Minutes of the Meeting held at Church House, Widecombe on Thursday 17thAugust 2000
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PRESENT : Mr.N.Smerdon (Chairman), Mr.R.Newbolt-Young (Vice), Mr.S.Booty, Mr.M.Nosworthy, Mr.M.Pascoe, Mrs.M.Phipps, Mrs.N.Tempest, Mr.C.Whale, Mr.M.Yates.
APOLOGIES :
IN ATTENDANCE : Cllr.Mr.H.Whitley, three members of the public and the ClerkMr.P.Roper.
2353 MINUTES : The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 27th July 2000were signed by the Chairman as being an accurate record of the meeting.
2354 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
(i) Review of Car Parks : the Clerk confirmed that a Special meeting would be held on 21st September at 7.30 pm. This had been requested by TDC in order toresolve the question of Car Park charges. Our District Councillor Mr.Whitley agreed to be present.
The Clerk also reported that he had been in contact with HM Land Registry and had been informed that the land which is now the Car Park was registered on 16thApril 1984 and that the registered proprietors are Teignbridge District Council.
It was noted that the land now belonging to the Parish Council known as thefield given by Sir William Van Straubenzee was registered on 6th September 1984 in the name of Widecombe Parish Council.
It was felt that the spirit of the Will of Sir William intended that the free gift of both the field and the car park should remain free of charges.
(ii) Report of the Millennium Project Group : the sub committee had met on 3rd August and made decisions about the final arrangements for the Burial ofCapsule at 6.30 pm. on Saturday 9th September on the Village Green.
Posters have been made and an invitation to all Parishioners will be includedin the Parish Link for September. Tea would be provided on the day at the Green Cafe at a cost of £1/person. The media are to be contacted to publicise theevent further. If the Church Bells are ready they will be rung for the first time on the day.
Arrangements were made for the Chairman to meet with a sub-group on Monday next in order to received the engraved boulder and dig the hole in readiness forthe burial.
The estimate for the engraving was £315. This was accepted by the Council
Mr.Chris Mayhead, the project leader reported that the photography was proceeding well ; it was likely that there will be 330 photos – the originalbest estimate was for 200! He had met with only 4 refusals. These photographs together with details on the reverse side would be laminated ready for thecapsule. They would also be placed on 4 CD’s for inclusion. A number of other items of interest had also been collected.
It was concluded that the project had been a major success. It was anticipated that a large number of people would turn up on the day to be presentwhen the Time Capsule was buried.
Copies of the photographs would also be included in the Parish Chest forpeople to see.
(iii) Widecombe Fair : the Clerk was asked to write to Mr.Paul Way in orderto arrange for payment for the hire of the field on Fair Day. The Chairman would telephone Mr. Way to apologise for not contacting him before.
A cheque for £200 has been received from Mr.Raymond for the deposit on hiring the Green.
Mr.Nosworthy confirmed that he would collect the balance on Fair Day from Mr. Raymond.
Mr. Pascoe confirmed that the Town Crier’s competition would take place and that he would spend up to £40 on trophies for same .
South West Water have offered to supply some water bowsers for Fair Day as the Council had requested that something be done about the continual occurrenceof mains water leaks.
Unfortunately SW Water could not give any dates when the ageing water mainswould be replaced.
The Clerk was asked to contact the water Authority to request that as many aspossible water bowsers are provided on Friday 8th September in readiness for the Fair.
(iv) Cattle Grid at Buckland Bridge : the Clerk has received a letter of reply from DNPA indicating that it is in line with current practice that ParishCouncils contribute financially towards the cost of installing Cattle Grids. The letter indicated that DNPA might be able to find some money towards the project- but not in the current financial year.
(v) TALC : a request has been received from Teignbridge District Council forattendance at the TALC meetings to improve. The Chairman commented that he was unable to make any 6.30 pm. meetings. There were no other Councillors able toattend either.
(vi) Cattle Straying in the Village : the Clerk reported that he had been intouch with Mr. Bell, the Chairman of the local branch of the Commoners Association. Mr. Bell was willing to attend a future meeting of the Council todiscuss the problem. This was accepted.
2355 PLANNING
(i) Planning Consent has been given to : Blackslade Manor and Higher Northway
(ii) Unauthorised engineering operations at Sweaton Farm : acknowledgement ofletter received.
(iii) Dining room extension at The Old Inn , Widecombe. The Council receivedamended plans. These were recommended for approval provided that (a) the timber construction was stained (b) the roof line did not obscure the neighbouringproperties view.
2356 HIGHWAYS
(i) The Chairman reported that the road-side banks between Newbridge and Dartmeet have recently been trimmed by machine. He had also received agreementthat several other stretches of road in the area would also be similarly trimmed.
(ii) It was also reported that the hedge above No.3 The Splash was in need of considerable cut-back. There has been no such trimming for at least 5 years:liaison Councillor is to contact Bob Jones on this matter.
2357 MATTERS AT DISCRETION OF CHAIRMAN
(i) Methodist Church : it was reported that the church has recently been told that the roof to the church is in a dangerous state of repair. The building isnot safe to use at present. A Councillor requested that the Clerk determine whether the Parish Council is able, with-in the regulations, to help with thecosts of the repair.
(ii) It has come to the notice of the Council that the new Houses being builtin the village are four feet higher that planned. This apparently has been done to avoid any future damage from flooding. The Council felt this alteration tothe original plans made a nonsense of Planning Control.
2358 FINANCE
(i) The Clerk reported that there has been a successful internal audit of the Parish Council’s books for the year ending 31st March 2000. This has been doneby Mr. A. Beard. It was agreed that a bottle of wine should be given to him to express the Council’s gratitude for his time freely given for the second yearrunning.
(ii) Income : Deposit from Mr. Raymond £200
Interest on Capital for the month 35.71
(iii) Expenditure : Fence repair to the Parish Field 29.08
Clerk’s salary and disbursements 136.14
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.20 pm.