Whitestone Parish Council
Minutes of Whitestone at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 9th July 2026.
Attendance:
Chair – Cllr T Baird
Councillors M Belt, M Escott. M Frankum, P Stott.
Mrs P Vaughan – Clerk to the Council
District Councillor J Parrott
Mr C. Ware
Police Sergeant Ryan Cook
Gary Wilson (Teign Housing)
Mr & Mrs Dyer, Mr & Mrs Quinn, S Charlton,
Mr & Mrs Worth, Philip Mingo, Mr & Mrs Hunt.
D Goodier & I Talbot on behalf of Mr & Mrs Webber,
Ian Lugg, Sophie Baxter, M Baxendale-Nichols, S Tucker
Apologies:- Cllr C Lang, Cllr T Taylor.
Cllr Baird welcomed those in attendance of tonight’s meeting with an opening statement and welcomed Gary Wilson and Sgt Ryan Cook who in turn introduced themselves along with District Councillor Parrott.
Many questions were raised regarding Policing and safeguarding in the Parish.
All those in attendance were offered the opportunity to question Mr Wilson and he took copious notes of the matters brought to his attention and Sgt Cook also made a contribution to the discussion.
Discussion regarding this issue then ceased in order for the business of the Parish Council to take place and the attendees with the exception of Mr Quinn then left the room.
Cllr Bard then carried on with the official Parish Council meeting as follows:-
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mr Quinn raided issues of lack of transparencies regarding the rental for 1 and 2 School Houses. An explanation was given and the rental situation will be reported later in these minutes. He also requested clear information regarding the work that Mr Blades does within the Parish in regard to his lengthsman duties. Following explanations he left the meeting at about 9pm.
49. Minutes of the Council Meeting held on Thursday 11th June 2026 having been circulated were taken as read and signed by the Chair.
50. Co-option of new Parish Councillor
Mr Clarence Ware 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.
51. REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR PARROTT
In answer to a query made at a previous meeting he explained that dog bins are in short supply and so Whitestone has been placed on a waiting list. A report on the re-organisation of the District Council was expected at the end of next week.
52. MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIR
No matters were raised
53. 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 sent which can be viewed on Teignbridge District Council Planning site.
53.1 2/0845/HOU Proposed single storey garage extension, removal of existing retaining wall and construction of new retaining wall and extension of driveway at Estuary View. The following planning application was discussed and Whitestone Parish Council has reviewed the plans and has not received any major concerns from the local community. Minor concerns raised during the meeting included disruption and access on a small lane during construction and impact on wildlife after changing the layout of the boundary
53.2 Grant of conditional planning permission
Single storey rear and side extension with attached garage/store and front porch at Armonija, Nadderwater.
53.3 Certificate of Lawful Use or Development
Certificate of Lawfulness for proposed installation of solar panels at Hillcrest
53.4 Grant of conditional planning permission
26/00263/FUL Construction of slurry lagoon at Upper Kingswell Farm, Longdown
54. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
54.1 Council Surgery
Following a change of date for the September meeting this will now take place on Thursday 17th September at 7.30pm.
54.2 Crossway Park & Community Garden
Nothing to report but the CCTV for the area to be discussed at the September meeting
54.3 Parish Plan update
To be discussed at the September meeting.
54.4 Finance Review
Councillors were provided with an update of the Council’s current financial situation which showed an income of £38,529.55 and expenditure of £6,282.26.
55. FINANCE
55.1 Completion of Annual Audit
It was reported that Mr Robert Cox has now completed the internal audit for 2025/26 and has confirmed that in his opinion they represent a true and fair view of the financial position of the Council. He recommends that the Council should consider formalising its data protection arrangements.
Income
55.2 2 School Houses rental to 07/06/2026 £1,100.00 - £132.00 (inc. £22.00 VAT) = £968.00
55.3 2 School Houses rental to 07/07/2026 £1,100.00 - £132.00 (inc. £22.00 VAT) = £968.00
55.4 1 School Houses rental to 02/06/26 £950.00 - £114.00 (inc. £19.00 VAT) = £836.00
55.5 1 School Houses rental to 02/07/26 £950.00 - £114.00 (inc. £19.00 VAT) = £836.00
55.6 1 School Houses rental to 02/08/26 £950.00 - £114.00 (inc.£19.00 VAT) = £836.00
During last month's meeting, Whitestone Parish Council noted that rental income for the two School House properties for May and June 2026 was missing from our records. This was investigated and resolved as an administrative error. The Parish Council wanted to formally note that rental income is nearly always received from the tenants in good time and if it is sometimes missing from the minutes this is due to the dates of the meeting misaligning with the dates of the income receipt. To provide reassurance Whitestone Parish Council monitor the receipt of the rental income via a separate system and are always aware if there are any anomalies in recording.
Expenditure
The following expenditure was proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour and the cheques were signed by Councillors Belt and Frankum
55.7 L Blades (Lengthsman 15 hours of litter picking, changing bins, clearing up rubbish in playpark £213.90) Grass cutting at Parish Bus Shelter, Playpark and footpath £180.00) £393.90
55.8 T W Woodley (Allsorts) (4 weeks cleaning of Whitestone Park Toilets) £64.00
55.9 Mr R Cox (Internal Audit) £250.00
55.10 G P Roofing & Property - repairs/maintenance in rear of School Houses (paid through Winkworth) £880.00
56. CORRESPONDENCE
An appeal has been received from Mr and Mrs Hunt for a donation from the Parish Council on behalf of Breast Cancer which they may add to their fund raising efforts of £648.00 following a “Tea and Cake Day” which they held on 1st July. The appeal was discussed the decision was that a donation of £30.00 be made and a cheque for this amount was signed for Breast Cancer and will be passed to Mr and Mrs Hunt.
REPORTS
57.1 Cllr Belt requested that the speed watch be taken up again and also that the Crossway markings be renewed.
57.2 Cllr Frankum reported that it had been brought to his attention that Pound Lane is being used by lorries as a short cut from Lower Hare.