STOKE GABRIEL PARISH COUNCIL
The Annual Parish Meeting was held in the Village Hall on Monday 16th May 2011 at 7 pm
Present: Mr R Tully (chairman), Mrs C Hunt, Miss E Bridge, Miss P Ellis, Mr P Fenwick,
Mrs R. Garner, Mr H Rawlings and Mr J Robinson
Apologies Mr I. Jones
In Attendance District Cllr. R. Rowe, PC Nick Talbot
19 members of the public were present
1 Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 17th May 2010
Taken as read and signed by the Chairman
2 Matters arising from the minutes – None
3 Presentation by Ben Ayres, Active Villages Community Coordinator Tone Leisure.
Ben Ayres advised the meeting that Active Villages is run by Active Devon on a countywide basis with various different delivery partners at a district level with Tone Leisure being the South Hams delivery partner. The programme’s aim is to raise participation levels in physical activity and sport of anyone aged five and over in rural parishes. It would be a three year programme running until September 2013 with around 150 parishes across Devon being involved over four different phases. Ben advised that the pilot stage was complete and that Stoke Gabriel was in the first stage of the project along with three other villages. All parishes in Devon with a population of between 500 and 2000 people will be engaged with during the three years time scale. Each parish has access to their own pot of funding which is approximately £ 3,000.00. This money is for revenue projects and not capital projects. It can fund anything needed to set up and kick start the activity including coaching costs, facility hire, equipment, advertising and training needs with a view to providing a sustainable activity. All participants completing an Active Villages registration form and providing a valid e-mail address will be eligible for an Active Devon Reward Card which entitles them to discounts at participating Devon attractions, sports shops and leisure centres. Tone Leisure offers a free joining fee for reward card holders. Ben asked that any organisation within the parish that would be interested to contact the Parish Council or for further information to contact him direct on 01392 263674. The Chairman thanked Ben for his time and thought that interested parties would soon make contact.
4 Chairman’s Report
The Chairman welcomed those present to the Annual General Meeting and gave special thanks to his fellow Cllrs for all the hard work and support during the last 12 months. Cllr Tully was saddened to report the passing of two retired Cllrs. His and the thoughts of those present were with the families of both Clive Wigfall and Nick Hill.
The Chairman advised that the past 12 months will go down in the history of our wonderful parish. The reason being having two public enquiries. The first enquiry concerned Midas with the ANOB, highways, environmental, infrastructure and parish plan issues and those seeking housing still not being guaranteed being eligible for the list. The second enquiry concerned the flawed D.P.D. final site allocation plan. This Parish not being informed and one criteria being any new builds should be where employment needs are. Our own parish plan was ignored which stated that we were seeking small housing units not large sites to meet out housing needs. This village already has 10 empty homes and 98 second homes out of a total of 576. South Hams DC chose Stoke Gabriel to try and fill their need for 400 new homes by 2016. There are 60 parishes in South Hams of which some wanted small sections of housing not being granted. Only the Forward Planning Team of South Hams can answer the question why? The Chairman wished to thank Barbara Heath and her team of helpers with the supply of various facts and amendments to numerous documents and feed back information. This lead the Chairman onto the Midas application with both enquiries having gone against the Parish wishes. Both Inspectors put this Parish Council in a very difficult position but with the help of the Parishioners the decision was made.
This was only the beginning said Cllr Tully of a very long road and we have to protect our ancient village, apple orchards, shops, pubs and the wildlife corridor on the River Dart. As a unit we need to look closely at all proposals and they should be monitored very carefully for the future protection of this unique village.
Cllr Tully suggested that a major concern to the village were the number of potholes and general road maintenance. One reason that has been given was that the bitumen was becoming pliable with age. This Council has invited a representative to attend and discuss the poor state of the roads.
The Chairman then came to the excellent new orchard play area which after two years of planning and numerous form filling was now complete. It was a great credit to Rebecca Gilmore for overseeing the project and long may the children play. Rebecca’s work continues as she successfully obtained a further grant of £ 3500.00 to enhance the use of the play area. It was a very fitting climax to this wonderful project with the opening and naming of the ship by our oldest resident, Les Frost. The Chairman advised that the play equipment was owned by and was the responsibility of the Parish Council. Thanks were made to the Stoke Gabriel in Bloom gang for the amount of work they do keeping the village so attractive for visitors and residents alike to enjoy. We were fortunate that the bus service was going to continue. One of the major concerns for the future will be the continued encroachment of Torbay, whether it be housing or industrial units, they will all be to the detriment to the parish whether it be water, environmental, highway or infrastructure issues. But by joining the C.P.R.E we will benefit in the future. Cllr Tully stressed that there was a real need for a new burial site.
The Chairman then thanked the three retiring Cllrs for their terms in office. Julia Lowe, Dr Bob Johnson who at the age of 82 still took an interest in village affairs and Capt. Brian Tarr OBE for his many achievements including the organisation of the grass and verge cutting contracts and various meetings with the area environment supervisor concerning the up keep of the village. Cllr Tully also thanked County Cllr Pennington and District Cllr Rowe for their support and invaluable input.
Cllr Tully then thanked his fellow Councillors for giving him the honour of being Chairman and for their support, time and hard work which made his job so much easier and enjoyable Special thanks were made to Vice Chair Chris Hunt for her endless support over the last twelve months. Finally the Chairman thanked John who was elected as a Councillor first and foremost but agreed to take on the dual role as acting clerk. The Chairman advised that he was very grateful for the efficient way he maintains these tasks and the fact that it saves the Parish financially.
5 Any Other Business
Cllr Hunt proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr Tully for all his hard work and dedication as Chairman of the Council during an especially difficult twelve months.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.50pm