2021/05/05: Parish Council Meeting – Minutes

2021/05/05: Parish Council Meeting – Minutes

There was a remote Annual General Meeting of Chawleigh Parish Council

on Thursday 5th May 2021 at 7.40pm held on ZOOM

Members Present: Parish Councillors Steve Godley (Chairman); Daphne Cockram; Jan Flavin; Henry Martin; Stuart Swift; Andrea Huxley; Chris Lynden; Bert Batty.
 

Also Present: District Councillor Clive Eginton; County Councillor Margaret Squires.

In attendance: Rob Martin, Locum Clerk


One member of the general public.

.

MINUTES:

1ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN On a proposal by Cllr. Cockram, seconded by Cllr. Flavin, Cllr, Steve Godley was Elected as Chairman for the coming year.   ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN On a proposal by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Flavin, Cllr. Daphne Cockram was Elected as Vice-Chairman for the coming year.  
2APOLOGIES No apologies had been received.  
3DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST (PECUNIARY AND NON-PECUNIARY) Non-pecuniary interests were declared by: The Chairman in relation to anything on the playing fieldCllr. Cockram in relation to anything on the playing fieldCllr. Flavin whose husband was involved with the EOPPSCllrs. Batty and Lynden declared interests in planning matters.  
4ELECTRONIC PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Due to the Corona virus pandemic and current Government guidelines the meeting was held remotely on the Zoom platform.   One matter sent to the Chairman is that bushes at the junction of Shooting Lane and the B3042 were overgrown and needed to be cut back. This was normally done by the gardener working for Mrs. Finlayson, the owner of Southcott cottage Chawleigh, who arranges for the shrubs to be cut back to make the visibility better. The Clerk would write a letter requesting this.  
5MINUTES OF LAST MEETING On a proposal by the Cllr. Batty, seconded by Cllr. Flavin, the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 8th April 2021 were approved as a correct record.
6COUNCIL REPORTS Clerk’s Report – the Clerk had nothing to report other than the items on the agenda. Mention of hours of workChairman’s Report – the Chairman had contacted Chumleigh Parish Council because they had someone spraying weeds on the roads. He was awaiting a response to get the name of someone to contact to do the same in Chawleigh.Other Councillor Reports 1. Cllr. Batty had received confirmation that grant of £150 would be paid under P3 scheme, lower than the £600 claimed because the parish still had £400 unspent from the previous year. 2. Cllr. Swift reported that Jane had painted the outside of the shop and had subsequently asked him what the balance of the shop account was and if the parish council would refund her for the money spent. It was believed that such requests should be made before the work was started and that such works were down to the tenant under the terms of the lease.  
7CHAWLEIGH COMMUNITY TRUST (CCT) The Chairman reported that the outstanding matter of the ownership of the layby was now resolved as it was, confirmed as being DCC. The planning application would now be submitted.  
The Chairman declared the meeting out of session to allow updates from District and County Councillors and questions from any members of the public
8PUBLIC AND OTHER BODIES’ SESSION Devon County Council County Councillor Squires suggested that as she was in a period of purdah she would take questions only where she could answer without problems. There were no such questions from parish councillors. Mid Devon District Council District Councillor Eginton reported on the government edict that virtual meetings cannot continue beyond 6th May 2021. The District Council Monitoring Officer had considered ways to reduce the impact of this requirement and offered advice to parish councils in general.   If councils need to make decisions, then this can only be done where councillors are all in same room. This does not necessarily mean that officers (such as the parish clerk), District or County Councillors or members of the public need to attend, they can be linked by a remote system such as zoom. Members of the public should be offered the chance of attending should they wish to do so, but such attendance should be by registration in advance. This applies only to formal council meetings and not to working parties for example.   Cllr. Swift pointed out that the village hall does not have wifi, so zoom meetings on this basis would not work. The Clerk should write formally to the village hall contacts to see whether wifi installation is on their agenda. Cllr. Cockram asked the district councillor about Mid Devon properties in the village that appeared not to be occupied and asked whether these could be made available to others. The District Councillor said that this was an opportune question, since he had an ‘Estate Walkabout’ booked for the following week which was to look at the apparent condition of MDDC owned properties, and parish councillors were welcome to accompany him and the officer on that tour. Public Questions There were no members of the public present at this time.  
9COUNCILLOR REPRESENTATION The representation of the Parish Council on outside bodies was reviewed with the following results: Cllr. Flavin would be the parish council representative on the Jubilee Hall Management CommitteeCllr. Godley would be the representative on the Playing Fields CommitteeCllrs. Cockram and Martin would be the representatives on the Chawleigh Parish Lands (Feofees). This still leaves one vacancyCllr. Swift would be one of he two contacts for the Devon Air AmbulanceCllr. Batty would be the P3 Public Rights of Way lead councillor.  
10ASSETS REGISTER AS AT 31st MARCH 2021 On a proposal by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Lynden, the Asset Register as at 31st March 2021 was Adopted.  
11FINAL ACCOUNTS 2020/21 On a proposal by Cllr. Swift, seconded by Cllr. Flavin, the Final Accounts 2020/21 were Adopted.  
12ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN (AGAR) 2020/21 On a proposal by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Lynden, Section 1 of the AGAR, the Annual Governance Statement, was Adopted.On a proposal by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Flavin, Section 2 of the AGAR, the Annual Accounts Statement, was Adopted.
13HIGHWAYS The Chairman had been contacted by Eggesford Parish Meeting about a channel gouged on the highway surface, near the level crossing, which was a potential danger to cyclists in particular. County councillor Squires would report this to the Highways staff.   The ongoing matter of the drain outside Butts Cottage, of which the Chairman had pictures of extensive flooding. The problem appeared to be caused by a blocked or collapsed drain, about which something should be done urgently. The Chairman would email County Councillor Squires requesting a site meeting Steve Tucker as soon as possible.  
14WEBSITE Cllr. Swift reported on the work he had carried out on the new website. He continued to pay the 1&1 licence fee because the service support at the company had been horrendous.   He had got the website framework up and had uploaded a few files and it was agreed that he should extend the uploading process to include Clerk initially and others later. The existing website would be taken down by BT on 24th May 2021, following which the new one would be uploaded. An additional domain would be needed at small annual price which he would organise. The most urgent thing now was the necessary content, to be supplied by the Clerk which would be input as that since January 2020 in the first instance. Further updates would be done by the Clerk as and when time allowed. He asked councillors for their current contact details, so that this could be added to the site.   Cllr. Huxley asked whether parish council email addresses were being arranged for each councillor and Cllr. Swift responded by saying he was concentrating initially on getting the website up and running and would arrange these later.  
15DROPBOX On a proposal by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr. Lynden, it was Resolved to get a Dropbox account on the basis described by the Clerk at an annual cost of £79.90 plus VAT. The Clerk would make arrangements to set this up and reclaim the cost.  
16DOG FOULING Having been approached by parishioners, Cllr. Cockram said that this was particularly in the churchyard where dogs were being let off their leads. It was agreed that the Clerk would write to the vicar informing them of the problem as it was not a parish council matter to deal with.   It was suggested that the PCC would at least undertake to put warning signs on the gates to discourage this action.  
17RAT INFESTATION Cllr. Cockram had been approached about there being lot of evidence of rats. This was not really a parish council matter and she was advised to refer the complainants to the Mid Devon Council website where there was advice and potential help with this problem.   It was also agreed to include a link to MDDC website in The Dart magazine next edition for this purpose.  
18RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS SCHEDULE On a proposal by Cllr. Cockram, seconded by Cllr. Swift, the payments listed below were Approved:
PAYMENTS Payment to Services Amount £ Payment  No. 2021/2022       Mid Devon DC Grass Cutting 575.98 Zoom Remote Access (Direct Debit) 14.39 L Cockram Caretaker (Standing Order) 120.00 DALC Subscription 142.29 MAT Electrics DAA Lighting Service 107.94 RJ Martin Locum Clerk Services 488.25 S. Swift Ionos Invoices 4.80 Plandscape Grass Cutting 105.00 RECEIPTS Receipt from Services Amount £ Method 2021/2022       Mid Devon DC Precept 6,500.00     Payment items in bold will be made following the meeting.  
19PLANNING APPLICATIONS To consider the following Planning Applications and to agree comments:   Cllr. Batty declared an interest for application 21/00757/LBC and left the meeting  
Reference Location Proposal 21/00757/LBC Blackwalls Chawleigh Chulmleigh Devon EX18 7HH   Listed Building Consent for replacement boiler   Decision: Support 21/00777/HOUSE Mai Beaute Lodge Chawleigh Chulmleigh Devon EX18 7HH   Erection of car port and repositioning of existing shed   Decision: No comment as there were no documents at the time of the meeting   21/00600/HOUSE Meadow View Chawleigh Chulmleigh Devon EX18 7HH Erection of single storey rear extension and replacement of 1.2m fence with 1.8 closeboarded fence along East boundary    Decision: Support 21/00169/FULL Land at NGR 268128 112364 Ford Farm Eggesford Devon   Change of use of land for siting of 2 shepherds huts for holiday accommodation    Decision: Neutral 21/00533/LBC  Land at NGR 268128 112364 Ford Farm Eggesford Devon   Listed Building Consent for alterations to ground floor layout; alterations to North East and South West elevations, replacement of roof slates, removal of loose render and re-rendering and demolition of lean-to to East gable    Decision: Neutral 21/00848/FULL Land and Buildings at NGR 268288 112148 (Nethercott) Eggesford Devon   Erection of a dwelling and formation of new access and track with associated works following demolition of existing barn    Look at expiry dates – 26 May 2021     PLANNING DECISIONS Cllr. Lynden declared an interest in application 20/01657/FULL, as the applicant   Reference Location Proposal MDDC Decision 20/01657/FULL Land at NGR 270255 109605 (East of Chenson Farm Cottages) Chenson Devon Erection of an agricultural store/fishing lodge to include office Refused   21/00321/HOUSE  The Lakes Chawleigh Chulmleigh Devon EX18 7HL Erection of an extension to rear Granted   OTHER PLANNING MATTERS Higher Ford Farm – There were a number of potential enforcement matters on the lower side of the lane. District Councillor Eginton would refer the matter to Sarah Jenkins for potential enforcement action.  
20DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next Meeting of Chawleigh Parish Council is to be on Thursday 1st July 2021, at 7pm and at a place to be agreed.  
21CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS Section 1 paragraph 2 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 stipulates that a council may, by resolution, exclude the public from a meeting (whether during the whole or part of the proceedings) whenever publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons stated in the resolution and arising from the nature of that business or of the proceedings.   The Council Resolved to close the meeting to the public and press on the basis of confidential personal details that need to be considered.  
22MEETING CLOSURE The public section of the meeting closed at 9.11pm.

Signed:………………………

Print:…………………………

Date:…………………………

ALL DOCUMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT BY REQUEST