Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Key information
Meeting location: The Church of St James, Avonwick
Meeting time: 7.30 pm
The agenda for this meeting will be published at least three days before the meeting.
Approved Minutes
Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 1 December 2015
These minutes were approved on 5 January 2016
Please noteEvery care has been taken to present this accessible copy of the minutes with accuracy, but the formal record of the meeting remains the signed paper copy of the minutes.
The Chairman welcomed Councillor Bramble, Chairman of South Hams District Council, to the meeting.
Councillor Bramble described his view of the future work of local councils. He forecast that the next twelve years would experience radical changes in local government. He saw an increase in the devolvement of work from national to local level which would bring decisions closer to the electorate. While the future contained challenges for local government, Councillor Bramble believed that South Hams District Council is well placed to deal with such challenges. He also suggested that the workload of Parish Councils would increase as increased responsibility was devolved to them.
OPEN FORUM
Two members of the public were present. The Council was made aware of proposals for a waste transfer station, site office buildings, external skip storage area, weighbridge, packaged sewer treatment plant and importation of soil/rubble to raise site levels at Cockwells Nursery, Bluepost to Hazard, Harberton. The Council agreed to arrange a public meeting for this to be discussed. It also agreed to contact Harberton and Diptford Parish Councils to see what how they are reacting to this proposal and to offer to join with them in making recommendations to the planning authority.
Questions were asked concerning the household recycling of plastics and cardboard. Cllr Steer to follow up.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Councillors Hunt and Steer – planning.(see below).
PRESENT
Councillors Gabriel, Grevatt, Hunt, Luscombe, Seager-Berry, County Councillor Vint, and District and Parish Councillor Steer.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Councillor Bell.
MINUTES
The MINUTES of the meeting held on 3rd November 2015 were confirmed and signed. Proposed Cllr Hunt seconded Cllr Seager-Berry.
MATTERS ARISING
Matters concerning the play park were in hand. The Council was disappointed to discover that Diptford Parish Council had proceeded with the appointment of a community road warden without reference to the Council. Arrangements are now being made to carry out this work within the Parish.
REPORTS
County Councillor Vint reported that cuts were still being applied to the County budget. He would welcome suggestions which minimised the impact of these cuts and which helped to spread the effect equitably
District Councillor Steer stated that unauthorised signage of Christmas tree sales had been removed from the roadside. He also told the Council that appeals had been made against the planning decisions concerning a solar park at Blakemoor and proposed development at Higher Norris Farm.
Councillor Grevatt reported that the new website was almost complete. The test site is up and running and is awaiting the final approval of the council before going “live”.
PLANNING
The Council supported an application for the conversion of a redundant agricultural building to a dwelling at Manor Farm Barns, North Huish.
CORRESPONDENCE
Specific items of CORRESPONDENCE were noted as follows:
Ms Granados various suggestions. The Council gave consideration to the provision of litter bins in the play park and on the permissive path in Avonwick. It decided to take no further action with these. Ms Granados was informed that the responsibility for the cutting of boundary hedges normally lies with the landowner. The Council webmaster would be including a link to the community website on the new Council website. The Council agreed to make its own recordings of meetings which will be placed on the new website.
Totnes Ring and Ride funding request. Clerk asked to determine what use is made of this facility by parishioners.
Road Warden – see above.
FINANCE
Balance c/f 9,627.10 Income (interest) 0.32 Balance c/f 9,627.42
This balance is made up as follows:
P3 money 149.40 Council funds 9,478.02 Total 9,627,42
The council considered its financial needs for the year 2016-2017 and agreed to keep its precept at its present level.
HIGHWAYS
The condition of the resurfaced road between Stone Farm and Coarsewell was discussed. Problems were being experienced by those riding horses. Parishioners are encouraged to use the County Council’s website to report potholes and other concerns regarding the highway. The clerk was asked to report the flooding occurring along the road from Old Bridge Cross to the Inn in Avonwick.
NEXT MEETING
Tuesday 5th January 2016 at 7.30pm at St James Church, Avonwick.