Parish Council Minutes: December 2024
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed at the Parish Council meeting on 13th January 2025 and might be subject to slight amendment
The minutes of a meeting of Oakford Parish Council held in the Committee Room at Oakford Village Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 9th December 2024
Present:
Cllr’s G Baylis (Chair), J Cridland, F Cross, L Gould, J Levick and J Mayer.
In attendance:
District Cllr C Adcock and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe
103/12/24. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr P Potter.
104/12/24. Declarations of Interest.
There were no declarations of interest.
105/12/24. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
106/12/24. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 11th November 2024 as an accurate record of the meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and they were duly signed by the Chair.
107/12/24. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
No matters arising.
108/12/24. Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
No applications received.
b) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
No decisions received.
c) Update on alleged planning breaches.
In his written report Cllr Adcock reported that John Millar is still progressing the planning breaches at Spurway Barton and there is still time for enforcement if needed. It is still the case that Enforcement is under resourced. Cllr Adcock continues to chase for progress and MDDC is continuing to try to recruit a Senior Enforcement Officer including an increased remuneration offer.
d) MDDC: Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension Area B. Public Consultation.
MDDC and Westcountry Land are hosting a consultation event relating to the Masterplanning of the final area (Area B) of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension (EUE). The Tiverton EUE Masterplan SPD was adopted in 2014 and then updated 2018. Whilst it covered the whole of the EUE land, it was not able to consider all of the site to the same degree of detail. MDDC planning policy requires the whole area to be masterplanned prior to any development on it. The consultation takes place from 20th November 2024 to 10th January 2025.
e) Any other planning matters.
No other planning matters.
109/12/24. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
None reported.
b) Report from the meeting with Cllr Richard Chesterton and Melanie Mckenna to discuss highways issues in the parish.
Cllr’s Baylis, Cross and Gould met with Cllr Richard Chesterton and Melanie Mckenna on the afternoon of 9th December. A map will be supplied showing the schemes that were discussed. These involve filling potholes followed by patching areas of the road surface and then surface dressing. An item will be added to the agenda for the next meeting to discuss and prioritise these schemes.
The trench behind the triangle with the Summer’s bench is usually cleared annually. It has not been cleared yet this year but it should be done by April. The contractors have to take before and after photos. It was confirmed that this verge is owned by the Summers family and it was suggested that the family’s permission is obtained to put in flexi verge markers to protect the edges being driven on. These are 2 metres in length with 0.5 metre below ground. Cllr Cridland will ask for permission for the markers and if this is given it was agreed to order some. Reflective material needs to be put on the stone on the verge.
Mrs Mckenna reported that the owner of Horsehead Farm is happy to engage with the work that needs doing to prevent flooding on the road but a drainage scheme needs to be come up with as he doesn’t want water to drain into the Wheat field.
Drainage work is required on the road from Crosspark to Fordmore Cross.
Mrs Mckenna said the road at Spurway is a green lane and is owned by the owners of Spurway. DCC will not do anything to this road. Councillors still question whether this is a county road.
Landowners have until the end of February to cut their hedges. They can be sent a warning letter if they don’t do anything and, if necessary, Highways do have the power to carry out the work if necessary and invoice the landowner. Cllr Levick will highlight the section of road at Warbrightsleigh Hill he is concerned about to Mrs Mckenna.
Councillors were urged to consider the Devon Road Warden Scheme again. Councils can just opt to do one or two things in their schemes.
Unless there is a serious accident which causes injury Highways will not do anything about the signs at Hangmans Hill. Councillors will keep reporting incidents, with photos if possible, as data is important. The bridge is reported to be structurally safe.
It was felt that this had been a very useful meeting and Mrs Mckenna had been very helpful.
Actions: the Clerk to add an item to the agenda for the next meeting to discuss the schemes and prioritise.
Cllr Mayer to ask for permission for flexi verge markers to be put on the edge of the triangle with the Summer’s bench. Flexi verge markers to be ordered if permission given.
Cllr Levick to highlight to Mrs Mckenna the section of overgrown hedge he is concerned about.
c) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
This is generally better. It was noted that silt blocks the drain on the road between Pinkworthy Cross and Nethercott.
d) Any other highways matters.
There are lots of trees down following recent storms.
110/12/24. Footpaths:
a) Update on 2024-25 P3 funding.
No update.
b) Any other footpath matters.
Cllr Cridland, Cllr Gould and Mr Cridland have started walking the footpaths in preparation for completing the annual P3 survey. Cllr Levick will ask the landowners for access across their land to the 100 steps so that work can start on cleaning and repairing them.Action: Cllr Levick to ask the landowners for access across their land to the 100 Steps.
111/12/24. Reports:
a) County Cllr Report.
Cllr Chesterton’s written report to be circulated.
Action: the Clerk to circulate Cllr Chesterton’s written report.
b) District Cllr Report.
A written report from Cllr Adcock was circulated prior to the meeting. The report included a reminder about the Let’s Talk Mid Devon Survey (deadline 11th December); information about pre-Christmas free parking at Tiverton Multi-Storey car park; MDDC Community Risk Register and an error in calculation of Mid Devon Homes Rents. An historical error in the calculations was noticed by auditors. MDDC Officers have contacted all the tenants affected and are studying the details. Some tenants have been undercharged, some overcharged. Overpayments will be refunded but underpayments will not be claimed from current tenants. A correction will be applied at change of tenancy.
Cllr Adcock and Cllr Gilmour MP were thanked for their hospitality on 6th December.
112/12/24. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from inspections of community area.
Cllr Levick reported there were no problems following recent storms.
b) To consider extending the grass cutting contract for 2025. Councillors were
pleased with the way Hampton Maintenance had carried out the grass cutting contract during 2024. Hampton Maintenance are willing to continue the contract for 2025 at the same rate
Cllr Cridland declared a personal and prejudicial interest as her son is employed by Hampton Maintenance and she left the room.
It was agreed to extend the grass cutting contract with Hampton Maintenance for 2025.
c) To discuss cutting back the overhanging branches and improving the surface at the entrance to the Community Area and on the bridge.
The entrance to the community area continues to be slippery for people to walk over and while there is a warning sign there is a risk of someone falling and hurting themselves. A quote has been received from Hampton Maintenance to cut back the overhanging branches and chip them on the entrance area to make it safe. While it would be usual to try to obtain three quotes for the work councillors decided on this occasion that it was important to make the slippery area at the entrance safe as soon as possible. It was agreed to accept the quote from Hampton Maintenance.
Cllr Cridland rejoined the meeting.
d) To discuss the possibilities of creating a footpath from the Village Hall car park to the Community Area.
This was deferred to the next meeting as Cllr Stevens was not present.
e) Any matters to note.
No other matters.
113/12/24. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payments:
Hampton Maintenance - £180.00 grass cutting (Payment ref: 2425/29)
Mrs J Larcombe – £154.34 Clerk’s salary (Payment ref: 2425/30)
A service charge of £6.00 was taken from the current account at the end of November. A service charge of £6.00 will be taken from the account at the end of December.
An internal transfer will be made from the Instant Access Account to the Current Account to return the balance to £500.00.
Should any spending be required on the Christmas lights in the village, power was given for Cllr Baylis and Cllr Mayer to agree this.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance.
There have been no receipts since the last meeting. The Current Account balance is
£500.00 and the Instant Access Account balance is £13,039.40
c) To discuss grant requests from CHAT and Citizens Advice.
It was agreed to give a grant of £50.00 to CHAT (Payment ref: 2425/31).
d) Bank reconciliation 30.11.24.
The bank reconciliation was checked by Cllr Levick.
e) To arrange budget planning meeting.
It was agreed to hold a working party meeting at 6.30pm on 13th January 2025.
114/12/24. MDDC Community Risk Register.
It is difficult to objectively comment on this draft register when there are so many ‘risks’ that are either not risks at all or do not relate to the stated objectives of the Register i.e. “detailing serious risks specifically for Mid Devon …. that could result in an emergency. An emergency is defined as an event or situation that threatens serious damage to human welfare, the environment or security.”Each item should be written so that the nature of the risk and impact are clear as one cannot assess those that are based upon a statement, such as “Increased traffic on narrow roads” which, in itself, cannot be seen to result in a serious emergency situation. Furthermore, the degree of Impact cannot be assessed unless the impact has been stated.
The Register should have been reviewed ahead of its distribution to ensure that each item is indeed a valid risk and that the ratings of Likelihood and Impact are realistic. For example, how could “Flooding Oakfordbridge area” (which has been the case for the past two years) have a much lower rating than “Overfull litter bins” or “Antisocial behaviour”?
115/12/24. Government consultation on remote attendance at meetings.
Councillors noted the benefit of councillors being able to attend meetings remotely when they are working away. It was agreed to support remote attendance at meetings.
116/12/24. Relaunch of the Oakford Parish Council Facebook page.
Cllr Baylis and Cllr Cross have met to look at the Facebook page. They will pick out relevant things to post that are not on the website or Massive Facebook page. One hundred and twelve people already follow the page and once it is up and running again more people will be encouraged to follow it.
117/12/24. Report from the defibrillator training on Saturday 30th November.
It was reported that this had been a good session which fourteen people attended. This will be the last session with this trainer. It was noted that a parishioner is now trained as a first responder.
118/12/24. Correspondence.
The following correspondence was noted:
DALC Newsletters
MDDC press releases
MDDC – latest side waste statistics
MDDC – Let’s Talk Mid Devon Residents Survey 2024 – reminder
Somerset Sight – volunteers needed in your local area
Cosmic – free business support for your parish and community
Christmas community events – activibees.com
119/12/24. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday 13th January 2025.
The meeting closed at 9.00pm.