Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Key information

Meeting location: Avon Vale Tennis and Croquet Club

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, 3 September 2024

1) Open Forum

For Parishioners to raise matters of concern relevant to the work of the Parish Council. (Matters concerning other bodies e.g SWW, SHDC, DCC should normally be referred directly. The Parish Council would try to assist where difficulties arise after such a referral has taken place)

2) Present

3) Apologies for Absence

4) Declarations of Interest

5) Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 2nd July 2024.

6) Matters Arising

  • a) Grass Cutting – North Huish Church.

7) Reports

  • a) County Councillor D Thomas.
  • b) District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock.
  • c) Play Park.
  • d) Tree Warden.
  • e) P3 Co-Ordinator.
  • f) Defibrillators – Training date and Locality Grant.

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council

  • a) Application no 2581/24/PAC (retrospective) – Manor Farm, North Huish – Application for prior approval of a proposed temporary recreational campsite in flood zone 2 or flood zone 3.

Decisions received from South Hams District Council  -

  • a) Conditional Approval – Application no 1634/24/HHO – Dolphin Cottage, 2 The Run, Avonwick – Householder application for single storey kitchen extension & extension to outbuilding to form studio/hobbies store room.

9) Correspondence

  • a) DALC AGM – 2nd October 2024.

10) Highways

 Report of the meeting at Kitterford Cross – 11th  July 2024.

11) Finances.

Bank Balances September 2024

 

Treasurers Account 1,920.51
Business Account 7,980.50
9,901.01

 

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

  • a) Next Meeting Date 1st October 2024.
Approved Minutes

Approved Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 3 September 2024

These minutes were approved on 1 October 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.

1) Open Forum

  1. Noted that Broadley Cottage has been painted in unsuitable colours, this is just into Diptford Parish.

2) Present

Cllr Steer (Chairman), Cllr Grevatt (Vice-Chair), Cllr Hunt, Cllr Gabriel, Cllr Ring, D Cllr Hancock, C Cllr D Thomas.

Attended by – 1 member of the public.

3) Apologies

Cllr Bell, Cllr Snoxall

4) Declarations of Interest

Item 8a) – Cllr Hunt has declared an interest.

5) Previous Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 2nd July 2024.

The above minutes have been circulated and read. Proposed by Cllr Hunt and seconded by Cllr Gabriel with all in agreement. Duly signed by the Chairman.

6) Matters Arising

  1. Grass Cutting – North Huish Church – SHDC confirmed that they have now taken over the cutting of this which has now been done, they have a policy not to mow in May, this is the reason the grass had got very long.
  2. Cllr Grevatt – website has now been updated, page about the parish precept has been circulated and all are in agreement for this to be published on the website.

7) Reports.

a) Devon County Council

News from County Hall is understandably brief, but the one important issue to pass on is the likely news that the Devon Devolution Deal will in all probability need to be renegotiated.

Angela Raynor, Deputy PM and Minister for Local Government, has written to Council leaders to tell them that the consultation process can begin again with new offers on the table but with an expectation that Councils will work widely (geographically) with other Authorities in their area. As such, it is possible that any Combined Authority will need to look further afield than merely Torbay. There is a County Council meeting to discuss this on Thursday, so more next month.

b) South Hams District Council

District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock – written report circulated by e-mail to Cllrs.

c) Play Park

Cllr Hunt reported all ok this month.

d) Tree Warden

No report given.

e) P3 Co-Ordinator

No report given.

f) Defibrillators

All are currently in working order. The Clerk confirmed she had spoken to Diptford Parish Clerk regards training, there is a possibility this can be offered for free by the Air Ambulance.

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council -

  1. Application no 2581/24/PAC (retrospective) – Manor Farm, North Huish – Application for prior approval of a proposed temporary recreational campsite in flood zone 2 or flood zone 3. Cllr Hunt declared an interest and left the room. Noted that this is a retrospective application – no comment from the Parish Council.

Decisions received from South Hams District Council

  1. Conditional Approval – Application no 1634/24/HHO – Dolphin Cottage, 2 The Run, Avonwick – Householder application for single storey kitchen extension & extension to outbuilding to form studio/hobbies store room.

9) Correspondence

  1. DALC AGM – 2nd October 2024.
  2. SHDC – Review of Polling Stations, no change for North Huish.
  3. Furlong Energy – proposed EV charging station at Marley Head – consultation event 16th September at South Brent. Full details of this event will be put on the website.

10) Highways

Meeting at Kitterford Cross on the 11th July 2024 – notes of this meeting with Cllrs, DCC Highways and C Cllr Dan Thomas have been circulated, the points which were raised will go back to DCC for consideration.

Potholes around the Parish – currently DCC have been around filling quite a few.

11) Finances

Bank Balances September 2024

Treasurers Account 1,920.51
Business Account 7,980.50
9,901.01

Website Domain Hosting – Cllr Grevatt reported that this is to soon change and the price will go up, there are several other companies around who would do it cheaper.  Cllrs agreed that once the cost goes up the Parish Council will look into changing provider.

12) Next Meeting

Next Meeting Date 1st October 2024.

There be no further business the meeting closed 8.00pm

District Council Report

District Councillor's Report September 2024

New Community Woodland for South Hams

An exciting and ambitious woodland deal for a new 65-acre community woodland has been agreed and will be created in South Brent.

With the support of the Government’s Trees for Climate Land Acquisition Fund, South Hams District Council has been able to buy the site. This is part of the District Council’s priority to tackle climate change and increase biodiversity by 20% over four years. ree planting will start later this year with a community planting event.

Leader of South Hams District Council, Cllr Julian Brazil, says: “We are so thrilled and excited about this project. As an ambitious administration this is all about what we are trying to achieve. It emphasises our priority around the climate change and biodiversity agenda, but it does so much more. We will be working with local schools, social prescribers, and other local community groups. It will leave a lasting legacy for the South Hams. We hope to plant around 25,000 trees on this site. It is the start of us planting a tree for every resident of the South Hams”

As part of the woodland, the fields will continue to be a productive landscape, with parts of the site still being grazed. As part of the varied community proposals, an orchard and a market garden will be created in partnership with local group, Sustainable South Brent to deliver the project for their local area. They are passionate about the project and will use some of the woodland for education and community food production.

Over the coming months South Hams District Council will engage with local residents over proposals for the site and consider detailed design and planting with the community, partners and stakeholders. The planting will be supported through a partnership with the Woodland Trust and their MoreWoods scheme.

The planting will be supported through a partnership with the Woodland Trust and their MoreWoods scheme, which is funded by Lloyds Bank.

Outreach Manager for the Woodland Trust, Eleanor Lewis, says: “This is an excellent opportunity for a new woodland serving the South Hams. MOREWoods is an established scheme that provides expert advice, funding and trees to landowners who want to create a woodland.”

“With careful planning this site can deliver huge benefits for people, wildlife and climate, as well as incorporating local aspirations for continued local food production on part of the land. We look forward to working collaboratively to design a woodland that can deliver multiple benefits with the local community at its heart.”

The next step is to share proposals with the local South Brent community at a drop-in event. This will be held on Wednesday 14 August in the Aune Room, Old School Community Centre in South Brent from 3 to 8 p.m.

South Hams Council demands answers from South West Water

At its July meeting District Councillors unanimously resolved to demand that South West Water makes significant environmental and water quality improvements and called on the Chief Executive to attend a Water Summit with MPs, Councillors and community groups. The motion:

  • Calls on the government to recognise the guiding principle in all policy that clean water is a right and not a commodity;
  • Calls on the government to ban all bonuses and company dividend payments until such time as the Environment Agency’s Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) metric is ‘good’ (4 stars);
  • Calls on the government to limit the time to no more than five years to reach an EPA of 4 stars after which it would take the company into ‘special measures’ with a view to the possible creation of a public benefit company or re-nationalisation;
  •  Calls on South West Water to provide a detailed plan and timetable on how it intends to achieve an EPA of 4 stars and to undertake to consult with and seek the approval of all the local authorities in its service area;
  • Calls on South West Water to provide a detailed plan on how it intends to reduce leaks by at least 50% in the next 5 years;
  •  Calls on South West Water to provide a full explanation of why it initially failed to detect the presence of cryptosporidium in the Brixham water supply, either directly or through regular monitoring for e-coli as a proxy for its possible presence;
  • Calls on the government to strengthen the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate so that they are better able to monitor and provide oversight of the water services sector;
  • Requests the CEO of South West Water to attend a session of this Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee to answer questions;
  • Calls on the board of South West Water to give serious consideration to their position if the requests of this Council are unacceptable;
  • Calls on the CEO of SWW to attend a water summit of local MPs, Councillors and Community Groups to explain the cause of recent failures, provide plans for remediation and answer questions, to be held by 30 September 2024;
  • And in the meantime, highlights to Devon County Council that a review is required on the impacts of South West Water’s vehicles and services causing damage to other infrastructure (i.e. highways and rural roads that are not being repaired and maintained). This Council therefore calls upon Devon County Council to address (as a matter of urgency) the outstanding damage and repairs that are required to be addressed.

Beware fake SHDC X (Twitter) account

We're aware of a fake X (Twitter) account imitating our own. @SouthHams_DC is the only official X account for South Hams District Council.

Watch out for the @HamsSouth35493 account - we've already reported it to X as fake and will be monitoring it until it is removed.

Decarbonisation programme

SHDC is supporting local businesses and helping them to become more energy efficient through a decarbonisation scheme. As part of our efforts to support both the economy and natural environment, we're providing funding for a specialist business consultancy, being run by Libraries Unlimited.

The funding is being provided through our Council’s £60,000 share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Those who take part can also apply for Rural England Prosperity Fund decarbonisation grants, which could help to pay for implementing one or more of the measures highlighted in their decarbonisation plans. Please help sign post local businesses to more information.

They can sign up for the project by registering an interest online at  https://bipc.librariesunlimited.org.uk/decarbonisation-plans/

They can also find out more on our website and by watching our YouTube video.

Help shape adult education in the District

We are working with Learn Devon to better understand how local residents can engage with adult education.

Learn Devon is Devon County Council's adult education provider and delivers courses and qualifications across Devon, both online and in-person.

To help us ensure that relevant courses and opportunities are available, please complete their short survey and encourage your residents to take part.