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Minutes from Full Council meeting 23rd February 2023

Minutes Uploaded on April 3, 2023

Burrator Parish Council

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council

held on Thursday 23rd February 2023

At Meavy Parish Hall

 

Councillors present: Cllrs Paskins, Radmore, Crewe, Wills, F Glanville, Palmer, Stribley, Scrivener, France, Balkwill and Milne

 Also present: Katharine Griffiths (Parish Clerk), WDBC Cllr Moyse and DCC Cllr Sanders and 8 members of the public.

Absent:  Cllrs R Glanville, Brunsdon and Ayres

 Open session:

A member of the public spoke about the grant application for Walkhampton play park.

They commented that the original equipment for toddlers had to be removed and they wish to replace it with new equipment. They feel that the smaller children need somewhere to play and an area for adults caring for young children to socialise. It was felt that the socialisation was an important part of it. This will be an ongoing project starting with the toddler equipment and then providing better equipment for older children. The play area will be available for the whole of the parish, there is plenty of parking at the village hall for anyone using the equipment.

There were a number of questions raised by the counsellors as to whether there was currently a need for the equipment and should some of the money be being spent on improving the equipment for the older children.

A parishioner from Walkhampton spoke regarding the traffic issues in the village. Since recently moving to the village they have noticed that the speed of vehicles seems excessive and that parking is an issue. Recently there had been an altercation between himself and another villager concerning parking.

Cllr F Glanville commented that parking is an ongoing issue within Walkhampton and that the village hall carpark is open to try and alleviate the issues. Also that the PC have requested 20mph zones but these are tricky to get.

 

The meeting was opened by the chair Cllr F Glanville at 7.55pm

 

  1. Apologies for Absence.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Brunsdon, Ayres and R Glanville.

 

  1. Declarations of Interest.

None

 

  1. Minutes of the Full Parish Council Meeting held on 26 January 2023

There was one correction to item 10, to add after “where the road is wider, between Sheepstor Dam and Burrator Dam.

It was clarified that Nelders Lane is at Sheepstor.

It was proposed by Cllr Wills, seconded by Cllr Palmer that the minutes be accepted as a true record, this was agreed by the members present.

 

  1. Matters arising from the Minutes 26th January 2023

Discussed under the main agenda.

 

  1. Planning Committee

No applications to consider.

Cllr Palmer gave a brief summary from the last meeting.

 

  1. The Royal Oak Inn Committee

To be discussed under part II below.

 

  1. Finance & General Purposes Committee
    1. Bills for Payment

It was proposed by Cllr Scrivener, seconded by Cllr Balkwell and agreed by the council that the circulated bills would be paid.

 

A list of the payments is below.

Payment Amount
Payrol £827.79
Meavy Parish Hall Hire – Jan 23 £64.00
K Batson Beacon Editor Spring edition £200.00
Netwise UK, website creation and hosting for a year £1114.80
Parker Print Burrator Beacons £420
TOTAL £2626.59

 

  1. Bank reconciliation

The bank reconciliation was noted.

Grant request

  1. To consider a grant request for Walkhampton Memorial Hall, towards play equipment.
  2. To consider a request from Sheepstor Village Hall towards the cost of new chairs.
  3. Cllr France requested a grant towards installing stock proof fencing around the new allotment area at Walkhampton Village Hall.

Three requests for grants have been received. Information has been circulted for the play equipment and for the replacement chairs. Cllr France gave a summary of the request for the allotment fencing.

Cllr F Glanville has been advised by the clerk that there is £4700 of unallocated funds that could be used towards the grants. A discussion was held and it was proposed by Cllr Palmer that £1000 be awarded to Sheepstor Village hall for the chairs and the rest of the money was split between the other two applications.

This was seconded by Cllr F Glanville and agreed by the council.

Therefore Walkhampton Village hall will receive £1850 towards the play equipment, Walkhampton Allotments will receive £1850 towards the fencing and Sheepstor Village Hall will receive £1000 towards the chairs.

 

 

 

  1. To consider if an amendment to the Standing Orders is required with regard to the attendance of non- ROI committee members during part 2 session of ROI committee meetings.

There was a general discussion the clerk suggested that the wording of SO 53 was adjusted slightly to clarify the point. Cllr Scrivener proposed that no changes were required and for the standing orders to remain the same. This was seconded by Cllr Palmer and agreed by the council.

The clerk commented that it was good practice to review the standing orders annually and that they were last reviewed in 2013. Cllr F Glanville proposed that a working party be set up to review the standing orders. This was agreed and  Cllrs Scrivener, Palmer and Stribley will review the standing orders.

 

  1. To discuss the Snow Warden scheme and the possible location of new grit bins.

Carried forward to the next meeting.

 

  1. To discuss the use of the building plot in Walkhampton (Cllr F Glanville)

Cllr F Glanville raised the point that the building plot at Kings Tor, Walkhampton was never finished and therefore the affordable housing not provided. Cllr Glanville feels that there is need for sheltered housing within the community and this may be an ideal location.

Cllr Palmer commented that Cllr Brunsdon has previously investigated the situation and currently they have only built 4 houses and the affordable housing provision does not kick in until the 5th house is built.

 

  1. To consider a proposal to create a community garden at the Helen Rowett Park, Dousland.

Cllr Crewe and the clerk met a community member at the park recently. The idea is to make it a nicer area for people to visit and socialise. The request was for agreement in principle to move forward with improving the area and making a community garden. This could include planting more bulbs and possibly fruit trees and creating a raised bed for herbs that can be used by the community.

Cllr Scrivener commented that when the bequeath was made the area was to be used for quite contemplation. The clerk will try and find the paperwork. It was also suggested that information was put in the next Burrator Beacon for community views.  The council are happy for the project to be investigated further and agree in principle.

 

  1. A reminder that Elections are taking place this year and the clerk will be collecting the paperwork soon.

The local elections will be taking place on 4th May 2023. The clerk will be collecting the paperwork for anyone who wishes to stand as a parish councillor for the forthcoming term. The paperwork must be completed and returned in person to WDBC council offices in Tavistock.  The clerk will have the paperwork available to collect on Thursday 2nd March at Meavy Village Hall before the meeting that begins at 7pm. If you are unable to make this time please let the clerk know.

 

  1. Burrator Events

There has been no response received regarding the Burrator 10k road closure.

DCC Cllr Sanders offered to take the matter of keeping the road open up on behalf of the parish council.

He has always been against the road closure but unfortunately it has always been granted.

 

  1. Burrator Beacon – http://burrator.gov.uk/burrator-beacon/

The next issue will be the spring issue.

It was agreed that a small leaving gift will be given to the editor, the clerk will invite her to the next meeting so it can be presented at the beginning.

 

  1. Reports from outside bodies

DCC Cllr Sanders gave the following information. The County Council have approved a 4.99% increase in council tax. There has been some additional government funding, but they’re still looking at a possible £127 million overspend this year. They have been informed that they can go into negative reserves. Small amount of extra money has been found at the time of the budget and just under £1 million will be put into highways. Concern has been raised with regard to the highway network and that additional funds are needed.

With regard to the National Park there has been the ongoing issue of wild camping DNPA have applied to the judge to appeal the decision and claim fees but these were not agreed. An application has been made to the High Court for permission to appeal, the decision needs to be made as to whether an appeal would be in the public interest. A Crowdfunding page has been set up to assist with the appeal costs, if the appeal does not go ahead the money will still be spent within the National Park. The bylaws will currently remain the same as they are and an agreement for backpack camping is being considered by landowners. This will allow events such as Ten Tors to go ahead.

 

Cllr Moyse gave an update. WDBC have had a talk by the NFU about possible changes to farming, it is likely that some farms will change to produce more fruit and vegetables as more self-sufficiency is required. They’ve also had a talk by the community safety partnership they are concentrating efforts on reducing violence against women. There is also a requirement for the police to be more noticeable. There are concerns over remote holiday cottage lettings and owners are being asked to be careful as to who they let their properties to.

Photo ID will be required for anyone voting at a polling station at the forthcoming elections. ID such as a photo driving licence, passport or blue badge will be acceptable if you do not have one of these you can apply to get a voter ID.

 

It was noted that Cllr Scrivener made his apologies and left the meeting at 2120.

 

  1. Public Relations

Nothing further.

 

  1. Parish Property
  2. Defibrillator Maintenance

All are working fine. The clerk requested to purchase some new pads as a couple were due to expire soon.  This was agreed.

 

  1. Community Led Parish Plan update.

The meeting to discuss the parish plan is taking place on the 2nd of March in Meavy Parish Hall at 7:00 PM.

 

  1. Highway matters

DCC Cllr Philip Sanders commented that he has recently had a productive meeting with Mary Tavy PC and had managed to get a number of the highways team to attend. He will look into doing the same for Burrator.

The clerk will circulate a list of outstanding issues for councillors to update.

 

  1. To consider walking the footpaths.

Carried forward to a future meeting.

 

  1. Pursuant to Section 1(2) Public Bodies [Admission to Meetings] Act 1960, to resolve to exclude the public and press due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.

This was resolved and all member of the public still present and non parish council members left.

 

 

  1. The Royal Oak Inn Committee

Cllr Stribley gave an update from the last meeting. A letter has been sent to the tenant reminding him of his responsibilities.

  1. To consider the tenders for the ground’s maintenance contract

Two tenders have been received. The clerk provided the tender values for the three year contract and gave a brief description of each party.

Cllr F Glanville proposed that the lower tender be accepted this was seconded by Cllr Milne and agreed by the council.

 

  1. To resolve re-admittance of public and press to the meeting.

This was resolved no member of the public re-entered.

 

  1. Urgent additional business, by leave of The Chair

The chair raised the requirement for the clerks annual review. It was agreed that a date would be arranged, and it would be carried out by the chair and Cllr Milne.

Cllr Palmer requested that the format of the Annual Parish Meeting be on the next agenda.

 

The Meeting was closed at 21.53pm.

 

Signed                                                                  Date