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AYLESBEARE PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Meeting of Aylesbeare Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 15 July 2015 commencing 7.30pm.
PRESENT
Cllr Ken Chun (Chairman)
Cllr John Ayres (Vice-Chairman)
Cllr Noel Finegan
Clerk: Mrs L Parker
Others Present: Three members of the public
1. Apologies of Absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Gill Hichens and County Cllr Christine Channon who are unwell and District Cllr Matt Coppell who is at a meeting at EDDC.
2. Declarations of interests in Items on the Agenda
Cllr John Ayres declared pecuniary interests in Item 10 Planning – DCC/3774/2015 and DCC/3775/2015 and also in Item 12 Straitgate Action Group.
3. Minutes
The Minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated 3 June 2015 were confirmed to be correct.
4. Matters Arising
Iain Park has agreed to take on the position of voluntary Tree Warden for the parish. He will act on behalf of, and with the backing of, the Parish Council and is covered under the various sections of the Parish Council’s Employers’ and Public Liability Insurance and Personal Accident.
Enquiries are still ongoing regarding grass cutting in the parish as the recipient for the Parishes-Together Fund. The Clerk is trying to ascertain costings from South West Highways in conjunction with Rockbeare PC.
5. Police Report
PCSO Steve Trail reported electronically that there has been no crime in Aylesbeare parish for the period from 1 June 2015 to 3 July 2015.
6. Reports of County & District Councillors
County Councillor
Cllr Christine Channon had emailed her report. She had attended a meeting of the Development Management Committee at DCC earlier in the day together with Claire Wright. The key agenda item was the amendment of the Devon Minerals Plan which needs to guarantee various types of minerals in the county up to the year 2033. In 2012 DCC decided that its preferred sites were Straitgate Farm, near Ottery St Mary and Penslade Cross at Uffculme. Both Cllr Channon and Claire Wright spoke of the undesirability of including the Straitgate Farm site but they were told that this meeting is about a policy not specific planning applications. The DM Committee voted almost unanimously in favour of the Report. The next meeting is 16 September.
District Councillor
Cllr Matt Coppell had emailed his report which was not read at the meeting. It is as follows:
Oral sessions were held last week by Mr Thickett, the appointed independent Planning Inspector. Generally the hearings were attended by developers requesting even greater levels of development than included currently in the Local Plan. It would seem the Inspector is satisfied in the main with the work of EDDC but agreement still needs to be reached with Natural England on the provision of open space as a development condition and at the minute this seems some way off.
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The EU is currently consulting on proposals to amend and ultimately weaken their protection laws. These laws have been instrumental in the rejuvenation of some of our local natural habitats and it is important we do what we can to retain them. He has approached the relevant portfolio holder at EDDC to suggest the District Council registers an official objection to the proposals.
7. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman, Cllr Ken Chun, had been pleased to open the parish fete the previous Saturday. It was well set out which had incurred a lot of effort but he did not feel it was as well attended as previous years.
Since the grass cutting article in Topics Cllr Chun was pleased to see that several people have cut their verges. It is now up to us all to try and keep our own perimeters tidy to prevent the parish becoming very untidy.
8. Clerk’s Report
The Clerk reported that the Toddler Group is up and running again. It will ultimately be a struggle to keep going financially but ideas were put forward to obtain forms of help with funding.
9. Reports of Parish Council representatives on other bodies
Cllr John Ayres: Blackhill & Venn Ottery Quarries Liaison Group - 9 June 2015
The current planning permission allows for processing of material from Venn Ottery and Marshbroadmoor to continue at Blackhill Quarry until December 2016. The restoration programme, in partnership with the RSPB, is progressing well. There is to be an Open Day on 30 July. Since quarrying commenced at Venn Ottery in April 2011 the total extraction is 1.44 million tonnes. The final phase of extraction should be completed in the early months of 2016. Again the restoration programme is progressing well. At Marshbroadmoor Quarry restoration is progressing with the import of soils to fill the quarry void and restore the contour in line with the agreed plan which will take several years. Planning Applications have been validated by DCC for the quarrying of sand and aggregate at Straitgate Farm and for an extension of processing at Blackhill Quarry for 5 years to 2021. Transport of material extracted at Straitgate for processing at Blackhill will require between 70 and 100 HGV movements each way along the B3180 from Daisymount to Blackhill Quarry on Woodbury Common; 4 working days a week for 5 years. Aggregate Industries have confirmed that if the Straitgate application is approved but the Blackhill extension refused then quarrying will not take place at the Straitgate Farm site.
Parish Clerk: Ottery St Mary Locality Health & Care Team – 7 July 2015
The Parish Clerk attended this meeting in place of Gill Hichens on this occasion. The team which is comprised of health professionals and representatives of local groups will meet 3 monthly to provide opportunities for information exchange. The meeting was chaired by John Ackroyd, retired GP. NHS England is preparing a report regarding Devon as it has been assessed as being a financially challenged community and must improve. Sue Stokes, Practice Manager of Coleridge Medical Centre, was one of the speakers. She spoke of the many professionals who come and treat patients at the Practice. The patient population is in the region of 16,500. Many GPs are being employed on a locum basis as there is a national shortage. It is hoped new partners will be recruited in the autumn. The Care Quality Commission is issuing a report on the Practice and Sue Stokes is optimistic on its content. The matron of Ottery Hospital was present who said it has a thriving outpatients department with many health problems being addressed. These services give community hospitals great value. At present the hospital houses 15 stroke beds and 3 multi beds which are flexible. It is hoped that whilst things are working well at the hospital they will not be changed. At the moment Ottery Hospital is owned by the North Devon Healthcare Trust; buildings, land and wages paid. This contract is coming to an end. The preferred option by the Clinical Commissioning Group is that the RD&E will run community hospitals. If this happens then the contract will transfer to NHS Property Services unless there is intervention by the Secretary of State. This could well mean lots of financial increases. If the stroke beds move this could also bring on changes. Representations have been made to Hugo Swire to intercede. The WAKLEY Stakeholder Group, chaired by Sir John Evans, has been set
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up to represent the 5 towns in East Devon. This group has sent a 112 page report to the CCG recommending that each of the 5 hospitals retain 16 beds and that Minor Injury Services are provided during the day time in each community with Honiton providing out of ours services for the whole area. The CCG appears to wish to ignore these recommendations. Ottery Town Council has submitted a strongly worded letter to the Chairman and Chief Executive of the CCG in advance of the Governing Board meeting on 16 July to ensure these recommendations are taken on board.
10. Planning Applications
Observations made between meetings, due to time constraints, were ratified:
Application No: 15/1313/TRE
Applicant: Mr C Hoult
Location: Minchin House, 39 Village Way
Proposal: T2, Oak: Fell
Observations: To recommend approval
New applications (all adjacent parishes)
Application No: DCC/3774/2015
Applicant: Aggregate Industries Ltd
Location: Straitgate Farm, Exeter Road, Ottery St Mary
Proposal: Quarry development for the extraction of sand and gravel extending to 40.23 ha including new site access onto Birdcage Lane at northern end of site, together with staff welfare facilities, car parking and wheelwash
Application No: DCC/3775/2015
Applicant: Aggregate Industries Ltd
Location: Blackhill Quarry, Woodbury, Exeter
Proposal: To extend the life of the existing processing plant and settlement lagoons for a further 5 years up to 31 December 2021 to process imported sand and gravel from Straitgate Farm, Ottery St Mary
After the pecuniary interest of Cllr John Ayres was applied to the above applications the Parish Council was inquorate. The above two applications will therefore be carried forward to the next meeting on 2 September.
Application No: 15/1495/FUL
Applicants: Mr & Mrs T Eardley
Location: 4 The Cottages, Perkins Village
Proposal: Proposed side extensions and alterations to roof and internal layout
Observations: As an adjacent parish this Parish Council has no objections to the
approval of this application.
11. Finance
Approval was given to pay the following invoices:
Cheque No Content Amount
000918 Mrs L Parker: Parish Clerk £266.36
000919 East Devon District Council: Play Area rent £25.00
Playing Field rent £25.00 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN EXPENDITURE
000920 David Timms: Ink Cartridge £23.99
It was noted that the annual Audit of Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2015 has been successfully completed. The Council Tax Support Grant (which forms part of the Precept) should have been changed into a separate box when comparing the 2014 accounts. The Notice of Conclusion of Audit has been advertised on the main Parish Council noticeboard, in accordance with the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2003, and will be placed on the Parish Council website.
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12. Straitgate Action Group
It was impossible to consider a request from the Straitgate Action Group to help fund a Planning Consultant with regard to the planning application for Aggregate Industries to open a quarry at Straitgate Farm as the Parish Council was inquorate after applying the pecuniary interest of Cllr John Ayres. This will also be carried forward to the September meeting. It was noted that one letter of objection had been received by email.
13. Co-option of a new Parish Councillor
The co-option of Mr Mark Fisher to the Parish Council was considered and it was
Resolved: To invite Mark Fisher to become a Parish Councillor with immediate effect.
14. Correspondence Received
Faith Elford: acknowledgement and thanks for the Parish Council agreeing to pay annually the Village Hall insurance premium
Beach Huts Consultation which ended 13 July 2015
Adeline Neilson (by email): roadside barrier in Marwood Road
East Devon Tree Care: Letter of introduction
East Devon Local Plan & Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule: Notification of close of consultation
Devon Association of Local Councils: July Newsletter
Clerks & Councils Direct: July 2015
15. Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 2 September 2015 at 7.30pm
16. It was unnecessary to exclude the public at this stage as the resident had to leave before this stage of the meeting. A Part A/B will be included at the September meeting when hopefully this matter can be resolved.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.25pm.
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Chairman
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