Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 9 May 2023

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 9 May 2023

These minutes were approved on 6 June 2023

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.

Minutes of the NHPC Monthly Meeting, following on from the Annual Parish Meeting, held on 9th May 2023 at Avon Vale Tennis Club, Avonwick. TQ10 9EJ.

1:             Open Forum

The new Chairman Rob Steer opened the meeting and welcomed members of the public to the meeting. The remainder of the members of the public left, following the Annual Parish Meeting, except for two.

Our two new councillors Lesley Ring and Janet Snoxall introduced themselves to the council.

2:             Present

Cllrs Steer (Chair), Grevatt (Vice Chair), Hunt, Bell, Gabriel, New Cllrs Ring and Snoxall.

District Cllr Hancock

Clerk Zoe O’Sullivan

2 members of the public in attendance.

3:             Apologies for absence

District Cllr Pannell

4:             Declarations of Interest

Cllr Hunt declared an interest in planning application ref 4267/22/HHO.

5:             Previous Minutes

Cllr Grevatt requested an amendment to last month’s minutes, when discussing the plans for the Primrose Trail, to read as follows: Cllr Grevatt also said at the time that we raised several questions about their plans, which were answered, instead of unanswered.

He also stated that he didn’t agree to contacting Royal Mail about the provision of mail brushes for the post box in North Huish. It was agreed unanimously to amend these minutes.

6:             Matters Arising

Post Box in North Huish – mail brushes to be ordered from Royal Mail – Clerk to action.

Defibrillator in North Huish – This is ongoing, updates to follow.

Parish Clerk Recruitment - Adrian Webster attended the meeting, and it was unanimously agreed that he would be suitable for the role.

Cllr Gabriel expressed his thanks to Zoe O’Sullivan for her work as parish clerk after a tricky start.

7:             Reports

County Council – no report received yet for this meeting.

District Council – Cllr Hancock advised that he will be officially signing in as councillor tomorrow. He also expressed his thanks to Cllr Smerdon, who did a very good job, and he said he hoped to continue that.

Playpark – Cllr Bell reported no problems this month.

8:             Planning

Reference: 4267/22/HHO

Proposal: Householder application for single storey extension

Site: Church Barn

Address: North Huish, Devon. TQ10 9NQ. NB Comments to be submitted by 11^th May.

Decision – Support. Proposed by Cllr Bell, seconded by Cllr Steer.

Reference: 1218/23/FUL

Proposal: Equestrian Building extension

Site: Lupridge Chapel

Address: Diptford. TQ9 7NW. NB Comments to be submitted by 25^th May.

Decision – Support. Proposed by Cllr Hunt, seconded by Cllr Gabriel.

Withdrawn application reference: 4012/22/FUL

Location: Land at Butterford, North Huish TQ9 7NL

Proposal: Application to regularise and retain an agricultural access track (resubmission of 1592/22/FUL)

Decision date: 21^st April 2023.

Ongoing Enforcement Cases: which are confidential, have been circulated (monthly) directly to councillors.

9:             Correspondence

All correspondence has been circulated, a statement from Save the Avon Valley group was received and noted in relation to the Primrose Trail group and plan.

10:          Finance

Invoice from J Widdicombe for £105.60 for April, clearing of buddleholes was approved, proposed Cllr bell, seconded Cllr Grevatt.

Renewal of Parish Council Insurance with BHIB £386.03. (Renewal date 1^st June) – clerk received a second quote for insurance from Zurich, this was more expensive at £421. It was unanimously agreed to renew with BHIB.

Monthly meeting room hire quote from AVTCC £300.00 annually was discussed, along with quotes published for other venues including South Brent Main Hall, £187 annually, Palston recreation pavilion, £220 annually, Diptford Village Hall £165 annually, Ugborough £247 annually, Rattery £220 annually, and Harberton £132 annually. It was proposed to also contact North Huish Church for a quote – clerk to action.

Clerk to contact AVTCC to try to obtain a lower monthly cost of £22.75 per meeting and ask to proceed on a month by month basis for now.

 

Receipts:
17th March VAT Reclaim	440.25
11th April interest	4.97
Payments:
3rd April Clerk salary	105.90
3rd April HMRC PAYE	24.20
14th April DALC Annual subscription	128.60
14th April J Widdicombe invoice (approved in last meeting)	105.60
Balance at Bank as at 14th April 2023
Treasurers Account -	251.42
Business Bank Instant Account -	7,860.29
Balance	8,111.71

 

Please note the 1^st precept payment of £2,500.00 has been received since the last bank statement in April.

11:          Highways

VAS sign not working. Clerk has contacted Nick Colton about this, this is ongoing, updates to follow.

It was discussed in a previous meeting to address the issue of road signs which need cleaning in Avonwick, clerk to follow up on this, and ask John Widdicombe to carry out this work.

It was also discussed that the white line markings on the roads in Avonwick need to be painted or maintained. Clerk to raise this with Highways.

The issue of potholes was discussed again, parishioners are reminded to report these on the council website.

Kitterford Cross Roundabout – to follow up on the safety audit aspect.

12:          Next meeting

Cllr Grevatt explained that the clerk has stated that the standing orders for the council will need to be modified, due to a change of venue for monthly meetings. He suggested that we also look at the set of model standing orders, Cllr Bell suggested we compare these to our current standing orders, clerk to send both out to the full council. Cllr Grevatt suggested we check to see if standing orders can be modified in an ordinary meeting, or whether an extraordinary meeting would be needed for this purpose. Clerk will investigate.

Date for the next meeting was agreed as Tuesday 6^th June 2023 at 7.30pm. Venue to be confirmed.