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Minutes of the meeting of Yarcombe parish council held at 8.00pm on
Monday 5th March 2012 in the Jubilee Hall, Yarcombe
Present: Councillors Mrs L Pidgeon (Chairman), D Barnes, P Nicholls, A Long, B Anning, H Derryman, C Button-Stephens, T Wiggins and S Waplington (Parish Clerk), and two members of the public.
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr A Moulding, Cllr P Diviani and PC Clive Vickery/PCSO Phil Anning.
2. Declarations of Interest
Cllr B Anning declared an interest in the log cabin at Watchford.
3. To receive a report from PC Clive Vickery/PCSO Phil Anning
PC Clive Vickery/PCSO Phil Anning were unable to attend the meeting but sent a report to the Clerk. There have been two crimes in the Parish since the last meeting. One took place on the A303 where a disqualified driver was seen driving by the police and the other was in Marsh where the door locks of a motor vehicle were damaged.
4. To confirm the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 6 February 2012
The minutes were confirmed and signed as a correct record.
5. Reports on ongoing activities of the council
a) A meeting took place in the parish to discuss the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations on 13th February. Since the meeting Cllr Pidgeon has booked Sonic fireworks who will put on a display for £800. The Young Farmers will donate £380 and the rest will be raised from other sources such as the duck race and the murder mystery evening. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Pidgeon would request a copy of the public liability insurance held by Sonic and that the Clerk would find out about the level of cover offered by the Parish Council insurance for the other events taking place during the weekend.
The commemorative tree was spoken about and it was suggested that it could be positioned on the area of land opposite the Taunton turn behind the fencing. It was RESOLVED that Cllr Pidgeon would look into this.
b) It was RESOLVED that for the time being the Parish Council would not pursue the idea of producing a neighbourhood plan due to the cost of doing so and the questionable present benefit.
c) A draft copy of the parish plan update article was circulated to all Councillors ahead of the meeting. The article revisits the list of priorities and policies that were identified in the 2010 parish plan update. It was RESOLVED to place the article in the Yarcombe Voices and ask people to get in touch with the Parish Council if there is anything that they feel should be added.
d) A parishioner has spoken to one of the Councillors about some trees on the land of a neighbour at Tillery which are interfering with BT lines and making visibility and parking difficult. The Clerk has spoken to the planning department of EDDC to find out if they will get involved in such a matter. They have explained that they will only become involved as a last resort. Prior to that the complainant must make every effort to sort the matter out with the neighbour and must record all correspondence. If they put in an application to EDDC to become involved the complainant would need to pay a fee of £350. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would write to the parishioner who raised the issue to explain the situation.
e) Some concern was expressed at the last meeting about the move to paperless planning applications as of 1 April 2012. Having investigated this further it is apparent that most of the planning applications received by the Parish Council come from EDDC not DCC and therefore paper applications will still be received.
f) Cllr Pidgeon has gathered some information about what local people are interested in learning during a training session from Cosmic. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would pass this information on to Cosmic and try to establish a date and a venue for the training.
6. Open session for public participation
a) A member of the public has received a letter from EDDC to say that they want to test their private water supply at a cost of £60 plus the cost of testing the sample. It was felt by the parishioner and the Councillors alike that the request was both unreasonable and discriminatory. The Parishioner has written to Neil Parish, Paul Diviani, Nick Yool (Clerk to Membury Parish Council) and Cllr Pidgeon. He has not received a reply from other sources. He has also telephoned EDDC but has received no satisfactory replies. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would forward the letters that have been sent to Cllr Diviani and ask him to let the parishioner know his thoughts on the matter.
b) John Carter, the chair of the village hall committee, explained that the hall committee are planning to replace the roof on the village hall and install solar panels this summer at a predicted cost of around £33,000. They have already raised grants of £12,000 towards the project, they are in the process of hopefully securing grant funding from EDDC of £5,000 and from CCD of £8,000. There is the possibility of obtaining a low interest loan of up to £20,000 from ACRE. The work must be started this summer in order to prevent the grant funding already obtained from having to be returned. John questioned if the Parish Council would be able to help to support the project. It was RESOLVED that the Parish Council will support the village hall as a community asset and support efficient ways to do this. It was further RESOLVED to write a letter of support in this matter which John can then forward to the relevant organisations in order to assist with securing grant funding.
7. To discuss financial matters
a) Payments were approved and made in line with the following schedule:-
Date / Payee / Particulars of Payment / Cheque No / Amount05/03/12 / S Waplington / Clerk’s Salary plus expenses (£16.30) / 000341 / £215.87
8. To hear reports from individual Councillors / Clerk
a) The Clerk reported that the meeting in May has been booked for 7th which is a bank holiday. It was RESOLVED to change it to Thursday 10th May if the hall is available or Tuesday 15th if not available on the 10th. The Clerk will inform the Councillors once booked. This is the AGM/APM.
9. Parish Paths
Cllr Wiggins has sent the annual survey back. He has not requested a P3 grant this year but has pointed out various small jobs which need attention such as replacing signage.
10. Highways
The Clerk updated the Councillors on the following matters;
· Railings at the bridge just beyond Peterhayes Farm have been inspected by Brian Hoare. He agrees that the railing is subsiding although at present the road edge is still stable. He has decided that an improvement scheme is required to replace the railing which will mean further retaining works adjacent to the road plus new railing on the upstream side of the culvert. This work will be submitted for future bids and carried out on a priority basis, funds permitting. The marker posts will remain present warning traffic of the potential hazard.
· An email has been received stating that potholes on Hay Lane have been completed but this is not so. It was therefore RESOLVED that the Clerk would report this.
· The road surface through Marsh is currently being patched ahead of surface dressing in the new financial year.
· Brian Hoare has sent a warning letter to David Meyrick regarding the mud/slurry on the road at Lower Pithayne Farm as complaints have been received. Next time complaints are received DCC will sweep/clean and recharge to the landowner.
It was further RESOLVED that the Clerk would report the following;
· Yarty Bridge on the A30 needs priority signage to prevent further accidents and potential loss of life. The bridge has recently been damaged again.
· Last year Brian Hoare agreed to plough Moorhayne Lane after the hedging was complete. The hedging has now been done.
· There is lots of litter on the A303 from Collyforches to the Devonshire Inn.
11. Planning
a) 12/0159/FUL – Broadley Farm, Yarcombe, Honiton, EX14 9BJ – construction of covered yard & 11/2691/FUL construction of slurry lagoon – both approved.
b) 12/0167/FUL – Stoneshelves Farm, Yarcombe, Honiton, EX14 9LS – replacement extension– approved.
c) 12/0162/FUL – The Coppers, Yarcombe, EX14 9LS – construction of conservatory and single storey extension – approved.
d) 12/0415/FUL – The log cabin at Watchford Farm, Yarcombe, Honiton, E14 9LZ – retention of log cabin for accommodation linked to tourism in established diversification activity linked to Watchford Farm – pending consideration. Cllr Anning left the room whilst this matter was discussed. It was RESOLVED that the Parish Council would support this application. It was further RESOLVED that the Clerk would write to Cllr Diviani to request that the application could be taken to committee this time as it has come up a number of times before and the Parish Council have always been in support of it.
e) A planning application has not yet been received for the barn extension at Crawley Farm. Mr Dyer has informed the parish council that an application has been made for a shed at Crawley Farm which has not been received by Yarcombe Parish Council. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would speak to the planning department about these matters.
12) To discuss items of general correspondence received:-
· A letter has been received from EDDC inviting the Parish Council to put forward information about any projects it has been involved with in order to be entered into a competition to win one of three awards to be given in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. The categories are; “Community Award – best achievement of a Council in the last 4 years that has directly benefited the local community”, “Youth Award – best council initiative that has directly benefited young people” and “Future Project Award – your most exciting plan already in the pipeline” Awards will be given on Thursday 17th May at 7pm at Knowle. Entries must be in by 20th April. It was RESOLVED to take this matter to the next meeting in order to give Councillors time to think about it.
· An email has been received from the Blackdown Hills Parishes Network giving notice of their next meeting which will take place on Thursday 22nd March at 7.30pm in the Hemyock Parish Hall.
13) Publications received:-
No publications have been received.
14) To confirm date of the next meeting – Monday 3rd April 2012 at 8pm.