Agenda for January 2021
Shobrooke Parish Council
Notice of Meeting of Parish Council
Dear Councillors
I hereby give notice that the meeting of the above-named Parish Council will be held on Wednesday 20 January 2021 at 7.30pm via Zoom
All members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend for the purpose of considering and resolving upon the Business to be transacted at the meeting set out hereunder.
Dated this 14 January 2021
Signed Jane Hole
Clerk to the Parish Council shobrookepc@outlook.com 01392 851148
Public Participation – members of public can join the zoom meeting with the following details:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82533228840?pwd=ZkFxZVY4Q2llS0tZaTkrMTB6OVh1dz09
Meeting ID: 825 3322 8840, Passcode: 273381
Public Participation
Members of the public are invited to give their views and ask questions on issues on this agenda or to raise issues for future consideration by the Parish Council. Limited to 15 minutes.
Formal Business
(Members of the public may not take part in the formal business of the Parish Council except under special circumstances)
01/01/21 Apologies
To receive apologies
02/01/21 Declaration of Interest
2.1 Register of Interests (ROI). Councillors to update as required
2.2 Personal Interests (PI). Councillors must declare any personal interest in items on the agenda and their nature.
2.3 Disclosable Pecuniary interest (DPI). Councillors must declare any pecuniary interest in items on the agenda and their nature and they must leave the meeting for that agenda item.
03/01/21 Minutes of the last meeting held on Tuesday 8 December 2020 (previously circulated)
To be agreed and signed as a true record
04/01/21 Mid Devon District Council
4.1 Planning Applications:
20/01594/FULL - Erection of 2 sheds (Revised Scheme), formation of access track and erection of carport following removal of double garage at Westacott, Shobrooke
4.2 Planning Decisions: None
4.3 To note the publication of the Boundary Commission final report re MDDC wards - https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/18162
4.4 Report from MDDC Councillor, Cllr Graeme Barnell on MDDC business relevant to the parish.
05/01/21 Finance
5.1 Parish Council receipts Current Account:
MDDC S106 grant - £4,147.00 and DCC Locality grant £350.00
5.2 Parish Council payments current account:
|
Item |
Payee |
Purpose |
Amount £ |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5.2.1 |
Wicksteed |
Purchase of swingalong bars for playpark |
2,688.84 |
|
5.2.2 |
Creative Play |
Purchase of Springy for playpark |
739.20 |
|
5.2.3 |
Hags |
Purchase of 4 x seater Springy for playpark |
754.49 |
|
5.2.4 |
J Hole |
Salary and expenses |
238.62 |
|
5.2.5 |
HMRC |
PAYE |
13.20 |
5.3 To approve signatures for this month’s cheques
5.4 Balances:
5.4.1 Parish Council Current Account balance: £2,569.41
5.4.2 Parish Council Footpath balance (in above current account figure): £311.74
5.4.3 Parish Council Reserve Account balance: £7,798.13 (£3,250.00 ringfenced for play equipment)
5.5 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor - attached
5.6 To consider donation request to Mid Devon Mobility – circulated separately
06/01/21 Road and Footpaths
6.1 Outstanding Road and Footpath issues – Salt for new Salt bins – DCC chased
6.2 New issues identified
07/01/21 Parish Council
7.1 To note publication of S106 reports on MDDC website https://www.middevon.gov.uk/residents/planning/section-106/s106-parish-reports/ This shows that there is a balance of £1,000.00 in the general fund which is shared with Newton St Cyres
7.2 To note locality grant to purchase a cordless mower – to agree specification and delivery
08/01/21 Councillor’s Reports
8.1 To consider any Councillor reports for areas of responsibility
8.2 Coronavirus – any issues to consider? To note COVID-19 3rd wave grant funding from DCC, focused on food provision.
8.3 Playing Fields
8.3.1 To note any updates regarding re-opening of play park and any volunteers for carrying out inspections.
8.3.2 To note ROSPA annual inspection is due in March – to agree if a councillor will accompany inspector at an additional cost of £42.00. A routine checklist template tailored to our playground is available at an additional cost of £30.00
09/01/21 Clerk’s Report - none
10/01/21 Devon County Council
10.1 To consider a response to consultation on the Devon Carbon Plan – circulated separately
10.1 Report from DCC Councillor, Cllr M Squires on DCC business relevant to the parish
11/01/21 Miscellaneous Correspondence
Various DALC newsletters; temporary road closures
A list of any other correspondence will be available at the meeting
12/01/21 Minor Matters and Items for Future Agenda
Each Councillor is requested to use this opportunity to report minor matters of information not included elsewhere on the agenda and to raise items for future agendas. Councillors are respectfully reminded that this is not an opportunity for debate or decision making.
13/01/21 Date of next meeting: Wednesday 17 February 2021, at 7.30 pm, via zoom
End of formal business
Agenda Item 4.4
Graeme Barnell- District Councillor Newbrooke Ward -My New Year’s work programme
Last Year
2020 was a busy year for me partly because of COVID. The work of the Council has not stopped and cannot stop because of the virus.
Until August I was a member of the Mid Devon Council’s Cabinet with responsibility for Planning and Regeneration. I was able to play my part in ensuring we got our Local Plan across the line after years of delay. This Plan protects us from speculative Housing Development. I was also able to help in ensuring Government COVID grants to businesses were distributed efficiently and that businesses could reopen safely during the periods of respite we’ve had from COVID.
I had to spend a great deal of time opposing and helping to defeat GESP (the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan). I formed an alliance with friends in Mid and East Devon District Councils and with the Parish Councils that was finally successful in stopping GESP.
GESP was advertised as the bringer of new growth and investment to Devon. I was well placed to understand that this was just window dressing. GESP actually meant thousands of new houses locally and in other parts of rural Mid Devon that were not justified by any measure of local housing need. These schemes would have destroyed much beautiful countryside and degraded our environment.
My opposition to GESP cost me by job on the Mid Devon Council Cabinet, but that has given me much more time to work on local issues. Here are some of the issues I’ll be dealing with in the coming year.
Big development
I will continue to oppose any schemes for big housing development between Exeter and Crediton.
GESP is now dead. However there are sizeable areas of the Creedy Valley that remain attractive to town planners who are always seeking ways to meet Government housing targets and to developers who look at the Valley and see another lucrative suburb of Exeter.
Mid Devon District Council is just starting a new Local Plan. So are Exeter City and East Devon District Council. I will continue to be vigilant and link with the Parish Council and with colleagues from other Councils to oppose any new proposals for big development schemes locally.
Affordable housing
Like most rural areas of Devon we lack affordable housing for local people. Most of all we lack affordable rented housing (Government subsidy to enable rent at 80% of market) and social rented housing (50% of market rent) More affordable housing would enable and encourage families on ordinary incomes to live in villages like ours without spending disproportionate amounts of their income on housing. It would also mean that families on ordinary incomes who live in the village can remain rather than move into Towns.
I will continue to support the Parish council and my neighbours in developing a local Community Housing Scheme. First of all we need a site. Let us know if there’s a way!
I will also be working to get Mid Devon Council to invest in affordable and social rented houses rather than spend millions more taxpayers money, with little or no return, on speculative private housing development with its Company 3 Rivers Development. It is vital that any local affordable housing schemes are sustainable in their impact on the environment and fit in with and enhance the communities in which they sit.
Transport and Traffic Plan for the Creedy Valley
After much pressure the County Council have now promised us a controlled road crossing in the centre of Newton village. We are told this will happen later this year. We will need to work hard to make sure that it does!
I will continue my work with fellow Councillors including the Parish Council to deliver a Transport Plan for the Creedy Valley that responds to the impact of increasing road traffic on our communities, including that arising from new housing developments in and around Crediton. These plan meeds to include:-
· Footpaths and safe road crossing points in all the communities that sit on the A377.
· Speed calming along rural lanes that are increasingly being used as “rat runs” including through Shobrooke and Sweetham, .
· Average speed cameras along the A377
· Cycle Ways especially the Exeter to Crediton Cycle way (aka the “Boniface Trail”)
Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) disrupting life in local communities
I will continue to work with the County Council, Parish Councils and with local communities to deal with the impact of HGV traffic that disrupts normal life in some of our communities. This is not about ordinary farm traffic. It’s about the disruption and destruction caused by very large lorries and trailers that supply distribution businesses located in the countryside. At the moment this traffic routinely uses narrow lanes, passes through our hamlets and often by our local school. We have to find solutions.
The Birds, the Bees and Biodiversity
We are blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful place surrounded by lovely countryside. Even here I think we must work together to improve our environment. I will work with the Parish Councils, Landowners, Community Environmental Groups like NEW, the Church Councils etc to identify, protect and extend places where ponds, wildflowers and grasses can provide a more diverse habitat. I will be proposing policies that actively support populations of birds, mammals, amphibians and pollinating insects. These places include road verges, churchyards, the edges of fields. I will be working to:
· Replace mowing and cutting practices that degrade wildflower and wildlife habitats esp practices funded by the taxpayer
· Identify and support projects that develop and extend local habitats for birds, mammals, amphibians and pollinating insects especially projects involving schools and younger people.
Zero Carbon
Last on my work list (but definitely not least) is our part in combatting global warming. Mid Devon Council is signed up to the Devon Climate Declaration and is committed to achieving a Zero Carbon footprint within its assets and services by 2030. This is a huge task but it is not one we can continue to duck.
I believe that the Parish Councils should also have a Zero Carbon plan that encourages and supports local people to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
There are various ways we can contribute individually and collectively. These include:-
· Encouraging and prompting green energy generation and home insulation schemes.
· Sharing cars and journeys (post COVID of course).
· Further reductions in landfill waste.
Post Script
There is various other work that I’m engaged in, including local flood prevention and improving rural broadband but perhaps more of that another time.
If you are interested in supporting me with this work please contact me at g.barnell@middevon.gov.uk or on my landline 01392 851308. Let me know too if you think my priorities are wrong or that there is something more important that I should be doing as Councillor.
Cllr Graeme Barnell
Halses, West Town
Newton St Cyres
Agenda Item 5.5