Musbury Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting held Monday4 September2017in Musbury Village Hall Committee Room
PRESENT:CllrC. Ellis(Chair);CllrsJ. Albano, M. Perry,P. Perrymanand P. Smith;County Cllr I Hall;Ms J. Bishop (Clerk); 8parishioners.
1APOLOGIES: Cllrs C Corbett and P Smith.
2.MINUTES OF THE MEETINGheldMonday 31 July2017were accepted as a true record and dulysigned by Cllr Ellis.
3DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:As a contractor, Cllr Perry declared a pecuniary interest in Mountfield (para 9); As the owner, Cllr Ellis declared a personal interest in the planning applications for Ashe Farm (para 9).
4POLICE MATTERS:No report had been received.
5LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESSandCOMMUNITY ISSUES:
Councillor vacancy- This remains. The person who declared an interest in the post is no longer interested.
6HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC SPACES:
Sandbags – The Clerk has ordered 50 new bags. These need to be collected from the Knowle depot on either 26 or 27 September. Cllr Perryman will contact Cllr Chubb to see if he able to collect on Musbury’s behalf. ACTION
Parish Seats – The seat at the top of Maidenhayne Lane, which was previously agreed for removal, is concreted at the base. It was agreed to accept Cllr Perryman’s suggestion of leaving this seat in situ but his removing the seat at Barley Close (the most damaged seat). ACTION
One suggestion for future consideration is to replace the Barley Close seat with a bench.
Cllr Corbett has said he will organise the seat improvement programme for the remaining seats (cleaning/ varnishing). ACTION
Road damage Mounthill –Brian Hoare, Highways, reported that no-one was accepting responsibility. As the registration for the vehicle causing the damage was not recorded he felt ‘a positive end result was unlikely to be achieved’
Verges at Yonder Mount- Brian Hoaresaid these would not be cut by DCC as they were neither obstructing visibility nor obstructing the adjacent footway to become a safety defect.
Cllr Hall asked the Clerk to forward details for possible resolution with his Locality Budget. ACTION
Drainage – Cllr Corbett has spoken to Michael Brock about the extra ‘ploughing’ work at the top of Combpyne Rd. The ditch clearance will be carried out to enable the payment to be made from the TAP fund deadline of the end of September. . ACTION
Axminster Rd –The Clerk had met 3 suppliers on site: Halcyon, Axe Tree Services and Western Tree. Services. All had submitted quotes for a) clearing the Mountfield tree and shrub overhang (the Court of Protection deputy has agreed to pay for this) and b) clearing the drainage channel (to be paid from TAP funds). The quotes were in the same ball park. Councillors felt it sensible to award the contract for both projects to the same company. After some discussion they agreed to accept the current contractor’s quote as they were confident in the company’s quality of work. The Clerk will contact Halcyon. ACTION
7ACCOUNTS:
Recent transactions- The Clerk presented the accountsfor August(below). These had been reviewed by Cllr Ellis for internal audit.The accounts were approved by CllrsAlbano and Perry.
Parishes Together Funds2017/18- Musbury has to make a decision about its application for £513.70. Closing dates for applications are10 November 2017 and 7 February 2018.
The Clerk has asked residents via the Parish Newsif they were in favour of a defibrillator. She had contacted Axminster Medical Practice about a CPR trainer and was given details of two external suppliers. Whitford had also confirmed that they would be willing to lend their 10 manikins for CPR training (lungs have to be replaced after each training session - approx. £30 per dozen).
Colyton has approached Musbury with an alternative idea for the fund - providing bike racks from a joint enterprise.
DCC has recently conducted an audit of the Parishes Together Fund. As a result, the Fund will change in 2018/19, new guidance will be produced and it is expected that it will return to its original concept of a scheme that ‘supports new, collaborative and innovative ideas generated by communities to benefit those communities’.
8P3
Parish Walk – Cllr Albano had received an official thank-you letter for the donation from the tea/ walk from the Exeter Leukaemia Fund. This has been placed on the noticeboard.
Footpaths- Cllr Albano has written to PROW suggesting they produce a standard letter to send to landowners at the start of the sowing season reminding them of their obligations in relation to keeping FPs clear at cropping. Farmer Bob Johnson is an exemplar of best practice in this respect.
9PLANNING MATTERS:
Mountfield - The Clerk’s personal complaint to Barclays about failing to act over security was not upheld. She has referred the matter to the Financial Ombudsman. The structural survey of the property is scheduled for 5 September. The Police have put ‘Keep Out’ notices at all known entrances to the property. The Clerk’s complaint to the police about letting the night intruders they apprehended put back the stuff they had taken from the propertyhas been passed to the local Inspector (Chris Chamings) for further investigation.
Decisions notified – All Approved
17/1309/FUL - Alamo, Axminster Road -Widening of driveway, landscaping to front elevation and new car port
17/1616/FUL - Little Mead Doatshayne Lane -Erection of woodworking workshop
17/1655/FUL – Bundels-Installation of sewage treatment plant
17/1794/TRE/ 17/1794/TCA New Cottage,The Street- Leylandii Trees - 2 of them, fell because of excessive shading. Were originally planted to form part of hedgerow by previous occupant but have been allowed to grow too tall. Replant mixed variety hedgerow to form boundary;Laurel Tree - fell because it has split at the base and is close to neighbours farm building;Mixed Variety Hedge - fell because causing damage to neighbours fencing. Replace with fencing of our own.
Applications received
Councillors were happy to support the following four applications:
17/1869/FUL Ashe Farm Construction milking parlour building, bulk feed hoppers, slurry channel and reception pit (Phase 1)
17/1901/FUL Ashe Farm Construction of livestock buildling (cow accommodation) and associated below ground slurry channel and reception pit (Phase 2)
17/1868/FUL Ashe Farm Construction of livestock building (cow accommodation) and associated below ground slurry channel and reception pit (Phase 3)
17/1581/FUL Yew Tree CottageCombpyne Road-Construction of retaining wall.
Providing that
a) notice is taken of the comments made by neighbour and Councillor Janet Albano on 22 August about the owner's responsibilities in i) keeping the nearby watercourse/culvert clear and ii) allowing a development-free edge to allow easy access to the watercourse for inspection and maintenance
b) that the height of the house (difficult to gauge from the plans) in its new position further up the hill has a similar roof line to those of neighbouring houses when seen from the Axminster Rd.
they were also happy to support the following application -
17/1764/RES Land at Alamo Cottage Axminster Road - Reserved matters application for the construction of a new dwelling in the garden (approval sought for access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale).
10PLAYING FIELD
Safety inspection – Cllrs Corbett and Perry will meet on site in the Autumn to discuss priorities amongst the jobs identified in this year’s report. ACTION
11ALLOTMENTS:
Plots – Plot 0 has now been taken on by a Hawkchurch resident (soon to move to Seaton).
12REPORTS FROM DISTRICT& COUNTY COUNCILLORS:
County Councillor Hall said:
Policing – He will be raising questions with the relevant DCC Scrutiny Committee relating to rural policing, the increase of anti-social behavior and cross-border policing, particularly with Dorset. (He was unaware that Lyme Regis police station is closed to the public – nearest NPT is Bridport). He stressed the importance of sharing intelligence across county borders particularly in an area like East Devon.
Mountfield – His concerns centre on it being a focus for anti-social behaviour and its risks to health and safety.
13MATTERS BROUGHT FORWARD BY PERMISSION OF THE CHAIRMAN
A358 – Cllr Perryman noted that the tarmac on the A358 outside Clovelly has been pushed (by heavy lorries?) into a ridge close to the roadside. The Clerk will contact Brian Hoare to ask him to look when next in the area. ACTION
14 CORRESPONDENCE Received:
EDDC – CIL funding protocol ; DCC Highways – notice of temporary closure Whitford Rd 13-17 Nov;
Historic England – DCMS considering whether Musbury war memorial is worthy of listing;
Everyone’s Tomorrow Summer 2017;DALC Annual Report 2016/17.
15QUESTIONS FROM PARISHIONERS:
FP6 - Cherry Sargent said the hedge-cutter has splintered the stile step. Cllr Albano will investigate.
ACTION
Night Air Ambulance sites- Cherry asked what had happened. Both the Council and the school had offered their playing fields as prospective sites but presumably other sites were thought to better fit the Air Ambulance criteria for night landing sites. Axminster FC for instance already has the required lighting.
Jubilee pump plaque- Mary Minter said the lettering on the plaque near the pump at the top of The Street
was illegible in places. The Clerk will contact the stonemasons for an opinion on how best to rectify.
ACTION
With no further business outstanding, the Chairman closed the meeting at 20.50 pm
Date of Next Meeting Monday 23 October
ATREASURERS ACCOUNT
AUGUST
Income Received
Deposit £25 and rental for plot 0 (A) 32.71
Payments Made
1106Halcyon Landscapes – June £72.33 + verges £125 + £39.47 VAT (G) = 236.80
1107James Amato for noticeboard (G) 550.00
1108Chris Irving for road sign repair (G) 4.30*
1109Musbury Village Hall hire (31/7) (G) 14.00*
1110Clerk Salary June/July (G) £390.70
Expenses June/July (G) £42.15 = 432.85
1111PO for HMRC (July/Aug/Sept) (G) 146.52
* Chqs still to clear
Balance of account as at 31/08/2017 Statement no 96 £ 5948.18
Includes
Allotment deposits 495.00
Allotment funds available518.58 = 1013.58
P3 147.75
TAP Fund 15/16 485.00
TAP Fund 16/17 503.80
General 3798.05
Cheques to sign (not included in balances)
1112Halcyon Landscapes – July £72.33 + £14.47 VAT (G) = 86.80
1113Clerk Salary August (G) £195.35 +
Expenses August (G) £11.40 = 206.75
1114Musbury Village Hall hire (4/9) (G) 10.50
1115David Craner Deposit refund Plot No 4 (A) 25.00