Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
Held on Wednesday 10 October 2007
In the Meeting Point, High Bickington at 7.30pm

Present:
Myc Riggulsford (Chairman), Chris Brown, Stella Burrows, Roger Keen, Mike Leatham, Stan Maskell,
Peter Tucker.

In attendance:
Torridge District Councillor James Morrish, WPC Sally Middleton - Devon & Cornwall Police,
David Venner - CPT Ltd, 5 Members of the Public, Mrs Di Carter - Clerk

The Chairman welcomed Councillor James Morrish and invited him to address the meeting. Councillor Morrish reported that Torridge had just had a mini audit and things have improved considerably. 3 out of 8 categories are now rated as good with good prospects.

Next year's budget is currently showing an overspend of £1million, Government has said that spending has to be reduced by 3% with no cuts to services.

Torridge has signed an agreement with North Devon District Council to provide refuse collection services; this will result in a saving of £240,000 this year and £600,000 next year. There will be £300,000 costs incurred initially through staff redundancies and other set up costs. Foot and Mouth and Blue Tongue are having an affect on local communities and Torridge are taking steps to ensure local farming communities are helped to weather this setback.

Councillor Morrish now has a Blog on the Torridge website which is updated fortnightly, it has had 1,000 hits in 3 weeks. Those present wished to record their thanks to Councillor Morrish for ensuring that Torridge refuse collections are being continued on a weekly basis. The green waste services in urban areas is good, but rural areas are currently not receiving such a good service.

The Chairman asked Councillor Morrish to look into the advisability of charging households applying to install solar panels a fee of £135 when Torridge are promoting green issues.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Morrish for attending the meeting. Councillor Morrish left the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed WPC Sally Middleton to the meeting. The latest Police Newsletter was circulated to those present. WPC Middleton reported a recent incident of vandalism at the school which had been well publicised in the local press and reported the actions being taken by the Police. The children responsible for the damage had assisted with the cleanup and the painting of the cloakroom walls. WPC Middleton and PCSO Brown have attended the school on two occasions since and some very positive results have been achieved.

On 8 October, PCSO Brown arranged a meeting with young people at the Barton Meadow play area following a fire in the shelter. It was encouraging that 26 young people attended. The incident was not a deliberate act and the young people were given advice and warnings of the danger of thoughtless acts. There had been no further local residents coming forward to join the speed watch in the village. WPC Middleton advised on recent incidents affecting High Bickington. She urged people to be linked up to the community messaging services, to receive messages and information on incidents via the telephone or e-mail. To do this a let's talk form has to be completed.

Road safety week will commence on 5 November.

The weekend of 3/4th November will be set aside to deal with specific problems such as speeding, parking and other offences during the day, and licensing and anti-social behaviour issues in the evenings.
The Chairman thanked WPC Middleton for attending the meeting. WPC Middleton left the meeting.

There were no matters raised by the public.

The formal meeting was convened at 8.00pm.

1. Apologies
   Apologies were received from County Councillor John Rawlinson and David Brown.

2. Declarations of Interest
   Mike Leatham in his capacity as the Parish Council's elected representative on the CPT Ltd and to comply with the requirements of the revised Code of Conduct, disclosed an interest in this item. The following declarations of interest were made in relation to the award of grants to local organisations:

   • HB Playing Field Association - Peter Tucker

   • Libbation Junion Golf - Peter Tucker

   • HB Parochial Church Council - Stella Burrows and Roger Keen

   • HB C of E Primary School PFA - Peter Tucker

3. Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 12 September 2007
   The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September were agreed and adopted by Councillors present. The Chairman signed the Minutes.

4. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2007
   

   1. Revised Code of Conduct. The Clerk reported on the training session held in Torrington and attended by Stella Burrows, Stan Maskell and herself. Copies of the main points were circulated to Councillors present. There were two main points which it was felt could cause problems and these had both been raised at the meeting. It is now a requirement that a Councillor elected as the Council representative on an outside body has to record an interest in any discussion relating to this. The reason for this was felt to be difficult to comprehend. There could also be problems in villages where grants are awarded to local organisations and in some cases more than one Councillor is an active volunteer with that organisation. The situation will be monitored.

   2. Dog Bins. The Community Woodland bins will be installed by the end of October. The Clerk has been assured that the regularity of the emptying of the bins in the village will be checked and monitored.

5. Police Matters
   Stella Burrows reiterated that the community messaging service is a very helpful tool and urged people to take part.
   She asked everyone to report immediately anything which appeared suspicious and/or out of order. Late calls to the Police make it difficult for them to take action.
   Stella Burrows acknowledged that the introduction of the PCSOs has been very helpful to the village and their presence and work with the community is much appreciated. All Councillors present endorsed this.

6. Parish Plans
   

   David Venner circulated copies of the October CPT report. A detailed report of the revised plans is being drawn up by John Mills, Director of Finance at Devon County Council, to present to a meeting of the County Executive on 16 October.
   A 48% response to the housing survey was considered to be very encouraging. Overall results will be made public in the near future. Mike Leatham said the key part of the housing survey is to confirm the need.
   The AGM of the CPT Ltd took place on 13 September 2007. The model and plans of the proposals were on view at the meeting.

7. Barton Meadow Recreational Play Area
   

   1. Play area monitoring. Chris Brown reported that the weekly monitoring book is now in operation. Peter Tucker has carried out some tidying work and the play area is generally running very smoothly. There was nothing further to report.

   2. DPFA Grant application. The Clerk reported that an award of £500 has been agreed. Invoices to confirm the costs incurred to install the cycle track are being forwarded to Devon PFA and following their acceptance of these costs, the funds will be made available to the Council.

8. Matters Raised by the Chairman

   1. The Chairman reported on his attendance and speaking engagement at the NALC Conference in Bournemouth. He had been inspired by the attempts of Ashton Hayes Parish Council to become a carbon neutral parish. Their efforts in the first year had resulted in a 20% reduction in carbon emissions. Their progress can be monitored on their website.
      DEFRA are cutting the number of staff dealing with rural affairs from 120 to 17 and this will have serious implications for rural communities.

9. Maintenance

   1. Highways - it was generally acknowledged that the condition of the roads in High Bickington has improved greatly. Councillors wished to thank County Councillor John Rawlinson for his efforts on our behalf to achieve the remedial works carried out.

   2. Zebra crossing - it was felt that some further work was required to clear branches obscuring the 30mph sign.

   3. Speed limit through the village - the mobile digital speed sign is currently in the village and does appear to have a slowing affect on traffic entering the village from the Atherington direction. The affects will be monitored and further consideration of the possible permanent installation of a similar sign will take place.

   4. Footpaths and Byways - Roger Keen reported that he will undertake some work on the footpath at Old Park. Derek Jones is unable to undertake this work at the present time due to pressure of work.

10. Finance

    1. Accounts as at 30 September 2007.
       These figures were agreed, showing a bank balance and carry forward figure of £13,253.14. The following cheques were authorised to be issued:-
       
       

       100167 Mrs D Snell - bus shelter	£75.00
       100168 Mr R Keen - footpaths warden costs	£25.00

       
       Grants of £100 each to the following organisations - agreed 11 October 2006:
       
       

       100169 HB Playing Field Association	£100.00
       100170 HB Youth Judo Club	£100.00
       100171 Libbaton Junior Golf	£100.00
       100172 HB Parochial Church Council	£100.00
       100173 The Meeting Point	£100.00
       100174 HB Play Area Group	£100.00
       100175 HB C of E Primary School PFA	£100.00
       100176 William Dodds & Joshua Tucker	£100.00
       100177 D Carter - Salary	£224.46
       D Carter - Expenses	£52.62
       D Carter - Total	£277.08 - £1177.08

    2. Award of Grants for 2008/09 Following a discussion Councillors present and eligible to vote for the individual organisations (shown in ()) agreed to award £200.00 to the High Bickington Playing Field Association as it is now also responsible for the Play Area which previously received a separate grant. The remaining six organisations were each awarded £100.00 to be paid in October 2008.
       These are:
       

       • HB Youth Judo club (7)

       • Libbaton Junior Section (6)

       • HB Parochial Church Council (5)

       • The Meeting Point (7)

       • HB Primary School PFA (6)

       • CPT Quarry Wood Committee (6)

    3. A letter from Roger Keen, Secretary to the Parochial Church Council, is asking the Parish Council for immediate funding of £600 towards the running costs of the Church Hall. Roger Keen reported that the Hall is deteriorating rapidly and as a result is no longer used by a number of groups. Urgent help is needed towards repairs, refurbishment, insurance, etc. Stella Burrows and Roger Keen left the meeting and did not take part in the following discussion. Following a lengthy discussion Councillors felt they were unable to reach a decision without further financial records to show the running costs of the Hall and its usage etc.
       Decision: Proposed by Mike Leatham and seconded by Stan Maskell, it was agreed to request Hall accounts and any notes to the accounts; these to be provided prior to a meeting of the Finance Committee on Tuesday 23 October in the Meeting Point. It was agreed to invite representatives from the PCC to attend to discuss this matter in more depth before a recommendation is made to the Council in November.

    4. Draft budget 2008/09. A first draft budget was circulated to Councillors. Comments to be brought to the meeting in November for further discussion.

11. Planning

    1. Planning applications received before the meeting:

       1. 1/1029/2007/FUL
          Erection of barn for equestrian use Land at Ebberley,
          High Bickington Deux Tete Properties
          This application was discussed in detail by Councillors present (7). Some concerns were raised.
          
          DECISION: Peter Tucker proposed that the Council support the application. Seconded by Mike Leatham the response to this application was decided by a show of hands with the following result: Those in favour: 4 Those against: 1 Abstentions: 2 The Parish Council therefore supports the application.

       2. 1/1148/2007/FUL
          Two storey Rear Extension
          12 Barton Meadow Road, High Bickington
          P & S Broomfield
          
          DECISION: The Parish Council supports this application.

    2. Planning Decisions:

       1. 1/0917/2007/FUL
          Conversion of redundant telecom building to dwelling
          Redundant Telecom Building, North Road, High Bickington
          Mr & Mrs Kingdom
          DECISION: TDC GRANTED 18 September
          PC SUPPORTED 12 September

       2. 1/0723/2007/FUL
          Extending existing rear porch for single storey utility room
          Shuteley House, High Bickington
          Mr & Mrs C MacKinnon
          DECISION: TDC REFUSED 21 September
          Refusal to allow access
          PC SUPPORTED 11 July

       3. 1/0663/2007/FUL
          Broadwood, Pound Lane, High Bickington
          Councillors present agreed that the Chairman meet with the applicants to discuss the Council’s concerns with regard to the earlier (now withdrawn) application for Broadwood.

       4. Application at High Moor, Atherington. The Chairman reported that he had received some adverse comments locally regarding this application, but the response date has now passed

       5. Biomass development at Winkleigh Airfield. The Clerk had obtained from Torridge planners a copy of the main points of appeal being lodged by the applicants for the public Inquiry in January 2008. The paper was put in circulation pack.

12. Correspondence

    1. Letter from Mr B Pearson – Eaglescott Airfield re future relations with the Airfield. The Clerk has responded.

    2. TDC – Notice of Torrington Area Advisory Group Meeting – 23 October 2007

    3. Great Torrington & District MCTA Local Community Partnership – notice of meeting Wednesday 21 November 2007 at 7.30pm at St Giles in the Wood Village Hall.

13. Items for information

    There were no items for information.

14. Date of Next meeting

    Wednesday 14 November 2007 at 7.30pm in the Meeting Point, High Bickington.

15. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.27pm.