Draft Minutes 2026 April 13

May 1, 2026 | Minutes

DRAFT Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Blackawton Parish Council held on
Monday 13 April 2026 at 7:30 p.m. in Blackawton Village Hall

Present: BPC Cllrs Oughton (Vice-Chair and meeting Chair), Hadow, Luckens, and Thomas were present, as were Clerk A Thom. There were two members of the public present for the first part of the meeting.
Absent: Cllrs Rake and Coe.

a. Open Forum

The members of the public present were interested in the Wind Turbine Feasibility Study item.

b. Councillors Forum

Cllr Mardon has resigned from the Parish Council.

  1. Apologies

Apologies for absence were noted from BPC and SHDC Cllr Rake, BPC Cllr Coe, and from DCC Cllr Brazil.

  1. Declarations of Interest

Cllr Hadow declared an Other Registerable Interest in the Wind Turbine Feasibility Study item, as a member of Sustainable Blackawton. It was resolved to grant a dispensation for period of four years to speak and vote on items related to the Wind Turbine Feasibility Study.

  1. Minutes of Previous Meetings

It was resolved to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 March 2026.

  1. Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

This Report was deferred in the absence of SHDC Cllr Rake.

  1. Report from Devon County Council Councillor

This Report was deferred in the absence of DCC Cllr Brazil.

  1. Wind Turbine Feasibility Study Grant

This item was moved forward at the Chair’s discretion.

It was unanimously resolved to approve BPC’s signature of the Grant Funding Agreement.

It was resolved to approve BPC’s signature of the Non Disclosure Agreement with the study provider (Community Power Solutions Ltd.).

It was agreed to create a Steering Group as a central point with which CPS will share information. The Steering Group will have two representatives each from BPC and from Sustainable Blackawton. The Clerk will be included for oversight. The Steering Group will then take action, share more widely etc. as required. The meeting nominated Cllrs Rake and Coe as BPC’s two Steering Group members (subject to their acceptance). Sustainable Blackawton will choose its two representatives and advise.

The members of the public present left the meeting.

  1. Planning Applications

    1. South Hams District Council’s Planning Decisions

The following decisions were noted:

  • 0140/26/HHO Lower Abbotsleigh Blackawton TQ9 7AF. Householder application for retrospective permission for a timber summerhouse built within 2m of the boundary. Conditional Approval.

  • 0375/26/ARC Bow Cottage, Blackawton, TQ9 7AH. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 6 (Historic Building Record) of planning consent 1800/25/LBC. Discharge of Condition Approved.

  • 0378/26/ARC Bow Cottage, Blackawton, TQ9 7AH. Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 6 (CEMP) & 8 (Historic Building Record) of planning consent 1799/25/HHO. Discharge of Condition Approved.

  • 0551/26/AGR Grimpstone Farm Blackawton TQ9 7DW. Application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed agricultural storage building measuring 13.1m (L) x 6.7m (B) x 6.8m height to ridge. Prior Approval Not Required.

  • 0192/26/CLE The Linhay Higher Wood Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AB. Certificate of lawfulness for non compliance with occupancy condition. Cert of Lawfulness (Existing) Certified.

    1. Review of New Applications .

The meeting considered commenting to SHDC on the following applications:

  • 0795/26/HHO 65 French Furze Road Blackawton TQ9 7FN. Householder application for proposed rear dormer to form additional bedroom with en-suite.

It was resolved that no response will be submitted.

  • 0862/26/HHO Stone House Farm Blackawton TQ9 7DE. Householder application for single storey rear extension & revised front entrance.

It was resolved that no response will be submitted.

  • 0865/26/TCA 3 Church Hill Blackawton TQ9 7BQ. T1: Oak – remove, too large, causing excessive shading, too close to power line.

It was resolved that no response will be submitted.

  • 0902/26/HHO 26 French Furze Road Blackawton TQ9 7FN. Householder application for rear extension and alterations to existing dwelling.

It was resolved that no response will be submitted.

To note the following application.

  • 0917/26/ARC Bow Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AH. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 7 (Sustainable Drainage Option) of planning consent 1799/25/HHO.

It was resolved that no response will be submitted.

  1. French Furze Development

Cllr Oughton said that there will be another public residents meeting in the Village Hall next Wednesday. It will discuss re-selection of a management company.

Cllr Thomas reported that he and Cllr Rake attended a Business Units site inspection on 13 March. About half of the things on the snagging list had been done. On 23 March a Teams meeting about the creation of a Traffic Management Plan for the Business Units was attended with the developer’s Planning Manager. That meeting also discussed where waste disposal bins will be sited. On 30 March Cllrs Rake and Thomas met with a representative of the developer about the rectification work. A plan was agreed to reconvene in the week after Easter.

  1. Greenslades Road Circuit Footpath

The proposal to alter the existing S106 requirement was discussed. It was resolved to support the proposal to replace the existing S106 requirement for scalpings, to suggest that the footpath surface be levelled with a slight slope towards the hedge, and to suggest a drain at the bottom towards the culvert with a pipe of approximately six metres in length straight across.

  1. Parish Council Noticeboard in the Main Street Bus Shelter

It was agreed that the noticeboard will be used for primarily for Parish Council notices. No private notices will be posted. Where space permits other official notices will be accommodated. Requests are to be directed to the Clerk. BPC will review in three months. If residents think there is a requirement for more community noticeboard space and want the Parish Council’s assistance they are invited to submit a proposal.

  1. Blackawton Community Emergency Hub

BPC will wait for a response from the Village Hall Management Committee before advertising the Emergency Hub.

  1. Felling Trees in the Blackawton Churchyard

No action is being taken to place a temporary ‘deadwood habitat’ sign.

There is one remaining dead cherry tree, next to the footpath towards School Lane. It was not recommended for felling in the 2025 tree risk assessment survey. Cllr Hadow will remove one branch which overhangs the footpath. As a low risk tree with some benefit as deadwood habitat no action is taken pending the next planned tree risk assessment survey in winter 26/27.

  1. Planting Churchyard Trees

The revised proposal to plant an avenue of five rowans the east side of the footpath and three on the west as is permitted by graves was agreed. The meeting considered planting the remaining two rowan trees elsewhere in the churchyard. No final location was chosen. The Clerk was asked to obtain advice from the nursery providing the rowan trees about whether it is too late in the year to plant the rowan trees now and BPC will proceed based on that advice. The planting of the planned crabapple tree was deferred.

  1. Churchyard Wall Maintenance

It was resolved to approve signature of the proposed contract with the stonemason.

It was resolved to carry out additional works on Park Lane (to a bulge area) and on Main Street (to helibar brace across a crack) as quoted by the stonemason doing the planned works (£2,550).

  1. BPC Policies and Procedures

It was resolved to approve the draft BPC Equality and Diversity Policy.

  1. Finance

    1. Update on Current Financial Position

The Reports at 31 March 2026 showed total funds of £58,789.25 and an unearmarked general fund of £16,259.16. The Bank Reconciliation at 31 March 2026 reconciles and was signed.

    1. Payments & Receipts

It was resolved to authorise the following payments

  • Clerk March Expenses Reimbursement £18.55

  • Devon Communities Together Membership Annual Fee £50.00

  • Scribe Accounting & Cemetery Software £535.68

  • Felling Churchyard Trees £1,740.00

  • Devon Association of Local Councils Annual Fee £379.57

  • Website Updates £22.00

The payments made since the last monthly meeting were noted as follows:

  • Churchyard tree pre-felling bat survey £283.00

  • ICO annual fee (direct debit) £47.00

  1. Correspondence

The following was noted:

  • Devon County Council responsible to distribute Government funding for low-income households Oil Heating through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CaRF).

  1. Annual Parish Community Meeting

It was agreed that the guest speakers for the meeting on Wednesday 13 May 2026 will be the Primary School and South Dartmoor Community Energy.

  1. Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Monday 11 May at 7:30 p.m. Cllr Oughton gave his apologies for that meeting.

  1. Closure of the Meeting

It was resolved, in accordance with the 1960 Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act, to exclude the public and press during consideration of the following item(s) because of the commercial-in-confidence nature of the business.

  1. Contracted Work

    1. Parish Lengthsman

It was resolved to accept the application from the current lengthsman to continue with a £1/hour increase in the hourly rate in 26/27.

    1. Cutting back Vegetation growing on St Michael’s Churchyard’s Walls and Gate Pillars

It was resolved to accept the quotation from a provider based in Blackawton if they meet the criteria for the role, and the lowest cost quote if they don’t.

  1. Cemetery Treeworks

It was resolved accept the lowest cost quote for the removal of fallen Monterey Cypress branches and removal in the autumn of the tree growing on a grave, and that the Clerk will confirm management arisings as per the work description.

  1. BPC Insurance 2026-2029

It was resolved to enter into a new long term three year agreement with the current insurer at a cost of £671.63 in 26/27.

The meeting closed at 20:55.