Whitestone Parish Council

Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday, 9th June 2022.

Attendance:- Chair – Councillor T Miles.
Councillors Cllrs T Baird, M Belt, V Bryant, A Evans, L Fairley, P Lee, S Llewelyn, B Moody.
District Councillor A Swain (left at at 8.30pm)
Mrs P Vaughan – Clerk to the Council

Apologies: Councillor C Galton. County Councillor A Connett

Cllr Miles opened the meeting and the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 12^th May 2022 having been circulated were taken as read and signed as a true copy by the Chair.

REPORTS FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR / DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

District Councillor Swain said he had nothing to report although he mentioned he was monitoring the landfill sites and also talked about the new Newton Abbot link road that would be coming through.

PLANNING - These applications can be viewed on line by going into the public access system at Teignbridge Planning following the directions giving the application reference. The following applications having been received from Teignbridge District Council with a request for comments were examined and responses were sent which can be viewed on Teignbridge District Council Planning site:-

40.1 DCC/4293/2022 – s73 of the Town and Country Planning Act for Variation of Conditions 4, 19, 21 and 24 of Permission DCC/4101/2018 (19/00207/DCC) – Land raising at Lower Hare Farm, Whitestone, Exeter, Devon, EX4 2HW and Article 27 submissions to Discharge Pre-Commencement Conditions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of DCC/4101/2018.

Councillors had submitted their comments and an agreed objection was submitted to Devon County Council. Cllr Miles summarised the report on this application and stated that the Parish Council’s objections had been sent to Devon County Council and also to Teignbridge District Council.

A summary of the objections focused on areas relating to the following points:-

The Application description; Restrictive Conditions; Size of Development; Application Site Boundary; Ecological Pond and new Attentuation Basin; Change in Phasing; Landscape effects; Construction of Lagoons and Haul Routes; Farm Access Track; Lighting; Noise, Dust and Air Pollution. The Council objects principally as it is believed it does not fall under the remit of a S73 Minor Amendment application. All agreed.

Re-submission of objections for Exeter City Council – Development at Redhills.

40.2 22/0544/OUT – Previously 21/1822/OUT (up to 35 dwellings South of Redhills and West of Hadrian Drive)

40.3 22/0540/OUT – Previously 21/1377/OUT (Residential development of up to 9 dwellings East of Barley Lane/Redhills)

Grant of Conditional Planning Permission

40.4 22/00147/FUL Deconstruction and relocation of agricultural barn at Friars Ball Farm, Rowhorne Road. It was noted that approval was given with a number of conditions regarding landscaping and restricting future development..

Grant of Request for Prior Approval

40.5 22/00588/NPA Application for Prior Approval under Part 3 Class Q (a) and (b) and paragraph W of the GDPO for change of use of agricultural building to a dwelling at Devon View, Whitestone.

40.6 22/00589/NPA Application for Prior Approval under Part 3 Class Q (a) and (b) and paragraph W of the GDPO for change of use of agricultural building to a dwelling at Devon View, Whitestone.

41. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION

Any update on Crosspark Farm – Appeal or Planning

41.1 22/00694/NPA - Cllr Miles reported that the objection had been granted an extension of time by Teignbridge District Council to the 17^th June.

Enforcement matters

41.2 It was reported that Enforcement were waiting for the Planning Appeal decision before taking any further action regarding the toilet block at Chants Cottage.

Toilet facilities for Crossway Park.

41.3 Cllr Fairley reported that she will be meeting with the plumber to see about the re-instatement of the tap to provide water for the community garden and also for the new grassed areas in the play area. One tap top will be kept by the person now in charge of the upkeep of the garden and the other will be kept with the Parish Council things for the use of Councillors when necessary. It was agreed that if the pipes could be moved to enable the hand dryer to be lowered slightly it would be considered.

Crossway Play Area – progress

41.4 Cllr Fairley reported that the suppliers of the baby swings, Wickstead, had made contact to say that they should be able to give a date for the installation of the swings and the repair of the surface under the children’s swings in 6 to 8 weeks time and she will let everyone know as soon as she had been given a date. The lack of the swings over the Jubilee weekend was probably not so much of a disappointment as had been anticipated as because of the rain and storm on the Saturday the community picnic and other activities were moved into the Parish Hall and were still greatly enjoyed by all.

41.5 Vehicle Activated Speed Signs

Cllr Evans confirmed that the pole had been moved and is in the process of moving the signs. Discussion took place regarding the issue of a speed watch being out into place by parishioners, as had been done in the past, and this will be investigated further to encourage members of the community to join in. This would involve a safety Training Course. An effort would be made to re-locate the original equipment possibly loaned to Tedburn St Mary Parish Council.

Climate Action – Awareness + Activities

41.6 Cllr Llewelyn advised that there is nothing to report at the present time but summer events would be coming up.

MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIRMAN

It was reported that there had been vandalism to the shed at the rear of the garages in the park area where the Pantomime keep their equipment and paint from the shed had been used to draw grafitti on the wall. The crime had been reported to the Police (No CR/050244\22). Discussion took place regarding the possibility of a CCTV camera being installed outside the Hall and play area. Cllr Belt will take this forward to the Hall Committee at their meeting next week and to also suggest signage at the entrance of the carpark advising it is private ground and overnight parking is not allowed.

FINANCE

43.1 Bank balances at Nat West Bank as at 26^th May 2022

Current Account	£200.00
Business Reserve Account 1	£26,302.77
Business Reserve Account 2	£3,417.60
	£29,920.37

43.2 Completion of Annual Audit

It was reported that all necessary paperwork and records have been examined and an internal audit has been completed by Mr R Cox who reported that they represent a true and fair view of the financial position and he presented an unqualified audit report and concluded that the financial control methods, systems and procedures are adequate and being followed and adhered to and he therefore has no advisory notes to add. Mrs Vaughan reported that the Annual Audit documentation will be submitted to the PKF Littlejohn for the external audit. Thanks were given to the clerk for her hard work in compiling the accounts and keeping everything well organised

Income

43.3 1 School Houses rental to 14^th June £775.00 - £93.00 (includes £15.50 VAT) = £682.00

43.4 Devon County Council P3 Grant £170.00

43.5 Revenue & Customs VAT Refund £3,402.51

Expenditure

The following expenditure was proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour and the cheques were signed by Councillors Miles and Belt. The Council Insurance had been renewed as it was due 1^st June and continuous cover needed to be in place specifically in view of the Jubilee weekend.

43.6 Arthur J Gallagher (Council Insurance invoice) £1,900.91 (cheque 638)

43.7 Mr L Blades £420.70 (Lengthsman works £290.70/Grass cutting £130.00) (cheque 639)

43.8 Campaign to Protect Rural England £36.00 (cheque 640)

43.9 L W Conabeer (Outside toilet at Crossway Park) £632.80 (cheque 641)

43.10 Clerks quarterly salary and expenses £449.38 (cheque 642)

43.11 HM Revenue & Customs £90.00 (Clerk’s income tax on salary) (cheque 643)

43.12 Mr R Cox £250.00 (cheque 644)

43.13 Whitestone Parish Hall £242.50 (Hire of meeting room £54.00 Park facilities £188.50) (cheque 645)

CORRESPONDENCE

44.1 Letters of thanks from Village Voices and Parochial Church Council for donations

44.2 Letter of complaint from Mrs G Oakey regarding cleaning of grounds outside of the Parish Hall. This was discussed and will be passed to the Hall Committee.

REPORTS

45.1 Cllr Bryant wished condolences to be passed to Herb Piper and family on the death of his wife Chris who was well known in the community.

45.2 Cllr Moody reported that he will be in touch with Mr Blades with regard to installing shelving in the phone box by the bus shelter. Cllr Miles asked if he would be willing to attend instruction given by the Devon Association of Local Councils on his role as a Councillor and she will be forwarding some information to him.

45.3 Discussion took place regarding the Parish Council being placed on its own Face Book page purely as a hub notice board and to communicate important messages as many people use Facebook as opposed to other forms of media. This would enable the public to be more aware of the activities, procedures and information and Cllr Baird and Cllr Moody will action this.

The meeting closed at 9.24pm.