Minutes of a Meeting of the BRENTOR PARISH COUNCIL Held in Brentor Village Hall
DRAFT
Minutes of a Meeting of the BRENTOR PARISH COUNCIL held in Brentor Village Hall
on MONDAY 18th September 2013 at 7.30pm
Present:Cllr T Beavon (Chair), Cllr J Drury (JD), Cllr A Frankland (AF), Cllr J Adams (JA)
In Attendance:Cllr T Pearce (TP), Mrs E Fabiani-Laymond (Locum Parish Clerk)
Public Question Time:
There were no questions from the public.
8604 / APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCEApologies were received from Cllr L Hill, Cllr J Burrows and Cllr S Burrows.
8605 / DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST None.
8606 / APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 16th September 2013
It was AGREED that the Minutes of this meetings be adopted.
8607 / MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES NOT LISTED AS SEPARATE ITEMS ON THIS AGENDA
Members NOTED the action tracked circulated with the agenda.
Cllr Frankland informed the Council a fundraiser was being held in the Village Hall on Sunday 24th November in aid of the Tavistock Cycle Route.
Cllr Beavon reported on the situation regarding improved Broadband. A reply has been received from DEFRA advising him that the application to the Rural Community Broadband Fund has been unsuccessful as Devon County Council has been unable to confirm whether or not Brentor falls into the category of being in the 10% of ‘hardest to reach’ areas.
Cllr Drury reported on his meeting with MP Geoffrey Cox where the situation regarding Broadband was set out. The MP was sympathetic to the issue and has advised Cllr Drury that he will raise the matter with both Devon County Council and BT and send on their responses as soon as they have been received. Some concern was expressed that a commercial company like BT may be focused predominantly on the cost of providing improved Broadband and may overlook the benefit it would bring to the rural community.
It was suggested that, given the lack of current options to improve Broadband through the RCBF, focus should be brought to bear on the BT Exchange upgrade programme and the planned roll out of new and improved ‘Green Cabinets’. Upgrading the exchange and siting a cabinet in Brentor could possibly improve the current service to at least 5Mbps. This was also raised with Geoffrey Cox MP who will broach this matter with BT. Given that Superfast Broadband is not an option in the short term; this may be the only way to gain any improvement in Mbps for Brentor at present.
Cllr Pearce advised that the BT Exchange Upgrade is scheduled for next Summer.
Cllr Beavon reported that the cemetery information boards are ready to be put up. The funding from the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) is in place and West Devon Borough Council (WDBC) will fall into place once final invoices for the installation have been received and passed onto them.
Cllr Beavon advised that if there are any issues people would like raised at the next Dartmoor National Park Forum to let him know before the next forum meeting.
Cllr Drury reported nothing further on Southern Link TAP fund.
Cllr Hill was not available to report on the Wheelwright stone, however, it was suggested that Cllr Hill arrange a meeting with Jane Marchand (Senior Archaeologist for DNP) to discuss this issue and then report back to Council. / LH
8608 / REPORTS FROM COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES ATTENDING MEETINGS/EVENTS OF OTHER AGENCIES None to report.
8609 / PLANNING MATTERS
a) The following planning applications had been received:
BPC Comment
DNPA
0556/13 / Proposed replacement garage and porch at Coach House, Station Road, Brentor, PL19 0LR / No objection on the proviso that DC Highways is confident the parking area is sufficient for the size of vehicles to be parked there and parking does not cause any obstruction to main highway.
DNPA
0569/13 / Proposed alteration and extension to the existing agricultural buildings and the erection of a ploytunnel at The Court, Brentor. / The Council is aware of some opposition to the application from the neighbouring properties and is concerned about the lack of consultation from the DNPA with the affected neighbouring residents. The Council is also concerned on the size of the ploytunnel, which is substantial and on the visual impact it will have on the immediate area. The Council requests that this application be deferred until the neighbourhood planning on 27th November.
b) The following planning decisions had been received:
DNPA
0418/13 / Grant of Conditional Planning Permission. Mr David Lovell, 3 The Court, West Blackdown, Brentor, Tavistock, PL19 0NB.
There is nothing further to report, as yet, on the planning issue at Brentor Inn. Following a change in staff at WDBC, the new Planning Enforcement Officer, Ben Wilcox, is reviewing the situation prior to arranging any meetings.
8610 / DEVON RURAL HOUSING PARTNERSHIP, A CALL FOR SITES
Councillors joined officers from DNPA and WDBC, the Rural Housing Enabler and Cllr Pearce to view the 9 sites have been put forward by their owners. A meeting has been arranged for these parties to consider DNPA’s initial prioritisation of the sites. A full report will be discussed at the January Parish Council meeting. Councillors agreed to discuss with DNPA the best way of informing parishioners about the process.
8611 / BURNVILLE FARM SHOOTING
The Clerk had written to Mr Cunningham to highlight concerns raised at the last Parish Council meeting. A response has been received and is available on application to the Parish Clerk. The response did not offer any changes to current practice.
8612
8613 / ROAD ACCESSIBILITY DURING ADVERSE WEATHER
The Clerk had written to Devon County Council regarding the gritting of the road from Brentor to Mary Tavy during adverse weather An email has been received advising that the salting and gritting plan for secondary roads would be the same as in previous years. The road from Brentor to Mary Tavy will not be gritted but there are salt bins and bags provided along this section of road for public use. The Council was advised by DCC to discuss the provision of extra salt bags with the snow warden for the area. The Council expressed a concern about the use of salt bags (as opposed to bins) as the bags are vulnerable to damage by animals and are also easy to purloin. It was AGREED to write to the new Devon County Councillor (Mr Kevin Ball) outlining the existing problems and requesting some financial support from his Locality Budget, towards the cost of providing extra permanent/fixed bins on this section of road.
BRENTOR PARISH COUNCIL MEETING DATES FOR 2014 (INCLUDING ANNUAL MEETING)
The Council agreed to keep the meetings to the third Monday of every other month. It was decided to combine the Annual Meeting with a coffee morning and the Council agreed on the date of Saturday 5th April at 10.30am in the Village Hall. The Clerk will liaise with the Village Hall and Playing Field Committee. / CLERK
CLERK
8614 / GENERAL FINANCE
The Clerk had previously shown the Chair a bank reconciliation and cashflow sheet together with the latest bank statement dated 11th October 2013.
- Receipts (£) since the last meeting: None.
- It was RESOLVED to approve the following payments made since the last meeting:
Clerk Salary / October 2013 / £216.00 / s/o / Clerk’s salary month 7
A Phillips / October 2013 / £294.00 / 000431 / Cemetery maintenance
S Carreck / October 2013 / £639.00 / 000436 / Cemetery Info Panel & Gate Sign
8615 /
- It was RESOLVED to Approve the following payments:
K Palfrey / Nov 2013 / £64.80 / 000432 / Sept & Oct Admin expenses
Royal British Legion / Sept 2013 / £120.00 / 000433 / Poppy Wreath
- It was RESOLVED to approve and sign the cashflow as at 22 10 2013
- It was RESOLVED to approve and sign the Bank Reconciliation as at 22 10 2013
The draft budget has been updated to reflect an increase in the Clerk’s salary. A suggestion was made to remove the contribution towards Superfast Broadband. There is a predicted reserve of £5k at year end. As the next elections are not due until 2015 the reserves could be increased by another £1k if election costs were removed for the year. It was generally felt to be a wise cautionary measure to maintain a useful reserve given the expected capping of Local Government grants which could affect the Council in future. It was agreed there was time for further discussions about any adjustments before approving the final version.
It was AGREED that the Clerk put an advertisement in the Brentor News to advise the
local community about applying for Grants from the Parish Council. / CLERK
8616 / CORRESPONDENCE
Members NOTED the list of correspondence (circulated by the Clerk at the meeting).
a) For action/decision
WDBC – Letter re: Council Tax Support Grant to Town and parish Councils. It was noted and AGREED no further action necessary at present.
CAB – Email from Citizens Advice Bureau requesting a donation. Noted and AGREED for Clerk to add to the papers for the next meeting in January.
Victim Support – letter requesting donation. Noted and AGREED for Clerk to add to the papers for the next meeting in January.
Cllr T Pearce suggested TASS might be a suitable recipient for a donation as it provided a valuable Ring and Ride service to rural communities and was, potentially, in danger of losing funding from DCC. The Council agreed that in principle, donations should be made to organizations which provide a benefit to their own community.
Email – from Mr Bob Davis. This was not a Council issue. It was AGREED that the Clerk would inform him to contact the Parish Church directly with his request.
b) For information/interest only:
Invitation to Chicks Ball on the 20th November 20132.
WDBC – 2 amendments to the Electoral Register.
Copy of letter from WDBC re: the Community Emergency Planning Workshops. / CLERK
CLERK
CLERK
8617 / MINOR ITEMS
Brentor Steam Engine Nameplate was donated to the village of Brentor although it currently resides with WDBC in Tavistock. Some thought should be given to what happens to the plate if WDBC move from Tavistock. As a historic and valuable item a suggestion was put forward to consider donating it to a museum. This matter will need to be discussed at some stage in the future.
8618 / ITEMS FOR THE NEXT AGENDA
It was AGREED that in future this agenda item would be removed.
8619 / DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 20th January 2014, 7.30pm, Brentor Village Hall
8620 / CLOSE
The meeting was formally closed at 8.30pm
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