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A meeting of Stoke Gabriel Parish Council was held on
Monday 26th July 2004 at 7.00 pm
Ten minutes were allowed at the beginning of the meeting for members of the public to put matters to the Council
27 members of the public were present
Present: Mr R Tully (chairman), Mrs C Hunt, Mr W Deval, Miss P Ellis,
Mr I Jones, Mrs R Rowe, Mr B Tarr, Mr C Wigfall
1 Apologies – Mr N Hill, PC John Hodgson
2 Speaker – Mr Kevin Williams, Monitoring Officer for South Hams District Council, attended to give the result of his investigation regarding the planning decisions on the Gabriel Court Hotel. Also present were Geoff Fielden, chairman of the planning committee and Dave Kenyon, Area Planning Officer.
Mr Williams explained that Mrs Rosemary Rowe, in sitting on the planning committee, needed to make the decision as to whether she had a prejudicial interest in the proposed plans for the Gabriel Court Hotel. She sought advice from the, then, Monitoring Officer who made the decision that she had no prejudicial interest, and therefore Mrs Rowe was involved in the decision making process and it was decided to allow the decisions to go through on delegated powers. Mr Fielden was the chairman of the delegated committee which gave approval to the decisions.
Following allegations that Mrs Rowe should have declared an interest, Mr Williams investigated and formed the decision that Mrs Rowe had acted properly, she had sought advice, and that there were no grounds to say that she should not have made the decision to take part in the proceedings. In fact Mr Fielden, not Mrs Rowe, was the professional decision maker. Referring to members of Mrs Rowe’s family being employed at the hotel, Mr Williams explained that the alleged connections were insignificant and not sufficient to pass the decisions through to a full committee. Mr Kenyon pointed out that as he has connections with Stoke Gabriel he asked for a different officer, Mark Evans, to take on the case instead of himself. Mr Williams pointed out that if Mrs Rowe had stood down from the delegated committee there would have been no provision for another councillor to take her place. In conclusion he felt that Mrs Rowe had acted properly throughout the process.
3 Urgent Business brought forward by the Chairman – none.
4 Reports from County and District Councillors
Cllr Hawkins was not present.
District Councillor Mrs Rowe reported the following:
South Hams Matters magazine – this will be delivered to every household. In particular, dog fouling, recycling and affordable housing may be of interest.
5 Planning
Mrs Rowe as Ward member declared an interest and left the room while all planning applications were being discussed.
Applications
1) Gabriel Court Hotel – alterations and conversion of garage to bedrooms.
No objection.
2) Richdale, Flood Street – redesign of roof for additional bedroom and conversion of garage to bedroom. No objection.
3) Stonecroft, Hillfield – alterations and extension.
Miss Ellis declared a personal interest and chose not to take part in the discussion.
Site meeting arranged for 27th July at 10.00am.
4) Treetops, Flood Street – dormer loft conversion. No objection.
6 Accounts
Payment of the following accounts were proposed by Mr Wigfall and seconded by Mr Deval:
J Hamilton - clerk’s salary July 04 £171.67
- stationery £ 9.70 £181.37
I Jones - hire of mower + fuel £ 63.75
R Teague - grass cutting £ 75.00
Stoke Gabriel Village Hall rental Apr-Jun £ 33.00
7 Matters raised by the Clerk
Environment Directorate of Devon County Council – it will no longer be possible to contact the Babbage Road, Totnes depot direct. All calls will be routed through the main reception at Ivybridge on 01752 898200.
Stoke Bus will continue to operate until 25th September 2004 when DCC hope to have found a new operator to continue the service.
Stationery –the clerk has opened an account at Staples on behalf of the Parish Council as this is more cost effective than the previous supplier.
8 Minutes of the Last Meeting
Item 10. AONB delete 2nd sentence from “It is” to “Bristol”
Add further item – The bench at Duncannon has been accidentally broken and is being repaired.
Subject to the above amendments the minutes of the meeting of 28th June 2004 were agreed and signed.
9 Matters arising from the Minutes
Ten-minute Session – a letter was received from Capt Woodfield regarding the wording of the item about planning permission for the Gabriel Court Hotel. A reply was sent pointing out that the ten-minute session is not part of the official meeting and therefore the report is not part of the minutes.
Gabriel Court Hotel coaches – Mrs Letchford, joint proprietor of the hotel, wrote enclosing correspondence and e-mails between herself and the coach company, from which it is evident that she did in fact make attempts to establish the size of the coach before it arrived, and suggested to them that they make alternative parking arrangements outside the village. It would appear from the letters that it was the coach company who was at fault, not the hotel.
Yalberton Road – Torbay Council has disclaimed ownership of the broken footway and is attempting to contact the owner.
10 Highway and Hedgerow Matters
King’s Rydon Close – shrubs at the bottom corner need trimming.
Recycling – as there is still no facility in the village for recycling glass and paper it was suggested that containers for this purpose be supplied. The stoned pavement area at the entrance to Rydon Acres was suggested as a possible site.
Fly tipping – Torbay council will be made aware that a bed has been discarded in the hedge at the Whitehill end of Long Road.
Long Road – owing to the re-siting of a caravan park entrance away from the former Nortel building, the site owner has agreed to pay for the widening of the road near the Brooke Farm buildings, in order to gain access for caravans further down.
War memorial – the buttress is in need of attention.
PCC wish to donate a seat either for the churchyard or the village. A suitable site will be found.
Stoke Gabriel in Bloom – the Hon Secretary has written to the council pointing out that the chairman of the South West in Bloom has praised the new “welcome” sign and displays at the entrance to the village. DCC will shortly come to move the highway sign sited in the same area. The Parish Council thanked Robin Kimmerling for the display of photographs and press cuttings presented in the foyer during this meeting.
11 Matters raised by Councillors
BT phone box – letters have been sent to BT protesting about the removal of the phone boxes at Aish and Barn Park, which are earmarked for closure.
Camping – the enforcement officer will be asked to investigate possible illegal camping and caravans on land beyond Southlands.
Caravan – the officer will also be asked to investigate a caravan possibly being used as a home near Aish.
Miss Birch’s Wood – Mr Jones hired a mower to cut the meadow. Eastleys solicitors now have the drawings of the new access and have kindly informed the council that they will not be charging for their time used in dealing with this matter, but that the council will need to pay costs for the other parties involved.
Website – Mr Wigfall reported that the technical problems have now been overcome and the website has been updated.
Village map – this is now in the council’s possession. It will be laminated and displayed in a prominent place in the Village Hall.
Victoria & Albert car park – the developers have been meeting with South Hams Council to find a way forward.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Dates of Next Meetings
Monday 27th September 2004 at 7pm
Monday 1st November 2004 at 7pm
Monday 29th November 2004 at 7 pm
All the meetings will take place in the Village Hall
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