Haccombe-with-Combe Parish Council

Transcription

1 Haccombe-with-Combe Parish Council Minutes of the Parish Council held on 4 April 2018 at 7.30pm Present: Councillors Boarer (Chairman), Duggleby, Evans, Humble and Johnstone Also present: County Cllr Dewhirst, District Cllr Haines (arrived 8.05pm) and Elizabeth Deane (Hearn Field Committee Chairman) Clerk: Suzanna Hughes APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received from: County Cllr Hook POLICE REPORT No report received OPEN FORUM There were no comments DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORTS Cllr Dewhirst reported as follows: 1 April was the start of the new Financial Year as a consequence I thought you might like to know where my Locality Budget has gone to. My County Locality Budget included 190 towards footpaths in Coffinswell, 500 towards Buckland s highly successful Ladies football team, 500 towards computers at Abbotskerswell PTFA, 400 to Abbotskerswell Cricket Club, 500 towards balustrading at Combeingteignhead Village Hall, a further 1,000 towards Ipplepen s new school gym, 485 towards village roads signs for the ICC, 1,100 towards planning costs at the Ipplepen Hub, 250 towards Kingskerswell Fete, 200 towards Kingskerswell Community Directory, 400 towards laptops for Kingskerswell Coding Club, 2,000 towards lighting for Kingskerswell Village Hall, 321 to Kingskerswell Conservation Society for a tree popper, 150 towards the new Navigators Youth Club, 500 towards the new Shaldon Changing Rooms, 450 towards the Shaldon Festival, 258 for table tennis tables in Stokeinteignhead and 250 towards the canopy on the Stokeinteignhead Community Shop. Vulnerable and fuel poor residents across Devon are being encouraged to apply to Cosy Devon and the Local Energy Advice Programme (LEAP). This is a free advice service supported by Devon County Council and funded by energy suppliers that helps households with energy saving measures and could reduce their energy bills by up to 300 a year. They can install a range of simple measures, provide energy efficiency advice and help look for a better deal on energy bills. These can include draught-proofing, low energy LED lightbulbs, radiator panels and shower savers. The advisor will also check if your house has uninsulated cavity walls or an uninsulated loft. If so, it may be possible to arrange for insulation to be installed for free. If your home has a boiler that s very old and doesn t meet current standards, they may also be able to help you repair or replace it. Your energy tariff will be checked and, if you are not on the best tariff, the advisor will help you to change to a cheaper one. On average, a household can save 287 a year by switching their heating and electricity supply to the cheapest tariff.

2 Recycle Devon championed the second annual REUSE Week a celebration of the diverse organisations. Some groups help people swap, donate and loan the things they no longer need; while others specialise in fixing, renovating or repurposing onceloved items. But they all share a common goal to reduce waste, increase opportunities for the community and help disadvantaged members of society. According to the Local Government Association UK households are throwing away 400 million worth of items every year that could have been reused. Throughout the week the groups host events and promotions in every corner of the county, encouraging us all to think differently about what we buy and what we throw away. The events range from creative activities for the family, Give and Take sessions and repair cafes to bookable craft workshops, clothes swaps and even an electrical fix fest. Residents across Devon are being reminded to wash, squash and pop the cap on when they recycle glass and plastic bottles and jars. Following on from industry advice, you can now leave your caps, tops and lids on both your plastic and glass bottles and jars. Simply give the bottle or jar a rinse, squash plastic bottles, put the top back on and recycle as you normally would even it s a metal lid on a glass jar. Replacing lids, caps and tops will not only ensure they are recycled and Devon maintains its 55.7% recycling rate but will reduce volume in recycling bins and recycling lorries. The preference is that lids are attached to bottles and jars but if this is not possible lids can be recycled according to their material, so metal lids in with cans and plastic lids in with plastics. I would like to thank highways and social care teams across our Division for their round-the-clock efforts to keep this Division moving and ensure that the vulnerable received the support they needed. Despite the challenging conditions, care providers, aided by volunteer 4 x 4 drivers in some locations, and joint health and social care teams continued their support to vulnerable residents. And highways teams worked non-stop to clear routes as quickly as possible, using approximately 7,000 tonnes of salt during the first three weeks of March. It was a good job we got another shipment of grit between the two weather events. So far this winter over 21,000 tonnes of salt has been used on our roads this compares with 9,000 tonnes used throughout the whole winter season last year. Initial estimates suggest these two snow events may have cost around 1.2 million to deal with. Health and social care teams in the county worked together to deliver vital care to people at home. Examples of care workers and health staff going the extra mile to reach their clients have been in abundance. Praise must also go to volunteers, such as 4 4 drivers and our fantastic snow wardens for the role they ve played, as well as our local communities that rallied together, during this time. The snow caused problems with bin collections. Collections will resume as usual after Easter. Finally, thanks to everyone who joined in with the litter pick DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATION Members were reminded of their responsibility to continually update their Notice of Registerable Interests and to declare any disclosable interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they have in any items to be considered at this meeting. Members were reminded that unforeseen requests for a Dispensation to be considered at this point only if there was no way a member would have been aware of such before the meeting. There were no declarations of interest or requests for dispensation. 2

3 MINUTES Members approved and signed the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 7 March DELEGATE REPORTS Cllr Johnstone reported that there were two events in April: 15 April The Full Bronte, 22 April - St Georges Day lunch FINANCE & GOVERNANCE 8.1 Expenditure Members approved the following payments: Cheque no Payee Details Amount 998 HMRC PAYE Kenton Parish Council Contribution towards 8 clerk s GDPR training 1000 E Deane 4 x heaters (HF Pavilion) SO Clerk Salary (1 April) Taken from the first instalment of the precept DALC Annual subscription Income Members noted the income for March: Received Received from Details Amount 9 March 2018 Lloyds Bank Interest 0.40 (Reserves) 6, 8 March Hearn Field bookings Hire of Hearn Field March 2018 TDC Rural Aid (grant for notice board) Bank Balances at 28 March 2018 Members noted the bank balances: Current account Reserves account Sea Wall account Total 5, , , , PLANNING 9.1 New applications/appeals /00410/FUL 1 Albert Cottage, Combeinteignhead Replacement of existing extension, new loft conversion, internal alterations and associated works Members understood that this is a retrospective planning application. The original application (14/00811/FUL), which was approved by TDC in December 2014, was subject to various conditions. It would seem that the application has had to be resubmitted, although the work has already been completed, because it deviates from the original approval. Members were unclear what the variations are and therefore did not feel able to support the application as presented. The original decision notice does not appear to be available to view online anymore. Various issues have been pointed out to members of the Parish Council outside the meeting and they agreed that they would expect these issues to be thoroughly investigated by the planning department. In particular: 3

4 It is understood that the original approval specified sash windows. It appears, however, that at least one casement window has been installed. It is understood that the overhang has increased but it is not known by how much. Members have also observed that a wall has been taken down to provide parking directly from the main road. This has very much changed the street scene. Whilst providing parking for the applicant this has actually reduced parking for villagers. A block wall has been erected and this has not been faced in stone as would have been expected in this part of the village. Drainage has also been impacted. The drainage for 2 Albert Cottages, for example, now sits under private property rather than under the highway. It is understood that the variation from the original conditions has had a negative impact on the property directly adjacent to 1 Albert Cottages and that this needs thorough investigation by the planning department. These include issues associated with drainage, access and privacy. 9.2 Decisions /00285/CAN Greenacre, Combeinteignhead Fell one cedar tree Members noted that TDC has no objections HEARN FIELD The Chairman of the Hearn Field Committee, Elizabeth Deane, reported as follows: Refurbishment of Pavilion A group of 12 volunteers helped to clear the pavilion prior to decorating. It is already looking much better as space has been freed up and rubbish removed. Work will start next week with installing of new wall heaters and lighting in the main room and kitchen. Painting will start week commencing 16 April. The painting of the two changing rooms will be put on hold until the damp issue has been resolved. Damp patch in larger changing room We are currently no nearer to discovering the reason for the damp which has now largely dried out despite wet weather. However, we cannot proceed with any work in there until the cause has been identified and remedied. Damage to the Sea Wall We met with Celtic Rock Services to discuss the repair work that was carried out some years ago. We are waiting for their advice/response. We also met with another company who have provided a quotation for repair. We now need advice from Devon County, or at least from local experts /agencies, as to how we should proceed. We request that the Parish Council contacts the Environment Agency, Highways, Pathways and the Teign Estuary Partnership for guidance. The advice from Teign Estuary Partnership is that we contact them as soon as we have a plan so that they can direct us to possible funding as this adjoins a public footpath (P3 funding?) We are happy to meet with any of these groups to inspect the wall but as this involves major works perhaps the request needs to come from the PC initially. It was agreed that the clerk should contact Johnathan Rowlands, Public Rights of Way Officer at DCC, to follow up Cllr Dewhirst s request for a site visit. 4

5 Combe Cellars lane flooding The culvert on the TCYC side of the road appears still not to be draining. Cllr Humble advised that DCC looked at the wrong culvert. Cllr Dewhirst agreed to contact the Highways Officer and suggest they meet with a member of the Parish Council on site. Tractor shed This needs minor repairs and then will be painted by the volunteers RURAL AID It was agreed to submit an application for rural aid for the conversion of the changing rooms at the Hearn Field Pavilion to a bar/serving area. The Chairman of the Hearn Field Committee agreed to obtain quotations for the work WEBSITE Members noted that the website has been updated and is currently looking fine ANNUAL PARISH MEETING The meeting has been arranged for Saturday 12 May at 7.00pm. The Chairman agreed to use his allowance to purchase refreshments for the event (up to 100). Cllr Johnstone agreed to draft a leaflet and advert for the parish magazine. Cllr Evans agreed to circulate an to her distribution list. Cllr Johnstone also agreed to add details of the meeting on the website EMERGENCY PLAN Cllrs Duggleby and Humble presented a final draft of the Emergency Plan. Amendments were agreed and the document was adopted. It was agreed that the document should be uploaded on to the website. Cllrs Duggleby and Humble will present the plan at the Annual Parish Meeting with a view to recruiting volunteers HIGHWAYS AND FOOTPATHS A parishioner has commented that the hedges adjacent to Elmfield are growing into the highway. This was noted. However, hedge cutting could not be undertaken now until the end of the bird nesting season CORRESPONDENCE None MEMBERS ITEMS FOR INFORMATION OR GENERAL DISCUSSION, FOR INCLUSION ON FUTURE AGENDAS AND/OR ITEMS REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION Members are reminded that they have not received the statutory notice of this business to be transacted and should therefore recognise that any decision made may be taken to be unlawful if challenged in the future None DATE OF NEXT MEETING The date of the next Parish Council meeting was confirmed as 2 May The meeting closed at 8.55pm.... Chairman 5