Parish Council Minutes: October 2026
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed at the meeting due to be held on 9th November 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 12th October 2026.
Present: Cllr’s J Levick (Chair), F Cross, T Davies, J Mayer and V Stevens
In attendance: County Cllr S Lodge, District Cllr M Stratton and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
76/10/26. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr’s G Baylis, J Cridland and L Gould. Apologies were received from District Cllr C Adcock.
77/10/26. Declarations of Interest.
Cllr Mayer declared a personal and prejudicial interest regarding Spurway Barton (Item 81/10/26d) as she does some work for the owners
78/10/26. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
79/10/26. To agree the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 14th September as an accurate record of the meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and were duly signed by the Chair.
80/10/26. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Cllr Mayer has been unable to speak to the Village Hall Committee about the Village Hall
becoming a community hub in an emergency situation as the committee has not met
since the last parish council meeting.
Action: Cllr Mayer to speak to the Village Hall Committee about the Village Hall
becoming a community hub in an emergency situation;
81/10/26. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
No applications received.
b) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
26/00958/CLU Certificate of lawfulness for the existing use of barn as a dwelling
(known as The Flat), with associated vehicle parking, access and courtyard area for
a period in excess of 10 years. Location: Flat, Nethercott Farm, Stoodleigh, Tiverton.
Decision: approved.
c) Update on action being taken regarding the dumping of soil and associated
works at Oakfordbridge (Ref no 26/00036/OPDEV). Mary Hutter is now the
enforcement officer for this matter. In an email to Cllr Adcock, she reported Council
Enforcement Officers had recently visited the site and met with the occupier and
their planning consultant at Council offices. Officers understand that the majority of
the imported material has now been removed, although this is still being verified.
They are currently awaiting further information from the occupant and planning
agent before making a decision on whether the remaining material is waste or not,
and haven’t reached a final conclusion on this matter. Whether the quantity exceeds
that reasonably required for the approved farm track also forms part of their ongoing
assessment, and they have requested details regarding the amount of material
remaining and its intended use.
In response to a question from Cllr Adcock about what legal options the Council is
considering, he was told the Council is continuing to investigate the planning
aspects of the development and will consider any further action that may be
necessary once all relevant information has been received and assessed.
While MDDC is considering the planning issues relating to the approved track they
are continuing to liaise with DCC and the Environment Agency on matters relating to
the importation of waste materials and will continue given the level of local concern.
Councillors noted the material was dumped in February and found it difficult to
understand why MDDC were still asking questions in October. The Clerk was asked
to write to Mary Hutter and thank her for her reply to Cllr Adcock and ask why they
are still waiting for answers seven months later. Councillors are very concerned that
the owner and agent are saying enough material has been left for a track which was
meant to go alongside the field hedge and not where they are saying it is now.
It was suggested that Rachel Gilmour MP could be asked to get involved again to
try and pursue a satisfactory outcome.
Action: the Clerk to write to Mary Hutter to ask why MDDC are still asking questions
in October when the dumping of the waste happened in February.
d) Update on alleged planning breaches.
No update.
e) Plan Mid Devon – Open Green Spaces Consultation. The community area is
the only open space in Oakford parish and there are no other sites to nominate for
consideration.
f) Any other planning matters.
82/10/26. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains. There has been some maintenance
work on gullies. Cllr Lodge has suggested that it would be wise to get a list of
gullies/drains in the parish that have a history of flooding and he can then encourage
the Neighbourhood Highways Officer to review them before a flood occurs and
ensure they're on a list to clear. This is to supplement the work that Highways
already does to prepare with local knowledge. It would be helpful to have a
What3words for any locations identified. Similarly, this applies to potholes or other
issues that may pose a risk this winter.
It is believed the drain opposite the Village Hall entrance is still blocked and
drainage problems are ongoing on the road past the Police House.
Cllr Davies and Mr Cridland have completed their Signing, Lighting and Guarding
training and are waiting for their certificates so that the material to fill in the potholes
can be ordered under the Road Warden Scheme. Equipment will also need to be
ordered. Once people are trained they can supervise other volunteers. It was agreed
to put Cllr Lodge forward for training using the parish council’s third free place.
c) Update on improvements to the fingerpost signs. Mr Cridland is continuing
with improvement work.
d) Any other highways matters. No other reports.
83/10/26. Footpaths - any footpath matters. Mr Cridland has dealt with clearing the footpath
behind Holme Place and replaced a missing signpost that Cllr Mayer had noticed.
He has been walking as many paths as he can and trying to keep up when they
become overgrown but asks that everyone keeps reporting any problems that they
notice to him.
84/10/26. Reports:
a) District Cllr Report. A written report was circulated to councillors by email, prior
to the meeting. Cllr Stratton reported that Active Mid Devon has been nominated for
an award. In response to a question Cllr Stratton confirmed that anyone applying for
one of the new Mid Devon Housing homes at School Close, Bampton has to have a
connection to Mid Devon.
b) County Cllr Report. A written report was circulated to councillors by email, prior
to the meeting. Cllr Lodge reported that the Local Government Review is on hold but
two Devon labour MPs are pushing hard to bring it back. DCC has received legal
advice and will go to judicial review.
85/10/26. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from the regular inspections of community area. Cllr Levick will email his report to the Clerk. There were no points to note.
b) To agree to purchase new swing seats and chains. The chains, flat seat and
cradle seat for the swings will be replaced. Prices to be obtained.
Action: the Clerk to obtain prices to replace the chains and seats for the swings.
c) Update on returning the picnic tables to the supplier. Concerns about the
variation in colour, poor workmanship and difficulties in putting the pieces of the
tables together have been raised with the company that supplied them and they
have agreed to take them back. Cllr Stevens will put them back on the pallet and
wrap them with bale wrap, ready to be collected.
Action: Cllr Stevens to prepare the picnic tables for collection.
d) To discuss the three quotes for fitness equipment for the community area
and the S106 funding application. Councillors considered quotes from Sunshine
Gym, Fresh Air Fitness and Caloo. The quote from Caloo was far higher than the
other two. Cllr Cross will check what it would cost to add a child’s piece of fitness
equipment to the Fresh Air Fitness quote.
Cllr Stratton agreed to support an application for S106 funding and the Clerk will
complete the application form.
Actions: Cllr Cross to obtain a price from Fresh Air Fitness for a child’s piece of equipment.
The Clerk to complete the S106 application form.
e) Any matters to note. Hampton Maintenance should be carrying out the work
to line the inside of the pavilion during the last week of October or first week of
November.
86/10/26. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
| 2627/22 | Hampton Maintenance | £189.00 | Grass cutting |
| 2627/23 | Mrs J Larcombe | £165.77 | Clerk’s salary September |
Since the last meeting there haven’t been any payments. A service charge of £7.00
was taken from the current account at the end of September. A service charge of
£7.00 will be taken from the account at the end of October.
Internal transfers will be made to return the balance to £500.00.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance. Since the
last meeting bank interest of £74.97 has been received,
The Current Account balance is £500.00 and the Instant Access Account balance is
£15,169.44.
c) Bank reconciliation for 30.09.26. The bank reconciliation was checked against
the bank statements by Cllr Stevens and signed.
d) To consider a request for funding from Mid Devon Mobility. Councillors felt
they should be supporting the Exe Valley Market Bus rather than Mid Devon
Mobility.
An application for funding has also been received from Churches Housing Action
Team (CHAT) and this will be discussed at the next meeting.
Action: the Clerk to add the application for funding for CHAT to the November
agenda.
87/10/26. To discuss making an application for the Red Lion to be listed as an Asset of
Community Value. Councillors discussed whether an application should be made. It
was decided to invite the landlord to a parish council meeting and ask how the
parish council can support him. Cllr Mayer to try and get his contact details.
Action: Cllr Mayor to try to get the contact details for the landlord of the Red Lion in
order to invite him to a parish council meeting.
88/10/26. Report from the screening of The People's Emergency Briefing at Bampton
and any actions to be taken, including planning for a Community Hub. It was
reported that more than seventy people had attended, including four Oakford parish
councillors. As two of the four councillors who attended the briefing were
unavoidably not present it was decided to defer further discussion to the next
meeting.
89/10/26. To continue to discuss options for the replacement of the Oakford website
before April 2028 when MDDC will no longer provide the service. As Cllr Baylis
had given his apologies this was deferred to the next meeting.
90/10/26. Correspondence. The following correspondence was noted:
DALC Newsletters
MDDC press releases
CHAT News
91/10/26. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
Monday 9th November 2026. Cllr Mayer gave her apologies.
The meeting closed at 8.40pm.