COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT
* – Attendance; A- Absent; N – No Apologies Received
Cllr. M. Fice – Mayor (in the Chair)- *
Cllr. A. Biggs -*
Cllr Mrs C. Bricknell- *
Cllr. R. Wheeler- *
Cllr D. Cohen- *
Cllr T. Lang- *
Cllr R. Whitfield -*
Cllr Ms J. Clark -A
Cllr Mrs L. Sinnott -*
Cllr Mrs A. Clacy -*
Also in attendance:
Dist. Cllr S. Wright -A
Dist. Cllr Mrs Pearce -A
Cty. Cllr. R Gilbert -A
Gill Claydon (Clerk) -*
Pete Robinson (Cemetery Manager and Project Officer) -*
WPC Jo Pengilly -A
PCSO D. Gibson -A
Chris Derrick – Kingsbridge Gazette reporter -*
718. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were invited to acknowledge any declarable interests, including the nature and extent of such interests that they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting. None received.
719. OPEN FORUM
One member of the public in attendance to observe only.
Police Report
Emailed by PCSO Gibson.
Crime figures for Salcombe since 1st December 2015:
1 x criminal damage (park & ride)
1 x common assault (New Years Eve)
1 x criminal damage (digger tampered with at Herbert Rd site – 11/12th January 2016 overnight)
The road traffic theme this month is visibility. At this time of year it is crucial for pedestrians to be careful about their own visibility but equally important for vehicle lights and tyres to be well maintained. Pedestrians, horse riders, cyclists and motorcyclists are very much at risk on the roads if they are not clearly visible. Good quality lights and reflective clothing are all easily available. Road collisions impact significantly on people’s lives and remain the leading cause of death for pedestrians and young adults nationally accounting for over a quarter of all deaths in the 15 to 19 age group. Whilst vehicle speed is one of the main causes of collisions, making vulnerable road users more visible improves their chances of being seen at the earliest opportunity by motorists. With reduced daylight hours and poor weather conditions at this time of year it is particularly important for all road users to recognise the need to see and be seen. Schools already endorse these messages with younger pedestrians and it is important that police pass the same advice to others. It really can be the difference between life and death
PCSO O’Dwyer had also made contact with regard to a project to provide Emergency bags for residents to place necessary items in to be grabbed if they needed to evacuate and cope for a few days in emergency shelter. This was in view of the recent flooding around England. The young cadets had put together a report which they wished to present and then seek funding, probably at the next full council.
In response to the recent storm events and to show that County Council were working actively to ensure community resilience, they had advised they were launching a new grant scheme. This would offer community flood resilience grants to Town and Parish Councils as well as Community Groups and be provided through Devon Communities Together (formerly the Community Council for Devon), linked to the newly established ‘Devon Community Resilience Forum’ that they also coordinated. This was part of our County Council’s ongoing support for community flood resilience. Through the scheme they offered to provide grants towards:
• Rapid purchase of simple flood equipment (PPE, signs, sand bags etc.);
• Production / revision of community emergency plans to properly address flooding;
• Exceptionally, a contribution to minor, practical works. [What we will avoid, however, is paying for activity that is otherwise being promoted through the community self-help / Road Warden scheme, such as clearance of drains.]. More details in the grant guidance.
Current expectation is that County would devote £30k to grants (each parish being able to bid up to £2000), but they may be in a position to allocate more if there was demand. More information could be found on the Devon Community Resilience Forum: https://www.devoncommunities.org.uk/emergency-flood-resilience-grant and this may well fit the police cadets aspirations.
District Councillor Report
The following report was emailed by Dist Cllr Wright –
1). We have now received our financial settlement from central Government. It is worse than anticipated with a shortfall in our 5 year financial strategy of an additional £300,000.
2). The government are consulting on a plan to reduce New Homes bonus from six years down to four years and possibly only make payments as and when Local Authorities have met their house building target.
3). The web-site continues to move forward and 2.5 million documents were loaded on the planning portal over the Christmas period.
4). Freedom of information requests are creating a massive financial strain. Recent years show a combined cost to SHDC and West Devon Councils amounting to £391,000. Only 10% of requests come from local residents. The majority are from national organisations such as the press and TV media. District are only able to make a charge if the time spent answering the requests exceeds eighteen hours.
5). At District’s recent Full Council meeting I submitted a motion stating: ” as a result of the Governments recent announcement that housing associations will have to cut social housing rents by 1% each year for the next four years, commencing April 2016, this council wishes to express its concerns that this policy will reduce the number of affordable homes being brought forward in our district and asks for the support of the local members of parliament” This motion won wide support.
This was noted and the Mayor advised that any questions could be raised at the following meeting.
Chris Derrick – Kingsbridge Gazette arrived.
720. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting dated 9th December 2015 were amended to note at point 713 that it was agreed there was no longer a need for a Salcombe Information Centre representative before being approved by council and then duly signed by the Mayor as a true and correct record.
721. CO-OPTION
DEFERRED due to no further applications.
722. PLANNING APPLICATIONS:
To note the responses already submitted to District Planning under delegated authority during the holiday period:
• 2662/15/FUL Construction of timber garden room to the existing terrace Amethyst Two, Russell Court, Salcombe Devon TQ8 8BS – Applicant Tracey Goodwin. Objection. Town Council felt that the removal of the tiled roof and replacement with a wall would have a detrimental effect on the Conservation Area. It was also suggested that the proposed wall could have an impact on light levels into the properties to the rear and opposite in Russell Court in relation to their velux windows.
• 2756/15/HHO Householder application for proposed alteration and dormer extensions to dwelling Tyndale 3 Coronation Road, Salcombe Devon TQ8 8EA – Applicant Mr and Mrs A Fawcett – No objection.
• 2807/15/HHO Householder application for proposed roof extension Byelanes, Moult Road, Salcombe, Devon TQ8 8LG – Applicant No objection
Cllr Biggs arrived at the meeting.
The following applications were considered and such observations from town council submitted to District.
• 2695/15/LBC Listed building consent for replacement of 1no. existing window and remedial works to exterior render, beneath replacement window following tidal erosion 5 Clifton Place, Salcombe, Devon TQ8 8BX – Applicant Mr D. Field/South Hams District Council – No objection.
• 3023/15/HHO Householder application for erection of single garage Perrotts, Higher Batson, Salcombe TQ8 8NE- Mr D.Hickton – No objection.
PLANNING CORRESPONDENCE
• Nothing further other than information already provided.
• Notification received from District that planning application 2695/15/LBC 5 Clifton Place would be going to Development Management Committee on 20th January 2016. A town council representative was invited to attend and talk to the application but as town council had no objection to this application they declined to attend.
• Copy letter to South Hams District Council (undated received 13th January 2016) from a resident highlighting their personal concerns with regard to compensation from an existing development owned by Estura and the proposed further development proposals for a new site.
• Email sent by the town clerk to Development Control this evening following receipt of the last two months application lists. Tides Reach Hotel was validated on 21st December 2015 and further applications had been sent to Town Council with nothing received for this application. The officer dealing had responded that copying problems and Christmas had caused a delay and the application would be delivered the following day.
723. AUTO ENROLMENT – PENSION
The options with regard to the Government requirement for town and parish councils to set up a pension for their employees were outlined by the Mayor and it was AGREED that currently all that was needed to comply was to identify employees, how much they currently earnt and how old they were. Following this town council would need to choose and set up a scheme within 5 months.
724. PRECEPT 2016 – 2017
The draft proposals from the Working Party were provided to all town council and future projects and town requirements considered against these proposals before town council approved the budget in order that a request for £76,450 could be forwarded to District Council. The increase was due to the ongoing works on the media/website together with necessary footpath works and weed spraying. Future training needed to be included, together with increased legal fees and a growing need to consider town council property and bringing such back into use. Additional money could also be required in grants as Malcolm McClay had emailed the Mayor along with various organisations in town to advise that he was requesting Heritage Lottery Funding to rebuild Jubilee pier. Cllr Wheeler noted that town council had previously had money set aside which was subsequently used elsewhere around the town as District considered a figure but did not move forward with this project. With the forthcoming Lifeboat centenary there was a move towards placing plaques either side of the bar.
The Mayoral chain reserve monies would be vired to other town projects. Consideration of use of the Mortuary building would be discussed further and public consultation taken out.
725. PARK AND RIDE
John Cooke of the Rotary Club of Salcombe had emailed to request town council to make a concession with regard to charging of parking fees at the Bonfire Hill Car Park. They also advised they would be speaking to Tally Ho with regard to provision of the buses. Rotary wished to raise money at the forthcoming Crab Fest on 1st May 2016 towards a safe play area at the slipway end of the Young Person Centre.
Discussion took place on the request but as there was a Service Level Agreement with Devon County they would lose income due to this agreement and therefore town council were unable to accommodate this request. If town council were to ensure buses were provided over this weekend it was felt this could be a town council contribution to the Crab Fest. Consideration would be given the following year and it might not run depending on provision costs. Town Council would run the bus for the three days over May Bank Holiday.
It was AGREED:
(a) to have Easter running, both the May Bank Holidays, during May and June just weekends from 19th July to 29th August all week, effectively the same timetable for 2016 as the previous year. This would however be dependent upon consultation with Tally Ho.
Cllr Mrs Sinnott left the meeting.
(b) to approve the surfacing works carried out at the car park and authorisation was given to make payment. The disabled verge was noted as lower and thus had become muddy so a quote would be obtained to level this off.
(c) to accept the quote for works to the height barriers up to a cost of £210
(d) to provide the specification for delivery to businesses with regard to advertising options on the bus for 2016 continuing at 2015 rates and to set the charge of £25 per business card advertisement for insertion around the car park map border.
726. TRAFFIC ORDERS
Proposals were invited from councillors with regard to proposed changes to Traffic Orders in relation to parking in Salcombe and the following were NOTED with this item to be brought back to the next full council for further additions:
1. Change limited waiting bay at Market Street end of Buckley Street to reserved bay for First Responder
2. Paint ‘No Entry’ on road at Church Street end of Buckley Street
3. Remove speed bumps in Fore Street as they exacerbate flooding
4. Move double yellow lines on top part of Raleigh Road (adjacent to Rugby Club) to the Rugby Club side of the road
5. Move double yellow lines on Camperdown Road (adjacent to Rugby Club) to the Rugby Club side of the road
727. FENCING OF LAND
It was AGREED:
(a) to approve obtaining quotes for fencing to protect the perimeter of the remaining areas of open space. A letter would be sent to all adjacent residents explaining that this council would not seek to develop this land but protect the area and register such land for the benefit of the town. All garden refuse needed to be removed.
(b) to respond to Pennon Group PLC as advised by the town council solicitor in relation to the reservoir boundary. It was noted that from the car park area towards Primrose Field along the hard to path was land claimed by South West Water and just before Primrose Field there had been two or three test holes dug. South West Water had equipment within the wooded area and inspection tanks in the playing field but works should be noted.
Kingsbridge Gazette left.
728. MAINTENANCE REVIEW AND ADDITIONAL WORK
The working party advised that they had met with the Greenspace contractor with regard to contract works and felt that all was being carried out according to the contract. The cemetery paths were a bit overgrown but due to the high level of rain the weed killer was being diluted. Additional works relating to the clearance of the Mortuary building and surrounding area by the shed needed doing due to flytipping or bricks, rocks plus garden waste and the contractor would provide a quote for such
It was suggested that in future Town Council should be looking at works on a monthly basis and reporting any matters directly to the contractor to assist in ensuring all matters were covered.
729. MAYOR’S REPORT
The Mayor noted he and Cllr Wheeler had attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting. It tended to discuss mainly Kingsbridge issues and it was noted how good Kingsbridge Information Centre was. Both the Mayor and Cllr Wheeler pointed out that Salcombe Information Centre was also highly regarded if not a better model. This discussion arose as sadly Dartmouth TIC was closing down. There was the monthly report with regard to the Kingsbridge mini railway and it was noted that planning permission had been received. Kingsbridge Mayor Wayne Grills noted the town council also wished to install an outdoor table tennis table somewhere which was why Kingsbridge Town Council’s precept was up significantly.
There had been an informal Neighbourhood Development Plan meeting last week and the Mayor noted that working group members seemed to ebb and flow in terms of numbers but did seem to be making progress. They are about to embark on a Business Survey but were unclear on a new Housing Needs Survey possibility but they wished to get another questionnaire out to the whole town by Easter. Within the Neighbourhood Plan meeting there was discussion on the Roselands Neighbourhood Plan as Salcombe group wanted to determine who could vote in a Referendum. Roseland had built into their criteria that anyone who paid full council tax could vote in their Referendum even if they were not on the Electoral Register. No decision was made by the Salcombe group.
A further meeting with Balfour Beatty on behalf of South West Water was called. As reported at the previous meeting there was a possibility that the water main would be replaced/relined between Bonningtons and Whitestrand at the same time as the current works. However they would have to start at the bottom of Robinsons Row so it was not feasible for the two teams to work together at any time due to access. They could follow on and do in March but it was felt with the holiday season this was not possible and therefore the water main would not be repaired. Potentially the burst that happened at Christmas could happen again at Easter but due to the works not being able to be carried out now the funding would be gone and thus only repairs would take place. The contractor advised that shopkeepers complained they did not want the relining works at this time and they took heed of them.
The mayor also received a telephone call from a resident at the top of town complaining about pampass grass planted at the Old Trennells site encroaching onto the pavement.
730. COUNCILLORS REPORTS
Cllr Cohen – Noted on a recent visit to Oxford there was a regatta and lighting of beacons and he attended a fantastic church bonfire where 200 people carried flame torches in a circle and threw into the bonfire. He raised this to consider health and safety and wondered what restrictions on insurance there were.
Cllr Wheeler – Noted that there had been inconsiderate parking on the road by River Knowle on the double yellow lines. Cllr Lang noted he had also reported this to the traffic warden. As this was felt to be dangerous it was felt the police should be informed along with Sandhills and Devon Road. Cllr Wheeler continued that he had been informed that the Bloor site might have patched into an existing sewer but this was hearsay and he was only highlighting. Someone had been having bonfires at the top of Salcombe and he had telephoned Environmental Health who said they would see what they could do. The foreman of the building site said he had not realized a bonfire had been lit and the matter was left as a warning only. It was of concern for other residents that the diggers were starting too early in the morning.
Richard Gatehouse had carried out works at Snapes car park and scraped all the surface so prams etc could get along there. Cllr Wheeler felt this was a worthwhile and community minded action and has enquired how much he would charge if he were asked to do this is more areas around town – £30 phr. .
He noted he had asked all councilors to provide two lines about themselves for the councillors page and advised that the new website was progressing. In time they would be able to make amendments but he and Cllr Whitfield were awaiting the training they have to have firstly.
Cllr Lang – Noted residents parking in Courtney Street where three cars were parked. Someone from the Kings Arms had been parking in this residents section due to no access to his property whilst the South West Water closures were in place. The Devon County Traffic Warden needed to be contacted to understand these unusual circumstances and for everyone to be sensible. Builders were currently using Captain Morgans additional eating area as a car park and it was felt this needed barriers around the edge to ensure it does not happen.
With regard to public footpaths Geoff Foale and Richard Weymouth had indicated they could put some little posts around footpaths like North Sands to direct walkers in the correct path and asked if County footpath arrow signs could be obtained.
Cllr Mrs Bricknell – Noted there was a tree down and across Beadon Lane at the bottom which may be within the boundary of Mandeley. This was a private road and therefore a letter would be sent to the property owner advising of this concern. She also noted that at Fairweather Fountain it was not the tree that was of concern but the wall on the right hand side and boulders had come out onto Cliff Road. This would be reported.
CLERK’S REPORT.
• Simon Putt would be attending next week to carry out the tree surveys and the ones of concern would be raised at this point. Training would take place sometime soon.
• Reserve parking signs were required on the Harbour Hotel parking area and these could be added to a current signage order at a cost of £54 and the town clerk was advised to proceed.
• Further to previous discussions the joiner who made the cemetery gates had advised that he could carry out the two six monthly maintenance recoats and include the noticeboards at a cost of £195.50. If he was to also do the repainting of the kissing gate at Shadycombe this would cost £150 – £200 and town council agreed subject to the quote coming in to this figure.
• On the 21st April 2016 the Queen celebrates her 90th Birthday and in celebration parish and towns are invited to light beacons at a specific time. It was noted that the Millennium beacon was still held by ex councillor Roger Clark. This matter would be considered on the next agenda.
• TAP Fund applications to be considered on 14th January 2016 but although town and parishes were allowed to speak to their application they cannot vote. All decisions would be made by District Councillors.
731. FINANCE
Bank Balances
Current Account £500.00
Deposit Account £259,186.63
Councillors APPROVED the following payments:
BACS payments:
Bayleaf Gardening Ltd – Dec and Jan Contract £1093.96
Salcombe Yacht Club Hire of Room – Chart Room Neighbourhood Plan £30.00
Cliff House Trust Ltd – Hire of Library SNDP Working Group Neighbourhood Plan £12.00
Saltaire Garden Sers – Berry Fence final payment £792.00
Salcombe Christmas Lights Committee – Grant £500.00
SHDC – Final payment of P&R Rates £200.93
SHDC – Bonfire Hill Bin Rental £14.59
South West Highways Ltd – P&R Tarmac and edging £31284.00
Devon County Council – Park and Ride and Town Signs £2412.74 (Confirm all Signs installed – HELD PAYMENT)
DD Pulse8 – Internet provision £22.00
DD OneTel – Council phone £44.23
Cheques APPROVED for signature:
003438 SLCC Subs half payment with Stokenham £117.50
003439 Cliff House Ltd – Annual Office Rent £3678.00
732. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be held on Wednesday 27th January 2016 in the Library at Cliff House, Cliff Road, Salcombe at 6.30p.m.
Meeting Closed: 21.20p.m.
……………………………………………….. 27th January 2016.
Town Mayor.