Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting  held on Wednesday 2nd April 2008 in Holne Village Hall

Present : Cllrs Paul Arrowsmith ( Chairman ), Belinda Owen , Ru Roberts , Gill Simpson , Cynthia Irish and Richard Copus

Clerk : Karen Gilbert

Members of the Public : Mr & Mrs Mudge , Ross Gray , District Cllr C Jones

Public Forum

Ross Gray , in this capacity as Tree Warden , stated that he was not aware of any Tree Preservation Orders attaching to any tree or hedge at Brackenwood following an enquiry by Cllr Owen . The Chairman advised that Cllr Jones intended to join the Meeting later in order to discuss the Boundary Committee and the Local Government Review . It was agreed that the meeting be adjourned for this purpose

08.04.01 Apologies for absence ; Liz Ross

08.04.02 Minutes of the Meetings ; The signing of the March 2008 minutes was deferred to the May 2008 meeting pending amendment and clarification

08.04.03 Declaration of Interest - None was declared

008.04.04 Planning

Planning application 0207/08 - Field shelter for sheep at Hunter?s Reach , Michelcombe Lane , Holne ./p>

A meeting was arranged for 9th April 2008 at 6.45pm to discuss the application

Planning Matters

A copy of Cllr Roberts? comments following the meeting with Dartmoor National Park Authority on 20th Feb 2008 had been given to each Councillor . Cllr Roberts stated , that following that meeting , she feels cynical about the importance that Dartmoor National Park Authority places on any comments made by Holne Parish Council over Planning issues . She added that , if little or no notice is taken of the Parish Council?s comments , it is not worth the time or the effort considering Planning applications.

Cllr Owen agreed with the above . Cllrs Simpson and Irish also agreed but added that , for the sake of parishioners , the system currently used by Holne Parish Council should continue . Cllr Copus stressed that any Planning issue should continue to be discussed in full.

AA letter from Mr Hurt , Tumbly concerning the felling of trees at Bracken wood , was read out . It was decided that the Clerk contact the Tree Officer at DNPA to confirm that there are no Tree Preservation orders in force and to advise Mr Hurt accordingly.

08.04.05 Finance

The following were paid at the Meeting/p>

Karen Gilbert - Clerk?s salary for March 2008 and expenses (£31.66) £133.66

Holne Village Hall - Rent 03/08 meeting plus rent 17/12/07 £11.00

For Audit purposes , the following payment details were checked

28/12/07 J Radford £230.66 ; 28/12/07 Holne Stores £15 ; 28/12/07 R Roberts £9.60

28/12.07 Poppy Appeal £16.50 ; 28/12/07 Holne Hall £21.00 ; 23/01/08 P Arrowsmith £55.00

6/02/08 Y Fairman £228.00; 6/02/08 Holne Hall £38.50 ; 6/02/08 Cosmic £146.88

08.04.06 ; Holne and Scorriton Local Housing Group

Cllr Simpson reported that the meeting held on 18/3/08 was attended by Chris France , Dartmoor National Park Authority , D. Holloway South Hams District Council and Sue Hitchcock . It was also well attended by members of the Public and Press . At this point , it was noted that the subsequent article in the Mid Devon Advertiser had distorted the facts from the Meeting resulting in an exaggeration of the number of affordable properties deemed to be required.

As Holne Parish Council had only received copies of the Draft Survey Report , it was agreed that discussion and adoption of the Report be deferred until the Holne Parish Council May meeting by which time the Full Report would have been made available.

Cllr Simpson also requested that a letter be sent to Frank Neiring , Church Charity , Holne to arrange a meeting between the Trustees and the Affordable Housing working party regarding the possibility of using Play Park for future housing needs.

08.04.07 ; Conservation plan for Holne

It was agreed that the details of the Open Meeting to be held on 25.4.08 between 4-7pm be posted on both notice boards , Holne shop and the Holybrook exchange . A notice had already been placed in the Parish Link.

08.04.08 ; St Mary the Virgin closed churchyard

An email from South Hams was read out: it concerned the renewal of the maintenance contract and requested details of the exact extent of the closed churchyard . Cllrs expressed concern over the quality of service that may be offered by South Hams Council?s contractors against that currently given by Ross Gray.

At this point , Ross Gray informed the Council that Mr Carter from Landscape and Leisure , South Hams had arranged for Tim Pollard and Keith Reynolds to visit the churchyard on 3rd April ( the next day) to assess the situation . As Mr Gray was to be present , the Chairman handed him relevant correspondence and maps to assist at the meeting.

Following a question from Cllr Roberts , the Chairman advised that South Hams was responsible for maintaining the closed section whereas the new Churchyard receives a contribution from Holne Parish Council towards maintenance.

08.04.09 Contract of Employment

The contract of employment for the new Clerk , Karen Gilbert was signed by the Chairman and the Clerk

CCllr Roberts queried whether the 3 hours per week was sufficient for the Clerk to administer the affairs of Holne Parish Council satisfactorily . It was agreed that , despite there being a provision in the contract for the payment of overtime , a log of hours be kept by the Clerk over a period of 4 months to allow for the possible extension of the working hours.

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At this point , the meeting was adjourned to allow Cllr Jones to discuss the Boundary Committee review of Local Government for Devon/p>

Cllr Jones reminded the Council that it had only until 11/04/08 to present it?s favoured concept to the Boundary Committee . He added that although the deadline was tight , there would be opportunity in the following months for both the Parish Council and the general public to gather more information and air their views

Cllr Jones advised that South Hams District Council favoured the creation of a South Devon and Dartmoor Authority encompassing the areas currently served by West Devon , South Hams and Teignbridge . This area is very rural and therefore requires a governing body that focuses on rural issues such as Farming , affordable housing and the special needs of isolated communities

The Meeting was then re-opened

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The Councillors put forward their thoughts but it was agreed that the matter required more discussion than time would allow at this meeting and it was therefore agreed to incorporate this in the Planning Meeting called for 9th April 2008

08.04.10 - Holne Town Gutter

IIt was agreed that the Clerk write individually to 25 house/landowners through whose property the Holne Town Gutter/Leat passes to request that the leat is kept clear of debris and silt in order to ensure a steady flow

08.04.11 sect 70 Local Government & Public Involvment in Health Act 2007/p>

08.04.12 Possible alterations to Newbridge

DDue to time constraints , these items were deferred to the May 2008 meeting.

08.04.13 ; /b>The Annual Parish Meeting was set by the Chairman for 30th April 2008 at 8pm in the Village Hall

NNotices are to be displayed on both notice boards , the Holne shop and Holybrook exchange , letters to be sent to representatives of local organisations , and flyers to be delivered to all households

08.04.14 ;/b> The Planning issues at Village Farm and Church Park House have been investigated by Dartmoor National Park who subsequently advised the Clerk that no breaches of Planning has occurred.

There being no further business , the Meeting closed at 10.10pm/p>

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