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Widecombe-in-the-Moor
Widecombe Parish Council Minutes
WIDECOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council
held on Thursday 5 February 2015
in Church House, Widecombe
Present: Councillor Newbolt-Young (Chairman), Booty, Morley, Nosworthy, Routley, Tempest and Whale
In attendance: County Cllr Gribble
Members of the Public: None
Clerk: Suzanna Hughes
OPEN FORUM
There were no members of the public present.
3794 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
• Cllr Tame
• Cllr Fenton
• District Cllr Jeffery
3795 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were reminded of their responsibility to update their Notice of Registerable Interests and
were invited to state whether they have any interests in the items to be discussed during this meeting
in accordance with the council’s Code of Conduct.
Cllrs Tempest and Routley declared an interest in item 3802 (e) as members of the Leusdon Memorial Hall Committee.
3796 REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS
No requests were received.
3797 RATIFICATION OF MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council on 8 January 2015 were approved and signed by the
Chairman as a true and correct record.
3798 POLICE REPORT
No report.
The Chairman informed members that a parishioner had brought to his attention damage that had occurred recently at Bonehill by off-roaders. DNPA has been informed but as this is private land, they stated that it is not their priority. The Parish Council agreed that the only action it could take was to inform PC Dudley of the incident.
3799 COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Cllr Gribble reported that DNPA has closed off the lower car park at Haytor at night due to problems with
‘boy racers’ DCC is going out to tender re provision of care in homes. One of the requirements will be that
mileage is paid. In response to a question raised at the last meeting with regard to buddle holes, Cllr Gribble confirmed that DCC has the right to go on to land to clear buddle holes etc but it is always a courtesy of DCC to ask the landowners permission. He also gave the Council a copy of the Environment Agency’s publication ‘Living on the Edge’ which sets out riparian responsibilities. Cllr Nosworthy commented that no one seems accountable for the work being done by the Parish Lengsthsman. Cllr Tempest informed Cllr Gribble that some scalpings had been dumped near Leusdon Memorial Hall. She had reported this to DCC Highways Officer, Scott Riddell, and whilst they have now been removed, it has left a mess on the ground. These points were noted by Cllr Gribble.
3800 DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
No report 3801 DELEGATE REPORTS
No reports.
3802 MATTERS ARISING
(a) Grazing Licence 2015
Members received, considered and accepted one tender of £400 from Anthony Barrow and Lora Fielding for the grazing licence for the Parish Field (1 April – 30 November 2015).
(b) DCC Consultation Public Transport Review
Members considered the proposals being put forward by DCC. They were concerned, in particular, about the proposed withdrawal of financial support by DCC to operate the 271 Haytor Hopper service on summer Saturdays as Widecombe was already suffering a drop in tourism. After a discussion, members suggested that the ‘Moor than Meets the Eye’ Project Manager, Mark Allott, is approached to establish whether the service could be subsidised by funding from the ‘Welcome to Widecombe’ budget.
(c) Annual Parish Meeting
The clerk confirmed that the ‘Moor than Meets the Eye’ Project Manager, Mark Allott, will be attending the Annual Parish Meeting to be held on Wednesday 18 March at 7.00pm. It was agreed that the main focus of his presentation should be the ‘Welcome to Widecombe’ project and how the parish can take this forward.
(d) Widecombe Fair 2015 – Hire of Portable Toilets
Members received and accepted a quotation from Event Hire Solutions for the hire of three portable toilets for Widecombe Fair 2015. Payment of a deposit of £57.30 was approved (cheque 000875).
(e) Grant
Members received a request for a grant from Leusdon Memorial Hall towards the cost of creating a drive around the hall to improve disabled access and replacement of their chairs. Members agreed that they would be willing to consider a grant request from Leusdon Memorial Hall but requested some additional information about the proposed projects including a breakdown of costs for the projects outlined together with details of funding already secured.
(f) The Transparency Code (Smaller Authorities)
Members received details of The Transparency Code (Smaller Authorities) and were informed by
the clerk that it should be reasonably straightforward to comply with provided the Parish Council was
able to upload the necessary information to the website. She informed members that she would
discuss this with Roger Claxton.
(g) Elections – 7 May 2015
The clerk confirmed that nomination papers would be available by the beginning of March and the deadline for both nominations and withdrawals is Thursday 9th April at 4pm. She also agreed to send electoral numbers to all members.
3803 FINANCE
(a) The following payments were approved:
Cheque no 000872 - Clerk’s salary and disbursements - £259.82
Cheque no 000873 – Church House (hire of hall for PC meetings from April 2014 – March 2015 inclusive) - £110
Cheque no 000874 – Widecombe Fair Committee - £668.16
(b) Widecombe Fair Balance Sheet
Members received and noted the balance sheet for 2014.
3804 PLANNING
(a) New applications/appeals
(i) Internal and external alterations to the site and buildings, including restoration of the barn to provide interpretation space in association with programmed heritage visits at Higher Uppacott, Poundsgate
Members had no objections to this application.
(b) Decisions
There were no decisions to report.
(c) Correpondence from Mrs Godfrey re planning application to extend barn at Blackdown Piper Farm (0351/14)
Members received correspondence from Mrs Godfrey regarding the objection raised by the Parish Council to her planning application to extend the barn at Blackdown Piper Farm (0351/14). In particular, she expressed her dissatisfaction about the way her planning application had been considered by the Parish Council and the observation it had made about the potential problem of water run-off and gravel on the road which could be made worse by development at the site. After a lengthy discussion, members remained confident that their observation was valid and was a genuine concern. Members also noted that the applicant had undertaken work at the site and if the problem of drainage has now been resolved to the satisfaction of the Environment Agency and the Highways department, they were content that the Parish Council’s original observation will have been addressed.
3805 HIGHWAYS
(a) Members received a response from DCC Highways Officer, Scott Riddell, in response to this Council’s suggestion to change the ‘no waiting’ times outside the school from 10am-4pm to 10am-3pm stating that in order to change the waiting times a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) would be required which would cost £3,000. Unfortunately, it is not cost effective for DCC to carry out a change to a TRO and at the present time, with the financial restraints, this is not a priority for funding. Members agreed that the Parish Council was not in a position to pursue this any further and that the information should be passed to the school for their information and attention.
(b) Members received information about the Community Road Warden Scheme and noted that Chapter 8 training was being offered by DCC free of charge until the end of March. The clerk agreed to circulate the information to all members for their consideration.
(c) Members received correspondence from the parish Snow Warden, Miles Fursdon, concerned about the lack of support he was receiving from DCC with regard to the refilling of the grit bins and in particular the grit bin at Jordan which is still empty. It was agreed that the clerk would contact DCC and also ask County Cllr Gribble to investigate. On a positive note, Mr Fursdon stated that he has had a very good response from parishioners volunteering for the snow warden scheme. There are now 18 tractors and drivers available for snow clearance and 38 other volunteers registered on the scheme.
To report a pothole: Telephone: 0345 155 1004 Email: customer@devon.gov.uk
Online: http://www.devon.gov.uk/road_maintenance.htm
3806 CORRESPONDENCE
There were no items of correspondence.
Other items for information only were placed in the circulation folder or emailed direct to members.
3807 MATTERS OF INFORMATION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN
None.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.31pm.
Signed ………………………………………….. Dated ……………………………………….
THE NEXT MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON
THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2015 AT 7.30pm
Members of the public and press are welcome to attend any Parish Council Meeting
and make comment before the start of the meeting.
The information on this page was last modified on March 03 2015 10:36:45.