Draft minutes subject to confirmation

 

MARY TAVY PARISH COUNCIL

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Held in The Coronation Hall

Wednesday 23rd April 2008

 

Present:

Cllr T Pearce (Chairman) (WDBC), Cllr M Anning, Cllr C Downham, Cllr R Elton, Cllr A Prosser, Cllr M Robins, Cllr M Roe, Cllr S Street.(8) – C Williams (Clerk)

Others present: Paul Glanville (DNPA Ranger)

Apologies for absence:  Cllr G Hill, Cllr C Marsh (DCC), PC K Reed

Parishioners present:

            44 parishioners were in attendance.

The meeting was opened at 7.30 pm with Cllr Pearce welcoming everyone and introducing the members.

59.2008 The Conservation Area for Mary Tavy:

The Chairman explained that following the consultation day, which was attended by many parishioners, the conservation area had been extended to include the Kings Way and a further section of the village. A further consultation day is to be held on Thursday 5th June at Coronation Hall 2-7pm.

60.2008 The Parish Precept and how it is calculated:

Cllr Prosser explained that the Parish Precept is the portion of Council tax money that comes back to the parish from WDBC. Set costs are incurred in the running of the Parish Council such as insurance, room hire, clerk etc and also grant requests from village groups.  The Community Plan has not been funded from the precept; funds for this came from various grants.  Any requests for funding from village organisations must be received by the end of September / October as the precept is set in November.  This year’s precept of £11275 works out as 58.5p per week per band D household.

61.2008 The work of the Parish Council over the past year.

Cllr Pearce explained one of the main workloads has been planning with an average of 2 – 3 applications per week.  The Parish Council is not a planning authority but consultees and give advice to the DNPA.  A site visit is made to every application that is received.

The Parish Council is also responsible for the cemetery.  The closed churchyard is the responsibility of WDBC.  There are concerns over the laying down of headstones where there are no family lineage to restore them.

Grants – the Parish Council are great believers in supporting village organisations.

Flooding – on Blackdown /Gibbet we have worked together with the various agencies to carry out work required to prevent flooding in the village.

Best Kept Village competition was entered and Mary Tavy were runners up in the new entrant category.

Community Plan – now coming to fruition. Authorities and agencies such as DCC & Highways will take into account parishioner’s views.  The results of the questionnaire will shortly be coming to each household.

Dog Warden – We have joined the WDBC dog warden scheme. The village is important and needs to be looked after.  The warden visits and speaks to people and persistent offenders can be fined.

Community News – has been re-launched in a new smaller format. A lot of positive feedback has been received from parishioners.

The Chairman invited parishioners to come to the Parish Council meetings which are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Reading Rooms from 7.15pm.

62.2008 Village Emergency Plan.

Cllr Roe explained the requirement in local government to have an emergency plan. The village needs to be able to look after itself in the event of an emergency ranging from a blizzard (such as in 1962 when the village was closed off for 5 days) to serious fire or accident affecting all or part of the village. Depending on the type of emergency (such as one that affected the whole region) there could be a situation where we will have to look after ourselves for a period.  Each household received a questionnaire.  A good response to this has indicated offers of accommodation to those in need.  The village is broken down into 8 areas with wardens covering these. There have been a number of volunteers but more wardens are required – please contact Cllr Roe if interested. It is appreciated that neighbours will help each other automatically but we are trying to identify those who may have a potential problem ie. houses without open fires or ability to cook without electricity, those disabled who may have stair lifts or carers calling from outside the parish.

63.2008 Progress report on the proposed new housing development in Mary Tavy.

Cllr Pearce explained that the original plans received last year were not felt by the DNPA or the Parish Council to be appropriate for the village. The DNPA have today advised that revised plans are now coming to a conclusion.  There will be another public consultation on these.  Contamination is a problem on this site. Prior to the site becoming a garage is was a rubbish tip for mine waste.  At a major meeting in February twenty different agencies met to discuss what work was required at this site.

There is a vast difference to the look of the village now that the canopy as been removed.

There is a new DNPA Core Strategy document coming into being on 9th June 2008 and there will be a Development Framework for every parish/area. We are fortunate to be within the DNPA as this will protect us from some of the major developments which will have to take place in other areas of West Devon.

Q: What happened to planning Application on land above the Royal Standard?

A: The first application was refused. This then went to appeal and was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.  The 2nd application submitted has been withdrawn. This area is not in the current Local Development Plan.

64.2008 Community Policing – a report from PC Kevin Reed.

As PC Reed was unable to attend Cllr Robins read from the report.  From April 2007-February 2008 there have been 6 criminal damage/vandalism reports, 4 theft/burglary and 1 act of violence. Tavistock rural West (cover Mary Tavy & 15 other parishes) is the safest place in West Devon.  The parish is relatively crime free. We do however have an issue with speeding.  The Parish Council is working hard to help reduce this and the police are backing us.  Speed detection is regularly carried out here by the safety camera partnership van, police with hand held detection guns and now unmarked police cars travelling through the village. We are trying hard to get speed camera signs. Many issues are down to Highways but we will keep trying.

Q: Why doesn’t Mary Tavy have signs when Sourton, Lake & Tavistock do?

A: We were advised that Sourton had been requesting them for years before they got them.  We are pressing hard to get them.  Highways are now aware of us and police are supporting us with unmarked cars in use.

Q: Could the speed limit be extended to the Mary Tavy Inn?

A: Highways are aware of this stretch. Ideally average speed cameras covering the whole village would be the best solution.  These are only currently being trialled in Cambridgeshire on a road which has had fatalities.

Q: Long stretch at the top end of the village why can’t we have traffic calming measures?

A: We have been advised that as it is a National Primary route traffic calming cannot be put in.  With the amount of lorries on this route speed humps in the road would be too noisy for residents in the area.  Since the fencing of Blackdown traffic does seem to enter the village at a greater speed.  Cllr Prosser informed the meeting that she had previously been advised that emergency vehicles couldn’t go over speed bumps.

 

Q: A main road in Kent has traffic calming measures?

A: They must have a special byelaw.

Q: Should we contact our MP?

A: Yes!- please do or the Highways Engineer.

Q: The flashing sign at the top end of the village works fine but not the lower sign.

A: It appears it has been vandalised again. It has an internal malfunction. More signs are required on this long stretch.

The Parish Council are working hard to reduce speeding in the village.  The police are more on our side than ever before and here on a regular basis at various times of the day.

65.2008 The role of the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) & West Devon Borough Council. (WDBC) Cllr Pearce explained the roles.

The DNPA is the statutory planning authority.  The Planning Committee meet on the first Friday of every month at Parke, Bovey Tracy. These meetings are open to the public if anyone wishes to go – they are very interesting.

WDBC is our District Authority dealing with; -

Waste collection & recycling – WDBC has one of the best recycling performances in the country.  Plastic packaging is an issue as different plastics are used together in packaging, some plastics not being recyclable because of the materials used in their manufacture and it is too expensive to separate.  On the continent 90% of packaging is the same so can be recycled more easily.

Villages in Action – WDBC support these events so that theatre quality performances can be brought to rural areas at a fraction of the usual theatre prices. Other villages seem to have much greater support for these events than in Mary Tavy. Please do try and come to see these quality productions.

Flooding – We have had tremendous support from WDBC and DNPA to our problems in the village. Water courses are the responsibility of the landowners with insurers now able to ask landowners for a proportion of the costs they have had to pay the householder if they feel the lack of maintenance to the water courses caused the flooding.

Mining issues – WDBC have supported Tavistock, Horrabridge and Whitchurch where there are still 15 empty properties as a result of subsidence due to mining.

Boundaries Commission – Exeter applied for unitary status. Their bid was ruled unsafe financially but as a consequence the government have appointed the Boundary Commission to look at all of Devon.  Cities want to expand and take in rural areas; Plymouth wants to take in most of West Devon. WDBC have put in a bid to work together with South Hams District Council.  WDBC are currently 4th authority in the country for efficiency in spending money. The Boundary Commission should report by 7th July and there will then be a 6 week consultation period with the aim for everything to be in place by the end of the year.

Q: Would DNPA become defunct?

A; No – this is protected by a Government Environmental Act.

Q: WDBC & S.Hams DC are very spread out – how would it be centralised?

A; District or regional offices would still be required.

Q: How is WDBC & SHDC now practicable when a year ago it was found not to be.

A: A lot of services are now already shared to benefit from economies of scale.

There were comments from the floor regarding the quality of refuse collection and recycling in the South Hams and the wish not to see our services reduce in quality.

Q: Any plans to be more selective on materials for recycling?

A: Although some materials are stamped to indicate they are recyclable it has to go to Europe for this so due to costs it ends up in landfill.  Business waste is too high and the level of landfill must be reduced.

There were comments about flailing on Gibbet – the storm drains have been blocked by the debris.  The landowners were contacted about this 6 weeks ago but there has been no response. Paul Glanville(DNPA Ranger) was thanked for keeping footpaths open and ensuring signs and stiles in place.

Q: Are the Parish Council happy with the way that the Blackdown Garage site is being cleared.

A: No. Various agencies were informed of the situation.

Q: Any news on post office closures?

A: Not until 20th May 2008. WDBC have had a task force to emphasise the importance of rural post offices. We strongly hope that we will retain our Post Office and will put any news in the Community News.

Q: Concern over leaching from tanks – is it unsafe for car sales?

A: It is a potential hazard that 5 agencies including Environment Agency and DCC have visited in the last 3 weeks.

Q: Will the quality of housing be compromised by the cost of site clearing?

A: The Parish Council and DNPA have been working hard to ensure quality is not compromised.  There must also be an element of affordable housing for local people. Road safety is also a primary concern.

Q: The Parish Council have decided to use outside Printers rather than print the Community News in house, is it cost effective?

A: The cost of printing in house was compared and found to be more cost effective to have printing done at Ottery Press.

Q: How long is the temporary lease for the garage site? And is it likely to be renewed?

A: It is understood that it should expire at the end of June and we do not know if it will be renewed. It is hoped that building works could start by August if Planning Approval goes through.

There were comments from the floor regarding the viability of the site considering the costs of tank removal, removal of contaminated soil, all trees must be cleared due to contamination and replaced with semi mature trees.

Q: How many houses will go on the site.

A: The last plans were for 18 houses with 6 of these for local needs.

Q: Where does the contaminated material go?

A: It is taken to Swindon where they have the facilities to deal with it.

Cllr Robins advised the meeting that information will be made available on the Parish Notice board outside of the Post office through the minutes of Parish Council meetings and through the Community News.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance at this meeting and invited them to stay for refreshments and an informal chat.

There being no further business the meeting was formally closed at 8.55pm.

 

 

C Williams

Clerk to the Parish Council                                                  28th April 2008

 

 

 

 

Signed as a true and accurate record……………………….Date………………….

                                                (Cllr T Pearce - Chairman)

 

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