Page 1 of 9 DRAFT Minutes of Parkham Parish Council Meeting held on 17.02.20 Minutes of Parkham Parish Council Meeting held on Monday, 17 February 2020 in the Allardice Hall at 7.30pm. Chaired by: Councillor G Bridger Clerked by: Sue Squire Present: Councillors Agenda: - Ms S Dorey & Mr S Kearney, TDC G Bridger Parkham Website R Brooke Representations from the public P Dack Co-option of Parish Councillors T Heywood Apologies T Lang Declarations of Interest M Slee Approval of the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting D Stevens held on 6 January 2020 Reports District Councillor S Harding Planning & Planning Correspondence Matters Arising Mrs S Dorey, Monitoring Officer TDC Compliance Mr S Kearney, Planning & Economy Finance Manager, TDC Meetings attended by Councillors / Clerk Correspondence & Notices / Publications received 2 Members of the public Urgent items raised by the Chairman Matters raised by Councillors / Clerk including Highway matters Items for the next Agenda Date of next meeting Action: 128. Mrs S Dorey and Mr S Kearney of Torridge District Council were present and spoke about Dispensations and Section 106 Agreements. Section 106 Agreement. Mrs Dorey confirmed that the Section 106 Agreement in respect of the Hawkcan View development was in respect of the transfer of a public open space to Parkham Parish Council. There was a contribution towards it for maintenance and enhancement of the public open space and it was Parkham Parish Council’s decision as to how it chose to use it for the open space or not. Mrs Dorney advised that she would not consider car parking facilities to be part of the public open space. She had been in discussion if the play area currently in the grounds of the Allardice Hall could be in the public open space to create car parking, but not on the public open space. The monetary contribution has to be spent in ten years, otherwise there was a risk that it had to be returned to the developer. It was entirely up to the Parish Council regarding how the Parish Council could spend it, as long as it could be shown that the area had been enhanced or being maintained. Councillor Lang asked if the money should be spent right away or reserved for maintenance. Answer: The Parish Council should be aware if any money is left, it would have to go back to the developer. When the money is received, it can be spent immediately. It was pointed out there are maintenance implications over the ten years and some of the funds would be required for this. Dispensations. Mrs Dorey spoke about when Dispensations should and should not be granted. Page 2 of 9 DRAFT Minutes of Parkham Parish Council Meeting held on 17.02.20 A Dispensation is granted if it would impede the business of the Council which means that the Parish Council would not be quorate if the Dispensation was not granted. The above paragraph refers to the only time a Dispensation should be granted. Mrs Dorey had referred to Parkham Parish Council’s Standing Orders and noted that three Parish Councillors were required for the meeting to be quorate. If the number was below the three Members, then a Dispensation should be considered. Because Parkham Parish Council would be quorate with the minimum number of three Parish Councillors, the Dispensation granted to Councillors Brooke and Lang no longer applied. Q: Are people with a Personal Interest not eligible to vote? A: It would depend on the nature of the Personal Interest. It is the Councillor’s responsibility to declare the interest. Q: How would you define personal interest with a Councillor not benefitting personally. A: If the Councillor is on two separate Committees or organisations that have conflicting views. It was accepted that in small communities that people may be on separate organisations. If there are opposing views, that would cause difficulties. Councillor Brooke advised he was not aware of the issue until he saw the Agenda and gave an example of why it had been raised. He and Councillor Lang have a special Dispensation as Members and Trustees of the Allardice Hall and as a group, they have an interest in land about the public open space. It had always been understood that it (the land) would be eventually going to the Trustees. The discussions had been wide ranging with people not always in total agreement and it could be suggested that there are two bodies. He and Councillor Lang are the Chairman and Secretary of the Trustees of the Allardice Hall and within discussions there has been talk about how the land is managed in the future. The Parish Council had voted and made a decision. There are on-going discussions and they have Dispensations. Mrs Dorey was of the opinion that Councillors Brooke and Lang could act on behalf of both bodies. She added that it was hard to act in the interest of both organisations. There were also difficulties regarding the equation of the Parish Council regarding sufficient Councillors to be present to make decisions and be quorate. Mrs Dorey reiterated that the Standing Orders state that the Parish Council only needs three Councillors to make a decision and there is no reason for Councillors Brooke and Lang to be granted a Dispensation. Fundamentally, she did not see how Councillors Brooke and Lang can act in the best interest of both organisations. Mrs Dorey continued by stating that Councillors Brooke and Lang also have a legal duty in respect of the Allardice Hall. She confirmed it is a clear conflict and she was of the opinion that in this instance, a Dispensation should be granted as Parkham Parish Council can continue without them in the room. Councillor Bridger fell it was important this issue was clarified now as the Parish Council was straying outside of the Standing Orders. Mrs Dorey stressed that it was all about public perception. Councillor Dack advised Mrs Dorey that a Sub Committee had been formed comprising four members of the Allardice Hall Committee and one Parish Council had been invited to join the Committee. He did not feel this was balanced. Page 3 of 9 DRAFT Minutes of Parkham Parish Council Meeting held on 17.02.20 Mrs Dorey said that Sub Committees are helpful although they cannot make decisions. Recommendations can be made to the Council and this was quite normal. Councillor Bridger was concerned how such a Sub Committee meeting would be perceived by the public with no connection to the Allardice Hall or the Parish Council, with discussions potentially about details of a Lease where it is a Landlord and tenant meeting. Mrs Dorey advised that the Parish Council representative would advise the Parish Council what had been discussed. No decisions could be made without the Parish Council voting on it. The Sub Committee would have discussions and report back to the full Council and the public will be able to hear the outcome of the Committee. 129. Parkham Website - Mr D Butterworth was not present and had advised there was no new information. 130. Representations from the Public. 130.1. Letter from a parishioner regarding the poor state of Parkham Green. Circulated separately to Councillors for studying ahead of the meeting. Councillor Bridger declared a Personal Interest as editor of the Parkham Pie, to whom the letter had been sent as an open letter and would be published in the next edition. This item was further discussed under Minute No. 142.1. 130.2 Mr C Wileman thanked the Parish Council for the e-card of thanks received following his resignation as a Parish Councillor. He discussed his letter of resignation, highlighting some incidents. Mr Wileman continued to be disillusioned with DCC Highways stance, in particular the data regarding speeding at Horns Cross. He had been assured that this would be available shortly. There was a concern that when dealing with Highways, they quote the percentages and averages which Mr Wileman felt meant nothing. If Highways provided figures giving actual statistics, it would show how many had speeded. 130.3 Junction at Northway. Historically the Parish Council had recommended that planning permission should go ahead for the Northway development but had concerns about the junction onto the A39. In fact, Councillors had attended the TDC meeting when the Application was considered where it was heard that the Planning Manager was concerned about this issue. There had been a recent accident at the junction with a car written off. The Police had given the car owner, who was exiting the Northway junction the option of going to Court and paying a fine with 3 points on their licence or attend a Driver Awareness Course. When the Planning Application was considered by the Planning Inspectorate, the junction was felt to be in order. Should a similar Application come before the Parish Council, this incident should be borne in mind. 130.4 An applicant with a Planning Application to be considered later spoke about the reasons for the Application. He is from a farming background and required the agricultural building to rear calves. He stores lambs to rear and sell on and rents land. The neighbour has no objection. 131. Co-option of Parish Councillors to fill the three vacant seats on the Parish Council. No letters of application had been received. 132. Apologies. County Councillor T Inch, District Councillors R Boughton and Mrs A Dart. 133. Declarations of Interest. Councillor Bridger. Personal Interest in matters relating to the Parkham Pie. Page 4 of 9 DRAFT Minutes of Parkham Parish Council Meeting held on 17.02.20 Councillors Brooke and Lang.