CORNWORTHY PARISH COUNCIL
Present: Cllr Tuppen (Chair),Cllr Bailey (Vice Chair) Cllr Hunt, Cllr Finn, Cllr Fowler, Cllr Thompson, Cllr Hubbard, and Cllr McKay (SHDC) were present as was C Campos Parish Clerk.
- To Elect a Chair
Retiring Vice Chair Jenny Bradley opened the meeting and invited nominations for Chair. Cllr Bailey nominated Cllr Tuppen seconded by Cllr Finn. No other nominations were forthcoming. Cllr Tuppen indicated that he was willing to stand and was unanimously voted in. Cllr Tuppen thanked Jenny Bradley and all the previous Council for their hard work on behalf of the Parish. He then gave a short address; he noted that 4th May saw the first election for Cornworthy Parish Council since the 1950’s and that 86% of all votes cast went to the current Council, a strong mandate from the Parish. He committed the Council to abiding by the Councillor Code of Conduct and the Nolan Principles of Public Life.
2. To Elect a Vice Chair
Cllr Tuppen proposed Cllr Bailey seconded by Cllr Thompson. No other nominations were forthcoming, and Cllr Bailey was unanimously voted in.
Open Forum
A resident who has been acting in a voluntary capacity as lengths man indicated he would be prepared to continue to help for the next 12months. He requested that a donation was made to the Dame Elizabeth Harris and John Peter Charity in lieu of payment. In his view the cost of employing someone would be between £700- £1000 a year. He also would like to hand over the hand gritter which is CPC property. The Chair thanked the resident for all his hard work which has contributed so much to the village. Cllr Finn asked him if he was prepared to continue with the P3 work on the footpaths and he agreed to do that.
3. Apologies for Absence
Cllr Hawkins DCC
4. Declaration of Councillors Interest
Cllr Tuppen declared an interest in item 9.1.
5. Approval of Minutes
The Minutes of the Meeting of CPC held on Monday 17th April 2023 were approved.
6. Matters Arising from the Minutes
The Annual Parish meeting will be held on Monday 29th May 7.30pm in the Village Hall. A short Extraordinary CPC meeting will be held at 7.15pm on the same day.
7.Local Issues
- Parishioners Correspondence to Action
Cllr Tuppen asked about the Slow signs for Willow Lane. The Clerk explained that she had asked DCC if the proposed sign was acceptable them and was waiting to hear back. He asked about the VETS fridge magnets Cllr Bailey will check the status of this. Cllr Hunt asked about the map case. The Clerk explained that the map case was being repaired but she was having difficulties sourcing a new map.
- Devon County Council Highways
Upcoming works scheduled in June will be advised in good time on the CPC noticeboards and Facebook pages.
9. Planning
- 0470/23/FUL Part demolition of house replacement dwelling and associated landscaping Whitestone Farmhouse Cornworthy TQ9 7HF.
Cllr Tuppen left the room and the Clerk read out a short statement from the applicant. Cllr Bailey said that the new Council was at this stage not sufficiently experienced to comment on technical planning matters of the sort raised in this application. Cllr Hubbard felt the crux of the matter was the interpretation of very specific planning regulations. The Council felt they were undecided and voted unanimously to submit this response to SHDC. Cllr Bailey requested the Clerk research Planning training for all CPC Councillors
- To agree the appointment of an Internal Auditor and approve the fee of £120.
This was unanimously agreed.
- To Discuss the appointment of a Lengths man to maintain the village.
Sample job descriptions have been circulated. Cllr Tuppen volunteered to move this forward, with help from Cllr Hubbard, and present a summary of what the role should be at the next meeting. Cllr Finn asked if the P3 paths work could be included in the role. Cllr Hunt asked if training would be needed. Cllr Finn stated that DCC offer free training for the P3 work.
- Discuss a donation to the Tuckenhay Regatta
The Council felt that CPC’s current financial situation meant CPC was not in position to donate this year.
- To Purchase a Grit Bin for Allaleigh
The Clerk has looked at the options available and found there is a lot of choice. CPC agreed to purchase this. Cllr Bailey to be responsible for choosing the most appropriate Grit Bin
14. Councillor Representatives for the following bodies and duties
14.1 Police Advocate – Cllr Hunt
14.2 Defib Checks- Cllr Fowler
14.3 Emergency Plan – Cllr Hubbard
14.4 Dart Estuary Forum Representative Cllr Bailey
14.5 Dart Harbour Community Group Representative- Cllr Thompson
14.6 Storage of Council documents and Assets – Cllr Tuppen
14.7 P3 Paths – Cllr Finn
15. Finance
15. 1 Receipts
Lloyds Bank Interest £5.35
SHDC Precept £3865.50
15.2 Payments
To authorise the following payments:
C Campos March Salary £290.10
HMRC March PAYE £72.40
Use of Church for CPC meetings 17/4 £35
Hi- Vis Tabards for VETS 6x £7.19 £43.14
Head Torches 3x £5.99 £17.67
These were all agreed.
15.3 Financial Report
Cllr Tuppen said he was determined to get completely on top of CPC’s Finances. He noted that in the past couple of years expenditure has exceeded receipts and reserves have dropped. CPC is still compliant but is not flush with funds. He also noted that this year CPC is bound by the last Council’s budget of around £9,000 and will have to manage this budget carefully especially if a lengths man is appointed.
Allocated reserves £ 8451.39
General Fund £ 7621.20
Total £16,072.59
16. Reports
16.1 Clerk – Report circulated it will be a busy month with the internal audit and preparation of the AGAR ( a summary of receipts and expenditure in 2022-23).
16.2 Tree Warden – None received.
16.3 Defibrillators – None received.
16.4 Volunteer Emergency Telephone System (VETS) – Hi- Viz tabards and head torches will be ordered. CPC was delighted to learn that the former Councillor who initiated the scheme would continue to be involved with Cllr Bailey to liaise.
16.5 Village Hall – Cllr Finn reported that the survey work was now completed. The Village Hall Committee (CVHC) has been successful in moving to the second stage of the ACRE grant scheme which provides funding for a capital upgrade only. The CVHC has secured the funds needed for essential work on heating, insulation, and ventilation. The CVHC was concerned to see that at a recent CPC meeting it was resolved to have no further involvement in the Village Hall. CPC support is a prerequisite for the grant application to succeed and so CPC was asked to re consider this position. They also wanted to invite a Councillor to join the Village Hall Committee. Cllr Tuppen initiated a discussion on how CPC could indicate its support for the CVHC to support the ACRE grant application. Cllr Hubbard noted that the application was on a deadline so deferring this vote to the June meeting was not an option and the existing CPC resolution as it stands, would damage the chances of the CVHC getting funding. A new village hall would take several years to complete and require fund raising likely to be in excess of more than £400K. If a fully costed design and build package for it plus viable fund raising and operating plan were to be presented to CPC, it would be given their full and balanced consideration. However presently the village only has one Village Hall so Cllr Tuppen asked if CPC could vote to show their support for it. The Clerk suggested that this should be an additional item for the Extraordinary Meeting on 29th May to have a proper vote. A representative of the CVHC confirmed that this would be in time for the grant application.
16.6 Coronation Working Group – All went well and celebrations were very well attended. Cllr Bailey wanted to express everyone’s thanks to the landlord and landlady of The Hunters Lodge and all the many volunteers who worked so hard to make the weekend such a success.
16.7 Devon County Council Councillor – none received.
16.8 South Hams District Council Councillor – Cllr McKay said he was happy to be re-elected and now has the portfolio for Environment and Climate Change. He attempted to visit the enforcement case on Lower Ridge Lane and is having a meeting with the Enforcement Officer about this.
17.Items for June Agenda – Lengths man role Follow up, Upkeep of Cemetery Jubilee Stone. Items highlighted at the Annual Parish Meeting
18. Current SHDC enforcement cases – None
The next Parish Council Meeting is on Monday 12th June 2023