Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 7 November 2023

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 7 November 2023

These minutes were approved on 5 December 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 meeting opened at 7.32pm. The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and explained how members of the public can participate in the meeting. Three members of the public attended this meeting.

A local resident expressed his dissatisfaction re: the unauthorised track having not been removed fully or put back to the original condition of the land at Butterford, and the decision by the enforcement team to close the case as resolved. Two other residents shared their concerns on this, and the Chairman advised that the Parish Council shared their concerns over this, however he also explained that the Parish Council have limited powers regarding this, and therefore the ultimate decisions are made by the District Council.

Another local resident expressed their concern that this kind of situation could potentially mis-lead other landowners into thinking that they can go ahead with other works on their land, and put in retrospective applications, or simply think there is no consequence to not following any enforcement necessary.

It was requested that the Parish Council write to the enforcement team, as well as District Councillors to express their concerns and dissatisfaction regarding this matter. Clerk to action.

Cllr Gabriel made an observation regarding car parking issues at the recent fireworks event held by the Avon Inn on 4^th November. It was reported that there were a lot of cars parked all through the village and along Blackhall Lane, instead of parking in the designated field. It was also reported that there was no signage to the field if drivers were coming from Totnes direction or indeed any other direction apart from the Woodpecker junction/South Brent direction. There were also concerns expressed of pedestrians including children, walking from the designated field along the main road for a distance, with no footpath and little lighting to get to the event. It was suggested that perhaps as a Parish Council we could approach the Avon Inn before next year’s planned event to offer assistance in providing some safety equipment ie traffic cones etc if possible then.

2:      Present:

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

Cllr Grevatt took notes in this meeting, as the clerk was unable to attend.

3:  Apologies for absence

District Cllr Pannell (Dartmoor National Parks meeting), and Cllr Bell (Prior appointment). Apologies were accepted by the council.

4:  Declarations of Interest

Cllr Steer (Chairman) declared an interest in the fireworks event discussed in Open Forum.

5:  Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on the 3^rd October 2023 were confirmed and signed, following a minor amendment to the name of Mrs Seager-Berry. It was agreed unanimously that these were a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

6:  Matters Arising

Update on attenuation pond at Higher Moor – the clerk has found that the management company Firstport are responsible for the maintenance of this as part of the Section 106 agreement when the Higher Moor Development was built. She has been in touch with their local officer for the area, who has advised that he will have a look at this on his next site visit. Updates to follow – Clerk to chase for update.

Dog Fouling Signs – the clerk did arrange for sings to be erected in the Cobbly walk riverbank area, and these stayed up for all of two days before being removed by persons unknown. It was agreed that the clerk contact the district council, and councillors, to request that these be replaced by a solution that is more suitable ie fixed to street furniture. Clerk to action.

7:  Reports

County Council

County Cllr Thomas was not present at this meeting; he has submitted a brief report in an email which has been circulated to the council, and a copy will be published on the website as well.

District Council

A report has been circulated to the council and will be published with the minutes on the website. No District Councillors were present in the meeting.

Playpark report

Cllr Gabriel reported that everything is fine, he carried out a minor repair to the entrance gate to the park this month, no issues to report this month.

Tree Warden’s report – Cllr Bell was not present in the meeting, but had spoken to the Chairman regarding some work being done at Manor Cross on a pony paddock, update to follow next month.   

P3 Report – Nothing major to report this month.  

8:  Planning

Applications – None to note this month, that require any statutory consultation with the Parish Council. There were no decisions or withdrawn applications to note either.

9:  Correspondence

The clerk has circulated all correspondence via email to councillors, an email was received from Ring n Ride to request financial support from the council, the clerk requested information on how many parishioners use their service, but there are currently no parishioners who use this service, so it was agreed not to offer financial support on this occasion. Cllr Ring suggested this may be because some residents do not know about the service, Cllr Grevatt pointed out that information on how to access the service is available on the Parish and community websites locally. Clerk to send a reply.

Cllr Grevatt briefed the council regarding a request received a while ago from Devon and Cornwall Police via Anthony Mangnall MP, to ask if they could use a public building like a Village Hall or similar, to provide a local hub in order to hold meetings with residents occasionally, or Police surgeries infrequently. The clerk responded at the time to say that the Parish Council don’t have a Village Hall unfortunately for this purpose, but that we hold our monthly meetings at the Avon Vale Tennis Club currently, and suggested that they may wish to approach them separately to see if this would be something they may be amenable to. The Tennis Club have since been in touch with Cllr Grevatt to say they are not happy to accommodate this by providing 24/7 access to the police unless the council is willing to be involved in this, by helping to organise and facilitate planned meetings there, ie to act as co-ordinators. It was discussed by councillors in the meeting, and it was decided that the council would not have the resources to do this, and also whose responsibility would it fall to, if something went wrong etc? The Chairman did point out that the Police have attended previous Parish Council meetings, and they are more than welcome to attend future meetings, however it was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr Hunt that the Parish Council are not in favour of getting involved on this occasion. Clerk to contact the Tennis Club to advise of the council’s decision.

10:  Finance

Cllr Gabriel advised that he spoke to John Widdicombe and proposed the figure of £1,200 budget for his work in the parish, however Mr Widdicombe proposed a figure of £2,000 would be more amenable. It was unanimously agreed to go back to him with a revised budget figure of £1,400 and if he knows he’s getting close to this figure to let us know, and any ad hoc work to be advised to the council for prior approval.

An invoice has been received from Jolt for wordpress hosting northhuishparishcouncil.com 08/11/23-07/11/24 for £26.34 – The clerk has already paid this by her personal card, since the company does not accept BACS payment or cheque, and will claim back on expenses if agreed, this was unanimously agreed by the council.

Opening balances at Bank as at 14th September 2023
Treasurers Account	2,712.15
Business Bank Instant Account	8,890.60
Balance	11,602.75
Receipts:
9th October Interest received	8.18
Payments:
1st October Clerks salary & expenses	107.85
1st October HMRC PAYE	24.00
Closing balances as at 9th October 2023
Treasurers Account	2,580.30
Business Bank Instant Account	8,898.78
Balance	11,479.08

11:  Highways

Cllr Grevatt had a response from County Cllr Thomas regarding junction work when Church Walk was built, and whether it was all completed at the time, the junction from the Ugborough Rd, and Blackhall Lane. County Cllr Thomas responded that the entrance work at Church Walk was carried out correctly, but that there’s been no comment to the proposed works at the Ugborough Road itself.

Finger post sign at the Horsebrook junction in Avonwick leaning – Clerk to contact Highways regarding this.

Cllr Ring raised the issue of a big pothole spotted in the road between Avonwick and the Woodpecker junction – however this has already been repaired within the last day or so.

Cllr Ring also raised an issue at Bickham Bridge, with debris fallen into the river. Clerk to contact Diptford PC.

Cllr Grevatt advised the council that the repair to the bank at the Cobbly Walk has held in the recent rainstorms, however the earthworks on top of the stonework have washed away. P3 Co-ordinator Cllr Snoxall to report this to the rights of way officer.

12: Next Meeting

Items for future meetings:

• Update on Attenuation pond.
• Dog Fouling Signs.
• Highways issues previously raised.

The next meeting was agreed to be held on Tuesday 5^th December at 7.30pm, at Avon Vale Tennis Club.

Meeting closed at 8.08pm.