Annual Parish Meeting: Tuesday, 5 May 2026

Draft Minutes for the Annual Parish Meeting on Tuesday, 5 May 2026

Present – Cllr Steer, Cllr Ring, Cllr Snoxall, Cllr Grevatt, Cllr Gabriel, C Cllr Thomas, Cllr Cllr Bell, Cllr Hunt, 4 members of the Parish.

Chairman of the Parish Council – Cllr Steer

Many thanks to our Cllrs for all their work throughout the year. The last 12 months have seen us deal with the usual planning applications.  The playpark is well used and some new fruit trees have been planted which have started to grow well.

County Cllrs Report – Cllr D Thomas

Highways

I have been able to introduce 2 projects to the department during 2025, with a third about to start:

The ‘Common Sense’ pothole trial

This ran across 2 electoral divisions in 2025 (1 urban, 1 rural) where the process was that for every pothole reported that met the safety criteria (300mm by 40mm vertical edge), the team would be empowered to fix other defects that did not (meet the criteria). So enthused were the gangs that they decided to use a range of 500m in either direction or to the nearest junction. In practical terms, this is too costly and too large an area. In 2026, a larger version of the trial will run across 7 divisions where the gangs will be asked to follow the ‘reasonable person’ test, ie would the public reasonably expect you to mend that pothole while you are there as well as this one. Locations will be picked on pothole data as well as those areas high in elderly, disabled and/or pregnant road users, who are disproportionately affected by poor road surfaces.

The Parish Protocol

We are in the process of employing a member of staff specifically to run the PP, which will support towns and parishes to buy bespoke schemes of work from DCC – this will include 20mph zones, parish white lining remarks, zebra crossings, extra road signage – anything in short that the county either does not feel is essential or which it has budgeted for but not within the time frame requested by the Town or Parish Council.

The Fast Response Squads

These will be set up for 2026/27 as four geographically based teams with a short work programme, meaning that Councillors and their Neighbourhood Highways Officers will be able to get some quick results in areas that are causing particular issues for a community. This is precisely the short of rapid response that will help to change the ‘Computer says no’ belief that many have about the Highways Department.

On top of these, and as previously reported, this year’s budget includes an additional £15 million investment in Devon’s roads, alongside a commitment to maintain £10 million per year in additional funding over the following five years. This is a major shift in approach. For too long, highways funding has been reactive and insufficient, leading to a cycle of patching rather than repairing. The extra funding will allow us to move beyond emergency pothole filling and begin tackling structural deterioration in a more strategic way. That means more resurfacing, more preventative maintenance, and more drainage work to stop water destroying road foundations in the first place. After one of the worst winters on record for storm damage, this investment is both timely and essential. While it will not fix every problem overnight, it represents a serious and sustained commitment to improving the condition of Devon’s roads. It is worth pointing out that we have had 50 gangs out all the time over the winter, fixing around 2500 potholes per week. At the same time, an extra £4 million of revenue funding will allow us to continue to fix the potholes that we have now, as well as addressing the regular issue of blocked culverts, grips and buddle holes in quicker order.

Integrated Adult Social Care priorities - We are continuing with our existing four priorities that will shape our work over the next twelve months, building on the progress we’ve made. As a reminder our four priorities remain: We will reduce waiting times. We will find local solutions that promote independence. We will consistently deliver best practice. We will work within our budget

Children’s Services

In a report published in December last, the Department for Education’s Commissioner Nigel Richardson CBE recognises significant progress in improving services for children and families, while acknowledging that further work is needed.  The Commissioner concludes that Devon now has the capacity and capability to improve itself, and recommends that operational control of services should remain with the council rather than be transferred to a trust.  The report praises:  Strong corporate leadership: children’s services are now the council’s top priority, with clear commitment from senior staff.   Strong political leadership, with the Leader and Cabinet having made children’s futures their top priority.  A stabilised leadership team: An experienced interim Director of Children’s Services (DCS) and a strong Deputy Director have brought confidence and clarity, supported by a permanent senior leadership team for the first time in years.  Workforce development: recruitment and retention are improving, supported by initiatives such as the Social Work Academy and Leadership Development Programme.  Strategic investment: the council has committed £156m over 10 years through its Growing Futures programme to provide more local homes for children in care.  Improved partnership working: relationships with Ofsted and safeguarding partners have strengthened.

As a footnote, we should hear imminently both from OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission regarding progress in Children’s and Adults’ services respectively.

Young People

Over the course of 2025/26, the Devon Youth Forum has been re-energised, with a series of events taking place at County Hall. The priority for 2025-26 was ‘Places to go, things to do’. This project is based on the belief that all young people in Devon should be able to access “affordable activities and places in our local areas; somewhere to go with friends for fun, relaxation and to try new things”. (This was the most voted topic in our Make Your Mark 2025 ballot, receiving 20% of the vote. Mental health and public transport came second and third in the ballot, receiving 16% and 13% of the votes respectively.)

Locality

I was delighted to support the Parish with £250 towards the cost of a new parish noticeboard, For 2026/27, the allocation has returned to £10 000 per councillor (as it was until c2022) and I would be delighted to hear from any community group in 2026 in need of seed funding for projects that benefit the parish.

District Cllrs’ Report – Cllr D Hancock & Cllr G Pannell

If the Government proceeds with its intention to reorganise the Local Government structure in Devon, South Hams Council will cease to exist in two years’ time. The local elections for South Hams due in May 2027 will be cancelled, and replaced with elections at that time for Members to a new Shadow unitary authority, which will steer the reorganisation locally before taking over all the functions of the County and District councils at the end of April 2028.  A statutory consultation by the Government, seeking views of individuals and interested parties on proposals for the shape of those new authorities finished on March 26th. Five different proposals were made by councils or groupings of councils. South Hams Council strongly supported the proposal put forward by itself, together with West Devon Borough and Teignbridge District Councils for three Unitary Authorities.

These would comprise:  Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon - Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge - Plymouth to remain unchanged - Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon. South Hams gave some support to a variation of this proposal put forward by the remaining District Councils in Devon. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of: Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, and Torridge -Plymouth Expanded: Plymouth plus parts of the parishes of Bickleigh, Brixton, Shaugh Prior and Sparkwell from the neighbouring district of South Hams - Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: Remaining parts of South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay ​and West Devon. South Hams strongly opposed the three other proposals.

Devon County Council proposed 3 unitary councils. These would comprise the current areas of: Devon Unitary Council: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge and West Devon - Plymouth​ to remain unchanged - Torbay ​to remain unchanged. Exeter City Council and Plymouth City Council proposed 4 unitary councils. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of: Exeter: Exeter plus 15 parishes from within Teignbridge District Council, 28 parishes from within East Devon District Council and 6 parishes from within Mid-Devon District Council.​

Plymouth: Plymouth plus 13 parishes from South Hams - Torbay: Torbay plus 22 parishes from within Teignbridge District Council and South Hams District Council - Devon Coast and Countryside: The rest of Devon, including the parishes in the South Brent Ward of South Hams Torbay Council proposed 4 unitary councils. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of: - Exeter Council: Exeter plus 15 parishes from within Teignbridge District Council, 28 parishes from within East Devon District Council and 6 parishes from within Mid Devon District Council - Plymouth Council: Plymouth plus 13 parishes from South Hams - Rural Devon Coast and Countryside Council: The rest of Devon - Torbay Council to remain unchanged. The Government is expected to announce its decision in the coming Summer, but it might also ask Devon councils to confer together to refine one or more of the options.

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 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% cut). 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 officers have been working closely with the Environment Agency and Devon County Council, to deal with damage caused by strong winds and waves to the A379 road and one of our carparks at Torcross in February. Properties there have also been damaged - delivering another blow to the area after Storm Ingrid. We continue to work with our partners to carry out further investigations and work out what next steps are available to us. We are doing what we can to keep our communities safe and we thank our residents for their patience while this essential work takes place.

Trustees – North Huish Feoffees.

Cllr Bell reported - money is raised through rental of land owned, this money is used to support parishioners in need and this year helping South Brent Caring.

Church of St James, Avonwick – Marigold Seager-Berry.

St James Church Avonwick continues to offer a service every Sunday except a 5th Sunday in the month of which there are 4 in the year. We are once again without a priest but are actively engaged in finding one to give us Holy Communion once or twice a month and otherwise services are taken by a licenced reader or lay led by Peter Stradling or Marigold Seager- Berry. We can provide Baptisms, Funerals, Blessings of marriages and Weddings by Special licence.

We continue to give to various charities including the Children’s Society, Combat Stress, and the local food bank and manage to continue the maintenance of the building without any outside help thanks to a well-endowed trust and the generosity of those who attend the church. We have a regular choir and church organists and continue to offer Praise and Worship through our hymns and prayers. Thanks to all those who help with the maintenance – cleaning, flower arranging, church yard maintenance and loyal support to this beloved church. All information regarding the church and services can be found on our website which Tristram Grevatt covers – our thanks to him.

Avon Vale Tennis & Croquet Club – Deirdre Pope.

The tennis club had a very good year both in terms of membership and financially.

Several families from the village are members with their children receiving coaching from our excellent coach.

We held several social events and quizzes, and croquet as well as tennis is thriving.

Our priority now is to resurface the hard court in the next couple of years, possibly replacing it with a carpet surface.

In case you are wondering we are not planning to install heaters until we are sure we have enough funds after dealing with the hard court.

North Huish Community Group – Peter Stradling

The North Huish Community Group held five events at St Mary’s Church, North Huish during 2025: a Coffee Morning and Cake Sale, a Quiz Night, a Harvest Lunch, an Act of Remembrance on Armistice Day and Carols by Candlelight. During the year, donations were made to the Churches Conservation Trust, South Brent and District Caring, The Trussell Trust Food bank, The Royal British legion and Hugs Children’s Cancer Chairty. The project to install additional electric sockets during the previous year was recognised by the CCT who gave us their Award for Fundraising Achievement which enabled us to purchase additional tables and chairs. It was another successful year, holding popular social events for the local community and supporting charities including the CCT which, as the owner, maintains the beautiful and historic church building at North Huish. Many thanks to our organising team and to all our supporters.

Meeting closed 6.53pm