Lydford Parish Council

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Held in the Nicholls Hall on Tuesday 20^th January 2009

1-2009  Present:

Ms L Ellicott (Chairman): Ms J Gannon (Vice-Chairman); Mrs L Cole: Mrs S Holland: Mrs K Boyd

Ms C Moriarty: Mr I Hammerton: Mrs A Martin (Clerk)

Cllr I McPhie (WDBC)

Parishioners and others in attendance:   Six Parishioners were in attendance.

2-2009 Apologies for Absence:

Cllr A Hosking were accepted. 

3-2009 Declaration of Interests:

There were none.  The Chairman noted that she had recently updated her Register of Interests and that the amendment had been submitted to the WDBC monitoring Officer.

4-2009 Parishioners and Visitors Time: 

4.1 The parishioner who requested questions to be put to SWW at the last meeting had received a reply to them, and thanked the Clerk.  She requested that the questions and the reply be published.  The Council would not normally publish an individual’s correspondence, however as this was specifically requested these will be appended to these minutes.

4.2 Two separate parishioners repeated complaints about horses using the granite way.  A reply had been received from highways regarding the letter sent from the last meeting.  The reply was read out to the meeting:

The situation regarding use of the Granite Way by horses is currently under review.  It is unfortunate that you believe the Highways Department have been unhelpful in this matter in the past, but until the policy on access has been confirmed it is extremely difficult to take any positive action.  We will endeavour to keep you informed of any progress on this matter.

The Clerk had already requested clarification on whether the horse ban on the Granite way was still in force, and had also pointed out the anomaly that there is still a “no horses” sign at the Bridestowe end.  She was requested by the meeting to enquire of highways exactly who is carrying out the review, and what consultation will take place during this review.  The issue of disabled access to the Lydford section of the granite way being effectively stopped by the use by horses was raised and the Clerk confirmed that she had raised this issue with highways on more than one occasion, especially at a time when inclusive access is being so positively promoted, but that they had not so far commented on this aspect of the issue.

She had also suggested that if would take no more time for horses to access Fernworthy via the Public Byway alongside Bolts House.  A parishioner who keeps horses, whilst stressing that she herself had never ridden on the Granite Way, pointed out that the surface of the byway is so bad that it would be dangerous to ride a horse on it.  The Clerk noted that she had requested highways to address this problem in the past and that she had been told that it was not economic to make improvements to the surface.  She suggested that highways be requested to carry out a formal Risk Assessment on the track, and this was agreed.

One of the parishioners present had recently spoken to riders on the Granite way, who had acknowledged that they should not be there.  It is hoped that having made this acknowledgement that the riders will not repeat the transgression and so further action hopefully need not be taken.

Finally thanks were extended by the parishioners and members to Cllr Christine Marsh (DCC) who has taken time and trouble to support Lydford whilst Cllr Hosking has been unwell.  It was reported that our own representative, Cllr Hosking, is gradually recovering, but is not yet back to full fitness, and good wishes were extended to him for a continued recovery.

4.3  A parishioner had written to the Council regarding the Council tax on his property.  Whilst he was living in the property as a single person he had received a 25% discount on the council tax.  For personal reasons he is now mainly living elsewhere, and now that the property is deemed as empty receives only a 10% discount.  The Clerk confirmed that this is also the case in the Caradon district of Cornwall.  The Council will write to WDBC in support of the parishioner’s case.

CPSO Chapple joined the meeting whilst it was in progress, and the Chairman immediately suspended the meeting to enable CPSO Chapple to make his report.  This has been minuted in its normal position:

4.4 Police Report:  CPSO Chapple reported that it had been a quiet time in Lydford, with no incidents apart from some escaped sheep, which had been rounded up and returned to their field by the farmer.

There have been some recent speed traps on the A386.

Having given his report CPSO Chapple left the meeting to resume his patrol duties.

5-2009 To approve the minutes of the previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 16^th December 2008 were signed by the Chairman as a true and accurate record.

6-2009 Matters Arising:

6.1 Highways, Parking and Traffic Issues: 

6.1.1 Regarding the markings on the A386 the Council had been disappointed to have received this reply from highways:

White lines on the A386:

We are not aware of any Road Safety Officers meeting in Lydford from Devon County Council. The  Police also have safety representatives and so they may be a useful point of contact.

This seemed to be in conflict with the e-mail sent by Mr Bowles on 25^th November

I have received correspondence from the Road Safety Officer.  He and our Senior Traffic Technician are having a meeting next week to discuss the situation.

A parishioner, present at the meeting had received news that a safety audit was carried out on this section of the road.  The parishioner was thanked by the Chairman for his input on this issue.

6.1.2 Regarding the “missing link” on the Granite Way, which has also been raised by parishioners, especially those running hospitality businesses in Lydford, the following update had been received:

Considerable progress is now being made in our attempts to close the missing link.  There are two landowners in the gap and agreement has now been reached with one.  In this case agreement also had to be reached with an agricultural tenant.  I believe you are aware of some of the complexities of these negotiations and site suitability checks.                                 The aim is now to complete the signing of this agreement as soon as possible before starting the  procedure for the compulsory purchase of the final section.  It is believed that there are clear advantages to proceeding in this way as agreement will then have been reached with 30 of the 31  land owners required to complete the route.                                                                        We would like to thank the Parish Council for your continued support in this matter.

There was general acknowledgement that progress, although slow, was being made.  The Council had recently requested the minutes of the Northern Parishes Link Committee, which had also had an update on the progress.  The Clerk was asked to request from WDBC that we continue to receive Northern Link minutes, as the area it serves comes right up to the Lydford parish boundary, and there may be other occasions on which Lydford might want to know what was discussed.  The Clerk will forward on this request.

6.1.3 Regarding the missing “Lydford” sign outside Sharptor the council has been informed by Highways that the new sign is now in stock and should be erected by the end of the month.

6.1.4 Regarding the surface of Ingo Lane:  the following reply had been received from highways:

 Ingo break would appear to be a privately maintained lane on our records and so unfortunately we are not able to offer any assistance with the maintenance of the weather damage.

The Council still believes that this is incorrect, and that highways are responsible for Ingo Lane.  The Clerk was instructed to ask them to recheck.  Meanwhile some emergency repairs have been carried out by a contactor paid for by the residents of Ingo Brake.

6.2 Parish Plan update – The Council is currently in dispute with DCC regarding missing paperwork, and is awaiting a response from them.

6.3 Progress re: Ancient Spring and Opening Ceremony – Saturday 7^th March has been confirmed as the date, with the VIP guests from sponsors ING and the Mayor of West Devon all available on the day.   A provisional budget of £100 was agreed for the reception. 

The work at the Spring is all but complete, and the Chairman and Clerk had seen the sample of the information board that is on order.  The importance of ongoing maintenance was stressed.  The Lydford Wildlife group are keen to help monitor the site, but any heavy maintenance must be carried out by a professional (and insured) contractor, and not by a group of children.  The project manager has offered to waive his fees for the project, and is also keen to help monitor the ongoing progress of the site, and the Clerk will forward on the Council’s thanks.

It was hoped that the regrading and groundwork carried out will make the site easier to maintain than it was previously. It was agreed that a plan and budget for ongoing maintenance will be discussed at the next meeting.

6.4 Progress re: Emergency Plan – The plan is being re-launched and information is planned for the website. A fresh appeal for volunteers will go out in the March edition of the Parish Magazine.  As one parishioner has pointed out most of the requirements are already carried out informally by good neighbours, and the council is absolutely aware of this. It is, however, important that the potential need for liaison with emergency services is addressed by the council supplying details of who will be willing to help, and who they should contact in the village.

6.5 Beating of the Bounds – Mrs Holland supplied a copy of the programme of one of the previous occasions when the bounds were beaten.  The meeting between the two official leaders has been arranged for 27^th January.

6.6 Community Land Trust Update  The council has been informed that the first step is to make sure that the project is wanted locally.  The Clerk had printed off a booklet about the work of the Trust, and its procedures, and this was given to the Vice-Chairman for reference.

6.7 Proposed Sewage Treatment Works  The council had been copied in on a communication from the National Trust to SWW informing them that the National Trust will not be willing to allow its field at Site A to be used.  The Council has no further information at the present time.

6.8 Christmas Tree Festival A letter has been received from the PCC which is hoping to have another festival next year.  This had only just been received, and will be considered at the next meeting.

7-2009  Receive Reports from Councillors on respective outside bodies:

7.1 DNPA Consultative Forum  No meeting this month.

7.2 Police Authority  No meeting this month. 

7.3 Southern Parishes Link Committee  The minutes of the recent meeting had been received.  Mrs Boyd repeated the opportunity for Lydford to table questions at the meetings.

7.4 Nicholls Hall Committee  The next Bistro Nite will take place on 6^th February, with a “Credit Crunch special offer of £5 per head”.  Mrs Boyd underlined that the price reduction was only for the one occasion.

7.5 WDBC   Cllr McPhie reported that the Waste Services contract is due for renewal in 2010, and that interest had been expressed by a number of firms, both local and national. 

She also reported that a new Pay-by-phone parking scheme, entitled RingGo would be introduced in Tavistock, though she stressed that it would be as an alternative to the existing pay and display facilities and would not replace them.  Exeter had already introduced such a scheme, and both the Chairman and one of the parishioners present had used it and found it of value as once registered it was no longer necessary to worry about having the right amount of change, and was easier when in a hurry.  The new scheme can only be used by those who have already registered their card to pay for the parking, and this can be done on the internet or by ringing 01822 670673.  The number for paying for parking is also 01822 670673.  It was pointed out that when using the system it was important to give the correct number of the car park being used, this is a 4 digit number displayed on the machines.  There is an extra 20p charge for using the scheme above the normal parking charge.

Finally the Boundary Review has now been moved to 27^th March.  If the Unitary proposals are put into place then West Devon Borough Council will cease to exist.

8-2009  Finance:

8.1 The Clerk, as Responsible Financial Officer, gave a report detailing the following points:

i) With the current low interest rates the move to CAF bank is no longer seen as important.  The service received from Lloyds TSB has been perfectly acceptable since the compensation payment, and so the cheque to open the CAF account has been recredited.

ii) The cost of a stapler, which will remain the property of the Clerk, was deducted from her current month’s salary.

iii) Following what seemed to be attempts by a virus to infiltrate the council’s e-mail facility an improved firewall has been put in place to replace the free one that was previously in use.

8.2 The following balances were reported:

Current account – £ 584.30

            Deposit account - £5878.90

            Parish Plan - £1204.23

            Ancient Spring - £3597.61

The following cheques were authorised from the general budget:  Clerk salary & expenses (including new computer firewall) £304.58:  HMRC (via Post Office Ltd) £53.22: Mainly Stationery £11.74.  A transfer of £75 from the Ancient Spring account to the deposit account in respect of general administration for the past 5 months was authorised.  Provisions held as shown on the sheet circulated to members and attached to the master set of minutes.

8.3 Permission was sought for the financial statement to be appended to the minutes for publication on the internet and in the Council folder in the Nicholls Hall.  This was approved, and will start this month.

9-2009 Correspondence

9.1 Correspondence requiring action or decision:

1. Consultation:  Communities in Control.  The date is in March and it was decided that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman will draft a response for ratification by the Council at the February meeting

2. Letter regarding the Council’s adoption of the new Information Code:  The council stood by its decision to adopt the Model Publication Scheme for Local Councils (Core Classes Only) as it was understood that Lydford was exactly the type of small Council that this model was intended for.  Mr Hammerton had offered to ensure the Council’s compliance with the new code, and to this effect may set up a temporary free website on which to upload material, with links to and from the Council’s main website.  Mr Hammerton was of the opinion that HMG may well make alterations to the requirements if teething problems become apparent, and felt that the temporary website would give the Council flexibility in this introductory period, and could later be absorbed into the main website.  It was agreed that the Council were very happy for Mr Hammerton to undertake this activity on the Council’s behalf.

3. Letter regarding the sewage treatment works.  A number of letters have been received from one parishioner, the most recent of which contained an unacceptable personal attack on the Chairman.  It was decided that the advice of outside agencies be sought on the matter, as a number of councillors were personally upset by the attack.  The Clerk will seek the advice of the Borough Solicitor, who is the first port of call for the Standards Committee. 

Among the correspondence was a request that the Parish Office should be located in the parish.  The Chairman replied that the requirement to provide an office in her own home was part of the Clerk’s contract, and that there is no requirement for the Clerk to live within the Parish.  This is very normal, and a large number of parishes (and some smaller town councils) have their offices located in their Clerk’s homes, sometimes inside and sometimes outside of their boundaries.  The Clerk is normally in the village twice a week, and parishioners requesting sight of, for example, planning applications, have always been shown them within a short time of the request being received.  The Clerk remarked that she sometimes envies Clerks of parishes where the Clerk works set hours in a dedicated parish office and then leaves and locks up the office, being available only during these hours.  The huge advantage to parishioners of a Clerk working from home is the extended hours of availability, though parishioners are requested, whenever possible, to keep telephone calls to office hours.

9.2 Correspondence for Information Only

1. WDBC Standards Committee Agenda and Minutes

2.  Invitation to local organisations to put forward items for the Dartmoor What’s On supplement

3  Best Kept Village 2009 entry forms

4  DCC Newsletter – info re pandemic flu included

5  West Devon Homes Devon Home Choice – social housing tenants are soon to be offered the choice of living anywhere in Devon.

6  Devon Highways advice on travelling in winter

7  Devon Consortium meeting on 25^th February for Voluntary and Community Sector  organisations, of possible interest to the Nicholls Hall and Sports Field Committees.

8  Mortgage arrears helpline – this WDBC initiative is now up and running, and the number to ring for householders two or more months in arrears with their mortgage is 01392 686760.

9  Info re:  Digital switchover

10  Maps of the Okehampton Camp ring road showing managed decline details

11  OSS News release re:  Rescue of lost commons,  Some were in Lydford, and the Clerk will seek more information.

12  Community Land Trust Booklet: the Vice Chairman took this for further study.

13. DNPA Agenda, Minutes and reports of the Authority

14. DNPA Agenda, Minutes and Reports of the Development Management Committee

15.  Notice of vacancies on the DAPC Committee for three Parish Councillors from West Devon.

10-2009 Planning Applications

10.1 Decisions Received 

1.  Application for replacement porch, side extension and garden room and alterations to bay windows at Hartswood (0761/08):  This had been withdrawn following a decision that it came under Permitted Development Rights.  Accordingly no response from the Council was required.

10.2 Submissions made under Delegated Powers

1.  Application for amendment to existing permission at the Builder’s Office (0973/07):   The Clerk had checked against the original drawings and had found that the amendments to fenestration at the rear of the building would completely negate Condition 5 of the original permission.  In the light of this the following submission was made under delegated powers:

When the original application 0973/07 was submitted, after application 0667/07 had been refused permission, strong consideration was given to the preservation of the amenity of the neighbouring properties. 

The Council has grave concerns over the proposed amendments to the fenestration on the Northwest elevation, which was specifically referred to in condition 5 of the planning consent.

The council therefore OBJECTS to the proposed amendments.

10.3 Concern over DNPA Planning responses on short deadlines over the Christmas period

The Council was concerned that a parishioner wishing to make representations to the DNPA regarding item 10.2 received the information from the DNPA very close to Christmas, due to delays in the post.  Fearing that a reply would not be received in time this parishioner made a number of calls to the DNPA office, but was unable to speak to a planning officer.  By the time normality returned after the New Year Bank Holiday the date had long been passed and so this parishioner never got to make her views known to the DNPA, even though her property would be very much affected if the amendments were passed.  The Clerk will forward these concerns on to Mr France at the DNPA, in order that in future years the seasonal delays problems may be addressed.

11-2009  Items raised at the previous meeting for inclusion on this agenda:

The Granite way:  it was considered that this had been thoroughly covered earlier in the meeting.  It will now continue to be an agenda item in its own right.

12-2009 Items raised for inclusion on the next Agenda

The footpath past Hartswood.

The Standards Committee’s response.

13-2009 To agree the date of the next meeting:

The date of Tuesday 17^th February 2009 was agreed commencing at 7.00 pm.

The new diary has now been published, and a copy will be appended to these minutes. It should be noted that the provisional diary has been amended.

There being no further business the meeting was formally closed by the Chairman at 8.33 pm.

Annie Martin

Clerk to the Parish Council                                                                      22^nd January 2008

Signed as a true and accurate record……………………………………  (Chairman)              Date……………….