. Annual Parish Meeting
Preparations for the 2024 Annual Parish Meeting.
The APM will be held on Saturday 11th May from 11am to 1pm. It was agreed to invite the organisations in the parish to have stands rather than giving presentations. Cllr Baylis will contact the organisations and book the Village Hall. He will also speak to Cllr Cross about having copies of the newsletter for the APM. Cllr Mayer will bring tea, coffee and cake.
Actions: Cllr Baylis to contact the parish organisations about the arrangements, book the village hall and speak to Cllr Cross about having copies of the newsletter.
Cllr Mayer to bring tea, coffee and cake.
Consideration of suggestions raised at the 2023 Annual Parish Meeting.
Put Planning Applications on the Parish Council Noticeboard as an aid to those without internet access.
There is not enough space on the notice board to do this.
Do something about the water that is constantly running onto the B3227 from Harton Farm.
There is a bog in the field above and water is running through the hedge and across the road. The ditch on the top side of the road needs cleaning out. People need to be encouraged to report this online. Councillors to report when it when water is flowing across the road.
Could a water and electricity supply be provided to the Community Area?
It would be too expensive to have these connected. Cllr Stevens offered to loan a generator for the fete.
Could a map of the whole of the Oakford Parish be put up somewhere?
Councillors decided they couldn’t justify the cost.
184/03/24. Correspondence.
the following correspondence was noted:
DALC Newsletters
MDDC – State of the District Debate on March 20th. Cllr Baylis will attend.
MDDC press releases
Southpoint Consultancy Ltd – new internet services for Devon and Cornwall
185/03/24. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be on Monday 8th April 2024.