Minutes of the Meeting of the

Exbourne with Jacobstowe Parish Council held on Wednesday 30th July 2008 at 20:00 in Exbourne Village Hall.

 

30. Those present

Cllr Glanville - Chairman

Cllr Hordern  

Cllr Weeks

Cllr Phipps

Cllr Cobb

Cllr Lawson

Cllr Luxton

 

4 Members of the public

 

31. Apologies for absence – nil

 

32. Declarations of Interests – Planning application 11974/2008/OKE Cllr Luxton declared a personal interest in planning application as a neighbour and Cllr Phipps declared a personal interest as he was employed by the applicant.  

 

33. Minutes of the last meeting – Cllr Weeks proposed that the minutes of the last meeting were an accurate record; this was seconded by Cllr Cobb.  The Chairman signed the minutes.

 

34. Matters arising from the last meeting

34.1. War Memorial insurance – The Clerk advised the he had followed up all insurance leads with the result that only two insurance companies we prepared to offer insurance cover for the two war outside memorials in the churchyards of Exbourne and Jacobstowe.  Both had offered premiums which were in excess of that quoted by the Councils current insurance provider.  After a discussion the topic is was proposed by Cllr Hordern that accepted the risk and that it should not insure them.  This was seconded by Cllr Cobb.

 

34.2. Traffic Speed High Street Exbourne – A Response had been received from Mr M Newcombe – Road Safety Officer offering to meet a representative from the Council at a time and location which the Council felt was most representative of the problem.  Cllr Hordern agreed to represent the Council.

 

34.3.  Housing Needs Survey.  Mr Packer Affordable Housing Champion, West Devon Borough Council had responded to the Councils request arising from the last meeting that the last parish housing needs survey was carried out in 2003 which showed that there was a need for 4 affordable homes.  WDBC did not have currently have any plans to repeat the exercise.  However if the Parish Council felt there was need for a review a it might be possible to repeat the survey.  The meeting felt that residents who had a need for housing should be encouraged to register with West Devon even though it might appear to a fruitless.  

 

34.4.   Parish Plan - Hydro Electric Scheme Devon Association for Renewable Energy (DARE) had replied to the councils earlier correspondence. DARE were able to offer the Council a free survey it was the beneficiary other wise there would be a charge for this service.  The Council agreed that this being the case it had gone as far as it could with this project and apart from passing on the information from DARE to the landowners its action was complete.  
       

35.    New Items

35.1.  Boundary Commission Report – Cllr Weeks gave the meeting an update on the latest developments on the Boundary Commissions report into local government reform for Devon.  He felt that the Parish Council should make some comment on the report before the deadline date in Sept as it would have in his view have a significant impact on the community.    Whilst happy to give the meeting this update he felt that as a Borough Councillor he could be considered to be giving the WDBC view and that before making any comment parish councillors should make themselves aware of all arguments.  Action - Agenda item for August meeting.

 

36. Parish Paths Partnership (P3) – The P3 coordinator Mr I Brooker was able to advise the meeting that all the parish footpaths were usable and that in cooperation with the farmers the standing crops and overgrowth had been removed from the line of the paths.  He was of the opinion that it would help in future  years if the Parish Council sent out letters to relevant farmers asking them to ensure that the line of the path was reinstated after ploughing/sowing.

 

37. Finance – The Clerk told the meeting that the latest bank statement showed a total of £2,921.22 of which £725.10 was allocated to P3 projects.  The Council expenditure was in line with the budget forecast.

 

37.1. Internal Audit Fee -  An invoice had been received from the Internal Auditor for work undertaken through out the previous year for £120.  Cllr Hordern propose that bill be paid this was seconded by Cllr Cobb.   Cllr Hordern proposed a vote of Thanks for retiring Internal Auditor Mr Roger Brown who had done an excellent job for the Council this was seconded by Cllr Phipps.

 

38. Matters at the Discretion of the Chairman

38.1. Data Protection Act – The Clerk told the council that although it had already been agreed to register as a data holder under the Data Protection Act (see April Mins page 291 min 149.4) no record of a  proposer or seconder was made.  Cllr Hordern agreed and proposed that payment of £35 was made this was seconded by Cllr Cobb.

 

39. There being no further business the meeting closed at 21:20

 

 

40.  Date of the next meeting August 27th in the Vestry Jacobstowe Church at 20:00