Minutes – May 9th 2017
LYDFORD PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
held on Tuesday 9th May 2017 at 7pm
Public Time
The Clerk welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked for questions from the public. Nine members for the public attended and there were no matters raised.
- Election of Chair
The Clerk requested nominations and seconders for the position of Chair
Nominated: B Cook Nominator: L Fowler Seconder N Skeaping
One candidate was nominated and therefore Mr B Cook was elected as Chair.
- Election of Vice-Chair
The Clerk asked for nominations for the position of Vice-Chair.
Nominated: R Tainsh Nominator: L Fowler Seconder: A MacIntyre
There were no other candidates and R Tainsh was declared Vice-Chair.
The PC gave special thanks to Mrs Fowler for her hard work, steady hand and support during the 5 years she has been Chairperson.
Present
Cllrs Fowler, Moriarty, MacIntyre, Mills, Skeaping, Tainsh and Cook. Also present Mrs T Redding (Clerk)
- Apologies
None
- Declarations of Interest
None
- To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 11th April 2017
The PC approved the minutes with minor alterations and they were signed by the Chair, Cllr B Cook.
Clerks report – The Clerk updated the PC on actions completed from the last meeting. All action points had been completed. The VAS sign was not connecting to the Bluetooth tablet and the Clerk will contact Westcotec again to sort this out (A1)
- Matters arising from the Minutes dated 11th April 2017
- VAS signage. The Clerk reported that there was still some money for another VAS sign but the PC needed to make a decision on whether to use the money or return it to the TAP pot. The Chair proposed that in the first instance the Clerk would ask Highways for other suitable north bound sites on the A386 for a portable VAS sign. It was proposed that the Clerk should invite representatives of Highways to come to the village to identify a site (A2). Should a site not be found the PC voted 4:3 in favour of returning the money.
- MUGA. Mr Williams updated the PC on the situation with the MUGA. The committee is still waiting for quotes and a decision from the Governors of the Federated schools.
- Spring Barn. The Chair explained that because the closing date for a decision from the PC was before the PC meeting, the PC voted individually on whether or not to support the application. The overall decision was not to support this application and voting was as follows:
- 4 members voted not to support, 1 to support, 1 was exempt from voting and 1 abstained.
- The main issues were related to the fact that the application was considered to contravene the development and management document of the DNPA and there were several grounds for considering that the building was not appropriate and access was an issue.
- Some councilors had been approach by parishioners who did not support the application and there were no communications to the PC which supported the application.
- Support for the application was in terms of its tourism value but acknowledged that the parking issue needed to be resolved.
- Reports from Outside Bodies
- Playground committee – Information on the MUGA is provided under item 6.
- Football Club – Cllr MacIntyre provide an update on Lyford Football Club. Almost 90% of children in the village, aged 8-14, are members and the leaders have now completed all the training required. The club has just been affiliated with the Devon FA and the new strips have arrived. The Devon FA noted that it was rare nowadays to have a new club affiliated.
- Skatepark – the group have yet to find some funding to get this started.
- Borough Council Reports.
None
- Finances
The Clerk provided a short update on finances and this was accepted by the PC. The question of the need for an external audit was raised and the Clerk was asked to contact the internal auditor for a definitive response on this matter (A3)
- Bills for Payment
£251.41 (1264) Salary Clerk
£58.40 (1265) HMRC
£81.00 (1266) D Malley payroll services
£88.48 (1267) DALC Membership
- Grant Applications
None
- Planning Applications
- Wilsworthy View 0177/17 – The PC discussed the application and decided to support it. The PC also noted that a letter which had been sent to the PC challenged the application with regard to access to the site. The owner of the land over which construction traffic will have access has not been contacted for their agreement regarding access. The Clerk will contact DNPA with the decision (A4)
- Correspondence
- Letter from PCC regarding the extension to the burial site. The current churchyard will need to find extra land within the next 12-15 years. If the churchyard was to close the PC would then be required by law to find land and provide maintenance. The PC discussed this and decided to look at different options which could be considered. It was noted that if the PC were to take this responsibility the annual precept would have to be raised considerably which would raise the Council Tax for all parishioners.
- Village of the Year competition. The Clerk was asked to respond to the correspondent that various activities could be considered if the village were to win the funding but it would take into account the views of the parishioners.
- DCC – information on neighbourhood highways officers – noted
- Note from Parishioner re objection to application 0161/17 Spring Barn – noted
- DNPA – Local Plan Review report – noted
- Agenda Items and Date of next Parish Council Meeting
None
The date of the next meeting will be Tuesday 13th June 2017
- Urgent additional business by leave of the Chair
None
The meeting closed at 20.50
.
Signed ___________________ Chairperson Dated 2017
Action List May 2017
| Action | Detail | Notes |
| 1 | Contact Westcotec re VAS sign | Done – visit expected 19th May |
| 2 | Clerk to contact Highways regarding another site for the VAS | Contacted – awaiting response |
| 3 | Contact internal auditor re external auditing | Done and response received |
| 4 | Contact DNPA with decision on 0177/17 | Done |
Accounts