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MONKLEIGH PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 16th August 2017 at 7:30pm in Village Hall

Councillors Present: Julia Landolfi (Chair), Martin Read (Vice Chair), Brenton Gregory, David Butler, Carol George, Lynda Ash, District Councillor Phil Pennington and County Councillor Linda Hellyer

Absent: Cllr David Grigg

Parish Clerk: Zena Tett

Also in Attendance: 1 member of the public was present

BUSINESS TRANSACTED

32. Welcome: Julia Landolfi, Chairman of the Parish Council welcomed everyone to the meeting.

33. Apologies for Absence: None

34. Minutes of the last meeting: held on 21st June 2017 were agreed and signed as a true record. Proposed by Cllr George, seconded by Cllr Ash, all in favour.

35. Declarations of Interest: Cllr Butler ref items 38.6 and 39.3 Village Hall Car Park

36. Public Speaking Time

36.1 Chris Bees explained his application at Catsborough Cross which would consist of 5 dwellings; a young stock shed, dairy parlour, slurry store, and 2 cubicle houses which will house 220 cows.

36.2 Police Report PCSO Melissa Baker sent her apologies, however, the Clerk read out her report showing details of crimes and logs received over the past 3 months for Torrington. • Logs – 3 road related offences, 5 domestic related, 1 road traffic collision, 2 violence, 1 firearm incident & 4 highway disruptions – Total 16 • Crimes – 3 criminal damage, 1 common assault & 1 send letter/communication/article conveying a threatening message – Total 5

37. District & County Councillor Reports

37.1 District Councillor Phil Pennington Please visit Council website if you wish to view the consultations re the Local Plan, all the information is there. There is further money available through the Community Grants Scheme so if there are any up and coming projects the Parish Council should apply for monies soon. Money has already been allocated to a you Church worker which covers Monkleigh.

37.2 County Councillor Linda Hellyer • Mill Street, : resurfacing work will start at the beginning of January 2018 and will last for several weeks but will be carried out in stages to allow the businesses to operate as usual.

• Torridge Bridge: essential maintenance work to replace the expansion joints was due to start at the end of September. It had been proposed to have a one-way system in and out of Bideford, going out over the Longbridge. Following consultations, this work has now been postponed until January 2018. Only the west end of the Bridge will be repaired at that time, with traffic lights only between 9.30am and 3.30pm - this work will take 4 months. The east side of the • Bridge will be repaired in the following September to avoid disrupting the summer season traffic. DCC will issue a press release once everything has been finalised with the contractor. • Longbridge: work was due to begin in September but has been delayed due to difficulty in getting the contractor in place. • Potholes/Road Hazards: please can you encourage residents to report potholes and any other road hazards via the DCC website. This information will the get streamed to the relevant agency. Finally, C.Cllr Hellyer invites residents to get in touch with her direct if they have any concerns about DCC matters. Her details are as follows: Email: Linda.hellyer@.gov.uk Mobile: 07828758360

38. Matters Arising

38.1 Memorial Bench Cllr Landolfi will report to the Parish Council when the concrete has been done and the Memorial Bench is in place. Action Cllr Landolfi

38.2 Website Update Cllr Gregory has completed setting up the website and will pass on passwords to the Clerk to grant her access. Action Cllr Gregory

38.3 School Crossing Warning Sign The Clerk reported the order is in process, TDC are just awaiting the stats results. Stats results show us what utilities are in the area where the ground needs to be broken in order to locate the two posts for the new sign. As soon as this is received the order will go through to the contractor to complete the work. C.Cllr Hellyer visited with the Highways officer. He felt that the School signs were at the correct height and clearly visible from both directions. She was informed that DCC are not responsible for cutting the hedges, this would be the responsibility of the landowner with the exception of main roads for visibility purposes. Clerk to give an update at the next meeting. Action Clerk

38.4 Highways Funds C.Cllr hellyer reported that the flashing signs are ideally sited where there is evidence of a speeding problem and are used to enhance existing signs, where recommended by the SCARF (Speed Complaint Action Review Forum) process. DCC has 10 mobile battery-operated VAS deployed at community concern sites. C.Cllr Hellyer has asked that Saltrens be put back on the list. They are currently deployed throughout the county but she will keep reminding them of the need to have one in Saltrens. DCC welcomes approaches from Communities in funding and operating their own VAS which can be considered following a SCARF assessment. The SCARF meeting is between DCC Road Traffic and Road Safety Officers and Devon & Cornwall Constabulary Casualty Reduction Officers. If a VAS is considered appropriate, the

message on it has to be agreed with DCC. For Monkleigh and Salterns, the first stage is obtaining speed data and C.Cllr Hellyer has requested this from DCC and an Officer has been tasked with this. Data will not be collected during School holidays as this may not reflect normal traffic conditions. If there is a clear difference between summer and winter traffic, they will obtain 2 sets of readings. It will also be done from both directions. The Highways Officer has reported the most recent data from this area showed that 85% of vehicles were within the speed limit and 15% were above it. If the Parish were to fund their own VAS, there are various criteria that have to be followed.

38.5 Monkleigh Bypass After much discussion, it was decided the newly formed Committee would meet after each Parish Council meeting. It was decided that after an initial period of assessment and investigation, Villagers would be shown the Committees ideas. In the meantime, D.Cllr Pennington will speak with the Planning Department to ask how best we proceed.

38.6 Village Hall Car Park The Village Hall Committee has paid to the Clerk the sum of £35 to cover the outstanding payments for the Lease. Action Clerk

38.7 Hilton Road Turning Bay Only the top half of this area has been adopted so consequently, the turning bay is in a private road.

38.8 20mph Signs It is against National Policy for 20mph signs to be located on main roads. As this is the main road to and beyond, it would not be permitted.

38.9 Devon Local Flood Risk Management Strategy C.Cllr Hellyer confirmed it was the Environment Agency responsibility for producing the maps and should be contacted if any discrepancies are found. As to standing rainfall, unless rainfall remains on the road for 24hours after the rain has ceased and causes the traffic to deviate by more than 1metre, DCC are unable to do anything. With regards the Well, they are normally owned by the Parish, even when they are in the road. Our Highways officer is researching to see if that is the case with this Well, however, if the sign or anything else becomes a hazard it must be reported direct to via their website so that it may be dealt with more speedily.

39. New Items

39.1 Closure of A386 Petition Deferred to the next meeting.

39.2 Highways Issues Discussed in item 38.4 above.

39.3 Village Hall Car Park Resurfacing D.Cllr Pennington advised Councillors there was money available through the Community Grant Scheme and the Clerk was asked to contact members of the Village Hall Committee and ask them to obtain 3 quotes. Action Clerk

39.4 Clerks Hours The Parish Council discussed the Clerks hours under Part 2 of the last meeting of the Parish Council held on 26th June 2017 and concluded the Clerk may claim between 15 and 20 hours per month for work undertaken on behalf of the Parish Council. This was proposed by Cllr Landolfi, seconded by Cllr George, all in favour.

40. Planning

40.1 1/0703/2017/FUL Barnfield, Monkleigh: change of use of land to domestic with single storey side extension (loft conversion and new conservatory roof are permitted development) Decision: No objection Comments: None Proposed by Cllr Landolfi, seconded by Cllr Read, all in favour. Action Clerk

41. Clerks Report

41.1 Correspondence The following correspondence was noted/reviewed: 41.1.1 TDC: Local Plan Consultation and Brownfield Call for Sites 41.1.2 Letter re Holswothy Motor Club notifying parish of Roger Pole Taw & Torridge Classic Reliability Trial 41.1.3 Devon Communities Together: Parish Plans 41.1.4 TDC: confirmation of application for Community Grant Scheme – awarded £350 41.1.5 Parish Council: Tap Fund – Clerk to put on the next Agenda. Action Clerk 41.1.6 Devon Communities Together: Resilience Forum Newsletter 41.1.7 TDC: Join Area Advisory Group Meeting notification 41.1.8 Clerks & Councils Direct: Newsletter

41.2 Register of Interests The Clerk received Register of Interests from Cllrs Gregory and George.

42. Councillor’s Reports and Items for Future Agenda

42.1 Cllr Read There is a blocked drain outside Rose Cottage, the resident should report this via the Highways website. The gentleman living in the cottage near Plumper’s has removed part of the hedge to make an entrance. D.Cllr Pennington to investigate.

42.2 Cllr Landolfi There is a resident who is leaving their bin in the road and also parking on the road making it dangerous to pass. Cllr Read offered to speak with the resident.

42.3 Cllr George A parishioner has questioned the location of the donkey stables application – Cllr George to speak with them.

Standing Orders were suspended to discuss planning application 1/0802/2017/FUL

43. Finance

43.1 To consider the following payments: 43.1.1 Clerks Salary and Expenses Jun/Jul £299.29 43.1.2 HMRC £52.80 Proposed by Cllr Landolfi, seconded by Cllr George, all in favour. Action Clerk

43.2 Review the bank balance No new statement has been received to date, however, the Clerk can confirm once the above payments have gone through and the £350 from TDC from the Councillor Community Grant Scheme has been deposited, the total in the bank will be £16,139.20.

43.3 Bank Mandate Forms The Clerk will take the paperwork to the bank. Action Clerk

44. Date of next meeting: The next meeting of the Parish Council will take place on Wednesday 18th October 2017 at 7:30pm, The Village Hall, Monkleigh. Apologies from Phil and Lynda

With no further business, the meeting was closed at 9:30pm

SIGNED AS A TRUE RECORD: …………………………………………...………………………… (Chair)

NAME: ………………………………………………………………. DATE: ………………………………….