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MORCHARD BISHOP PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Parish Meeting Monday 5th October 2020

By Zoom

Present: David Grant (Chairman), Dawn Parkhouse, Sarah Gillbard, Sheila Sinclair, Steve Watson, David Gilbard, Alasdair Cameron, Andy Hankins, Derek Horn, Sheila Manning, County and District Councillor Margaret Squires, & David Parker (Parish Clerk).

Members of the public attending: Jeanette Richardson.

1. Welcome and Thanks: The Chairman welcomed our four new Councillors and thanked the retiring Councillors, Keith Davies, Roger Field, John Lewin and Luke Denno for their services to the village. The Clerk was asked to send letters of thanks to the most recent retiring members.

2. Apologies: Les Partridge, District Councillor Elizabeth Wainwright.

3. Members of the Public – Jeanette Richardson agreed to wait until item 12, when the Council were due to discuss Christmas arrangements for the village.

4. The minutes of the Council meeting of 7th September 2020 were approved and set aside for the Chairman to sign. Proposed: Sheila Sinclair, Seconded: Steve Watson, carried unanimously.

5. Finance. Cashflow table for September was circulated which explained the income and expenditure figures for September/October. Expenditure for October is £628 on the main account, we have received £2,050 on the P3 account for major landscaping works to one footpath. Funds at the start of October 2020 stood at: Reserve Account £15,100.00 including funds for St Gatiens Garden (£136.79), DAAT (1339.11) and Heart of Climate Action Group (HDCAG) (£500); Current Account before payment of these invoices £7,980.31; P3 Account £4,017.72.

Invoices to be paid: EDF Electricity £ 23.00 Direct Debit M. Baker Bus shelter cleaning £ 25.00 Standing order Function 28 web hosting and Email management £ 24.00 Standing Order David Parker Expenses £16.00 BACS David Parker Fees net of income tax £432.00 BACS HMRC Clerk’s PAYE £108.00 BACS

Derek Horn proposed and Sheila Sinclair seconded that these invoices be paid and the Financial report accepted. – carried unanimously.

The Clerk circulated the Budget reconciliation figures, the Council were grateful for their clarity.

6. Planning.

Four planning applications were considered:

20/00669/FULL Erection of a dwelling following demolition of existing Meadow Barn, Broadgate barn – Revised Drawings Farm, Morchard Bishop

Councillor Andy Hankin, being a near neighbour, declared an interest and took no part in the discussion.

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Following discussion, David Gillbard proposed that the Council make “No Comment” on this application, Alasdair Cameron seconded the proposal, three councillors abstained form the vote, three councillors voted for the proposal and three councillors voted against the proposal, the Chairman used his casting vote and so the proposal was not carried. Councillor David Grant proposed that the Council approve this application, Derek Horn seconded the application. A vote was taken, 4 Councillors abstained due to this Council's problems in general with full planning permission following on from Q permission, 5 Councillors voted to approve the application and so the proposal to approve the application was carried.

20/01519/HOUSE Erection of single storey extensions Middle Aish, Morchard Bishop,

Supported. Proposed: Steve Watson, Seconded: Dawn Parkhouse, Carried unanimously.

20/01566/HOUSE Conversion of garage to ancillary accommodation and Oldborough Cottage, erection of porch Morchard Bishop, Crediton

20/01567/LBC LBC for conversion of garage to ancillary Oldborough Cottage, accommodation and erection of porch Morchard Bishop, Crediton

It was agreed to deal with these applications at the same time. Proposal to approve these applications Proposed: Sheila Sinclair, Seconded: Sheila Manning. Carried unanimously.

Planning: decisions / appeals / withdrawals

20/01212/FULL Erection of a polytunnel Lydcott Nursery, Black Dog Granted Crediton 20/01243/CAT Notification of intention to remove 1 Maple Tree 1 Chapel Street, Morchard No Objection within the Conservation Area Bishop 20/01241/FULL Erection of timber frame shed for use as workshop and Hill Barton, Morchard Bishop Granted storage 20/01295/FULL Erection of extension to existing agricultural livestock Bishopsleigh Farm, Black Dog, Granted building 20/01339/PNAG Prior notification for the erection of an agricultural Wood Barton Farm Morchard No Objection – livestock building Bishop Prior Approval Note: Morchard Bishop PC were not asked to consider Not Required this application

7. Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic Emergency Response – Steve Watson (co-ordinator) has now spoken to his current volunteers to check that they are prepared and ready to respond should the need arise. He has not had many requests for help recently but one request was from a resident of Lapford Parish asking for some shopping to be done.

8. Correspondence not dealt with elsewhere in the meeting: None

9. Matters Arising: a) Roads, Signage, Hedges, Potholes, Footpaths and Mud: The Clerk was asked again to write to Steve Tucker, the DCC Highways Officer relating to drains maintenance and the continuing breakdown of the road at Ladies Plain – following the recent rains the drains along Ladies Plain are full and overflowing and the water is backing up, meaning that the hole in the road again has water running out of it. The Clerk was asked to request a meeting with the Highways Officer at Ladies Plain.

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Councillor Margaret Squires again said that everyone should call the helpline on 0345 155 1004 and make an “official complaint” – Margaret said the greater the number of calls the higher up the priority list the repair would move. The Clerk was asked to publish the number in the Morchard Messenger. The Clerk was asked to ask the Highways Officer whether pothole repairs could be made to the holes where water wasn’t coming out so that there would only be one hole for vehicles to manoeuvre around. b) Accidents and Incidents: With regard to the person defecating in a cattle feeder at Oldborough, the land-owners have been advised to report the matter to the Police and Community Liaison Officer. c) Dog Control: None. d) Frost Telephone Box: No news. e) Defibrillators: All Ok – Roger Field has agreed to continue to monitor the Defibrillators. f) Bus Shelter: - No news. g) Winder for Church Clock – The Clerk has sent a letter to a charity to request funds for a winder for our Clock in the Church Tower. h) Tree planting – The Clerk is still gathering information and will be working with Claire Proietti to further this scheme. i) Annual Audit – The accountants appointed by the Government have confirmed that they have received our documentation and are an Exempt Authority for this year. The Clerk will organise a thank you present for our Internal Auditor. j) Litter Pickers – The Clerk will be buying these but as they are not available on-line will have to go into . k) S.106 Funds – Maggie Down has received a reply from regarding S106 funds relating to the new development opposite the Doctors’ surgery – as below: …For application 20/00618/MOUT, DCC provided an education response for this application on 14th May.

As you will see, this response only requested for secondary school transport. This based on the methodology set out within DCC’s Education Infrastructure Plan where a request would only be made if there was a forecast lack of capacity at the designated school. In this case it was calculated that the proposed 20 houses would generate the need for 5 primary school places and that looking at forecast data these additional pupils could be accommodated by Morchard Bishop Primary School

DCC’s Education Infrastructure Plan can be viewed at: https://www.devon.gov.uk/planning/planning-policies/pupil-place-planning

Dear Planning, Regarding the application above, Devon County Council has identified that the proposed increase of 20 family type dwellings would generate an additional 5 primary pupils and 3 secondary pupils which would have a direct impact on Morchard Bishop C of E Primary School and College. In order to make the development acceptable in planning terms, an education contribution to mitigate its impact would be requested. This is set out below: We have forecasted that there is currently capacity at the nearest primary and secondary school for the number of pupils likely to be generated by the proposed development and therefore a contribution towards education infrastructure will not be sought. We will however require a contribution towards secondary school transport costs due to the development being further than 2.25 miles from Chulmleigh College. The costs required are as follows: 3 Secondary pupils £6.12 per day x 3 pupils x 190 academic days x 5 years = £17,442

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The school transport contribution above has been calculated using the current contract cost of transporting a pupil from the development to the named school. The number of academic days and years is based on the number of term days in a school year and the number of years a pupil is expected to attend school. The contribution will ensure pupils living within the development will have school transport available for every year they are attending the school. It is considered that this is an appropriate methodology to ensure that the contribution is fairly and reasonably related in scale to the development proposed which complies with CIL Regulation 122. It should be noted that in accordance with the County Council’s Education Infrastructure Plan, education contributions are required from all family type dwellings, including both market and affordable dwellings. Affordable housing generates a need for education facilities and therefore any affordable units to be provided as part of this development should not be discounted from the request for education contributions set out above. Such an approach would be contrary to the County Council’s policy and result in unmitigated development impacts. All contributions will be subject to indexation using BCIS. In addition to the contribution figures quoted above, the County Council would wish to recover legal costs incurred as a result of the preparation and completion of the Agreement. Legal costs are not expected to exceed £500.00 where the agreement relates solely to the education contribution. However, if the agreement involves other issues or if the matter becomes protracted, the legal costs are likely to be in excess of this sum. Kind regards, Alison Balsdon – Devon CC

10. Heart of Devon Climate Action Group Report - Steve Watson reported that Steve Batt is making progress with a new funding application regarding resilient housing. Steve Watson is looking at new signboards for the village that members of the Public can place their own notices in. The cost is likely to be in the region of £1200 for two boards of similar size to the public notice board opposite the shop. Margaret Squires offered £500 from her locality budget towards this notice board. The Wind Turbine application is looking positive and good progress is being made. Following the complete lack of response from his message in the Morchard Messenger, Steve wondered whether we could do a leaflet drop to all households in the village perhaps using our list of community wardens as we did at the start of the pandemic, the leaflet would ask the Parishioners for their response as to what the residents want the Parish Council to do about Climate Change. The Council discussed this but thought that rather than do a leaflet drop that we should use the front page of the Morchard Messenger when the Parish Council sponsor the MM in January. – That way we hoped that villagers couldn’t miss the article. The Clerk offered to assist Steve with designing this page.

11. Date for Special Meeting to discuss: Parish Initiatives, Village Assets – Depreciation and Maintenance, Village Resilience Plan: Tuesday 13th October at 7.30pm at the Memorial Hall – – if a Planning Officer from Mid-Devon DC is available to address us, we will add Q permission to this meeting.

12. Christmas arrangements including Nativity in the Bus Shelter: Jeanette Richardson joined us for this section as she is willing to organise the Nativity Scene in the Bus Shelter again. The Risk Assessment states that we will need an RCD Circuit breaker for any mains connection for lights. The village lights will be placed in the Cherry Tree, we will not erect a Christmas Tree due to concerns over stability should we get further strong winds. The Youth Worker from the Chapel had written to the Council making suggestions that garden tags and baubles could be hung from the bus shelter or the tree, the council wondered whether these items were better hung from the railings leading to the Chapel and the Church? The Council however, endorsed the ideas that Sherrin had suggested, the clerk was asked to write to her confirming this and let her know that Jeanette Richardson would be working with her to carry these ideas forward. Jeanette commented about painted stones/pebbles being placed around the village by young people and it is hoped that this can be continued with Christmas messages and pictures. The Clerk had written to both churches expressing the hope that Carols could be sung around the village this Christmas as it looked unlikely that we will have Carol Services. The Clerk sought permission to Page 4 of 5

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buy 50 Bethlehem Carol Sheets, this was agreed but Derek Horn and David Grant offered to pay for them.

13. Boundary Commission – proposed Changes: Margaret Squires explained the proposal relating to the redrawing of the boundaries relating to our Ward, principally this will mean that Sandford is split away from Morchard Bishop. The Clerk was asked to reply to the Boundary Commission saying we were against the proposals and to include the line “We don’t appreciate someone from outside of the Morchard Bishop and Sandford Parishes telling us what is best for us”.

14. Proposed Changes to the Planning System: The Council discussed the Government’s White paper suggesting changes to the Planning System. The proposed changes seek to speed up planning applications to the extent that Parish Councils would not have time to properly consider have to meet more often to consider Planning Applications in time, a small development would be considered to be 50 dwellings or less and would not attract S.106 funding. If we had 50 houses proposed as a development in Morchard Bishop it would have significant infrastructure problems for the village that need to be properly considered and not rushed through. – This appeared to be a Developers Charter. The Clerk was asked to write to say that the Parish Council were not happy with the proposals.

15. General : Margaret Squires will follow up her Broadband contact at Devon CC in order that we can arrange for this contact to address the Council.

Meeting Closed at 9.57pm

The next meeting of Morchard Bishop Parish Council will be on Monday 2nd November 2020

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