Draft minutes of the Combe Martin Parish Council meeting held
on 12th December 2022 at 7pm at Combe Martin Community Centre.
Present: Cllrs. T Seldon (Chair), C Galloway, L Lethaby, D Richards, M Richards, D Woodbury and M Worth.
Also in attendance: County Cllr Davis, Andrew Wyer (Clerk) and 3 members of the public.
275/22 Apologies – Apologies were received from Cllrs Walker and Coomber and District Cllr. Gubb.
276/22 Declarations of Interest – none. The Clerk confirmed Councillors had a dispensation to allow them to participate and vote on the Budget/Precept agenda item.
277/22 Public Participation – The Council were thanked for operating the Warm Space in the Community Centre and asked about the possibility of entering Britain in Bloom.
278/22 Minutes – It was RESOLVED that the draft minutes from the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 14th November 2022 were correct and they were then signed.
The draft minutes of the Finance & Policies Committee meeting held on 28th November 2022 were NOTED.
279/22 Clerks Report – The Clerk wished to add a couple of things to the previously circulated report, namely, to thank Clifford, the Council workman, who had been out over the weekend making sure the car parks had been gritted, and to update Councillors on the start of the Warm Space scheme at the Community Centre. With these additions, report was NOTED.
282/22 County & District Cllr reports – Cllr Davis had submitted a report which had been circulated to Cllrs. Report
Cllr Gubb was not present to give a report.
283/22 Police Report – This was NOTED. Document
284/22 Planning (NDC Applications) – It was RESOLVED to support the following applications:
76239 – Variation of condition 2 (approved plans) attached to planning permission 75610 – (Demolition of garage, shed and conservatory together with erection of
extensions and raising roof to form additional accommodation including balcony and erection of ancillary building) to allow additional windows at Bristol Channel View Woodlands, Combe Martin, Devon, EX34 OAS
285/22 Planning (Exmoor NP Applications) – There were no applications to consider.
286/22 Planning (NDC Decisions) – It was RESOLVED to note the following decisions:
76138 – Approved
73113 – Refused
287/22 Planning (Exmoor NP Decisions) – There were no decisions to note.
288/22 Finance – It was RESOLVED to approve the list of payments to be made, totalling £17918.10. It was further RESOLVED to note the list of payments made, receipts received and the November Dashboard report.
289/22 Temporary Housing Sites – Cllr Woodbury gave a report explaining the constraints that limit the options for providing temporary housing, both for the Parish Council and for the District Council who are responsible for providing temporary housing. There may be potential options beyond the parish boundary which the CLT (Community Land Trust) could consider but the overall situation is very complex and will require collaborative working. There may be a need for a dedicated group to progress this.
290/22 Allotments – It was RESOLVED to leave this query until it became necessary as the costs and complexity weren’t justified by known demand.
291/22 Car Park resurfacing – It was RESOLVED to automatically divert 10% of car park revenue into the ear marked reserve for re-tarmacking the car parks.
292/22 Spending Plans – It was RESOLVED to approve additional spending, not in the original budget on three projects, namely Property Valuations (quoted £1500), Community Centre Window repairs (quoted £27,086.84) and plant hire and groundworks in Hollands Park (£5000).
293/22 Coronation – It was RESOLVED to allocate £2000 towards the cost of gifting a suitable memento (Coin?) to the school children of the Parish.
294/22 Budget and Precept – It was RESOLVED to approve the provisional Budget and to enter a preliminary request for an additional £4000 from the precept.
295/22 Correspondence – It was RESOLVED to note the correspondence.
296/22 Office Closures – It was RESOLVED to note the dates of the Christmas office closure.
297/22 Date of next Council meeting – 9th January 2023
298/22 Exclusion of Press and Public – It was RESOLVED to exclude the press and public for the rest of the meeting, due to the likely disclosure of confidential information.
299/22 Staffing costs – The confidential report from the Personnel Committee was NOTED and it was RESOLVED to give Council employees a Christmas bonus of £100.
The meeting closed at 20:10