April 2020 Record of Remote Meetings / Discussions and Decisions
Formal proposal made to all Councillors on 16th April:
Proposed by Clive Stone, seconded by Steve Horner…
Following the recent Decision to undertake important and urgent business by e-mail, the Proposal is that the roles and responsibilities undertaken by Yarcombe Parish Councillors during 2019/20 are to be carried forward for the year 2020/21.
Please confirm your formal vote on this proposal direct to Sarah-Jane Martin by e mail
Clive Stone
Confirmation of formal votes received from:
Cllrs D Barnes, C Vining, S Vining, C Ford, T Long, L Pidgeon
Email received by Cllr Chubb 28/04/2020
Due to the current situation and lack of physical meetings I thought you might like to hear from your Devon County Councillor.
I have been focused on facilitation work relating to the COVID-19 crisis across the County, where put simply the efforts of voluntary Groups is having a big positive effect in supporting and taking pressures off the NHS and Social care sectors; thank goodness for the community spirit and joint efforts to help neighbours in places like the Whimple & Blackdown ward.
As we move into week five of the Government’s ‘Stay at Home’ programme here are a few notes of advice.
Issues residents have raised locally are covered below, together with useful links if you wish to access further local information and help lines. The village websites and noticeboards remain a good source for filtering information out. there is already a significant amount of information in the public media. Many of us are already suffering with information overload, which for some can be quite depressing.
On the positive side you will know that statistics show the impact of the virus on the South West is not yet as great as in other parts of the country. Please let’s keep it that way. We have cases in East Devon, so please continue to follow the Government guidelines: Stay at home and practice social distancing.
Support for shopping: If you have someone shopping for you please remember that volunteers are increasing their risk while they are out. So shopping should ideally be limited to one main shop a week of essential items. It is not fair to ask your helper to run around to several different shops looking for specific brands or non-essential items.
Urgent appeal for community equipment: Devon County Council have appealed for the return of equipment that is not being used: walking frames, commodes, shower stools, and raised toilet seats, etc. Increased demand during the coronavirus outbreak means these items are now in danger of being in short supply.
Please drop any equipment that you have to return to a central contact point in the village and then arrange for Devon County Council to collect these items. Please notify any of your neighbours that do not have access to email and may therefore be unaware of this request.
Visitors in your village: Over Easter the campaign to keep tourists, visitors and second home owners away was very successful. Reports suggest an estimated 85% drop in traffic coming into Devon. I received a couple of reports of visitors to the locality but these were not substantiated. If you have any visitors that are tourists please report to EDDC enforcement team, to react to a definite case.
Unfamiliar walkers: Some residents have called me about unfamiliar walkers on our lanes. The guidelines ask people to stay local and use open spaces near to their home where possible and not to travel unnecessarily. Ministers have also said that a drive of 5 minutes would be reasonable. Therefore we may see some non-residents. However, there are also many residents who don’t usually go walking but are now taking the plunge. Perhaps the answer is to greet all those you meet with a friendly ‘Hello, I haven’t seen you out and about before’. You may meet a new neighbour or possibly embarrass a visitor from further afield into staying closer to home!
Refuse Collection: Please contain any waste placed in the grey bins in black plastic bags. EDDC are doing a great job with their collections in these trying times, so bare with them if your collection is done late in the day or the next day.
Bonfires: East Devon District Council has asked residents to avoid having any bonfires whilst the Coronavirus controls are in place as smoke or the smell from them might affect neighbours or aggravate any health conditions. If you are affected please advise your neighbour as they may not be aware of this request. https://eastdevon.gov.uk/environmental-health-and-wellbeing/land-air-and-water-pollution/bonfires-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/
Garden waste collection: Aware that gardening has increased in the area and the green bin collection has been suspended, please compost where you can and the service will resume when business is normal again.
Finance:
– The first half of the Precept has been received being £3,032.50 and £2,000 transferred to the savings account.
– Bank payments scheduled for 5th May
– Due to us not holding a meeting in May if you have any objections or questions concerning the below payments, please let me know by Friday 1st May.
Date Payee Details of Payment Payment Date Amount
5th May Blackdown Hills Parish Network Membership – already authorised via email 05.05.20 97.06
5th May Society of Local Council Clerks Membership – already authorised via email 05.05.20 92.00
5th May Sarah-Jane Martin Salary 05.05.20 233.52
5th May HMRC PAYE 05.05.20 58.20
5th May Devon Association of Local Council Clerks Membership 05.05.20 111.80
5th May Yarcombe Village Hall Use of Hall for meetings 05.05.20 80.00
5th May Sarah-Jane Martin Clerk Expenses 05.05.20 124.28
Email agreement regarding the above payments:
Cllrs C Stone, D Little, S Horner, L Pidgeon, S Vining
Decisions on Insurance Renewal:
Email to Councillors:
We are due to receive our Insurance renewal soon. Below is our schedule of assets with a total insurance value at £3,302.00:
Schedule of Assets: Value in Insurance 19-20 Excess
Camera – Panasonic Lumix £ 130.00 £ 100.00
Laptop £ 150.00 £ 100.00
Filing Cabinet £ 162.00 £ 100.00
BT Phone Box – removed £ –
Yarcombe Notice Board £ 1,590.00 £ 100.00
Marsh Notice Board £ 270.00 £ 100.00
Fireproof & Waterproof Box for Minutes £ –
Yarcombe Defibrillator £ 1,000.00
£ 3,302.00
Last year’s renewal premium was £180.58. Please may I have your authority to roll the above asset values forward and renew the Insurance if it comes in at less than £200.00. Any higher I will revert – the increase to £200 is to cover the Yarcombe defibrillator which they agreed to add on for free until the end of the year.
The Marsh defibrillator was not installed before the lock-down and Sandra Newton will let me know as soon as it is so we can add it to our policy.
In Agreement:
CllrS C Stone, D Little, S Horner, L Pidgeon, S Vining
Planning
A letter was sent to Mr and Mrs Rich of Broadley Farm concerning a planning matter that had been raised locally. We received a letter in response with corrective actions that had been taken and the response forwarded to our local Parishioner who raised the matter.