Clerk’s Report September 2023
Parish Clerk Report for 11th September 2023
Completed Actions
Copies of all letters and emails will be available to view at the meeting.
- I have responded to a request from another Clerk who was asking about online banking! Hopefully if I am helpful to them, they will respond when I have a question.
- I have forwarded an email about a fell race at the end of September, as their were no objections I replied to that effect and wished him well.
- Josh Scillitoe, Neighbourhood Highways Officer has confirmed that the hole near the car park in Skaigh Lane is a defect on the list to be fixed. The official communication says that they expect it to be completed by 16th November!
- Lynn Daniel has confirmed that she is coming to our meeting on 11th September.
- The Commoners have responded that they are neutral about the lamp, since no grazier rights are involved. Cllr Hill will update on the responses to the website article.
- There is a short online overview of the work of the South Devon and Dartmoor Community Safety Partnership on Thursday 26th October at 2pm. They are the people who produce the ‘Let’s talk teenagers’ courses and who facilitate the police liaison meetings. It would be good if one of our councillors could attend to find out more. More details from the Clerk.
- Two people have been removed from the electoral register in August, leaving a total of 205.
- I have responded to the organisers of the Fell Race on 30th September to confirm that the Council have no objections.
- I have put an advert for our public meeting on parking in the Beacon.
Agenda Item
There are two housing surveys that we have been sent:
1. The Devon Housing Commission (DHC)
The DHC “consists of 11 authorities, including West Devon that are conducting an in-depth analysis of the various local housing markets, social economics, and demographical changes across Devon to help influence significant housing and social policy change. The Commission is currently running a short survey asking about the housing issues we face across the Borough, how to solve them and how the commission might be able to help.”
Whilst it would be good for individuals to respond, I think that we should respond to this as a council, and have circulated the questions for organisations in another document. Councillors should consider how and if we should respond before the meeting.
The survey is at https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=d10qkZj77k6vMhM02PBKU2cnuF1btL5Iv0QP3QcdSoVUNEFWVUxSQVFNTktOQUNRWUMzMDY2WTFaNS4u
More about the Devon Housing Commission can be found at https://www.exeter.ac.uk/business/southwestregion/devonhousing/ where there is also a link to the survey.
2. The South Tawton, Sticklepath, Spreyton and Belstone Housing Needs Survey
This survey is specifically for our area, and will determine whether housing will be prioritised for Belstone, so it is important that as many people as possible fill in the survey.
The online version has not yet been published, so we are unable to publicise this yet. We do have the 22-page PDF version, and I will be printing some of these out for distribution at the Thursday Café, or for anyone else you know who does not have internet access. I propose that we advertise this on all the village noticeboards and on the website as soon as it is available.
There will be community drop-in sessions where people can “come along and ask staff any questions they have about the survey and have assistance to complete it, ask questions about affordable housing, or any other questions they might have.” These will be on:
25th September
2pm-3pm Bert Stead Room, Sticklepath Village Hall
3.30pm-5.30pm Victory Hall, South Zeal