Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual Parish Assembly held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 16th April 2013 at Meldon Village Hall

Parish councillors present D Webber (Chair), P Heard, R Maile, M Cooper, and M Littlejohns.

Guest speakers Ian Jarvis, Camp Commandant, Okehampton Camp Stephen Goodwin, General Manager, Dartmoor Railway CIC Lisa Wadling, Okehampton Town Events Manager

Also Present Cllr M Morse, Cllr J McInnes Clerk – J Gillard 6 members of the public

1. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, he thanked the Councillors and Clerk for their support throughout the year.

2. Apologies – Councillor Mrs C Marsh.

3. Minutes of the previous Annual Assembly were approved and signed by the Chairman.

4. Matters arising from the minutes - None

5. The Chairman gave the following report for 2012/13:

Full compliment of Councillors throughout the year.

Chair also represented Parish Councils on DNP authority.

Council also represented on : Okehampton United Charities, Holditch Trust, West Devon/Okehampton Liaison Group, Northern Parishes Links Group, Chamber of Trade, Police Liaison Group. Okehampton Matters. Meldon Hall,took part in Rembrance Day parade, Civic Dinner and Ten Tors Breakfast

This year the Council have made donations to: OCRA 200.00 OKEHAMPTON TOWN COUNCIL 50.00 FATHERFORD ROAD ALLOTMENT ASS 100.00 ROYAL BRITISH LEGION 50.00 WREN MUSIC 100.00 WEST DEVON CITIZENS ADVICE 300.00

Annual Assembly Minutes 2013 OKEHAMPTON COMMUNITY GARDEN 300.00 MELDON VIADUCT 200.00 NORTH DARTMOOR RESCUE 500.00 TOTAL 1800.00

Localism Act introduced this year – New code of conduct and register of interests Councils can now register land/buildings as Comminty Interest

TAP fund introduced, to encourage parishes to work together on projects, approx £19,000 available for Northern Parishes, all distributed during the year, Hamlets joined with the Town on successful application for protective clothing for the volunteer litter/dog poo picker up !! Other parishes done things like spraying weeds, purchasing grit spreaders, purchasing defibrillators.

Pitch provision for Okehampton – clearly an issue. Potential of using fields beside showground belonging to Mr & Mrs Essex. Longterm solution OCRA looking to enhance the pitches at the Colleges and they applied for S106 money to do so, supported application for £10,000

Fatherford railway footpath bridge – another project using S106 , Cllr McInnes will give an update on this later.

Ward boundaries review – have inbalance, looking to amalgamate wards, new developments to the east will make problem worse. Working with WDBC to find solution.

Planning applications- We are one of the Consultees, it is WDBC who make the decision based on planning policy. Some of the ones we have commented on - 308 units off Crediton road now being built Several on the Exeter Road industrial estate – change of business etc Householder applications Manor House Hotel..... Mostly WDBC applications but the occasional one in DNP

Naming of roads undertaken for new developments

Meldon Woods – Ranger Ralph days etc Ian replaced several dormice and bird boxes Jubilee woodland trees recd and planted Tree risk assessment undertaken, awaiting results

SW Endurance used the car park again and donated £120 towards council funds

Parish Plan – finished it !! Distribution helped by Okehampton Guides Annual Assembly Minutes 2013:2 Flood plan – Environment Agency identified Brightley as an area a risk from flash flood. EA staff came to a meeting to discuss. Cllr Ewen now looking at putting together a plan.

Stock of sandbags and sand at Brightley Stock of Grit – 4 locations around Hamlets Website – good progress with getting more info on it, Use it ! Moorgate bridge – liased with DNP, Camp and eventually got it repaired

6. The Chairman welcomed Mr Ian Jarvis, Camp Commandant, Okehampton Camp Mr Jarvis has been in his role for 6 months, his main responsibility is to deliver a safe area for the military to train. The Duchy licence was renewed last year for 21 years and DNP granted permission last year for training at Cranber Tor for 40 years. Personnel returning from Germany will not be coming to Okehampton, the Royal Marines are the prime users of the area. He is responsible for the interface between the moorland and the public and to maintain public access. Managing the impact of the infrastructure used by the MOD on the moor is also key.

The Chairman then welcomed Stephen Goodwin, General Manager, Dartmoor Railway C I C Mr Goodwin has only been in his role for 2 weeks but has worked for the railway for 18 years. The Heritage service between Okehampton, Meldon and Sampford Courtenay has been suspended, the railway owners want to concentrate on themed trains which are more profitable. 11,000 fares were taken on the Polar Express. Negotiations are underway with the Supporters Association with a view to them running the Heritage service and separate negotiations are happening re the Sunday service to Exeter.

The Chairman then welcomed Lisa Wadling, Okehampton Town Events Manager. Lisa explained her role started in January, the role is to work with Community Associations who put on events and to put on new events for the town. She is employed by the Chamber of Trade. Events just taken place were the Pancake Race and Easter Egg Hunt which was particularly successful. Future events include the St Georges Day Challenge, May Day Fair, and the Okehampton Festival of food, Folk, Crafts and Cream Teas – originally from an idea from Cllr Maile. She is also looking at a Winter Festival with a ‘switching on Christmas lights’ event. The Okehampton Living magazine is being revamped and an increase made to the number produced.

The Chairman then introduced Councillor James McInnes, DCC and WDBC. Devon County Council continues to implement reductions in its budget like every other Local Authority. Devon County Council net Budget for 2013/14 is £521 million, with a 0% rise in Council Tax. Dedicated Schools budget - £440 million Key Investment include:- Place: £114 million People: £319 million Corporate: £41million Capital Program: £141 million

Annual Assembly Minutes 2013:3 Targeted Investments within the budget include: • £3.1 million supporting Devon’s 43 Children’s Centres and Early Years Services following the withdrawal of the Early Years Intervention Grant • £100,000 set aside to train parish volunteers to tackle emergencies in their areas • Increase funding for child protection services • Additional funding for improving older peoples services • Capital investment in South Devon Link Road • The restoration of the Grand Western Canal Additional Information • Budget has increased by £7 million to allow for inflation and £21 million to allow for demographic change • Increase in school budget of 12million. Devon remains the 6th Lowest LEA based on funding per pupil • Public Health Grant - £20.7 million ring fenced to provide for responsibilities transferring from NHS to DCC. These include sexual health services, public health advice, health protection and programmes relating to substance misuse and obesity • 39% of DCC’s net budget is derived from central government funding. 2013/14 brings a change in the way central government funding is allocated; no longer a formula driven grant mechanism but a switch to Business Rates Retention that links funding to business rates.

HIGHWAYs The last twelve months have seen some of the most extreme wet weather for many years. This has put great pressure on the highways team. This winter more ditching has been done and many areas have been re-surfaced. Potholes continue to appear as result of all the wet weather and highways have been working hard to keep up. If you see a pothole please report it.

Fatherford Railway footbridge – Cllr McInnes advised that progress now seems to be happening, he requested the Council and Town Council reinforce the problems with Mr D Black at DCC, it is now hoped work proposals can be included with Phase 2 Opportunity Okehampton planning application to be submitted shortly.

The Chairman thanked all the guests for attending and providing useful and interesting information.

7. Questions from the Public – 1 point was raised suggesting Meldon Woods needed some tiding up. The Chairman responded this would be looked at in conjunction with the Tree Report due shortly.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming, closed the meeting and invited everyone to stay for refreshments. He thanked Mrs Webber for her work providing the refreshments.

Signed………………………...... Date…………………… Annual Assembly Minutes 2013:4