Welcome to Widecombe-in-the-Moor

WIDECOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of the Parish Council
held in Leusdon Memorial Hall on
Thursday 5 September 2024 at 7.30pm
Members present: Councillor Y Elliott (Chair), J Bibby & C Partridge
Also attending: District Cllr and Ashburton Postmaster Rogers, District Cllr Nutley, District Cllr Major and County Cllr Bullivant
Members of the Public: Two
Clerk: Suzanna Hughes
5033 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
•
Cllr Guest
•
Cllr Edwards
•
Cllr Raynor
5034 OPEN FORUM
Ashburton Postmaster Stuart Rogers that the Post Office will be serving Widecombe Fair and will be present in the village both Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th that week.
The Chair, on behalf of Widecombe Community Hall, thanked the Parish Council for allowing them to use the village green to sell cakes over the summer to raise additional funds. A total of £1260 was raised over 5 sessions.
5035 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATIONS
Members were reminded of their responsibility to continually update their Notice of Registerable Interests and invited to state whether they have any interest in the items to be discussed during this meeting in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct.
Unforeseen requests for a Dispensation to be considered at this point only if there was no way a Councillor would have been aware of such before the meeting.
5036 RATIFICATION OF MINUTES
Members received the minutes Parish Council held on 4 July 2024 which were approved as a true and correct
record.
5037 REPORTS
(a) County Councillor
Cllr Phil Bullivant attended the meeting to assist with any Highways issues in Cllr Gribble’s absence. As Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult Social Care and Health, he also summarised the financial challenges facing the County.
(b) District Councillors District Cllr Rogers advised that the area around the toilets and car park will be cut back before Widecombe Fair. Cost of Living information has been circulated and a cost of living event has been arranged in Ashburton Town Hall on 20 November. Residents should be aware that there is assistance and support available. Free transport is also available if residents wish to attend but are unable to arrange their own transport. Cllr Rogers will also be liaising with the school so that communication about available support can be shared with parents via their weekly updates. District Cllr Nutley also referred to the Household Support Funding: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-support-extended-to-help-struggling-households-with-bills-and-essential-costs-over-winter Government support has been extended to help struggling households with bills and essential costs over winter. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2024. Grounds maintenance contracts are coming up for completion. Only one contractor will be continuing which will result in a reduction in areas being cut. There is a staffing issue at TDC. Officers have met to discuss this. District Cllr Major advised that TDC continues to review its assets.
Cllr Partridge expressed appreciation that the street cleaner had visited the village for a second time this year which is more than usual. She thanked Councillors for pushing for this.
(c) DNPA Representative The Chair advised that extensive work has been carried out on improving the drainage and footpath on the Two Moors Way between Ponsworthy and Jordan. She thanked Rob Steemson and his team for organising this. (d) Police Report During the period 1 – 31 August, there were five criminal offence recorded for this area involving: 1 x Common Assault, 1 x Assault, 1 x Criminal Damage, 1 x Threats to Kill (Domestic Related), 1 x Possess Offensive weapon (linked to above crime). There were 5 non-crime incidents across the area. These involved a missing person and firearms licensing.
(e) Delegate Reports
Cllr Partridge advised that she had attended a meeting of Widecombe & District Sports Group at which funding for the surfacing of the tennis court was discussed.
5038 PROJECTS & ESTATES
(Cllrs Raynor & Partridge)
(a)
Village Walkabout – 8 August 2024
Members received the notes following the village walkabout and the following outstanding actions were agreed:
•
Village Green – arrange a volunteer day/afternoon for cleaning commemorative stones
(including time capsule engraving), painting of metal bench, potential new timber on bench and potentially re-pointing some stone work.
•
Parish Chest – Clerk to ask History Group about the Parish Chest and whether it should be moved to Devon Archives for safe keeping.
•
Benches in Teignbridge car park are in need of repair. Details to be sent to Cllrs Nutley and Major for TDC to review as part of their assets review.
(b) Defibrillator
Members received further information from Judy Southcombe (defibrillator guardian) regarding the defibrillator cabinet and there was a brief discussion about whether the locked cabinet should be replaced with an unlocked cabinet for greater ease of access. It was agreed that, for now, signage should be improved to make it easier to unlock the existing cabinet. It had been agreed that Cllr Edwards would speak to Judy about a suitable form of wording. Cllr Bibby advised that there may be a way of adapting the existing box so that it remains unlocked. It was agreed to discuss this with Judy.
,
(c) Parish Field
The income and expenditure for the Parish Field (to 5 September 2024) was received. A balance of
£1103.85 was noted.
5039 PLANNING/LOCAL LIAISON
(Cllrs Bibby, Guest & Edwards)
(a)
New planning applications/appeals:
(i)
0358/24 – Beech Tree Cottage, Widecombe-in-the-Moor
Occupation of the property known as Beech Tree Cottage in breach of conditions (e) and (f) of planning permission granted under ref: 84/1903/06/1D (Certificate of Lawfulness)
It was agreed not to comment on this as members had no information to support or refute whether occupation of this property was in breach of planning conditions as listed above.
(ii) 0353/24 – Lower Hannaford, Poundsgate
Steel frame storage building (Prior Notification)
It was agreed not to comment on this application as it is a Prior Notification.
(b) Planning Decisions/Withdrawals
None
5040 FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE
(Cllrs Bibby, Guest & Edwards)
(a) Payments
Members received and approved the following payments:
•
Clerk’s salary and disbursements – £277.37 (September)
5041 HIGHWAYS
Potholes and other highways maintenance issues can be reported direct to DCC:
Online: https://www.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/report-a-problem/
Telephone: 0345 155 1004
Email: customer@devon.gov.uk
(a)
Road Warden Scheme – Cllr Bibby advised that a list of required equipment has been made and costed. Cllr Raynor is in the process of submitting an application for funding, though it is understood that the Parish Council will have to pay for the equipment upfront and then claim the cost back from DCC.
(b)
Members received correspondence from Moretonhampstead Parish Council asking whether Widecombe Parish Council would be interested in joining with them to raise the issue of securing 20mph speed limits within residential areas on Dartmoor. It was also seeking to establish whether any other parish councils in the National Park are considering how to reduce traffic speeds.
After a brief discussion, it was agreed that speed through the centre of Widecombe was not an issue as the natural twists and turns in the road together with parked cars generally prevented vehicles from travelling at speed. It was also agreed that unless the 20mph speed limit was enforced, it would have little or no impact. Campaigning for a 20mph speed limit was therefore not something members wished to pursue at this time. It was agreed that Moretonhampstead Parish Council should approach Ashburton to find out about their recent scheme.
5042 CORRESPONDENCE
Members were informed of all relevant correspondence not otherwise dealt with on the agenda, including:
(a)
The Dartmoor Devil Cycle Ride – members noted that the annual cycle ride will be passing through the
parish on Sunday 27 October. It was agreed to share details of this on the parish mailing list.
(b) Members received information from DNPA regarding Mobile Boost Scheme vouchers. This has also been circulated on the parish mailing list.
5043 MEMBERS’ ITEMS FOR INFORMATION OR GENERAL DISCUSSION, FOR INCLUSION ON FUTURE AGENDAS AND/OR ITEMS REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION
Members are reminded that they have not received the statutory notice of this business to be transacted and should therefore recognise that any decision made may be taken to be unlawful if challenged in the future
None
5044 NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on 3 October 2024 in Church House, Widecombe.
Signed ………………………………………….. Dated ………………………………………