WIDECOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council
held on Thursday 6 September 2018
in Church House, Widecombe
Present: Councillor Newbolt-Young (Chairman), Booty, Fenton, Morley, Routley, Southcombe and Welby
Also present: County Cllr Gribble
Members of the Public: There were five members of the public present including members of the Village Hall Steering Group.
Clerk: Suzanna Hughes
4321 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
• Cllr Hassell
• Cllr Lomax
• District Cllr Jeffery
4322 OPEN FORUM
There were no comments.
4323 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST & REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS
Councillors were reminded of their responsibility to continually update their Notice of Registerable Interests and to declare any disclosable interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they have in any items to be considered at this meeting. Unforeseen requests for a Dispensation to be considered at this point only if there was no way a Councillor would have been aware of such before the meeting. There were no declarations of interest or requests for dispensation.
4324 RATIFICATION OF MINUTES
Members received the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 5 July 2018 which were approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.
4325 POLICE REPORT
No report.
4326 COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Cllr Gribble informed members that he had visited the land adjacent to Coombe with the highways engineer who has agreed to take responsibility for the leat. It has been agreed that it will be cleaned and looked after. DCC is resurfacing the road from Chittleford to Dunstone and the road from Swallerton Gate Cross to Harefoot Cross. Cllr Booty questioned the signposting for the diversion routes which are sometimes inadequate. Cllr Gribble agreed to look into this. Cllr Fenton reported that the signpost at Cold East Cross has now been replaced. Cllr Routley informed Cllr Gribble that two of the three directions on the finger post at Ponsworthy Splash are missing.
4327 DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
No report.
4328 DELEGATES REPORTS
None.
4329 MATTERS ARISING
(a) Widecombe Village Hall Steering Group
Members were advised that following the completion of the feasibility report, a recent community vote confirmed that there is a very positive response to a new village hall being built in Widecombe. Approximately 25% of the electorate voted and 91% supported the recommendations of the report. This has given the Steering Group the confidence to continue with the project to which its members are fully committed. One of the main considerations going forward is funding and the Parish Council was asked to consider and agree, in principle, to taking out a loan with the PWLB in order to further this project. Cllr Fenton referred to a document published by NALC about the borrowing approval system and highlighted that any request for borrowing approval has to be accompanied by, amongst other documents, evidence that residents have been consulted on the council’s intention to borrow and proposals to increase the precept to meet borrowing costs. Members therefore questioned whether parishioners had been consulted directly on the issue of borrowing and the potential increase in council tax. The Chairman also informed members that he had been presented with 16 letters of objection from parishioners in Leusdon objecting to the funding of a new village hall in Widecombe. After further discussion, it was agreed to seek advice from DALC on how to proceed and how best to consult with parishioners about potential borrowing and increasing the precept for the purposes of building a new village hall.
(b) Grant applications (s137 LGA 1972)
Members considered the following applications:
(i) St Pancras PCC
An application was made for a grant towards the cost of maintaining the churchyard. It was agreed to grant a sum of £200 (cheque 989).
(ii) Widecombe Village Hall Steering Group
An application was made for a contribution towards the legal costs of creating a suitable legal charitable entity. It was agreed to grant a sum of £300 (cheque 990).
(c) Parish Field fencing and maintenance  Members received three quotations for repairs to the fencing in the parish field. It was agreed to accept the lowest quotation from Mick Clare provided the quotation includes the cost of replacement fencing. It was also noted that Cllr Hassell had pulled and burned the ragwort in the field and the Chairman wished to record his thanks to Cllr Hassell for doing this.
(d) Community Housing Project
Cllr Hassell was not present at the meeting but sent the following report which was noted by members: On 15 August, Cllr Hassell and Richard Palmer met with Colin Pike (Teign Housing Project Manager), Mary Ridgeway (Teignbridge Housing Enabling Officer) and Andrew Field (Heighway Fields Architects) on site to look at proposed layouts and how these may be adapted into appropriate schemes for the project. Layout was discussed, position of the gardens and houses, access and parking. It is clear that the hedge to the East of the field (on your right as you drive into Brook Lane area) must remain as there is a small possibility that dormice may use this. Discussions around why gardens should be on the SW sides of properties to maximise sunlight, why residents of the existing properties use their back doors as front doors etc.  There was discussion about how the scheme may be drawn up to include self-build but Teign Housing is very keen that this area is designed in such a way that it can be “flipped” to be rental properties if selfbuild is not considered to be viable. It was agreed that Andrew Field would come back with 3 options to present to the working group on 1st October and this can subsequently be shared with the Parish Council at the October meeting. There will be a parcel of land to the north West of the field that will be unused. There have been suggestions that this bit of land could be passed over to the Parish Council to rent out or use as they see fit. There still seems to be an eagerness to get the project going and to be in a position where planning has been granted by next summer. Cllr Hassell also proposes that, following the Parish Council meeting, residents of the current affordable housing are invited to a meeting where they can ask questions, make comments and feel involved in this process. He feels that it is very important that this group, particularly, is involved and this should, perhaps, be in addition to any other meetings involving the wider community. The residents of Brook Lane will be those most affected by this project and they should be consulted in an appropriate way.
(e) Maintenance of hedge and bank adjacent to leat opposite the tennis court
See County Cllr Gribble’s report at item 4326.
(f) EE rural micro cell project
The clerk advised that she had enquired with EE about the outcome of their discussions with TDC regarding the siting of an antennae on the public toilets. They advised that they had had no response from TDC and as the trial had a limited number of places, they had given up hope of progressing this in Widecombe. However, a community has dropped out of the trial and EE would be happy to try again to make contact with TDC. Cllr Fenton suggested that the Parish Council could also explore options with Airband.
(g) Consideration of registration of unregistered parcels of land in the parish Cllr Fenton reported that he had not had the opportunity to progress this yet.
(h) BBC filming request Members were advised that the BBC have requested permission to film in the parish for three days for a new series called ‘Gold Digger’, a six-part BBC drama. Filming will take place in the latter half of September and a donation will be made to the Parish Council.
(i) Widecombe Village Sign Members were informed that the sign has now been cleaned and this has been funded by ‘Moor than Meets the Eye’ funds.
(j) Rural Skip Members noted that this will be located in the car park on Saturday 6th October, 10am-4pm.
4330 PLANNING
(a) New applications/appeals
(i) 0457/18 - Reduction in domestic curtilage, minor changes to roof and fenestration, removal of chimney and creation of covered parking at Blackdown Piper Farm, Widecombe-in-the-Moor Members agreed to support this application.
(ii) 0439/18 - Construction of new dwelling (under National Planning Policy Framework para 79) at Field between Southcombe Cross and Lower Dunstone Cross, Widecombe-in-the-Moor (Outline Planning Permission) Members agreed to support this application.
(iii) 0447/18 - New gable end roof extension to existing asymmetric hipped roof, new rooflight and side window at Rogues Roost Cottage, Poundsgate Members agreed to support this application.
(iv) 0454/18 - Replacement bungalow at Top Lodge, Ponsworthy Members agreed to support this application.
(b) Decisions
(i) 0319/18 - Replacement garden room glazing at Stone, Natsworthy Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional planning permission
(ii) 0297/18 - Replace existing lift and slide patio doors at Springdown, Lower Town, Poundsgate Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional planning permission.
(iii) 0276/18 - Construction of an agricultural livestock building (19m x 13m) at Great Dunstone, Ponsworthy Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional planning permission.
(iv) 0338/18 & 0339/18 - Signs for car parks at Newbridge and Badgers Holt Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional consent to display the signs.
(v) 18/0036 – Tree Preservation Order: Holwell Bungalow - Beech trees – raise canopies to give 3- 4m ground clearance Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional consent for the works to be carried out.
(vi) 0363/18 - Conversion of pigsty to plant room at Middle Natsworthy, Widecombe-in-the-Moor Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional planning permission.
(vii) 0358/18 - Replacement of existing entrance porch on south west elevation at Honeysuckle Cottage, Ponsworthy Members noted that DNPA has granted conditional planning permission.
4331 FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE
(a) Payments
Members received and approved the following payments:
▪ Cheque no 000987 - Clerk’s salary and disbursements (September) - £242.17
▪ Cheque no 000988 - HMRC (PAYE) - £153.60
▪ Cheque no 000991 - G Partridge (strimming work) - £300
▪ Direct Debit - ICO (Date Protection Licence renewal) - £35
4332 HIGHWAYS
No new issues were reported.
4333 CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Members noted that the Dartmoor Devil Cycle Ride would be passing through the parish on 28 October. (b) Members received correspondence advising that the Jensen Owners Club (Classic Car Tour) intends to visit Widecombe in September 2019 and a request for suggestions as to where they could show the cars off. Various suggestions were made and these would be fed back to the organiser.
4334 MATTERS OF INFORMATION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN
None.
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.00pm.
Signed ………………………………………….. Dated ……………………………………….
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Thursday 4 October 2018 at 7.30pm.