Whitestone Parish Council
PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 2012
Minutes of Whitestone Parish Council held at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7:30 pm on Thursday
14th June 2012
Attendance: Chairman – Councillor P Nierop
Councillors Mrs M Belt, Mrs P Fisher, S Heathcote, D Munro, A Skeet, R Phillips.
District Councillor P Bromell
Mrs P Vaughan, Clerk to the Council
Mrs T Taylor, Mrs S Greenfield (from 8.30pm).
Apologies: Councillors Mrs B Netherway (illness), M Quinn, A Reed (holidays)
The meeting was preceded by the June Draw for the 100 Club in support of the Parish Hall Development Fund. The lucky number was 75 and belongs to Judith Graham.
41. The Chairman opened the meeting and the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting and Parish Council Meetings held on 10th May 2012 having been circulated were taken as read and signed as a true copy by the Chairman
42. PLANNING
Planning Applications
42.1 12/01400/FUL Installation of 770 ground mounted PV solar panels on timber framing on land opposite Holland Ball, Heath Lane.
Councillors discussed the application and plans and concerns were noted that the project has already commenced. Comments made that reiterated there should be reinstatement of the grass and that screening hedges in Heath Lane be reinforced.
42.2 12/01499/AGR Agricultural lean-to extension to provide additional storage area at Williams Fields. The Chairman invited Mrs Taylor to comment on this application as a neighbouring property and she expressed dissatisfaction that this application has already been granted as she had several concerns regarding this additional planning application and had not been consulted by Teignbridge Planning. Mrs Taylor explained her various concerns and informed the meeting that she has contacted Teignbridge direct. The Council then discussed the application and plans and the Clerk was instructed to respond to Teignbridge regretting that a decision had been made prior to receipt of consultation responses to query the need for and use of the planned extension, to express concern about further development of this site and the precedent this might set for future light industrial development in the countryside.
42.3 12/01736/FUL Two storey extension and conservatory at The Old Forge. The Council discussed the application and plans and comments were made on the visibility splay as the cob wall impedes vision on a fairly busy road. It was noted that some work has already started and although the majority had no objections others felt that it was an over development of the building.
42.4 12/01781/FUL Single storey rear extension at Way Farm Barn, Longdown View. The Council discussed the application and plans and there were no objections.
Grant of Conditional Planning
42.5 12/01067FUL Extension to lounge, raising of roof and insertion of dormer windows to front and rear and new porch at 11 Merrymeet.
43. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
43.1 BT Payphones
The meeting was informed that permission has been granted for the box by the bus stop to be painted by the Parish, subject to conditions laid down for Health and Safety and that paint and brushes will be supplied. Cllr Nierop will be organising this.
43.2 Revision of Standing Orders
Following the decision made at the May meeting discussion took place concerning the proposed revisions and with one alteration made to the wording of 14 and it was resolved that the Standing Orders are implemented.
43.3 Asset Management Plan
Following the May meeting the Clerk had written to Whitton & Laing and requested that they carry out their inspection of 1 & 2 School Houses with a view to carrying out the 10 year Asset Maintenance Plan as agreed in March. A response was received indicating that some confusion had occurred with the pricing. This has now been agreed at £300 per property plus VAT which is still cheaper than the next most competitive quote and it was resolved that this now be actioned.
44. MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIRMAN
44.1 Cllr Nierop noted with regret the absence of Cllr Belle Netherway owing to illness and the meeting sent best wishes for a speedy recovery.
44.2 The Chairman reported that prior to the Jubilee weekend he had contacted the contractor and made arrangements for an extra grass cut at Crossway Park as the area would be used for some of the celebrations and the grass had grown owing to the wet weather since the previous cut.
44.3 The Broadband survey is still being conducted and he requested that Councillors and parishioners should take part. Information is on the Devon County website.
45. FINANCE
45.1 Internal Audit Report
The Clerk reported on the Independent Internal Audit completed by Mr K Abraham on 17th May as follows: “In accordance with testing strategy developed in the Financial Risk Assessment, which concludes that the overall risk is low, testing was carried out as appropriate and with the exception of the following all tests were satisfactory. Although all payments sampled were approved and supported by appropriate documentation with VAT correctly recorded, in one instance a cheque stub was initialled by only one signatory not two as is best practice”. The Return has now been sent to the Audit Commission for official audit purposes. A vote of thanks was relayed to the Clerk for her work as Responsible Financial Officer for the Council.
45.2 Following a request at the May meeting the Clerk distributed an up to date financial report which had been prepared by Cllr Quinn.
Expenditure
The following accounts were proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour.
45.3 Whitestone Parish Hall Committee (June) - £125.00
45.4 Internal Audit Fee - £200
45.5 Clerk’s expenses - £46.20
46. CORRESPONDENCE
46.1 Teignbridge District Council – Notification that the project application to Rural Aid for development at the Parish Hall was granted at their meeting on 23rd May and the amount of £3,500 has been approved.
46.2 Mr Fisher responded to an enquiry regarding keys for the garages and gave explanations regarding the contents.
46.3 Letters of thanks were received from the Parochial Church Council and the Gardening Club for the donations received from the Council following the May meeting. Congratulations were expressed for the great improvement made to the small garden area outside the Parish Hall and the Clerk was instructed to convey thanks to Mr Derek Fisher for his efforts in this project.
46.4 A verbal response was received from Teignbridge Planning Services regarding concerns raised at the May Council meeting about Swan Lake indicating that enforcement action was being progressed
46.5 Miss Radford-Lewis has made contact regarding several bridleways within the Parish and this information was passed to Cllr Munro as our Parish Paths Warden and he is investigating and liaising direct with Miss Radford-Lewis.
REPORTS
It was reported that confirmation had been received from DJM that the Ride on Mower has been sold and the Clerk has sent an invoice to them in order that we can be reimbursed the money.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mrs Taylor asked if Highways could be approached regarding flooding which is occurring on the road between “Greenfields” and Twiscombe Corner as this is causing traffic accidents.
Mrs Greenfield gave an update on the Parish Plan Steering Group who met on the 15th May:-
• The group had a display at the May Craft Fair on the 13th May to raise awareness about the concept of a Parish Plan for Whitestone
• The meeting agreed a constitution and to set up a bank account to be able to accept funding contributions
• Both District Councillor Peter Bromell and County Councillor Jerry Brook have kindly offered funding for the plan development and production. This is extremely good news and the Steering Group would like to express its thanks to both Councillors.
• The Group finalised the content and format of the questionnaire and these have been delivered, with a covering letter and return envelope to every household in the Parish.
• We have set a return date of 21st June (to allow for half term/Jubilee holidays) and really hope that all residents will return the completed questionnaire.
• Our June meeting is next week.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm