Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 3 October 2023

These minutes were approved on 7 November 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.

1:      Open Forum

The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and explained how members of the public can participate in the meeting. Two members of the public were in attendance, and two members of the enforcement team at South Hams District Council attended the meeting, and a closed session was agreed to be held at the end of the ordinary meeting to discuss confidential enforcement cases.

A member of the public expressed his concerns regarding the land at Butterford and the alleged unauthorised track, namely that it’s been reported there is still stone left in the field, and no attempt made to restore the track. The Chairman thanked him for his comments and advised it has been raised to the relevant team.

2:      Present:

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

District Cllr Hancock.

Parish Clerk Zoe O’Sullivan was also present.

3:  Apologies for absence

County Cllr Thomas, District Cllr Pannell.

4:  Declarations of Interest

None declared.

5:  Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on the 5th September 2023 were confirmed and signed, proposed by Cllr Gabriel, seconded by Cllr Hunt. It was agreed unanimously that these were a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

6:  Matters Arising

To adopt NALC model Standing Orders Cllr Grevatt and Cllr Gabriel spent some time working on an amended version of this, which has been circulated to all councillors before the meeting. Thanks were expressed for their hard work, and it was agreed after Cllr Ring raised a query on some abbreviations used, which was answered by Cllr Grevatt, it was proposed by Cllr Bell and seconded by Cllr Hunt to adopt the amended version, this was carried unanimously.

P3 Co-ordinator – Cllr Snoxall explained that John Woodley is unable to carry on in this role, Cllr Snoxall did report that the issue of the knotweed near Gara Bridge and a tree down has been reported, and the clerk has also reported this via a webform to the district council’s pathways officer. Awaiting update.

Enforcement cases – Two members of the enforcement team attended this meeting, and a closed session was held following the ordinary monthly meeting to discuss specific current cases and answer any questions councillors had.

SWW Update on attenuation pond at Higher Moor – the clerk advised that she has emailed Jolyon Halford about this, and is waiting for a reply, Cllr Bell asked the clerk to copy him in on future correspondence with him regarding this. Clerk to action.

Dog Fouling Signs – the clerk advised she has been in touch with SHDC who advised her to complete a webform which was done, and a response has subsequently been chased up.

Flood Group update – the clerk has been in touch with Marigold to ask about any active flood groups in the area, she advised that a group was set up however this may not still be as active as it once was, Cllr Bell asked if flood alerts from the environment agency could be linked into our website, Cllr Grevatt advised that a link to this information from the environment agency could be published if required.

7:  Reports

County Council

County Cllr Thomas was not present at this meeting; he has submitted a brief report in an email which was picked up following the meeting as follows:

The decision to close the mobile library service has been sent back to this month’s Cabinet by a Scrutiny Committee. Cabinet will be asked to reconsider the decision, particularly in the light of its previous failure to consider the cost of leasing vehicles as an alternative to purchasing new ones as the existing fleet declines. Mobile Libraries are an important part of the fabric of our rural communities and once lost, we won’t see their return.

District Council

A report has been circulated to the council and the new recycling scheme was discussed in the meeting. The report will be published on the website with the minutes.

Playpark report

Cllr Gabriel reported that everything is fine, no issues to report this month.

Tree Warden’s report

Cllr Bell advised he’s been contacted by a landowner in North Huish re: clearing out Ash Dieback in a hedge and advice was provided.

Cllr Bell advised the consultation for hedgerows discussed in last month’s meeting is now closed, he advised to watch out for more legislation on protecting hedgerows soon.

Feoffees Parish Councillor nomination

Cllr Bell advised that the Feoffees are lacking one parish councillor in the committee numbers, and asked if any councillor would like to do this, Cllr Snoxall said she will be happy to do this going forwards.

District Cllr Hancock arrived at the meeting.

8:  Planning

Applications – None to note this month.

One decision re: APPLICATION NUMBER: 2523/23/PDM
LOCATION: Higher Colmer Farm Modbury PL21 0SG

APPLICATION TYPE: Prior Approval Agricultural building to dwelling C3
PROPOSAL: Application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed
change of use of agricultural buildings to 1No dwellinghouse (class C3) & associate
development (Class Q (a+b))
DECISION DATE : 11-September-2023
DECISION: Prior Approval Required and Given
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9:  Correspondence

The clerk has circulated all correspondence via email to councillors, nothing to note this month.

10:  Finance

John Widdicombe costs were discussed, and the clerk has circulated a breakdown of costings and hours worked for the previous two years to councillors today.  Cllr Gabriel proposed that a budget figure of £1,200 be provided to John Widdicombe - this was seconded by Cllr Grevatt and carried unanimously. Cllr Gabriel to action.

Opening balances at Bank as at 14th August 2023
Treasurers Account	342.25
Business Bank Instant Account	8,882.30
Balance	9,224.55
Receipts:
11th September Interest received	8.30
12th September 2nd Precept payment	2,500.00
Payments:
1st September Clerks salary	105.90
1st September HMRC PAYE	24.20
Closing balances as at 12th September 2023
Treasurers Account	2,712.15
Business Bank Instant Account	8,890.60
Balance	11,602.75

 

Two invoices were approved unanimously for payment as follows:

Invoice ref 2128 from John Widdicombe for clearing buddle holes in September £66.00

Invoice from AVTCC for two months meeting room hire (September and October) £44.00.

11:  Highways

The highways issues raised by Cllr Grevatt to County Cllr Thomas in last month’s meeting to be carried forward to the next meeting, as County Cllr Thomas was not present to address these.

12: Next Meeting

Items for future meetings:

Dog Fouling Signs

Highways issues previously raised.

The next meeting was agreed to be held on Tuesday 7th November at 7.30pm, at Avon Vale Tennis Club.

It was agreed unanimously to discuss current enforcement cases in a part 2 meeting this evening, following the ordinary meeting.

District Cllr Hancock left the meeting.