Draft Minutes 2024 July 16

Jul 26, 2024 | Minutes

The Minutes can be read below or downloaded here: MN_2024_July 16 BPC Draft Minutes

DRAFT Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Blackawton Parish Council held on

Tuesday 16 July 2024 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Michael’s Church

Present: Parish & South Hams District Cllr Rake (Chair), Parish Cllrs Oughton (Vice-Chair), Coe, Haddow, Luckens, and Thomas were present, as was A Thom (Clerk). There were no members of the public present.

Absent: Cllr Mardon.

a. Open Forum

No Parishioners attended.

b. Councillors Forum

No matters to minute.

  1. Apologies

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mardon and DCC Cllr Brazil.

  1. Declarations of Interest

None declared.

  1. Minutes of Previous Meetings

It was resolved to approve the Minutes of the Meetings held on 4 June and 17 June 2024.

  1. Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

SHDC Cllr Rake discussed the South Hams Festival which will take place over ten days in June 2025. SHDC is keen to involve villages and for it to be a multidisciplinary arts festival. The theme is climate. There will be venues throughout the District. SHDC can provide some technical support e.g. ticketing.

  1. Report from Devon County Council Councillor

Deferred in the absence of Cllr Brazil.

  1. Planning Applications

    1. SHDC Planning Decisions

The following decisions were noted:

  • 0924/24/FUL Down Dimes Blackawton TQ9 7DA. Application for provision of agricultural storage building. Conditional Approval

  • 1379/24/CLP North Millcombe Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AE. North Millcombe Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AE. Cert of Lawfulness (Proposed) Certified.

    1. Review of New Applications
  • 1951/24/FUL Westdown, Blackawton, TQ9 7AL. Proposed Agricultural Building and concreting of yard area.
    Support (by resolution, Cllr Rake abstained).

  • 1941/24/VAR North Millcombe Farm, The Old Dairy, Blackawton, TQ9 7AE. Application for variation of condition 2 (Approved Plans) of planning consent 0847/21/FUL.
    Support (by resolution, Cllr Rake abstained).

  • 2082/24/ARC Watsons Farm, Blackawton, TQ9 7AZ. Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 5 (Ecology), 6 (External Lighting), 8 (Boundary Treatments) and 12 (Cladding / Rooflights) of planning consent 1709/22/FUL.
    No comment (by resolution, Cllr Rake abstained).

  • Little Pizza Ltd, 5 – 6 Fairfax Place, Dartmouth, TQ6 9AD. New premises licence for: Supply of alcohol for consumption on and off the premises, Monday to Sunday 11:30 to 23:00. Opening hours of the premises Monday to Sunday 11:30 to 23:30.

  • Whitbread Group Plc for New proposed Premier Inn adjacent to Townstall Road, Violet Drive, Little Cotton Farm as per OS SX855 508, Planning reference 0278/24/ARM in Dartmouth. The application is for: Supply of alcohol for consumption on and off the premises, Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 00:30., Exhibition of films indoors Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 00:30., Late night refreshment indoors Monday to Sunday 23:00 to 00:30., Opening hours of the premises Monday to Sunday 06:00 to 01:00.

It was resolved to respond ‘No comment’ to both of the two licensing applications above (Cllr Rake abstained).

  1. Consultations
  • Conversion of Tumbly Hill facility into a Community Wellbeing Hub for Kingsbridge and surrounding areas – Request to complete survey and write letter of support.

The Clerk was asked to write in Support and noting that transport from Blackawton by be an issue.

  1. Responsibility for the Maintenance of the closed St Michael’s Churchyard

    1. It was resolved unanimously that BPC will write to the Parochial Church Council for St Michael’s, Blackawton on the terms received from the National Association for Local Councils legal advisor to confirm that despite the wording of the 1977 letter BPC will treat it as a request for BPC to take over the maintenance responsibility for the churchyard from that date. The Clerk was asked to confirm with the NALC legal advisor the wording of the letter and its effect to transfer the maintenance responsibility. It was resolved to write to South Hams District Council to ask if it will consider a request to transfer the maintenance.

    2. BPC considered a plan for carrying out churchyard maintenance. A surveyor’s estimate of the cost to reinstate the walls abutting roads is being sought for insurance purposes. Quotes will be sought for the 3 September meeting for works to the conifer at the lychgate: to reduce the size of the tree and to place a non-penetrable barrier around the root-ball. Permission will need to be requested from the planning authority. The Cemetery grounds maintenance contractor’s quote of £175.00(exVAT) to cut the frequent maintenance zone areas in the churchyard back to a maintainable standard was accepted and they will be asked to maintain these areas every 2 weeks on the same schedule as the Cemetery at a cost of £85.00(exVAT) per cut while a longer term arrangement is put in place. They will not do an all areas cut.

It was resolved that BPC will arrange a series of community events on Sundays, starting on 1 September, to carry out an all areas cut of the churchyard and to remove the cuttings (to promote a wildflower meadow).

The proposed specifications for the churchyard grounds maintenance will be drafted for the 3 September meeting. The Clerk noted that the gates were made safe in June 2024 and suggested their maintenance is a lower priority than other projects.

  1. Review of Blackawton Cemetery Fees & Eligibility for Burial

The Report on the review of Cemetery Fees & Eligibility for Burial was considered. It was resolved to pause the pre-purchase of exclusive right of burial and to increase the sizes of plots to eight by four feet in the lawn cemetery area and to two by two feet in the cremated remains area. Cllrs will prepare two reports for the 3 September meeting: proposing a draft schedule of fees and regarding eligibility for burial.

  1. Cemetery Wall Maintenance

The arrangements for the work which is booked for 6 and 7 August 2024 were confirmed.

  1. Maintenance Contractor Role

The BPC Maintenance Contractor role remains vacant. It was resolved to contract with Dartmouth Town Council for it to clean the Blackawton bus shelters if possible. The expected cost is £175 per clean, with one clean to be requested this year as the second clean is now due.

  1. Offer of Greenslades Footpath Land to the Parish Council

BPC considered the offer. The Clerk was asked to respond with thanks, however the offer will be refused because BPC’s view is that it would be an additional liability in perpetuity without benefit. The Clerk was asked to find out how to add a new footpath to the public right of way network.

  1. Detritus and Weeds at edges of roads in the Village

The matters of detritus and weeds in the village where the road meets most of the abutting walls and piles of gravel washed down from the higher roads was discussed. SHDC has been asked to sweep the roads. Cllr Rake will raise the matter with SHDC in his role as SHDC Cllr.

  1. Finance

    1. Update on Current Financial Position

The Reports showed a total balance of £59,750.05 and an unearmarked general fund of £16,991.52, and bank accounts reconciled with the cashbook at 1 July 2024.

    1. Payments & Receipts

It was resolved to authorise the following payments:

  • Clerk June & July Expenses Reimbursement, £48.47

  • Cemetery hedge cutting, £90.00

  • Internal Audit, £165.00

  • DALC Good Councillor Short Course, £48.00

  • Frequent Cemetery Cuts 10/6, 24/6, & 8/7, £324.00

The Clerk noted that the invoices for the frequent Cemetery cuts done in May are also ready to be paid.

Payments authorised since the last monthly meeting:

  • Maintenance Contractor advertisement, £134.40

  • Hire of St Michael’s Church’s Narthex April, May, and June 2024, £60.00

  • Website hosting annual fee, £90.00

  1. Correspondence

The following correspondence was noted or considered:

  • 18/6/24 Chair of the South Devon National Landscape Partnership, Offer to meet BPC

It was suggested to invite to the next Annual Parish Meeting.

  • 24/6/24 Project Manager at Sustainable South Hams, Support for councillors on climate and nature

  • 27/6/24 Invitation for South Devon National Landscapes to Life on the Edge Launch on 22/7/24 11:30-12:30 at Brixham Laboratory

  • 28/6/24 SHDC Localities Officer, Enquiry re. problem spots or notices needed

  • South Hams Community Action Membership Invitation, £60

  • SHDC, South Hams Festival Proposal Town & Parish Council Briefing: 25/7/24 6.00pm

  • 7/7/24 The Safety of Electric-Powered Micromobility Vehicles and Lithium Batteries Bill

  • 9/7/24 Fusion Lifestyle Offer to try Try Seated Exercise Or Nordic Walking (Walking With Poles)

  • 10/7/24 South Hams Community Action, Report on its Loneliness & Social Isolation Survey

This was noted and considered.

  • 10/7/24 Public Notice re Quality of DCC Regional Emergency Response. Public Meeting at Clovelly Parish Hall at 31/07/24, 7:00 pm

  • 11/7/24 Devon Communities Together Report on its Audit of Devon Village Halls

  • Cllr Rake told the meeting that visitors have contacted him to commend BPC’s action taken to repaint the Blackawton war memorial’s lettering

  1. Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 3 September at 7:30 p.m.

Cllr Coe gave her apologies for that meeting.

The meeting closed at 9:44.