Newton St Cyres Parish Council Minutes of Newton St Cyres Parish Council Meeting held in the Parish Hall Club Room on Thursday 1 February 2018 The meeting commenced at 7.30pm Members present Cllr D Baker (chair) Cllr G Quicke Cllr J Baker Cllr A Reeves Cllr G Barnell Cllr C Southcott Cllr J Enright Cllr P Taylor In attendance: Cllr P Hare-Scott, MDDC (left 8.05pm), 4 members of public, J Hole, Parish Clerk Business to be Transacted Public Participation (i) Police Report There was no report (ii) Public Question Time. There was none Formal Business 01/02/18 Apologies Cllr S Parker (ill), Cllr M Squires (another meeting) 02/02/18 Declaration of Interest None 03/02/18 Minutes of the last meetings held on Thursday 7 December 2017 (previously circulated) Agreed and signed as a true record 04/02/18 Mid Devon District Council 4.1 Planning Applications: 17/02013/HOUSE - Alterations and erection of extensions at Southay, Newton St Cyres, EX5 5AL – no comment 17/01986/FULL - Erection of a pre-fabricated building and decking area at Langford Park Nursing Home, Langford Road, Langford – no comment. Clerk to check if previous enforcement order for removal of caravans was carried out. 17/02008/ARM - Reserved matters for the siting of a building for use as a pre-school following outline approval 14/01332/MOUT – no comment 4.2 Planning Decisions None 4.3 Update re planning application - 17/01719/HOUSE - 3 Meadowlands, NSC Cllr D Baker confirmed that, as Councillors had been informed by e-mail during the month, the plans for this application had been revised and the size of the extension reduced. In addition, the next-door neighbour had withdrawn their objection. In view of this the Parish Council had withdrawn its request for the application to be decided by P a g e 1742 committee. Planning had now been approved with conditions which included the need to carry out a flood assessment, submit details of the type of cladding being used and a restriction that the workshop could not be used commercially. 4.4 To note the installation of a Pollution Monitor on the A377 The monitor should be operational from the beginning of February and is located on the lamp post outside number 3 The Village. It will be in place for 12 months in order to give reliable data across all seasons/weathers etc. The results would be sent to the Clerk on a monthly basis. A reading over 40 would mean action to reduce pollution would be required. If explanations for the data were required then MDDC’s Environment Protection Officer was willing to attend a Parish Council meeting. 4.5 Report from Cllr P Hare- Scott The main focus at present was the budget. Council tax would rise by 3%. MDDC had been trialing a scheme for 100% retention of property rates and this should generate £200,000. Government grants continued to decrease and MDDC were looking at other ways to raise revenue, for example buying properties in Tiverton. A separate property company had been set up, “Three Rivers Development”. Cllr P Hare-Scott suggested the old school site might be of interest. Cllr P Taylor asked if rubbish collection schedules could be staggered to avoid congestion in Tytheing Close. Cllr P Hare-Scott would take this request back to waste collection. 05/02/18 Finance 5.1 To approve signatures for this month’s cheques Cllr G Barnell and Cllr G Quicke 5.2 Parish Council Receipts Current Account: £309.00 – DCC Community Enhancement grant £110.00 – DALC Raddon Hills admin The Community Enhancement grant was £250 towards the cost of the Sand Down Lane drain and £59.00 for the new sign installed at Shute Cross. 5.3 Parish Council Payment Current Account These were agreed as: Item Payee Purpose Amount £ 5.3.1 M J Nicholls Grass cutting – December * 90.00 5.3.2 Torridge North Mid/West Donation 100.00 Devon Citizens Advice 5.3.3 NSC Parish Hall Hire of hall Oct – Dec 17 30.00 5.3.4 J Hole Salary and expenses (Dec- 708.54 Jan) 5.3.5 HMRC PAYE 3.20 * cheque already paid £931.74 5.4 Balances (after above transactions): 5.4.1 Parish Council Current Account balance: £11,865.10 5.4.2 Footpath Account: £407.29 5.4.3 Car Park resurfacing fund balance: £1,500.19 5.5 Financial Statement and Budget Monitor Noted. It was agreed to merge the budget for general maintenance and maintenance schedule with effect from 1 April. 5.6 Update on S106 funding for proposed new school path Although MDDC had agreed that the proposed new school path was eligible for CIL, payment could only be made for a project that had not started. There was currently no P a g e 1743 CIL contributions in the pot and were unlikely to be any in time for this project. In addition, once CIL collections were started for a particular project they cannot be transferred to another project and have to be returned to developers if they are not used for the named project. MDDC had therefore advised that the project should be removed from the CIL list. However, there was approx. £5,000.00 in the S106 general pot which the Parish Council could apply for as long as three quotes were obtained and the work did not start until the approval process had taken place. This was about six weeks. Cllr A Reeves agreed to obtain additional quotes. Clerk to investigate other grant funding, including TAP and Community Enhancement funding 06/02/18 Matters raised by the Chair 6.1 Update on plans for new cemetery Cllr D Baker reported that the diocese required a fence to be maintained between the old and new cemetery with a gate connecting the two. They would advise on the location of existing graves so that a suitable path can be made. Cllr D Baker and the Clerk had visited Moretonhampstead to talk to the Clerk about running a cemetery and this had proved a useful meeting. It was agreed that the Clerk could attend training on the legalities of running a cemetery. Clerk to advise when training in Devon is available. Cllr G Barnell suggested asking the church if all graves had an identified owner, in order that we can be prepared for any legacies issues that may arise. Clerk to contact Church Warden. Cllr D Baker would ask Cllr S Parker if he could cut the grass in the new cemetery. In addition, three trees needed to be removed and Cllr D Baker would arrange for this to happen. It would be useful to have a depth survey to find out if it was possible to dig down 7 feet (depth required for a double grave). If a digger is used to remove the trees, it might be able to dig some sample holes. The Clerk had received a copy of the Land Registry document for the new cemetery and would copy to Councillors to go in Reference packs. 07/02/18 Councillor’s Reports 7.1 Areas of Responsibility report Noticeboards – Clerk to obtain a quote for painting and repair as required Allotments – Cllr G Barnell had e-mailed allotment holders to arrange a meeting. An allotment holder wished to erect an 8x6 shed and a poly tunnel. This was agreed and the Clerk would confirm with the allotment holder. The Clerk had received a new expression of interest and Cllr G Barnell would follow this up Parish Hall – user agreements had been sent out but contained several errors, so had not been signed. Recreation ground – it was reported that the land surrounding the Rec had been sold by the Church Commissioners. The lease on the Rec was thought to be 15 years. Careful consideration of the future of the Rec was required. It was noted that the Parish Council was able to borrow money at a reduced lending rate and it might therefore be possible for the Parish Council to buy the land and rent it back to the Rec. Cllr G Quicke would follow this up with J Quicke, Rec Treasurer. There had been no update on the progress of the play equipment project and the Clerk was requested to ask the Rec for the return of the £500.00 grant. If the play equipment project requires funding in the future a grant can be considered again by the Parish Council. Station – It had been reported in the press that GWR were required to provide trains to Okehampton. Cllr D Baker had e-mailed Mel Stride, MP to ask that consideration be P a g e 1744 given to these trains stopping at Newton St Cyres and also that the trains be timetabled to allow a connection to be made at Crediton for Barnstaple. Community Speed Watch – this could be removed from the list as it was no longer operational. Clerk to remove from April School – it was hoped that the children would start at the new site from June Litter – Cllr G Barnell had asked litter pickers to meet up. It was likely that more volunteers were required. Clerk to report fly tipping in Half Moon layby CRG/Flood – the retaining wall along Shutten Brook was still outstanding and was thought to be the responsibility of DCC rather than MDDC. Cllr G Barnell would continue to pursue. Steve Densham, MDDC had shared the flood report with the residents of 3 and 4 Meadowlands. Cllr G Barnell would circulate the report to the Parish Council.