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Draft minutes of the Annual Combe Martin Parish Council meeting, held on 22nd May 2023 at 7pm at Combe Martin Village Hall

Minutes Uploaded on May 26, 2023

Draft minutes of the Annual Combe Martin Parish Council meeting,

held on 22nd May 2023 at 7pm at Combe Martin Village Hall.

Present: Cllrs. Cass, Corner, Everett, Galloway, Lethaby, Masters, Optix, Richards, Seldon, Smallridge, Watkins, and Worth.

Also in attendance: Andrew Wyer (Clerk), and 6 members of the public.

As Chairman during the previous year Cllr Seldon chaired the first item on the agenda.

001/23 Election of Chairman – Cllr Seldon was elected as Chairman for the 2023/2024 year. She signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and chaired the rest of the meeting.

002/23 Election of Vice Chairman – Cllr Galloway was elected Vice Chairman for the 2023/2024 year.

003/23 Apologies – There were no apologies from Parish Councillors, but County Cllr A Davis sent hers.

004/23 Declarations of Interest – Cllr Lethaby declared that as a District Councillor, the views he gives (and how he votes) at this meeting will not necessarily be the same as he does at a District Council meeting.

005/23 Public Participation – A question was asked about the lack of a response to questions raised at a previous meeting. The Clerk was asked to send the information requested, on Cllr Seldon’s behalf.

006/23 Minutes – The draft minutes of the meeting held on 17th April were approved and signed by Cllr Seldon as an accurate record.

007/23 Clerk’s Report – The Clerk made the additional update that two dates had been confirmed for Covid booster Drop-In sessions at the Community Centre (12th and 26th June 2023). The Report was then NOTED.

008/23 County & District Cllr reports – County Cllr Davis had distributed her report ahead of the meeting, and from it the Clerk highlighted that £2 Bus fares was being extended until October. District Cllr Lethaby reported that since the election he had been busy with the induction process and that he looked forward to bringing a proper report to future meetings.

009/23 Police Newsletter – This had been circulated ahead of the meeting and only reported two crimes in Combe Martin. The newsletter was NOTED.

010/23 Planning (NDC Applications) – The Council RESOLVED to support the following applications:

76833 – Extension and alteration to existing ground floor flat, alteration to front façade windows with addition of Velux windows on the roof together with a loft conversion to facilitate additional bedrooms at Ashbourne House, Combe Martin

Methodist Church, Castle Street, Combe Martin, Devon, EX34 0JF

77085 – Erection of agricultural shed and associated works at land adjacent

Nutcombe Hill, Combe Martin, Devon, EX34 0PQ

011/23 Planning (Exmoor NP Applications) – There were no applications to consider.

012/23 Planning (NDC Decisions) – These decisions were NOTED:

76450 – Parade car park Toilets – Approved

76742 – Park Hills, decision in principle – Withdrawn

76838 – Bristol Channel View, demolition of garage, etc – Approved

013/23 Planning (Exmoor NP Decisions) – There were no decisions to note.

014/23 Finance – It was RESOLVED to approve the lists of payments to be made plus 3 additional invoices (NDC, National Grid, & Audit), totalling £17049.10.

015/23 Finance – It was RESOLVED to note the list of payments made, receipts received and the April Dashboard report.

016/23 Committee Memberships – The following Cllrs were elected to the following Committees:

Finance & Policy Committee – Cllrs Cass, Everett, Galloway, Masters, Optix, Richards, and Seldon.

Assets & Land Management Committee – Cllrs Cass, Everett, Galloway, Lethaby, Richards, Watkins, and Worth.

Community Centre Committee – Cllrs Cass, Corner, Optix, Seldon, Smallridge, Watkins, and Worth.

Personnel Committee – Cllrs Corner, Optix, Seldon, Smallridge, and Worth.

Emergency Committee – The Chairman (Cllr Seldon), Vice Chairman (Cllr Galloway), The Clerk (A.Wyer), Cllrs Lethaby, Richards and Worth. Cllr Worth was also elected to the position of Emergency Officer.

Parish Council Representatives – The following Councillors were elected to be representatives of the Council at/with/for:

Combe Martin Primary School: Cllr Corner, Leys Charity: Cllr Cass, Combe Martin Museum: Cllr Galloway, Combe Martin Village Hall Community Group: Cllr Seldon, Combe Martin Business Association: Cllr Lethaby, Exmoor Parish & Consultative Forum: Cllr Galloway, Combe Martin Coastal Community Team: Cllr Worth and Combe Martin Bowls Club: Cllr Optix.

017/23 Meetings Calendar – It was RESOLVED to approve the draft calendar of meetings. The Calendar will be available on the website and posted on the Council Notice Board.

018/23 General Power of Competence – The Council RESOLVED that as it has met the criteria, it would assume the General Power of Competence.

019/23 Civility and Respect Pledge – The Clerk was asked to defer this item for 6 months.

020/23 Councillor Training – The Clerk introduced the new DALC Councillor Development Framework and explained that there is a budget for Councillor training so Councillors should read through the scheme and identify which courses they wanted to complete. There may be a financial saving available if a number of Councillors wanted to be on the same course.

021/23 Office Hours – The Clerk confirmed that the Office Staff had brought this item forward without any prompting. Following the winter when the Community Centre was open as a warm space during the day, the office staff were used to and happy to, have the office open 9-3 Mon-Fri. The Council RESOLVED to approve the new office opening hours.

022/23 Workman’s Shed – The Clerk gave a verbal update on the project to locate the Workman’s shed at the Community Centre site. The original planning permission application has been withdrawn but that a replacement application for just the proposed entranceway was about to be submitted.

023/23 Annual Document review – The following documents were re-adopted or amended and adopted. (Amendments shown in brackets)

Standing Orders

Financial Regulations (Clerk delegated power to authorise a mid-month payment run.)

Asset Register

Delegation Policy

Terms of Reference: (All references to the frequency of meetings to be amended to say “As agreed at the Annual Meeting and/or as required”)

Assets & Land Management Committee

Community Centre Committee

Emergency Committee

Finance and Policies Committee

Personnel Committee

Insurance – The Clerk confirmed insurance cover was in place.

Subscriptions

Complaints Procedure (Will be reviewed at next Finance & Policies Committee meeting)

FOI Policy

Data Protection Policy

Press/Media Policy

Employment Policies (16 policies)

024/23 Greenhill Steps – The condition of the steps and the possible encouragement of people to use the SWW concrete pipe cover as a path (without permission from SWW) were discussed. It was RESOLVED to erect proper notices at the top and bottom of the steps stating they were closed.

025/23 War Memorial – Following a verbal report from Cllr Worth, it was RESOLVED that the War Memorial garden should be kept cut and well maintained at all times.

026/23 Correspondence – The correspondence was NOTED.

027/23 Exclusion of Press and Public – It was RESOLVED to exclude the Press and Public from the last agenda item as it involved the likely disclosure of confidential information.

028/23 Council Leases – The Clerk gave an update on three Council Leases and how they were progressing.