MINUTES of the (15th) DEVIOCK ANNUAL PARISH MEETING held at THE COASTAL ZONE, on THURSDAY, 7th APRIL 2011 at 7.30 pm.

PRESENT: Parish Cllrs. R.J. Daniel, Downderry Ward, Chairman Ms. M. E. Temlett, Vice-Chair Mrs. M.Y. Byles JP, Ward C. J. Hazel, Seaton Ward P. McClung, Downderry Ward S.J. Parry, Seaton Ward 4 Members of the Public Mr. Les Ternan C. Cllr. R. Pugh (from 19.55 hrs) Mr. Timothy Pullin (Parish Clerk)

The Vice-Chair made a presentation to the Chairman and Mrs. Jenny Daniel, on behalf of the Parish Council, for their 25 years work of editing and producing the Nut Tree Newsletter. On behalf of his wife and himself the Chairman expressed his thanks for this presentation and stated that it had been an honour to serve his community in this way and hoped that he would be able to continue to do so for some time to come.

The Chairman welcomed all present and declared the Annual Parish Meeting in session.

1. APOLOGIES: Cllr. J. P. Candy, Cllr. D. L. G. Elliott, Cllr. Mrs. G. E. Hartland & Cllr. Mrs. A. Robinson. C. Cllr. R. Pugh, P.C. Patrick Libby & Mr. D. Watters.

2. MINUTES: Proposed by Cllr. Mrs. M. Y. Byles, seconded by Cllr. C. J. Hazel, the Minutes of the (14th) Annual Parish Meeting of 13th APRIL 2010 were approved. There were no matters arising.

3. POLICE REPORT: The Clerk circulated a written report to all present:-

Report for the Annual Meeting Deviock 7th April 2011

Period of Report Crimes in Parish Crimes in Area 07/04/10 – 06/04/11 30 531

07/04/09 – 06/04/10 43 662

General information from Sgt Angela Crow Forthcoming changes to your local policing team:- As you will be aware from my previous bulletins and articles in the local media, there will be changes to your local policing team from 20 May 2011. The Force re-structure has identified a functional work-stream model as the most efficient use of resources. This means that there will three main work-streams – Local Policing Partnerships, Response and Crime Investigation. Being a functional model means that it is not a geographical model and allows for resources (officers, vehicles and IT equipment) to be based at central locations. The name of our new Local Policing Area will be East - Launceston and Sector. This area will include Torpoint, , , Launceston, and . The Local Policing Inspector for this sector will be Inspector Tony Joslin who will be based at Launceston. From 20 May 2011, there will be two Police Community Support Officers (Lindsay Cork and John Riggall), two Neighbourhood Beat Managers (Ross Morley-Trapnell and Pat Libby) and a Neighbourhood Team Leader (me) based at Torpoint Police Station. We will continue to try and deal with local issues in line with changes to our shift patterns and increased responsibilities FROMacross the Local Policing THE Area. PARISH WEBSITE

1 3. POLICE REPORT (continued):

We will be supported by 8 Local Policing Support Team Officers who, although based at Saltash, will share responsibility for managing local issues in Torpoint, Saltash and Callington. There will be 20 Response Police Constables and 5 Response Police Sergeants based at , working on different shifts, to provide a 24/7 response to any emergency or life threatening incident requiring police attendance. If necessary, officers can be deployed from other locations, for example Plymouth, should that be required. There will also be a number of police officers working in Crime Investigation who will be based at Charles Cross, Plymouth who will retain responsibility for investigating crime in Torpoint and the Rame Peninsula. There is likely to be a settling-in period whilst we all get used to working slightly differently as to how we work now, but we remain committed to delivering the best service possible to our community across Torpoint and the Rame Peninsula.

Crime Hot Spots In Parish There are no problem areas at present

4. FINANCIAL REPORT by Timothy Pullin, (Parish Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer).

The Annual Return for the year ending 31st March 2010 was approved and signed off by the External Auditor and was open for inspection by electors in accordance with current regulations. The financial position of Deviock Parish Council had remained in a sound condition throughout 2010/11. Bank interest rates had been low and therefore the Council has not been able to obtain good returns on its investments during the year. No major acquisitions or sales had been made during this period. £9,476.96 had been spent on projects in the Axe Field, Downderry, including the creation of a wildlife pond and woodland area with associated fencing, gates and seats. £2,534.75 had been spent on consultancy work in relation to the possible provision of a new burial ground. Grants made to local organisations and charities in 2009/10 totalled: £1,840.98 Councillor’s expenses / allowances in 2009/10 totalled: £1,462.00 The total cost of the clerk’s salary and expenses in 2009/10 was: £13,363.68 The Parish Council Precept 2011/12 decreased by 23.07% to a total required funding figure of £18,921.00 (£16.23 per elector). (2010/11 £23,286: £19). The Clerk drew the attention of those present to the 2011-2012 Precept document, copies of which had been circulated. The Parish Council was in the process of applying for an “Awards for All” grant for £10,000.00 towards the cost of providing outdoor gym equipment in Seaton Countryside Park. The independent internal auditor would be conducting his audit for the year ending 2010/11 on 10th May 2011. The Audit Commission required a completed annual return by 6th June 2011 and that that the Parish Council formally approved them no later than 30th June 2011. Public notices advising parishioners of their right to examine the return and associated paperwork would be displayed.

5. STATEMENT OF COUNCILLORS’ ATTENDANCE 2010/11:

Between May 2010 and March 2011 inclusive, 9 meetings have been held. There have been no Extraordinary Parish Council meetings. The Parish Council did not meet in August and December 2010. The councillors currently in Office are listed in alphabetical order below, except for the FROMParish Chairman and THE Vice-Chair who PARISH are first and second respectively: WEBSITE

2 5. STATEMENT OF COUNCILLORS’ ATTENDANCE 2010/11 (continued)

PARISH COUNCIL: Ward PC Mtgs Attended (out of 9) R.J. Daniel, Chairman Downderry 8 Ms. M.E. Temlett, Vice Chair Downderry 8 Mrs. M.Y. Byles Hessenford 8 J.P. Candy Downderry 8 D. L. G. Elliott Downderry 7 Mrs. G.E. Hartland Seaton 7 C. J. Hazel Seaton 5 P. McClung Downderry 9 D. T. Parry Hessenford 7 S.J. Parry Seaton 6 Mrs. A. Robinson Hessenford 6

Councillors also attended Planning Committee meetings that occurred 8 times during the year.

7. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Cllr. Daniel’s Report: In some ways this has been an unusual year, not least because the attendance of councillors has, on average been lower than usual. The reasons for this are varied but ill health is a factor. None the less we have always been quorate and hopefully able properly to represent our parishioners. We have considered all the normal tasks and have begun to grasp a number of new nettles. My thanks go to all councillors who have rallied to this flag. During the year we have responded to 38 applications for planning permissions. Many, most were straightforward but others did not warrant support and we sought modifications. It is noteworthy that soon the planning system will change significantly to improve the value of local input. We have begun to tackle two new issues which will be ongoing. Firstly we have asked your opinion about the need for affordable houses to be provided within the parish and we expect to receive the consultant’s report at our regular meeting on Aril 12th ( next Thursday) Then in February we asked you about various traffic related issues and your large response is presently with Highways for analysis. This is an ongoing problem in many parts of the parish but as a highways issue the solution must come from . Action is promised frequently but perhaps this time the mini-referendum devised by Jim & Phil will produce that which you corporately want. A car park for Hessenford and an interactive speed sign await costings and permissions. There are three on-going parish projects where we have tried to provide the requisite action. One, the footpath by Rock’s nose, illustrates very well our problem with the principal authority. For many years we have had meetings with county officials, have received promises of support and of resources, we have provided technical assessments as required often to comply with Health & safety issues but then, often due to a change of personnel, a new set of issues manifest themselves. The last offer was not to build the walkway but to use coloured tarmac to show a walkway and thereby narrow the road. We have given up. Our plan is now to build a steepish path down unto the seawall so that in decent weather that will be the safe route between Downderry & Seaton. Not ideal but better than a nasty accident. The Axe field project progresses nicely; a car park, a small woodland, planted by some children from St Nicolas, a pond, a lovely viewpoint and a pathway around the north of the villages. Try it ! The third project changes. We are informed that there is no longer a need for a sports FROMfield, certainly there isTHE no money, so PARISHthe parish is investigating theWEBSITE feasibility of building a solar farm. Watch this space.

3 7. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (continued):

Seaton Park, as you know, an issue dear to my heart, continues to change and in some ways improve. With money obtained from grants (almost secured !) we hope to install outdoor gym equipment, the Twinners will supply for public use a dry boule piste when the insurance issue is resolved ( almost), and joy of joys Cornwall Council has resolved to build some much needed Public Toilets . Thank you Julian German the port folio holder for all sorts of things! (C. Cllr. Richard Pugh joined the meeting at 19.55 hours) There are three issues to which I must bring your attention. The first is SUBSIDIARITY a EU word which means that any action must be by the tier of government nearest to the people that is capable of providing the action. So allotments by the Parish, assistance for Libya by Westminster. This gets translated as LOCALISM where responsibility gets devolved to local government; mostly very agreeable because the mantra went that the resources should precede the duty. This seems to have changed and increasingly if we want action we have to pay from Parish precept and not rely on the Principal Authority who actually receives Government grants (growing smaller admittedly). A related issue is the provision of grants to parish organisations by the parish. Every year a sum is put aside for grants and loans of this nature but as money gets tighter we need to re-examine this. One way is to introduce something called PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING, a concept widely use throughout the world. We had a speaker (Ms Sarah Simms) to explain how it operates in Clay Country, but few of you turned out on a chilly night in Hessenford. The idea is that if your properly constituted organisation is likely to need money from the parish then, before the precept is made (Septemberish) you should submit a detailed claim. At a special meeting of parish people all such claims are studied and a vote taken as to which are supported. The sum supported is then added into the parish budget alongside other parish needs and the precept set accordingly. Think ahead! I would like to say that in my final report as chairman how good our relationship is with our current Cornwall Councillor. I wouldn’t say that we always see eye to eye with his council but Richard affords us every attention. He does what a good councillor should and on behalf of the Parish and the Parish Council I wish, publically, to thank him for that. Finally we held a small consultation about the need for allotments. Your response was positive and a site was chosen. The owners had some second thoughts but their third thoughts will allow the project to continue which is why we have a speaker tonight to point us in the right direction.

8. GUEST SPEAKER. Mr. Les Ternan: Setting up local allotments Mr. Ternan thanked the Chairman for asking him to come and speak of his experiences, and introduced his wife, Sheila, who helped with managing his allotment site. Mr. Ternan explained that his involvement in allotments began after he had moved to a house with a smaller garden and missed the joy of growing his own vegetables. Three years ago, having been in touch with Town Council, he was informed that there was a waiting list of over 60 people all requesting allotments. The demand was clear, but the Council was unable to find any suitable sites. Indeed, finding suitable sites is the most difficult part of setting up new allotments. After a two year wait, a 1.5 acre site became available for private rental, as the existing tenant did not have any plans for it. The site was suitable for up to 30 plots. After mowing and ploughing, the site was marked out for 10 x 15 metre square plots, allowing for expansion at a later date. An essential part of starting any allotment site is to set up a properly constituted allotment association. It is best to adopt rules as offered by the National Association of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners or the National Trust. Blackendon Allotments, near , formed the FROMbasis of the rules adopted THE by the new PARISH allotments association at Looe.WEBSITE

4 8. GUEST SPEAKER (continued)

Why do people want allotments? Growing vegetables is not the only reason. Many people take up allotment growing for the social dimension and the community spirit that tends to prevail amongst allotment holders. Some useful tips regarding allotment management include:- 1) Layout: Include allotment plots of different sizes, in order that people with different requirements in terms of time and energy can be provided for. 2) Decide on how close plots should be placed together. It is best to allow for good access routes to the plots. What type of paths should be laid and whether to allow space for hedges should be considered. 3) Decide whether to allow sheds on site. Specific conditions should be included outlining rules on matters such as keeping sheds in good condition, tidiness of stored items and the use of barbeques. 4) Whether to allow livestock 5) Whether poly-tunnels should be allowed 6) The importance of a good, reliable water supply 7) The need for fencing, to prevent rabbits entering the site etc. 8) Plot ascetics / visibility. Sites do not always look pretty and ways to enhance their appearance is important. 9) Membership of the National Association of Allotment and Leisure Gardens is recommended. Mr. Alan Coral, the regional representative can provide invaluable advice. The association also sells discounted seeds and other useful items. Mr. Ternan answered questions from the floor and was then thanked by the Chairman for his presentation. 9. MATTERS RAISED BY PARISHIONERS. No matters were raised.

The meeting was then closed by the Chairman at 9.45 pm.

FROM THE PARISH WEBSITE

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