Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 9 January 2024

Key information

Meeting location: Avon Vale Tennis and Croquet Club, Black Hall Lane, Avonwick, TQ10 9EJ

Meeting time: 7.30 pm

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Agenda

Agenda for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 9 January 2024

Agenda for the NHPC meeting to be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9th January 2024 at Avon Vale Tennis Club, Black Hall Lane, Avonwick. TQ10 9EJ.

1:             Open Forum

For parishioners to raise matters of concern relevant to the work of the Parish Council.

(NB matters concerning other bodies e.g. SWW, SHDC and DCC should normally be referred directly to such bodies.  The Parish Council would try to assist where difficulties arise after such a referral has taken place.)

2:             Present

3:             Apologies for absence

To receive apologies for absence (if any)

4:             Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interest (if any)

5:             Previous Minutes

To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 5th December 2023.

6:             Matters Arising

  • Dog fouling signage near the cobbly walk.
  • Any other matters arising from the December meeting.

7:             Reports

To receive Reports from

  1. County Councillor Thomas
  2. District Councillor Pannell or Hancock
  3. Play Park inspection
  4. Tree Warden Report
  5. P3 Co-ordinator Report
  6. Defibrillators Report

8:             Planning

Planning application ref 4256/23/ARC

Proposal: Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 3 (Facing Materials), 5 (Windows/Doors/Sills) and 6 (Eaves/Verges) of planning consent 2637/22/LBC
Site Address: The Rock, Avonwick, TQ10 9NB.
Comments to be submitted by 1st February 2024.

Decision on Planning application ref 2609/23/VAR

Proposal: Application for variation of condition 2 (approved drawings) of planning consent 1933/21/HHO to include front balcony amendments(resubmission of 2320/22/VAR)
Site address: Leigh Side, Avonwick, TQ10 9LX.
Decision: Conditional Approval.

9:             Correspondence

To consider correspondence received.

Letter from Four Rivers Dementia Alliance requesting a grant of £100.

10:      Finance

To note recent and future income and expenditure.

To discuss and approve Invoice ref 2166 from J & MJ Widdicombe for £316.80 (November clearing drains/buddleholes, 12 hours) and also Invoice ref 2188 for £105.60 (December clearing drains/buddleholes, 4 hours)

Opening balances at Bank as at 14th November 2023

Treasurers Account  2,340.20
Business Bank Instant Account  8,908.61
Balance  11,248.81

Receipts:

11th December Interest received  10.15

Payments:

11th December AVTCC monthly meetings for November & December  49.25
11th December J Widdicombe invoice  184.80
1st December Clerks salary & expenses  132.44
1st December HMRC PAYE  24.00

Closing balances as at 11th December 2023

Treasurers Account  1,949.71
Business Bank Instant Account  8,918.76
Balance  10,868.47

11:      Highways

To consider Highway matters.

12:      Next meeting

To consider items for future meetings.

To agree a date for the next Meeting (Tuesday 6th February 2024?)

Approved Minutes

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 9 January 2024

These minutes were approved on 6 February 2024

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.

Meeting opened at 7.30pm.

1:      Open Forum

There were no members of the public in attendance for this meeting.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. He advised members that Cllr Gabriel is steadily improving daily and wished him well on his recovery on behalf of the council.

No issues were raised in Open Forum this evening.

2:      Present:

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

District Cllr Pannell.

3:  Apologies for absence

Cllr Gabriel, due to illness. Cllr Bell due to a prior engagement. County Cllr Thomas due to change of meeting date, and other meetings to attend this evening. Apologies were accepted by the council.

4:  Declarations of Interest

None declared.

5:  Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on the 5th December 2023 were confirmed as a true record, this was agreed unanimously.

6:  Matters Arising

The clerk advised that one of the replacement dog fouling signs erected at the end of December, on the sign to the Cobbly Walk has again been removed by someone who has also left dog mess underneath it. It was discussed and agreed by all councillors not to request another replacement, as it is a waste of council resources.

District Cllr Pannell advised that there is a dog warden employed by the district council, this was discussed and the dog warden will make a patrol in the area, any ongoing issues to be reported to District Cllrs Pannell or Hancock if assistance required, it was agreed by councillors to defer this to the next meeting, as the situation will be monitored.

The clerk advised that she has been in contact with SWW regarding the general ongoing issue of flooding etc in Avonwick, they have advised that there is planned surveying work coming up in the next few months and will update the council on progress of this in due course.

Cllr Grevatt arrived at the meeting.

7:  Reports

County Council

No report was submitted this month and County Cllr Thomas sent his apologies for absence, see above.

District Council

A report has been circulated to the council and will be published with the minutes on the website. District Cllr Pannell advised that it is looking like the District Council are planning to increase council tax by the maximum allowed increase of 2.99%, this equates to roughly £5.44 per annum on an average bill. This has yet to be officially confirmed. It was reported that lids had blown off some of the new recycling boxes, due to the windy weather this week, District Cllr Pannell discussed the technique of how to keep the lids in place and fix them down properly. He also explained that there is an issue with the Velcro fastening on the white sacks which he is addressing. Updates to follow. Cllr Ring also raised a point regarding the hygiene of the white sacks, and hungry animals going into the sacks for food etc, District Cllr Pannell is addressing some issues with the containers – updates to follow in due course.

Playpark report

Cllr Grevatt reported no issues this month.

Tree Warden’s report

Nothing to report this month.

P3 Report

Nothing to report this month, except for a dead deer reported an a pathway, Cllr Snoxall is trying to contact someone about this currently.

Defibrillator Report

Cllr Grevatt advised that he will present to the council next month with a quote for replacement defibrillator pads. Clerk to remind him of this prior to the next meeting. Cllr Snoxall asked the clerk if there was any update on training to use defibrillators if needed, clerk will follow up on this with Diptford PC clerk, as they have the same model of defibrillator, and feedback to the council in the next meeting. Cllr Snoxall advised that she knows someone who can deliver training on this if required also, the Chairman deferred this to the next meeting to decide on this.

8:  Planning

To consider Planning Applications and to note decisions:

Planning application ref 4256/23/ARC

Proposal: Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 3 (Facing Materials), 5 (Windows/Doors/Sills) and 6 (Eaves/Verges) of planning consent 2637/22/LBC
Site Address: The Rock, Avonwick, TQ10 9NB.
Comments to be submitted by 1st February 2024.
Decision to support was agreed by all councillors.

Decision on Planning application ref 2609/23/VAR

Proposal: Application for variation of condition 2 (approved drawings) of planning consent 1933/21/HHO to include front balcony amendments(resubmission of 2320/22/VAR)
Site address: Leigh Side, Avonwick, TQ10 9LX.
Decision: Conditional Approval.

District Cllr Pannell left the meeting.

9:  Correspondence

The clerk has already circulated all correspondence via email to councillors, there has been a request for a grant of £100 from the Four Rivers Dementia Alliance which was discussed by all councillors and although it was noted this is a worthy cause, it was felt that on this occasion it would not be prudent to agree to this unfortunately, 3 councillors voted no to the grant request, one abstained. Majority vote to decline the grant request.

10:  Finance

Two invoices were approved for payment unanimously as follows:

Invoices to J & MJ Widdicombe – Invoice ref 2166 for £316.80, and also Invoice ref 2188 for £105.60 for November and December clearing of drains and buddleholes (16 hours work in total) were approved for payment unanimously.

Opening balances at Bank as at 14th November 2023

Treasurers Account  2,340.20
Business Bank Instant Account  8,908.61
Balance  11,248.81

Receipts:

11th December Interest received  10.15

Payments:

11th December AVTCC monthly meetings for November & December  49.25
11th December J Widdicombe invoice  184.80
1st December Clerks salary & expenses  132.44
1st December HMRC PAYE  24.00

Closing balances as at 11th December 2023

Treasurers Account  1,949.71
Business Bank Instant Account  8,918.76
Balance  10,868.47

11:  Highways

Cllr Grevatt noted that highways appear to have started making repairs to the road between the old bridge and Horsebrook in Avonwick.

Grit Bins – The clerk reported that she has checked all the grit bins in the parish, and they are fine and topped up for use, there are also bags of sand/grit deposited at the side of some of the hillier roads and lanes around North Huish.

12: Next Meeting

Items for future meetings:

  • Dog Fouling – to monitor.
  • Any updates from SWW.
  • Defibrillator replacement pads – Cllr Grevatt to present to council.

The next meeting was agreed to be held on Tuesday 6th February 2024 at 7.30pm, at Avon Vale Tennis Club.

Meeting closed at 8pm.

District Council Report

District Councillor's Report January 2024

Parish report from your District Councillors 07 January

Residents can check their collection dates on our website. The guide on our website should help residents know what to do when disposing of the more tricky items they might have this Christmas.

The garden waste collection service will be suspended for four weeks, from Sunday 17 December. The service will resume on Monday 15 January. We are not able to collect real Christmas trees this year. Residents should take these to their local recycling centre.

S106 Infrastructure Funding Statements

Each year the Council is required to send to Central Government it's Section 106 Infrastructure Funding Statements.

Following liaison with Finance, Open Space, Sport and Recreation (OSSR) and Affordable Housing Officers, the 22/23 submissions were compiled by the Section 106 team and details of the submissions can be found here.

Dai Antill I Senior Business Support Officer

Help residents save on their energy bills

Lower income households could benefit from free energy efficiency upgrades to their homes this winter with our support.

We are working with partners South Dartmoor Community Energy to survey eligible homes across the District and provide energy efficiency measures, personalised to the needs of the property.

Homes Upgrade Grants are available to homeowners with an annual income of less than £31k, who have heating that isn't mains gas with an EPC rating of D,E,F or G.

Please spread the word and if you know of any residents who may be eligible for support, please ask them to apply online.

Dave Sexton I Principal Environmental Health Officer