Minutes – December 11th 2018

LYDFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting 

held on Tuesday 11th December 2018 at 7pm

Public Time

The Chair welcomed the public to the meeting. Cllr Mott, Cllr Moyse and C Aubertin attended from WDBC. There were 4members of the public present.

Present

Cllrs Cook, Moriarty, Squires, Fowler, Tainsh, Skeaping and MacIntyre. Also Dr Redding (Clerk)

  1. Apologies

None

  • Declarations of Interest

None

  • To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held 13th November 2018

Minutes were approved.   

.

  • Updates to actions from last meeting 13th  November 2018 

All actions had been completed. 

A further note on the cost of composting toilets indicated that the cost of the toilet and installation would be in the region of £10,000. The cheapest option is approximately £4500 (excluding installation and maintenance).

Further discussion on toilets is in Section 10.

  • Reports from Outside Bodies

None

  • Borough Council Reports

Cllr Mott reported on the Superlink meeting as follows:

  • Cllr Hart (WDBC) noted that the TAP fund can no longer be used for lengthsman services and drainage clearance. However other sources of funding which could be used for these activities include the Road Warden and Highways Enhancement schemes. Cllr Hart is considering a proposal from local councils to fund lengthsmen from other sources. 
  • The merger with Dorset CC did not go ahead

ACTION (A1) – Cllr Mott will forward notes from the Superlink to the Clerk. 

  • Finances

Budget – The Clerk presented the proposed budget for 2019-2020. Due to the agreement of the PC to take on the public toilet, subject to receiving further information from WDBC the PC agreed that the precept would be raised by £3000 to a total of £9263 (see proposal and voting Section 10). The Clerk will apply for the funding after this meeting.

The PC agreed to appoint the A Marshall as Internal Auditor for 2019.  

7a – Bills for Payment

£ £276.83 (1337) Pay/Expenses T. Redding  

£64.60 (1338) HMRC 

£44.45 (1339) Printer/Stationery 

£119.99(1340) PC storage cupboard

7b Grant applications

None

  • Planning Applications

None

  • Correspondence
  • Dartmoor Local Plan – the Clerk will ask for other copies of the plan from DNPA (A2) – a  weblink to be sent to PC Cllrs.
  • CPRE – Newsletter and membership card. The card will be kept by Cllr Fowler
  • Mrs Weller – letter regarding speed and toilets. The Clerk will respond providing details of what the PC has done previously (A3). 
  • Bus Shelters brochures – noted but these were considered to be too expensive
  • DALC Newsletter – noted
  1. Agenda Items from November 
  2. Public toilet Lydford – Cllr Cook summarised the information gathered so far. The public toilets will close unless the PC can take them over. This will involve either paying WDBC to keep them open or for the PC to take them over completely. This will mean finding funding for running the toilets which may result in an increase to the precept. Other actions included:
  3. Emails and phone calls to several businesses with respect to getting funding resulted in one offer of a donation. Tavistock Wheelers have agreed to donate £100 towards costs. English heritage refused.
  4. There is a lack of information on the number of people using the toilets. Lydford House Hotel offered to finance a people counter for 1yr to gather this information and if this showed that the public toilets were needed they would be happy to pay an increased precept.
  5. The public toilets have not been owned by DNPA since 1967 and are now in the ownership of WDBC under an agreement with DNPA. Therefore DNPA could not contribute to the funding.  
  6. If PC decided to pay WDBC to run the toilets WDBC would continue to insure the buildings. 
  7. A poster regarding the toilet was placed on the PC Facebook page and to date there have been 350 views. 
  8. The suggestion of a payment system for the toilet was not considered to be financially viable unless the annual footfall is known.
  9. The parishioners who have commented are generally in favour of keeping the public toilet open and would be happy to pay a higher precept to keep it open. However parishioners are in general unhappy that that this responsibility is being pushed to the PC from WDBC.

There was a general discussion regarding the public toilet which included:

  • Lydford is a popular tourist area and there is a need to provide toilets for the tourists.
  • The pub toilets are often use by tourists on an ad hoc basis but this is not acceptable to the current landlord. 
  • Pay on entry may be viable (as per Okehampton) if the toilet is kept open all year round. There may be a possibility of getting funding through the localities or community funding. 
  • A Parishioner suggested keeping the toilets open with a counter and raise the precept to cover this cost. Businesses may contribute to the costs through providing an advertising space on the building. 
  • The congregation in the church appreciate a public toilet nearby as do others attending events such as weddings. The PCC would be prepared to support the cost either as a one off or regular funding.
  • WDBC noted that the decision needs to be made by the 18th December but also noted that if further time is required this will be considered favourably.

   Options          

            Cllr Cook summarised the options and possible costs of keeping the toilets open.

            Proposal

            The PC decided to vote on the following proposal: 

  • The PC will take on the responsibility to maintain and run the toilet for a 12 month period to assess the liabilities and usage
  • The PC will assume costs of £3000 p.a.
  • The PC will raise the funds by increasing the precept by £3000 to a total of £9263 but endeavouring to meet some of these costs over the 12 month period through fund raising.

            Voting – The PC voted unanimously to accept the proposal 

  • Emergency readiness plans – the PC thanked all parishioners who have offered to help. This will be discussed further in the January meeting of the PC. 
  • Air Ambulance update –the DAA has found one suitable site which is a privately owned field and which will need to be fenced. The PC considered it unreasonable to expect a landowner to do this.  The DAA noted that they will look at the school field for a second time. Cllr Tainsh will ask the DAA for their final decision regarding the school field which was considered to be close to being acceptable (A4).
  • Bus Shelter – planning issues have delayed this project. Pre-planning enquiries have indicated that no planning is necessary.  Cllr Cook will meet with Highways on the 12/12/18 with regard to the siting of the shelter. 
  1. Agenda items and date of next Parish Council Meeting
  1. Clerks salary

The date of the next meeting will be Tuesday 8th January 2018

  1. Urgent additional business by leave of the Chair

Cllr Skeaping noted that Highways has spent time recently mending small dips in the road but at the same time there are blocked drains in the village which have been reported but have not been seen to. This has led to a flooding incident in the village. 

The Clerk will send a letter of complaint to Highways regarding the blocked drains which are a continuous issue.  With the recent heavy rain there was flooding in the middle of the village which required home owners to protect their properties with sandbags. This is a hazardous situation (A5).

There is also a need for parishioners to report the flooding online website. https://new.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/

This link will be provided in the Parish magazine (A6) and the PC Facebook (A7). 

The Granite Way signs have not been picked up yet by Highways. The Clerk will note this in the correspondence with Highways (A5)

It was noted that the Silver Street sign has been stolen. Highways to be informed (A5).  

Cllr Fowler agreed to respond to a request from Tavistock Times regarding the toilet with a press release (A8).

         The meeting closed at 21.30

.Signed ___________________ Chairperson                       Dated    

ActionDetailsNotes 
A1Cllr Mott to forward Superlink meeting notes to the ClerkCompleted
A2Further copies of the Dartmoor Locacl Plan to be requested from DNPACompleted
A3Response to Mrs Weller regarding roads and toiletsCompleted
A4 Cllr Tainsh to contact DAA regarding the School Field as a landing sitetbc
A5Clerk to send a letter of complaint to Highways with other mattersCompleted
A6Link to reporting a problem on roads to be included in the magazine reportCompleted
A7Link to reporting a problem on roads to be included on the PC Facebook page (Cllr MacIntyre)tbc
A8Press release regarding toilets to the Tavistock TimesCompleted