Minutes of a Meeting of St Martin Parish Council Held in the Parish Hall on Wednesday at Pm

13 S U B J E C T T O C O N F I R M A T I O N

Minutes of a meeting of St Martin Parish Council held in the Parish Hall on Monday 6 th March 2017 at 7.30pm

Present Councillor Philip Jenkin (Chairman) “ Brindley Hosken (Vice-chairman) “ Andrew Bray “ Johnny Alston “ Mike West “ Tim Bryant “ Mrs Jeanette Angove “ Walter Sanger (Cornwall Council) 2 public

APOLOGIES There were no apologies.

INTERESTS There were no declarations.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS A parent present expressed concern that St Martin school parents had the previous week been advised that their children would be moved to Manaccan school – the infants from Easter and the juniors in May following SATS exams. One of the teachers had already moved to Manaccan School and the Secretary had moved to Coverack School. The reason given to parents for the move was that there would not be enough adults on the premises. Directors had stated that they would not be closing the school but in the short term there would be no teaching carried out there. Parents were concerned for the long term future of the school, they were not happy about the short notice and the Directors were surprised that their proposal was taken badly. There was no governing body for St Martin and only two reps on the main body. It was agreed that the Parish Council writes to the Chair of Directors, stating that as a Parish Council it was concerned at the proposals and wished to have a meeting as soon as possible. It was disappointed there had been no consultation. Parents would be invited to the meeting as well. A copy of the constitution would be requested.

MINUTES Minutes of the last meeting, having previously been circulated, were confirmed and signed.

MATTERS ARISING to receive update on current situation with possible regard to sale of No 2 Ford’s Hill Coastline were putting it on the market for £169,950. Council had the opportunity to look for someone local who may like to buy it before 24th March and then they would advertise it on the open market – for the same price. This was noted.

To receive report on joint Parish Council meeting held regarding neighbourhood plans The Chairman and Clerk had attended. All 14 S U B J E C T T O C O N F I R M A T I O N

parishes on the Lizard Peninsula were represented. A presentation was given on how a neighbourhood plan is produced and the necessary steps to go through in order to achieve one. In a plan it can be stated where the area producing it would like to see housing, but not where it doesn’t want housing. It also cannot dictate no development. Landowners would have to be asked whether they would sell some land. It can suggest other things as well such as where shops, business units, playgrounds, parks, open spaces might go. In the recent case of St Ives they have included a condition that any new housing development is only built to be permanently resided in, thereby reducing the future number of second homes. It can cost several thousand pounds to produce a plan, but Cornwall Council pays for some things such as submission and there are grants of £7/8k per plan. For this reason it was recommended not to do a joint plan because there would only be one pot of money available whereas if each parish applied individually then there would be multiple lots of £7k. It was felt that maybe there could be some joint collaboration on some of the technical criteria that would need to be included and James Evans (former Kerrier planning officer and more recently AONB planning officer) was there to offer his services for that – which would need paying for. The one big point was that it cannot be Parish Council led; it has to be produced by the community for the community. The Parish Council cannot dictate what goes in the plan, the residents have to decide. A Committee would need setting up with 1or 2 Cllrs on it, which would report back to the Parish Council on a regular basis. Finally, if a plan was produced it would have to go to a referendum of the parishioners in order for it to be adopted. 51% have to be in favour for it to go ahead. So there could be very low turnout and the plan not go ahead after a lot of work and expense. On a vote, it was RESOLVED not to pursue a neighbourhood plan.

PLANNING Decisions

09.02.2017 PA16/11099 APPROVED Applicant: Dr N and Mrs J Coward Location: Redundant Barns Trethewey St Martin Cornwall TR12 6EG Proposal: Conversion of redundant agricultural barns to create three dwellings with associated infrastructure (replacement of planning permission reference PA13/09171)

FINANCE to adopt 3 rd quarter accounts it was RESOLVED that the 3rd quarter accounts be adopted.

Thanks from Children’s Hospice SW for recent donation this was in lieu of electricity donated by two residents who hosted Christmas trees/lights in Newtown and St Martin. It was noted. 15 S U B J E C T T O C O N F I R M A T I O N

C’WLL COUNCIL Council tax would increase by 1.97% and another 2% for adult social care – a total of 3.97% increase. This would be an increase of £1.03/week for a D band property. A submission had been made to the Electoral Review body for 99 members instead of the present 123, from 2021. Figures of 85 and 130 had previously been defeated. If 99 were not acceptable to the Electoral Review body then another figure could be imposed. The bid for Truro to be European City of Culture in 2023 was still going ahead, despite Brexit having happened by then. There was a predicted economic benefit of £800k, although it was not known where. This was a cabinet decision – run by the Lib Dems – it was not a member decision. An additional £2.9m had been received for road repairs; £600k for white and yellow lines and road markings, £1.9m for surface treatment, £1m for cleaning and renewing the drainage network of rural roads.

CORRESPONDENCE to discuss current situation with regard to St Martin School this had already been discussed under Public Questions.

Clerk’s & Council’s Direct magazine this was circulated.

To consider weed treatment quote from Cormac It was RESOLVED not to accept a quote for weed treatment.

Cornwall Council adopted Local Plan published this was available in hard copy and online. It was noted.

To discuss response from Coastline re future housing in area – feedback required as discussed at the meeting in August Coastline were keen to facilitate new affordable housing across Cornwall. One of the issues they faced was ensuring there was suitable demand for their developments. Historically on new local needs developments in rural areas applications had first been invited from the immediate parish and then subsequently (after a set period of time – usually 28 days) extended to include bordering parishes, then subsequently extended again to the whole of Cornwall if no suitable qualifying tenant had not been found. This cascade approach had been used on the Lizard in the past and led to delays in the occupation of new homes. It could also lead to new homes remaining empty for longer than necessary when they were re-let. Coastline had discussed this with Cornwall Council Housing Enabling Team, which supported the approach of allowing households with a local connection to any of the Lizard Peninsula parishes to have access to new home schemes built on the Peninsula (not including Porthleven or Helston). However, applicants from the immediate parish would still take priority. The support from Cornwall Council was on the basis that the Lizard parishes endorsed the approach. St Martin Parish Council had no problem with the cascade proposal. 16 S U B J E C T T O C O N F I R M A T I O N

OTHER BUSINESS A letter from a resident complained of a muddy verge outside her property, which caused mud to get on her wall and asked whether the verge could be tarmac. Cornwall Cllr Walter Sanger advised that if the verge was private Cormac would do it but would charge, or she could get prices from other contractors.

The PCC, on behalf of those attending graves in St Martin closed churchyard, asked if the first cut of the season could be done before the cow parsley came up as it got very overgrown. The Clerk would ask the trimmers.

A certain horse was not being taken down Pork Street but the rider knew who did and a member would speak with them. Cllr Mrs Jeanette Angove was thanked for scraping up the mud down there.

A play equipment quotation had been received in the sum of £45k. It was agreed that other quotes would be sought.

NEXT MEETING The next meeting would be held on Monday 3rd April at 8 pm.

In view of the nature of the following items, it was RESOLVED to exclude members of the press and public under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 (Standing Order 1c)

Further discussion on sale of 2 Ford’s Hill members discussed whether there was any way Parish Council could purchase the property in order to let it out to local people. However, it was impossible to do as to just use the rent to pay the loan would take over 20 years and the community plus future councillors could not be saddled with such an expensive commitment. It was agreed to try other local housing associations such as Cornwall Rural Housing and Devon & Cornwall Housing, to see if they would be willing to purchase it.

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.52pm.

CHAIRMAN Date