April 2023 Draft minutes

Draft Yarcombe Parish Council minutes 3rd April 2023

YARCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES

Meeting held in the Jubilee Hall, Monday 3^rd April at 8.00 pm

In Attendance:

Cllrs S Horner (Chair), L Myhill (Vice Chair), T Long, S Vining, K Thomson, A Billington, M Tomkinson

& D Frost (Clerk & RFO)

Cllr D Key Cllr C Brown

One member of the public present

1 Apologies for Absence

Cllr D Barnes Cllr C Ford & Cllr I Chubb

2. Declarations of Interest

To receive disclosures of pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in items on the agenda.

None declared

3. Minutes

Councillor Horner asked if everyone was agreeable that the minutes of the meetings held on Monday 6th March could be signed as a correct record of the minutes of the meeting and everyone agreed.

4. Reports

A County Councillor

Councillor Chubb had sent a report which contained all the following information.  Details of the Devolution deal for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.  There is £9.4m extra for Devon which will be spent on improving our roads and making them more resilient.  There is a service called the Transitions Adult Social Care to help young people with their transition into adult care services.  DCC have secured additional funding to help with the cost of living. Posters encouraging road users to slow down for horses are now displayed in Devon.  Councillor Chubb report also emphasised that everybody voting in person must have photo ID.

Councillor Horner commented that there was mention about slowing down for horses but not for pedestrians.

B District Councillors

Councillor Key advised there was 8000 miles of road in Devon.  He also advised that other parish councils were also having problems accessing CIL money.  Councillor Brown advised that Honiton police station is reopening next year.  It will open for 3 days a week with a front desk.  It will also be a hub for mental health.  Usage will determine whether it is opened longer in the future.  It will give a sense of security to the area.   They both advised there were problems with staffing at EDDC.

Councillor Key then advised it was his last meeting.  Councillor Horner thanked him for all his help.

C Police

No report received.

D Yarcombe Community Land Trust

Councillor Horner reported that the grant from EDDC had been received.  They are now looking for a location for a septic tank in Marsh to be upgraded to offset phosphates from the affordable housing site.

E Jubilee Hall Committee

Councillor Tomkinson reported 2 companies had submitted tenders for the repair work.  The insurance company now needed to decide which company to use.  The work should take 4 – 6 weeks to complete.

During the work the affected area will be sealed off making the capacity of the hall smaller.

F Reports from Individual Councillors

Councillor Horner circulated a reply received from King Charles III following a letter of condolence sent on the death of the Queen by the parish council. This letter will be sent to Miranda to be circulated in evoices.

Councillor Vining had repaired a latch on a nearby footpath gate.

Councillor Myhill had given half of the jubilee mugs to Yarcombe Baptist Chapel.  She received a thankyou from Thelma Clarke.  She has planted up the 2 new planters.  A request will be made later in the year if anybody has any spare bedding plants.  Councillor Thomson will now be responsible for looking after the planters.

Councillor Thomson had nothing to report.

Councillor Billington reported about addressing speeding in the village using multiple approaches.

1. Visual Gateway: EDDC have advised that erecting small fences on the grass verge would pose a risk to cyclists so was not approved. However, it was discussed that signs advising motorists to ‘slow down and drive carefully through our village’ could either be placed on the new planters or on the village name signs as these are the property of YPC. Councillor Billington will explore in more detail and report back with estimated costs.
2. Community Speed Watch: Very little interest from the community despite several mentions in evoices. He had suggested four monitoring sites but these had been declined as being unsafe.   He has now submitted four more sites and is awaiting a reply.
3. Speed Detector Device: DCC Highway Neighbourhood Team have agreed to place a speed detector device in the village for a week to collect speeding data 24/7. If this shows high levels of dangerous speeding then this would be passed to the Speed Compliance Action Review Forum and hopefully trigger further action.  We will not be informed when this is to be done.
4. Vehicle Activated Speed Limit Sign. This would cost about £4000 so funds are needed. A film club has been formed with films being shown twice a month with the first on Wednesday 5^th April.  This is specifically to raise funds to help fund run road safety projects in the village.  Councillor Horner will liaise with Kate Hart about raising funds.  Councillor Thomson will speak to Terrier Racing regarding availability of funds.

Councillor Long had nothing to report.

Councillor Tomkinson suggested the clerk’s report was included as part of the agenda each month under the report section.  This will be included on the next agenda.

Councillor Barnes had advised Councillor Horner he would drive around the highways with Councillor Chubb to review the state of the roads.

5. Insurance Policy Review                                                                                                                                      Councillor Horner has found a quotation and draft policy from BHIB Ltd, Insurance Broker which he has also sent to Councillor’s Billington and Tomkinson.  This policy would not have covered the legal expenses for Rag Lane but at least we would have a broker to contact.  He is still reviewing the policy.  Councillor Billington requested about insurance for Vehicle Activation Signs.   It was agreed that Councillor Horner should work with BHIB to finalise IE policy & obtain cover from next renewal date 1^st June 2023.

6. Use of Public Open Spaces                                                                 

DCC will liaise about Rag Lane regarding the obstruction asking the owner to remove it.  Alternatively, DCC will remove the gabions and the landowner liable for all costs.

Winnowing Knapp DCC have advised the owner that the new gateway across the track requires formal approval from DCC as the track is a public open space.

Layby by Old School House.  This is public land and should be kept tidy.

7. Road Between Blackhayes and Broadley

Roads needed to be reviewed in the parish to see which are the worst ones.  The Stockland Road is very bad.  Councillor Long will liaise with Councillor Barnes regarding the village road network.

8. John Salter Award     

There are several nominations this year for this award.  The clerk has emailed a list to all councillors.  She will email them asking for their one vote by 10^th April.  The Award will be presented at the AGM on 15^th May.

9. Parish Information Leaflet                                                                                                                                      Councillor Billington is in the process of updating this leaflet.  It will be available to download as a pdf file.  He will liaise with Councillor Tomkinson regarding the directory on the Parish Council Website to ensure accuracy and no duplication of information.

10.Elections                                                                                                                                                                              All nominations have to be in by 4pm on 4^th April.  The clerk will then be advised whether an election is required. This information will then be emailed to all councillors, put on the website and noticeboards.

11. Grant for Coronation Committee

It was agreed unanimously to underwrite the expenses for the coronation up to £500.00

12.Finance

b The payments below were ratified.

c The clerk continues to chase £2182.21 CIL money due for Yonder Marsh Farm but with no success.

13. Planning

Councillor Long reported the planning details are still being sent to the old email addresses.

Councillor Horner praised Councillor Long on his excellent comments on Clifthayne Farm.

14. Open Session for public participation

No comments received

Councillor Horner advised this was his last meeting as chairman and thanked all the councillors for their

support throughout the past difficult year.

The meeting closed at 9.10 the next meeting to be held on Monday 15^th at 8pm and is the AGM.