Highampton Parish Council
Clerk: Mrs. Felicity Lowe
Hill View, Church Road, Highampton, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5LS
Tel: 01409 231727 e-mail:
Website:
Minutes of the Highampton Parish Council Meeting, held on Wednesday,
2nd October 2013at 7.30pm
in the CommitteeRoom, Highampton Village Hall.
Present – Cllr. Glen Rose, (Chairman), Cllr, Maurice Thomas (Vice Chairman), Cllr. Charles Dumpleton, Cllr. Mary Dayman, Cllr. Mike Puckey, Cllr. Ross Baker and Cllr. Christine Hall.
112.13 / Public Open Session - None113.13 / Apologies: Cllr J Gilling
114.13 / Declarations of Interest on Agenda Items: None
115.13 / Minutes of the Last Meeting: the Minutes of the last meeting were Agreed and Signed as a correct record.
116.13 / Matters Arising from the Minutes
116.13.1 / The Clerk informed the meeting of the letter from Mr Jim Burdus the WDBC Environmental Health Officer regarding the complaint about barking dogs in which he outlined the history of the situation and the action that might be taken. Cllr. Puckey offered to visit the complainant to inform them of the reply from the EHO.
116.13.2 / Cllr. Pucky’s letter from Western Power in regard to the supply failures has been circulated to the Community Website and the Messenger.
116.13.3 / The potholes on the Sheepwash Road by Mr Newcombe’s farm entrance and the bridge have been reported.
116.13.4 / Cllr. Puckey has approached Okehampton Waitrose about advertising in the Messenger, and the Clerk has contacted them with further details. To date no further response. Cllr Puckey has also made contact with another possible advertiser and they have been sent details.
116.13.5 / Places have been booked for Cllr. Dumpleton and one other (Cllr Rose to attend) at the DALC AGM.
116.13.6 / Cllr. Dumpleton has received a report that Highways have investigated the tree by the Rectory and found nothing of concern. The clerk will contact Highways and ask for written confirmation of this to avoid any future claim if an accident occurs.
116.13.7 / Connecting Devon and Somerset report that Holsworthy will see high speed fibre broadband start to become available by the end of the year.
117.13 / Planning
117.13.1 / The meeting was addressed by Mr Ed Persse of TRAND Ltd who is working with Mr and Mrs Drew on the development of the land (H18) behind Lyndhurst which has been allocated for housing. Mr Persse outlined some of the difficulties relating to drainage of the land.
Mr Persse suggested that if the application relating to H18 was revoked a new site, still on that parcel of land, could be substituted as part of the local plan within the core strategy for meeting housing need. He showed the meeting possible plans for a new ribbon development between Hawley House and the properties at the top of the hill. These would be 12 houses, 40% of which would be ‘affordable’ housing available under the 106 Agreement to those with a local connection.
117.13.2 / Cllr Rose commented that encouraging new families into the village would be beneficial to the community as a whole, and that the provision of a (sports) playing field would also be an advantage if it could be incorporated.
117.13.3 / Cllr Baker raised the possibility of a pavement along the frontage of the development as the number of pedestrians on the road would increase.
117.13.4 / The Council agreed that Mr Persse should present written details and full plans of the proposal which could then be put before the meeting for and informed discussion. Mr Persse agreed to discuss the matter with the Rural Housing Enabler with a view to presenting full plans to a future meeting of the Parish Council.
117.13.5 / The Clerk informed the meeting that there were no Planning Enforcement Cases under investigation within the Parish.
117.13.6 / The Clerk reported that WDBC and South Hams DC are undertaking a joint review of its Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment to inform the local plan by identifying possible land that could be used to provide new homes. It was noted that relocating the land designated H18 supported this exercise.
118.13 / Matters raised by the Chairman : None
119.13 / Councillors’Reports
119.13.1 / Cllr Hall informed the Council that once again parking illegally on pavements and yellow lines in Hatherleigh was becoming a major problem.
119.13.2 / Cllr Daymen reported a broken bush obscuring visibility at the Pulworthy X junction. The Clerk will contact Highways.
119.13.3 / Cllr Dayman commented that the road subsidence between Longwood and Higher Longwood had not been dealt with. The Clerk will report.
119.13.4 / It was reported that there was a damaged electricity/telegraph pole near the school which was leaning over the road. The Clerk will contact Western Power.
119.13.5 / Cllr Rose reported that there were instances of power dropping in the village causing lights to dim.
119.13.6 / Cllr Thomas reported that rubbish bags had been left on the corner near the pub. Hopefully they will be removed on Friday. It was not known who was responsible.
120.13 / Parish Plan
The Messenger is due shortly, having been delayed by late submission of copy.
121.13 / Correspondence
121.13.1 / Citizens Advice Bureau request. It was agreed to donate £25.00 in view of the support that CAB gave to a number of residents in the parish.
121.13.2 / Sandbags and Sand: Not required as still had supply from last year.
121.13.3 / DALC Opinion survey: Council voted against filming
121.13.4 / Good Employer training :No action
121.13.5 / West Devon CVS AGM: No action
121.13.6 / Electoral Boundary Review: It was noted that parish electoral arrangements could be affected if a parish was to be divided between two new wards.
121.13.7 / Clerk and Council Direct magazine: Received
121.13.8 / DALC Report: Received
122.13 / Finance
122.13.1 / Current Account: £2104.38 This includes the second payment of the Precept. (£124 to be transferred from Parish Plan account for printing of the Messenger)
122.13.2 / Savings Account: £1984.37
122.13.3 / Parish Plan Account: £1002.34 (£124 transfer to Current for printing costs)
122.13.4 / Financial Regulations: Having confirmed that three Councillors (Cllr Dayman, Cllr Thomas and Cllr Dumpleton) were approved for the signing of cheques (two per cheque), the Financial Regulations, as adopted on 2nd May 2012, remain unchanged.
122.13.5 / Risk Assessment: The risk assessment adopted on 2nd May 2012 applying to procedures relating to internal controls ( financial records, banking, insurance, precept, Code of Conduct and annual audit) was reviewed and remainsunchanged.
123.13. / Review of Documentation
It was agreed that the Annual Review of Standing Orders for Meetings of the Parish Council, and the Register of Members Interests should be items on the Agenda of the next meeting.
124.13. / Precept 2014
Councillors were informed that WDBC was unlikely to be able to subsidize the precept at the level it had done last year (£194), and that reductions in funding by 13% from Central Government would be passed on to the parish council resulting in a grant of £167 for 2014.
Councillors were reminded that the precept demand had to be submitted in January 2014, and it was agreed to discuss this further at the December meeting when more information on any cap might be available.
125.13 / Date of the next meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 6th November 2013
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