49 STOKENHAM PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18TH SEPTEMBER 2014 IN THE STOKENHAM PARISH HALL PRESENT: COUNCILLORS: C. ROGERS (in the Chair) J. ANSELL L. COWLEY J. GARDNER P. MOORE MRS L. WINROW MRS A. LOCKWOOD P. SPENCE A. GOODMAN MRS. C. NUTTALL-SMITH J. BRAZIL (County Councillor) Also in attendance: Clerk – Mrs G. Claydon WPC Jane Gerrard APOLOGIES: COUNCILLORS TOM HOEKSMA - Personal J. BAVERSTOCK (District Councillor) R. FOSS - Personal 1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillors were invited to declare any disclosable interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they had in any items to be considered at this meeting. They were also reminded to consider whether in the light of recent activities any items within their Register of Interests should be updated. It was advised that any unforeseen request for a Dispensation would be considered by the Clerk at this point only if there was no way a councillor would have been aware of such before the meeting. Cllrs Rogers and Ansell declared an interest in applications 2081/14/LB and 2079/14/F. 2. OPEN FORUM WPc Jane Gerrard advised that from last month to this month no crimes or public incidents had been recorded. There had been a complaint from a member of the public with regard to speeding in Torcross after the recent accident. They had attended with the speed gun and checked from the tank to the post office recording an average 17 mph. From Stokenham to Torcross the average speed was 25 mph. The problem with the speed guns was that officers had to be visible and they could not be used in the dark or rain. The police however would always take positive action. At Halwell and Moreleigh and West Charleton they had community speed checks facilitated by volunteers who then reported back to Sgt Green who sent letters out initially but if the offender was caught a second time further action could be taken. Volunteers for speed check had to go through vetting procedures at head office and she acknowledged that this was a slow process which had to have six volunteers in a community to make it viable. With regard to the road outside the old garage in Chillington she had been in discussion with Cty Cllr Brazil and Dist Cllr Baverstock as she felt with the potholes there somebody could get killed on that road. It was noted that this section of road was recorded to 50 have works imminent to deal with the problem of the sunken drain/spring in this area as each time the patch was done with any rainfall the spring took such out. Cllr Mrs Lockwood noted that her B&B guests had noted no lights on the corner of the scaffolding at the property in Torcross where the accident happened. WPc Gerrard noted this and would have a look on leaving the meeting. 3. MINUTES The Minutes of the: (a) full council meeting dated 17th July 2014 were approved by all present and duly signed as a true and correct record. (b) Planning Committee held 7th August 2014 and none held in September 2014 were approved and duly signed as a true and correct record. 4. CO-OPTION OF COUNCILLOR No applications had been received and thus this matter was DEFERRED. 5. PLANNING & PLANNING MATTERS The applications below were considered at this meeting and the following observations submitted to District: • 1999/14/F Installation of ground-mounted solar array (total site area 200m²) with estimated output 20kW and associated infrastructure Stokeley Farm Stores, Stokenham. No objection. Cllrs Rogers and Ansell left the meeting and Cllr Spence chaired. • 2079/14/F Retrospective change of use of barn to multipurpose venue. Associated works to include installation of function room, bar, stage, WC, kitchen, farm museum and store. Creation of access ramps and stairs Beeson Farm, Beeson. Parish Council objected to this application although there was no objection on change of use and they supported the economic venture. However there were grave concerns for the increased noise element due to the acoustic position of the property in the village and possibility that the usage would be predominantly evening. As soon as the doors to this function room were open to enjoy the vista of the village any noise insulation would be lost and there would be sound nuisance. It was suggested that intrusion would not occur but parish council had no confidence that this could be controlled even if wished. • 2081/14/LB Retrospective listed building consent for change of use of barn to multipurpose venue. Associated works to include installation of function room, bar, stage, WC, kitchen, farm museum and store. Creation of access ramps and stairs Beeson Farm, Beeson. See above. • 2109/14/F Retrospective replacement of block pavings with concrete sets Island House, Stokenham. Parish Council deplored various repeated requests for retrospective planning permission by applicants which showed disrespect for the process. No objection. • 2283/14/F Householder application for demolition of single storey rear extension Erection of two storey rear extension and internal alterations 12 Beesands, Beesands. It was noted that there were no plans for this application uploaded to the District website. No objection. PLANNING CORRESPONDENCE • None received other than already emailed to parish councillors for consideration. 51 • Link from District for the Local Validation List and simple tips for submitting planning applications was sent out but did not work. Councillors could access this through the District website by just typing ‘What to submit with an application’ into the search engine. • 2567/13/F Application for erection of 1no. wind turbine (estimated output of 0.05megawatts) with 24.6 metres hub height, 34.2 metres tip height and associated infrastructure for agricultural use (following judicial review and the court order dated 18.08.14 quashing the decision dated 21.05.14) Land at SX776419, Winslade Farm, Frogmore, Kingsbridge, TQ7 2PA – As previously responded No objection. 6. PERMISSIVE PATH FURNITURE It was AGREED to ratify the maintenance works carried out, for safety reasons, to the gateposts at the entrance to the Permissive Path from Stokeley Farm Shop driveway and from Kiln Lane into the wooded area together with various cutting back of vegetation along this section of path up to a cost of £600. Cllr Mrs Nuttall-Smith requested that a further cut be carried out to cut the permissive path from the Church to wooded area. This would be an agenda item for consideration at the following October full council. 7. COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND WORKS An email was read out from Anne Bowyer Stokenham Community Village Association thanking the parish council and especially Charles Rogers for the superb work and footpath project undertaken with regard to the Carehouse Cross to White House footpath improvements. It was AGREED to ratify the necessary cutting works to hedges/trees; (a) at Helmers/Tanpits Playing Field to prepare the footpath for tarmac installation up to a cost of £350 (b) from Carehouse Cross along Footpath 22 towards Chillington to cut vegetation back off the footpath, to allow the tarmacking works to progress, up to a cost of £400. Cllr Brazil arrived at the meeting. 8. HELMERS PLAYING FIELD BRIDGE AND FOOTPATH It was advised that the Section 106 monies to carry out these works had been passed to Parish Council by District and acknowledged that the route of these works had been agreed with District officers within the Community Reinvestment works plan. Therefore payment was APPROVED for such works as detailed up to £13157. 9. PARISH PROJECTS Ideas were requested and this matter was DEFERRED to consider projects for application into; (a) the Town and Parish Fund (TAP) for submission by 31st December 2014. (b) the Community Reinvestment Fund for submission by 31st December 2014. It was however noted that youngsters using the Helmers play area had requested a ‘proper’ swing, there was a need for new mini football nets and outside toilets/storeroom were required for the ongoing use of the Chillington hall. It was also suggested that funding could be sought for the continuance of improvement works to the path from Carehouse Cross to Torcross. 10. STOKENHAM WEBSITE Cllr Spence noted he had come to the end of the road with this pilot and working with District on hosting the parish website. He had reviewed the last year and found fifteen excuses for things that 52 were wrong, half a dozen times when access to the site was down and the site was completely out between 9th March to 30th April. The fix to fix was not provided to parish level until June. It was marketed as being a cost free service, with robust data storage and a tried and tested platform. Only the first statement was true but there was much opportunity and time lost from trying to engage with this pilot. Cllr Spence had believed that District was serious about making the site and network work for Parish. District and parish requirements however were completely different. Parish Council needed small, nimble and easy to use. This District format was unwieldy and designed for a much bigger entity. The interface was non intuitive and would be inaccessible to non experts. With regard to reliability it seemed to be increasingly vulnerable to outages and District did not own such entity as it was licensed. So when such owners did an update District had to take it. Thus when it did go down the support for parish level was poor or non-existent. Realistically District support would probably not improve especially with such downsizing of the IT department due to cuts and the District work on Transition 18.