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AYLESBEARE PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Meeting of Aylesbeare Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 7 October 2015 commencing 7.30pm.
PRESENT
Cllr Ken Chun (Chairman)
Cllr John Ayres (Vice-Chairman)
Cllr Mrs Gillian Hichens
Cllr Noel Finegan
Cllr Mark Fisher
Clerk: Mrs L Parker
Others Present: District Cllr Matt Coppell and two members of the public
1. Apologies of Absence
Apologies were received from County Cllr Christine Channon who was attending an event in her capacity as Chairman of Devon County Council and District Cllr Paul Carter who was unwell.
2. Declarations of interests in Items on the Agenda
No interests were declared.
3. Minutes
The Minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated 2 September 2015 were confirmed to be correct.
4. Matters Arising
Cllr Fisher will attend a New Councillor training course on the evening of 21 January 2016 at The Beehive Centre in Honiton.
He will be unable to attend the event ‘Working Together for the Future of East Devon on 9 October.
5. Police Report
PCSO Steve Trail had informed the Parish Council that from the beginning of August to 6 October there had been one theft of fuel which had been taken from a motor vehicle.
6. Reports of District Councillor
District Cllr Matt Coppell informed the meeting that District Councillors are now giving feedback on the Boundary Review. The Chairman told him that Aylesbeare should stay where it is. There are now devolution plans on the table with groups registering their interests. He mentioned Universal Credit which is the government’s new method of handing out low income benefits. He felt there will be tough times ahead for those in need but the government will be clamping down on those receiving these benefits un-necessarily. The government has also introduced a pub loan scheme for local communities. There is £1,500,000 available for the whole of the country. He will send the Clerk the link for more information.
7. Chairman’s Report
Cllr Ken Chun had met with Phil Stacey and David Griffiths in the playground and was pleased to say that, between them, they are going through the Play Area Inspection Report making remedial improvements as necessary.
He is trying to get to the bottom of what exactly Devon Highways will freely cut in the parish. They will cut 4 times a year and have offered the parish £106 to do the work itself which the Chairman felt was unacceptable. He will endeavour to find out exactly what Devon Highways used to do
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before the cutbacks. Unfortunately it will now be up to parishes to take on a lot of the work that was done by Devon Highways. Perhaps this could be a recipient of the Parishes-together fund. He was disappointed to see members of the community erect fences on their properties and then ignore the growing vegetation outside of these fences. All trees and hedges are the responsibility of the landowner/tenant to maintain. Of particular note was around the main noticeboard in the centre of the village.
Paul Brinton has informed Cllr Chun that he is now prepared to sell the Aylesbeare Inn provided he is made a reasonable offer.
Rob Lillicrap has agreed to remain the Snow Warden for the parish.
8. Clerk’s Report
Mrs Parker reported that the Local Government Boundary Commission will issue its final recommendations in January 2016 instead of September 2015 as further limited consultations are being undertaken in North Devon.
9. Reports of Parish Council representatives on other bodies
Quarries Liaison Group Meeting – 8 September 2015 – Cllr John Ayres
At Blackhill Quarry sales of sand and aggregate to the end of August were 236,000 tonnes compared to the budget of 225,000 tonnes. No further material will be extracted. Current planning permission allows for processing of material from Venn Ottery and Marshbroadmoor to continue at Blackhill until December 2016. 255,000 tonnes of material were transported from Venn Ottery for processing at Blackhill between January and August 2015. Quarrying at Venn Ottery is expected to finish by April 2016. The restoration programmes, both at Blackhill and Venn Ottery, are progressing well in partnership with the RSPB. Regarding the Straitgate Farm and Blackhill planning applications DCC has requested extensive additional information and clarification and has extended the consultation period. This information encompasses another 35 documents. The Parish Council’s original response will still stand. The Straitgate Farm site is included in the new draft Minerals Plan as a ‘specific’ site but Blackhill is not included.
The estimated time taken for one lorry to load at Straitgate Farm, travel to Blackhill, unload, complete paperwork and return to Straitgate for re-loading would be about 1 hour. Should the new quarry go ahead it would probably employ 7 or 8 lorries per day.
Ottery Locality Health Team – 28 September 2015 – Cllr Gill Hichens
The meeting was chaired by Dr John Ackroyd. The group will now be called Ottery Locality Health Forum to encourage more people to join. It is under the umbrella of the Wakley Health & Care Forums whose aim is to exchange information and dialogue with public and local groups, commissioners and providers of health and social care services to help to improve health and social care. There are around 15 clinics available at Ottery Hospital which can be attended by appointment. The Clinical Commissioning Groups hold the purse strings and the Royal Devon & Exeter are the providers. The new Devon CCG Chief Officer spoke of the decision to consolidate inpatient care in the 7 community hospital sites with an overall reduction of 11 from 174 – 163 beds. The financial savings would be reinvested for care in the community and support quality care at home. Nurses are in short supply especially in Honiton. The Hospiscare needs more volunteers. Members of the public are being encouraged to visit their pharmacies with minor health problems rather than going to visit the doctor.
Exeter Airport Consultative Group – 7 October 2015 – Cllr Noel Finegan
Matt Roach, Managing Director, said that the numbers passing through the Airport were 4% up in July on the previous year. August was 1% up and over the year 5½% up. It was thought that the Airport is doing very well. As a business the Airport is compared with Cardiff; both compete for the same types of activities. The government granted £30m between all the small airports to build up their routes. The time of the Flybe return journey leaving City Airport will change from 26 October to 17.25pm. The load factor on these City Airport flights is 55% but 65% is the percentage for a sustainable service. It is hoped that works will be undertaken to improve the
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Airport’s forecourt. The hotel, which has 120 rooms, is doing very well with 97% occupancy during August. Lunchtimes are less busy than mornings and evenings. The Flybe Call Centre is
being outsourced. The Training Academy is running along well with some of the rooms being rented out for business meetings. Lots of aeroplane repairs and maintenance work is contracted to the Airport. A noise study is being carried out in connection with the planned 150 houses south of Cranbrook. If it is proved that these houses would be detrimentally affected by noise from the Airport then changes might have to be made to the planning application.
10. East Devon District Council: Planning Applications
Decisions made between meetings, under delegated powers, were noted:
Application No: 15/2003/FUL
Applicant: Mr P Thomas
Location: Elmdene, Within Lane
Proposal: Replacement garage and erection of annexe
Observations: Members would wish to recommend that this proposal is approved
Application No: 15/2061/VAR
Applicant: Sunsave 49 (Great Houndbeare) Ltd
Location: Great Houndbeare Farm
Proposal: Variation of Condition 2 (plans) of planning permission 13/1390/MFUL to amend the approved plans to provide revised layout including reduction of fence height, removal of CCTV cameras, introduction of 4 no transformer cabinets and access roads, reduction in height of panels and revised dimensions to DNO substation.
Condition Number(s):2: the development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the approved plans listed at the end of this decision notice.
Condition(s) Removal: Various amendments required to the design to improve appearance and technical aspects.
Reducing fence height to 2.2m high and removing all CCTV cameras. Introducing 4 no transformer cabinets 3m wide x 4m long x 2m high. Introducing short access roads.
Changing dimensions and location of DNO substation. New dimensions 2.5m wide x 6.1m long x 3.4m high.
Removing PV arrays from underneath overhead lines. Amending locations of arrays within fields.
Reduced overall height of PV arrays to 1.7m max, down from the previous height of 3.678m.
Siting of spare parts container 12m long x 2.4m wide x 2.6m high
Observations: Members of Aylesbeare Parish Council could not find any further grounds for objecting to this application. They are still concerned, however, that no measures appear to be in place for the restoration of the area at the end of the term.
Application No: 15/2091/FUL
Applicant: Mr T Loades
Location: Honeysuckle Cottage, Nutwalls Court
Proposal: Construction of single storey extensions to rear elevation
Observations: Members could find no material grounds to object to this proposal being approved
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New applications
Application No: 15/2171/VAR
Applicants: Mr & Mrs R Salisbury
Location: Larksfield, Oak Road
Proposal: Variation of condition 2 of planning permission 12/0747/FUL to amend the design and appearance of the proposed dwelling
Observations: Members agreed in principle to this application. It was noticed, however, that in the original application mention was made of a bat roost area. This is not mentioned in this later application. Members would like to see this re- instated as mentioned in the ecological report.
Application No: 15/2082/OUT
Applicants: Mr & Mrs J Slade
Location: Lorams, Perkin’s Village
Proposal: Outline application for replacement dwelling, detached garage and new access from highway
Observations: Aylesbeare Parish Council would not object to the replacement house but is concerned that this application will provide another access onto a very narrow, restricted country lane. There is already an access being used with better visibility. This is considered to be a serious question of safety.
Application No: 15/2153/FUL
Applicants: Mr & Mrs M Coward
Location: Little Houndbeare Farmhouse, Oak Road
Proposal: Erection of stables
Observations: Members of Aylesbeare Parish Council would wish to recommend that this application is approved.
11. East Devon District Council: Planning Applications – Approval
Application No: 15/1722/LBC
Applicant: Mr F Walls
Location: The Old Farmhouse, Rosamondford, Perkin’s Village
Proposal: Removal of sand and cement render on the exterior cob wall and replacement with lime render
12. Finance
Payment of the following invoices was approved:
Cheque No Detail Amount
000927 Mrs L Parker – Parish Clerk £271.71
000928 Village Hall Management Committee
Additional funding to cover insurance
premium (Minute 835/15 refers) £346.57
Neighbourhood Plan
000929 David Timms - Cost of envelopes £20.38
000930 Aylesbeare Village Hall –Steering
Group meetings £100.00
It was noted that a credit had been received:
EDDC Part payment Precept/Ccl Tax Discount Gt £3,227.50
13. Neighbourhood Plan
The Chairman said that the questionnaires have all been circulated and are now being collected. He had received many positive comments regarding the initiative being undertaken. Mention was made of completing the questionnaire online and whether this could be repeated many times. It was felt that a check was made so that only one entry could be made from each computer.
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14. Parishes-together fund
Ottery Town Council had asked if Aylesbeare would wish to be joined with them in an application to convert part of the old Nat West Bank building into toilets. This was not felt to be of any benefit to Aylesbeare residents so more enquiries would be made along the lines of hiring a contractor to tidy the parish verges.
15. DCC: Devon Minerals Plan Consultation
Section 5 and Appendix C cover extraction at the new sites at Straitgate Farm and west of Penslade Cross but there is no indication of where the material from these sites will be processed – Blackhill Quarry is not included in the Draft Minerals Plan. Without this information it is considered that the Plan is unsound as it does not show how the Plan’s aims and objectives are supported.
The Straitgate Farm site is nominated as a “specific” site, with 1.66mt mineral resource while the site west of Penslade Cross is nominated as a “preferred site” with 8mt resource. The resources at Penslade Cross are, therefore, more than sufficient to meet the requirements of the draft Plan. The Plan is therefore considered to be unsound on the grounds that Straitgate Farm, with its relatively limited mineral resources, should not be included in the Plan because this compromises the achievement of the aims and objectives listed by proposing unnecessary mineral extraction .
16. EDDC: Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 – Statement of Licensing Policy; Statutory Consultation
The only aspect of this consultation that would affect Aylesbeare is regarding a section on the small lottery licences. This would affect the fete draw but it does not affect the way it is managed. It was therefore felt that no response is necessary.
17. Correspondence Received
E Bloomfield: copy of letter sent to EDDC re Aylesbeare Inn
Topics, Village Hall Management Committee, Aylesbeare PCC – acknowledgements and thanks for Parish Council donations
Glasdon: Litter bin brochure
Wicksteed Playgrounds: Outdoor gym literature
Devon Association of Local Councils: (1) Annual Report 2014 – 2015 (2) September/October news update
Ottery St Mary & District Later Life Forum: Autumn/Winter 2015
Natwest plc: Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Clerks & Councils Direct: September 2015
Community Transport: financial support and literature
NHS England: Stakeholder briefing
18. Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 4 November 2015 at 7.30pm
19. The Minutes did not reflect the agenda in that the Part A and B were removed as the resident involved has withdrawn his wish to be a Parish Councillor.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.50pm.
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Chairman
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