Annual Parish Meeting Minutes 2026
Draft Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held Wednesday 27 May 2026 at 7pm at Stoodleigh Parish Hall
Present
Fifteen Members of the Public
Cllr Knowles, Cllr Widdowson, Cllr Mansfield, Cllr B Wotton, Cllr Payne
County Cllr S Lodge
Apologies – Cllr D Wotton
1. The Chairman of the Parish Council, Councillor Will Knowles welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. The Minutes of Annual Parish meeting held on Wednesday 28 May 2025 were approved and signed.
3. The Chairman of the Parish Council gave a report of what has been happening over the past year, with a note of thanks to the many residents that contribute to the village in different ways. The full report is available on the parish website.
Cllr Widdowson proposed a note of thanks to Cllr Knowles, which was supported by those present.
4. Reports from Local Organisations.
The Cricket Club.
No report provided. A member contributed that the Cricket Club continued in much the same way as before.
The Parish Hall Committee.
The Chair of the Parish Hall committee gave a detailed report of activities over the past year.
The Garden Club and Swap Box.
A report for both was provided in advance and read out by Cllr Knowles. Both reports are available on the website.
The Church Warden.
The Church Warden thanked a number of people including Christine Palfrey who recently stepped down from the Parochial Church Council after 60 years. Also the Parish Council for their support, the Berry Family for keeping the churchyard and hedges tidy. The Vicar has been ill and is expected back in early July. The Church Warden then went on to explain how the Church was struggling financially.
The Parish Website, hosted by Mid Devon District Council.
Geraldine Talbot gave a report on website activity and also the number of Community Members and WhatApp Community members.
Geraldine has decided to step down now that MDDC have notified that they will stop hosting the Parish website and providing IT Support.
Cllr Widdowson explained that the Parish will need to have their own website and asked for a volunteer to manage it.
Trustees of the Stoodleigh Inn.
The Landlady of the Pub gave an account of activities through the year and plans for future events. On 20 June, Lizzie will celebrate 20 years of being at the pub.
Any other Club, Group or Organisation was invited to contribute. There were no further reports.
5. Parishioners were invited to speak at this point.
The situation with potholes was raised by a member of the Public and they volunteered to be trained to fill potholes. Cllr Lodge explained the situation and the Road Warden Scheme. The Road Warden Scheme is not just to fill potholes. Training to fill potholes and safety is provided. Once a person is trained, they can take a Team of people to do pothole filling. The Council provide insurance. Fifty buckets of material can be acquired to do the work. Cllr Lodge would like Parishes to work together. Cllr Lodge noted that Morebath have a Road Warden and as a result the roads are much better. Road Wardens can also identify blocked gullies which should be inspected by the Council annually. Five people volunteered be part of the Road Warden Scheme with possibly another two.
It was agreed to put a note out on the Community email to seek further volunteers.
The Parish Council had the following suggestions for discussion.
a) Enthusiasm to hold a Village Fun Day/Dog Show.
It was agreed that it is too late to arrange this for this year. A member of the Public explained that insurance was an issue and the cost could potentially wipe out any money raised. The Parish Councillors confirmed the Parish Council would be willing to support the cost of the insurance.
Further discussion followed with a number of ideas put forward such as combining a Fun Day and a Dog Show and possibly using the Cricket Club house which has water and electricity from a generator.
It would be helpful to draw on the experience of other Villages. It is important to draw new people in to help so that it doesn’t always fall to the same people.
Cllr Lodge said that he has a £10k Community budget to use for Community Groups if the activity is in keeping with the Devon CC Locality Budget activities.
Further suggestions were that a separate Committee is needed and the money raised split for the benefit of the Community.
A member of the Public asked if something was going to be put on the website about a possible Community event. A date would need to be determined and checked for clashes with other local events.
b) Snow Warden
Having a Snow Warden would enable the Village to get grit. There were some issues with insurance and red diesel when this was explored before. The role of the snow warden includes checking grit boxes. Mark Duckett is considering volunteering for the role of Snow Warden. Cllr Lodge explained how the Snow Warden role works. Somewhere to store grit is required. This was not thought to be an issue.
c) Road Warden
Discussed above.
d) Community Emergency Hubs
These are being set up to prepare in the event of an unexpected emergency which could include needing to evacuate homes. There is a pack available. It was agreed to request a pack. The Landlady of the Pub volunteered to be a contact and the Pub could be a place for people to go if required.
e) The Parish Plan.
This was last completed 20 years ago. MDDC is asking for Local Plans.
Previously this was done by asking residents to complete a survey about the Village. Cllr B Wotton volunteered to help with this. Cllr Mansfield suggested that the original plan could be updated. A member of the Public pointed out that the Parish Council would need to consider Data Protection, Data Controller and GDPR.
6. Meeting Close
The Chairman of the Parish Council thanked everyone for coming and showing an interest in Village activities.
Meeting closed 20:20
Jane Brand
Clerk to Stoodleigh Parish Council
11/06/2026