Parish Council Minutes: May 2024
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed at the Parish Council meeting to be held on 10th June 2024 and might be subject to slight amendment
The Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Oakford Parish Council held in the Committee Room at Oakford Village Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 13th May 2024
Present:
Cllr’s G Baylis (Chair), F Cross, J Cridland, J Levick, J Mayer, and V Stevens.
In attendance:
County Cllr R Chesterton, District Cllr R Gilmour and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
01/05/24. Election of Officers:
a) Chair. elected chair to sign an Acceptance of Office Form. Cllr G Baylis was unanimously elected as Chair and accepted the office. Proposed by Cllr J Mayer and seconded by Cllr J Cridland.
Cllr Baylis told councillors that this was the last year that he was willing to be Chair of the Parish Council.
b) Vice-chair. Cllr J Cridland was unanimously elected as Vice-chair and accepted the office. Proposed by Cllr G Baylis and seconded by Cllr J Levick.
02/05/24. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr L Gould and Cllr P Potter. Cllr F Cross had advised she would be arriving during the meeting.
Apologies were received from District Cllr C Adcock.
03/05/24. Declarations of Interest:
Cllr Cridland declared a personal interest in item 09/05/24 a) and the payment to Hampton Maintenance as her son has become employed by Hampton Maintenance since Oakford Parish Council awarded the grass cutting contract.
04/05/24. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
05/05/24. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 8th April 2024 as an accurate record of the meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and they were duly signed by the Chair.
06/05/24. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
The Soapbox Derby is being run by the Village Hall Committee.
Turnout for the Annual Parish Meeting was very low. The people that supplied cakes were thanked.
The Parish Newsletter was very well received and there were congratulations to Cllr Cross and Cllr Baylis. Cllr Stevens felt it was very informative for anyone who wanted to find out what was happening in Oakford. Cllr Baylis was complimented on the slide show he put together for the APM.
07/05/24. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
24/00700/House Erection of a car port and potting shed. Location: Red Deer House,Oakford. Comment: no objection.
b) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
24/00295/Full Erection of a garage with storage and field shelter on west elevation Location: 1 High Bolham, Oakford. Decision: conditional approval.
Cllr Cross joined the meeting at this point.
c) Update on alleged planning breaches.
No update received. Cllr Gilmour noted that planning enforcement is one of the Key Performance Indicators for MDDC’s Chief Executive.
d) Any other planning matters.
No other planning matters.
08/05/24. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
Cllr Levick reported that a good job had been made of the resurfacing of the road from Spurway Bridge.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
No update.
c) Improving signage on Hangmans Hill.
It was reported that on Sunday 14th April, a fully loaded, 8 wheeler lorry carrying several tonnes of gravel, took the Hangman’s Hill route from the Stoodleigh side. Clearly in trouble with the weight of the vehicle, the gradient, and the bends, the lorry became wedged, after leaving a trail of rubber on the road when the driver attempted to slow down. The road was made impassable with the lorry becoming wedged on the final bend, and with the potential to head straight into the valley below. He was finally freed up with the help of two colleagues who came to assist. On the way out they managed to hit the bridge railings too. Apparently, there was a second 8 wheeler that had just made it but had also hit the bridge and this incident was reported by Stoodleigh Parish Council. The irony is that they were all highway maintenance contractors. The crew are working on the B3227 road and felt this was a good route to take (with the help of Sat Nav). Neither driver had reported hitting the bridge and Highways were only aware of the incidents because they were reported by councillors. The photos that accompanied one of the reports do not show how steep the road is but Melanie McKenna, Highways Neighbourhood Officer, is aware. Cllr Chesterton will raise the issue and make the point that if lorries carrying out work for Highways are using this route then signage is needed. Cllr Baylis offered to meet for a site visit. Cllr Cross felt some lorry drivers were using this route because of the lack of signal and the opportunity to stop for a break without it being noticed.
Action: Cllr Chesterton to raise the need for signs making the point that lorries working for Highways are using this route and getting stuck.
Cllr Baylis to attend a site meeting, if one is arranged.
d) Footpaths.
Tony Northcott, P3 Footpath Co-ordinator attended the APM with the forms to try and recruit his replacement but there were no volunteers. Cllr Cridland has put a message on the Walking Group’s WhatsApp Group and will continue to push. Cllr Baylis will put something in the Church Magazine.
The issue of having a map of the whole of Oakford parish put up somewhere was raised again. It was agreed that a map could be put on the back of the notice board by the phone box. Cllr Baylis will speak to DCC to get permission to use the footpath map they supply and then speak to Ken White Signs to see what they suggest.
Action: Cllr Baylis to put something in the Church Magazine to try and recruit a Footpath Co-ordinator.
Cllr Cridland to continue to push this with the walking group.
Cllr Baylis to speak to DCC to get permission to use a copy of the footpath map they supply and then speak to Ken White Signs to see what they suggest.
It was reported that a Tesco delivery driver had dumped some of a delivery on the side of the road. This was reported to Tesco and it was removed.
09/05/24. Reports:
a) County Cllr Report.
A written report from Cllr Chesterton was circulated by email prior to the meeting. It was noted that Cllr John Hart was stepping down as Leader of Devon County Council after 15 years and a new leader will be elected. That is expected to be the Deputy Leader, Cllr James McInnes. Cllr Andrea Davis will beproposed for Deputy Leader.
Devon County Council and Torbay Council have formally submitted their joint proposal for a Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (CCA) to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP. It follows agreement by both councils for the formation of a Devon and Torbay CCA that, if agreed by the Secretary of State, would oversee a raft of new decision-making powers and funding devolved to Devon and Torbay from Whitehall.
An extra £12 million has been proposed and agreed by DCC’s Cabinet to help repair Devon's roads after bad weather caused a huge amount of damage. It's in response to recent budget discussions for additional investment in highways, including drainage. The council received a better than expected settlement from the Government last month to help tackle it’s overspend on education for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The council is now in a position to make extra money available for road repairs and drainage and will be looking to invest another £12 million into the highway maintenance budget. This will be spent across the county with the majority on extensive patching repairs targeting issues identified by highways officers, county councillors, town and parish councils and communities. It will also pay for increased drainage improvements and some will be added to the ongoing road marking replacement programme.
b) District Cllr Report.
A written report from Cllr’s Adcock and Gilmour was circulated by email prior to the meeting. This included a report that recycling had increased by 5%. Cllr Baylis asked whether this was by weight or size but this was not known.
May marks a year since Cllr Adcock and Cllr Gilmour were elected and they will have a 360 degree performance review from their party. As part of this performance review Parish Councils have been sent a questionnaire to fill in as a Part 2 agenda item. Councillors were asked to keep it pertinent rather than political and personal. They hope this will help them perform better as councillors. This is the first time such an exercise has been undertaken by any MDDC councillors. They are also participating in an annual appraisal by the Leader of MDDC, Cllr Luke Taylor. This will be added to the agenda for the June meeting.
Action: the Clerk to add a Part 2 item to the agenda for the meeting on 10th June to fill in the questionnaire.
Cllr Chesterton left the meeting.
10/05/24. Update on SWW work to the sewerage treatment works.
No complaints received and it seems to be working alright at the moment.
Cllr Gilmour left the meeting.
11/05/24. Community Area:
a) Inspections
Inspections were carried out by Cllr Levick on 25/04/24 and 10/05/24 and the reports and photos were given to the Clerk. There are still moles in the Community Area. The new contractor is making a good job of the grass cutting. Cllr Stevens has adjusted the entrance gate so that gaps are more than 12mm. Cllr Levick has checked the gates since they were adjusted and they haven’t moved.
b) Report from the Community Area working party.
The working party took place on 14th April. A second coat of wood preservative will be applied to the pavilion. The weed killer has worked on the pétanque court and it will be topped up with sand when the field has dried up enough for a tractor and trailer to drive on. It was agreed that Cllr Stevens would arrange the purchase of two 600kg bags of sand (expected cost £50 per bag) as a starting point. More can be purchased if necessary. It was suggested that Cllr Stevens liaises with Mr Phillips.
Actions: Cllr Levick to apply a second coat of wood preservative to the pavilion.
Cllr Stevens to liaise with Mr Phillips, purchase two 600kg bags of sand and arrange to spread on pétanque court.
c) Update on replacement of gate at the top of the play area.
Cllr Stevens to replace the gate as soon as conditions and work commitments allow.
d) Any matters to note.
As there is limited parking next to the Community Area Cllr Stevens suggested looking into the possibility of creating a footpath from the Village Hall Car Park to the Community Area. The owner/s of the land will need to be identified so that they can be asked for permission to create one. Cllr Mayer offered to speak to the Village Hall Committee
12/05/24. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payments:
Cllr J Levick - £66.00 expense claim for wood preservative and weedkiller (Payment ref: 2425/05)
Mrs J Larcombe - £150.45 Clerk’s salary (Payment ref: 2425/06)
Community First Trading Ltd - £333.86 annual insurance premium year 3 of 3 year agreement (payment ref: 2425/07)
Hampton Maintenance - £360.00 grass cutting and strimming x 2 (Payment ref:2425/08)
An internal transfer will be made from the Current Account to the Instant Access Account to return the balance to £500.00.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balances.
Since the last meeting the precept of £6,600.00 has been received.
The Current Account balance is £1005.26. Payment’s totalling £439.26 are waiting for a second authorisation.
The Instant Access Account balance is £17,262.04
c) Bank reconciliation 30.04.24.
Cllr Levick reported that he had checked the bank reconciliation against the bank statements dated 30.04.24.
d) Accounts 2023-24.
The Annual Governance and Accountability Return for 2023-24 will be presented at the next meeting after everything has been checked by the Internal Auditor.
13/05/24. Correspondence:
The following correspondence was noted:
DALC Newsletters.
MDDC press releases.
MDDC invitation to tour waste and recycling site at MDDC’s Carlu depot.
Mid Devon Matters Newsletter.
14/05/24. To confirm the date of the next meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Monday 10th June 2024.
Cllr Baylis and Cllr Cridland gave their apologies. Cllr Stevens will not be able to attend if he is hay making. The Clerk will check that enough councillors will be attending for the meeting to be quorate. She explained that as both the Chair and Vice-chair have given their apologies the councillors at the meeting will need to elect a chair for the meeting at the start. If the meeting will not be quorate a new date will be arranged.
The meeting closed at 9.05pm.