Parish Council Minutes: January 2026
These minutes will be agreed at the meeting due to be held on 9th February 2026 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 12th January 2026.
Present:
Cllr’s J Levick (Chair), G Baylis, J Cridland, F Cross, T Davies, L Gould and J Mayer..
In attendance:
County Cllr S Lodge, District Cllrs C Adcock and M Stratton and the Clerk, Mrs J Larcombe.
111/01/26. To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were accepted from Cllr V Stevens.
112/01/26. Declarations of Interest.
Cllr Cridland declared a personal and prejudicial interest as her son is employed by Hampton Maintenance. Cllr Mayer declared a personal and prejudicial interest regarding Spurway Barton as she does some work for the owners.
113/01/26. Public Forum.
No members of the public present.
114/01/26. To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2025 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.
115/01/26. Matters arising from the minutes, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
No matters arising.
116/01/26 Planning
a) To comment on any planning applications received before the meeting.
No applications received.
b) To note any planning decisions made by MDDC.
25/01450/Full Variation of condition 2 of planning permission 20/00814//Full (Erection of dwelling) to allow substitution of approved plans relating to the design of the dwelling. Location: Barn, Pinkworthy, Oakford. Decision: conditional approval.
25/01655/PNAG Prior approval for the erection of an agricultural storage building. Location: Land at NGR 391808 121862 Hamslade Farm, Oakford. Decision: development acceptance.
c) Update on alleged planning breaches.
No update.
d) Offer of planning training and advice from Angharad Williiams, former Head of Development Management MDDC.
Since the agenda was published MDDC has invited Town and Parish Councillors to attend a planning training session on Thursday 26th March from 6pm to 8.30pm. Attendance can be in person at Phoenix House, Tiverton or on Teams. There is no charge for the training but places need to be booked.
Action: The Clerk or councillors to book places if they want to attend the planning training.
e) Any other planning matters.
None.
116/01/26. Highways:
a) Any matters to note or report.
The cover of a drain opposite the farm gate and Village Hall entrance was lifted up by water. Cllr Baylis has a video which he will send to Cllr Levick to use when he reports this.
Action: Cllr Baylis to send video to Cllr Levick. Cllr Levick to report.
b) Update on flooding issues/blocked drains.
Highways have reported that the drain near Parsonage Farm where the road floods has been unblocked but the drain has not been uncovered and it cannot be seen, A What3Words reference and description to be sent to Cllr Lodge.
There is still a problem by the Old Police House. Reference numbers from reports and a What3Words reference to be sent to Cllr Lodge.
c) Update on improvements to the fingerpost signs.
Nothing has been done since the last meeting. Costs to be added to the budget.
d) Update on flooding issues at Riverside as reported at the last meeting.
The details have been sent to Cllr Lodge and he has taken this forward.
e) Any other highways matters.
Dominic Scotting has replaced Melanie Mckenna as the Neighourhood Highways Officer for Tiverton West. It was suggested inviting him to look at Iron Mill Bridge.
117/01/25. Footpaths
a) Update on P3 funding.
The 2025-26 grant of £310.00 has been received. The Clerk has been given a purchase order number for the 2024-25 grant and she has submitted an invoice for £310.00. This will be included in DCC’s next payment run.
b) Update on issues regarding the line of Footpath 5a.
Parishioners will pushback against changing the line of the path. Mr Cridland will talk to the owners again and also to the Definitive Maps Officer.
c) Any other footpath matters.
Cllr Gould reported that some Rhododendron bushes alongside footpaths in Stoodleigh are going to be cut down.
118/01/25. Reports:
a) District Cllr Report
A written report was circulated at the start of January.
Waste collection dates were put back due to the weather. Parish Councils are encouraged to comment on planning applications. New members who sign up to a six month membership of Active Mid Devon between 15th December 2025 and 31st January 2026, will receive full access to MDDC’s centres and activities for the discounted price of £35 per month. During this period the £15 joining fee will also be waived.
b) County Cllr Report.
A written report was circulated prior to the meeting. An Extra Ordinary Council meeting discussed the issue of some councils not going ahead with elections in May because of Local Government Reorganisation. Plymouth City Council will be going ahead with elections but Exeter is undecided. Cllr Lodge chaired a public meeting in Tiverton that had been called to discuss the issues caused by only having two pharmacies open in the town. There have been very long queues and people have been having a long wait, often to find the medication they require is out of stock. Rachel Gilmour MP also attended the The pharmacy in Market Walk reopened this morning and efforts are being made to reopen the one at Clare House. A typical community pharmacy is losing £100,000 a year. 13,800 pharmacies across the country are closing or have closed. Vehicles parking on pavements have to be blocking access before the Police will do anything. Cllr Lodge is trying to get seasonal road restrictions lifted on South Molton Road, Bampton. He hopes this will ease parking in Station Road.
119/01/26. Community Area:
a) Any points to note from inspections of community area.
Cllr Levick has sent his report sheet to the Clerk.
b) To receive quotes for the refurbishment of the pavilion interior.
Hampton maintenance to be asked for a quote to refurbish the inside of the pavilion with Vertical tongue and groove wood.
c) Any other matters to note.
None.
120/01/26. To discuss changes needed to meet the new Assertion 10 on the 2025-26 Annual Governance Statement (Includes a .org.uk or .gov.uk domain name for website and .org or .gov.uk email address for Clerk).
The Clerk explained that Assertion 10 is a new requirement in the 2025/26 Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for parish/town councils, focusing on digital and data compliance. It mandates that councils have a .gov.uk or official domain email, a compliant website (WCAG 2.2 AA), an IT policy, and full compliance with GDPR/data protection regulations. Cllr Baylis will contact MDDC to find out how compliant the website is. Preference is for a ,ork.uk domain name.
Action: Cllr Baylis to contact MDDC to find out how accessible the Council website is.
121/01/26. Finance
a) To approve any invoices or expense claims presented for payment.
It was resolved to make the following payment: Mrs J Larcombe - £159.22 Clerk’s salary for December (Payment ref: 2526/26).
No payments since the last meeting. A service charge of £6.00 was taken from the current account at the end of December. A service charge of £6.00 will be taken from the account at the end of January.
An internal transfer will be made from the Instant Access Account to the Current Account to return the balance to £500.00
b) To note any receipts since the last meeting and the bank balance.
Bank interest of £68.07 was received at the end of December.
The Current Account balance is £500.00. The Instant Access Account balance is £12,077.46
c) Bank reconciliation 31.12.25.
This was deferred to the next meeting due to the absence of Cllr Stevens.
d) To agree the budget for 2026-27.
The Clerk had circulated a draft budget and this was discussed at the working party meeting held before the start of this meeting. A few small adjustments were made. It was resolved to agree the budget for 2026-27.
e) To agree the precept for 2026-27.
It was resolved to request a budget of £7,300 for 2026-27
122/01/26. Correspondence:
The following correspondence was noted.
DALC Newsletters
MDDC press release
MDDC – weather related information on waste and recycling collections.
Christmas tree collection.
The team were thanked for decorating the Christmas tree erected in the village,
A date will be put in the diary to choose the tree and decorations for 2026.
123/01/26. To confirm the date of the next meeting.
Monday 9th February 2026.
The meeting closed at 8.30pm.