Parish Council Minutes – October 2020

BELSTONE PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 20^th October 2020

 in the Village Hall

Present:  Michael Ash (Chairman), Ann Norman (Vice Chairman), Paul Boyce, Peter Cooper, Susan Norrish, Jon Pike, and Kate Little(Parish Clerk).

In Attendance: WDBC Cllr Lynne Daniel

The Chairman re-iterated the covid-19 precautions that had to be observed in the village hall as set out in the risk assessment prepared for the last meeting, with the addition of the need for face masks to be worn at all times.

30.     Apologies: Theresa Weaver

31.     Minutes of the Annual Parish Council meeting of 8^th September 2020: Subject to amending minute no.  2020/21-26  to correct the Clerk’s 2020/21       annual salary to £1,305.20, these were agreed and signed by the Chairman     as a correct record of the meeting.

32.     Matters Arising not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda:

                   (i) Orchard project – Details of this project have been passed on to           the Cricket Club and the Village Hall Cttee.  It was agreed that as the               access to The Tors old beer garden was not a public one, the Parish              Council would not pursue it’s use for the community.

                   (ii) Data protection – the notes of the recent webinar have been                          circulated and due to intervening case law the Council’s Privacy Policy                 will require review.

                   (iii) Condition of Assets – the Chairman signed off the Fixed Asset           Register for the year.

                   (iv) Roadside Hedgerows – No reply has been received from Oldway                  at Tongue End to the letter asking for their hedge to be cut back from                   the bus shelter (a Council asset).  There also seemed to have been                  little evidence of residents cutting back overgrown hedges in                                       parts of Skaigh Lane either.  The matter will be reviewed in December.

33.     Declarations of Interest – there were none.

34.     Chairman’s Urgent Items – no urgent matters.   However, the Chairman   asked if WDBC Cllr Lynne Daniel would like to speak and she presented her October report:

• WDBC has set up various subject based recovery working groups.  There is the possibility of grants being made available.
• The Council has issued an interim budget to deal with the £500k gap in the budget and there will be another deficit in the next year’s budget to deal with.
• Cycle tracks – funding is being sought for the Plymouth to Tavistock route to link up with the DNPA planned cycle routes. Sustrans has funded a feasibility study.
• New IT is being installed at WDBC which should make navigating around it more intuitive, especially the planning section.
• The Planning White Paper – WDBC has submitted a strong protest at the proposed loss of local control over development options.
• Climate and Biodiversity Plan – investigating green lungs in urban areas and introducing variations in car parking charges depending on the emissions of the vehicle.
• Covid 19 news – if self isolating continues, WDBC will seek a Government support grant to cover increased costs.
• Lynne still has some funds in her cllr grant pot available to be spent by April.
• South Zeal and Taw Green are on the list for upgrading next year.
• No news regarding the Okehampton train line.

35.     Website Accessibility – It was agreed that Simon Hill be asked to audit the           Parish Council’s part of the website once it has been established how long it           would take.  The Council would then do the Accessibility Statement.

36.     Village Car Park – The draft car park policy was considered and subject to          the additions of:

• all cars are parked at the owner’s own risk; and
• The PC reserves the right to have the vehicle removed at the owner’s expense

          it was agreed it could be adopted once it had been re-circulated in its final form to all cllrs.

37.     DNPA Settlement Profile Update Consultation (deadline 4^th December   2020).  It was agreed that the profile was accurate.

38.     Contract of Employment for Parish Clerk – The pension, annual leave and           employer policies needed to be addressed before a new contract could be finalised for any new clerk.

39.     Highways – The rotten finger post at Tor Down was known about by DCC Highways but was not budgeted for this financial year and the broken timber     at the Brennamoor cattle grid was not thought to affect the integrity of the    structure.

          Drainage – The report sent by DCC Highways was noted but was not felt to         be acceptable.  Discussion took place about the lack of lengthsman       activity in the village and that clearing of the drains in Belstone ought to be    more of a priority for DCC.   [The drains outside Dartmoor House have subsequently been gully sucked last week].

40.     Financial Matters:

                   (i) 2nd quarter budget update – Noted

Revenue Budget

Business Reserve Account

                   (ii) Section 137 Grant – it was agreed to donate £25 to the                                   Okehampton District Community Transport Group from this budget.

                   (iii) The 2.9% increase in the DALC subscription for the next financial                    year was noted.

41.     Correspondence received – Numerous Covid-19 updates

42.     Any Other Business:

                   (i) The Superlink Meeting notes were noted.

                   (ii) WDBC Planning application for an agricultural barn at Stockley                        Hamlets (adj parish) – it was resolved to make no comment on this                       proposal.

                   (iii) A sign warning people about cattle and calves has been erected at                  the Sticklepath end of Skaigh Woods,

The meeting closed at 8.30pm

The next meeting :  1^st December 2020

Agreed Actions