This meeting had been held over from 13/4/04 due to the lateness of the hour after the Annual Parish Meeting.
Present: Cllrs Hockings, E Janes, Fearn, Jeffreys, Patrick, Stubbings, G Janes, Beamish and D Cllr Steer
Apologies: Cllr Williams
Resignation: Cllr Evans
Clerk: Mrs D Crann
The Clerk
read out a letter from Mrs Evans offering her resignation from the Council as
she had sold her house and was moving to Torquay. She desired to send her good
wishes and farewells to all councillors. Cllr Fearn offered to put a notice in
the Parish News advertising the two vacancies – one in each village.
The Chairman then welcomed everyone. The minutes of the previous meeting were
considered, agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.
Matters Arising:
1) Flooding in Harberton. Work still in progress.
2) P3 Footpath Scheme. Ongoing.
3) Harbertonford Playground. The Clerk had received a letter dated 13/4/04 from the Diocese. It would appear that they had never received the Parish Council’s letter to them of 23/3/04, detailing points in the lease which the Council wished to alter. Following a telephone conversation, a copy of the missing letter had been faxed to the Diocese and the Parish Council subsequently received a fax in reply date 19/04/04. There followed a further discussion regarding the proposed lease. Finally, it was unanimously decided that Cllr Jeffreys should write a letter to the Bishop, which Cllr Beamish will deliver by hand. This letter, it is hoped, will enable the Harbertonford Playground Association to bypass any need for a lease and will enable an arrangement to be agreed with the school governors privately.
4) Luscombe Cross. Completed.
5) Harbertonford Car Park. Wall repairs have been completed.
6) Street light at corner of Mill Meadow, Harbertonford. Installed, power is soon to be connected.
7) House of straw bales. Still ongoing.
8) Garages in Bow Road, Harbertonford, at the village end. These are private garages and the pavement in front of them is also private land.
Planning: Parish Council recommendations – decision between meetings:
23/0438/04/F Hillcroft, Moreleigh Road, Harbertonford. Demolish and rebuild garage. No objections.
23/2032/03/F Sandwell Barn, Harberton. Appeal against refusal to start 11/3/04.
Appeal APP/K1128/C/03/1128592 Land at Leigh Bridge, Harberton. Appeal dismissed. The Enforcement Notice is varied to read “18 months” instead of “12 months”.
Correspondence:
1) DAPC and DPFA. Annual subscriptions are now due. DAPC £174.00 and DPFA £15.00. These are to be paid. Proposed by Cllr Fearn, seconded by Cllr E Janes. All in favour.
2) A letter received from Devon County Councillor Owen Masters was read out to the meeting. He was now back in Kosovo until September overseeing the setting up of sub-municipalities. He gave the names of Cllrs E Mitchell and J Hart, who would be willing to help if there was a problem in the Parish.
3) A letter had been received from Mr G Rowe, who had recently retired as Monitoring Officer from SHDC on 1/4/04. The Clerk will write to wish him well.
4) SHDC. Re Code of Conduct – Applying for a Review of a Referral Decision. This letter was shown to the meeting.
5) Countryside Agency. New provisional map of the countryside received – map area 6 – Harberton CP. This was shown to the meeting.
6) Harberton Playing Fields Assn. The Parish Council, in conjunction with John Culf, had now purchased a new mower costing £4,178.00 (cheque no 311 had been returned unpaid due to lack of funds transferred from Savings Account). A new cheque, no 312, had since been issued for £4,178.00 and had been paid. A donation of £3,555.75 had been received from HPFA and VAT recovered of £622.25, total £4,178.00. These cheques had been signed between meetings.
7) A letter had been received from Mr Barkas of Harberton, regarding the deterioration of Church Cottage in Harberton. After his last letter, the Clerk had contacted the owners, well over a year ago, but still nothing had been done. D Cllr Steer will enquire of SHDC if there is anything they can do to help.
8) GLEAM. Annual subscription of £10.00 is now due. Proposed by Cllr Stubbings, seconded by Cllr Steer. All in favour.
9) SHDC. Local Development Framework – Draft Local Development Scheme. D Cllr Steer explained that this was to replace the former Structure Plans and that SHDC was hoping to get this new Local Development Scheme under way before the new Act comes into force in summer 2004.
10) Harberton Parochial Church Council. A letter had been received, accompanied by the latest set of accounts, requesting a grant towards the upkeep of the churchyard. The Parish Council had previously received a letter in October 2003 asking if they could give Harberton PCC a bigger grant than Harbertonford as their churchyard was larger. Councillors gave this request due consideration and it was finally proposed by Cllr Jeffreys, seconded by Cllr Fearn, to grant an extra £100.00 this year, making a total of £350.00. There being no other proposals, voting was all in favour.
11) SHDC. Closure of Vital Villages Programme is announced, ie: closure of funding of new grants under this programme from 1/4/04.
12) Request for Annual Audit on 12/7/04 has been received. Accounts can be inspected from 10/6/04. The Clerk reminded councillors of the risk assessment responsibilities similar to last year and assured councillors that she had notified the Income Tax authorities of her tax position. Mr Maddox of Harberton had again kindly agreed to act as the Internal Auditor.
13) DCC. Highways Maintenance Works 2004/5. A new schedule had been received and was shown to the meeting.
14) A letter had been received from John Culf regarding damage sustained as the upper car park and field by vehicles recently. He outlined work which he proposed in order to stop this happening again, ie: sinking some bumper-high posts around the area to stop vehicles driving on to the turf. The Chairman said he would contact Mr Culf and possibly be able to assist with the loan of a tractor-mounted post driver. The Parish Council would certainly support Mr Culf and approve of these repair and maintenance works.
Also on the table:
South Devon Carers Consortium 23/3/04; SHDC Leisure and Recreation Strategy; DTI Rural Broadband; DCC Dartmoor Sunday Rover Services bus timetable; SHDC Executive Forward Plan; SHDC composting information; SHDC Minutes of Executive Meetings 11/3/04 and 8/4/04; DCC Monthly Newsletters; SHDC Agenda and Minutes and SHDC Alterations to Car Parking Charges for 2004.
Matters at the discretion of the Chairman:
No matters were raised this month.
No 311 – David J Attfield - £4,178.00 (subsequently cancelled)
No 312 – David J Attfield - £4,178.00
No 313 – GLEAM - £10.00
No 314 – DAPC - £174.00
No 315 – DPFA - £15.00
No 316 – Harberton PCC - £350.00
Received from HPFA - £3,555.75
The meeting closed at 9.45pm. The next meeting will be held on 11/5/04 in Harberton Parish Hall at 7.30pm, including the election of Council Officers.