Draft Minutes 2026 July 13

Jul 20, 2026 | Minutes

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

Present: BPC and SHDC Cllr Rake, BPC Cllrs Coe, Hadow, Luckens, Oughton, and Thomas were present, as was Clerk A Thom. There were two members of the public present.

a. Open Forum

(i) Use of the Blackawton Cemetery Shed

The possible use of the shed to store some Wormcharming Festival equipment was discussed.

This may be feasible. A proposal can be considered by BPC in its next meeting, on 14 September 2026.

(ii) Blackawton Play-park

A member of the Playing Fields Committee discussed the current project for replacement and renewal of the playground equipment. There are two available S.106 fund pots, of £1,000 and of £20,000. The latter is allocated to use for the tennis court or a skate park, and there would be legal costs to reallocate those funds. The legal costs would come out of the S.106 funds. Cllr Rake will discuss the options with staff at SHDC.

b. Councillors Forum

(i) Proposal for Alteration of the Schedule to cut back vegetation growing on the Blackawton Churchyard Walls

A reduction from two annual cuts to one cut was proposed for possible habitat benefit. This will be an Agenda item on 14 September 2026.

(ii) Ragwort growing inside and outside Blackawton Churchyard
Ragwort has been identified. The meeting was asked whether it is notifiable.

(iii) Annual Community Cut in the Blackawton Churchyard

Sustainable Blackawton members who are interested in being involved have requested this year’s dates.

  1. Apologies

Apologies for absence received from DCC Cllr Brazil were noted.

  1. Declarations of Interest

None declared.

  1. Minutes of Previous Meetings

It was resolved to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held 8 June 2026.

  1. Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

SHDC Cllr Rake reported that the Government’s decision about the Local Government Reorganisation option it has chosen for Devon is expected on Thursday 16 July, with a briefing for Cllrs on Wednesday 15 July 2026. Allocation of assets and liabilities and splitting adult social services and children’s services will be complicated, particularly if as rumoured, the expanded Plymouth and Exeter option is chosen. That option’s expanded Torbay wasn’t consulted on.
Cllr Rake recommended attendance at SHDC’s Town & Parish Council Briefing on 24/9/26 about the new Planning decision-making process being imposed on SHDC.

  1. Report from Devon County Council Councillor

Deferred in the absence of DCC Cllr Brazil.

  1. Planning Applications

    1. South Hams District Council’s New Applications

The following were noted for information. BPC is not a statutory consultee.

  • 1703/26/ARC Development At Sx 8052 5109 Town Farm School Lane Blackawton. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 20 (Traffic Management Plan) of planning consent 3878/18/VAR.

  • 1611/26/COM On the way to Cornish Post Farm Blackawton TQ9 7AW. Notice of intent to install electronic communication apparatus comprising 21 wooden poles at 9mtrs high (Ref: WH3MKF0B).

The following premises licence application was noted. Comments have closed. No extraordinary meeting was considered necessary to comment:

  • Variation application to a premises licence (SHPL0458) from Steven Hanson, Woodlands Leisure Park, Blackawton, Totnes, TQ9 7DQ.

  1. French Furze Development

Cllr Oughton reported that the planned public residents meeting happened on 17/6/26 and that the meeting was told that the developer has missed the target date for submission of the Section 73 Application to SHDC. The target date was 18/5/26 and is now 3/8/26. He reported that the meeting was told by the developer that the snagging items for the business units are complete. However Cllrs Rake and Thomas are the Business Units CIC Directors and said that they have carried out a recent site visit and no further progress has been made with that work. Cllr Ougton also reported that the French Furze public meeting was told that the Business Units CIC Directors withdrew from a handover meeting scheduled for 17/6/26. However the Directors (Cllrs Rake and Thomas) said that they were only invited to that meeting with a day’s notice, and were not able to be available due to the short notice. It was agreed to write to the developer about what appear to be misrepresentations.

Cllr Rake reported that because there are no major snags left to complete in the Business Units, if the expected £20,000 grant is received from SHDC it is proposed to accept handover of the Business Units as is, in order to be able to progress and have the Business Units used.

  1. Wind Turbine Feasibility Study

Cllr Coe discussed the Steering Group’s Report to the Parish Council on the project. There are ten landowners related to the sites shortlisted for more detailed assessment. Eight of those were known to the Steering Group (SG) and initial contact has been made by the SG with them. Seven of those landowners expressed interest. Those seven and the two landowners not known to members of the SG will be sent a landowners pack for their consideration. The SG has requested from the Study provider a list of project documents, confirmation of access protocols, and further detail about what is involved in some elements of Work Package 1. A Community information meeting might take place in September 2026. The SG is also discussing an offer of community engagement help from Energy Learning Network (three days assistance over the next six months).

  1. Stonemason Works to the Blackawton Churchyard Walls

The meeting noted that the works commence on Monday 27 July, with Park Lane followed by Main Street, and will take a total of approximately four weeks. Cllrs will discuss the works with residents opposite the Main Street site, where the road will be narrowed.

  1. Bus Shelter at Woodlands

It was noted that two panes of glass have been broken in the northbound bus shelter and their replacement is being investigated. The Clerk has asked the provider of the bus shelter for a price to replace the glass and to reinstall the external sign on the southbound shelter. As no reply has been received and their provisional timelines were long, the Clerk will contact local glaziers instead.

  1. Finance

    1. Update on Current Financial Position

The meeting received the Reports, which show total funds of £75,473.65 and an unearmarked general fund of £25,344.00 at 30 June, and the Bank Reconciliation was signed.

    1. Payments

It was resolved to authorise the following payments:

  • Clerk June Expenses Reimbursement £72.58

  • Devon Association of Local Councils Bespoke Council Training £321.12

  • Devon Association of Local Councils AI for Councils Training £42.00

  • Grounds Maintenance Frequent cuts 10 and 23 June 2026:
    Churchyard £210.00 & Cemetery £228.00

The following payments authorised since the last monthly meeting were noted:

  • Bus Shelter Cleans March 2026 £252.00

  • Website annual hosting £115.00

    1. Grant Requested from BPC

  • It was resolved to approve the request from the Ivybridge & District Community Transport Association (West Dart Bus) for the budgeted grant of £300.

    1. Receipts

  • The receipt of a grant of £2,000 from South Hams District Council towards the restoration of the gates of St Michael’s Churchyard was noted.

  1. Review of Data Protection Compliance

The ongoing data audit was noted. The Action Items in the Clerk’s Report were addressed by the meeting.

It was agreed that in BPC’s situation it is not necessary to appoint a Data Information Officer to respond to requests in the Clerk’s absence. Cllrs and Steering Group Committee members will be given checklists to complete and return. It was noted by one Cllr that with the use of cloud folders to provide documents, they no longer need to download documents to their own devices. The meeting agreed to start with automated deletion of Cllr old emails two years or older, and that the Clerk would find out if this could be done centrally. The Clerk is obtaining further advice on the specific data protection legal basis for some of the Parish Council’s activities. It was resolved to approve the reviewed/new: Privacy Policy, Public Privacy Notice, and Role Holder Privacy Notice. It was noted that management of data protection is always an ongoing project.

  1. Correspondence

The following were noted or considered:

  • SHDC Joint Local Plan: Notice of scoping consultation to gather views from 16/7/26-14/9/26 & forthcoming consultation.
    Cllr Rake noted that a draft Plan will start to have weight in planning decisions and will aid the new authority (which will be formed as a result of the current Local Government Reorganisation). SHDC can’t meet the Governments new housing supply requirements and this is the best method of protection.

  • Invitation South Devon National Landscape Partnership meeting, 17/7/26 10am Hybrid.

  • Invitation SHDC Town & Parish Council Briefing: Planning Decision-Making Process 24/9/26 5:00pm Online.

  • Invitation Scribefest 2026 Online Conference for Town, Parish and Community Councils 17/9/26 9:30am-4:00pm.

  1. Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Monday 14 September at 7:30 p.m.

  1. Closure of the Meeting

It was not necessary to exclude the public and press during consideration of the following item because of the commercial-in-confidence nature of the business in the next Item.

  1. Wind Turbine Feasibility Study

No matters discussed.

The meeting closed at 20:58.