SHEBBEAR PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Council Meeting held via video link

On Tuesday 12th January 2021 at 7.30pm.

CHAIRMAN. Cllr N Whatley.

Councillors: Cllr J Quance. Cllr M Pearce. Cllr Jax Curtis

. Cllr Joan Curtis. Cllr J Stupple. Cllr R Clark. Cllr L Walker.

D Cllr D Hurley. 2 Members of the Public. Clerk M Whatley

CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS. Chairman welcomed Councillors to the first meeting in the New Year, with a special welcome to the newly Co-opted member, Cllr Lucy Walker, who confirmed she had completed the Register of Interests and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Councillor.

311. Apologies for Absence. Cllr Franklin (Problems with Zoom). Cllr Styles-Power (Shingles). C Cllr Barry Parsons (another engagement).

312. Public Participation Period of 15 minutes. For speakers registered in advance, with the Clerk. None.

313. Agenda items for Discussion and Resolution. (1) Any matters raised during the Public Participation period. None.

314. Declarations of any Councillors Interests in Items on the Agenda. (a) Discloseable pecuniary interests (Prejudicial). Chairman and Clerk declared an interest in Items321 (b & c) and would leave the room when this was discussed. (b) Registerable Interests. None. (c) Any variations to Members Registration of Interests. None. (d) Requests for Dispensations. None.

315. Draft Minutes of the Council Meeting held on December 8th 2020 having been previously circulated, to be approved and signed. Proposed Cllr Quance, Seconded Cllr Clark, all in favour that Minutes be recorded as a true record.

316. Any matters arising from the Minutes. Clerks Report. To Fill the Vacancy to Co-opt New Member Sent letter to Lucy Walker informing her she had been co-opted as a Councillor, with copies of Register of Interest Form and Declaration of Interests. Christmas Tree. We have to thank Cllrs Whatley and Quance and Charlie Gliddon for erecting and decorating the Christmas tree, and taking it down. Arranged for Sam Whatmore to remove it from the Square. 1/0702/2020/OUT. Land at Libbear Barton, Shebbear, Devon. Application with all matters reserved for 1 no. dwelling to be used as managers accommodation. Re-submission of 1/0979/2019/OUT. Councillors agreed the applicants have made a good case to have Manager's accommodation on site on safety grounds. Responded to TDC that Shebbear Parish Council is in favour of granting planning permission subject to a signed agreement that the property must form part of the holiday complex and not to be sold off separately. 1/1040/2020/OUT. Land North of New Inn Cross, Shebbear, Devon. Outline application with all matters reserved for a single storey dwelling. Responded to TDC that the site was originally a quarry, and had been used as the village dump for a great many years. Old oil tanks, old cans, scrap iron and all manner of household waste including building waste, was deposited in the quarry for many years. Shebbear Parish Council is of the opinion that a full Environmental Survey would need to be carried out before any planning is given. Precept Added 2% to the budget figure discussed at the last meeting to achieve the final Precept figure to be agreed this evening and forwarded to TDC. Local Grants Informed all recipients of the Grant awarded to their organisation. Citizens Advice Bureau Have at last got hold of them as they are all working from home. Received an application form requesting £500. Balleroy Close At the last meeting, Cllr Hurley had raised the question of the play equipment being removed from the play area in Balleroy Close, and that the same thing had happened in Holsworthy. I have since received an email from Terry Leech of Westward Housing. She states that the reason for the play area being removed is the play equipment is no longer fit for purpose and the latest ROSPA inspection showed a number of areas that were rotten or broken. The cost to replace the equipment based on other Westward play areas would be in the region of £40,000 minimum. The same applies to the play area in Holsworthy, in this case £100,000. The majority of their residents are older and have no children, it is only they who pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the equipment and area. The Council does not provide any funding for this. She confirmed that Westward has no intention of developing the site, it is to remain a communal green space, and they will be looking to install seating in the New Year. As it is Westward's land they will take full responsibility for the grass cutting and grounds and will continue to do so. Cllr Quance raised the question of a Section 106 being in existence on the piece of land. Chairman asked Cllr Hurley to make enquiries. Hedgecutting Battledown to Shebbear Sent email to David King, Bursar of Shebbear Parish Council, drawing his attention to the hedge adjoining the road from Battledown Cross into the village, which has grown out again and requires trimming back before the new year's growth. He responded that he has put this in hand for the end of January.

317. Any urgent Agenda business or correspondence brought forward with the approval of the Chairman. (1) Dipper Mill Flood Warning System – Replacement Battery. The battery failed over the holiday period resulting in data not being updated on the flood warning system. Clerk obtained a quote from Hydro-Logic for an engineer to visit and replace the battery. Quoted £384.00 + VAT. System now working. We have to thank Cllr Clark, Ron Lester and Paul Isaacs for their input in this matter. (2) Hire of Coarse Grass Cutter for St Michael's Graveyard Chairman had met with Andrew Goode, Cllr Quance and Paul Watts to discuss the work that needs to be carried out in the lower end of the churchyard., which would require a more heavy duty grass cutter. Obtained alternative quotes for hire of the machine, the most competitive being Blakewells of Hatherleigh at £100 + VAT per day. Blakewells will deliver and collect for £20. (3) Winners of Shebbear Outdoor Christmas Lighting Competition First: 11 St Michael's View. Second: 1 Balleroy Close. Third: Arden House. (4) Gritting of roads. The gritter is stored at Lad ford Farm, Shebbear. Received after the Agenda was circulated. (5) Straighten granite posts around green. A number of the granite posts around the green have been knocked and are leaning at various angles. Clerk asked to seek quotes to rectify.

318. To Agree any items to be dealt with in Part 2, closed session, of the Meeting. None.

319. County Councilor's Report. None.

320. District Councilor's Report. Capital Projects I mentioned last month that difficult decisions would have to be taken when Councillors meet to discuss the Capital Projects. Just prior to the last election Councillors met and balanced the sums needed for the proposed projects at that time. Since then costs have risen, Covid has helped to reduce Council income and newly elected Councillors have clamoured for more projects to be added to the list. Some will have to be shelved. New Government Business Support Grants Following a session with Government Officers last week Torridge were advised that the guidance is likely to be with us by the end of this week. It will be a number of weeks before payments of the £4k, £6k and £9k grants will be processed. Car park charges and enforcement Torridge car parks will continue to charge and the CEOs will still operate, although they will do so in more pragmatic and less punitive nature recognising that individuals needs are affected by the pandemic. Land Searches Land searches were taking up 37 working days to complete. The number of applications to purchase property in our area had reached record levels and solicitors and surveyors were also struggling to service this demand. The Land Search team worked through Christmmas and the turnaround time is now around 10 days. There is a new solicitor, Damien Hunter, commencing at Torridge on Feb 1st. His title will be Legal Services manager. He comes to Torridge from N Devon Council and has assisted at TDC plans meetings in the past so is no stranger to some Councillors and Officers. Vaccination Centre TDC heard on Saturday morning that Arnold Pharmacy in Westward Ho! has had its application to operate a vaccination programme there was approved. There is a provisional “go-live” date of 18 January and will be in the Baptist Hall situated adjacent to the main car park. This location is in addition to Barnstaple and Holsworthy which commenced vaccinating on Dec 19th. TPO's A list of tree preservation orders is being drawn up and will be issued to Parish Clerks when it is available. Council Tax Torridge will be allowed to raise C/T by 3% in the forthcoming budget. However due to a shortfall in this years payments of around 1.5% the increase, should it be implemented, will only be worth 1.5%

321. Planning. (1) New Applications. (a) 1/1147/2020/FUL. 2 Green Lane Bungalows, Shebbear. Single Store Extension to front. Proposed Cllr Clark, Seconded Cllr Pierce, all in favour that Shebbear Parish Council has no objections to this application. Chairman and Clerk declared a pecuniary interest and left the room whilst this application was discussed. (b) 1/1118 2020/FUL. Little Worden Farm, Shebbear. Proposed change of use of a stand-alone single store building from annexe accommodation for a named elderly dependent relative to a holiday let & erection of carport Shebbear Parish Council has no objections to this application (c) 1/1119 2020/LBC. Little Worden Farm, Shebbear. Proposed change of use of a stand-alone single store building from annex accommodation for a named elderly dependent relative to a holiday let & erection of carport. Shebbear Parish Council has no objections to this application Chairman and Clerk returned to the meeting. (d) 1/1192/2020/FUL. Ashleigh, Shebbear, Beaworthy, Devon. Conversion of existing barn to annexe. Shebbear Parish Council has no objections to this application subject to a signed agreement that the property must form part of the main residence and not to be sold off separately. (2) Applications Granted. None. (3) Applications Refused. None. (4) Application Withdrawn.None (5) Any relevant adjacent applications. None.

322. Finance. (1) To Agree Precept for submission to TDC. Cllr Quance proposed 2% be added to last year's Precept, Seconded Chairman, all in favour that a Precept of £14,035 be submitted to TDC. (2) Items for Payment - (a) Jax Curtis – Zoom £14.39 (b) Sam What more – Christmas Tree £60.00, (c) Adrian Caldwell – Grass cutting £68.00. Clerk asked that a replacement cheque be drawn in favour of Cambrian Clocks, as this was lost. Proposed Cllr Stupple, Seconded Cllr Pierce all in favour that items (a) (b) and (c) be paid.

Current Account: £7,600.60 Reserve Account: £17,807.73

323. Correspondence. (1) Thank you letters for Council Grants received from Little Bears, Shebbbear Football Club, SSSG, St Michael's Church Graveyard and HRCT. Received by Councilors. Received after the Agenda was circulated. A letter had been received from Daniel Tonkin concerning siting of the mast and what had and had not taken place. This had been circulated to all Councilors prior to the meeting. Councilors discussed the concerns at considerable length, but as the Parish Council had not been involved in the first instance they were not in a position to comment further. Clerk to write to Mr Tonkin thanking him for his letter. 324. Correspondence Circulated Parish Paths Winter Report DLC Newsletter 74. NALC Association Chief Executive Bulletin DALC Newsletter 75. Devon Communities Latest Covid Update 17th December 2020. Wellbeing Support for Devon Businesses. DALC Newsletter 76. NALC Chief Executive's Ros Davies Thank You Letter DALC Newsletter 01-2021 Received by Councillors.

325. Agenda items for next Council Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday February 9th 2021 at 7-30 pm, via video link, and any other matters, for discussion only, at the Chairman's discretion.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.40pm

Signed …………………………………….. Dated ………………………………………..