Beer Parish Council
The Parish Council Meeting was held on Tuesday 14 July 2015 at 7pm at the Mariners’ Hall. Copies of minutes and reports are available on request.
Present: Cllr. M J Richards (Chairman) Cllr. T Bishop Cllr. D Clinch Cllr. D Clist
Cllr. M Green Cllr. U Makepeace Cllr. G Pook Cllr. L Vine
Cllr. M Westlake
In attendance: A Dallaway (Clerk); two members of the press; three members of the public
1. Apologies accepted by the Council: None received. Cllr Westlake arrived at 7.40pm by arrangement.
2. Declarations of Interest: There were none declared.
3. Items to be dealt with after the public, including the press have been excluded: Councillors agreed that there were none.
4. Public participation: A member of the public requested clarification of matters relating to the relocation of the post box currently sited in front of the old Post Office in Fore Street. See agenda item 8.
5. Approval of minutes: The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on the 9 June 2015 were approved and signed as a true record. Action points from the meeting:
9/06/2015/7 – Reports. Local residents have requested another handrail at Underleys and have also raised concerns about the inconsistent house numbering. Cllr Pook will look into these matters. ACTION: CLLR POOK
6. Police Report: There were no members of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary in attendance at the meeting.
7. Co-option of Parish Councillors by paper ballot – 2 vacancies
There were 5 applications for the 2 vacancies. Councillors agreed that co-option should take place by paper ballot. Councillors were advised to initial the ballot papers. Diane Louise Harrison and Roy Lawless were duly elected as Parish Councillors. Roy Lawless was in attendance at the meeting. New Councillors will complete Declaration of Acceptance of Office forms and Register of Business Interest forms and the Clerk will organise induction and training. ACTION: CLERK
8. Reports – Chairman, Clerk
Chairman’s Report:
· The Chairman has been in liaison with Royal Mail regarding the withdrawal of collections from the post box currently sited outside the old Post Office in Fore Street (as from 22 July). Royal Mail has advised an alternative posting facility is available at New Road. Local residents have expressed concern about this suggesting that a posting facility should be available in the middle of the village. Cllr Richards is in liaison with Royal Mail officials who have said they will relocate the post box which is currently outside the old Post Office in Fore Street. A sensible option would be to relocate the post box in front of Rock Villas (new Post Office) but the site is incompatible due to the depth of the installation required and the complication of existing underground cables. An alternative option is to relocate the post box in front of the Mariners’ Hall. However, if this site proves incompatible it may be necessary to consider a different style of post box which could be fixed to a post or wall. Cllr Richards will pursue this matter and update the Council accordingly. ACTION: CLLR RICHARDS
Clerk’s Report:
· Cllr Clist, Cllr Vine and Cllr Westlake will be attending a Devon Association of Local Councillors ‘New Councillor’ training course on 10 September 2015.
· A Parish Council surgery took place as part of the RNLI coffee morning at the Mariners’ Hall on 4 July. Local residents raised the following issues:
i) A litter bin for Underleys – to be installed in new bus shelter
ii) Housing allocation at Short Furlong – see agenda item 12
iii) Proposed allocation system of beach huts – see agenda item 11.
iv) Cowerslea Way hedge overgrown on seaward side – ongoing maintenance issue
v) Overhanging hedge in Clapps Lane – Clerk will advise DCC re road safety issue. ACTION: CLERK
vi) Poor pedestrian access in Quarry Lane – walkway in question is not an official pavement but a visibility splay.
vii) Lack of summer afternoon GP surgery in Beer because of parking problem – Cllr Pook will liaise with EDDC re parking provision. ACTION: CLLR POOK
· The next Parish Council surgery will be held 1 August as part of Beer Horticultural Society coffee morning at Mariners’ Hall.
· The broken bench at the entrance to the Central car park has now been replaced by EDDC. The Scouts have re-varnished the benches on the Jubilee. Cllr Richards thanked the Scouts for their hard work.
· The tarmac at Townsend Coach Park is being damaged by fuel spillage. The Clerk will contact the relevant permit holders. ACTION: CLERK
· A letter has been received from English Rural Housing regarding the intention of the government to extend the Right to Buy Policy to housing associations. Council suggested that the Clerk write to the local MP Neil Parrish to express concern regarding these proposals. ACTION: CLERK
9. Financial report:
i) The bank reconciliation to the end of May 2015 was received and approved. RESOLVED
ii) Cheques required:
001664 - £240 Grant Thornton (external audit fee)
001665 - £805.67 Inland Revenue (PAYE & NI)
001666 - £159.65 Bradfords (materials for maintenance projects/safety clothing)
001667 - £57.69 Annie Dallaway (reimburse admin expenses)
Two additional cheques were requested: 001668 for £20 for R&H Signs (promotional banner) and 001669 for £160 for Adrian Franklin (grass cutting at Ash Hill).
The Council resolved to approve the cheques listed above and the additional cheques which are approved expenditure. RESOLVED
10. Annual Report 2014/15. The Council resolved to approve the Annual Report 2014/15. RESOLVED.
7.40pm Cllr Westlake arrived
11. EDDC asset review – to receive an update
Cllr Pook suggested setting up a working party to progress asset transfer matters, with membership as follows: Cllr Richards, Cllr Clist, Cllr Green, Cllr Lawless, Cllr Vine. A grant application has been submitted to DCLG for £10K to establish a Coastal Community Team for Beer - the grant will essentially be used to develop a business plan for the transfer of assets from EDDC to Beer Parish Council.
Cllr Pook reported that the EDDC beach hut consultation process had now finished and the data was being collated. The EDDC Asset Management Forum will consider the base data and review the consultation exercise to date. It is envisaged that a new beach hut allocations system will be implemented in 2016.
12. s106 agreement for Short Furlong – to consider setting up a working party to review s106 criteria for housing eligibility
The Parish Council agreed to set up a working party with membership as follows: Cllr Richards, Cllr Clinch, Cllr Clist, Cllr Green, Cllr Vine, Cllr Westlake. The remit of the working party will be to review and make proposals regarding the s106 criteria for housing eligibility at Short Furlong. The working party will feedback at the Parish Council meeting in September. Any proposals agreed by the Parish Council will be notified to English Rural Housing and any final decisions regarding the eligibility criteria will be made in conjunction with East Devon District Council. It is important to note that the actual allocation of housing at Short Furlong is carried out in accordance with the English Rural Housing ‘Housing Allocations’ policy.
13. Highways matters – to receive an update and discuss procedure for Traffic Orders
Cllr Green attended the Seaton Coastal traffic meeting in June and raised a number of outstanding traffic issues on behalf of the Parish Council. The majority of outstanding issues would require a Traffic Order for implementation of any remedial actions and this is a very costly process. Advice from DCC is currently that there will be no traffic reviews or new Traffic Orders for the foreseeable future unless the Parish Council is prepared to meet the costs.
Councillors agreed that it would be useful to undertake a review of Parish Council projects and matters for action, in order to prioritise local issues. This will be an agenda item for the September meeting. ACTION: CLERK
14. Ash Hill play area inspection – to review actions
A site visit took place on 13 June to review outstanding maintenance items. ACTION: CLLR RICHARDS
15. Underleys bus shelter – to receive an update
The design and specification has yet to be confirmed with EDDC. Planning permission will be required. A further update will be provided at the next meeting. ACTION: CLLR POOK
16. Footpath sign to Seaton – to approve
The Council approved an additional directional footpath sign to Seaton at Cowerslea Way as the existing signage is confusing for footpath users. ACTION: CLLR GREEN
17. Locality projects – to receive an update
· Telephone Kiosk: Shelving has now been installed and the Kiosk is operational as a swap-shop. Appropriate signage will be installed. A local contractor will carry out the necessary electrical work required to support the provision of free wifi from the Kiosk.
· Resurfacing of footpath to East beach: The materials have been purchased and the groundwork has commenced. Cllr Pook will liaise with contractors to complete the project. ACTION: CLLR POOK
· Mariners’ Hall roof replacement: work is due for completion by the end of July 2015.
18. Social Media – to approve procedure/policy
The Clerk had previously circulated a draft Social Media policy. The Council resolved to approve the Social Media policy. RESOLVED. Councillors noted that although social media is useful for disseminating information, the official channel for Parish Council correspondence was still through the Parish Clerk.
19. Neighbourhood Plan – to receive an update and reports from the Steering Group
The first set of draft policies and community actions have been produced and will be circulated for comments and approval at the next Steering Group meeting. The next stage is to begin drafting the actual Plan in late July.
20. Planning: Minutes from the Planning Committee meeting held on 30 June 2015 had been previously circulated.
The Council resolved to accept the recommendations of the Planning Committee. RESOLVED
21. Reports of EDDC and DCC Cllrs including matters for attention
Cllr Pook, EDDC had no further items to report.
Cllr Knight, DCC raised the following items:
· Resurfacing work is scheduled in 2015/16 for Quarry Lane, Stovar Long Lane and Park Road.
· Drainage work carried out at Long Hill needs to be reviewed.
· DCC Officers will be carrying out a Highways tour of the parish on 13 August.
22. Reports of Parish Council representatives on other bodies:
Cllr Makepeace reported that the visit from the Britain in Bloom judges had been a great success.
23. Correspondence/Literature: As on Appendix A.
The meeting closed at 8.25pm.
Date of next Parish Council meeting: Tuesday 1 September 2015
Date: ………………………………….. Chairman: ………………………….
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