The draft minutes of the meeting can be read below or downloaded here MN_2021_February BPC Draft Minutes

DRAFT Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Blackawton Parish Council held on Tuesday 2 February 2021 at 7:30 p.m. via virtual videoconferencing

Open Forum

No matters raised.

• Present: Cllrs Rake (Chair), Cllr Mewes (Vice-Chair), Coe, Mallyon, and Thomas were present, as were Devon County Cllr Brazil, South Hams District Cllr Reeve, A Thom (Clerk), and three members of the public.

21/21      Apologies

Apologies for absence from Cllr Perry were noted.

22/21      Declarations of Interest

Cllrs Rake and Thomas declared a personal interest in the Blackawton Business Units CIC.

Cllr Rake declared a disclosable pecuniary interest 0001/21/LBC Woodford Farm planning application. It was unanimously resolved to approve Cllr Rake’s request for a dispensation to explain the application before being removed from the meeting while it is addressed.

23/21      Minutes of Previous Meetings

The minutes of the Meeting held on 12 January 2021 were approved.

24/21      COVID-19 Response

The project to ensure that residents and visitors have access to support and information was discussed. A lot of people are receiving appointments for vaccinations. There have not been requests for help with transport.

25/21      Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

Cllr Reeve reported that the new vehicles are arriving for the change in the recycling and waste system from mid-March. Householders will receive a leaflet or letter two weeks in advance of a change to their collections. Extra Localities Officers are expected to help with hotspots over the summer. LiveWest has delivered a good presentation.

26/21      Report from Devon County Council Councillor

Deferred pending the arrival of Cllr Brazil from another meeting.

27/21      Review of Sections 1-5 of the Blackawton Environment Policy

The Chair brought this item forward on the Agenda.

Cllr Coe thanked members of the Allotments Association for suggestions emailed in advance of the meeting.

There was a discussion about who would do the regular maintenance which would be required of a new hedge proposed for the community meadow.

Cllr Brazil joined the meeting.

It was suggested that the hedge maintenance might be advertised in the Shop and Beacon, or the hedge might have designated custodians. It was suggested that the challenge of sorting the existing hedge be addressed first, and then the suggestion revisited in the light of that experience. The air ambulance’ requirements will be considered.

The Allotments Association wants to increase the number of people who take up allotments. There are five waiting to start after lockdown, The Parish Council is happy to help if it can.

There are many small actions people can take eg a bat box, bug hotels.

The creation of a separate action plan and a redraft of the Environment Policy as shorter document to sit alongside it was proposed.

Cllrs Coe and Mewes and a member of the public will work on an action plan. With a view to increasing ownership and getting things done, the Policy will be broken down to manageable pieces with responsibilities allocated to items, not to a whole section of the Policy.

28/21      Report from Devon County Council Councillor

Cllr Brazil reported that there is a Budget meeting later this month and that the proposals are not controversial. DCC Council Tax and Social Care contributions to Council Tax collection are expected to increase in 2021/22 as in previous recent years.

Covid-19 case numbers are coming down and we are low compared with the rest of the country. Cllr Brazil would expect we will be first out of lockdown and Schools appear likely to go back to face to face from 8 March, although the new variants may cause that plan to change. DCC is liaising with the NHS regarding vaccinations and Cllr Brazil has channels to make enquiries if help is needed.

Cllr Thomas asked Cllr Brazil about potholes between Cott and Bow Bridge which were initially reported in November 2020 and have not been repaired. They seem to have been filled with dry chippings. Cllr Brazil confirmed that the dry chippings could have led to DCC assessing that the potholes did not meet the criteria for repair. Cllr Brazil and the Clerk will follow up.

29/21      Planning Issues

29/21.1           SHDC Planning Decisions

The following decisions were noted:

• 3620/20/HHO Oakleigh Cottage Main Street Blackawton TQ9 7BG. READVERTISEMENT (Amended Description) Householder application for extensions and alterations to property including roof extension, new external porch and terrace. Conditional Approval.

29/21.2           Review of New Applications

• 0001/21/LBC Woodford Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AA. Listed building consent for installation of air source heat pump units outside of the property with associated works.

Cllr Rake said that the LBC may not be needed because the fabric of the building is not being changed, and is precautionary. He described the application, answered questions and was removed from the meeting.

Support (resolution proposed Cllr Coe, seconded Cllr Mewes).

• 4283/20/OPA Land adjacent to Woodfin Cottage Blackawton TQ9 7BW. Outline application with some matters reserved for proposed 2 bed chalet bungalow.

BPC is broadly supportive of the application, but has some concerns about the massing of building relative to the plot. Secondly, no elevations are available to assess overlooking. BPC would like more information, because of close proximity to the boundary.

Comment as above (resolution proposed Cllr Rake, seconded Cllr Coe).

• 0119/21/FUL Agricultural Building At Sx 829 492 Blackawton. Provision of grain store. (neighbouring parish consultee).

No comment will be made by BPC.

30/21      French Furze Project

Cllr Brazil left the meeting.

Cllr Rake reported that there are two meetings forthcoming – one with Education South West and DCC, and one with SHDC Legal and Planning Officers.

Vistry has offered to install without charge the staggered barrier proposed by BPC on the pedestrian access to Main Street subject to approval of the possessor of the vehicular right of way. The location is therefore to be confirmed.

Cllr Mallyon reported that planting has commenced but they appear to be below standard trees: 7-8 cm not 12-14 cm. The planning approval will be reviewed to establish the requirements and whether further action is required.

Cllr Reeve left the meeting.

31/21      Storage of Historic BPC Minute Books at Devon Archives

Photographing or other recording of historical minute books prior to storing at Devon Archives was reconsidered. Although it is straightforward to create an image or pdf of the books, those documents can’t be read using OCR because it doesn’t recognise longhand. It was agreed to proceed with the existing project to summarise the minutes. The people doing that work may be willing to create an electronic copy at the same time.

32/21      Litter on Lanes in the Parish

The request for signage on affected lanes in the Parish was reviewed and not supported.

Actions such as litter pick days, raising awareness, and other volunteers helping were discussed. It was noted that flailing exposes vast amounts rubbish. It was agreed that Cllr Mewes would respond.

33/21      Pavement Parking

Pavement parking occurs in several places in the village. It was agreed that parishioners will be asked to park considerately, and the Clerk will write an article for the Beacon with details of how to report pavement parking which is causing a problem.

34/21      Blackawton Cemetery Planting

The consideration of planting in the area of the sole conifer on a grave was deferred pending a proposed scheme.

35/21      St Michael’s Churchyard Planting

The proposal that the churchyard planting approved by the Archdeacon be done; led by Sustainable Blackawton, and plants and any related materials funded from the reserved Tree Planting Grant from SHDC was approved.

36/21      Management of Blackawton Parish Council’s Tree Responsibilities

The employment of a contractor and the timing of a tree survey were considered. The Clerk was delegated authority to select a tree survey contractor in consultation with Cllr Rake. The Clerk will prepare a Tree Policy for a future meeting of BPC to consider.

37/21      BPC Policy

It was agreed that the Clerk is requested to signpost residents to the relevant authority, to support them to do that as required, and to follow-up that the matter has been satisfactorily addressed. It is believed that this approach gives a better outcome than direct reporting by BPC. There are some parish wide issues such as monitoring the French Furze development, where BPC also takes a direct role.

38/21      Census Day – Sunday 21 March 2021

The Clerk will ensure there is an article in the Beacon.

39/21      Footpaths Forms and Bids

Four areas of work have been identified: the bridge near Wood Farm is getting caked with mud and needs clearing, a sign is needed on the bridleway at Pruston Barton to direct people to go up the tarmac lane (there is already a post), fallen tree across FP23 east of North Millcombe, and rotted base of gate on FP30 after Wheat Park Estate towards Sweetstone.

40/21      Finance

40/21.1           Update on Current Financial Position

The Report showed a balance of £56,180.49 and unearmarked reserves of £16,961.41.

40/21.2           Clerk’s overtime Claim

It was resolved to approved the claim for five hours overtime.

40/21.3           Data Disposal

The request for five hours overtime to dispose of or archive BPC’s documents was agreed.

41/21      Correspondence

The following correspondence was noted:

• SHDC 26/1/21 Paid roles are available in the election on 6 May 2021
• Mental Health & Wellbeing in the Farming Community Webinar, Tuesday 23rd February 2021 6pm
• Resident, 28/1/21, Concerns raised about earthworks in the Parish – referred to SHDC & Environment Agency

42/21      Reports from Parish Councillors and Wardens

Cllr Mewes commented that Anthony Mangnall MP was keen for there to be regular meetings and suggested that another Cllr make like to attend next time; to offer an alterative view or they may have an issue to raise.

Cllr Coe suggested discussing regenerative agriculture with Cllr Perry.

Cllr Thomas reported that the pipe through the hedge where work was recently done between Cotterbury and Bow has blocked up. The Clerk to raise with Parish Lengthsman. As we still have two months until the end of this year, the Lengthsman will also be asked to please keep some hours in reserve rather than continuing with the project work.

43/21      Scheduling of Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Meeting of the Parish Council

Scheduling was deferred to the March meeting when more information might be available about COVID-19 restrictions and renewal of Regulations permitting remote meetings.

44/21      Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 2 March 2021 at 7:30 p.m. via virtual videoconferencing.

The meeting closed at 21:49.