Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 4 June 2024

Key information

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

Meeting time: 7.30 pm

Sound Recording You can download the audio recording for this meeting or use the player embedded in this page after the download link. Download the audio file here.
Agenda

Agenda for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 4 June 2024

Agenda for the NHPC meeting to be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 4th June 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 7th May 2024.

6:             Matters Arising

North Huish noticeboard

Posthumous Community award for Cllr David Gabriel

Any other matters arising

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

Reference: 1920/22/FUL

Proposal: READVERTISEMENT (revised description and plans) Proposed demolition of existing extensions and construction of new extension and alterations to existing dwelling and conversion of barns to create one 2-bed dwelling including part demolition of dilapidated barn, with associated landscaping, new wildlife habitat creation and parking.

Site Address: Charford Farm, Diptford, TQ9 7LT.

Comments to be submitted ASAP. (extension already requested)

9:             Correspondence

To note any correspondence received.

10:      Finance

To note recent and future income and expenditure.

To discuss and approve invoice ref 2262 for £288.00 from Mr Widdicombe for clearing drains and hedge cutting in April.

To agree a date for the period for the exercise of public rights for the financial accounts.

Opening balances at Bank as at 12th April 2024
Treasurers Account 686.69
Business Bank Instant Account 7,954.69
Balance 8,641.38

Receipts:
18th April Precept – 1st payment 2,500.00
9th May Interest received 8.50

Payments:
1st May Clerks salary & expenses 114.10
1st May HMRC PAYE 26.00
8th May Mr J Widdicombe – Inv 2243 118.80
8th May SHDC – election recharges for May 2023 165.60
8th May DALC Annual subscription 191.03

Closing balances as at 9th May 2024
Treasurers Account 2,571.16
Business Bank Instant Account 7,963.19
Balance 10,534.35

11:      Highways

To consider Highway matters.

12:      Next meeting

To consider items for future meetings.

To agree a date for the next Meeting (Tuesday 2nd July 2024 at 7.30pm?

Approved Minutes

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 4 June 2024

These minutes were approved on 2 July 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.

Minutes of the Meeting Held Tuesday 4th June 2024 @ Avon Vale Tennis Club, Black Hall Lane, Avonwick TQ10 9EJ – 7.30pm

1:      Open Forum

No matters raised from Public present.

Cllr T Grevatt – on behalf of all the Parish Council thanked the outgoing Clerk – Zoe Sullivan for all her work for the Parish Council. The new Clerk – Sharon Raggett was welcomed.

2:      Present

Cllr Grevatt (Vice-Chair), Cllr Bell, Cllr Hunt, Cllr Gabriel, Cllr Snoxall, Cllr Ring, D Cllr Hancock.

Attended by – 3 members of the Public.

3:      Apologies

Cllr Steer (Chairman), C Cllr D Thomas,

4:      Declarations of Interest

None received.

5:      Previous Minutes

Minutes of the AGM held Tuesday 7th May 2024.

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 7th May 2024.

The above minutes have been circulated and read. Proposed by Cllr Bell and seconded by Cllr Hunt with all in agreement.

6:     Matters Arising.

  1. North Huish Noticeboard – This has now been repaired for now but may need to be replaced at some point.
  2. Community Award – SHDC have now confirmed that Cllr David Gabriel will now posthumously receive a Commended Award.

7:      Reports.

a)       Devon County Council

C Cllr D Thomas reported by e-mail as follows:-

Devon County Council’s deputy leader has become the new leader of the authority. James McInnes has been chosen by the ruling Conservative group to replace John Hart. Long-standing Cabinet member Andrea Davis has become deputy leader.

The changes were ratified at the council’s annual meeting on Thursday 23 May.

John Hart was nominated to become chairman of the council at the same meeting.

A new multi-million pound investment in repairing potholes and boosting road drainage in Devon has been agreed. Cabinet was already set to discuss a £10 million boost to pothole repairs and pre-emptive road drainage work at the meeting on Wednesday 8 May but councillors have now agreed to add a further £2 million to the total after hearing that the overall county budget for 2023/24 has come in underspent.

So the county’s budget for repairing potholes and drainage work will be boosted by a total of £12 million overall.

Devon County Council and Torbay Council have formally submitted our joint proposal for a Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (CCA) to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP.

But of course the calling of a General Election has rather scuppered County’s plans and the proposal was not heard in the winding up proceedings.

b)       South Hams District Council

District Cllrs Hancock & Pannell – e-mail report from Cllr Hancock has been circulated – Main points are Parishioners should be ready to vote in the forthcoming elections. Report on the Peer Review of SHDC.

c)       Play Park

Cllr Grevatt reported that 2 posts which are supporting the steps to the mounds are rotten and need replacing. Quote needed for putting gravel in the entrance gateway – Cllr Steer is dealing with this.

d)       Tree Warden

Cllr Bell reported – New Legislation has come through to protect the removal of hedges and trees. Please report any works which are seen removing hedges and trees, there are not many trees in the Parish protected by TPO`s.

e)       P3 Co-Ordinator

Cllr Snoxall – Still awaiting to hear from DCC rights of way regards the funding bid which has been submitted, it seems that at present they are very slow to respond to any queries raised.

f)        Defibrillators

all are currently in working order.

8:      Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council -

  1. a) Application no 1920/22/FUL – Charford Farm, Diptford TQ9 7LT – revised description and plans – Proposed demolition of existing extensions and construction of new extension and alterations to existing dwelling and conversion of barns to create one 2 bed dwelling including part demolition of dilapidated barn, associated landscaping, new wildlife habitat creation and parking. The Parish Council support this application – proposed by Cllr Hunt and seconded by Cllr Bell with all in agreement.

Decisions received from South Hams District Council – none.

9:      Correspondence

None

10:   Finances

Invoice 2262 - £288.00 Mr Widdicombe – proposed by Cllr Snoxall, seconded By Cllr Hunt

Audit – Exercise of Public Rights to be advertised on the Noticeboard.

 

BACS 1.5.24 Clerks Salary & Expenses 114.10
BACS 1.5.24 HMRC PAYE 26.00
BACS 8.5.24 J Widdicombe (Lengthsman) (vat £19.80) 118.80
BACS 8.5.24 SHDC Uncontested elections charges 165.60
BACS 8.5.24 DALC (Annual Subscription) (vat £25.03) 191.03

 

Bank Accounts May 2024

 

Treasurers Account 2,571.16
Business Account 7,963.19
10,534.35

 

11:   Highways

C Cllr D Thomas has confirmed by e-mail that a meeting can be organised at Kitterford Cross to discuss the various problems that have been flagged up by the Parish Council, these include drains not in the correct place to take water away, holding ponds not storing water allowing ditches and drains further down to collect silt and block, kerbs in the wrong place being driven over by lorries and larger vehicles and the white lines already being worn away.

Cllrs agreed a date of 20th June 1pm with Steven Cowell DCC Engineer & Cllr Thomas.

12:   Next meeting

Any Items to go onto the next Parish Council meeting Agenda.

Next Parish Council Meeting – Tuesday 2nd July 2024.

Meeting closed 8.14pm

ANY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO HAS SPECIAL NEEDS AND REQUIRES A COPY OF THESE MINUTES SENT TO THEM – PLEASE CONTACT THE CLERK 01364 654607.  They can also be found on the Parish web site – www.northhuishparishcouncil.co.uk

County Council Report

County Councillor's Report June 2024

Devon County Council’s deputy leader has become the new leader of the authority. James McInnes has been chosen by the ruling Conservative group to replace John Hart. Long-standing Cabinet member Andrea Davis has become deputy leader.

The changes were ratified at the council’s annual meeting on Thursday 23 May.

John Hart was nominated to become chairman of the council at the same meeting.

A new multi-million pound investment in repairing potholes and boosting road drainage in Devon has been agreed. Cabinet was already set to discuss a £10 million boost to pothole repairs and pre-emptive road drainage work at the meeting on Wednesday 8 May but councillors have now agreed to add a further £2 million to the total after hearing that the overall county budget for 2023/24 has come in underspent.

So the county’s budget for repairing potholes and drainage work will be boosted by a total of £12 million overall.

Devon County Council and Torbay Council have formally submitted our joint proposal for a Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority (CCA) to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP.

But of course the calling of a General Election has rather scuppered County’s plans and the proposal was not heard in the winding up proceedings.

District Council Report

District Councillor's Report June 2024

Are your residents ready to vote?

As polling day for the general election rapidly approaches, there are key dates for your residents to put into their calendar if they want to ensure they can vote in the way they want to.

The key dates they need are:

It only takes five minutes. They’ll be asked for their National Insurance number (but they can still register if they do not have one).

Useful if they know that they won’t be able to get to the polling station on polling day, they can vote by post.

They can ask someone they trust to cast their vote on their behalf if they're unavailable to vote.

  • Photo ID
  • Essential to vote in any election
  • Apply for a Voter Authority Certificate - Deadline for applications is before 5 p.m. on Wednesday 26 June
  • apply for free voter ID

If they don't have any accepted photo ID, they can apply for a free voter ID document, which is known as a Voter Authority Certificate.

The 15 year limit on voting rights for has now been removed. The registration period has been extended to three years. This means that overseas voters will only need to register to vote every three years.

POLLING DAY

  • 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. on Thursday 4 July [Remember their photo ID]

LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: Executive Summary (excerpt)

Executive Summary

South Hams is a high performing council, which is well led and managed and is delivering consistently well on behalf of its residents and communities.

Following the district elections in May 2023, the political leadership of the council changed; resulting in a Liberal Democrat administration, with a new council leader.

The new administration had a well socialised manifesto ahead of the elections and the officer team supporting the council very wisely used this by quickly and effectively producing a ‘risk / RAG rated potential action plan arising from the manifesto, in order to help the new administration to hit the ground running.

The above proactivity has been combined with a clear determination to be as inclusive as possible by drawing on the talent of elected members across all political groups. As one stakeholder told us, which was reflective of other views the peer team heard, ‘the new arrangements feel like a breath of fresh air’. This is very much to the credit of the leader, his deputy and indeed the leaders of the other main parties and evidenced by the make-up of the council’s Executive.

The council’s chief executive and senior officer team should take credit for supporting the new and very different political administration. Their proactivity in preparing for and effectively responding to change in May 2023 is a strong and defining feature of the relationship between the members and senior officers within the council, which has the hallmarks of a pragmatic, trusting and ever maturing leadership team.

That effective preparation and good cross-party engagement has meant that the council already has in place a well-articulated Council Plan covering the period 2024- 28. The plan, its priorities and delivery outcomes are likewise reflected in the detail of a three-year rolling financial strategy, which is the norm for the council. The council has an excellent track record of financial management and planning, which is one of its underpinning core strengths.