Minutes – March 14th 2017

 LYDFORD PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting 

held on Tuesday 14^th March 2017 at 7pm

Public Time

Five members of the public attended and during public time, concern was raised about the proposed development 0185/17 Tor Brae. Points raised included questions on who would get priority for the houses on the site between residents of Bridestowe and Lydford. The applicants (Mr and Mrs Middler) suggested that the parishes would decide between them. The Middlers noted that the land would be given to local builder but at the present time no builder had shown interest. It is proposed that the houses would be sold 20% below market price, the valuation carried out have suggested a value of £140,000 t0 £150,000 per house.

It was suggested that the application is not in line with planning strategies for WDBC and DNPA and that in the most recent housing needs survey there was a stipulation that before any applications for housing was agreed a housing needs survey should be carried out. This has not been done to date. The Middlers gave a short presentation regarding the application which was submitted under PP34 the Rural Exception site and they noted that there was no policy in WDBC for starter homes. 

Present

Cllrs Fowler, Cook, Moriarty, MacIntyre, Skeaping, and Mills. Also present was the Clerk Mrs T Redding 

1. Apologies

Cllr Tainsh

• Declarations of Interest

None

• To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 14^th February 2017

The PC agreed that the minutes were accurate and they were signed by the Chair, Cllr Fowler. 

• Matters arising from the Minutes dated 14^th February 2017
• Planning application 0185/17 Tor Brae. The Council discussed the application and the following points were made:
• The site is a greenfield site and a house needs survey for Bridestowe places houses within Bridestowe
• The application lies outside planning policy as currently understood
• The application pre-empts a house needs survey as required by the DNPA
• The PC has received a majority of objections from the parish and it was noted that on the online WDBC Planning site there were a substantial number of supporters who lived quite a distance from Lydford
• The DNPA does not appear to have been consulted as per the protocol put forward by DNPA. 
• The Devon Management Branch (WDBC) did not support the application since no evidence has been put forward to support housing need in this location
• WDBC has no policy for Starter homes and the application seems to contravene planning policy
• It is not part of Bridestowe Local Neighbourhood Plan. In this Plan affordable housing sites are in the middle of the village
• It would set a precedent for building on greenfield sites and appears to have put a strain on near neighbours

The PC was unanimous in its decision to object to the application and concurred with the views of DNPA and the Development Management Branch (WDBC). This decision is also in line with the objections made by parishioners. 

• Clerk Salary Review – the PC agreed to place the Clerk  (who is also the Responsible Financial Officer) on pay scale 19
• Revised Reserves Policy – There was a short discussion regarding the revised policy on the use of reserves and grant giving set out by Cllr Cook. The PC agreed to the revisions. 

• Reports from Outside Bodies

Cllr Fowler attended the Bridestowe PC meeting. It was noted that there is a major planning issue in the village with the proposed development of 25 new houses (30% affordable). It was suggested that only this size of development could support affordable housing where a housing association could buy the houses for social rental. 

The Road warden scheme for road maintenance and Devon AA site was also discussed

• Borough Council Reports.

None

• Finances

The Clerk provided an update on finances. 

The PC also discussed the possible movement of the residual playground fund to the MUGA fund. This will be an agenda item for the meeting in April. 

The increase in costs for putting together HMRC and payroll data was agreed. 

The Clerk was asked to find out if there is a requirement for an outside body to carry out and annual inspection of the playground (A1)

1. Bills for Payment (Including those over £100 as per the transparency code)

£251.64 Clerk (1261)

£58.20 Inland Revenue (1262)

£27.28 Stationary (T Redding) (1263)

• Grant Applications

None

• Planning Applications
• 0185/17 Tor Brae – not supported. See notes under section 4

• Correspondence
• South Hams and West Devon Joint Local Plan – News Release – Noted
• NHS – Devon Acute Service Review – Noted
• Devon CC – Promoting Independence survey – Noted
• Copy of TAP fund application for DAA – Noted
• NHS – Your future care consultation – Noted
• South Hams and West Devon – Planning update – Noted

1. Agenda Items and Date of next Parish Council Meeting
   1. Playground finances

The date of the next meeting will be Tuesday 11th April 2017

1. Urgent additional business by leave of the Chair

The posts on the granite way were reported to have been damaged. The Clerk was asked to report this to highways as a matter of urgency (A2)

The Annual Parish Meeting and Annual General Meeting will be held on 9^th May 2017. The Clerk was asked to highlight this in the Parish Magazine (A3)

The Clerk noted that  2 emails to the school regarding possible first aid training had not been responded to. The Clerk was asked to follow this up (A4)

Meeting closed at 20.25

Signed ___________________ Chairperson             Dated                                2017

Actions March 2017

Action	Item	Progress
A1	Playground inspection (Insurance)
A2	Report posts on Granite way	Done – ref W17990586
A3	APM/AGM noted in Parish Magazine	Done
A4	Contact school re first aid day	Done – school are interested