Page 1 of 5 Minutes of East Worlington Parish Council Meeting held on 27.09.16 Minutes of East Worlington Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday, 27 September 2016 in the Parish Hall at 7.30pm. Chaired by: Councillor P Risdon Clerked by: Sue Squire Present: Councillors Agenda: - Representations from the Public S Baber Co-option of Parish Councillor P Brown Apologies Mrs J Smyth Declarations of Interest P Risdon Approval of the Minutes of 26/7/16 and Planning T Wall until Minute No. 47.1 Sub Committee on 12/9/16 D Webber Reports Matters Arising County Councillor R Edgell Planning & Planning Correspondence Finance 1 member of the public during Minute No. Correspondence / Notices & Publications Received 44.2 Matters raised by Councillors / Clerk Date of next meeting Action: 39. Representations from the Public. No members of the public present at this stage of the meeting. 40. Co-option of Parish Councillor. No letters of application had been received. The matter was Nov deferred to the November 2016 meeting. Agenda 41. Apologies. District Councillor Mrs S Croft. 42. Declarations of Interest. None. 43. Approval of the Minutes of the Meetings held on 26 July 2016 and Planning Sub Committee Meeting on 12 September 2016. Approved and signed as a correct record after it was noted that County Councillor Edgell was present. 44. Reports. 44.1 Mr T Pullen, Chulmleigh Community College Academy Trust. An email had been received from the College extending an invitation to Councillors to visit the College. Everyday is an open day. The Parish Council Chairman is to be invited to the annual Year 12 Presentation Evening on 15/11/16. The College would be sending regular updates to the Clerk for circulating to Councillors. 44.2 County Councillor R Edgell. Libraries. None had been closed in Devon. On1 April, the library service transferred to be known as Libraries Unlimited. There are over 50 libraries in Devon run by this Community Interest Company and they are run in line with County Council Policy. As an independent company, they can apply for grants and had been awarded £200,000 from the Arts Council. There are 350 staff and the possibility of opening more libraries. The County Council still provide funding but not the full cost of running them, Other areas in the Country have closed libraries. Hedge at Moor End. If no action is taken by the householder, this could be a County Council matter. Councillor Webber advised that pothole repairs had been carried out at Rusden Hill but they were not satisfactory with some people not realising the work had been done. Parishioners are saying that the roads that really needed doing have not been attended to. County Councillor Edgell advised there had been top dressing to roads. This is a cheap extension to Page 2 of 5 Minutes of East Worlington Parish Council Meeting held on 27.09.16 the life of the road. Roads requiring more serious work have been placed in a queue. The Clerk to advise the following to County Councillor Edgell via email for him to follow up as he thought that some should qualify for pothole funds apportioned for each Division: Clerk Wood Park Cross to Affeton Moor Cross. High Cross (Three Hammers Cross) to Boundy’s Cross. 44.3 District Councillor Mrs S Croft. Councillor Wall was concerned that Councillor Mrs Croft had not attended a Parish Council meeting since May 2015. When sending her apologies, Councillor Mrs Croft sent the following Report: It is not always possible to get to the East Worlington PC meetings although when I do, I enjoy the discussions and friendly atmosphere! It is unfortunate that many meetings clash with others and involvement with other Committees can mean four or five meetings arranged for the same day - and/or evenings. I thought I would jot down some thoughts and comments and pass these to Sue Squire - I know Richard Edgell will be attending your meeting this month while I will be at Burrington. Following the outcome of the Brexit vote, it appears so far that very little has changed for NDC. Our stated priorities have not changed - Housing, Regeneration and a new Leisure Centre are still high on the list and NDC intend to move forward with them. FUTURE SERVICE DELIVERY OPTIONS for WASTE & RECYCLING: Discussions are taking place at NDC with the aim of establishing a Service that can meet or surpass the 50% recycling target set by the Government for 2020 (currently we are at 44%) and to meet a year-on-year minimum £340,000 revenue savings target that was set within the Medium Term Financial Strategy. In addition, NDC aim to increase the amount and type of recyclable materials that can be collected every week. A presentation was given at the Parish Forum on 9th August. BLACK BIN COLLECTIONS: Just two weeks ago, Executive councillors agreed on two trial areas being set up where black wheelie bins would be picked up EVERY 3 WEEKS. These trials, along with other improvements to be made to the weekly recycling service, should ultimately lead to less waste being placed in black bins/black bags. GREEN BIN COLLECTIONS: There are around 5,000 homes in North Devon that do not currently benefit from a garden waste collection service. This is often because the properties are either in an area that cannot be accessed by the refuse collection vehicles, do not have any space to store a bin - or have no garden. NDC is not legally obliged to provide this service but recognise that this service is valued and are looking at ways to continue it. The Executive councillors have agreed to introduce a charge for those households that wish to opt- in to continue to receive a green wheelie bin service. FOOD WASTE SERVICE: Around 38,000 homes in North Devon currently place their food waste in green wheelie bins - which are collected every two weeks. A further 5,000 homes have a weekly food collection service. NDC are planning to introduce a weekly food waste recycling collection service from a date yet to be decided. This will mean using a special kerbside caddy, which will be collected at the same time as their recycling boxes and bags. Some councillors have expressed their concerns surrounding the proposals for a three weekly collection; NDC is now working towards identifying two contrasting areas in North Devon where the trials will take place - intended to provide a better understanding of how the service works and whether or not it can be rolled out across the district. The trials are likely to start after April 2017 and would last around six months. ROUGH SLEEPERS: The Freedom Centre in Barnstaple is no longer able to provide the cold weather provision for rough sleepers. The FC will continue to offer hot meals during zero and sub zero temperatures, but they can no longer offer overnight sanctuary. Discussions have taken place with Andy Dodwell (the vicar of Newport) who chairs a group of church leaders in Barnstaple to see if the local churches can help. Their responses are not yet known - but any suggestions as to another or better way forward would be welcome. THE HERITAGE CENTRE: Discussions have taken place between NDC and Barnstaple Town Council for NDC to take the Queen Anne Building (Heritage Centre) back following the end of their lease arrangements. Final decisions on the building future have not yet been taken, but it seems the transformation into a new but smaller Civic Centre with a Council Chamber and easy public access is a strong contender. There is no further information on a timetable for this. Page 3 of 5 Minutes of East Worlington Parish Council Meeting held on 27.09.16 THE BRYNSWORTHY DEPOT: Moving NDC operations from the Civic Centre to Brynsworthy continues. Even though many redundancies have taken place at all levels, there is still a scarcity of space. On the table at the moment is a plan to add another building to sit on top of the existing meeting rooms. It seems the original foundations were laid to accommodate such expansion should be required. The new arrangements could mean that NDC staff currently working out of the Museum, Legal Services, Housing & Environmental Health departments, plus HR would all be moved to Brynsworthy. The main drawback is that members of the public are unhappy about travelling out to Brynsworthy - and even more so if meetings such as Planning Committee Decision meetings are to be held there. 44.4 Police. Not present, no report received. Councillors spoke about concerns reported over children living in a caravan and playing in the road where concern had been raised for their safety with tractors frequently using the road. It was known that following the Clerk alerting the Police about this, a visit had been made. 44.5 Parish Plan Review. Councillor Brown reported that a Housing Needs Survey would not be carried out in conjunction with the review. Mr Martin Rich of Devon Communities Together had given a talk to the Working Group on techniques on designing questionnaires. The Group felt they would be able to devise their own questionnaire, distribute and subsequently analyse. They are looking at other Parishes to gain an insight as to how other questionnaires were prepared. When the original Parish Plan was prepared, Devon County Council provided questions and questionnaires which were distributed and collected by the then Working Group and DCC provided the analysis. Nov A reply was awaited from the Parish Council and the Primary School. The Parochial Church Council Agenda and Neighbourwood Watch had replied to the letter sent out.