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Widecombe-in-the-Moor
Widecombe Parish Council Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting held at Church House, Widecombe on Thursday 6th April. 2006
Please note that these minutes have not yet been approved
PRESENT: Mrs.M.Phipps (Madam Chairman), Mr.Newbolt-Young, Mr.Booty, Mrs Came, Mr.Morley Mr.M.Nosworthy, Mr.Pascoe and Mrs. Tempest
APOLOGIES: Mr. Tame
IN ATTENDANCE: Cllrs. Morgan and Jeffrey, 9 members of the public and the Clerk Mr.P.Roper.
PUBLIC COMMENT/POLICE MATTERS
None
2780 MINUTES: The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 2nd March 2006 were approved and signed by the Chairman as being an accurate record of the meeting.
2781 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
(a) Affordable Housing: a letter of reply from DNPA welcoming the prospect of a possible further two properties to by built at Brook Lane. The letter also acknowledged that ‘Housing Matters’ were interested in progressing a scheme in Widecombe and that the Housing Association had already approached DNPA. Their ‘proposals would be a departure from the DNPA’s plan’ and they would not support it.
(b) ANNUAL PARISH MEETING: the numbers turning up were disappointing. Topics coming out of the APM are to be discussed at this meeting.
The awaited meeting with the Police Authority still has not taken place as the arranged one was cancelled by WPC Evans.
Mr.Newbolt-Young thanked the owners of The Old Inn for the gift of glasses for use by The Council
(c) News Letter about Kenwyn Proposals: a welcomed letter has been received giving good news that the refurbishment of the Nursing Home is attracting commercial interest. The threat that the home might be closed has been averted for the time being, pending further discussions with possible sponsors.
(d) Tom Cobley’s Ancestral Home: a letter has been received from agents acting on behalf of the owners of the Farm at Butsford Barton, Colebrooke asking for the Council’s support for proposals to rebuild the original farmhouse that was burnt down in the 1930’s.
After discussion it was decided that the Council could not give its support. Mr.Morley suggested that they should be encouraged to write to the Widecombe Fair Committee secretary.
(e) Letters and E-mails have been received from Alan Neale acting for the agents of O2 Airwaves.
He states that it is not possible for all parties concerned to be present at this Council meeting as invited. As an alternative he wishes to arrange a ‘closed’ meeting with representatives from the Parish Council, the Police Authority and DNPA but no members of the public. He states that ‘Our experiences of public meetings are that they are neither productive nor informative for any of the attending parties.’
This view is not shared by members of the Parish Council.
Mr. Newbolt-Young spoke about the fact that both the local MP and the Chief Constable have been involved with The Secretary of State Hazel Blairs on this matter. After discussion it was decided by a majority vote that the Council should not attend a closed meeting. The Parish Council is a public body and such important decisions that affect the whole community should be taken in a totally transparent manner. The Clerk was asked to convey this decision to Mr. Neale.
Madam Chairman invited members of the public to make comment on the issues. The only statements were in support of the view that a closed meeting would not serve the interest of the community of Widecombe.
2782 PLANNING
(a) Weekly Lists sent weekly to the Chairman and placed for circulation
(b) Grant of Planning for: Great Cator – Construction of agricultural worker’s dwelling.
(c) Refusal of Planning Permission None
(d) Appeal Decision – Langworthy Farm: the appeal is allowed and listed building consent granted
(e) 0156/06 Dining room extension at Hannaford Cottage – Decision of Council is to ‘Support’.
(f) 0170/06 Create boiler room, fence, replacement conservatory etc at The Old Inn. Ditto.
(g) 0210/06 Refurbishment and conversion of attached outbuilding at 2, The Splash. Ditto
(h) Graham Wall Director of Planning and Community is shortly to retire. A letter of thanks has been received from Graham. He is to be replaced by Chris France
2783 CORRESPONDENCE
(a) TDC: Agendas and Minutes, Easter refuse collection, Free Bus Travel and Rural Skip Service for 8th July 2006 in the car park between 10.00 and 16.00 hrs.
(b) DNPA: Minutes and Agendas, News Releases, Land Use and Conservation Forum and Local Development Framework; public participation stage.
(c) DCC: News Round-up and Rural Transport Partnership.
(d) DAPC: envelope of various items plus training opportunities.
(e) Various other Magazines/Documents plus above all placed for circulation to Councillors. A rota has now been arranged in which each Councillor has the items for three days only. The Post Office is to be used as a means of staging the rota for which Members expressed their thanks.
2784 HIGHWAYS
(a) The monthly map for attention of the Highway Dept. was highlighted for return.
(b) Mr.Pascoe made a complaint that money is wasted by the practice of the DCC Highways Department when they unnecessarily salt the roads on Dartmoor in dry weather conditions. It was felt that there were probably insurance issues involved in this practice.
(c) Mr.Nosworthy produced a newspaper cutting in which the newly appointed Chief Executive of TDC was offering to ‘dirty my hands’ and learn about life ‘on the front line’. He suggested that she be invited to inspect the roads at Lower Town which have not bee for four years.
2785 DELEGATES REPORTS
(a) Mrs. Tempest reported that she has attended the Church House Committee meeting and The Widecombe Educational Trust. The former hopes to re-paint the interior before the end of the year – the latter will shortly be distributing £1,500 in grants to the school and individual pupils. The children have been writing letters of thanks.
2786 MATTER AT DISCRETION OF MADAM CHAIRMAN None
(a) Madam Chairman spoke of her contact from Holne PC who wishes to attend the next WPC meeting. This was agreed. Affordable Housing is of particular interest.
(b) Mr.Morley informed the meeting that Inspector Nott has the intention of trying to find ways of reducing the Policing costs for Fair Day.
(c) A member of the public informed the meeting that Widecombe received visits from two Security Officers from Teignbridge. As the Council has received no information about this, the Clerk was asked to find out more details
2763 FINANCE
((a) Balance Carried forward deposit account £5,168.96
(b) Clerk’s Salary and Disbursements for March £304.25
(c) Current Account Balance at the end of the meeting £252.13
(d) Mr.Newbolt-Young: provision of refreshment for APM £28.50
(e) Mrs.Tempest: ditto £5.10
(f) Annual Audit by the Audit Commission: the Clerk informed the meeting that each year the Commission select a 5% sample of Parish Councils to audit in depth. Widecombe has been selected for the year’s accounts ended March 2006. The date for completion is 24th July 2006.
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.30 pm.
THE AGM OF THE COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY 4th May 2006
7.00 pm START WITH A VILLAGE WALK-ABOUT
Members of the public and press are welcome to attend any Parish Council Meeting and make comment at the start of the meeting which begins at
7.30 pm.
The information on this page was last modified on October 26 2006 12:22:13.