Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 2 December 2025

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, 2 December 2025

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 4th November 2025.

6) Matters Arising

  1. North Huish Notice Board.

7) Reports

  1. County Councillor D Thomas.
  2. District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock.
  3. Play Park
  4. Tree Warden.
  5. Co-Ordinator.
  6. Defibrillator

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council –

  1. Application no 3343/25/FUL – Land at SX706549, Ugborough – Extension to an existing Agricultural Building.

Decisions received from South Hams District Council  -

9) Correspondence

10) Highways

  1. Church Cross – Signs for the Junction

11) Finances.

Payments

5.11.25 – BACS - £895.00 – Mr R Northmore (Grass Cutting 2025).
10.11.25 – BACS - £22.75 - Avon Vale Tennis Club (Room Hire November).
2.12.25 – BACS - £423.90 – Sharon Raggett (Clerks Salary Oct, Nov, Dec).

Bank Balances December 2025

Treasurers Account 4,413.52
Business Account 6,066.88
10,480.40

Monies held within PC Balance

P3 = £110.00

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

  1. a) Next Meeting Date
Draft Minutes

Draft Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 2 December 2025

1) Open Forum

  1. SWWA Treatment works pumping out now that we have had heavy rain, lorries have been coming and going all week.
  2. Drain opposite Jubilee Cottages is blocked again, could the Parish Council ask the lengthsman to do this. Cllr R Steer confirmed he would contact John Widecombe.

2) Present

Cllr Steer (Chairman), Cllr Grevatt (Vice-Chair), Cllr Gabriel, Cllr Ring, Cllr Snoxall,

D Cllr D Hancock, Cllr Hunt, Cllr J Bell.

Attended by – 1 member of the Public

3) Apologies – C Cllr D Thomas.

4) Declarations of Interest

5) Previous Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 4th November 2025.

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

6) Matters Arising

  1. North Huish Notice Board – this is still to be fitted – Cllr Hunt confirmed he will attend to this.

7) Reports.

  1. County Councillor D Thomas – no report given.
  2. District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock – report circulated by email – Cllr Hancock confirmed - LGR – SHDC bid has been submitted, the government will then decide on which ones will come out for consultation in the Spring 2026. Flytipping – SHDC have been cracking down on this. Summer 2025 -  Visitor numbers to the South Hams were down this year.
  3. Play Park - Cllr Steer confirmed - all equipment is fine, a price to be sought for wood around the bottom of the fencing.
  4. Tree Warden – Cllr Bell - lots of debris off trees at the moment with storms and rain.
  5. P3 Co-Ordinator – nothing to report
  6. Defibrillator – Cllr Grevatt reported – The Avonwick Defib was taken by the ambulance service and has been put back in situ but was unused, some new pads have been ordered as they will shortly go out of date. North Huish is due a check this week, but could also do with some signage showing Parishioners where it is located – all in agreement that Cllr Grevatt purchases some signs.

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council

  1. Application no 3343/25/FUL – Land at SX706549, Ugborough – Extension to an existing Agricultural Building. The Parish Council support the application.

Decisions received from South Hams District Council

- none

9) Correspondence

  1. Letter received from Paul Eden – Chairman of the Tennis Club – Paul confirmed that the club had applied for some grant funding to fit heating in the Club House. The Grant funders have asked if the Parish Council had ever done a wider Community consultation about using the Club House as a Village Hall – the Parish Council confirmed that no consultation had been done. They also asked if the Tennis Club had ever approached the Parish Council for grant funding as users of the Building – the Parish Council confirmed that nothing officially in writing had been received from the Tennis Club.

10) Highways

  1. Church Cross – Signs for the Junction - Nick Colton – DCC Highways has confirmed that the Parish Council can put Polite Notices on the Junction to try and alleviate the parking.   Chairman – Cllr R Steer will speak to the owner of Wheatsheaf House asking permission to put the sign on the wall.  Cllr Grevatt will get some quotes for the signs to be agreed at the next PC meeting.
  2. Blocked Buddleholes in the Parish – Cllr Steer will ask the lengthsman to look at these.
  3. Blackhall – 9 potholes have been reported, the overhanging trees are causing blocked drains and making the road very dark and slippery, the visibility is concerning for walkers and horse riders using the lane.
  4. Fireworks – the parking seemed to be better than previous years, many thanks to the pub for a great display.

11) Finances

Payments

5.11.25 – BACS - £895.00 – Mr R Northmore (Grass Cutting 2025).
10.11.25 – BACS - £22.75 - Avon Vale Tennis Club (Room Hire November).
2.12.25 – BACS - £423.90 – Sharon Raggett (Clerks Salary Oct, Nov, Dec).

Bank Balances December 2025

Treasurers Account 4,413.52
Business Account 6,066.88
10,480.40

Monies held within PC Balance

P3 = £110.00

12) Next Meeting Date & Any Items for Next Meeting.

  1. Next Meeting Date 6th January 2025.

There be no further business the meeting closed 8.06pm

District Council Report

District Councillor's Report December 2025

Local Government Reorganisation Bid Submition

Our Reimagining Devon: Believe in Better proposal for LGR has been debated and agreed upon by seven of the county’s 11 councils ahead of today’s submission deadline.

It has taken many months of planning and preparation to get us to this stage, working across geographical and political boundaries to develop the proposal with our colleagues at East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Teignbridge, and Torridge, along with additional input from Torbay Council.

Our own officers have led on many aspects of the creation of Reimagining Devon, which has been a colossal undertaking in the timeframe we’ve had. It has been a monumental effort.

South Hams can hold its head high, having led on the coordination of a proposal and a submission document that all seven districts have been able to stand behind.

Help keep our green spaces clean

Fly-tipping — the illegal dumping of waste — is a serious issue that damages our environment, endangers wildlife, and spoils the places we all enjoy.

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have recently been issued for multiple fly-tipping incidents across Roborough, Cadover, Totnes, and Deancombe. These cases involved a range of dumped items including household furniture, toys, black sacks, and loose domestic waste in Roborough; wooden furniture, mirrored panels, soft furnishings, and a punch dummy in Cadover; and shelves, bedding, crockery, clothing, and metal cookware in Totnes, where CCTV footage was obtained. At Deancombe, the waste included rotten OSB boards, plastic debris, and loose gravel and mud.

Messages for residents: 

  • Fly-tipping is illegal, harmful to the environment, and costly to clean up. We urge residents to dispose of waste responsibly and use licensed waste carriers.
  • Reporting fly-tipping helps local authorities respond quickly and remove dumped waste, deters repeat offenders and protects our shared spaces and supports enforcement efforts — including issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to those caught fly-tipping.
  • Fly-tipping is a crime - offenders can face fines of up to £500 through FPNs, and in some cases, prosecution. Reporting helps us take action.
  • If you witness fly-tipping, report it to your local council or use the official reporting app. Every report makes a difference.

Placemaking – Visitor Economy Update

We have been working with the South West Research Company to produce reports on the Economic Impact of the Visitor Economy for the South Hams.

This tourism data always runs one year behind, so please find below links to the report for 2024:

The South West Research Company has also produced a spreadsheet showing comparative data going back to 2005 (although there are a few years missing – namely 2014-2018 and 2021). This offers an insight into how the industry has changed over the years.

A summary of the data is below which shows that visitor numbers were down for South Hams in 2024 although the region did perform better with domestic visitors than the national picture. The Economic Development team will continue to work with key partners and organisations across the region, including the new LVEP, to identify ways to support the visitor economy and boost visitor numbers to the South Hams. The team is also planning a Tourism Symposium event in early 2026, further details of this will be made available in due course.

Summary for South Hams:

In terms of staying visitors, domestic trips, nights and spend in the South Hams all saw decreases in 2024 compared to 2023 (-6%, -5% and -4% respectively) and whilst overseas trips were also down by -6%, overseas nights and spend saw increases of 6% in each case. This means slightly fewer overseas visitors to the area but staying for longer on their visit.

Whilst day visits are also estimated to have decreased by -7% in 2024 compared to 2023 spend fared much better (-1%) and was broadly similar to the previous year.

Overall, for all visitors (staying plus day) trips were down by -7%, largely influenced by decreases in domestic visitor activity, particularly day visits which account for the large majority of tourism visits. The decrease in tourism spend was smaller at -2%.

National:

Domestic overnight trips and nights in Great Britain dropped by 10% in 2024, when compared to 2023. This was largely due to a decrease in holiday trips (-13%).  Spend however increased by 5%.

In terms of overseas visits to the UK trips increased by 6%, nights by 1% and spend by 5% compared to 2023.

Day visits decreased by 12% nationally although spend was estimated to have increase by 5% compared to 2023.

Considering the above, performance across Devon was broadly influenced by national trends in visitor activity although not in terms of domestic staying and day visitor expenditure, again this is likely to be due to the area being heavily reliant on the more traditional holiday/day out rather than some of the more high spending activities seen in other areas of the UK.