MINUTES OF SPARKWELL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON
TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2017 AT SPARKWELL PARISH HALL
Present: Councillors:- R. May (Chairman) , G. Milford, G. Peacham, J. Roach, G. Small and J. Hart (Clerk)
In Attendance: A. Bent and K. Dee (Wolf Minerals), J. Hart (County) and D. Cobbald (Newnham Estates).
Apologies: Cllrs J. Taylor, A. Ashley, R. Pearson-Bunt, I. Blackler (District), K. Baldry (District), PCSO
J. Brokensha (Ivybridge Police) and B. Hudson (Wolf Minerals)
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2017 were approved and signed by the Chairman.
Police Business:
A report for January was provided by PCSO Brokensha in his absence:-
4 crimes reported:-
· Theft near Plympton on 14.01.17 – no lines of enquiry
· Make off without payment on 19.01.17 – under investigation
· Theft at Hemerdon on 27.01.17 – no lines of enquiry
· Theft from motor vehicle at Langage on 27.01.17 – no lines of enquiry
2 road traffic accidents:-
· Hit and run collision to a parked car at Lee Mill on 14.01.17 with minor damage and
no injuries
· Single vehicle accident at Holland Road, Plympton on 14.01.17. The car skidded on
ice and rolled with no injury
District Councillors Business:
A report was provided by Cllr K. Baldry in his absence:-
The planning application for The Paddock, Hemerdon Lane, Hemerdon will be considered by South Hams District Council (SHDC) Development Management Committee on 15 February 2017.
SHDC has approved a Council Tax increase for 2017/18 of £5.00 for a Band D property with variations for other bands.
The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan is being considered by SHDC on 2 March 2017 and will then go out for public consultation.
A report was provided by Cllr I. Blackler in his absence:-
Brexit is still delaying the Devolution process.
The proposed SHDC controlled company is on hold and awaiting more details.
The abandoned cars at Lee Mill have now been removed.
The travellers site adjacent to Langage Power Station is being monitored.
SHDC Council Tax Support Grant to the Town and Parish Councils will be reduced by 9.8% for 2017/18.
The population of South Hams and West Devon is now estimated at 137,000.
Public to Comment:
i) Update by a representative of Wolf Minerals regarding Drakelands Mine.
A report was provided to the meeting by Annie Bent:-
The Unilateral Undertaking to be issued in conjunction with the new planning permission is almost complete.
Schemes registered by the new planning permission in connection with blasting, noise, dust, water management and lighting are each being developed.
A formal road closure application has been made to the Department for Transport to allow closure of the soon to be redundant section of the Lee Moor road. The planned change over to the new road route is scheduled for 14 March 2017.
An alternative supplier for the electronic detonators has been engaged and an initial trial blast was carried out on 26 January with further trials having taken place. Updates are being provided on the community website – www.dm-community.co.uk
Wolf Minerals (WM) will be working on the replacement of the existing rubber mountings on the largest screen to steel mountings during the planned process shutdown.
A community meeting focusing on blast monitoring was held on 26 January 2017 in Sparkwell Parish Hall. Toby White provided an update on blast monitoring and Ruth Allington from GWP facilitated community discussions on blasting.
Kerry Dee of Wolf Minerals Human Resources advised that the site now has 124 employees.
WM has met with pupils of the Plympton Academy to undertake some projects including how to write CVs and improve interviewing skills. They are now looking at increasing the number of engineering employees.
Cllr R. May referred to the misfire issues.
A. Bent: WM are working on this with the new detonator suppliers, trialling different combinations. A Local Liaison Group meeting will be held on 22 February. Data is being collected and analysed from the monitoring points and community feedback. Toby White is creating a data base. The weather however, is causing significant variations and the results from the BRE trials are not available yet.
Cllr J. Roach: The low frequency noise effects different properties in different ways or not at all.
The representatives of Wolf Minerals left the meeting at 7.33pm
The Chairman brought forward the following planning application for discussion under the pubic session:
Application No: 4079/16/FUL Loughter Mill, Newnham – proposal to repair and conversion of former mill buildings to form 5 residential units.
Members agreed that this is a sympathetic conversion to a redundant building. It was noted that the applicant carried out a pre-application consultation with the planning authority.
Decision: Agreed to support as the proposed conversion would be a huge improvement to this site and there is a significant need for rented properties.
D. Cobbald gave Members an update regarding the community benefit agreement for the Newnham Solar Farm and explained that this had taken much longer than anticipated, but progress has now been made and three years of funding should be made available for the benefit of the surrounding communities.
County Councillors Business:
Cllr J. Hart: The Devon County Council (DCC) budget will be increased by 4.99% for 2017/18 with a 3% increase for adult and social care, this will provide an additional £19 million for social care provision. Depending on Government funding and capping, it is likely that reserves will now be used for highways spending. DCC has however, been awarded two pots of money for the repair of potholes. Work will be undertaken to the road at the old school and it has been noted that the new footpath to the primary school has made the highway safer.
Cllr G. Small: The workmanship for the repair of potholes is very poor.
Cllr J. Hart: The Highways Officer will visit the parish to identify the areas in need of repair.
Only ten houses have sold at the new Sherford development which due to the lack of house sales has delayed the building of the new primary school by 6 to 12 months.
Cllr J. Roach: Flooding problems around the village of Sparkwell effectively cuts access in all directions, but particularly in the areas of Beechwood Cross, the railway bridge on Ledgate Lane and Sandy Lane opposite Voss Farm.
Cllr G. Peacham also highlighted severe flooding issues at Hemerdon caused by run-off from the surrounding fields that effects the Miners Arms and several homes in the village. There is an urgent need for a storm drain as the smaller drains cannot cope with the volume of rainwater.
Cllr J. Hart noted an anonymous letter sent to the Parish Council and himself referring to the fairground vehicles and caravans parked adjacent to the westbound slip road into Lee Mill and how the site is increasing in size. He agreed to discuss this matter with Devon Highways.
Declarations of Interest: None
525 Finance:
Budget Analysis and Payments Report 01.01.17 – 31.01.17 - noted.
It was also noted that the Clerk’s pay for January 2017 = £217.80
i) To resolve the engagement of a new Internal Auditor – agreed unanimously
502 Highways and Pot Holes:
Covered under Agenda Item No. 6) County Councillors Business
530 TAP Fund and Grant Funding:
The Clerk confirmed that the application for a salt spreader to attach to the community tractor through the TAP Fund had been successful. A £1,000 grant application to The County Councillor’s Fund has also been agreed which will be used to purchase community resilience equipment such as protective clothing and a lockable equipment store.
Action: Cllr Peacham to purchase equipment on behalf of the Parish Council and invoice the Clerk.
Cllr Peacham had attended a two-day Chapter 8 training course with Devon Highways in Exeter and is now qualified to work on the highway, but he stressed that it would be difficult for any Parish Council to undertake highways maintenance due to the number of regulations, insurance liability and risk assessments that are required. He explained that £1,000 of road signs are needed, traffic lights, a vehicle with a highways maintenance strip across the back along together with other resources that are beyond the finances of smaller communities.
522 Correspondence:
The Clerk confirmed that due to increasing work and family commitments, Councillor Andy Hartley who had been the Chairman of the Council for some years has now given his resignation with immediate effect.
Members thanked Cllr Hartley in his absence for all his work and commitment, particularly for the benefit of Lee Mill residents.
523 Planning and Reports:
Additional comments had been submitted by the Council regarding planning application 3227/16/OPA The Paddock, Hemerdon Lane, Hemerdon prior to the SHDC site visit carried out on 13 February 2017. The Parish Council had a neutral view to this application, but had already expressed concerns regarding parking and access issues in the planning application response.
524 Any competent business approved by the Chairman:
The Clerk expressed concern that there seems to be confusion by the Parish Hall Management Committee and trustees as to how the hall land is held. The Parish Council is the custodian trustee only for the purpose of the Land Registry title and is not the trustee of the charity and therefore cannot underwrite any applications for funding or be responsible for the management of the hall.
Action: Clerk to send a letter to the Chairman of the Trust to this effect.
The Plymouth and South West Devon Local Plan will be put before full Council at each of the three authorities involved – South Hams, West Devon and Plymouth with a view to a public consultation commencing in March.
A Parish Cluster meeting to discuss the impact of the LFN from the mine on each community has been arranged for 16 February 2017.
The Clerk gave an update regarding the National Grid network upgrade which is due to commence in April and end in October with preparation works starting this month. No pylons will be replaced, but cables will be renewed from Landulph to Exeter and the Council will be kept informed of progress.
Cllr G. Peacham: 90 trees have now been planted at the Three Corner field in Hemerdon with 42 donated by Orchard Link which is an organisation set up to help the decline of traditional orchards in South Devon.
526 Date of next meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 14th March 2017 at Sparkwell Parish Hall commencing at 7.00pm.
Meeting closed at 9.15pm
This is a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Signed………………………………………….
Name………………………………………….. Date………………………………………