Minutes Council Meeting March 3 2026
DRAFT Minutes of Parish Council Meeting 3 March 2026
Minutes of the meeting of Stoodleigh Parish Council, held at 7pm on Tuesday 3 March 2026 at Stoodleigh Village Hall
Members Present: Charman Cllr W Knowles, Vice Chairman Cllr J Widdowson, Cllr Mansfield, Cllr G Parkman, Cllr D Wotton, Cllr B Wotton
Cllr S Lodge Devon County Council, Cllr C Adcock Mid Devon District Council
1. Apologies received from Cllr C Payne, District Cllr M Stratton
2. Declarations of Interest - none
3. Those present were invited to declare if they intended making an audio recording of the meeting. Nothing declared
4. The Public – opportunity for the public to speak on agenda items.
There were 13 members of the public in attendance.
A member of the public raised concerns over permitted development for a field access reference 23/01595/PNAG. This is causing concerns because the work now in progress will,involve the removal of a Devon bank. There is potential for significant water run off into the road and neighbouring properties if the bank is removed. There is an already an access point adjacent to the proposed new access. The planning permission was granted under permitted development which is for agricultural use only. The Case Officer did not visit the site. The member of the public highlighted that there appeared to be inconsistencies with planning for similar applications in the Village where another similar application needed full planning permission. The Parish Council was asked to review the permitted development.
Another member of the public raised the issue of removal of the same Devon bank as a concern.
5. The draft Minutes of meeting held 27 January 2026 were approved and signed.
6. Matters arising from Minutes of last meeting
The email addresses for Clerk and Councillors is still being considered. Suggested we could contact other Parish Clerks. Clerk to contact other Clerks to see which provider they use as there is now a requirement for the Clerk as a minimum to have a .gov or .org email address.
7. Planning reports and Outcomes –
26/00008/PNCOU Prior Approval for the change of use of land to a temporary campsite consisting of up to 3 pitches under Class BC for a period of 60 days from 01/05/2026 to 31/09/2026 Land at NGR 289763 119964 Little Wood Oakford – Decided and closed since agenda posted.
26/00054/FULL Variation of Condition 3 of Planning Permission 20/01789/FULL (Change of use of hall solely for use by holiday makers to public use) to: The development hereby permitted shall not be used other than as a function hall: a. where the function hall is booked in conjunction with the use of the holiday accommodation at Duvale Priory, for a maximum of 130 people at any one time inclusive of the occupiers of the holiday accommodation; or b. where the function hall is not booked in conjunction with the use of the holiday accommodation at Duvale Priory, a maximum of 130 people minus the number of persons occupying the holiday accommodation|Buildings at NGR 294446 120596 Duvale Priory Bampton - Parish Council already added a comment to the planning portal. Awaiting decision
26/00142/LBCDOC Details pursuant to the Discharge of Condition 4(a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of Listed Building Consent 25/00568/LBC relating to detailed drawings for services, external vents/flues, DPM, floor build ups and shelving/fitting fixings Church Cottage Stoodleigh. Awaiting decision
26/00079/CAT Notification of intention to remove to ground level 2 Holly trees and reduce canopy by 3m Bay tree within the conservation area Gate Cottage Stoodleigh. Five Parish Councillors visited the site 28 February 2026 and agreed the Holly trees were falling over and it would be better for them to come down. Awaiting decision.
26/00194/HOUSE Conversion of outbuilding to annexe,,Penbrae Stoodleigh Tiverton Devon. Five Parish Councillors visited 28 February 2026. Application supported with similar comments to the last application. Clerk to draft comment for approval and then add to Planning portal. Awaiting decision
26/00234/FULL Retention of reinstated and altered field access Land at NGR 292488 118336 Adj Wildwood House Stoodleigh Devon. Notification for Washfield Parish. Member of Public had emailed prior to meeting asking why this was on the Stoodleigh Parish Council agenda. All notifications received from MDDC are added to agenda and website. Awaiting decision
26/00235/PNAG Prior Approval for the formation of an agricultural access and road. Land at NGR 291401 119031 Ashfields Stoodleigh Devon. Five Parish Councillors attended a site meeting on 28 February 2026. The Applicant, had not realised how much work would be required to make a visibility splay and that the application would need to go for full planning as it is for Equine and not agricultural use. It is understood the application will be withdrawn.
23/01595/PNAG Creation of new agricultural access opposite the Old Sawmill. It was thought no notification of planning application was received. This case was raised by a member of the public under agenda item 4. Cllr Knowles noted that a lot of mud and water was held back by the Devon bank, and that there had been a similar problem with water at another location. This application should have been for full planning as it is not agricultural. A member of the Public interrupted at this point and again later during the same discussion. The Chairman asked them not to speak when the Council were in session and reminded them they would be asked to leave if they persisted. Cllr Knowles said the approval needs to be reviewed and suggested asking MDCC to put a stop on the work.
Cllr Knowles suggested the Parish Council needs to speak to the Council as there will be an issue if the Devon bank is removed. Also need to question the inconsistencies. Cllr Wotton questioned whether all the rules had been adhered to. It was agreed that water would be a big problem and drainage would be required.
Cllr Knowles suggested MDDC Council should be contacted and hoped the Devon bank would not be removed before the MDDC had been consulted. Cllr Knowles also pointed out that there is an existing gateway which could be widened.
8. Enforcement
23/00078/COU Siting of mobile home for residential use, Felling of trees. Land and Building at NGR 291216 118554 (Shadow Pond) Stoodleigh. The notice takes effect from 19 March 2026 unless an appeal is made beforehand. The time for compliance is 12 months from that date.
9. Planning training for Town and Parish Councils MDCC
Date:-Thursday 26th March 2026 Time:-18:00 – 20:30
Cllr B Wotton volunteered to attend the training. Clerk to respond.
10. Reports
County and District Council reports from County and District Councillors circulated prior to meeting
Cllr Adcock highlighted some points from their report, including that the Mid Devon budget had been agreed last week.
Cllr Lodge highlighted some points from their report, including that the Budget had been agreed and that more money would be going to highways and libraries. There are 50 gangs filling potholes.
Cllr Mansfield asked if the Parish Council will see the list of priorities submitted by the Parish Council previously. Cllr Lodge said they would not be made available but any old priorities are still on the list.
11. Meeting dates for Parish Council meeting were confirmed as Village Hall is available for all the revised dates. Clerk questioned whether May meetings needed to be revised in line with the change to other meeting dates. The Parish Councillors agreed to move May meeting to 5 May 2026 (subject to Hall being available) to align with the rest of the Parish Council meetings and to leave the Annual Parish meeting as it is.
May 5 2026 (subject to Hall being available)
May 27 2026 Annual Parish Meeting
July 7 2026
September 1 2026
November 3 2026
January 5 2027
March 2 2027
12. The Parish Councillors agreed the Annual Parish meeting should be advertised on the Parish website nearer the time.
13. Highways
Update on road sweeping – some has been done Cllr Adcock to chase up relevant parties.
Update on flooded roads. There is flooding east of Dunns Farm, on the road between Stoodleigh Beacon and Coleford Hill. A member of the public raised this issue before the meeting. Clerk to ask for what3words /// to identify location. Also flooding at Court Cottages. Drain now unblocked. It is understood that Easements should be cleared annually. Unsure who clears at other times.
Update on discharge of liquid substance. Cllr Knowles has spoken to Farmer and understands they are coming back to them with a solution. The discharge is still happening and is causing damage to the road and banks towards Ash Cross. Cllr Knowles to follow-up.
Cllr Lodge waiting for a response to moving the 30 mph signs at Quoit-at-Cross.
Cllr B Wotton left at 20.00 due to prior arrangement.
14. Gp Capt PR Walker Memorial plaque. The Councillors agreed to purchase a new memorial plaque with same wording as previous plaque and put on the wall. Cllr Widdowson and Cllr Mansfield to check site and agree on a suitable size for plaque.
15. Playground
The of date of RoSPA inspection has been changed until to after the work on the playground has been completed. The cost of the inspection will increase because the inspection date has been changed and will no longer be included with other inspections in the same area. Cllr Widdowson suggested getting quotes for the inspection from other
Suppliers because there are other Companies doing the inspections. Clerk to obtain quotes.
The cost of the work to replace the donated timber is quoted as £4080 from Ministry of Play. At a site meeting on 14 February 2026 with the Supplier, the Councillors present agreed to accept the quote from this Supplier. It is difficult to obtain other quotes because Suppliers are generally only interested in supplying new equipment. There is also an urgency to complete the work because some of the timber is rotting out. The work is expected to be completed in April. During this time, the playground will need to be closed. Once dates are known, this will be publicised on the Parish website.
Grass cutting for 2026. Cllr Widdowson contacted the current contractor and they have agreed to continue for the same cost as last year.
Tesco token scheme. The Parish Council previously accepted an offer from a Parishioner to apply for the Tesco token grants. Now that the materials to replace the rotting timber in the playground have been donated, it was decided not to take this forward. Clerk to email Parishioner.
16. Government consultation on proposals for local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay. This can be completed by individuals or as a Parish Council. Clerk to share what the consultation looks like.
16 b (not numbered on agenda) Community Emergency Hubs. There are free kits to encourage Communities to apply. The purpose is to be ready in the case of an emergency where people may need to be relocated. It was agreed that this could be something to add to the Annual Parish meeting agenda to see if there are any volunteers from the Village that would like to lead on this.
17. Clerk and Councillors email accounts. See comments item 6.
18. St Margaret's Church grant request. The Councillors agreed to make a contribution of £600 which is the same as 2025. This will be paid in the new Financial year.
19. Finance
HSBC current account as at 12/02/26 £5,207.56
Unity Bank Savings Account 31/01/2026 £4,978.85
Expenditure to date against the budget prediction was reviewed. There is an overspend which is largely due to the change of Parish Council Clerk, for training, wages etc and also the safety base for the see-saw.
Payments to be approved
Clerk (1 month) estimated £240 (no change to amount) Tax & NI HMRC £60 (actual figure reduced from £84.15 to £60 confirmed by Payroll Company at end of February) Clerk expenses. Stamps, office supplies, hall meter, mileage £91.22. DALC, Clerk Essentials 2 course £36.00. Sundries for Noticeboard J Mansfield £18.00 Ministry of Play surfacing under see-saw £330.00
Amendment to payments agreed 27 January 2026. RoSPA payment not made as date of inspection deferred and cost may increase.
Cllr Knowles thanked Martin Baker for sourcing the materiels for the playground and said a letter would follow.
Meeting ended 20:30