BUDLEIGH SALTERTON TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES of the Meeting of the Town Council held in the Council Chamber on Monday 20 May 2013, on the rising of the Meeting of the Planning Committee

Meeting commenced at 7.34pm

PRESENT Cllr S Hall (Town Mayor) Cllr Mrs C A Sismore-Hunt (Deputy Town Mayor) Cllr A J Dent Cllr Mrs L D Evans Cllr A N Gooding Cllr D J Harrison Cllr M C Hilliar Cllr C A Kitson Cllr R S Mitchell Cllr C Richards Cllr T D Wright

Clerk: Mrs J E Vanstone

Others Present: County Cllr Mrs C Channon, two members of the public and one representative of the press

13.034 Public Speaking Time No members of the public wished to speak.

13.035 Apologies for Absence Apologies were received from Cllr A L Jones (holiday).

13.036 Declarations of Interests in Items on the Agenda Cllr Mrs L D Evans declared a personal interest in Min 13.045 – whilst not a member of Budleigh in Bloom she does maintain the planters outside the Public Hall.

13.037 Minutes The Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Council held on 29 April 2013 and the Annual Meeting of the Town Council held on 13 May 2013 had been circulated prior to the Meeting. It was unanimously agreed they be signed as a true record.

13.038 Report of Neighbourhood Beat Manager No report had been received.

13.039 Chairman’s Comments The Town Mayor, Cllr S Hall reported: 1. He and the Clerk had attended a meeting of East Devon Clerks and Chairmen which had been held at Honiton Town Council offices. There had not been a great deal on the agenda but he and the Clerk had been able to offer advice on one or two matters to the other Councils present. 2. He had attended a small ceremony at the War Memorial and laid a wreath to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Dambusters’ raids. 3. He had attended the Hospital League of Friends AGM on 17 May. He said that Woodbury, Exmouth and Budleigh (WEB Group) doctors were joining together and as such would have more spending power. The meeting had been told that there was a unique opportunity to secure the future of Budleigh hospital and residents were encouraged to back the plans and vote, if at all possible.

1 Cllr C A Kitson asked where the voting forms would be located. Cllr Hall said that slips were available from the health centre. Cllr T D Wright added that a meeting was being held on 5 June.

13.040 Clerk’s Report Mrs J E Vanstone reported that the veneer on the chamber tables was lifting in places. The restorer, Mr Browning, had taken a look a the table and advised that he would be able to sort out this problem if it got any worse, but it should be left alone for the time being.

13.041 Reports of Council Representatives on Other Bodies Budleigh in Bloom Cllr C A Kitson reported that a lot of the summer planting had been carried out over the weekend. The Committee had not been advised of the date for the town judging but it would be some time between 3 and 17 July. The route had been organised and would end up at the Croquet Club. High Street traders were being encouraged to put out hanging baskets, although public liability had to be sorted out by each business. The Committee was looking into the difficulty that had arisen following the planting of daffodil bulbs along the East Budleigh Road. Bicton College students were being asked to come up with some solutions which included a wild flower meadow. St Peter’s School Cllr S J Harrison said that the Ofsted inspection report had been released and the school was still ranked as “good”. The inspections were much more rigorous but that did not mean that a ranking of “outstanding” was not achievable, the school was in a good position to be able to achieve that ranking in the future. Cllr Harrison concluded by saying the report was available on the school’s website. He said that the headmaster and all the teachers should be congratulated.

13.042 Reports of County and District Councillors County Councillor The Town Mayor, Cllr S Hall congratulated County Cllr Mrs Channon on her re- election. Cllr Mrs Channon thanked the Town Mayor and then reported on the response to the petition lodged about pay and display machines on Marine Parade/Coastguard Hill. She said that the officer overseeing this matter had written to Mrs Yarwood and she then read from his letter (a copy is held on file). Cllr Mrs Channon added to the Town Mayor’s report on the Hospital League of Friends AGM. She said that the North Devon NHS Trust was the commissioning group and as such held the funding. The WEB Group would need to make bids for services in this area. The proposed changes to the hospital would mean that residents were offered a “whole service”. She added that Dr Mejzner had gathered all the information he could regarding what was needed at the hospital and then reported to Trust. The League of Friends was prepared to put money to pay for adaptations. This was good news for Budleigh but the Trust needed to be kept on side. District Councillors Cllr T D Wright reported: 1. Members will have read about the initiative to heighten awareness of the problem of dog fouling. The District Council was marking areas where there was regular dog fouling in an attempt to shame regular offenders into acting responsibly. The enforcement effort was also being increased. In addition to the dog warden, other EDDC officers had been trained and were authorised to act as enforcement officers and so can and would be issuing tickets to offenders. There had been complaints there were not enough dog bins; he explained that it was permissible to put dog mess, as long as it was properly bagged, into any EDDC litter bin. 2 It was also possible for the public to report incidents of dog fouling online. He then explained that the District Council collected between 25 and 30 tons of dog mess each month from the dog bins which meant that dog walkers across East Devon put between 125000 and 150000 “parcels” into dog bins each month. It was a minority who continued to act in a thoroughly selfish and irresponsible way, not only despoiling the streets, paths and public areas but also putting health at risk, particularly the health of small children. He was pleased to say that he had noticed the incidents in Budleigh seemed to be less than in previous years and he thanked the town’s responsible dog walkers. 2. Members would be aware of the poor results of the bathing water quality testing at Budleigh in the previous year. There was a risk that the town would lose its bathing water designation. He and the environmental health team had been working hard to get the Environment Agency (EA) to address this issue and had succeeded in getting Budleigh onto a short list of beaches for special investigation and attention. The EA had appointed a designated champion for Budleigh Beach and there would be an event involving the EA, South West Water, the National Farmers Union, land owners and other interested parties, including this council,to address the issue in order to identify the source of the pollution. Budleigh had had failures when there had not been heavy rain; these could be due to misconnected sewage, agricultural activity and a whole host of events up stream. Once the sources had been identified action could be taken to put things right. It was hoped the first meeting would be held at the end of this month; the Town Council would be involved in any such meetings. He then explained that one of the weaknesses of the present system of warnings was that due to the time it took for the samples to develop and be analysed there was a 72 hour delay by which time the problem had probably been swept out to sea. The EA had been analysing the effects of rainfall patterns on the results of water analysis is developing an ‘early warning system’ whereby following rainfall that reaches a threshold a cautionary notice will be issued stating that there may be a risk of contamination. This was potentially more effective and will warn people before they venture into the water rather than as now telling people the water may have had ‘nasties’ in it 72 hours previously. There would need to be infrastructure in place to place and remove warnings and the District Council was working on the best way to do this. 3. At the annual council meeting it should be confirmed that he would have a cabinet post as deputy portfolio holder for environmental issues and Budleigh bathing water would be at the top of his priorities. Cllr A J Dent reported: 1. The applications to develop the Lawn Bakery had been approved. 2. He had been appointed to the post of Champion of Design and Heritage and this too would be confirmed at the Annual meeting of the District Council. Cllr S Hall reported: 1. Household waste was still being dumped in litter bins. The Journal had published an article and he hoped this would help educate residents. He then said that a Budleigh resident had been caught re-handed and he hoped that the threat of a £80 fine would stop this person doing this again. 2. He hoped to be elected chairman of the District Council’s Licensing Committee for the third year running at the Annual Meeting.

13.043 Cheques for Signature Payment of cheques for the month of May 2013, in accordance with Appendix A, was approved.

The representative of the press left the meeting. 3 13.044 Seafront Seats The provision of additional seats on the seafront was discussed. The Town Mayor, Cllr S Hall explained that he had been contacted by East Devon District Council. There was a list of people wanting to have a memorial bench on the seafront but there was no room. He suggested that there were suitable gaps between the Gentlemen’s Club and the Longboat Café and it was Resolved: At the next Foreshore & Footpaths walk, this area will be visited and specific locations noted and reported to the District Council officer dealing with this.

13.045 Budleigh in Bloom Correspondence from Mr R Wiltshire, chairman of Budleigh in Bloom, regarding the installation of a flowering boat display at the bottom of Saltings Hill was received and considered. Resolved: The request is supported.

13.046 East Devon District Council: Tree on The Green Correspondence from Mr S Baker, Arboricultural Officer at East Devon District Council, regarding the proposed removal of an oak tree on The Green was received and considered. Resolved: This Council does not support the suggestion to remove the tree in question and would be happy if a Tree Preservation Order were placed on the tree, if this is possible.

County Cllr Mrs C Channon left the meeting.

13.047 Public Hall: Replacement Dishwasher The decision made at an emergency Public Hall Committee meeting, to purchase a replacement dishwasher, was noted.

13.048 Lions Club of Budleigh Salterton: Gala Week 2013 – 25 May to 2 June 2013 (i) Consideration was given to a request for a concessionary hire charge to be applied for the hire of the Public Hall (or a grant towards the cost). Resolved: A nominal charge of £100 will be made. (ii) Consideration was given to a request to use The Green. Resolved: Recommend approval to East Devon District Council.

13.049 Correspondence Received Budleigh Salterton Football Club: letter re: repairs to Clubhouse roof Devon County Council: Temporary Traffic Order – various roads in Budleigh Salterton East Devon District Council: East Devon Local Plan – request to check that information is accurate HMRC: Customer Survey 2013 Clerks & Councils Direct: May 2013 The Clerk: May 2013 Allotment and Leisure Gardener: Issue 2 2013

13.050 Any Other Business at the Chairman’s Discretion 1. Cllr C A Kitson asked if the Town Mayor could update Members on the Town Handyman at the next meeting. The Town Mayor, Cllr S Hall advised that meeting held at Honiton Town Council, the Clerk had spoken to the Exmouth Town Clerk about this.

4 2. Cllr T D Wright advised that the Jurassic Coast Communities Forum was going to be applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for support for the Ambassadors and Volunteering Programme. The Forum had asked that a letter of support be sent as soon as possible. He added that the OVA had sent a letter. 3. The Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr Mrs C A Sismore-Hunt said she would be going to the Fairlynch Museum AGM after the Council meeting. 4. The Town Mayor, Cllr S Hall said he understood from Budleigh in Business that there were plans for a ferry to link the East Devon and Dorset Jurassic Coasts and that Budleigh Salterton had declined to be involved. He asked Cllr T D Wright to find out about this project and report any findings at the next Meeting. Cllr Wright said that he had not heard about any new plans but previous ideas had been supported by this Council.

13.051 Dates of Next Meetings Planning Committee: 10 June 2013 at 7.00pm Public Hall Committee: 10 June 2013 on the rising of the Planning Committee Community Gardens Committee: 10 June 2013 on the rising of the Public Hall Committee Planning Committee: 24 June 2013 at 7.00pm Town Council: 24 June 2013 on the rising of the Planning Committee

There being no further business, the Meeting closed at 8.21pm.

……………………………………………… Chairman

……………………………………………… Date

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