Present:
Councillor A White (Chairman)
Councillor R Souness (Vice Chairman)
Councillor J Pillar
Councillor W Cann
Councillor R Darch
Councillor R Tilley
Councillor J Darch
Councillor J White
Councillor C White
Dr P Brotherton (Clerk)

In attendance. Mr N. Butlin.

Declaration of Interest (for Items on the Agenda)

07/037 There were no declarations of interest.

07/038 Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 22nd. January were circulated, read, confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Clerk’s Report

The Clerk thanked Councillor Tilley for all the work that he had done to help improve and clarify the Deed concerning the Recreation Ground Toilets, the Parish Paths Partnership Agreement document, the insurance matters related to this scheme and the pre-prepared letter about the A30 signage.

07/039 06/138 Dog Warden Scheme. Recent complaints and actions taken. Mr D.Arscott (Technical Officer Environmental Health) had replied to the Clerk’s letter outlined recent parish concerns about an increase in the incidence of dog fouling, stating that he would advise the dog warden accordingly. Councillor Souness (Vice Chairman) reported that the picnic area in the Recreation Ground was badly affected. The Clerk was asked to research ‘dog bins’ and provide more ‘report forms’ to be made available in the shop.

07/040 06/365 Maintenance of willow spiling in the Recreation Ground. In the absence of a Councillor or the Clerk to accompany the representative from WillowBank, who had come free of charge to trim and weave the spiling, Mrs W Redstone had kindly agreed to meet with him. Mrs Redstone intended to report her observations to the Recreation Ground Association.

07/041 07/024 Notice that Mayoral Award nominations have been submitted. The Clerk stated that the nomination of “The Bikers” and of Mr J Goodwin had been submitted to the Mayor’s secretary.

07/042 07/009 Signage on the A30 at Merrymeet. The Clerk reported that it had now become clear that it was the Highways Agency who were primarily concerned with decision about the signage. A pre-prepared letter had been made available and the Clerk knew of over 130 of these had been taken from the shop and in the region of 100 downloaded from the Beacon web site. Individual letters written had also been written by concerned parishioners. Further, Councillor Cann had written to Dr Stephen Ladyman, the Minister of State for Transport who had opened the new Merrymeet junction, and other letters had been sent by Councillor James McInnes, Geoffrey Cox MP and Mr Nick Payne, Corporate Director, West Devon Borough Council in support of the Council’s views. The Clerk had contacted Mr Alcorn (Highways Agency Project Leader for Merrymeet) to ask for a timetable for the promised review. Drewsteignton, Chagford and Sticklepath parishes had run their own vigorous campaigns. The Clerk was thanked for his work on this matter.

07/043 07/003 Fence and railings at Ring Hill Cross bridge. The Clerk had received an e-mail from WPC J.May (Neighbourhood Beat Officer) stating that PC Thompson had contacted Mr M Hartnell (Road Safety Officer) and that a site visit with the Highways Agency had been completed. It had been determined that no improvements were to be undertaken.

07/044 07/005 Meeting of the Parish Emergency Committee. A joint meeting between the representatives of South Tawton and Sticklepath Parishes had been held on Thursday 25th January. The next meeting, a “desktop rehearsal meeting”, was scheduled for Saturday 5th. May. It was proposed and agreed that the Chairman of the Emergency Committee, Col. T Clark, be invited to report to the Council at a future meeting on the Emergency Plan.

Questions

07/045 There were no questions.

Correspondence

07/046 Planning in Your Parish Workshops. It was reported that Councillor Cann planned to attend this workshop.

07/047 Letter received concerning taxation of Clerk’s wages. The Clerk had received a letter from the HM Revenue and Customs stating that the Council were not liable for the payment of the tax on the Clerk’s salary.

07/048 DAPC. Transforming Public Services in Devon. An invitation to comment on suggested new working practices. The Clerk presented a letter from Dr P Norrey (Chief Executive, Devon County Council), West Devon Borough leaders and Lesley Smith (Secretary, Devon Association of Parish Councils), together with a submission produced by this group in response to the Local Government White Paper. The purpose of this submission was to outline proposals for new ways in which the various tiers of local government could work together more efficiently and effectively. The Council was invited to suggest practical suggestions as to how it might be involved in such developments, by the end of March 2007.

07/049 The Restructuring of the Highways Management provision. A letter had been received from Mr J Deasy (Area Engineer (North)), describing the changes in Highways Management which will come into effect on 1st April, 2007. The eight Local Service Groups will be replaced by three Areas, North, South and East), each with an Area Engineer, Highway Engineer, who for this parish will be Mr Bruce Pedrick, and Highway Superintendents. Further clarification is awaited. Councillor Cann mentioned two highway matters to do with drainage on the hill up to the old A30 which the Clerk was asked to pursue.

07/050 Eastern Parish Link Committee Agenda for Thursday, March 1st 2007. Signage at Merrymeet junction. After consulting with Councillor R Darch, the Clerk had asked that this matter be put on the agenda of the next Link Committee meeting.

07/051 Community Appraisal of Service Provision by the Link Committees. Suggested Service Areas. A letter had been received from West Devon Borough Council suggesting that Link Committees could “undertake some of the roles in relation to community appraisal of service provision.” Areas suggested were Enabling affordable housing, Waste and Recycling and Street Cleaning. Council were invited to raise queries about these suggestions.

07/052 National Park Forum meeting – change of date to Friday 22nd. June 2007. This change of date was noted.

07/053 Service offer from Landscapes Southwest Ltd. A letter from Landscapes Southwest Ltd. offering a range of ground maintenance services was discussed. It was decided not to pursue this invitation.

07/054 Consultation on the amendment of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Authorities. The Clerk presented this document, produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government, with a response from the Standards Board for England. A covering letter invited Council’s views on this draft.

07/055 Minutes of Devon Heartlands Community Forum meeting. These were made available to the meeting.

07/056 Invitation to attend meeting of Okehampton and District Council for Voluntary Service on 27th February 2007. The Clerk drew the Council’s attention to this invitation.

07/057 Invitation to attend 5x30 network event in Okehampton on 15th. March 2007. The Clerk drew the Council’s attention to this invitation.

07/058 Commons Registration Act 1965. Yellands Farm, Chagford. This document was presented to the Council.

07/059 Offer from RD&E Foundation Trust to address a council meeting and/or become a Foundation Trust Member. Council were made aware of this letter and the attached leaflets, copies of which would be publicly displayed.

07/060 Distribution of Election timetable. Copies of this timetable were offered to all Councillors. Whilst the Clerk said that he was willing to submit completed nomination forms on behalf of councillors at a time of his choosing, it was agreed that he would bare no responsibility for this process.

Agenda items for discussion and resolution

07/061 Parish Paths Partnership Agreement. Decision on signing the contract and discussion on insurance issues. After discussion, it was proposed by Councillor Souness (Vice Chairman) and seconded by Councillor Cann that two copies of this agreement be signed. All agreed. Mr Butlin stated that he would contact the other volunteers, carry out an audit of the named paths and report back to the Council. Mr N. Butlin was thanked for his involvement with this Partnership scheme. Councillor Curtis left the meeting at 8.30 pm.

07/062 Clarification of the ownership and management of the Recreation Ground toilets. Recent vandalism damage. Council discussed at some length the recent spate of vandalism of both the toilets and the pavilion. It was agreed that Councillor Souness would research the possibility of appointing a Cleaner/Manager and the Clerk would investigate CCTV systems. All agreed. The Clerk distributed copies of the amended Deed, which was agreed by all. It was further agreed that a copy of this document would be offered to WDBC for printing and that the resulting Deeds could then be signed on behalf of South Tawton Parish Council by Councillor A White (Chairman) and the Clerk and then passed to Mr R Souness, Chairman of the Recreation Ground Committee, for consideration by the Recreation Ground Committee. It was suggested by Councillor Tilley that a statement of understanding might be prepared to detail the areas of responsibility of the Recreation Ground Association and the Parish Council.

07/063 Request for help from the PCC to manage the grass in St. Mary’s churchyard. In response to a letter from Mr J.R. Redman (Secretary, South Tawton Parochial Church Council) asking for help managing the grass in St Mary’s churchyard, it was proposed by Councillor Cann and seconded by Councillor C White that this extra contract be offered to Mr T Sanderson at a cost of £120 per year. All agreed.

07/064 Letter from Mr C Law concerning signage and parking problems with ideas and possible solutions. Letters and plans had been received from Mr Law, seeking advice and comment over a number of questions to do with parking and signage. The Council were in principle supportive of the views concerning parking and signage expressed by Mr Law. In particular the ideas concerning the restriction of parking beside St. Mary’s Chapel were considered a helpful contribution to the debate. However, Council decided that, following past discussion, they would defer any research and recommendation about the general problems of parking and signage in the parish until after May 2007.

07/065 Request from South Tawton and District Local History Group for grant towards £262 to print new Guide Leaflets. In response to this request it was proposed by Councillor Souness (Vice Chairman) and seconded by Councillor C White and agreed by all that the Council grant £150 to the History Group towards the expense of printing these leaflets.

The Clerk explained that the History Group had discussed whether or not to accept the Council’s offer of past Planning Applications. It was suggested that they would be interested in keeping those where there had been major changes to buildings or sites. It was therefore decided that the Group would be given all applications over 5 years old and that any remaining could be shredded or burnt. All agreed.

07/066 Offer of advice and request for grant from Victim Support Devon. Section 137 legislation. The Clerk explained the Council’s position with regard to Section 137 legislation. In the light of this, it was proposed by Councillor Pillar and seconded by Councillor Souness (Vice Chairman) that a grant of £50 be made to support this charity. All agreed.

07/067 Request that date of the Annual Parish Meeting be changed from April 16th to April 2nd or April 3rd. After discussion, it was decided to change the date of the Annual Parish Meeting to Tuesday April 3rd. All agreed.

07/068 Invitation to enter Calor Village of the Year competition. It was decided not to accept this invitation this year.

Planning

07/069 DNPA 0050/07 (Christopher Hart, 19th February) Mrs J Hillyer, Watershead House, Shelly, South Zeal. Full Planning permission. Renewal of permission ref 0780/01 for conversion of existing barn to form ground-level dwelling as sheltered accommodation of elderly relatives.
Council agreed to support this application.

07/070 DNPA 0081/07 (Louise Smith, 26th February) Mr CP and JE Diffey, Coopers Ash, East Ash, Throwleigh. Provision of hard standing for agricultural use and for parking of private cars, agricultural vehicles and turning. Council agreed to support this application.

07/071 SMB/BM/15/6/18/Bridleway57. Proposed Diversion of South Tawton Bridleway No 57. The Clerk distributed copies of the plans. After some discussion, the Council agreed to support this proposal. Majority decision.

Determination

07/072 DNPA 0903/06. Full Planning Permission. Battishill Property Ltd., West Wyke, South Tawton. Construction of single storey lean-to on North side of building, repositioning of conservation roof lights in North roof slope (East end) over two-storey section of building.
Granted. Conditions. Natural slate, timberwork stained brown/black, matching stonework, flush roof lights.

07/073 WDBC. 9687/2006/OKE. Full Planning Permission. Mr R Reddaway, Livaton Farm Buildings, Livaton, South Tawton. Conversion of redundant barns to 4 residential live/work units.
Granted. Conditions too numerous to list.

07/074 As Councillor Pillar was unable to undertake planning applications next month, Councillor Cann volunteered to do so.

Accounts

07/075 Proposed by Councillor J White and seconded by Councillor Tilley and agreed by all, the accounts were adopted.

The meeting ended at 9.35 pm.