| BRIDFORD PARISH COUNCIL | ||
| Minutes of a meeting of Bridford Parish Council held at Bridford Village Hall on Monday 6th February 2017 at 7.00pm | ||
| Present: Cllrs G Hearnden (acting Chairman), A Lord, R Dowding, E Price, J Padgham, T Evans, Mrs J P Banks (Clerk)
Dst Cllr A Ford attended for part of the meeting. No members of the public were present. |
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| 1 | Apologies – Cllr F Miles | |
| 2 | Declarations of Interest – none | |
| 3 | Public Discussion – no items to discuss | |
| MATTERS ARISING | ||
| 4 | Minutes – the Parish Council resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9th January 2017 as a true and accurate record of the meeting | |
| 5 | Allotments – an agreement has been sent out in respect of plot 3. Three half plots remain vacant. | |
| 6 | Play Area – nothing to report | |
| 7 | Gritting Machine and treating Bridford Hill – Cllr Evans has obtained details and prices for a new towable gritting machine. The pros and cons were discussed with regard to continuing with the Snow Warden Scheme (if we have willing volunteers) and the possibility of engaging a contractor. The Clerk has spoken with Hennock Parish who have asked for tenders to employ their own lengths man. If a contractor was used, on what basis would it be? e.g. a retainer fee and call out charge. Volunteers are not keen to come forward as it appears that although under the Snow Warden scheme, they would be covered by DCC insurance for any incident which occurred following the gritting of the road, they personally do so at their own risk and would be expected to provide the appropriate insurance cover for their own vehicle used to tow the machine. The ideal towing vehicle would be a tractor. The way forward now is for the Parish Council to write to the Highways portfolio holder at County Hall and obtain in writing where the PC stands with regard to public liability, having taken on the current scheme voluntarily. We need to establish whether or not the Parish Council and its Councillors could be sued in the event of an accident. The Parish Council will also have to decide exactly what would be required of a contractor if it is decided to put it out to tender. | |
| Dst Cllr Ford joined the meeting at 7.30pm | ||
| 8 | Adoption of Telephone Box – still awaiting from response from BT. Will continue to follow up. | |
| 14 | District Councillor’s Report – item 14 brought forward
Final recommendations have been published regarding the Electoral Review of Teignbridge. The National Grid will be working on some of the pylons between Plymouth and Exeter, starting in April until the end of the year. This does not includes any in the Teign Valley. Mobile phone structure – EE is now operational in the Valley. Broadband provision – Airband is still not operational with the last connections at Christow remaining outstanding. Teignbridge Council tax is increasing by 3.22% which will result in a rise of £5 pa for Band D properties. District Budget – further savings and cuts are likely. Government grants are diminishing. |
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| Dst Cllr Ford left the meeting at 7.45pm | ||
| 9 | Village Garden – no further forward. The solicitor is experiencing problems locating one of the executors of the current owners of the land. | |
| 10 | Proposed road repairs at Laployd Barton and Neadon Lane – Cllr Hearnden reported that the repair work at Laployd Barton has now been done. The Parish Council is advised that the work at Neadon Lane should be carried out at the end of March | |
| 11 | Angler’s Cottage – TDV Housing Services has confirmed an Improvement Notice was served under the Housing Ac t 2004 which is due to expire mid February. If the works have not been completed by the relevant date, the owner will be in breach of the notice and the case will be referred to legal services to commence legal proceedings. | |
| 12 | Further training courses re first aid and defibrillator – an item to be placed in Unity, the website and notice boards to find out if there would be further interest in running additional first aid and defibrillator training courses. | |
| ANY OTHER MATTERS ARISING | ||
| 13 | Meetings attended by Parish Councillors – Cllr Padgham attended a New Councillor training course at Exeter and reported that she found it ‘riveting’! The course was both interesting and beneficial. Cllr Padgham gave details of a DALC planning training course to be held on 9th March. Details will be circulated to all Councillors. | |
| 14 | District Councillors Report – dealt with earlier in the meeting | |
| 15 | County Councillors Report – Cnty Cllr Brook did not attend the meeting and therefore there was no report. | |
| PLANNING | ||
| For Discussion | ||
| 16 | The following application was circulated to Parish Councillors and dealt with between meetings due to the
short timescale for the response Seven Views, Pound Lane, Bridford – re proposed improvements to access including replacement shed and oil tank enclosure / bin store (DNPA ref 0023/17. Following a site visit, the Parish Council observed that there are two variations in this retrospective application compared to the original permitted plans. The Parish Council has no objection to the height of the wall above two metres but objects to the decorative feature intended to top the granite facing as it is not in keeping with Devon traditions. |
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| 17 | Stonemill House, Stone Lane, Bridford – re proposed change of use from agricultural to equestrian; construction of equestrian exercise area and relocation of two existing mobile field shelters. (DNPA ref 0024/17. The Parish Council has no objections to this application. | |
| 18 | Rockside, Bridford Road, Christow – re proposed replacement garage in different location on site (DNPA ref 0008/17) The Parish Council supports this application referring to reasons previously stated. | |
| 19 | Any planning items for discussion since publication of the agenda – none | |
| For Information – none | ||
| 20 | Any planning items for information received since publication of the agenda – none | |
| 21 | Rights of Way Diversion at Burnicombe Farm – this item deferred to Public Discussion item 32 | |
| FINANCE & ACCOUNTS | ||
| 22 | Account balances as at 9th January 2017
Current account Investment account
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4124.27 3743.78 7868.05 |
| (Balances include earmarked funds: £90 refundable allotment deposits, £525 Play Area, £43 Village Garden, £45 textile bank + £35 percentage to Village Hall) | ||
| 23 | INCOME
None |
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| 24 | EXPENDITURE
Devon County Council re refund of duplicate grant monies received Mrs J P Banks re January salary Admin expenditure quarter ended 31st December 2016 Bridford Village Hall re hire or meeting room 1st Oct – 31at Dec £64.00 Re contribution to PO rent 1st Oct – 31st Dec £52.00 DALC re New Councillor Training for Jennifer Padgham
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200.00 192.56 144.39
116.00 30.00 682.95 |
| 25 | Account balances as at 9th January 2017
Current account Investment account
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3441.32 3743.78 7185.10 |
| Cllr Dowding being delegated by the Chairperson, checked the reconciliation to the bank statements and the invoices to the cheques. The Parish Council resolved to accept the accounts and authorise the expenditure | ||
| ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION | ||
| 26 | Great British Spring Clean – although there is a lot of litter along the Valley Road, it is not considered that there is a litter problem in the village. The Parish Council decided not to take part . | |
| 27 | Any items for discussion received since publication of the agenda – a request has been received by the Chairperson to change the day of the monthly Parish Council meeting. The Village Hall is only available on a regular basis on a Monday evening and if the meetings were to take place in the afternoon, it is unlikely that the District and County Councillors would be able to attend and their input is valued by the Council.
The monthly Parish Council meetings will therefore remain on Mondays. |
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| ITEMS FOR INFORMATION | ||
| 28 | Resignation of DNPA Head of Planning – Stephen Belli has resigned after six years service to DNPA | |
| 29 | Devon Countryside Access Forum – seeking new members. Details to be published in Unity | |
| 30 | Electoral Review of Teignbridge – final recommendations circulated to the Parish Council | |
| 31 | Any items for information received since publication of the agenda
Internal Audit – Penny Clapham has agreed to undertake Bridford’s annual internal audit Broken Signpost at Laployd Cross – Cllr Hearnden will try and repair it Community Enterprise Training – training courses available. Details to be published in Unity |
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| 32 | Public Discussion – Trevelyan Evans as a Parishioner, invited the Parish Council to visit Burnicombe Farm to
explain his plans for diverting the public bridleway and footpath on his land. |
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| 33 | Date of next meeting – Monday March 6th at 7.00pm | |
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Original copy of minutes signed by the Chairperson 6th March 2017 |
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CIRCULATION
Newletters, Reports & Circulars Miscellaneous Copy of Final Recommendations re Electoral Review of Teignbridge Correspondence sent Various |
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In the Teign Valley