Brampford Speke Parish Council

PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES - CAUTION

Approved and signed minutes form the definitive legal record of council business.

In the interest of early publicationfor residents, this webpage carries the text of draft minutes approved by the chair and awaiting approval by the Parish Council.The draft minutes may also be made available directly to individual enquirers without access to the internet, on request. Draft minutes may be amended at the next council meeting before being signed. The approved minutes will then replace the draft minutes. If amendments are made, this will be noted in the minutes of the next meeting.

The meeting was preceded by the showing, organised by Mary Greener, of a DVD on how to use the newly-installed defibrillator, to an audience of about 20 villagers. The Council thanked Mary for all her hard work. Two action points are recorded in minute 63/16 below.

Minutes of the of the Parish Council Meeting

held on Wednesday 7th September 2016

at 7.30pm at the Village Hall.

Present: Cllr A Wiles (Chair), Cllr S Luxton, Cllr M Merrett, Cllr G Carden, Cllr R Tillett,

Cllr E Hollingsworth.

In Attendance: Cllr S Grundy (EDDC) and 1 member of the public

No / Responsible
51/16 / Apologies
Cllr A Birmingham (away)and Carole Oliphant – Parish Clerk (sick)
52/16 / Declarations of interest
No declarations were made
Cllr Carden confirmed that she had sent her declaration to the Clerk, for onward forwarding to EDDC / Clerk
53/16 / Minutes of meeting held on 6 July 2016
The minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 6 July 2016 were adopted as a true record and duly signed by the Chair
54/16 / Democratic period
No issues were raised
55/16 / Ongoing topic 1: Village Hall
Cllrs Merrett & Tillett said that work on the new storage extension was expected to start by the end of the month, once some issues raised by EDDC’s Building Control had been resolved.
56/16 / Ongoing topic 2: Footpaths
Cllr Wiles to seek an update from Mike Searle on the laying of sleepers on the footpath between Stooks Close and Upton Pyne
It was noted that Devon CC had agreed to fund the cost (£100) of 3 ‘dog-control’ notices on the public footpath across Church land. The £100 has already been paid to the Parish Council and will be passed on to the PCC once an invoice is received.
It was noted that the two new Footpath Wardens – Pam Newby and Bea Fenn – will be attending the next Parish Council meeting. / AW
Clerk
57/16 / Ongoing topic 3: Trees
Cllr Hollingsworth reported that a number of the trees planted to commemorate World War 1 had recently been vandalised, although probably not terminally. She also had some replacements which she would plant.
The probably-linked issue of vandalism and littering on the privately-owned land at Red Rock was raised. Agreed that Cllr Carden would contact the owners to ask if the Parish Council could do anything to help.
Cllr Wiles to arrange to meet Cllr Hollingsworth and Philip Hill on the site of the tree in Chapel Road to discuss options for replacing the damaged railings. / GC
AW
58/16 / Ongoing topic 4: Highways - gritting
Cllr Tillett reported that the existing gritter had now been collected by the original supplier, with a commitment (not fully formalised) to refund the Parish Council the purchase price less transport costs. Cllr Tillett confirmed that there were no grants from external bodies, associated with the original purchase, which might need to be repaid.
With respect to alternative gritting arrangements going forward, the clear preference of those close to the matter is for a tractor-mounted gritter of some kind. The following points were agreed:
·  Philip Hill (who was present for this discussion) to experiment with some of his existing equipment, and to report back on whether this seems to be a viable long-term arrangement. If it is viable Philip is in principle willing to lend this equipment to other tractor owners
·  If Philip’s experiment with his existing equipment is not successful, the Parish Council to consider further, advised by Philip and Cllr Luxton, whether to buy a new piece of equipment at a cost of up to c£1.6k, or a second-hand piece, probably from a farm sale, at a cost of c£0.6k
·  Philip Hill (and other tractor owners who might get involved – 4 potential ones have been identified in addition to Philip) to be reimbursed his reasonable expenses of carrying out a gritting run - probably around £25 per trip
·  Cllr Wiles to contact UPC PC to check out their possible interest in this new arrangement. / RT
AW
59/16 / Ongoing topic 5: Highways - other matters
Cllr Tillett agreed to complete Devon CC’s ‘Community Resilience’ survey, giving other councillors a short opportunity on 8 September to comment.
Cllrs Tillett, Wiles, Carden & Hollingsworth, and possibly Luxton, will be attending the 13 Sept meeting with Helen Selby, our DCC Highways Officer. Agreed that the priority topics are Parking around the school and Speeding. Lesser topics include our request for a ‘Burridge Hill closed ‘sign, a map of road drains & a verge-cutting schedule. Cllr Tillett to send a list of topics to Helen in advance.
Cllr Wiles had circulated a draft complaint to South West Water about the prolonged closure of Burridge Hill. Councillors to comment by the end of Friday. Cllr Wiles then to send it off, seeking both an apology and some £. / RT
RT, AW,
GC, EH
RT
AW
60/16 / Ongoing topic 6: Parking around the school
A priority topic for our meeting with DCC’s Helen Selby on 13 September (see 59/16).
Cllr Grundy gave Cllr Carden a contact at EDDC who might be able to offer useful advice on this topic. / GC
61/16 / Ongoing topic 7: Verges
The Parish Council’s request to DCC for a map & schedule of verge-cutting responsibilities to be on the list of items to raise with Helen Selby.
Cllr Grundy offered to circulate a PowerPoint presentation on verges as habitats that he had seen recently / Cllr Grundy
62/16 / Ongoing topic 8: Superfast broadband
Cllr Merrett reconfirmed the good news that a significant chunk of the village now has (access to) faster broadband, although the speeds achieved are below the threshold to count as ‘superfast’.
It was agreed that the Parish Council needs to keep on the case, not least in order to seek ways of improving broadband speeds to more outlying properties. Cllr Merrett to seek a further meeting with representatives of Connecting Devon & Somerset. / MM
63/16 / Ongoing topic 9: Defibrillator
Following the showing of a DVD about this just before the Parish Council meeting it was agreed that
·  the DVD should be made available for lending out to individual villagers who wished to view it, and
·  a practical demonstration of the defibrillator, starting with opening its box, should be arranged in due course. / AW
(MG)
64/16 / Ongoing topic 10: Village website and Facebook page
Nothing to report.
65/16 / Other EDDC matters
Cllr Grundy reported that he had looked into the use of ‘PSPOs’ to help control parking around the school: it was unlikely to be a productive line of enquiry.
He gave Cllr Carden an EDDC contact who might have helpful advice on dealing with the school-parking issue (see 60/16)
Cllr Grundy explained that he writing a paper on the thorny (grassy?) issue of grass-cutting responsibilities, and offered to share it with councillors
There are 2 dog-waste bins, and 3 general-waste bins, in the village, for which EDDC takes responsibility for emptying. Acknowledging that a lot of the dog-waste comes from people visiting the village & the river, Cllr Grundy was asked by the Parish Council to persuade EDDC to empty the dog-waste bins twice a week in the summer months, and once a week in the winter, and the general waste bins once a week all year round.
Agreed that we do not need additional sandbags at present. The Clerk to respond to EDDC’s enquiry (latest one is 5 Sept) accordingly. / Cllr Grundy
Cllr Grundy
Clerk
66/16 / Other DCC matters
None
67/16 / Planning
Agreed not to comment on 16/1902/HRN, EDDC having informed the Parish Council that it was not strictly a ‘planning application’, and therefore not one which EDDC were required to seek a Parish Council’s view.
Minutes of the site meeting on 16/1838/FUL approved. The Parish Council’s ‘support’ view to be passed to EDDC.
Yellowford Farm. The Parish Council was informed that the current planning application had been withdrawn, but that a new one would shortly be submitted. / Clerk
68/16 / Other matters which the Parish Council wishes to monitor on a regular basis
Improvements to Lake Bridge footpath bridge (Cllr Luxton). Nothing to report.
Road drainage map (Cllr Wiles). See 59/16 above
Hulk Lane (no lead councillor). Nothing to report
69/16 / Housekeeping matters
The Clerk’s financial reports were all noted with thanks (appendix 1)
Two cheques were approved in respect of the Clerk’s remuneration for July & August: £299.64 to the Clerk and £64.40 to HMRC.
Cllr Wiles informed the Parish Council that the payments being made to the Clerk (& HMRC), once Working-from-home allowance and Mileage expenses were taken out, were at the same level as those to the previous Clerk.
Cllr Wiles also informed the Parish Council that the Clerk had been paid for 13 additional hours since starting, which was in line with the prediction of extra ‘induction’ hours. The Clerk was currently ‘owed’ a further 7 hours but Cllr Wiles has agreed with the Clerk to see whether some or all of these hours get ‘absorbed’ over the next few months. Cllr Wiles also reported the Clerk’s view that the 4 hours per week in the Clerk’s contract, averaged over a year, should prove to be about the right amount of time.
The receipt of £100 P3 money from DevonCC was noted (see 56/16 above).
Cllr Wiles confirmed that – having consulted other councillors - he had formally confirmed to the Clerk that she had passed her 3-month probationary period
70/16 / Other matters
Japanese Knotweed near the bus shelter. Cllrs Luxton & Hollingsworth to have a look
DALC AGM on 11 October. No attendance from the Parish Council.
Ditto EDDC’s voluntary & community group event on 7 October.
Noted that Cllr Wiles had submitted the Parish Council’s response to EDDC’s Viewpoint Survey. He is seeking from EDDC a copy of his response for sharing with councillors.
Noted that the Raddon Hills meeting has now been moved to 26 October, in our Village Hall. Cllrs Wiles, Merrett & Hollingsworth to attend. / SL, EH
AW
AW, MM, EH
71/16 / Next meeting
Wednesday 5 October 2016, 7.30pm, Village Hall / ALL

Appendix 1

Financial Reports

BRAMPFORD SPEKE PARISH COUNCIL ACCOUNTS Summary 2016-2017
2015-2016 / 2016-2017 / 2016-2017 / 2016-2017
Out-turn / Budget / Actual to 3/9/2016 / Forecast
RECEIPTS
6357.00 / PRECEPT / 6500.00 / 6359.50 / 6500.00
CTDG / 0.00 / 104.50 / 104.50
600.00 / Debfibrillator / 0.00 / 0.00
0.00 / P3 Footpaths / 0.00 / 100.00 / 0.00
15.21 / Bank Interest / 15.00 / 15.00
0.00 / TAP fund Grant / 666.00 / 666.00 / 666.00
182.20 / EDDC Tax Return / 0.00 / 0.00
Ex-Gratia (Santander) / 0.00 / 50.00 / 50.00
518.08 / VAT REFUND / 400.00 / 400.00
7672.49 / TOTAL RECEIPTS / 7581.00 / 7280.00 / 7735.50
PAYMENTS (inc of VAT)
PC Housekeeping
0.00 / Cllrs’ expenses / 50.00 / 50.00
24.00 / Cllrs’ training / 100.00 / 54.00 / 100.00
0.00 / Fees (Audit etc) / 0.00 / 0.00
243.80 / Insurance / 252.00 / 251.85 / 252.00
70.84 / DALC sub / 72.00 / 72.28 / 72.00
338.64 / Sub-total / 474.00 / 378.13 / 474.00
Clerk
2440.89 / Salary C Oliphant / 1660.00 / 647.62 / 1660.00
0.00 / Salary D Trelawny / 470.00 / 468.70 / 470.00
0.00 / Tax PAYE / 400.00 / 153.00 / 400.00
0.00 / Expenses / 100.00 / 43.09 / 100.00
0.00 / Travel / 140.00 / 58.50 / 140.00
0.00 / Computer / 45.00 / 45.00 / 45.00
0.00 / Training / 50.00 / 50.00
2440.89 / Sub-total / 2865.00 / 1415.91 / 2865.00
Village projects and
PC’s assets
204.38 / P3 Footpaths / 800.00 / 787.20 / 800.00
497.00 / Notice board / 0.00 / 0.00
1616.40 / Highways, Verges / 500.00 / 500.00
0.00 / Defibrillator / 1716.00 / 1716.00 / 1716.00
46.00 / N’bourhood Watch / 50.00 / 50.00
2363.78 / Sub-total / 3066.00 / 2503.20 / 3066.00
Village Hall
2000.00 / Annual grant / 2000.00 / 1000.00 / 2000.00
2000.00 / Sub-total / 2000.00 / 1000.00 / 2000.00
Other
43.94 / Welcome Pack / 0.00
43.94 / Sub-total / 0.00 / 0.00 / 0.00
7187.25 / TOTAL PAYMENTS / 8405.00 / 5297.24 / 8405.00
SUMMARY / Actual 2016-2017
BALANCE BROUGHT FORWARD / 9690.76
ADD RECEIPTS / 7280.00
TOTAL / 16970.76
LESS PAYMENTS / 5297.24
11673.52
BANK RECONCILLIATION
24/08/2016 COOP DEPOSIT / 1609.28
04/08/2016 Santander CURRENT / 6422.84
22/09/2015 Santander DEPOSIT / 4017.05
TOTAL CARRY FORWARD / 12049.17
Reserves / RESERVES AT YEAR END 2015-16 / Current Reserves 2016-2017
(i) Earmarked
P3 Footpaths / 838.61 / 817.41
Election / 300.00 / 300.00
Clerks computer / 100.00 / 55.00
Highways projects / 500.00 / 500.00
V.H improvements / 1000.00 / 1000.00
Defibrillator / 1716.00 / 0.00
General 6 month reserve / 3000.00 / 3000.00
Neighbourhood Watch / 54.00 / 54.00
7508.61 / 5726.41
(ii) Not earmarked / 2182.15 / 6322.76
Total reserves / 9690.76 / 12049.17