Whitestone Road sign

Whitestone Parish Council


PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES NOVEMBER 2012

DRAFT MINUTES of Whitestone Parish Council meeting held at Whitestone Parish Hall on Thursday 8th November 2012 at 7.30pm to be ratified as a true copy and authorised at Parish Council meeting on Thursday 13th December 2012

Attendance: Chairman - Councillor P Nierop
Councillors Mrs M Belt, Mrs P Fisher, S Heathcote, D Munro, R Phillips, M Quinn, A Reed, A Skeet.
District Councillor P Bromell (for part of the meeting)
Mrs P Vaughan, Clerk to the Council
Mr D Friend, Mrs B Netherway, Mrs S Greenfield

The Council Meeting was preceded by the November Draw for the 100 Club in support of the Parish Hall Development Fund. The number drawn was 87 and belongs to Simon Purser.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr Friend read his prepared statement concerning the recent Appeal Hearing regarding Springdale Farm which he had attended, saying that he was far from satisfied with the Decisions of the Hearing which was published on 30th October 2012. He listed several points where in his opinion wrong information had been given to the Inspector by the Appellant and upon which the Inspector had based her conclusions and list of conditions when allowing the Appeal decision.
The Chairman asked if Mr Friend had contacted Teignbridge District Council with his complaints as any further action would have to come from them. Mr Friend said that he understood that Teignbridge would be having a planning meeting to discuss the matter. District Councillor Bromell spoke briefly confirming that he had received the Appeal Hearing decision.

The Chairman opened the meeting and the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 11th October 2012 having been circulated were taken as read and signed as a true copy by the Chairman

PLANNING
Planning Applications
12/02350/FUL Single storey side extension at 1 Merrymeet. The Council examined the application and plans and there were no objections.

12/03091/VAR Variation of condition 2 on planning permission 11/000872/FUL to permit provision of pitched roof on square stair tower to be finished in render in place of timber cladding at Heath House. The Council examined the application and plans and there were no objections.

Cllrs Belt and Phillips declared a personal interest in the following application.
12/02945/COU Change of use of agricultural barn to stabling for commercial livery at Farm Barton. The Council examined the application and plans and there were no objections although some Councillors were concerned regarding extra traffic on the surrounding roads.

Grant of Conditional Planning
12/02747/FUL Conversion of existing link structure into ancillary guest studio including raising of roof height at West Town Farm, Tedburn Road.

12/02754/FUL Replacement of existing outbuilding at Connetts, Halsfordwood Lane.

District Councillor's Report
District Councillor Bromell said that Tedburn St Mary had recently had discussions with the Police regarding their lack of attendance at Parish Council meetings and as a result it has been suggested that the Police would attend a joint meeting with Councillors from Tedburn and Whitestone and perhaps Holcombe Burnell to present any problems which they wished to raise. A possible date of Thursday 17th January 2013 was agreed by the Council and parishioners are requested to address any concerns regarding policing to their Councillors which can then be discussed at the meeting.

MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
Parish Council Minutes
Following a request by parishioners at the Annual Parish Meeting in April 2012 and as six months has now passed the Chairman requested that the Council now review the decision made in February 2012 that minutes should not be published until authenticated and signed as a true copy. Discussion followed and it was proposed and seconded that a draft copy should be sent to the Parish Magazine and the Whitestone Website following the meeting.. The Minutes will be ratified as a true copy and authorised at the following Parish Council meeting for record purposes. A vote took place with one objection and one abstention.

Appointment of Councillors
Owing to the resignation of Mrs Belle Netherway as a Councillor it was necessary to appoint an officer to act as Crossway Park Officer and as Church House Foundation Member.
Discussion took place regarding the Crossway Park inspections and it was resolved that instead of the weekly inspections of the Park this could be done on a monthly timetable and Cllr Skeet volunteered to complete this task. Cllr Reed said that he would assist should the need arise.
The Clerk then gave details regarding the Church House Foundation and it was determined that Cllr Belt would be the Council representative.

Parish Council representation on the Parish Hall Committee.
A letter had been received from the Parish Hall Management Committee regarding the lack of attendance of Cllr Munro at their meetings. Cllr Munro gave apologies regarding this but felt that it would be more advantageous to appoint another Councillor in view of his commitments. Discussion followed and it was resolved that Cllr Belt would take up this duty.

Asset Group response to Whitton & Laing 10 Year Asset Maintenance Plan
An inspection had been carried out based upon the Maintenance Plan and it had been determined that the following expenditure would be required:
No 1 School Houses £305 - Year 2012/13. An allocation should be set aside of £7,500 for 2013/14
No 2 School Houses £3,700 - Year 2012/13. An allocation should be set aside of £250 for 2013/14.
It had been ascertained that there was a damp problem at 2 School Houses and the Clerk was instructed to request that the chimneys were swept in order to see if this might solve any of the problem.
Discussion took place on the need to reduce the height of the brick wall west of No 2 in order to make it safe and the Clerk was instructed to write to Devon Lettings for them to advise the tenant that this action would shortly be undertaken and to organise this work. Cllr Phillips said that he knew of a builder who would be glad of the bricks and would be willing to dismantle the wall and remove the bricks for a nominal charge. He was requested to investigate this option as a matter or urgency as it was known that the wall was insecure.

MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIRMAN
Cllr Nierop thanked all those volunteers who had taken part in the recent litter pick. Following comments regarding the rubbish bin at Crossway Park a request has been placed with Teignbridge District Council for the supply of a wheely bin for this area which would make it easier to collect the rubbish.

Information had been received that following the Council's request two speed checks have been carried out but unfortunately owing to a fault with the recorder on one data could not be retrieved. This one will be repeated in the near future so the data should be available at the end of November. The Chair said that he had requested that the officer attended our December meeting to explain the figures but he was unable to attend outside working hours.. Cllr Nierop suggested that we request that he attend during the afternoon prior to the Council meeting on 13th December to explain the reading and discuss any problems.

Cllr Nierop said that the Trafalgar Way Plaque has now been added to the Council's insurance and thanked Mr Alan Smith for his efforts with this project.

Cllr Nierop reminded members of the vacancy on the Parish Council and through the minutes urged anyone considering serving the community in this way to contact the Parish Clerk.

FINANCE
Budget Review for 2012-2014
Cllr Quinn distributed an updated budget statement and gave explanations to the meeting. A request for funding for the Whitestone Website has been received and it was resolved that a grant of £41 should be included in the budget. A letter clarifying the Parish Hall Committee of Management's request for funding report had also been received. Cllr Quinn suggested that this funding should be consolidated into a fixed monthly payment. This would be explored with the PHC. It was noted that the Precept will be set in January 2013.

Expenditure
The following accounts were proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour.
Whitestone Parish Hall Management Committee (November payment) £125.00
Whitestone Parish Hall Hire of Hall for Parish Plan Steering Group - £37.00
New Locks for garage doors - £38.17 and spare keys - £11.00
Clerk's expenses £28.66

It was reported that repair work had been organised for No 1 School Houses by Devon Sales & Lettings at a cost of £34.00 and £69.04

CORRESPONDENCE


REPORTS
Councillors made reports on items raised by parishioners:-

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mrs Greenfield gave the following update on the Parish Plan Steering Group:-
"The Steering Group met last Tuesday, 6th November. We were joined for the first part of the meeting by Pat Moody from Tedburn St Mary who explained her role as a First Responder. Pat happily answered all our questions regarding costs, training, equipment, call outs, etc. She also clarified that currently the responders based at Tedburn cover the parish of Whitestone in its entirety. Responder numbers in Tedburn are currently not at full strength. Pat then left the meeting.
After the usual general administrative matters members of the Steering Group gave feedback from the village groups regarding the Parish Plan. We then discussed our next steps and ways to take the plan forward. Feedback was given from the Parish Council regarding the September event.
Finances for the remainder of 2012/13 were discussed. It was resolved to advise the Parish Council that as Plan matters have not moved as fast as we might have optimistically hoped, monies that clearly will not be needed this financial year should revert to Parish Council funds. A specific sum needed for use by the Steering Group was identified and will be identified to the Parish Council".

The Chairman thanked Mrs Greenfield for her report.

Mr Friend said that he thought the decision regarding the publication of the draft minutes was good.

The meeting closed at 10.30pm.