Present:  Mr R Tully (Chairman), Mrs C Hunt, Miss E Bridge, Miss P Ellis, Dr. R Johnson, Mr I Jones, Mrs J. Lowe, Mr J Robinson, Mr B Tarr. In attendance:  – County Cllr Pennington District Cllr Rowe

 

                        The Council was given a presentation by Caroline Curtis from Eden Design on possible improvements to the Orchard play area and the Orchard. Rebecca Gilmore advised that she had attended a meeting at South Hams with Cllrs. Robinson and Tarr at which they were advised that a grant of £ 8,000.00 was available from SHDC and a further £ 49.999.00 was funded through the Ground Force grant scheme. This money would be used solely for the updating of the play equipment and improvement to the play area. Other areas to be improved would be the Orchard itself where new benches would be installed, better pathways and new trees to enhance the village area. It was agreed that Rebecca should continue to stage two of the proposal and Cllr Tarr proposed that a vote of thanks be recorded to Rebecca for her hard work in getting this far. This was seconded by Cllr. Ellis with all in favour.

            1          Apologies. -  None

     3          To confirm the minutes of the last meeting on 28^th September 2009

            Taken as read and signed by the Chairman,

4          Matters arising from the Minutes – None

5          Chairman’s Report – The Chairman had nothing to report other than those items to be discussed on the agenda.

6          Reports from County and District Councillors – County Cllr. Pennington was pleased to advise that the school had been awarded a grant for £13,000.00 for new play equipment. It was unlikely that there would be any additional funding next year so DCC would have to keep expenditure down to avoid a large raise in Council tax. Cllr. Pennington advised that street lighting would be turned off at 12.30am until 5.30am. Lighting on main roads would be dimmed during this period. The result should save £ 500,000.00. Finally Cllr. Pennington confirmed that he had requested a traffic survey to be carried out in the village to include Aish and Paignton Roads.  District Cllr Rowe advised that she had attended a training day on Members code of conduct on planning issues. Like DCC South Hams were trying to cut costs and a joint meeting at Tavistock with members of West Devon Council was held to discuss joint services. Cllr. Rowe advised that she had chaired an environmental P.D.G. which would allow seven parishes in that area to take part in being responsible for their own grounds, street and toilet cleaning. This scheme would run until June allowing other Parishes and Districts to be consulted. Finally Cllr. Rowe advised that in 2010 A.O.N.B. would be celebrating its 50^th anniversary and suggested that the village would like to consider holding its own celebration. 

7          The issue of a housing Association for Stoke Gabriel The Chairman invited Charles Caudle to speak from the floor. Mr Caudle suggested that there are two related issues to be dealt with right now. One is whether we have the desire and/or the ability to get a housing association (or a tie-up with another association – or both) going at all. The second is whether we can provide sufficient evidence of intent, commitment and viability to convince those on the Planning Committee that there is an alternative to a large scale development such as this for the provision of affordable housing. He asked if the affordable housing issue for Stoke Gabriel could ever be satisfactorily resolved given the issues regarding infrastructure and highways being raised now? Arguably not by substantial new building. The village, if it has not yet grown to the capacity of the roads and education facilities servicing it, will certainly do so at some point. The truth is that the economic conditions which have priced a lot of younger couples out of the housing market for Stoke Gabriel are not going to go away. And the fact is that the village is just not infinitely expandable. Mr Caudle advised that he had discussed the idea with Steve Prime, Chief Executive of the South Devon Rural Housing Association who would be ready and willing to come and give us the benefit of his experience over many years and any advice we may need. Mr Caudle asked if the Parish Council felt that it would be worthwhile to gain some better understanding of the art of the possible here. The Council agreed that this was worth following up and that Mr Prime should be invited to attend a meeting.

8          Planning

The following planning applications were considered at a planning meeting held on 26^th October 2009 at which the following councillors were present: Hunt, Robinson, Ellis, Bridge and Lowe.

1)       HeronsReach, Stoke Hill - reduce and reshape Oak trees    Objection crown reduction of Oak tress is not normally approved as this can lead to disease. Suggest gentle pruning

2)         South Hams Garden Centre – erection of shed and poly tunnel for allotments. Objection visual impact and concerns over access to site.

3)         Stoke Gabriel Baptist Church – Installation of external chairlift No Objection

Planning Applications refused by SHDC - None

      None

Ongoing Applications – Torbay Local Plan – The Chairman invited Clive Hammett to speak from the floor. Mr Hammett advised the Council that the proposed development for Yalberton Valley and Collaton was back on the agenda. He advised that the original proposal was for 15000 new homes but Torbay council had suggested only 10000. The Government had not decided but advised Torbay Council that they should expect 15000. These homes would be at Collaton, on the road to Sainsburys from the village on the right and on the site by the Brixham Road garden centre. Mr Hammett expressed concern that Torbay Council was willing to pursue this as opposed to giving consideration to the sites by the dual carriageway. Finally Mr Hammett requested that letters of objection should be sent to The Strategic Planning Group, Roebuck House, Torquay TQ2 5TF or e-mail to  ldf@torbay.gov.uk

10        Hoyle Copse – Cllr Jones reported that the grass had been cleared from the meadow and the group were now meeting at 10.00am on Wednesday mornings.

11        Stoke Gabriel in Bloom - From a point raised by Mike Perryman from the floor discussion took place regarding the poor state of the village especially the overgrown grass areas and the build up of silt and resulting weeds in the majority of the gulleys and gutters. Only four grass cuts have been carried out and this was considered second rate and as funds to cover the upkeep of the village come mainly from our council tax we should expect better service. Cllr. Tarr advised that he had looked into the possibility of employing a maintenance person on a part time basis who would be responsible to the Parish Council for tidying up agreed areas of the Parish. Cllr. Tarr also asked for consideration to write to the owners of properties who allowed their walls and fences be become overgrown requesting that they attend to the matter or the Council would carry out the work and bill them for the cost. From a proposal by Cllr. Tarr and seconded by Cllr. Lowe it was agreed that Cllr. Tarr should report back to the Council at the January meeting regarding the employment of a maintenance person after responses had been received from SHDC and in the meantime letters would be written to the owners of properties where tidying up should be carried out. A strong letter would also be written to the SHDC Head of Environmental Services.

            12        Highway and Hedgerow Matters  - Cllr Ellis advised that there were large potholes in Lembury Road and the sign was still missing. The War Memorial steps were very slippery and required cleaning. Paignton Road near the garden centre was flooding during the recent heavy rain. Cllr. Hunt advised that Coombe House Lane was in a terrible state and urgently required some work before accidents occurred. Cllr. Tarr stated that there had been white marker lines in Coombe Shute but these had now been changed to blue lines. As they have now been virtually washed away presumably no work would now be carried out. The drains in School Hill were inadequate as they were now collapsing and sinking into the road. Cllr. Tarr advised that the walkway under the shore had now been repaired and he requested that a sign be put on the new gate leading into the Orchard from Church Walk. Cllr. Robinson agreed that he would prepare a suitable sign. Cllr. Tully advised that the Waddeton road sign was still missing although this had been mentioned many times previously.

  

13        Matters raised by Councillors – Cllr Tarr raised the question of the state of the Gents public conveniences and the fact that one of the two urinals had been removed. District Cllr. Rowe reminded the Council that South Hams wished these toilets closed and suggested that her husband could arrange to repair the urinals. This was agreed. Cllr. Lowe advised that a number of large construction vehicles were using Flood Street in an attempt to get to Vicarage Road and becoming stuck. It had also been noted that vehicles were parking in Paignton Road for long periods whilst they were being unloaded and their load being transferred to the construction site in Vicarage Road. It was agreed that a letter be written to the agents. Cllr. Tarr requested that a list be compiled showing the number of dwellings in the Parish that were second homes and not lived in permanently. District Cllr. Rowe thought this would assist SHDC with the problem of housing. Cllr. Jones advised that he had sent the necessary forms to SHDC to obtain permission for the removal of the Ash tree in the village orchard. He also advised that he had contacted SHDC and they have advised BT that the phone box should be retained but accept that the equipment should be removed. Cllr. Johnson advised that waste bins were permanently left on the road outside Stoke House and that they were full of bottles and waste left beside the bins. This was a result of the property being used as a holiday rental home. It was agreed that a letter be written to the owners. Cllr. Ellis asked if a bottle bank bin could be installed somewhere within the village. Cllr. Bridge advised that the field adjoining Lembury barn was being used as access to the football club during their alterations. Cllr. Robinson advised that it had been noted that the Devon bank had been removed from that property and that photographs had been taken and a letter written to SHDC planning section. Cllr. Tully advised that he had attended a LDF meeting. He also advised that the monitoring officer was to arrange a number of training sessions for Councillors and it had been agreed that this Council would be involved.  

Cllr Robinson confirmed that the second payment of the 2009 precept had been paid and the annual orchard grant had been received from the RPA.

 

 

It was proposed by Cllr Jones and seconded by Cllr Johnson to make these payments:

 

 

There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.55pm