Draft minutes subject to confirmation

 

MARY TAVY PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Held in The Reading Rooms

Tuesday 12th July 2005

 

Present:

Cllr T Pearce (Chairman) – Cllr P Jarvis (Vice-Chairman) - Cllr A Prosser

Cllr J Pendall - Cllr W Squire - Cllr M Anning - DG Evans (Clerk)

Others present:

Two members of the public (One arrived after the time allotted for the public to speak and after the Chairman had formally opened the meeting.)

PC K Reed – Cllr P Scannell WDBC

Apologies for absence:

            Cllr P Hilborn - Cllr G Hill - Cllr J Higman

Absent with no apologies received:

            None

74-2005 Parishioners time:

            The one parishioner present at the time did not wish to speak

75-2005 Minutes of the previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 15th June 2005 were signed, by the Chair, as a true and accurate record.

76-2005 Receive report from PC Reed:

            76.1 PC Kevin Reed stated that he has had three reports of incidents in the village since last month and that the Police Authority has agreed to pay for the cost of room hire to hold the surgeries conducted by his predecessor. Concerns over safety were expressed regarding the former garage of Ken Bodys. PC Reed explained that he is dealing with this and is currently striving to establish who owns the site. Cllr Jarvis expressed concern over the site becoming an eye-sore if no planning application was submitted soon. He also asked why Brentor road was being closed for five days. Cllr Pearce explained that this was because of safety while SWW connected the building site to the respective services. Cllr Jarvis wondered where the bus would go whilst closed.

77-2005 Matters arising:

            77.1 Stones on verges – Cllr Pearce reported that Colin Hicks is no longer the person to contact and that his replacement is a Mr John Doddswell.. He confirmed that the new person is investigating the concerns already aired and other matters.

            77.2 Road drainage – Cllr Pearce reported that he, Paul Marshall and Steve Cryer have inspected the potential areas of concern. It is intended by the various agencies that they will be cleared prior to the onset of winter.

78.2005 Correspondence:

            78.1 Southern Link Meeting – The minutes of the last meeting were available for members to read. Cllr Jarvis reported that unfortunately the Councillor appointed at this meeting as Chairman has since died and that a new Chairman will need to be appointed at the next meeting.           

            78.2 WDBC Housing Survey – A housing needs survey has been conducted in the village with the results identifying a need for eight local needs houses. In addition Brentor has been identified as having a similar need for six houses. As Brentor is not regarded as a parish for development it is intended to ‘tack’ the six houses identified onto Mary Tavy giving it a need for fourteen local needs houses. Cllr Scannell was invited to explain these figures. She detailed how the points system worked which did not necessarily target empty houses to those who have a local need. She further explained why Brentor does not meet the criteria for new housing development. Cllr Jarvis enquired why Brentor did not want local needs housing. Cllr Scannell stated that parishioners did want housing but not in the centre of the village where a development had been proposed. Cllr Jarvis enquired as to why Brentor needs had been ‘lumped in’ with Mary Tavy. (The Clerk was invited to speak and he stated that a similar survey had been carried out in Lydford and this also stated that Brentor had an identified need but only for two houses which it was intended to add to Lydford’s requirements.) Cllr Scannell attempted to answer by stating that the Lydford ones could be that side of Brentor village. It was unanimously agreed that if a local need exists why does this housing get offered to people from outside the area. Cllr Scannell explained the points system currently in place, due to be replaced with ‘choice band lettings’ which has proved to be successful in Cornwall, which does give priority to locals. She also stated that she has made her feelings regarding the current system known at council and will continue to lobby for local housing to be exclusively for local people. Cllr Pearce felt that more properties on the style of Friendship Court were needed for elderly people whose families have left home to be able to move to smaller, more suitable housing for their needs, within the village they live in, thus freeing up housing stock for families. It was considered that because Mary Tavy was inside the National Park, giving rise to potential conflicts of interest between them and the Borough Council, the Housing Authority and the Planning Authority were not working together to agree a cohesive requirement for the village. Cllr Jarvis also felt that if fourteen houses were built and they were all occupied by people from outside the immediate vicinity it would have an effect on the community as a whole. It was unanimously agreed that John Packer and his superior, Marion Pyle, of WDBC Housing should attend the next meeting of the parish council to answer the queries raised tonight.   

            78.3 WDBC Development Framework – It was agreed that Cllr pearce, on behalf of the members, would deal with this item.

79.2005 Financial report:

            79.1The financial report detailing the following balances was circulated:

                        Current account - £4665.57

                        Cemetery account - £3683.75

            79.2 The following payments were authorised:

Clerk Honorarium plus stamps £177.72 (July) – Mainly Stationery (Gazette) £226.46 – Hepworth Workshops (Web site setup) £593.32

The Financial officer explained that 33.33% of this cost was being reclaimed in the form of a grant from WDBC. Clerk Honorarium (August) £175.20  

79.3 Audit – The Financial officer explained that the books for 2004/05 have been returned from the Internal Auditor with no queries. He then detailed that the Statement of Assurance was now required to be agreed by the members and read it out accordingly. It was unanimously agreed that this parish council complied fully with the requirements as listed in Section 2 – Statement of assurance of the Audit Commission annual return. The statement of accounts was also confirmed as accurate. Accordingly the return was signed by both the Chairman and the Clerk. It was also reported that the required notices enabling parishioners to view the accounts have been posted.

80.2005To receive report from Chair of Cemetery Committee:

            80.1 Cllr Jarvis reported that the safety check on headstones had been completed with three being highlighted as requiring attention. However, nine others had been identified as in need of the headstone being re-adhered to the concrete foundation. Whilst these did not require immediate attention it was considered prudent to have this work carried out at the same time at a cost of £10 each. (The dangerous ones being quoted at £25 each). It was hoped that part, if not all, of this cost can be recovered from the next of kin. Cllr Jarvis agreed to place this work with Pascoe and sons for their earliest attention. It was unanimously agreed that an annual inspection of headstones in the parish council burial ground should be undertaken. Cllr Jarvis agreed to arrange this.

81.2005 Planning:

            81.1 The following applications have all been visited by the planning committee:

81.2 Property to rear of Post Office – Objections raised on the grounds of the main shaft on the edge of the grounds being incorrectly capped. As the depth of the shafts below this proposal are shown as 150 fathoms (900 feet) it was considered to be an unsuitable site for development.

81.3 The Barn at Old Rectory farm – Change of use to Hobby room – Due to visited by planning committee members.

81.4 Wringworthy Farm – Conversion of garage to bedroom and bathroom – Yet to be visited by planning committee members.

81.5 Mary Tavy Inn – New toilet block – Due to be visited by planning committee members

Previously submitted proposals:

81.6 Midlands farm – no objection

81.7 Lane Head Cottage – Enforcement officer investigating unauthorised patio doors in end elevation.

81.8 Bonny View – Proposal rejected by DNPA

81.9 Blackdown Nursing Home – The Chairman, acting on complaints from parishioners, has informed DNPA that what appears to be unauthorised building work has commenced. This work ahs resulted in the Old London road gully being filled with spoil from the area of development. It is considered that this is likely to give rise to drainage problems. The Enforcement officer for DNPA has visited and confirms that decking is being built as well. They have also instructed the archaeologists who are visiting to establish the rights of the Old London road.

            81.9 (contd.) The Chairman also stated that he has contacted the Environment Agency who are also investigating the unauthorised tipping of spoil . Cllr Jarvis enquired as to whether or not this council would be advised of the findings. He was also requested to establish if a Stop Order has been placed on the current work. The Chairman agreed to talk with them to ensure this happened. It was agreed that a watching brief needed to be kept on this. The clerk was requested to write again to the Environment Agency regarding the borehole and the abstraction of water, expressing the concerns of the members at the large amounts of water likely to be abstracted in the future. Cllr Prosser stated that she can obtain copies of letters sent from this agency to parishioners below the site of the proposed new borehole.

            81.10 Miners Dry – The clerk was requested to ascertain the progress on the enforcement order supposedly served by DNPA some time ago.

82.2005 Items raised for inclusion on this agenda:

            82.1 Web site – The clerk discussed the quotation received from Hepworth Workshops for the hosting of the newly created site and the concerns that have been expressed from Mr Hepworth regarding the lack of information that is forthcoming from village organisations. It was agreed that all organisations in the village should be contacted on a personal basis which was agreed and the various members present agreeing to contact certain organisations each. Cllr Prosser also requested that the forthcoming Road show should be advertised on the web site and in the parish magazine. The clerk agreed to arrange this. It was unanimously agreed to accept the quotation of £150 per annum (invoiced in arrears in April) for Adrian Hepworth to host the Mary Tavy web site.

            82.2 Mary Tavy Gazette – Receive costings from Cllr Jarvis – Cllr Jarvis reported that he has tried to cut the costs by using refilled cartridges for the printer which has caused some problems which, hopefully, will be rectified by the next issue. Because these have been returned, having printed some copies, and replacements used for the rest of the print run it has been difficult to arrive at an accurate cost per issue. Cllr Pearce enquired as to the progress on sponsorship which Cllr Jarvis reported that no progress has currently been made. Cllr Jarvis confirmed that 400 issues are produced for each issue.

            82.3 Beating the Bounds – A request was received, in his absence, from Cllr Higman asking the PC to act as facilitators for this in August 2005. It was unanimously agreed that subject to the necessary insurance being available at reasonable cost then the PC was happy to facilitate this event. Cllr Pearce agreed to speak to Mr Down regarding the free use of a coach to enable a section of the walk to be missed out. The clerk was requested to establish insurance costs and to advise Cllr Higman accordingly.  

83-2005 Items raised for inclusion on the September agenda:

            83.1 No items raised, however, Cllr Jarvis raised concern that should a planning application be received from the new owners of Ken Body’s site then the clerk should inform the Chairman immediately, recess or not, in order that a special meeting can be called to discuss it. This was unanimously agreed.

84.2005 To agree the date of the next meeting:

            84.1 The date of Tuesday 13th September was agreed for the next meeting of the Parish Council to commence at 7.30pm to be held in the Reading Rooms.

85.2005 Public bodies (Admission to meetings) Act 1960

            Pursuant to Section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 it was Resolved that, because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press leave the meeting during consideration of two items of correspondence received relating to a complaint and a response regarding the probity of people to serve as school governors.     

 

 

There being no further business the meeting was formally closed by the

Chair at 9.30pm.

                      

                                                           

 

 

 

DG Evans

Clerk to the Parish Council                                                  14 July 2005

 

 

 

 

 

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

                                                (Cllr T Pearce - Chairman)

 

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