A meeting of Stoke Gabriel Parish Council was held on
Monday 24th October 2011 in the Village Hall
13 members of the public were present
Present: Mr R Tully (Chairman), Miss E Bridge, Miss P Ellis, Mr P. Fenwick, Mrs R. Garner, Mr I Jones and Mr J Robinson.
In Attendance County Cllr Trevor Pennington, District Cllr. R. Rowe
1 Apologies - Mrs C Hunt, Mr H. Rawlings
2 Police Report – From a report received Cllr Robinson advised that during September a property on the Mill suffered criminal damage and an outboard engine was stolen from the pontoon. On Friday 7th October a speed check was conducted on Paignton Road between 08.10 and 0910 when 97 vehicles were checked. 17 of these were driving over the 30 MPH speed limit. During October a pet cat was shot by an air rifle. The cat was seriously injured but is now recovering. Cllr Robinson informed the Council that the police were taking this very seriously and asked that anyone with any knowledge or suspicions should contact the police crime stoppers number. They need not give their name and the number to call was 0800 555111.
3 To confirm the minutes of the last meeting on 26th September 2011
Taken as read and signed by the Chairman,
4 Matters arising from the Minutes – page 413 item 11 Cllr Ellis requested that the Council thanked Mr Trevor Sedgbeer for his prompt response in cutting back the hedge in Pound Field.
5 Chairman’s Report - The Chairman welcomed Cllr Pennington who had recently had an operation and Mrs Tracy Rowe who is Deputy Town Clerk at Dartmouth. Cllr Tully advised that one of South Devon’s staunchest environmental and community campaigners had died. John Hartley was a key figure within the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Devon and brought both a passion for the countryside, great experience and expertise to bear on all the work he did. His extensive interest in and knowledge of transport, in particular the railways and the South Devon Link road made him a natural spokesman for CPRE on transport and much else besides
6 Reports from County & District Councillors County Cllr Pennington advised that the Parish could have its own gritting machine. After discussion Cllr Pennington was asked to consider a mechanical gritter at a cost of £ 1300.00 which could be subsidised and from the floor Trevor Sedgbeer agreed that the stock of salt could be stored at his yard. Cllr Pennington would send the appropriate forms to Cllr Robinson for completion. The new school federation was being set up and Cllr Pennington advised the Council of the names that had been put forward from his area. Gerald Watson, the present village school Chairman of Governors was on the list and it was agreed that he should be considered to represent the school on the new board. Cllr Pennington advised that an additional £ 9m had been made available to repair roads damaged during the last winter’s bad weather. A number of schools in the District had waiting lists and King Edward School V1 in Totnes was considering selling off part of their land to build a new school on the campus. Cllr Pennington had concerns over the present bus service to Torbay. District Cllr Rowe raised concern over the considerations being given to the Neighbourhood Plan and advised that is was for Towns and not villages. SHDC had recently discussed charges for 2012/13 a review had been made regarding pay and display charges in off street car parks, community parks, open spaces and recreation. The charges for the Lower Ferry would probably remain the same. Cllr Rowe advised that it was possible that there would be a Boundary review in 2012/13 and it was likely that there would be a reduction in the number of District Cllrs from 42 to 30. With this in mind it was quite possible that Totnes Town would look at expanding its boundary to include Dartington, Berry Pomeroy and Stoke Gabriel. This would give them a larger amount of money in their precept. Cllr Rowe then advised the Council that she had invited two members of the District team to attend the September meeting and it was not usual to introduce visitors unless they were intending to address the Council.
7 Reports from Sub-Committees Regarding Rowes Meadow development Cllr Fenwick advised that the Show House has been open for a week. Unfortunately their local notification service did not work so invitations for the Friday opening did not go to all residents. There seems to have been considerable interest so far. South Hams are still delinquent on a number of actions. David Kenyon is being chased on these and Cllr Fenwick asked Cllr Rowe for her assistance. The Linden ‘Renewable Strategy’ was to be completed last week but is late but ‘close’. Cllr Fenwick advised that he had forwarded information to all Councillors regarding the ‘Neighbourhood Plan’ as well as an analysis from ‘Action with Communities in Rural England’ of this opportunity. Cllr Fenwick also stated that analyses that he had read indicated that it was suitable for villages A number of Cllrs raised concerns as to what the plan actually meant and the lack of knowledge regarding it. It was agreed that no formal agreement should be reached until the Council fully understood the implications. It was agreed that Cllr Fenwick should arrange a meeting with the SHDC Forward Planning team for further discussions. Cllr Fenwick advised that he wished to invite another Cllr to join the Development Control Committee and Cllr Jones agreed that he would be pleased to join but on consideration that only Cllrs would be on the Committee. This was agreed. Cllr Fenwick advised that two members of the Stoke Gabriel CLT group attended the SWCLT conference and received good information and contacts. They have returned with a leaflet on ‘Affordable Rural Housing’ and a practical guide for Parish Councils. The group has registered as an ‘emerging CLT’ with the national CLT network. A date has been set in November for a village presentation, which will include video on CLTs, information boards, ideas boards for involvement of the CLT in the community, and feedback opportunities. The CLT had been in discussion with John Taylor about taking over the village flower beds from the ‘Village in bloom’ team – rather than use contractors. In Cllr Rawlings absence Cllr Garner advised that a Communications Committee meeting had been held on 13th October with four Cllrs and one member of the public present. Cllr Rawlings presented that meeting with notes of a proposal for the updated Parish website, taking into account the information from a brainstorming session at the last committee meeting as well as integrating information from a recent discussion with Chris Mortimer – the creator of the current website. This would involve looking technically at the proposal and establishing how the project could be split between Cllr Rawlings and Chris. The outcome was an agreement to redesign and build upon what we have already, rather than start again from scratch. Chris will work on the technical development of the site and database. Cllr Rawlings would work on the design and style. It was agreed that the website should be fully updated to maintain its credibility, and encouraging people to visit the site. Cllr Rawlings also described how the increased volume of content would make it sensible to split the maintenance workload between a few people – with one person holding overall editorial control. In this case it makes sense that Cllr Robinson the current acting clerk should be responsible for this control. Cllr Rawlings stressed that the website should always be professional, well done and with interesting content. However, it is an ongoing project that will be worked on in phases. The committee went through the proposed content of the site to ascertain the information to be included. Those present were asked to review the site map and to volunteer to provide content and feedback. District Cllr Rowe suggested that a computer training course could be set up to show and encourage Parishioners how to access websites. Cllr Fenwick agreed and Cllr Bridge suggested that the village school could assist as they had computers in the class rooms. Cllr Fenwick agreed to take action.
8 Planning
The following planning applications were considered at planning meeting held on 24th October 2011 at which the following councillors were present: Ellis, Robinson and Bridge. Cllr Jones also attended.
1. Rydon House, Paignton Road – Work on protected trees With advice from the tree warden – No objection
2. Highfield, Paignton Road – Erection of single storey extension No objection
3. Home Farm, Waddeton – Construction of balcony and amendments to previous application No objection
4. Land at Broadley Lane – Pheasant rearing No objection
Planning Applications Granted by SHDC –
1. Yarde, Paignton Road – Installation of Solar panels on barn roof
2. Dart View, Coombe House lane – Installation of Solar panels
3. Waddeton Barton Farm – Conversion of redundant barns to dwellings
Planning Applications refused by SHDC – None
Applications Withdrawn – None
Appeals Received by SHDC – The Workshop, Mill Hill – conversion of redundant workshop to residential unit. The decision of the appeal inspector is to allow the appeal and planning permission is granted.
Ongoing Applications – The S 106 for the Gabriel Court has been signed off but no planning decision notice issued because of the change in guidance covering issues relating to bats. Hence revised drawings were submitted in June. Natural England has been involved. There is also a requirement for the S.106 to be amended but this hasn't been done yet so no planning permission has yet been granted for this proposal.
9 Items raised on behalf of the Clerk – Cllr Robinson requested that a designated Snow Warden should be appointed. Cllr Bridge agreed to carry out this task with all in favour. From the floor Miss Roz Holmes and Mr Trevor Sedgbeer agreed to assist Cllr Bridge. Mr Sedgbeer confirmed that he was willing to load the gritting machine and if necessary transport it to the village centre. Cllr Tully thanked Mr Sedgbeer and Miss Holmes for their kind offers. It was agreed that a poppy wreath should be purchased to be laid on behalf of the Council at the Remembrance Day parade. A request had been received from FOSS for permission to use the village orchard for the lantern procession for the Wassail event in January 2012. This was agreed. Cllr Robinson advised that a list had been received from the village in Bloom group indicating their ideas as to who should look after the flower beds next year. A number of Parishioners had already offered to care for beds near to them and the others could be looked after by Plandscape who currently look after the verges and orchard. Cllr Jones remarked how pleased he was to see local people willing to take over some of this important work. An e-mail had been received regarding the possibility of a daily bus service to Totnes thus expanding the current Bob the Bus Friday service. It was agreed that was important to the village and a flier would be prepared for inclusion in the Saturday paper delivery to request support for this improvement. A housing surgery is to be held at Follaton House on 22nd November. It was agreed that Cllrs Bridge and Robinson attend. Regarding the Queen’s Jubilee it was agreed that local organisations should be encouraged to organise events. Cllr Tully read out a letter received from Roz Holmes the proprietor of the village stores regarding a proposal to stop parking in the bus stop during opening hours and the effect it would have on her business. All members of the Council expressed concern and it was agreed that Cllrs Jones and Robinson meet with Miss Holmes and discuss the way forward.
10 Hoyle Copse – Cllr Jones advised that the wild flower meadow and been cut and the Copse gang would meet on Wednesday to discuss further projects. Cllr Jones raised concern that the new project at Rowes Meadow had caused loss of privacy to the Copse and requested that Linden Homes consider planting trees to restore privacy. From an issue raised from the floor concerning the misspelling of the name of the benefactor of Hoyle Copse Cllr Jones stated that out of all the visitors to the Copse he had only received one complaint and did not intend to do anything about it. A speaker from the floor who had known Miss Birch for many years suggested that she would have found the whole issue most amusing, a waste of Parish Council time and would not have given a fig about her miss-spelt name. Cllr Tully thanked Cllr Jones for all his hard work and in using his personal machinery and own fuel saved the Council a vast amount of money.
11 Highway and Hedgerow Matters – Cllr Ellis asked that the hedge in Coombe Shute be trimmed before the winter. Cllr Robinson advised that Plandscape would carry out this task when they cut the orchard in November. Cllr Jones requested that Linden Homes remove their advertising signs at Rydon Cross. There was concern about the safety of the Gabriel Court wall along Paignton Road. SHDC would be contacted.
12 Matters raised by Councillors – Cllr Ellis formally invited the Chairman to lay the Council wreath at the Remembrance Day parade. Cllr Tully accepted the invitation stating that he was delighted to be asked. Cllr Bridge advised that there was a mound of earth on the Rose Meadow site which appeared to be used by workers on site to drive machines up and down. Also the mound could be used by youngsters. Cllr Garner advised that 19 homes now had solar panels installed in the village. Car sharing and glass recycling were also being discussed. Cllr Bridge asked if bottle banks within the village could be considered. Cllr Bridge also advised that the Pre School had recently received an excellent Offsted report. It was agreed that the Council would formally write to the principle congratulating them on this.
13 Accounts
Cllr Robinson advised that the cost of the May local election was £ 929.97. An invoice from SHDC would be raised in March for payment in April 2012.
To agree the following payment of accounts
It was proposed by Cllr Fenwick and seconded by Cllr Garner to make these payments:
J Robinson – Expenses £ 65.33
Plandscape – September grass and verge cutting £ 181.30
Devon Association of Local Councils – Annual subs £ 263.67
Stoke Gabriel Village Hall – Hall hire X 2 £ 26.00
The Old School Room – Room hire for Communications Committee £ 13.00
CPRE – Annual subscription £ 29.00
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.25pm
Next Meeting: Tuesday 29th November 2011 in the Village Hall.