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Minutes of the Meeting of Yarcombe parish council held at 8.00pm on
Monday 9th January 2012 in the Jubilee Hall, Yarcombe
Present: Councillors Mrs L Pidgeon (Chairman), D Barnes, P Nicholls, C Button-Stephens, A Long, B Anning, T Wiggins, N Randle, H Derryman and S Waplington (Parish Clerk), and Cllr P Diviani and PCSO Phil Anning
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr A Moulding.
2. Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
3. To receive a report from PC Clive Vickery/PCSO Phil Anning
PCSO Anning advised that there has been one crime in the Parish since the last meeting.
4. To confirm the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 21 November 2011
The minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record.
5. Reports on ongoing activities of the council
a) The drainage issues have improved due to recent work on Moorhayne Lane unless the weather is extreme. It was RESOLVED to take this matter off the agenda. It was further RESOLVED to send a letter of appreciation to Brian Hoare for all the good work that his team have done on this and other Highway matters during recent months.
b) The Clerk has communicated with Brian Hoare with regards to the trees that are overhanging the road in Marsh. He has visited the site and has confirmed that the trees over the highway do require lopping to obtain the minimum height clearance of 5.2m covering all three sides of this plot of land. The hedge on the lane adjacent to the Flintlock Inn also needs flailing back to the hedge bank. Brian said that Devon County Council can start the hedge/tree cutting policy by first sending the land owner a letter setting out the requirements under the Highway Act 1980 which gives the owner two weeks to take action. If no action is taken a notice is sent giving a further two weeks to either apply with the instructions or appeal to the magistrate’s court their objections. Following this notice the works could be carried out on a rechargeable basis. The Clerk and Cllr Pidgeon RESOLVED to ask Brian to set this process in motion and have provided him with the name of the land owner and the solicitor’s address. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would find out what stage we are now at.
c) The Clerk has received a letter from Summerfield Developments stating that they believe that there was a tree planted on the corner of the car park in Drake’s Meadow in accordance with a landscape scheme approved to discharge a Planning Condition and that this land is in the ownership of Plot 10, Postal No. 21 Drakes Meadow. The car park itself was divided up between the ten houses which it serves with cross rights of way granted over the access way. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Nicholls would look into the relevance of this letter and report back at the next meeting.
d) The Clerk has gathered some information from various companies on commemorative mugs to be given to the children of the Parish to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would order the mugs from “Forerunner” as their prices were competitive and they seemed very helpful. It was further RESOLVED to use the official Diamond Jubilee logo chosen by the Queen on the front of the mug and to add the wording “presented by the Yarcombe Parish Council” on the back of the mug. The quoted price per mug is between £1.95 and £2.05 depending on how many are ordered plus £20 setting up costs and a small delivery charge. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would ask Anna Podbury how many children in school year 11 or below there are in the Parish and that she would order an additional 20 mugs to allow for breakages or miscalculation with a view to selling any left over during the celebrations.
e) A meeting was held on 13th December between members of the Parish Council and Sue Southwell of the Community Council for Devon and Paul Lowe of EDDC to discuss further the need for affordable housing. The next step is to carry out a housing needs survey but in order to start this process Yarcombe needs to get to the top of District Council’s list. There are only four surveys allocated per year and they have been done already for the current year. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would contact Sue Southwell and ask her to provide an example housing needs survey so that we can endeavor to carry out the survey ourselves rather than wait until April.
f) An email has been received from the owners of Broadley Farm explaining why they felt they didn’t need planning permission for the silage pit at Broadley Farm. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would check with East Devon District Council to find out if permission is required. If it is it was RESOLVED that the Clerk would refer the matter to planning enforcement.
g) The gullies from Hilltop to Tillery have been successfully cleared.
h) A snow warden meeting took place on Tuesday 22nd November 2011. The free Salt has been delivered to David Barne’s house and will remain there until needed.
i) The signs that went missing on Rag Lane have been replaced with new signs saying “Unsuitable for vehicles”.
6. Open session for public participation
There were no members of the public present.
7. To discuss financial matters
a) Payments were approved and made in line with the following schedule:-
Date / Payee / Particulars of Payment / Cheque No / Amount09/01/12 / S Waplington / Clerk’s Salary (5/01/12-5/02/12) plus expenses (£28.28) / 000333 / £227.65
09/01/12 / Society of Local Council Clerks / Annual subscription / 000334 / £83.00
09/01/12 / Post Office Ltd / Quarterly tax due for PAYE / 000335 / £149.60
09/01/12 / DALC / Cilca Course / 000336 / £312.00
8. To hear reports from individual Councillors / Clerk
a) The Clerk attended a Cilca training course at the end of November.
b) The meeting that has been booked for 4th June 2012 falls on a bank holiday so it was RESOLVED to change this to the following Monday which is 11th June 2012.
9. Parish Paths
No money has yet been spent improving the Parish footpaths during the current financial year. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Wiggins would continue with the survey and establish if any money needs to be spent.
10. Highways
· It was RESOLVED to report the following matters to Highways:-
o Potholes and an uneven road surface remain on Knightshayne corner, this area also flooded badly during recent wet weather
o Uneven surface at stopgate junction on A303
· It was further RESOLVED to report the following matters to Devon County Council :-
o There is a pothole on the Taunton Road at the bottom of footpath 29
o There are still potholes on Hay Lane near Pound View
o The surface of the main road through Marsh is corrugated
o The railings on the bridge just beyond Peterhayes Farm on the Yarcombe to Stockland road have fallen away, this has been reported before
11. Faster Broadband
An email has been received from a member of the public requesting that the Parish Council “lobby furiously” for faster broadband in the area. Cllr Diviani has advised that Devon County Council are currently looking into this in conjunction with a company called Tooway which provide satellite links for faster broadband in areas where cabling is not available. This can be purchased by any members of the public who are very keen to have faster broadband. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would liaise with Cllr Nicholls and write a reply to the Parishioner.
12. Planning
a) 11/2213/AGR - Higher Pithayne Farm, Yarcombe, EX14 9AD – to create space to carry out agricultural repairs / works under secure cover - approval.
b) 11/2501/FUL – Birch Oak Farm, Yarcombe, EX14 9AF – the construction of cubicle house extension – approval.
c) 11/2704/CPE & 11/2704/CPE – Old Woodhayne Farm, Bishopswood, Chard, TA20 3SB – certificate of lawful use of outbuilding as office – pending consideration.
d) 11/2691/FUl – Broadley Farm, Yarcombe, Honiton, EX14 9BJ – construction of slurry lagoon – pending consideration.
e) Some building work is taking place extending a building at Crawley Farm. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would contact EDDC planning department to see if planning permission has ever been obtained for this building and to check if the current extension is within the limitations laid out in any permission that has been previously granted.
13) To discuss items of general correspondence received:-
a) A copy of the draft consultation plan for East Devon has been received. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Nicholls would put together some comments regarding this document and forward them to the Clerk to be submitted by 5pm on 31st January 2012.
b) A letter has been received from the Mayor of Honiton on behalf of Honiton Town Council regarding a meeting to discuss setting up a cluster group of parishes working together for the wider area. DCC is actively looking at forming cluster groups based around the market towns in line with the Localism Act. In addition thoughts can be shared on the East Devon Local Plan. It was RESOLVED that the Parish Council would not get involved in this cluster group.
c) A letter has been received from EDDC asking us to send in our precept demand by 20 January 2012.
d) A USB stick containing a communications toolkit produced by NALC providing resources to help councils improve their communication with residents, staff and other stakeholders.
14) Publications received:-
· DALC Newsletter, Jan/Feb 2012
· A new guide entitled “Planning Explained” produced by the Campaign to Protect Rural England in partnership with NALC.
· Village Green winter 2011
15) To confirm date of the next meeting – Monday 6th February 2012 at 8pm.