YARCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
Remote Meeting held via Zoom, Monday 7th September at 8.00 pm
In Attendance:
Cllrs C Stone (Chair), T Long, L Pidgeon, S Vining, C Ford, S Horner, C Vining, S-J Martin (Clerk & RFO)
Members of the Public present – 0
Cllr Stone welcomed everyone to the meeting.
1. Apologies for Absence:
Cllr Little
2. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Stone declared 1 Declaration of Interest within the planning applications.
3. Minutes.
The Councillors were asked if they were happy that the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 22nd June, received by email were correct and able to be signed off. This will be done outside the meeting.
4. Reports
To receive the following Reports
a. County Councillor – Cllr Iain Chubb
b. No reports received
b. District Councillors – Cllrs D Key and C Brown
No reports received
c. Police
A Police report was received and is within the Agenda.
d. Yarcombe Community Land Trust
Cllr Horner advised they are still treading water although have a Zoom meeting with the Board of Directors shortly. The door mouse problem has been overcome but now there is a dispute between 3 sets of lawyers and Highways.
Cllr Stone thanked Cllr Horner for the report and all his work to date.
e. Reports from Individual Councillors
All the Councillors were asked if they had anything to report, those that did were as follows:
Cllr C Ford:
Cllr S Vining had passed the notice of a fallen tree to Cllr Ford which was reported, and it has been confirmed that it has been moved to one side. There was also a report of overgrown vegetation on a footpath over Roger Parris’s land which has also been reported and it is to be dealt with when the person concerned returns from annual leave.
5. Parish Council Priorities
o Village Facilities / Amenities
Accessibility of Parish Council website
The yarcombe.net website is not compliant with the new legislation being brough in for Parish Councils regarding accessibility. Yarcombe.net does not need to comply with the regulations and with it being a big website, it would be very expensive, and time consuming to get it be compliant. The option of purchasing an “off-the-shelf” website designed purely for Parish Council was discussed. This means our page would be removed from yarcombe.net so that website can remain as it is. This would be a one-off cost of £499 plus an annual charge of £250.00. Peter Tarrant would like to step away from undertaking the Parish Council admin too and a “ready-made fully accessible website” would ensure we are compliant with legislation which is enforced in 12-18 months. It was also decided that we could claim disproportionate burden in getting yarcombe.net checked as this cost would go a long way towards the cost of a new website which would be placed in the accessibility statement with a view to getting a new website next year.
Cllr Stone suggested we contact Nick Randle to see if he is aware what other small Parish Councils are doing.
S106 Funds
We have been advised from EDDC that on completion of some properties subject to S106 legislation, there will be some funds available for the Parish Council to spend on “Open Spaces”. The project/s chosen by the Parish Council must be something which is included as required in the Neighbourhood Plan. Following the identification within the Neighbourhood Plan of what has been set as being required, these suggestions would be put forward to EDDC for their consideration. Clerk to look through the Neighbourhood Plan to identify any possible projects and report back.
Yarcombe Inn
Cllr Stone advised it has been sold STC prior to auction. A discussion was held on the ACV as Cllr Horner thought that it should be registered immediately, then the owners given the cancel to appeal. Clerk to query with Nick Wright in planning.
Update on a Defibrillator in Marsh
An update was received from Sandra Newton to advise they still need to raise some more funds.
Yarcombe Defibrillator
Cllr Little reported “I have been checking the defibrillator weekly and at the moment all is well”
Planters
Helen Mathes has very kindly offered to maintain the planters with her Mother. This was discussed and Tony Baker also contributes. It was suggested they could perhaps work together. Clerk to email Helen with thanks and suggest.
Update on Streetscene grass cutting
Cllr Stone is liaising
Landmark Trees
To consider a brass plaque near the tree – this was postponed.
o Highways
Damaged fence due to accident
This is still delayed as it is not a safety defect. Highways are aware of it and shall repair it when resources allow.
o Additional Items
John Salter Award
It was decided to contact the Yarcombe Children’s Fund to let them know about the £100.00 and send the money by BACS.
Review of Standing Orders
The Standing Orders have been reviewed and we have added in a paragraph concerning remote meetings due to Covid-19.
6. Open Session for Public Participation
No members of the Public were in attendance. Additionally, no emails were received from members of the public for review or a response from the meeting.
7. Finance
• The Councillors received the Clerks report on the current Financial Position by email
• Payments within the Clerks Report schedule were agreed
Payment Date Payee Details of Payment Amount
08.09.20 Sarah-Jane Martin August Clerks Wages 262.32
08.09.20 HMRC August PAYE 65.80
The second half of the precept was received, of £3,032.50 and the Local Government pay deal has been agreed resulting in the Clerks wages increased by 2.75% from April 2020
8. Clerk and Correspondence – Discussion / Decisions and Actions required
• Roger Parris has enquired about the possibility of a streetlight being placed near Brian Smiths house as it is exceptionally dark. A motion activated solar light was discussed but it was decided not to proceed.
9. Planning
To receive and endorse the Planning Decisions of the Council taken since last meeting under delegated authority.
Some of the planning applications within the Agenda were outside Yarcombe’s planning authority although their postal addresses appear to be Yarcombe. Clerk to look at the search settings within the EDDC planning portal.
Cllr Long advised that during this time, site meetings have been held with a skeleton of Parish Council members, where he felt necessary and consequently hasn’t been inviting all the Parish Councillors to all the applications, due the present circumstances.
Cllr Long went through the list of recent planning applications and Cllr Horner enquired about the new planning regulations coming in and that currently EDDC seem to be allowing the conversion of buildings to Holiday Lets but not dwellings, which is what the village needs. It was wondered if there may be something in the Neighbourhood Plan which will be looked into.
An issue came up with the planning application for the land at Yonder Farm and it was decided to draft a letter to planning since the observations of a bigger splay required at the entrance to the property appears to have been ignored.. “…….the concern of the Councillors is that the road the property is exited from, is onto a very busy lane, which if Highways were consulted, they may not have understood/appreciated quite how busy it is, hence the requirement for a larger splay that was on the drawings, to enable better visibility. The Councillors feel they are very well placed to comment on this matter as they know the local conditions. The Councillors wish to understand the foundations on why their comment on the application appears to have been disregarded so they can take it into account on future planning applications.”
The date of the next meeting is Monday 5th October at 8pm which will be held remotely.