Whitestone Parish Council
Minutes of Whitestone at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 11th June 2026.
Attendance:- Chair – Cllr P Stott
Councillors M Belt, M Frankum, C Lang, T Taylor
District Councillor J Parrott
Mr Mark Escott
Mr Phil Mingo
Apologies:- Cllr T Baird, County Councillor A Connett,
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr Mingo reported that he was in attendance regarding the footpath at Crossway Park where the soakaway from the Teign Housing properties was causing concerns. After discussion it was .agreed that a letter be sent to Teign Housing regarding the matter. District Councillor Parrott said that he would also look into the issue.
41. Apologies having been received from Cllr Baird the meeting was convened by Cllr Stott and the minutes of the Council Meeting held on Thursday 14th May 2026 having been circulated were taken as read and signed by the Chair.
42. Co-option of new Parish Councillor
Mr Mark Escott was asked to join the Council following his application and he subsequently signed the necessary declaration of acceptance of office and then joined the meeting.
43. REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
District Councillor Parrott provided an update on Local Government Reform. He confirmed that a final decision should be received shortly on the model of the new District Council and that the formation of a showdown authority” will be in place until 2028. He also confirmed that the local plan had been signed off with the development at Atwells Farm forming part of the plan. It is important to note that planning permission for his development has not been started as a housing developer will need to be tendered before the development proceeds. He also confirmed that delayed refuse collections are being addressed.
Cllr Belt requested that the dog bin be replaced as it is decaying. District Councillor Parrott confirmed this would be followed up.
44. PLANNING - 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 will be sent which can be viewed on Teignbridge District Council Planning site.
44.1 26/00820/CLDE Certificate of Lawfulness for erection of building and continuous use as a single self-contained residential dwelling house (Use Class C3) together with use of land as residential at Exeter View Stables Rowhorne Road. Planning notification for information only – no action required by the Parish Council.
44.2 Grant of conditional planning permission
26/00529/FUL Change of use of an existing single dwelling house (Use Class C3) to a residential children’s home (Use Class C2) for the care of up to two children at Marylands.
45. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
45.1 Council Surgery
This will take place from 7pm to 7.30pm on 10th September 2026 and will be advertised through posters, Facebook and via the Parish magazine. Cllr Lang confirmed that she would take these actions forward.
45.2 Crossway Park & Community Garden
Cllr Taylor gave an update and soil and grass seed had been installed within the area for which the Council gave their thanks.
45.3 Parish Plan
Cllr Stott suggested that most actions of the Parish Plan had been enacted and that it would be useful to test some fresh ideas with the Parish regarding priorities and allocation of funds. The Council will propose five ideas at the next meeting and then test them via the Facebook Group to determine popularity
46. FINANCE
46.1 Income
It was noted that no income had been reported from School Houses and the Clerk was instructed to request an explanation from the Estate Agents.
Expenditure
The following expenditure was proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour and the cheques were signed by Councillors Baird and Frankum
46.2 L Blades – £538.40 (Lengthsman £248.40 Grass cutting £290.00)
46.3 T W Woodley (Allsorts) £64.00 (4 weeks cleaning of Whitestone Park Toilets)
46.4 Clerk’s salary and expenses £465.94
46.5 HM Revenue and Customs (Clerk’s income tax on salary) £101.40
46.6 Mrs T Taylor £186.00 (soil and grass seed)
46.7 Whitestone Parish Hall £116.10 (Hire of Hall £84.00 Play Park facilities £32.10}
47 CORRESPONDENCE
An email had been received from Reverend Martin Wood giving thanks for the Council grant of £225.00 which will be of great help towards the cost of maintaining the Parish Magazine.
48 REPORTS
48.1 Cllr Belt reported that there had been complaints from residents regarding dog walkers allowing their pets to foul people’s gardens. The Parish Council urges Parishioners to please pick up after your dogs.
48.2 Cllr Belt also reported that cyclists have been spotted in the playpark. The Parish Council is requesting that bikes please be kept out of the park.
48.3 Cllr Taylor reported having received a quotation of £1,972.01 for dealing with the fencing behind 1 and 2 School Houses. There was a difference of opinion between Councillors that repairing the fence was a priority at this time particularly as some remedial works had already been undertaken to fix the gate and a broken fence post, but a vote was taken and it was agreed that the work be carried out. It was agreed that two more quotes would be sourced before the next meeting.
48.4 Cllr Lang added a reminder for the Whitestone Parish Fun Day on Saturday 18th July from 2pm to 5pm at the Parish Hall, Crossway Park and Community Garden. Any donations for the raffle or tombola will be gratefully received. Please drop any donations to Cllr Belt or Cllr Lang.
Meeting closed at 8.30pm.