Aylesbeare Parish Council s2

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AYLESBEARE PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES of the Meeting of Aylesbeare Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 8 October 2014 commencing 7.30pm.

PRESENT Cllr Ken Chun (Chairman) Cllr John Ayres (Vice-Chairman) Cllr Mrs Gillian Hichens Cllr Noel Finegan Cllr David Timms

Clerk: Mrs L Parker

Others Present: District Cllr Claire Wright and three members of the public

1. Apologies of Absence Apologies were received from PC Simon Blyth

2. Declarations of interests in Items on the Agenda There were no declarations.

3. Minutes The Minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated 3 September 2014 were approved to be correct.

4. Matters Arising The gate that has been missing, which leads to the field adjacent to the playing field, has been approved for replacement by EDDC. The Clerk contacted 6 nearby parishes for ideas for the Parishes - Together scheme and got one reply from Colaton Raleigh who have no idea but will put on agenda for their November meeting. The Clerk and Chairman will attend the next meeting of the scheme on 22 October. The ditching works reported to DCC last month have been entered for action.

5. Police Report PC Simon Blyth had sent his report to the Clerk which was of nothing happening during the last month. In response to the Parish Council’s query of receiving more detailed information he said he has to be very careful not to identify anyone or anywhere specific to retain anonymity. He is very aware that he has to look after victims and luckily Aylesbeare is a relatively low-crime area.

6. Report of District Councillor District Cllr Claire Wright spoke of the retrograde decision to close beds at Ottery Hospital. She had attended a meeting locally to consider the Commissioning Group’s intentions which was attended by 200 people. The issue is to close all inpatient beds and the Minor Injuries Unit at Ottery Hospital. Instead a ‘Hospital at Home’ initiative would commence which, in public opinion, would not save any money and not have the patients’ welfare at heart. The Group has a financial deficit of £14m which is increasing. Very recently the North Devon Healthcare Trust has announced that Ottery Hospital will be a centre for stroke-care with 15 beds designated for stroke patients and a further 9 for winter pressures. This is, however, only a temporary measure. The Youth Centre in Ottery closes this week but is being taken on by the Church with the asset probably being transferred to Ottery Town Council.

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7. Chairman’s Report Cllr Ken Chun was very pleased to have visited Mrs Margaret Reynolds on her 100th birthday to present her with a basket of flowers on behalf of the Parish Council. Together with the Clerk he found Mrs Reynolds enjoying her birthday and was joyfully shown her telegram from the Queen. He had attended, together with 50+ parishioners, a meeting instigated by Paul Brinton on the development of the Aylesbeare Inn site. The general opinion was that the proposed development was overcrowded. Paul Brinton now has a revised layout but it will be suggested that he works together with another developer to combine ideas. Unfortunately Rob Lillicrap has tendered his resignation from the Parish Council. He is finding it difficult to attend meetings due to work and family commitments. He is, however, happy to carry on his responsibilities with the playground and snow scheme. The Clerk will start the process to find another Councillor to stand until May when the current term comes to a close.

8. Clerk’s Report The Clerk reminded Councillors of the dates of future meetings; some of which have been changed. She would like to attend one of the training sessions being organised in January 2015 by the Devon Association of Local Councils on preparing for elections. This was confirmed to be in order.

9. Reports of Parish Council representatives on other bodies Cllr Rob Lillicrap: New Councillor’s Course – 18 June No report was to hand. Cllrs Gillian Hichens: Village Hall Management Committee Meeting – 10 September Mrs Faith Elford is happy to continue as Treasurer and Alex Winter will be the new Chairman. The insulation and heating work has been mostly completed. The gaps at the edge and apex of the ceiling are for air movement. Once the external roof replacement takes place these gaps will not be required and will be covered over at that point. The stage curtain is still to be replaced and no quotation is yet available for new front doors. A sub-committee will be formed to organise fund raising. Ideas put forward were a leaflet drop with envelopes for donations; quiz night etc all to help swell funds. Cllr Noel Finegan: Exeter Airport Consultative Meeting – 1 October The Airport had received a good rating in the latest Which survey. Exeter had been rated the 7th best small airport to fly from in the UK. Passenger numbers for July were 4% higher than July 2013. August was 2% up on the previous year. September was 4% better than the same month in 2013. To date passenger numbers were 4% up on the previous year. Flybe is working to improve load factors on all its routes. The London City route would be starting on 27 October 2014. This is a focus for both the airport and Flybe with a large number of infrastructure works being undertaken by the Airport for the London City service to ensure that the journey time (as well as prices) was competitive with rail. Works were being undertaken to add in a fast track security lane. Flybe has turned a loss of £41m in the previous year to a profit of £8m. There had been considerable reduction in the business costs including staff redundancies. Contacting the airport management by telephone has recently been difficult. This would be investigated.

10. Planning Applications Decisions made between meetings due to time constraints were ratified: Application No: 14/2169/VAR Applicants: Mr & Mrs Prettyjohn Location: Little Orchard, Withen Lane Proposal: Deletion of condition number 4 to planning permission 77/0217 to remove the agricultural occupancy restriction to allow unrestricted occupation Observations: Recommend approval

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Application No: 14/2228/FUL Applicant: Rev Karen Spray Location: St Mary’s Church Proposal: Construction of new buttresses to support existing wall and construction of replacement building to house wc/garden room Proposal: Recommend approval

11. East Devon District Council: Planning Approval Application No: 14/1278/FUL (adjacent parish) Applicant: Mr R Middleton Location: Oakwood Farm, Sidmouth Road Proposal: Construction of agricultural building for the storage of manure

Application No: 14/1587/FUL Applicant: Mr A Clarke Location: Scotts Pollard, Aylesbeare Proposal: Demolition of two storey and single storey extension and construction of two storey side extension and construction of roof over existing flat roof to rear

12. Planning Inspectorate: Appeal Decision Appeal By: Mr & Mrs T James Development: Construction of detached dwelling Situation: Land adjacent to Crossways Cottage, Village Way Decision: The appeal is dismissed

13. Finance Payments made between meetings due to time constraints were ratified: Cheque No Detail Amount 000888 Dilly’s Florist: flower basket to celebrate 100th birthday of Margaret Reynolds £25.00 000889 Headway Devon: donation in memory of John Webber £25.00 New Payment Due 000890 Mrs L Parker: Parish Clerk 266.65 It was noted that the first instalment of the Precept has been received 3,250.00

14. Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations The amended 1960 Act provides that a person may not orally report or comment about a meeting as it takes place if he is present at that meeting but otherwise may (a) film, photograph or make an audio recording of a meeting (b) use any other means for enabling persons not present to see or hear proceedings at a meeting as it takes place or later (c) report or comment on the proceedings in writing during or after a meeting or orally report or comment after the meeting. The protocol on the filming and recording of Parish Council meetings has been placed on the Village Hall noticeboard and is annexed to these Minutes. Current Standing Orders pages 12 and 13 are to be destroyed and replaced by amended Orders which have been circulated to all Councillors.

15. Aylesbeare Development and Neighbourhood Planning Cllr David Timms, who attended the Neighbourhood Plans Seminar on 22 September 2014, gave a report on the seminar. It had been a well-supported meeting with 5 speakers - Claire Rodway, Senior Planning Officer EDDC, who said that the meeting was aimed at Parish Councils who were either starting or in the process of preparing a neighbourhood plan; Tim Spurway, Neighbourhood Planning Officer EDDC, who is the Parish Council point of contact; Matt Dickens, Planning Policy Manager EDDC, who told the meeting where Neighbourhood plans fit in with the existing policies; Jo Widdecombe from Planning Aid England who spoke about the structure of a

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plan and how to go about it and Stuart Todd, a consultant, who focussed on the steering group roles for producing a plan and the professional manner required to draw it up. After much discussion it was Resolved: to go ahead with the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan for Aylesbeare parish Should it come to fruition it will give Aylesbeare control over its own destiny, enable Aylesbeare to set its own priorities and be taken more seriously by the District Council Planning Department. Cllr David Timms will take the lead in this and will contact Tim Spurway for an initial meeting on the best way to get the plan off the ground.

16. Devon County Council: Libraries Consultation As a new ‘direction of travel’ has been introduced by DCC and is being considered by the Cabinet this evening it was felt that a response at this stage is un-necessary.

17. Hospital Bed Closures As this item had been discussed at length in District Cllr Claire Wright’s report it was Resolved (by majority vote) to write to the Commissioning Group and convey the Parish Council’s concerns regarding the impending loss of the beds and Minor Injuries Unit to Ottery St Mary Hospital.

18. Local Reports (i) Recreation Area Rob Lillicrap has dealt with the urgent items that needed action resulting from the Playground Inspection Report and is now sorting the next level of changes needed.

Standing Orders were suspended to take a comment from the floor and were then resumed.

The Clerk would ensure that remedial action is taken get the bench repaired on the entry to the playing field from Village Way and also the wire fence surrounding the playground which is fraying and considered to be sharp and dangerous. (ii) RSPB Reserve A planning application has been re-submitted for an office and volunteer accommodation on Hawkerland. The livestock will be reduced on the reserve for the winter months with just 30 Galloway cattle remaining. Winter management will soon be underway.

19. Correspondence Received Peter Crompton: Copy of letter sent to Paul Brinton Aylesbeare PCC and Aylesbeare Topics: thanks for Parish Council donations Clerks & Councils Direct: September 2014 Margaret Reynolds: thanks for her basket of flowers

20. Dates of Next Meetings Wednesday 12 November 2014, 3 December, 7 January all at 7.30pm

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.20pm.

…………………………………………………. Chairman

…………………………………………………. Date