Parish Council Minutes: June 2025
DRAFT MINUTES
These minutes will be agreed as the Parish Council meeting on 14th July 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 June 2025
Present:
Cllr’s J Cridland (Chair), G Baylis, F Cross, L Gould and J Mayer.
In attendance:
County Cllr S Lodge, District Cllr’s C Adcock and M Stratton and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
15/06/25. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr’s J Levick and V Stevens.
16/06/25. Declarations of Interest.
Cllr Mayer declared an interest regarding Spurway Barton as she does some work for the owners. Cllr Cridland declared a personal and prejudicial interest as her son is employed by Hampton Maintenance.
17/06/25. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
18/06/25. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12th May 2025 as an accurate record of the meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and they were duly signed by Cllr Cridland, the Chair of the meeting.
19/06/25. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
The empty Mid Devon Housing property in Oakford is between tenants. Cllr Adcock confirmed they do try to keep voids down. The empty property in Morebath is likely
to be sold because of the cost of bringing it up to affordable homes standard. Cllr Cross will put something on the Council’s Facebook page to encourage
parishioners to write to Rachel Gilmour MP to complain about the withdrawal of capital grants for farmers and concern about the future of the area.
20/06/25. 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 decision notices received.
c) Update on alleged planning breaches.
No update. Cllr Adcock has been given reference numbers for the alleged planning breaches he has reported.
d) Any other planning matters.
Building is about to commence in School Close, Bampton. These will be Z Pod modular properties.
21/06/25. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
Cllr Cridland reported on the Highways webinar organised by DALC that she had attended. She noted that when councillors asked questions at the end they were soon closed down. The Parish Council has considered joining the DCC Road Warden Scheme but decided against it. This will be revisited to see if anyone in the parish is interested in becoming involved. Cllr Cross will put details on Facebook once the Clerk has sent her a link to the information on the DCC website. Following a recent accident on Hangman’s Hill some bodywork from the pickup has still not been removed. Councillors questioned how they could get it removed.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
The Clerk has received an email from Melanie Mckenna, Neighbour Highways Officer regarding the standing water at Esworthy Cross. She has been out with a metal detector and didn’t find a gully on the inside bend. She looked from the field side and there appears to be a gap in the hedge where the vegetation doesn’t grow indicating there may be a historical easement. She has raised an asset on their drainage app and requested for an investigation and jetting to re-establish. She will keep an eye on any feedback she gets from the crew. In the meantime, she has raised a drainage scheme as a back-up if nothing is found.
c) Update on improvements to the fingerpost signs.
It was suggested that the fingerpost sign at Esworthy Cross is done first and then people could be asked if they know of any others that need doing. Obtaining local sponsorship to cover the cost was a suggestion. This will be discussed further at the next meeting.
d) Any other highways matters.
Cllr Lodge reported that he had spoken to Melanie Mckenna, NHO, about the Parish Council’s concern about warning signage on Hangmans Hill. According to the NHO, it appears that none of the accidents mentioned by the Parish Council have been recorded on DCC’s accident site. She assumes the police are never in attendance as they are the ones providing the data to DCC - or it hasn’t been fully signed off by the police since publication.
She has told Cllr Lodge she has approached the traffic policies team a few times on behalf of Oakford and has been told the signage is appropriate for the type of road, and that Devon has many roads with a similar layout to Hangman’s Hill. She acknowledged she cannot change a satnav route and also can’t make drivers adhere to the signage, but of course she hasn’t accounted for any changes if the road was recategorised. She has [again] today forwarded an email with the images, along with an image of the size and weight limit of 7.5 tonne trucks and asked for an urgent review of the location.
22/06/25. Footpaths
a) Update on P3 funding.
Still no update.
b) Any other footpath matters.
The Clerk reported that Tania Weeks, DCC Public Rights of Way Officer & Definitive Map Researcher for Mid Devon, has replied to her email querying the correct route of Footpath 5a in the field adjacent to the village that was sold last year. The local warden was contacted by the new owners of the field in March asking about the correct location of the footpath. Both fields were previously owned by the same landowner and they had encouraged/allowed walkers to enter via the gate in the northern field to access the footpath and not to walk by the quarry as on the definitive map. It seems that this alternative route has been in use for many years and signed by DCC for in excess of twenty years so that the alternative route would now be considered to be a public footpath too.Landowners are allowed to fence public footpaths. Where this is along side a field edge/headland, DCC would usually require that any fence is 3 metres wide away from the field hedge to allow sufficient space for walkers when the hedges have grown out in the summer season. A cross field path where are no adjoining hedges may be narrower but we would always request that landowners contact DCC before fencing public rights of way to see if there could be an alternative way
23/06/25. Reports:
a) District Cllr Report.
A written report was circulated by email prior to the meeting.
Cllr Mayer asked about grants for EV Charging Points. The Parish Council and Village Hall Committee are working together on this.
b) County Cllr Report.
Cllr Lodge reported on the elections to the leadership and other positions which took place on 23rd May. Two Mid Devon County Councillors have been elected to the Cabinet. There is a new members portal and a commitment from officers that any case work raised will receive a response in ten days. Not much else has happened apart from training. Support for foster carers has been improved, which is a positive step, and they will receive an increased weekly allowance.
24/06/25. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from inspections of community area.
There is movement in the gate at the entrance to the community area and the post might need resetting.
b) Refurbishment of pavilion interior.
Deferred to the next meeting when it is hoped to have quotes.
c) Report from the community area maintenance/clean-up day.
The village residents who came to help were thanked. It was decided that it would be better to ask Hampton Maintenance to cut back the brambles around the trees.
d) Update on the possibilities of creating a footpath from the Village Hall car park to the Community Area.
No update
e) Any matters to note.
The Clerk has asked Hampton Maintenance to cut the grass in the week before the fete.
25/06/25. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payment: Mrs J Larcombe – £158.54 salary for May plus expense claim for printing (Payment ref: 2526/09)
Two payments of £180.00 have been made to Hampton Maintenance since the last meeting (Payment reference 2526/07 & 2526/08)
A service charge of £6.00 was taken from the current account at the end of May. A service charge of £6.00 will be taken from the account at the end of June.
An internal transfer will be made from the Instant Access Account to the Current Account to return the balance to £500.
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance.
Since the last meeting there have been no receipts. The Current Account balance is £500.00.
The Instant Access Account balance is £16,273.31
c) Bank reconciliation 31.05.25.
Cllr Stevens to check at the next meeting.
d) To receive the Internal Audit Report.
Noted.
e) To agree the Annual Governance Statement for 2024-25.
It was resolved to tick yes for boxes 1 – 8 and not applicable for box 9. The Statement was signed by Cllr Cridland, Chair of the meeting.
f) To agree the Accounting Statement for 2024-25.
It was resolved to agree the Accounting Statement. The Statement was signed by Cllr Cridland, Chair of the meeting.
g) To agree that the Parish Council wishes to certify itself as exempt from a limited assurance review under Section 9 of the Local Audit (Smaller
Authorities) Regulations 2015. It was resolved to certify as exempt. The form was signed by Cllr Cridland, Chair of the meeting.
26/06/25. To note the installation of the new defibrillator.
Cllr Potter and David Murphy were thanked for installing the new defibrillator and cabinet in the phone box. It is all up and running. The previous one has been collected.
27/06/25. Correspondence.
The following correspondence was noted.
DALC Newsletters
MDDC press releases
MDDC – invite to the raising of the flag for Armed Forces Day on 23rd June
28/06/25. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday 14th July 2025.