The Minutes can be read below or downloaded here: MN_2023_April 18 APM DraftMinutes
DRAFT Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on
Tuesday 18 April 2023 at 7:30 p.m. in Blackawton Village Hall
Present: In addition to the guest speakers, eleven members of the public, SHDC Cllr Reeve, four Parish Councillors, and A Thom Clerk were present,.
1. Blackawton Parish Council Report
BPC Chair Cllr Rake reported on the Parish Council’s activities over the last year.
Cllr Rake thanked the three retiring Parish Cllrs, and the Clerk, for their work for the Parish Council. He encouraged residents to come forward to join the Council.
Over the past year BPC has made grants to Dartmouth Young Farmers, the Forest School, and to the project to reintroduce water voles to the River Gara.
The change to the maintenance of the Cemetery and the Churchyard is starting to show results. At times they look fantastic. 35 species were counted in the Churchyard. The back of the Cemetery, next to Back Lane, has been levelled.
BPC has been corresponding with South West Water about the discharge of sewage into the Gara. There is an upgrade expected to the Blackawton sewage plant.
BPC offered a warm space in The George Inn as part of our response to the cost of living crisis. The space was not used. That experience will inform future responses.
The Parish Council will be consulting the community about the approach to the maintenance of the wall between the Cemetery and Back Lane (whether to grade so it is less vertical or repair), and about the approach to the avenue of cherry trees from Cousins Cross to the Church which are nearing the end of their life.
We are waiting to hear from Devon County Council regarding the village becoming a 20 mile an hour zone and about street lighting.
The Parish Council has been trying to support the completion of the French Furze development but issues remain unresolved.
2. Dartmouth Caring
Dartmouth Caring’s Manager described Dartmouth Caring, its role in the community and the move to the new Health and Wellbeing Centre. Dartmouth Caring helps to fill support gaps, in particular in Dartmouth where families of older Dartmouthians might be very distant and Dartmouth’s location can cause difficulty in accessing services. They assist with accessing welfare benefits and with forms. Dartmouth Caring helps about 750 people each year.
The majority of its time and its resources are used helping younger clients with complex social needs. It also supports the elderly and those with specialist health needs.
Services include individual advocacy, palliative care liaison, transport, mental health support and counselling, and a home help service. The memory cafe and lunch clubs will be moving to the Health and Wellbeing Centre. There will be a drop in cafe area, a warm hub, and seated exercise classes. About 90% of its costs are met by benefactors, grants, and fundraising.
3. Devon Living Churchyards
The environmental advisor and manager of the Living Churchyards project described it. There are 625 churches in Devon: equivalent to the size of the Dartmoor National Park. They are of varied size and structure, and mean many things to many people. Gravestones demonstrate varied geology. On average there are 40 species in each churchyard. Churchyards provide for a wide variety of habitats and can be the site of additional habitats such as beehives, bug hotels, sandy banks for solitary wasp, mini meadows on kerbed graves, biblical herb gardens, and nest boxes. There is the potential to challenge mindsets, for example dandelions are flowers and grasslands are important species.
The speakers were followed by refreshments and conversation.