Draft minutes subject to confirmation
MARY TAVY
PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Held in The
Reading Rooms
Tuesday 14th
February 2006
Present:
Cllr T Pearce (Chairman) - Cllr P Jarvis (Vice-Chairman)
Cllr W Squire Cllr J Pendall - Cllr J Higman - Cllr M Anning
Cllr P Hilborn Cllr G Hill DG Evans (Clerk)
Others present:
Two members of the public and Dr R Meryick Chairman Standards Committee WDBC.
Apologies for
absence:
PC K Reed - Cllr A Prosser Cllr C Marsh (DCC)
Absent with no apologies received:
Cllr P Scannell WDBC
12-2006 Parishioners time:
None of the parishioners present wished to speak. Accordingly the meeting was opened at 7.30pm by Cllr Pearce.
13-2006 The Chairman welcomed Dr Meryick and invited him to make his presentation to those present. Dr Meryick explained that his reason for attending was to explain the new legislation due to be implemented shortly and to explain about the changes to the Code of Conduct for members. He explained that members should consider exclusion if they felt it could be shown that by being present it could give them an unfair advantage. The code is intended to be clearer regarding confidential issues and bullying behaviour is to be made clearer, to the extent that it will not be tolerated. Dr Meryick suggested that they should be treated as guidance and not further rules. If a member feels that he should declare an interest then he should not remain in the meeting whilst the item is discussed. In the future, decisions regarding complaints made by the public will be made by the Standards Committee at a local level as opposed to them being referred to the Standards Board of England, wherever that is based in the future! It is hoped that this will enable decisions to be made by people with a local knowledge and not by a person appointed who would make a telephone call to discus the allegations. Regarding Dual Hatted Members and Trustees, Dr Meryick detailed the statement received from the Charity Commissioners as follows: If a councillor is a Trustee of a charitable organisation then he must act in the best interests of the charity he/she is a Trustee of. It would therefore be wholly inappropriate to take part in, or vote on, any issue raised at the parish council meeting where it could be considered that they have a prejudicial interest in the outcome. As a consequence, the Trustee(s) concerned should declare an interest and leave the room whilst discussion and voting takes place. It would be considered acceptable for the Trustee(s) to make a statement to the members, prior to leaving the room. Dr Meryick concluded by asking four questions to those present and invited them to make written replies and comments to him at a later date.
13-2006 (Contd) Cllr Hill explained the rational behind the current seven Trustees for the Memorial Playing Fields and the reasons behind the Trustees requesting funding from the PC towards the upkeep of this facility. He considered that as four of the members of the PC are Trustees and that, according to the legislation, they are not able to make comment or vote, this would leave five members (assuming everyone was present) to make the decision. He concluded by stating that this was not a democratic decision as 44.44% of the elected membership was not allowed to vote. Dr Meryick considered that if this was likely to prove a problem the members should consider applying a dispensation order. However, he also considered that seven Trustees was a high number and that the Constitution for the Playing Fields should be investigated to see if all seven needed to be Trustees. He considered that some could be changed to Committee members as, if 50%+ of members, by being Trustees, were unable to vote, then dispensation should be sought. No other questions were raised and the Chairman thanked Dr Meryick for his input and invited him to stay for the meeting proper. Dr Meryick thanked the Chairman and stated that he would be delighted to stay for some, if not all, of the meeting.
14-2006 Minutes of the previous meeting:
The minutes of the meeting held
on Tuesday 10th January 2006 were signed, by the Chair, as a true
and accurate record.
15-2006 Receive report from PC Reed:
15.1 Not present, however, via an e-mail to the clerk he reported the following statistics:
Seven incidents in total relating to: Drink Driving Swayling (2) Dead Badger Stray Sheep - Broken down vehicle and a Stolen Saddle. All incidents dealt with and the last item being the only one resulting in a Crime Report.
(These
figures were not available at the
meeting as the clerk had forgotten to bring them!)
16-2006 Matters arising:
16.1 The site of the Old Garage The Chairman confirmed a conversation he has held with Mr Markham of DNPA who has confirmed that the developers, Tetlow King, will be submitting a planning brief in the next few weeks. The Chairman confirmed that he has spoken to all the Authorities regarding the abandoned settee by the tenants of the bungalow on the site, who has refused to dispose of it, and has been advised that a letter should be sent to the land owners requesting that as the temporary tenant refuses to accept the potential fire hazard of this article (dumped adjacent to the fuel pumps) they should insist on its removal.
16.2 Sponsorship of the Mary Tavy Gazette The Chairman stated that he has been promised £460 from local businesses and asked those present what amounts they had raised, as agreed at the January meeting. Those present had not, to date, raised any funding. The Chairman requested that consideration be given to the opening of a separate bank account for this money. The clerk & financial officer requested, through the chair, that this would be unnecessary and that provision could be made in the accounts with a separate monthly figure showing income and expense being shown to members on a monthly basis. The clerk also offered to produce a yearly P&L for this. This was unanimously agreed - Resolved
17.2006 Correspondence:
17.1 A letter from a parishioner regarding a Tree preservation Order at Thistledown was discussed. It was agreed that the chairman should agree a site visit with Brian Beasley of DNPA and report the findings back to the members.
17.2 Two letters were received from parishioners regarding the structure of Trustees at the Playing Fields. (One of these being from a member unable to be present at this meeting.) Cllr Hill felt that this should be fully discussed when this member was present as it requires investigative work to ensure that answers are available for the member. Cllr Jarvis stated that the only requirement to become a Trustee was that the person was a parishioner in the parish of Mary Tavy. He further agreed to investigate the Constitution. Both Cllr Jarvis and Cllr Pendall expressed concern that the person who had written the letter appeared to be unaware of how the Playing Fields started, despite this being detailed in several issues of the Mary Tavy Gazette. Cllr Hilborn questioned why Trustees cant/dont raise money, as stated in the letter received. Cllr Higman felt that the letter was only seeking clarification as to the future level of financial assistance from the parish council, which are public funds. After further discussion the Chairman sought approval to move this item to the Agenda for March. He requested that Cllr Jarvis, in his capacity as a Trustee of the Playing Fields, be in a position to respond to the issues raised, on behalf of the other Trustees. This was unanimously agreed.
17.3 Parish Plan The Chairman detailed the reasons behind them and that priority funding is currently available for Mary Tavy, which has been allocated for the current financial year. Cllr Jarvis enquired as to the objective of it. The Chairman explained that it was to enable the parishioners comments to be considered when making future decisions about the village. Cllr Hill stated that he could see no advantage to parishioners. He also considered that as, presumably, the money to facilitate this would be taken from locally raised Council Tax, could the members justify the cost? Cllr Jarvis felt that he needed more information before making a decision. It was agreed that the clerk should contact Jane Osborne, requesting a meeting with the members, separate from the next PC meeting if time constraints dictate, to discuss this item.
18.2006 Financial report:
(Dr R
Meryick left the meeting at this point)
18.1The financial report detailing the bank balances was circulated as follows:
Current account: £4533.44
Cemetery account: £4104.25
18.2The following payments were authorised:
Clerk Honorarium plus stamps and other expenses £199.44 (Feb) Mileage for Cllr Pearce £26.00 Web Site Hosting - £24.66
18.3 Two deposits for Internment and Plot Purchase received of £200 in total and a payment for Eighteen months to the Burial Clerk of £105.12 for services provided were agreed from the Cemetery account.
19.2006To receive report from Chair of
Cemetery Committee:
19.1 Cllr Jarvis reported on the income and expenditure as shown on the financial report previously circulated by the clerk. Cllr Jarvis also reported on his recent, invited, visit to Brentor PC to advise them on the running and costs involved of a parish council cemetery.
19.2006 (contd.)
19.2 Cllr Hill requested that the details of the Burial Clerk and current charges should be shown in the notice board at the cemetery. This was agreed.
19.3 Cllr Jarvis requested that the clerk write to Pascoe & son regarding the work identified by them to headstones and as to when the work agreed would be carried out. This was unanimously agreed.
20.2006 Planning:
20.1 Rattlers barn No objections raised to the proposal to the construction of a double garage.
20.2 Weir road No objection to the proposed kitchen extension
20.3 New development in the grounds of The Cottage, Brentor road The Chairman declared an interest, as a neighbour to this property, and left the meeting whilst it was discussed. (Before doing so he handed over the Chair to the Vice-Chair and requested that he detail the visit of the planning committee.) Cllr Jarvis explained that the applicant has stated that this proposal was approved on the original plans for this area and that access was proposed at the corner of Brentor road and Chapel lane. Concern by the members was expressed that Highways, Local Service Group and WDBC have declined the opportunity to inspect this proposal and that DNPA (the Planning Authority) have been advised accordingly of this councils concerns.
(The Chairman returned to the meeting at this point)
20.4 Previous applications:
20.4.1 Glendale It was reported that this application has been approved.
20.4.2 Blackdown Nursing Home It was reported that the application for an extension, to the front of the existing property, has been approved by the Planning Authority (DNPA). The Chairman, who attended the planning meeting of DNPA at Bovey Tracy, expressed concern regarding the comments from Highways that the volume of traffic had not changed since 1994 and that the pending enforcement order from Mr N Savin of DNPA regarding the unauthorised infill to The Kings Way, to the front of the proposal, or the eleven (11) letters of objection from residents in the immediate area to the proposal, and the parish councils objections had not been given due consideration. As a consequence the clerk was requested to write to Dr N Atkinson, Chief Executive of DNPA, with copies to be sent to Mr E Chorlton Director of Highways DCC, Mr B George Head of Okehampton Local Services Group and Mr D Incoll Chief Executive WDBC.
(Cllr M Anning left the meeting at this point.)
20.4.3 Miners Dry appeal Cllr Jarvis and Cllr Pearce (Chairman) both attended the appeal meeting at the Methodist Hall regarding this previously refused proposal. It was noted that Highways, Mr C King, failed to send a representative to this meeting, or to submit written views. It was further noted that the Planning Inspector was unimpressed at this. This PC now awaits the findings from the Planning Inspectorate regarding this appeal.
20.4.4 It was reported that an appeal has been lodged with the Planning Inspectorate by Mr & Mrs Dredge regarding the application turned down by DNPA to build a property to the rear of the existing Post Office.
21-2006 Consider items raised at the
February meeting for inclusion on this agenda:
21.1 Agree members who will prepare PC article for Gazette It was unanimously agreed the Cllrs Pendall and Pearce should prepare the entry for the next issue.
21.2 Recreation ground Two letters were received regarding the Memorial Playing Fields. The Chairman photocopied the one from Cllr Prosser which was circulated to those present. It was unanimously agreed that this item should be discussed at the March meeting when Cllr Prosser would be present. (This is reported fully under item 17.2)
11.2006 To agree the date of the next
meeting:
11.1 The date of Tuesday 14th March was agreed for the next meeting of the Parish Council to commence at 7.30pm to be held in the Reading Rooms.
There being no further business the meeting was formally closed by the
Chair at 9.25pm.
DG Evans
Clerk to the Parish Council 17th February 2005
Signed as a true and accurate record .Date .
(Cllr T Pearce Chairman)