YARCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
Held in The Jubilee Hall, Yarcombe, Monday 7th January 2019 at 8.00 pm
In Attendance:
Cllrs L Pidgeon (Chair), C Stone, T Wiggins, T Long, S Horner, D Barnes, M Tomkinson, S Parris, S-J Martin (Clerk & RFO)
Members of the Public present – 2
Cllr Randle welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked everyone for their hard work for the Armistice weekend. He enjoyed the evening
1. Apologies for Absence:
• Cllrs Nick Randle and Paul Diviani.
2. Declarations of Interest
• Two Declarations of Interest were declared for the meeting from Cllr Stone and Cllr Horner concerning the Community Land Trust discussion for both, and Cllr Horner also for a planning application.
3. Minutes.
• The Councillors were asked if they were happy that the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 26th November, received by email were a true and accurate record which they were. The Minutes were then duly signed.
4. Parish Council Priorities
Nothing had been placed on the Agenda and there was no discussion concerning our priorities.
5. Open Session for Public Participation
• Cllr Pidgeon asked if the public had any issues they wished to raise, of which there were none.
6. Finance
• The Councillors received the Clerks report on the current Financial Position.
• The payments within the schedule in the Clerks Report were approved for payment.
• The forecast budget had been emailed to everyone and a discussion was held on the level of increase in the Precept which we should request. It was decided to request an increase of £500.00 on last years amount to cover the increased works around the village – grass cutting of the layby being undertaken by Phil Holness and work in the field above the layby by George Pidgeon. Clive Stone had calculated it would be approximately £1.25 per Elector and it was duly approved.
7. Reports received:
d. Yarcombe Community Land Trust
• Philip Barnes attended the meeting on behalf of the Community Land Trust and advised they have received formal approval from Homes England that they have been awarded a Grant which is currently being processed. The amount of the Grant will cover the cost of an Ecology Report which has to be completed in January or February, failure to do so will mean having to wait another year.
For this reason, they are requesting YPC provides a loan for of £1,036.00 which will be repaid as soon as the Grant is received. This will cover the cost of the Ecology Report.
• An Architect has been advised he has been appointed and a meeting has been held with a Housing Association, “Team Housing”, based in Newton Abbott who will Lease the properties from the Community Land Trust and manage the rental of the properties.
• David Barnes enquired about the ownership of the properties and it was advised they will remain in the ownership of the Community Land Trust.
• A conversation was also held about the number of properties, being 6 and what would happen if the local demand for the properties reduces over time or people move on. The property availability would then be widened to nearby villages such as Stockland and Membury.
• Cllr Horner advised that if we follow the Dalwood model, all will be occupied with people having a connection to Yarcombe and Marsh.
• Cllr Pidgeon asked the Councillors if they were all happy to agree the loan of £1,036.00 to the Community Land Trust, which Cllr Randle in his absence, had fully supported on the Agenda. All Councillors were happy with the advance.
• Cllr Stone added we are very fortunate to have secured this Housing Association which have tended to gravitate West of Newton Abbott or North of Bristol. Cllr Horner added that it is much down to Philip Bearne who has managed to find a housing association
c. Reports from Individual Councillors
• Cllr Stone:
o advised he had received a quote from George Pidgeon to complete works which had commenced on the bank and laying hedges. The quote is for £360.00 and all Councillors agreed the works.
o There are further works for Phil Holness to do, one of which is litter picking but after a discussion by the Councillors it was decided this could become never ending. It was thought that most of litter, is from people driving through the village.
Lorna Burge had reported litter had washed down the A30 onto her land which she had picked up.
Cllr Tomkinson advised it is a big problem and had an example where within just a 1/3 of a walk along a footpath, a whole bin line of rubbish had been collected.
o Damage has been caused by the scaffolding lorry to the grass layby, which collected scaffolding from The Belfry Cottage. Clerk is to write to the new owners for their contact details with a view to receiving some re-imbursement for repairing the area.
o Village signs – Clive has sourced signage and proposes we purchase 4 at £100.00 each. These would be placed at the entrances to the village and an example was provided. Cllr Tomkinson advised it would be good to see some more information / examples and Cllr Horner said it would be an idea to see if there is a demand by other community organisations within the village and if so, if they would like to contribute
o Concerning the Communities Together Funding – if we have any ideas to raise funds. Clerk to contact Membury and Stockland Parish Councils to see if thy are doing anything to obtain some of the funding and if they have any ideas for future rounds which become available.
8. Clerk and Correspondence – Discussion / Decisions and Actions required:
• Nick Randle supported the CLT Board request for a £1,036 (including VAT) loan in order to progress the Ecology Survey – this was approved in 7.d above.
• Cllr Stone to become an additional Signatory for the Unity Trust Bank. Form handed to Clive for completion and return.
• Email received from Brian and Josie Jones: 1. “My notice for Saturday markets is on its last legs, could a new one be made?” This has been re-directed to the Village Hall who receive the proceeds of the village markets. Also, “Don’t know if it’s a parish matter or something for Thelma – the tree on the layby has blown down and might be recoverable if replanted quickly.” This has been actioned before the meeting. And Phil Holness had re-planted it.
• Email received from David Ashford concerning the kerb stones at Stopgate – we have emphasised it is not the height of the kerbs but the way they protrude into the junction and his reply being:” Sorry, but I can only re-iterate my email of the 14th June following my inspection on the 13th June. We wouldn’t lower these and they seem to be in-line with the others in situe along the A303 and I personally didn’t think there was any issue.” Clerk asked to contact him again. Cllr Horner suggested we find out who did the work.
• Email reminder about Communities Together Funding if anyone has any ideas for a project. This was covered above in 7.d.
9. Planning
To receive and endorse the Planning Decisions of the Council taken since last meeting under delegated authority.
• Current Planning applications were advised to the Councillors
To confirm the date of the next meeting being Monday 4th February at 8pm in The Jubilee Hall, Yarcombe