Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, 3 February 2026

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 February 2026

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)

  1. South Hams Ramblers – South Hams Way.

2) Present

3) Apologies for Absence

4) Declarations of Interest

5) Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 6th January 2026.

6) Matters Arising

  1. North Huish Notice Board.
  2. LGR Consultation.

7) Reports

  1. County Councillor D Thomas.
  2. District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock.
  3. Play Park
    1. Quotes for wood replacement at bottom of fence.
    2. 2026 Grass Cutting Contract.
  4. Tree Warden.
  5. P3 Co-Ordinator.
  6.  Defibrillators
    1. Re-location of Defib from The Shop, Avonwick.

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council

– none

Decisions received from South Hams District Council

  1. Conditional Approval – Application no 3343/25/FUL – Land at SX 706549 Ugborough – Extension to an existing Agricultural Building.

9) Correspondence

10) Highways

  1. Church Cross – Signs for the Junction

11) Finances.

Payments

2.1.26 – BACS - £199.20 (vat £33.20) – J Widdicombe (Lengthsman December).
12.1.26 – BACS - £22.75 - Avon Vale Tennis Club (Room Hire January).
27.1.26 – BACS - £350.00 – Sharon Raggett (Clerks expenses 12 months April 25 to March 26)

Bank Balances February

Treasurers Account 3,275.20
Business Account 6,072.86
9,348.06

 Monies held within PC Balance

P3 = £110.00

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

  1. Next Meeting Date
Draft Minutes

Draft Minutes for the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday, 3 February 2026

1) Open Forum

  1. Alan Mighall from South Hams Ramblers – We are part of the National Ramblers Association the South Hams Way has recently been created which has been very popular with walkers and we are now looking to have a link now from South Brent to Salcombe. Most of the walking in this Parish is on the road, we have not spoken to any land owners at present but are wondering whether they could be approached to create a path up by the river to make the walk off road, this would be a permissive path not a public right of way.
    Cllrs suggested alternative routes for the Parish using paths already in situ and a quieter road route through to North Huish.  Alan confirmed they will have a look at the suggested route and will come back with further plans.
    Alan also confirmed that the ramblers offer path maintenance and clearing, labour is free, any materials need to be purchased – Cllr Snoxall has took the details of this service for any P3 works.

2) Present

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

Attended by – 3 members of the Public.

3) Apologies

– D Cllr G Pannell.

4) Declarations of Interest

5) Previous Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held Tuesday 6th January 2026.

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

6) Matters Arising

  1. North Huish Notice Board – Cllr Hunt confirmed this will be fitted on Friday.
  2. LGR Consultation – carried forward to the next meeting for the Parish Council to respond once they have looked at the details.

7) Reports

  1. County Councillor D Thomas – LGR consultation will begin on Thursday this week, the Parish Council will not be a statutory consultee but they are allowed to comment on the proposals, details will be sent around. DCC Budget will be discussed later this month, its likely the increase will be the usual 4.99%. Highways will be given extra but will not be enough, proposed that some match funding money is made available for communities who want to do projects quicker.
  2. District Councillor G Pannell & D Hancock – Cllr D Hancock reported - Budget last week was discussed, the governments fair funding review has cut 2 million from SHDC budget, any reserves the Council have will be used over the next few years to bridge the gap until South Hams go into a unitary authority
  3. Play Park
    1. 2026 Grass Cutting Contract – the Clerk to contact Rob Northmore to ask for a price
    2. Cllr Snoxall confirmed all play equipment ok at the moment.
  4. Tree Warden – Cllr Bell reported that the recent easterly wind direction has brought some trees down. Cllr Steer confirmed that 10 fruit trees have arrived and need to be planted, this will be arranged.
  5. P3 Co-Ordinator – Cllr Snoxall – A broken stile has been reported at the end of Coombe Footpath number 3
  6. Defibrillators
    1. Re-location of Defib from The Shop, Avonwick – a request from the property owner has been received.  The Garage have been asked if they could accommodate the defib, they are looking into a suitable position, Cllrs suggested whether there might be a more suitable position for it closer to the centre of the Village or possibly at the Pub. The matter to be given consideration and discussed further at the next meeting.

8) Planning Applications / Matters.

Applications received from South Hams District Council

– none

Decisions received from South Hams District Council

  1. Conditional Approval – Application no 3343/25/FUL – Land at SX 706549 Ugborough – Extension to an existing Agricultural Building.

9) Correspondence

  1. Cllr Ring reported – the North Huish post box has been removed for repairs, according to the post office it should be returned within 3 to 4 months – Cllr Ring will monitor the situation to ensure that it is replaced.

10) Highways

  1. Church Cross – Signs for the Junction – carried forward to the next meeting, Cllr Grevatt to speak to the property owner on the junction to see if he would agree to have a sign placed on his wall.
  2. Effulent on the road from Causewell Cross to Hawkridge – the road is very muddy and has been reported on the DCC website. Gregory lorries are delivering there and will be made aware of the mess on the road.
  3. Potholes – lots still in the Parish, keep reporting on the DCC website.
  4. Drains – annual clearance by DCC has been done in Avonwick.

11) Finances

2.1.26 – BACS - £199.20 (vat £33.20) – J Widdicombe (Lengthsman December).
12.1.26 – BACS - £22.75 - Avon Vale Tennis Club (Room Hire January).
27.1.26 – BACS - £350.00 – Sharon Raggett (Clerks expenses 12 months April 25 to March 26)

Bank Balances February

Treasurers Account 3,275.20
Business Account 6,072.86
  9,348.06

Monies held within PC Balance

P3 = £110.00

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

  1. Next Meeting Date 3rd March 2026.
  2. Street Light in North Huish.

There be no further business the meeting closed 8.22pm

District Council Report

District Councillor's Report February 2026

Government cuts funding for SHDC

The Government’s “Fair” Funding Review has seen the Council fall into the category of being the worse impacted in the country, where only 95% of the Council’s previous levels of funding have been guaranteed by the Government in 2027/28 and 2028/29. This is a reduction in Government funding of £2.671m in 28/29 for example – a 41% reduction. The final Finance Settlement will be laid in Parliament in early February 2026. The Council is currently forecasting a £2.65m budget gap by the following year, 2027/28. The cumulative aggregated Budget Gap by 2028/29 is £6.96m, if no action has been taken in each individual year to close the budget gap annually.

IMPACT OF THE “FAIR” FUNDING REVIEW:

  • The three year finance settlement for 2026/27 to 2028/29 was announced in Parliament on 17th December 2025. This has seen the introduction of the Government’s “Fair” Funding Review 2.0, alongside a reset of the business rates baseline and the cessation of the New Homes Bonus scheme.
  • The Council falls into the category where only 95% of its previous levels of funding have been guaranteed by the Government in 2027/28 and 2028/29 – this is the category most impacted by the “Fair” Funding Review. This is a real terms decrease and means the Council will receive no additional funding for inflationary pressures or higher levels of service demand.
  • This reduction in Government funding is from £6.482m in 25/26 to £3.811m in 28/29. This is a reduction in Government funding of £2.671m (a 41% reduction). This is a substantial reduction and is the real impact of the Government’s new “Fair” Funding Review. Shire Districts are the worse impacted category of Councils. Core Spending Power is ‘cash flat’ at £15m for both 2027/28 and 2028/29.
  • Remoteness has been removed from all of the Area Cost Adjustments (ACA), with the exception of Adult Social Care. This was a last minute change to the funding formula by the Government. As a sparsely populated area with large travel distances, taking away the remoteness factor has impacted on South Hams quite heavily as it disadvantages more rural and remote Councils. The other changes that have significantly impacted South Hams are -
    • The weighting in the funding formula for visitor and commuter population has been reduced relative to the weighting for permanent residents. This disadvantages areas with a high concentration of tourists and commuters. So this significantly disadvantages South Hams. The visitor economy for South Hams is a significant cost.
    • The separate funding formulae for coastal protection and flood defence have been removed – so again South Hams loses out.
    • The Fixed Cost Adjustment has been removed (this is the cost of a Council opening its doors – this fixed cost adjustment used to recognise that there is a minimum cost of running any Council). Analysis by Pixel Financial Management shows that rural authorities have suffered the biggest losses in funding in the 3 year finance settlement in terms of Core Spending Power and government funding changes over the next three years.
  • The net result is that Core Spending Power – the amount the Government states is available to Councils for the coming year (including a 2.9% Council Tax increase – has fallen by 0.6% for SHDC. In contrast it has risen by 5.3% for Shire Counties, 6% for London Boroughs, and 7.5% for Metropolitan Districts.
  • The Council has submitted a consultation response to the Local Government Finance Settlement. In particular, the Council’s response focusses on the fact that the separate funding formulae for coastal protection and flood defence should be reinstated, the remoteness factor should be reinstated and the weighting should not be reduced in the funding formula for the visitor and commuter population. The Council’s response also highlights that there is a technical error in the council taxbase growth assumptions with regards to the second homes premium which is already within the 2025/26 Taxbase’
  • The Executive is recommending an increase of the maximum of 2.99% in Council Tax for the coming year. This equates to a rise of £5.88 per year or 11pence per week for a Band D property. The Government’s calculations of spending power for the authority assumes Council Tax will rise by this amount.

Storm response

Our teams have been working with the resilience forum working in partnership in response to the most recent storms across Slapton, Torcross and Beesands. Strong winds and waves affected several locations, with surface erosion at the Memorial car park in Slapton and storm damage to Torcross toilet block and car park.

Strete Gate toilets have remained open throughout and Torcross Tank toilets were reopened on Thursday following electrical and drainage checks carried out by our property service teams, and a deep cleaned required by our cleansing team. Roof repairs will need to be carried out at Torcross Tank toilets in due course. Our waste and street cleansing team have also provided assistance to the residents with tackling the clear up.

Tourism symposium

The Council is currently progressing a series of projects to support and strengthen the local visitor economy through UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) investment. This work includes a new visitor economy study, a tourism business survey and two upcoming Tourism Symposiums. Moor Economics has been commissioned to carry out the study, which aims to identify the key challenges facing the local tourism sector and opportunities to help it to grow and thrive. The findings will help shape future projects that will be developed to help improve the economic resilience of the sector. Business Information Point (BIP) is organising and delivering two tourism symposiums (one for South Hams, one for West Devon) as well as a tourism survey as part of this work. The Symposiums are business focused events designed to gather sector insight and encourage engagement from local tourism operators.

Event details:

  • Monday 2 March – Follaton House, 10 a.m. – 2.30 p.m.

To book a space please visit:

https://businessinfopoint.co.uk/south-hams-west-devon-tourism/

  • Please share with your local businesses who may be interested in attending.

South Hams Employment Fair

Business Information Point will be running the South Hams Employment Fair again this year, helping match local job seekers and employers. The South Hams Employment Fair will take place on 24 February from noon to 3 p.m. at Totnes Civic Hall. Fully funded by South Hams District Council, there is no cost to exhibit at the event, and it is an ideal opportunity for businesses to showcase themselves and connect with local job seekers. It's also free for job seekers to attend. As well as the chance to interact directly with potential candidates, it is also the perfect place for businesses to network with each other. It also offers  local job seekers (leaving education, currently unemployed, or already in employment ) the opportunity to find new jobs.

Upcoming Consultations and Engagement Activity

  • February - Parking Permit Review: statutory consultation required by legislation to consult on the changes to parking permits.
  • February & March – LGR: Government run consultation on Local Government Reorganisation proposal(s) for Devon. Expected to start mid February and will run for 7 weeks.
  • TBC March - Local Plan: Engaging with statutory consultees to formally announce our intention to start a new local plan followed by a 6 to 8 weeks engagement process. Waiting for Government information.