COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT
* – Attendance; A- Absent; N – No Apologies Received
Cllr Mrs N. Turton – Mayor (in the Chair) *
Cllr. M. Fice *
Cllr Mrs C. Bricknell *
Cllr T. Lang *
Cllr R. Moore *
Cllr Mrs L. Sinnott *
Cllr G. Keeler *
Cllr P. Lafferty-Holt *
Cllr M. Long (also District Councillor) A
Cllr I. Hatch A
Cllr A. Hainey N
Cllr M. Payne A
Also in attendance:
Dist. Cllr Mrs J. Pearce *
Cty. Cllr. R Gilbert *
Gill Claydon (Clerk) A
Pete Robinson (Cemetery Manager and Project Officer) *
WPC Jo Pengilly A
1. 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.
• The Mayor and Cllr Mrs Bricknell declared an interest in item 6 re Community Land Trust in their capacity as directors/trustees.
2. OPEN FORUM
No members of the public being present this was dispensed with.
Police Report
Nothing received to report.
County and District Councillors Report
Cty Cllr Gilbert reported that he had received correspondence from Peter Stratton re highways matters including overgrown trees and the state of the roads and that this had been copied to Town Council. Devon County Council will respond to Mr Stratton pointing out that road problems should be reported online and that trees are the responsibility of the landowner.
Cllr Fice asked whether there was any further information on Church Street being included in the repair list for the current year as this had been raised the last time Cty Cllr Gilbert attended. Cty Cllr Gilbert responded that this required a request direct to Adam Keay from the Town Clerk.
Cllr Fice also asked, now that the Neighbourhood Development Plan had a Principle Residence policy approved by the examiner, whether the same policy could be applied to the issuing of Residents Parking Permits. There was discussion about the existing rules relating to the Residents Parking scheme and that they did not appear to be enforced. Cty Cllr Gilbert said that Salcombe had a unique set of problems and that Town Council should set out these concerns and suggestions in an e-mail.
Cty Cllr Gilbert left the meeting
Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce referred to a 2-bed flat that had recently become vacant and which Livewest wished to sell as this was the only rented flat in the block which prevented the other owners being able to buy the freehold. Cllr Mrs Bricknell stated that there were a significant number of families looking to rent such a flat and that to let it be sold was totally wrong. Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce said that District Council were very much on the case.
She reported that a long lease for the lifeboat memorial had been granted but that no planning application had been received to date.
Recent planning appeals had largely gone in favour of District Council but the big disappointment was the Brewery Quay appeal. District Council were reviewing the inspectors report as it was felt that there was some inconsistency, but they had to tread carefully to avoid losing the Principal Residence condition – it was unfortunate that this was a condition and not a S106 agreement as the latter was easier to enforce. It would become the responsibility of Town Council and other residents to monitor the occupation.
Cllr Moore commented how quickly and efficiently the repairs to the fence at Baptist Lane had been completed.
There was much discussion about waste collection and particularly business users posing as private residents and effectively getting their rubbish collected for nothing. The refuse collectors have details of the properties to collect from but some business users pay to have their rubbish collected.
Cllr Lafferty-Holt joined the meeting
District Council were looking at the collection of other plastic waste but in the light of the global problems being encountered with the recycling there was a thought that it may be better to continue to send it to the incinerator. Currently District Council were working towards compliance with the Devon County Council strategy that more waste must be recycled, however this was an EU directive and may change.
The Mayor reported that a bench at the lower level of Cliff House Gardens had been damaged, probably vandalised.
Dist Cllr Mrs Pearce left the meeting
3. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting dated 12th June 2019 were approved and then duly signed by the Mayor as a true and correct record.
4. PLANNING APPLICATIONS:
The following applications were considered and such observations from town council submitted to District.
- 1686/19/FUL Conversion and enlargement of existing garage, store and former Maid’s accommodation to 1no. self-contained one bedroom flat together with associated external alterations and improvements (Resubmission of 3920/18/FUL) Caerleon, Allenhayes Road, Salcombe, TQ8 8HT – Response 12th July Objection – this proposal created an additional property within the current garage taking away one parking space thereby increasing demand of on street parking. Access would potentially require a larger frontage dropped kerb which would further reduce on street parking availability by virtue of being a driveway. These points were both against SALC B1 of the Neighbourhood Development Plan which required that there should be adequate parking spaces for sub division developments on site and there should be no further pressure on street parking.
Cllr Moore declared an interest at this point of the meeting in the following application and stated that he would remain in the meeting but not comment on the application - 1714/19/FUL Application for alteration and extension to existing property, internal remodelling, landscaping and a new outbuilding Burleigh, Coronation Road, Salcombe TQ8 8EA – Response 19th July No objection
- 1882/19/FUL Continued use of outbuilding as ancillary residential annex and/or linked holiday unit
Vantage One, Sandhills Road, Salcombe, TQ8 8JP – Response 19th July Objection – the proposal stated that there were five available parking spaces for the two houses and the annex. However, looking at the plans and the site, three of these spaces appear to relate to one property and the overall parking area seemed to be too small to accommodate this number of spaces. There was concern that this could impact on street parking contrary to SALC B1 in the Neighbourhood Development Plan.
PLANNING CORRESPONDENCE
No further communication received.
5. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
An outline on the creation of a Salcombe Community Land Trust was given and it was AGREED that town council would support this initiative.
6. CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Nominations were considered, and it was agreed to appoint Tim Hore as Citizen of the Year.
7. MAYOR’S REPORT
The Mayor attended the Chamber of Commerce AGM on the 20th June. Samantha Dennis stood down as Chairman and from the Committee, and Rebecca Weare from Start Point Law was elected as the new Chairman. All other officers were unanimously re-elected. The accounts were in a healthy position going into the next financial year.
She had reported the dangerous parking halfway up Onslow Road to the police, and PCSO Paul O’Dwyer would be following this up with the householder and/or driver. Pete Robinson, Project Officer, encountered a similar issue on Bonaventure Road, the details of which would also be reported, and he was going to keep a log of these offences, so town councillors should all keep him informed of such, ideally with identifying pictures of the vehicles and properties involved.
The Mayor received a report from the gardeners of harassing behaviour towards them when working at Ringrone by the man who had taken up residence in the ‘shed/structure’ below, near the lane above the Bolt Head apartments. It was questioned whether this person could live in this premises and Town Council would make enquiries of District Planners.
A resident reported the appearance of ‘pixie houses’ appearing on trees on The Berry, which were being shown on videos on the Salcombe Open Spaces Association Facebook page. Although it was all very sweet, and no one wanted to ruin childhood fun, it was questioned how these were fixed to the living trees, and that they could be classed technically as criminal damage to property not owned nor leased by those putting these ‘houses’ on the trees. An inspection would take place to find out precisely where they were and if they were causing harm to the trees.
It was advised that the following Council Meeting would be preceded at 6.00pm with a presentation to Councillors by Andy Cook from ‘Ease’, the project managers of the Tides Reach Hotel rebuilding project to explain the current situation. As he had requested half an hour, and this was longer than Open Forum allowed, the Mayor had agreed to request Town Councillors attend at the earlier time.
8. COUNCILLORS REPORTS
Cllr Keeler – noted that drains at the bottom of Sandhills Road were blocked by road surface dressing and wondered what steps were taken to prevent this. He also enquired why there were no public bins for recycling as there were in other places
Cllr Mrs Bricknell – noted that weed spraying had not been completed and some areas had very large weeds. This seemed to be a common problem and it was decided that town council needed to inform District Council of their concerns and make it clear that payment would not be made for work not carried out
Cllrs Mrs Sinnott – raised concerns that Information Centre staff were being verbally abused by members of the public due to the Park & Ride bus not running during the week in June. This needed to be discussed in advance of next year’s timetable. It was decided that clearer signage was required at the Park & Ride field in respect of when the bus was running
Cllr Lang – noted that the public right of way, between Onslow Road and Bonaventure Road, through the tennis club had been blocked off due to the danger of falling debris. Cllr Lafferty-Holt advised that this had been done on the advice of the Tennis Club’s insurers. The lane near Jocalots (Cliff Road to Sandhills Road) had been partially cleared by nearby residents
Cllr Lafferty-Holt – advised, as Chairman of the Tennis Club, that the overhanging hedge on Bennet Road had now got even worse and was forcing vehicles into the middle of the road. There was a similar situation on the pavement on Onslow Road which was forcing pedestrians into the road. He noted that the problem with commercial waste in Fore Street had improved and businesses were now covering bags. There is a huge problem on Whitestrand with seagulls swooping on visitors and stealing food
9. FINANCE
Bank Balances
Current Account £500.00
Deposit Account £366,941.96
Receipts: Nil
Councillors APPROVED Internet payments to:
N. Turton – Mayoral ribbon materials £6.82
Wages – £1791.05
HMRC Tax and Nat Ins – £787.26
NEST – Pension £177.01
Krystal Hosting – Neighbourhood Plan £14.39
10. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be held on Wednesday 10th July 2019 in the Library at Cliff House, Cliff Road, Salcombe at 6.00p.m.
Meeting Closed: 8.30p.m.
……………………………………………….. 10th July 2019.
Town Mayor.