Present: Cllrs. T Seldon (Chair), A Corner, C Galloway, M Richards, D Richards, R Watkins,
D Woodbury, M Worth and P Walker.
Also in attendance: County Cllr Davies, Andrew Wyer (Clerk), and 4 members of the public.
366/22 Apologies – Apologies were received from Cllrs Lethaby, and District Cllr Gubb.
367/22 Declarations of Interest – None
368/22 Public Participation – A question was asked about the Council funding the annual maintenance of the defibrillators managed by the Village Hall. The Clerk confirmed that this grant was pre-approved by the Council. A variety of further questions were also asked about the state of Hollands Park, previous and ongoing works and about the replies received to previous queries. Councillor Worth explained that in most cases residents are perfectly welcome to have fallen tree wood for their wood burners/fires, etc. They should liaise with the Clerk so the Council knows who is “working” or removing things from Council land. Cllr Worth stated that this had been reported on Facebook but that nobody had come forward wanting to cut up and haul whole trees from the Park. Ground conditions had prevented the park from being tidied up as quickly as intended. He further explained that a Biodiversity Plan for the park is being developed, which will come before the Council due course. Cllr Seldon said she would review and reply to any outstanding queries raised at previous meetings.
369/22 Minutes – As the minutes for the meeting held on the 13th March had been approved at the extra meeting held on the 27th of March and the minutes from the 27th hadn’t been circulated ahead of the meeting, approving the minutes of the 27th was deferred to the next meeting.
370/22 County & District Cllr reports – County Cllr Davis had distributed her report ahead of the meeting.
371/22 Police Report – This was NOTED.
372/22 Clerk’s Report – This was NOTED.
373/22 Planning (NDC Applications) – None
374/22 Planning (NDC Decisions) – There were no decisions to note.
375/22 Planning (Exmoor NP Decisions) – There were no decisions to note.
376/22 Finance – It was RESOLVED to approve the lists of payments to be made plus 4 additional invoices (all NDC), totalling £19647.75. It was further RESOLVED to note the list of payments made, receipts received and the March Dashboard report. The Clerk highlighted the receipt of £9788.69 from NDC for the Football Club repairs.
Following a query about the purchase of a sign by Cllr Woodbury, it was decided to add Greenhill Steps access to the next agenda.
377/22 Finance – It was RESOLVED to approve a payment of £300 to the Museum to cover the additional electricity costs of running the heater and dehumidifier following the recent drain issue. Cllrs M.Richards and Galloway declared interests as they are connected to the Museum and did not vote.
378/22 Mill Wier Lane – Although Councillors wanted to be open and transparent about the legal advice the Council has received about the situation, the Clerk was instructed to check with solicitor first about publicly releasing a Confidential document.
379/22 Toilet in Kiln Car Park – The Clerk reported that it is believed that Lynton and Lynmouth are exploring the option of joining with Ilfracombe to form a group capable of buying in services for the public toilets they are also taking over from NDC. The Council would be keen to see if joining this group could benefit Combe Martin. The Clerk was asked to explore the options for adding charging systems to the toilet doors.
380/22 Hollands Park – The Clerk reported that he had confirmation from the Planning Department at NDC that replacing the wall would not be a problem. Feedback from the local residents had been overwhelmingly in favour of a hedge. The Clerk suggested that it may be possible to erect a cheap fence in the short term while the hedge grows.
The Clerk also reported that the Council had been offered a donation of £60 towards planting trees in Hollands Park. The Clerk will feed this into the Biodiversity Plan, to ensure suitable species are bought.
381/22 ROSPA Report – The report was NOTED and the Clerk will instruct the Council workmen to replace the rusty nuts/bolts identified.
382/22 Staffing – The Clerk confirmed that the new Grounds Manager (Tom Bird) will take up his position in early May. As part of the ongoing communication with Tom, the subject of branded workwear / uniform had come up. It was RESOLVED to provide suitably branded clothing for Council staff.
383/22 Beach Dog Ban – The dates of the beach Dog ban (1st May-30th Sept) were NOTED.
384/22 Correspondence – The correspondence was NOTED.
385/22 Elections and Thanks – The news that the Parish Council would not need a ballot was NOTED. The Clerk had asked to thank Yvette Gubb for her service to the Village, as he is District Councillor and understood the amount of unseen work and issues that a District Councillor faced. Sadly, District Cllr Gubb was not present so it was agreed the Clerk should deliver a suitable gift and card on behalf of the Council.
The Chairman then thanked all the current Councillors who were not standing again for their time and work on the Council.
386/22 Date of next Council meetings
The Annual Parish meeting will be held on Monday 22nd May, in the Village Hall at 6pm and the Annual Parish Council meeting will be held after it but not before 7pm, also at the Village Hall.