Holne Parish Council
Draft minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
on 6 th October 2009
in Holne Village Hall at 8.00pm
The meeting commenced at 8.00pm .
Present: Councillors Owen (Vice Chairman), Arrowsmith, Copus, Irish, Powell and Ross.
In attendance: District Cllr Jones, County Cllr Pennington, PCSO Gareth Jones, Martin Rich (Community Council of
Devon )
Clerk: Suzanna Hughes
Members of the Public: 5
OPEN FORUM
1. Ross Gray
Mr Gray raised four issues:
(i) Request to the Parish Council to pay expenses for him to attend a Tree Forum on 24 th October at SHDC offices. Cllr Owen indicated that he should submit an expenses claim for approval by the council at the next meeting. The same would apply should Ru Roberts wish to make a similar claim for expenses.
(ii) Has undertaken some hedge cutting at playpark which he has done at no charge to the parish. Also noticed that some maintenance of the benches is required.
(iii) Playpark Mr Gray questioned whether the grass cutting will still be the responsibility of SHDC?
(iv) When the maintenance contract for the church runs out, it will go out to tender. He expressed that in his opinion this local people should be used.
2. Ru Roberts
Ms Roberts reminded members that nobody has ever been paid to clear the leats in the village (including the church) this has been done by parishioners and landowners and should, in her opinion, continue in this way. However, there are issues which need to be discussed in respect of a blocked leat which is affecting the rest of the village. It was agreed that this would be placed on the agenda and discussed at the meeting in November.
3. County Cllr Pennington
Cllr Pennington reported that County Councillors will be entering a more difficult time financially. Committees are being amalgamated and staff vacancies are not being filled.
Cllr Pennington also reported on changes to the times that street lights would be turned on and off (to save money and reduce carbon emissions) but as street lights were not used in Holne, this would not affect the parish.
4. District Cllr Jones
Local Government Review there is currently nothing further to report and no indication as to when the Boundary Committee will be making their recommendation.
Like Devon County Council, South Hams District Council is also experiencing tougher budgets. One major implication of this is the way that the District Council are proposing to manage their play areas in the future. A letter from SHDC has been sent to the Parish Council about the proposal, the contents of which he found difficult to understand. He reported that he had written to Ken Carter at SHDC for an explanation as to when the proposals were agreed by council members. He replied that this was an operational matter and therefore was not necessary to involve elected members. This will be on the agenda at the Parish Cluster meeting on Thursday 8 th October and he urged that a representative of the Parish Council attends.
5. PCSO Gareth Jones
Annual Police Report for 1 st July - 30 th September 2009
Incidents in Holne -fourteen incidents in total, the majority of which were in the River Dart country park.
Criminal offences in Holne - six crimes in total, four at the River Dart Country Park, one of theft of power tools and one attempted burglary at Virgin Mary Church.
6. Martin Rich, Community Council of Devon
Martin Rich spoke to members about the benefits and process of putting together a Parish Plan or Community Consultation'. In summary, the main benefit of producing such a plan is to strengthen relationships with local authorities, service providers and the police etc and avoid being marginalised in terms of being offered finance and support from outside organisations. Whilst the process is driven by Parish Councils, the project is managed by a steering group of members of the parish who will then co-ordinate the consultation process. The cost of producing such a plan is between £1,000 and £2,000 depending on the depth and method of analysis of responses from the questionnaire. Funding could be available from the DNPA although applications need to be submitted by Christmas. Grants from the Community Council of Devon are no longer available. He explained that the time frame for completing a plan is between 12-18 months and once completed they have a shelf life of around 5-7 years. 50% of Parish Councils have now completed a Parish Plan. The role of the Community Council of Devon is to act as mentors throughout the process and they are happy to attend meetings.
061009.01 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr Simpson on holiday.
061009.02 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Councillors were reminded of their responsibility to continually update their Notice of Registerable Interests and invited to state whether they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be discussed during this meeting.
None declared.
061009.03 RATIFICATION OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting dated 1 st September 2009 were approved by all present and duly signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.
061009.04 PARISH PLANNING
Cllr Arrowsmith advised members that the Council had discussed the merits of producing a Parish Plan in previous years and at that time it decided against it. He feels that it is an unnecessary layer as we have the support of the DNPA. Cllr Copus agreed. Cllr Powell commented that the type of issues addressed in a Parish Plan are already discussed within Parish Council meetings. Cllr Arrowsmith suggested that a parish appraisal might be the way forward. It was therefore agreed to put this on the agenda for discussion in the meeting in November.
061009.05 PLANNING
a. NEW APPLICATIONS/APPEALS RECEIVED
(i) Long Barn, Ingletts Farmhouse, Holne
Conversion of long barn to dwelling (renewal of 0636/04)
The Chairman suspended standing orders to allow the applicant, Mr French to speak.
Mr French explained that permission expires on 18 th November and this was a straight-forward renewal application.
After discussion, it was agreed to support the application.
b. DECISIONS
(i) Holne Park Farm, Ashburton
Barn for the storage of hay, straw and agricultural machinery
Confirmation that the DNPA has approved works described in the applicant's notification received 26 August 2009 .
061009.06 FINANCE
(i) Receipt of the second half of the precept, £2,600, was noted.
(ii) Receipt of NALC Bursary of £75 as a contribution towards the clerk's CiLCA registration fee was noted.
(iii) Receipt of the VAT repayment of £21.65 was noted.
(iii) The payment of Mr Vogel's expenses, £ 8.32, to attend Affordable Housing Group meetings was agreed.
(iv) The payment of £574.39 to the Public Works Loan Board was agreed.
(v) The payment of £ 98.75 to the clerk for CiLCA registration fee and purchase of paper was noted.
(vi) The clerk summarised the financial position of the Parish Council after six months. This was noted.
(vii) It was agreed that members of the Finance Committee would agree a date after the meeting to discuss the precept for 2010/2011
061009.07 HOLNE WEBSITE
It was agreed that the clerk would liaise with Cllr Arrowsmith and Joanna Radford about the software required for the content management.
061009.08 BT ADOPT A KIOSK
The clerk reported that a letter had been received from BT inviting the Parish Council to adopt the telephone kiosk at the Post Office for £1. The implications of this would be that the telephone would be removed from the box leaving the kiosk which would then become the responsibility of the Parish Council. It was agreed that the letter would be placed in the circulation folder and that the item would be placed on the agenda for discussion at the meeting in November.
061009.09 NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Cllr Ross expressed concern that parishioner's home insurance may be affected by the absence of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme and suggested that if no-one in the parish was prepared to run it, then the Parish Council should set it up. It was agreed that this would be added to the agenda for discussion at the meeting in November. In the meantime, Cllr Ross would speak to Mike Cunningham about what is involved.
061009.10 MAINTENANCE OF BENCHES
Cllr Arrowsmith reported that the benches at Bearwood and Greendown need a coat of creosote. It was agreed that ownership of the benches needed to be verified with SHDC. In the meantime, Cllr Arrowsmith agreed to make them safe. It was agreed that this item would be discussed again at the meeting in November.
061009.11 SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE
It was agreed that Cllr Copus would lay the wreath.
061009.12 PLAYPARK REPORT
To include:
(i) Cllr Powell reported that, as anticipated, a letter had been received from SHDC detailing the new arrangements for the management of play areas in South Hams. The committee were not happy to accept this and were appalled that there has been no consultation. It was agreed that the Parish Council would write to Ken Carter at SHDC expressing its disappointment and asking for an explanation as to why there had been no consultation.
(ii) The committee has written to four play equipment companies who are able to offer a free design service with no obligation and await their response.
It was proposed that the clerk contact Community First about the potential additional insurance for the play park when liability becomes the responsibility of the Parish Council.
It was agreed that the clerk should write to Holne Church Charity Trust to inform them of the SHDC proposals.
(iii) Review of Annual Inspection Report it was agreed that a letter would be sent to SHDC asking for clarification following the annual report about the maintenance issues which have not yet been dealt with.
(iii) Public Works Loans Board
It was suggested that the Parish Council should approach the Village Hall Management Committee to help with the cost of financing the loan. This was agreed.
061009.13 HOLNE AND SCORITON HOUSING GROUP REPORT
Distribution of flyer:
Cllr Owen summarised that the housing group had been advised by Chris France, DNPA, to send a flyer to all parishioners explaining how the group had come to a decision about the proposed sites. Cllr Powell agreed to make some amendments to the flyer and Cllr Copus agreed to photocopy 200 copies ready for distribution. Details of how the flyer will be distributed would be discussed at the meeting in November.
061009.14 POTHOLES AND HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE REPORTS AND OTHER HIGHWAYS ISSUES
Cllr Irish reported that the surface of Michelcombe Lane , prior to the hump back bridge, still needs attention.
Cllr Copus commented that he had noticed markings on the roads in the parish but no surface dressing work had yet been done. Cllr Arrowsmith reported that they had started. Cllr Arrowsmith observed that the contractors had ploughed the hedge and taken the soil away and commented that the soil should be used to build the banks back up.
Cllr Pennington will take up the gritting issue before the onset of the winter.
061009.15 CLERK'S OR COUNCILLOR'S REPORTS ON MATTERS AUTHORISED BY THE COUNCIL AT PREVIOUS MEETINGS NOT OTHERWISE ON THIS AGENDA
None.
061009.16 CHAIRMAN'S URGENT BUSINESS FOR ACTION BY THE CLERK IF COVERED BY DELEGATED POWERS OR FOR INCLUSION ON THE AGENDA OF THE NEXT MEETING
None.
061009.17 CORRESPONDENCE
The clerk notified councillors of relevant correspondence received during the month not otherwise dealt with above, including:
(i) Parish Cluster Meeting 8 th October. Cllr Ross would endeavour to attend.
(ii) SHDC - Budget Consultation Meeting - 28 th October date noted.
061009.18 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was confirmed that the date of the next meeting will beTuesday 3 rd November 2009 at 8.00pm in Holne Village Hall.
Matters not requiring discussion and placed into the folder for circulation and perusal by Councillors and will include:
(i) Village Green
(ii) CCD Review 2008/9
(iii) Letter from Totnes Town Council re May 2009 European Elections
(iv) SHDC - Minutes of the Executive Meeting 10 th September
(v) SHDC - Agenda and Minutes of the Council 17 th September
(vi) Dartmoor Access Forum Annual Report 2008
(vii) DAPC Newsletter July/Aug
The meeting closed at 10.15pm .
Cllr Belinda Owen Suzanna Hughes
Vice Chairman Clerk
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