1/13December2018………………………………………………..Chairman
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MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING OF NEWTON & NOSS PARISH COUNCIL Held on 13 December 2018 PRESENT; MRS. ANSELL MR. COOPER CLLR. GREEN MR. CARTER MR. PARRY-SMITH MS. ADAMS MR. INGRAM ALSO PRESENT; Cllr. Hosking, Cllr. Baldry, 8 members of the public, Mrs. McDonough (Clerk). OPEN FORUM Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo Parish Council Police Report November 2018 - PCSO Andrew Potter had sent apologies and the following written report; Newton Ferrers - 2nd, report of harassment [via text message] CR/110544/18. Noss Mayo - no reported crime. Skate park - two young parishioners had written to the Parish Council about the possibility of building a skate park within Newton Ferrers possibly at Butts Park. One of them attended the meeting in support of his request. They suggested it would encourage a healthy lifestyle and a good place to have fun. There was a park for younger children but nothing for older children. It would stop children riding and skating near/around roads and having to spend a lot of money each month to go to the nearest skate park in Plymouth. They would like to be involved and suggested funding applications to the National Lottery or from developers as a result of their local building projects. Land adjacent to Lochalsh – a neighbouring resident spoke in support of objection to the proposed development 3241/18/FUL, a copy of which had been submitted to the Parish Council before the meeting. Woodland had been cleared the preceding summer but the ecology report in support of the application showed a photo of how the land looked prior to the woodland clearance. Responses to previous planning applications in the area had shown there to be enough houses and that the road, which was very narrow in the proposed development area, was at capacity. The development would overlook their property. Walkers would be unable to walk along the road when development was taking place. There was a query as to whether the land had a right of vehicular access over the private road. Mobile Library – a parishioner queried how long the mobile library service would remain in operation and whether there could be a transport service to the library in Ivybridge. The parishioner was referred to the Ivybridge Ring and Ride Service. Public transport – a parishioner advised that the bus service to Noss was able only to get to Bridgend 28 November - 12 December due to the notification of road closures. Gigaclear had then not undertaken the work of which Target Travel appeared to be unaware. Reinstatement of the service to Noss Mayo after 12 December was not immediate - the parishioner calling Target Travel herself to advise. The parishioner suggested that it was the Parish Council’s responsibility to monitor and advise the bus company. The Chairman advised that the Parish Council would be reliant on parishioner feedback and did not have the resources to continually monitor the bus service. RYDA - an RYDA representative referred to the responses to an article the RYDA had placed in the Parish Magazine regarding the proposed public toilet closure by South Hams District Council (SHDC.) The comments received by the RYDA had been collated, sent to the Parish Council and copied in to Cllr. Baldry. The Parish Council had been copied in to the RYDA response to the planning application for land adjacent to Lochalsh (3241/18/FUL.) With respect to Riverholm (3643/18/TPO) it was suggested the Tree Plan appeared comprehensive. The Tree Officer had been on site. It would be illegal to do anything on site during the nesting period. The RYDA had copied the Parish Council in on their responses to the lodged planning appeals. The Vice Chairman referred to the public toilets proposed closure. The fault did not lie with the Parish Council. SHDC was thought to have used incorrect figures. The Chairman suggested that it was hoped that the RYDA would read the Parish Council minutes to remain fully informed. Dementia Friendly Parishes Around the Yealm – Mrs. Liz Hitchins, chairman of the organisation, attended and spoke of the latest news. It was pleasing to note the liaison between Mrs. Hirst and the Parish Council, together with the organisation being on the agenda for each Parish Council meeting. The organisation was in its seventh year and had just become a charity. The Council was thanked for its support and its grants. In the past year the Parish Council together with the other four parishes had been promoted nationally and internationally including mention in three major documents produced by the Alzheimer’s Society, House of Lords Select Committee and a poster produced by Plymouth University for the European Alzheimer’s Conference in October in Barcelona. The organisation was viewed highly across the U.K. as a good model. The organisation was attempting to change attitudes to dementia sufferers in airports with a national reference group investigating potential improvements. The Council was encouraged to look at how it could raise its profile to be more dementia friendly e.g. appropriately coloured signage/matting in public buildings and with public open spaces / footpaths being more easily accessible. The organisation coordinator would be drawing up a checklist for parishes in the new year. Thanks was offered to Mrs. Hirst for acting as Parish Council representative. Mrs. Hitchins confirmed to Cllr. Green that the organisation had written to SHDC to object to the public toilets proposed closures as had the Dementia Alliance comprising 19 parishes around Ivybridge. 179/18 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE - there were apologies from Cllr. Blackler, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Tubb, Mr. Hussell and Mr. Lyndon. 1/13December2018………………………………………………..Chairman 180/18 INTERESTS TO BE DECLARED - members were invited to declare interests in the items for discussion during the meeting. Cllr. Green declared an interest in relation to the planning appeal for Barnicott. 181/18 DISPENSATION REQUESTS - none. 182/18 MINUTES - the minutes of the 8 November Parish Council Meeting were approved as a correct record and the Chairman was authorised to sign. 183/18 VARIATION OF AGENDA - RESOLVED; matters relating to pre-planning/planning enforcement and maintenance quotes should be considered in committee. (Vote; unanimous.) 184/18 DISTRICT COUNCIL (SHDC)c 184.1 Councillor reports i) Cllr. Blackler - had sent apologies and the following written reports; Press release; “A new multi million pound contact has been approved by South Hams District Council for recycling, waste and cleansing services enabling the Council to save over £3 million pounds over the life of the contract and improving our environmental impact. The new services will be delivered to a high standard from 1st April 2019 as part of a new partnership agreement with a private company. This is a brave new step for the South Hams who have provided these services through the Council’s own workforce for many years. The decision was made following a very intensive and thorough tendering process lasting almost two years. This included robust market testing giving full consideration to every single element of the current services to ensure best value and best quality for residents. The staff who currently collect the waste and recycling and clean the district will transfer to the new partner company, whose name will be announced on the 18th December following the formal 10 day legal “standstill” period. South Hams District Council have ensured that their valued workforce will continue to provide services with protected terms and conditions and without the need for redundancies. The future service will offer householders the opportunity to recycle even more of our household waste from the kerbside from September 2020.” Cllr. Blackler’s notes; “At the full Council meeting on Thursday (6 December) it was agreed to continue with discussions/participate on forming the South West Mutual Bank, the People’s Bank. £50,000 to be SHDC share, other Councils also involved. Money in s106 account is constantly being monitored in relation to Affordable Housing. In answer to questions at the Full Council meeting on Thursday:- Amount spent on outside consultants so far this year £164,933. Legal advice £53,941. Planning professionals £46,360 Agency staff £443,362.” ii) Cllr. Baldry reported – - Refuse and cleansing services. Full Council had approved the privatisation of refuse and cleansing services the previous Thursday. From 1 April 2019 a new contractor would be undertaking the service - which should remain unaltered. There had been some opposition. Queries had been raised as to how a private contractor could undertake the service at a profit and save money for SHDC whilst providing the same service. Any attempt to bring it back in house after the elections in May 2019 would cost a 14% premium. There had been no in - house tender bid. - Peer review. Cllr. Baldry had given evidence in two capacities – as a non- executive member and as leader of the opposition. The full report was due at the end of January. Some feedback had been received. The quality of SHDC officers had been found to be very good. Planning had not been good. Whilst SHDC and West Devon Brough Council officers worked well together comments were made that relations at councillor level should be improved. It was suggested SHDC needed to put customers back at the centre of the service and should work more with other organisations e.g. health and Devon County Council. 184.2 Public Toilets – the RYDA had sent 13 objection comments received in response to an article they had placed in the Parish Magazine regarding the proposed closure of the WCs in Newton Ferrers. A further letter of objection had been received from a parishioner. Mr. Lyndon had conducted an informal survey on the bus. Out of the 18 passengers all had objected but none had used the facilities.